Shadow of the giant

aggressively
pursuing an expansionist policy. He says that's not his intent, but he'll
certainly end up doing it because he'll have no choice."
    They didn't like hearing this, but they kept listening.
    "Armenia will fight Caliph Alai sooner or later. The
question is whether you'll do it now, while I still lead the forces of the FPE
in your defense, or later, when you stand utterly alone against overwhelming
force."
    "Either way, Armenia will pay," said the President
grimly.
    "War is unpredictable," said Bean. "And the
costs are high. But we didn't put Armenia where it is, surrounded by
Muslims."
    "God did," said the President. "So we try not
to complain."
    "Why can't Israel be your provocation?" asked the
Prime Minister. "They are militarily much stronger than we are."
    "The opposite is true," said Bean.
"Geographically their position is and always has been hopeless. And they
have integrated so closely with the Muslim nations surrounding them that if
they now joined the FPE, the Muslims would feel deeply betrayed. Their fury
would be terrible, and we could not defend them. While you—let's just say that
over the centuries, Muslims have slaughtered more Armenians than they ever did
Jews. They hate you, they regard you as a terrible intrusion into their lands,
even though you were here long before any Turks came out of central Asia.
There's a burden of guilt along with the hatred. And for you to join the FPE
would infuriate them, yes, but they wouldn't feel betrayed."
    "These nuances are beyond me," said the President
skeptically.
    "They make an enormous difference in the way an army
fights. Armenia is vital to forcing Alai to act before he's ready. Right now
the union with India is still merely formal, not a fact on the ground. It's a
marriage, not a family."
    "You don't need to quote Lincoln to me."
    Petra inwardly winced. The quote about "a marriage, not
a family" did not come from Lincoln at all. It came from one of her own
Martel essays. It was a bad sign if people were getting Lincoln and Martel
confused. But of course it was better not to correct the misattribution, lest
it appear that she was way too familiar with the works of Martel and Lincoln.
    "We stand where we've stood for weeks," said the
President. "Armenia is being asked too much."
    "I agree," said Bean. "But keep in mind that
we're asking. When the Muslims finally decide that Armenia shouldn't exist,
they won't ask."
    The president pressed his fingers to his forehead. It was a
gesture that Petra called "drilling for brains." "How can we
hold a plebiscite?" he asked.
    "It's precisely the plebiscite that we need."
    "Why? What does this do for you militarily except
overextend your forces and draw off a relatively small part of the Caliph's
armies?
    "I know Alai," said Bean. "He won't want to
attack Armenia. The terrain here is a nightmare for a serious campaigning. You
constitute no serious threat. Attacking Armenia makes no sense at all."
    "So we won't be attacked?"
    "You will absolutely be attacked."
    "You're too subtle for us," said the Prime
Minister.
    Petra smiled. "My husband is not subtle. The point is
so obvious that you think it couldn't be this that he means. Alai will not
attack. But Muslims will attack. It will force his hand. If he refuses to
attack, but other Muslims do attack, then the leadership of the jihad moves
away from him to someone else. Whether he strikes down these freelance
attackers or not, the Muslim world is divided and two leaders compete."
    The President was no fool. "You have higher hopes than
this," he said.
    "All warriors are filled with hope," said Bean.
"But I understand your lack of trust in me. For me it's the great game.
But for you, it's your homes, your families. That's why we wanted to meet here.
To assure you that it is our home and our family as well."
    "To sit and wait for the enemy to act is the decision
to die," said Petra. "We ask Armenia to make this sacrifice and take
this risk because if you don't, then Armenia is doomed. But if you join the
Free People of Earth, then Armenia will have the most powerful defense."
    "And what will that defense consist of?"
    "Me," said Petra.
    "A nursing mother?" asked the Prime Minister.
    "The Armenian member of Ender's Jeesh," she
answered. "I will command the Armenian forces."
    "Our mountain goddess versus the goddess of
India," said the Foreign Minister.
    "This is a Christian nation," said Father.
"And my daughter is no goddess."
    "I was joking," said Father's