“Governments can privately want peace and publicly make decisions zhat reduce zheir ability to accept compromise.”
The Akalosi philosopher again.
Phantasms. Public selves. States becoming trapped by the identities they constructed for themselves.
Kimia continued.
“Eauritsstad can decide it does not want war and still reach a point where backing down carries too much domestic cost. Olissingen can do zhe same. Val Salia can do zhe same.”
That stirred the room.
Good.
Dangerous.
She pressed on.
“If everyone keeps increasing zhe price of retreat, eventually someone discovers zhey cannot afford it.”
The chairman asked: “So you recommend mobilization?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because zhat also adds weight.”
A quiet murmur.
Kimia looked toward the screen.
“I recommend deciding now what would cause mobilization.”
The chairman's face changed slightly.
Interest.
“Specific thresholds?”
“Yes.”
“Such as?”
Kimia had not planned this far.
Fine.
Think.
“Confirmed cross-border movement by organized regular formations.”
Someone made a note.
“Attacks against a Heart-recognized civilian or military installation attributable to a state actor.”
Another.
“Large-scale interruption of commercial transit by force.”
She paused.
“And probably more. Zhe military people can write zhe actual list better zhan me.”
A few smiles.
Kimia continued.
“But waiting until somezhing happens to decide what it means wastes time.”
The voivode beside her nodded once.
Tiny.
Approval.
The chairman asked: “Do you believe the present situation already meets any of those thresholds?”
“No.”
“Then your recommendation is preparation without mobilization.”
“Yes.”
Someone from Auhei requested recognition.
The silver-gray yinglet woman spoke.
“Your Grace, you've described deterioration as inevitable.”
“Likely.”
“You said will.”
Kimia caught it.
Good.
The woman had too.
Kimia corrected without defensiveness.
“I overstated certainty.”
The room went quiet in a different way.
Politicians did not always do that.
Kimia continued.
“I zhink deterioration is much more likely zhan stabilization under current conditions. I don't know zhat it's inevitable.”
The Auhei representative nodded.
“Zhank you.”
No attack.
Just precision.
Kimia appreciated her.
The chairman asked one final question.
“If no major intervention occurs, what do you expect within six months?”
Kimia thought of the rope again.
“An incident everyone initially insists is isolated.”
She waited.
“Zhen anozher.”
The microphone made her voice sound more authoritative than she felt.
“Zhen everyone arguing over which one actually started zhe crisis.”
Silence.
The chairman nodded.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Kimia switched off the microphone.
There.
Done.
Her heart beat hard. Her hands remained still.
The abattoir did not return.
The Diet continued.
More assessments. More questions.
Eventually Tilmuhl yielded the floor.
Not resolved.
Merely scheduled for further discussion.
The great televox screen changed.
Agricultural tariff alignment.
Kimia almost laughed aloud.
From impending regional war to crop subsidy calculations.
Civilization.
The remainder of the session became progressively less grim.
Rail standardization. A dispute over industrial electrical specifications between Dinnish manufacturers and Passage regulators. Shipping insurance. Water-right arbitration in Eastwall. A bizarre argument over whether certain preserved shellfish qualified as agricultural or maritime goods for tariff purposes.
Kimia remained attentive enough.
Mostly fit.
By late afternoon her mind had become tired in an ordinary way.
That was welcome.
The chairman finally announced adjournment.
Chairs moved.
Voices returned.
The institution dissolved temporarily back into people.
Kimia stood.
The yinglet Peshtulan hetman beside her looked over.
“Good rope.”
Kimia stared.
“Zhanks.”
He nodded and left.
That apparently concluded his review.
The voivode gathered his papers.
“You gave them thresholds.”
“Apparently.”
“Useful.”
“I made half of it up while talking.”
“That is how thresholds are born.”
He walked away.