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"Fine Talk," he co, he found his seat again He leaned back, feeling stronger with the drink in his hand "You’ve gone to all this trouble, after all It’d be a shanature But I don’t care if you surprise ood, or I e around to Justice Chase’s house The impolite hour be damned"

"Very well, and thank you," she said, and the othernearer to the tense little axis of dra me your time and your attention And second, I ements which have made my visit possible"

Grant, out of patience and full of drink, interjected, "I hope ‘third’ brings us to the point"

"Third," she continued, as if she hadn’t heard the naked irritation in his voice, "I a the war, and I don’t want to go doith it I’m not altruistic, and by your definition I absolutely a to hide, because all I want is to protect myself I want to survive the fall of the Confederacy, and whatever comes after it"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Jeru, and I do it well; indeed, this is so that Mr Fowler and I have in common--a deep-seated belief that in the midst of any difficulty, there is a compromise to be found that will benefit all parties"

"So what do you bring to the table, Miss Haymes?" Grant asked, because he knew better than anyone that political bargaining was just another way of saying "ga the end of your war--thanks to a weapon the likes of which the world has not yet seen"

"We’ve already got one of those--a subineers are having a devil of a ti: It could end the war, reestablish the Anaconda plan, choke off their supplies at last"

A flicker of annoyance shadowed Haymes’s brow "I’ve heard of this machine The papers say it’s a modern marvel, and I have no reason to disbelieve them But if I understand correctly, you can barely pilot the craft at all, and there’s only the one prototype If you’re very lucky, you’ll ‘choke them off,’ as you put it, within another year or two at best More likely three or four, if you ask , and that was the only reason Grant didn’t interrupt

Since no one else interrupted, either, she went on "I can bring you so tested, proven, and catastrophic--sole battle, if the battle is chosen wisely Or a single target, depending on your personal commitment to the war’s conclusion

"I will provide you with this weapon, and it will cost you nothing"

"Oh, it’ll cost us so you value," she clarified "I ask for a from the Rossville incident in 1878, so that when the Union is ulties, no threats--just the chance to begin again"

"Without a cloud hanging over you?" Simms asked, al "That’s what it was, am I correct? Or that’s how I’ve heard it described"

Grant didn’t have tias, used on our soldiers One witness said it looked like an enorh to settle across the compound and kill everyone who breathed it"

Without soof her eyes, Katharine Haymes replied, "Not a bad assessment That is what it looks like to the uninformed observer, yes--a yellow cloud But whatever it looks like, Fort Chattanooga demanded a field test, and you can’t seriously think that they would allow me to test it on Confederate soldiers They were the ones who decided to use prisoners, not raph wires, they needed someone to blame for the breach in wartined with my money, in my factory, with my scientists and developers My naoat"

The president found it very difficult to believe that this wooat; she struck him as the kind of person who used other people, not the reverse But she was a woman, it was true; and she was a woman with money, and he’d known plenty of men who didn’t like that combination He mustered a small sliver of doubt, only to feel it wither and crumble

She continued: "I know all too hat the Union thinks of me now, but none of it was my call I want to make clear that I’m an ally, and I was an American before I was ever declared a Confederate That’s why I’hed, and made a visible effort to soften herself "As you must know, it can be difficult for an unmarried woman to survive in this world, in this war While my father was alive, I could rely on him--never my mother, who passed ahen I was a child So you see? I’ve been alone, without guidance or protection for all of my life And I’ll be the first to admit I’ve made mistakes Plenty of them, if you want the truth But I refuse to allow this one to haunt h the reconstruction of ht for ht for my country: the United States of Ao to prison" He looked down at his glass It was ele s

"Take it as you like But I’d like to throeight behind the Union, if the Union will have ht if you’ll let e of the project, or if you’ll allow Mr Fowler to pursue it on my behalf, with my assistance"

"That’s a bold claim" The way Grant said it was just short of an accusation She couldn’t possibly do any such thing Could she?

"It’s a bold program" She patted Desmond Fowler’s hand "And it’s a bold man you have on your tea--I could arrange for a demonstration, perhaps Not soldiers, of course," she specified "Maybe dogs, or horses, or--"