TGoaW-46

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==Chapter 46 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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"I'm glad you...
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..read me in on this." Regent James Stonecipher's loyalty was still to the Davion side of the Federated Commonwealth, but he'd developed an affection for Kowloon's ducal family. This to the world here, that he wouldn't have predicted four or five years ago.
That affection actually made his job much, much, easier. "You're right to gather the reserves and begin drills, but one world won't make a difference, Elizbeth."
"So you agree this is a real threat?"
"I think they haven't shown their whole hand." He asserted. "This isn't like those paranoids in the Concordat, and ti's not like those psychotics in the Confederation. I'll endorse your idea, but we're going to need more than just the idea, you need an actual strategy."
"Class time?" Liz winced.
"Not for you. You're banned from military service, including Militia. You should be glad-war isn't all glory like the holovids pretend...but it does not mean you don't have a role to play." he explained, "No army has ever successfully defended without supplies, Elizabeth."
"IF you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to use it, right?" she asked.
"Bingo. It's more useful to ramp up your production, than it is to ramp up your combat effectives-you need the logistics to support it, before you can afford to build it bigger, larger armies without supplies are just large problems."
"So..."
"SO, you can't afford to take anyone off the production lines." He told her, "You need to be expanding those production lines ahead of your potential needs...and that costs money."
"You want me to ask Kelli to lift Grandfather's ban."
"Yeah." he said, "You NEED the hard currency, the realms need the additional capacity, and unity is always better than division when a new threat appears. I would be asking Henry, but he's in the Academy, and Patrick, I believe, will agree with me that Ngo Industries needs to open markets to tie the realms together...but the company is YOUR inheritance, and I'm not the kind of man who steals from little girls, so you need to make the choice even young as you are-or at least, as a minor, you need to learn how to understand the choices I'm going to ask Ms. Whyte to make on your behalf. After all, you'll be eighteen in five years, and you might not agree, but at least if you disagree. You'll know WHY you disagree. do you understand?"
"I...think so?" Elizabeth expressed doubt, "Tabby thinks Grandfather's ban is poor strategy, but she also thinks I need to know more."
"Learning is part of growing, Elizabeth. My late sons died in the fourth war, and Joseph, at least, died because he thought he knew it all, when he didn't. Learning is continuous."
she bit her lip. "Tabby says 'we've forgotten so many things we don't have names for them anymore'."
"The AI is completely correct." James told her, "I thought I knew more than I think I do today, when I arrived here."
"I'll...tell Ms. Whyte I agree with ending the embargo on the Federated Suns industrial market." Elizabeth said hesitantly. "We'll expand service and sales to that side...do you have suggestions for who we should approach?"
"I am sure the Archon, or the First Prince, can give you direction on that score, Elizabeth. Personally, I would suggest looking into under-developed markets like my home region of Filtvelt, but that's more sympathy and sentiment than pragmatism. Be Pragmatic, and have your legal department go over every offer with a fine tooth comb, as honorable as my friends back there are, they're also looking out for their own people first-don't forget that."
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