After Diethard finished speaking, even he thought that had been a rather fine line.
Whether this conversation was later edited into his biography or used by some political enemy as proof that he had been born a traitor, it had all the dramatic weight it needed.
Kessler offered no comment on his behavior. He merely raised a hand toward the people behind him.
Two secretaries immediately wheeled over three carts piled with documents. The first held catalogs of off-site backups of the Kashgar Campaign's original footage, confirmations of international rebroadcasting rights, and humanity's planetary defense communications plan for the next eighteen months; the second held personnel relationship charts for Area 11's civilian television networks, Britannian commercial media, E.U. Free Broadcasting, and India's local-language channels; the third was even more direct, containing public résumés, internal faction breakdowns, and lists of accessible contacts for the Area 11 Governor-General's Office's propaganda department, the imperial Colonial Affairs General Bureau, several major newspaper conglomerates in Pendragon, the Royal Family's channel, and military censorship agencies.
The composure that had only just returned to Diethard's face froze solid.
Kessler placed the first volume of the master work plan in front of him.
"Great Han's Total War Mobilization Committee requires you to complete the preliminary integration of the multilingual Common Defense broadcasting system within thirty days, establish long-term monitoring programs for anomalies on the Lunar Surface and Mars within sixty days, and connect public opinion monitoring in Area 11, the Britannian homeland, and the E.U.'s major cities to the Luoyang analysis center within ninety days."
Diethard slowly turned to the next page.
"Wait. Why does this also include intelligence work involving confidential interview sources, commercial advertising agents, military family associations, retired officers' clubs, and Royal Family charities?"
"Those are a few minor tasks that come with being the