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on Avalon, the councillors had to look as though they were doing their jobs, even if it meant asking the same questions over and over again.  Compared to the Grand Senate, however, Ed had to admit they knew what they were doing.  But no clear decision could be taken until all the facts were exposed and dragged out into the light.
    “Deploying the CEF to Thule could be an open-ended commitment,” Councillor Travis said, when the last set of questions had faded away.  “Could you promise that the commitment would definitely be limited?”
    Ed shook his head.  “With all due respect, Councillor,” he said, “war is a democracy.  The enemy gets a vote.  If things went according to plan” – the hasty deployment plan he’d sketched out yesterday, after the request for help arrived – “the CEF would provide a stiffening force to assist the locals in holding their ground while new soldiers were trained to take the offensive.  Ideally, the deployment would take no more than a year.
    “ However , nothing ever goes quite according to plan.  We can expect the rebels to understand what we are doing” – for more reasons than one, he admitted in the privacy of his own head –“and to work to counter it.  Even with our ... political advantages, we would still find it an uphill slog if the rebels oppose us at every turn.  The deployment could last much longer than a year.”
    “The young men would be away from home for years ,” Councillor Stevens said.
    Ed felt his temper flare, but he kept it in check.  “Councillor,” he said instead, “every soldier in the CEF knows that service away from Avalon is a possibility.  The units attached to the CEF were built specifically for speedy deployment.  Their personnel were told, when they were offered their choice of assignments, that they might be spending years away from home.  They volunteered for the assignments, regardless.”
    Councillor Travis spoke, quickly.  “You do not feel that we should establish a hard limit on deployment time?  Or on our commitment?  I must note that your war against the bandits and the Crackers resulted in victory in less than a year.”
    “In the bedchamber,” someone muttered from the audience.
    Ed felt the back of his neck heat, but refused to look round.  “There are some similarities, I will admit, between Thule and Avalon, under the old Council,” he said.  “However, the problems on Avalon admitted of a simple solution, once the old Council was removed from power.  Eliminating debt-peonage alone, Councillor, ensured that hundreds of thousands of settlers could claim their democratic rights.  The Crackers no longer needed to fight to accomplish their aims.  And, unlike many insurgent groups, the Crackers were actually rational .
    “In short, we could forge a political consensus that provided a long-term solution to Avalon’s problems.  And we did.
    “On Thule, however, there are many other problems.  The population is considerably larger, there is a large supporting base for the government – and, to be fair, the government is not driven by a desire for personal power.  There is a political solution already, Councillor; the local government merely needs to hold on long enough to implement the solution.  And we have a commitment to support them.”
    He took a breath, then continued.  “Insurgencies can be very difficult to destroy,” he admitted.  “If we tell the insurgents that our deployment will last no longer than five years, they will pull in their horns and outwait us.  We may be successful in building up the local government to the point it can handle the insurgency on its own – or we may not.  If we fail, the insurgency will resume operations as soon as we pull out.”
    The thought reminded him of far too many operations carried out at the Grand Senate’s behest.  Some problems could have been nipped in the bud, if the Grand Senate had been willing to make a commitment in time.