"Not in the least," he said confidently. "When I planned this operation I planned for the worst case scenario of the Martians having a secure supply line. We will still outnumber them by more than four to one, we are still better trained and equipped, and we will still triumph in a matter of days. This move is meaningless. The only thing it will allow will be for EastHem to enrich themselves on our agricultural products for the duration of this crisis."
"I see," said Williams. "And what of that? Is there anyway for us to prevent EastHem from taking advantage of this situation? A blockade around Mars perhaps?"
"That would be more Admiral Jules' area of expertise than mine," Wrath said, although he knew damn well just what Jules was going to say.
Jules was, if anything, even more fatigued than his marine colleague. He had been up for nearly two straight days now trying to shuffle ships and get crews reassigned. The last thing in the solar system that he wanted right now was to have to tell the Executive Council something that it didn't want to hear. But that was exactly what he was going to have to do. There was no way to soft talk and ignore this particular problem. "Well, ma'am," he said carefully, "the fact of the matter is that it would be a very bad idea to challenge EastHem on a point such as this."
"A bad idea?" Williams asked, her glare burning into him. "The public is going to demand that we do something about this situation. The media are probably already in a feeding frenzy over this recognition and trade agreement. Are you telling me that our navy is not capable of preventing EastHem ships from docking at Triad?"
"Those EastHem ships will undoubtedly be escorted by superdreadnoughts and stealth attack ships," Jules told her. "And while we ordinarily would be able to put up an effective blockade and defeat the EastHem navy in any conflict, the loss of so many of our ships to the greenies would make such a venture unacceptably risky."
"Unacceptably risky?" Williams asked. "Are you saying that they'll defeat us?"
He wavered for a moment, knowing he was treading on very shaky ground. "Not defeat us necessarily," he finally answered. "But the advantage that our superior training and superior technology usually gives us will be somewhat negated by the numerical advantage that the EastHems will enjoy. We would still surely come out the victor if push came to shove but it is possible that we might take unacceptable losses of men and ships."
The council looked at him thoughtfully as they pondered his words. "So you're saying," Williams summarized, "that the possible losses we would take by challenging the EastHem navy is not worth simply allowing the trade to go unchecked?"
"As long as General Wrath is confident in his ability to beat the Martians while they are in possession of a supply line," he qualified, tossing the ball neatly into his counterpart's court.
All eyes turned back to Wrath, who, anticipating such a volley, had already put an expression of confidence upon his face.
"My marines will make those greenies wish they were never born," he told them firmly. "With or without a supply line, with or without utilizing the equipment that they stole from us, we will beat them soundly in any battle. It is a mathematical certainty. The only thing that would change this equation in any way would be the inclusion of EastHem troops and equipment into the battle. If they send a few divisions of their own marines in one of those ships... well... then we might have a little larger of a problem to deal with."
Williams nodded as she heard this, her face troubled but determined. "Well then, we'll just have to make sure that they don't do that now, won't we?"
Early the next morning the WestHem ambassador left the embassy in downtown London and was taken by private aircraft to the EastHem Capital building. After passing through the usual security checkpoints and scans he was brought immediately before the ruling council. The customary period of pleasantry exchange took place and then the ambassador, following the instructions given to him by his own ruling council the night before, lodged an official protest on their behalf for the recognition and trade agreement with Mars.
"It is regretful that your government chooses to stand in the way of a new democracy," Billings told the ambassador. "In any case, our recognition of the Martians as the legitimate government of that planet will stand, as will our agreement to engage in trade with them."
"My nation regards this act with great displeasure," the ambassador told them.
"Nevertheless," Billings returned, "our decision will stand. Is it your country's intention to try to stop us?"
"I have not been told of any exact plans," he replied. "What I have been told is to inform you that we consider this to be an unfriendly act and to protest it in the strongest terms."
"I see," Billings said, suppressing a smile. In the nuances of diplomatic language, he had just been told that WestHem would do nothing to prevent the trade between EastHem and Mars.
"I have also been told," he continued, "to inform you that if your country were to give any military assistance of any kind to the Martians — supplying them with weapons, ammunition, and especially troops — we would consider that to be an act of war against us and we would respond accordingly."
"We have no plans in that direction," Billings said.
"That is fortunate," the ambassador said. "Because to do so would invoke the gravest possible consequences."
Billings and the rest of the council nodded solemnly at these words. The gravest possible consequences was an allusion to nuclear war. The ambassador had just told them that WestHem was willing to allow the trade of hydrogen for food, but that they would start tossing warheads across the border if troops or weapons were sent.
"We understand," Billing informed him, "and you have the word of this council that no weapons or troops will be sent to Mars. Our interest is in the purchase of food products from this new member of the international community, not in arming them up."
And with that, the ambassador had what he needed from the council. Though no contract was signed, an agreement had been forged and his job was complete. They spent another thirty minutes going through another exchange of pleasantries and then the ambassador headed back to the embassy to report his success on a secure Internet link.
The agreement was of course not made public in either nation. Most of the citizens of WestHem and EastHem were not even aware that their respective countries even maintained an embassy in the opposing country, had no idea that there even was an ambassador. The armed forces of both sides were put on a considerably higher level of alert than was the norm. All along the Alaska/Siberian line, search radars and infrared scanners came to life. Among the line troops, vacations were canceled and extra staffing in the entrenchments and monitoring centers were ordered. Air patrols were increased and a few reservists were called up. On the Internet of each country, the news was of the crisis between the two antagonists, a crisis that was called the worst since the Jupiter War.
Meanwhile, at Victory City, the orbiting platform that circled above the Jovian moon Callisto, which the EastHem marines had successful occupied and held during the Jupiter War, three supertankers were pumped full of liquid hydrogen that had been collected from the atmosphere of Jupiter. One hundred million metric tons of the compressed gas went into each hold, enough to sustain extensive combat operations for a month with plenty to spare. When the pumping was completed the ships used their maneuvering thrusters to move out into the transit corridor. They waited there, their crews nervous about their mission but thrilled about the doubling of the pay they would get for this hazardous duty.
Soon, other ships began to arrive from the EastHem naval base that was attached to Victory City. Two Colonial class superdreadnoughts, each with a wing of space fighters aboard, took up position front and rear. Two destroyer escorts, their tasks long range detection and fighter suppression, took up positions on each side. Finally, two Henry class stealth attack ships fanned out to the sides, their sensors in passive mode, their job to quickly get lost in space.