One of the Councilmen stood up. "The President must be aware the entire planet is eager to end this waiting. All our activities for the past eighty years have been directed toward--" Reinhart moved close to the slender President of the Council. "If you don't approve the war, there probably will be mass rioting. Public reaction will be strong. Damn strong. And you know it." Margaret Duffe shot him a cold glance. "You sent out the emergency order to force my hand. You were fully aware of what you were doing. You knew once the order was out there'd be no stopping things." A murmur rushed through the Council, gaining volume. "We have to approve the war!... We're committed!... It's too late to turn back!" Shouts, angry voices, insistent waves of sound lapped around Margaret Duffe. "I'm as much for the war as anybody," she said sharply. "I'm only urging moderation. An inter-system war is a big thing. We're going to war because a machine says we have a statistical chance of winning." "There's no use starting the war unless we can win it," Reinhart said. "The SRB machines tell us whether we can win." "They tell us our _chance_ of winning. They don't guarantee anything." "What more can we ask, beside a good chance of winning?" Margaret Duffe clamped her jaw together tightly. "All right. I hear all the clamor. I won't stand in the way of Council approval. The vote can go ahead." Her cold, alert eyes appraised Reinhart. "Especially since the emergency order has already been sent out to all Government departments." "Good." Reinhart stepped away with relief. "Then it's settled. We can finally go ahead with full mobilization." Mobilization proceeded rapidly. The next forty-eight hours were alive with activity. Reinhart attended a policy-level Military briefing in the Council rooms, conducted by Fleet Commander Carleton. "You can see our strategy," Carleton said. He traced a diagram on the blackboard with a wave of his hand. "Sherikov states it'll take eight more days to complete the ftl bomb. During that time the fleet we have near the Centauran system will take up positions. As the bomb goes off the fleet will begin operations against the remaining Centauran ships. Many will no doubt survive the blast, but with Armun gone we should be able to handle them."