The discussion of Tilmuhl continued for most of the morning.
No one called it a crisis. Not yet.
The word existed in the room but had not been formally invited to sit down.
Instead there were phrases.
Regional instability. Security deterioration. Irregular military activity. Economic displacement. Heightened readiness. Potential interruption of commercial guarantees.
Words with polished edges. Words that could be entered into documents without frightening anyone who read them later.
The great televox screen remained dominated by Tilmuhl.
Colored arrows appeared whenever the presenting minister needed to demonstrate movement. Small circles still marked known reported incidents. Another layer showed trade volume. Another showed troop dispositions known with enough confidence to display publicly.
Kimia watched.
The map looked clean.
That bothered her.
Nothing in Tilmuhl was clean.
She had read reports describing mud deep enough to swallow a boot, soldiers sleeping wet for weeks, engines failing because insects nested where insects had no business being, men disappearing into green country fifty meters from roads.
The map did not contain humidity.
It did not contain fear.
It contained symbols.
The symbols were necessary.
Still.
A representative from Beletam spoke first among the regional delegations.
He was an older human man with a narrow face and the clipped voice of someone accustomed to speaking from prepared paper.
“Our assessment remains that neither Eauritsstad nor Olissingen presently intends a general conflict.”
The chairman asked: “On what basis?”
The Beletan representative consulted his documents.
“Commercial traffic remains broadly intact. Diplomatic channels remain open. Neither government has initiated full mobilization. Border incidents have increased, but not beyond historical precedent for the region.”
Several people made notes.
The screen changed.
A smaller chart appeared beside the map.
Incident frequency.
Kimia looked at it.
A line climbing slowly upward.
The Beletan representative continued.
“We therefore advise against interpreting increased local activity as evidence of imminent interstate war.”
Someone from Eastwall requested recognition.
Granted.
The Eastwall delegate, a baxxid wearing a formal harness with no ornament beyond a House pin, answered in slow and almost perfectly controlled speech.
“The difficulty.. is that intent may cease to matter once readiness measures become reciprocal.”
The Beletan looked toward him.
The baxxid continued.
“One side increases patrol strength because it fears attack. The other observes the increase and does the same. Both remain defensive until each has produced an offensive posture in the eyes of the other.”
Kimia thought of the Akalosi philosopher.
Fear becoming architecture. The phantasm acquiring ammunition.
Someone from Dinnlan spoke.
“That does not make war inevitable.”
“No.”
The baxxid paused.
“It makes accidents more expensive.”
That stayed in the room.
The chairman asked for Dinnlan's assessment.
A human minister there stood.
Dinnish accent.
Carefully modern suit.
“We don't expect a major escalation in the immediate term.”
“What defines immediate?”
“Thirty to sixty days.”
A murmur moved through part of the hall.
Kimia glanced at the Peshtulan voivode.
He wrote something down.
The Dinnish minister continued.
“Eauritsstad has economic incentive to maintain pressure without crossing into general war. Olissingen benefits from continued Heart guarantees without forcing Val Salia into commitments beyond existing agreements. Everyone
involved has reasons to avoid escalation.”
A representative from Baramor asked: “And if domestic politics begin outweighing economic incentive?”
The Dinnish minister hesitated.
“Then our assessment changes.”
“When?”
“When that happens.”
Some laughter.
Not much.
The Baramori representative leaned toward his microphone.
“That is not an assessment. That is chronology.”
More laughter.
The Dinnish minister smiled without amusement.
“Then chronology is currently all the evidence permits.”
Fair.
Kimia appreciated that answer.
Others followed.
The Green Reach expected deterioration but not necessarily war. Akalos expected a prolonged standoff broken by episodic violence. Auhei considered the whole matter overinterpreted.
One of its representatives, a yinglet woman with silver-gray fur and an almost offensively calm voice, said: “Tilmuhl has spent generations appearing to be two weeks from catastrophe.”
The chairman asked: “And therefore?”
“And zherefore we should distinguish between structural instability and imminent collapse.”
“Do you believe there is no danger?”
“I believe danger is zhe normal condition there.”
Kimia looked down at her sleeve again.
One. Two. Three stitches.
The room continued arguing.
Not arguing, officially.
Exchanging assessments.
The distinction was procedural and nearly metaphysical.