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"Do you know all the details?" Fullea asked after a moment's pause.
"You could say I have a firm academic grasp of them," O'Casey replied with a smile. "One point about it-whatever system you use, you really need to have either unlimited suffrage or citizenship through service. Muzzling half your population won't work as technology advances."
"You're speaking of giving women political power," Tre said.
"Yep."
The nobleman glanced over at his di
"While there are certainly individuals ..."
"Oh, shut up, Sam," the widow said tartly. "There was no reason-outside of some truly stupid laws written by men-why Tareim should have inherited, and he squandered it all until I forced him to give it back. And there are other women who could do just as well as I did-possibly better."
"But few are prepared for it, or able for that matter," the nobleman argued.
"How do you know until you try?" O'Casey asked. "I've heard this argument throughout this entire journey, but look at K'Vaern's Cove."
"Well, the Cove isn't necessarily what we'd want to become," Fullea said. "But it is a good argument and case in point."
"You're going to need them as a work force," Matsugae told the nobleman. "And I think they'd probably surprise you. I've worked with women from many of your people's societies on this trek, and almost all of them were more than their men were willing to admit. Even the 'open-minded' ones," he added.
"Ayiee. I get your point." Tre picked up one of the overcooked tubers. "But I'm definitely choosing the restaurant next time."
"All of this is extremely interesting, and probably valuable, but doing anything about it depends on retaking D'Sley," Fullea pointed out.
"What we don't have is the funds to hire enough mercenaries to do that," Tre said with a sigh. "Even if there were enough mercenaries in the entire world."
"So you have to convince K'Vaern's Cove that it's vital to them," O'Casey countered. "Everyone seems to agree that if the Boman squat on the resources, K'Vaern's Cove is going to wither away. So why aren't they taking the fight to the Boman?"
"Because the Boman have smashed every army that's dared to face them." Tre made a gesture of resignation. "They far outnumber the K'Vaernian Guard, and this branch, at least, is ably led. Leaving the walls would be suicide."
"And you don't have the traditions, techniques, or tactics for conscript armies, so there's no structure to allow for rapidly increasing the size of the Guard," O'Casey said, nodding in understanding.
"But all of those are easy enough to get," Matsugae put in. "Right?"
"If you're willing to pay the political cost," the historian agreed. "But for that to happen, someone with a significant political base has to see the light."
"I think that you'll find it difficult to have ships commissioned under the current conditions," Fullea said. "And you have some political capital."
"No," O'Casey corrected gently. "Rus From and Bogess have some political capital, and we've given them sufficient information to be able to take the fight to the Boman. Perhaps the wrong people are having this di
"No," Fullea retorted flatly. "Neither Bogess nor Rus From show a clear understanding of the techniques and technologies you've given them. It's unfortunately clear that they're still feeling their own way into adapting to these new ways of war, and because it is, the K'Vaernians are understandably reluctant to depend on them. They won't follow the direction of Bogess in the field the way that they would your Captain Pahner, who Bogess has told them is a military genius."
"Captain Pahner is very good," O'Casey said with a smile, "but not a genius. He does have that ability to stay calm in a crisis which is critical in a military commander, but generally he draws on historical background to fight his battles. 'Genius' implies i
"But Bogess doesn't know the same history," Tre observed shrewdly. "Does he?"
"No."
"There you go."
"Fullea, Sam Tre," O'Casey said, "I understand your desire, but we have a schedule to keep. We must keep that schedule, and we're already far behind where we need to be. We can't dally in K'Vaern's Cove to help you fight your battles, and we most especially are not going to fight the Boman for you. We're not mercenaries."
"What would it take to convince you to help?" Fullea asked. "Besides a decent di
Eleanora smiled faintly. "I'm not the person who makes those decisions, and if I told you anything it would be the minimum requirements for us to consider assisting."
"Understood," Tre told her. "And those minimum requirements are?"
"We'd require more information about the Boman, their location, and numbers. We'd require a real plan, and the wholehearted support of K'Vaern's Cove, and that would have to include full support for the building of our ships and the outfitting of the army. We'd need to ride roughshod over some of the largest businesses in the city, and they'd have to take it and smile."
Tre winced and sat back, but Fullea remained leaning forward, all four hands clasped, as still and calm as a Vedic statue.
"And if all those requirements were met?"
"Impossible!" Tre exclaimed. "The K'Vaernians just aren't like that!"
"And if all those requirements were met?" the widow repeated.
"If all of them were met, Pahner would consider it," Matsugae said. "Especially if the campaign took no longer than building the ships did."
"There's no way to guarantee that," Tre said firmly.
"No, but by the time the ships were finished he'd have been able to train someone else and help them develop the experience and knowledge to take over," O'Casey pointed out. "And by then either the Boman would've been pretty well shattered or else they'd be at the walls."
"So we have to get the whole Council behind it?" the widow asked. "I can see getting most of them ..."
"Even more important, you have to get the whole body of the citizenry behind it," O'Casey clarified. "Not because they control the Council, but because they'd have to work willingly for the cause."
"Do you have any ideas about that?" Fullea asked, taking a sip of wine.
It's not going to be a short di