empty words. Your President doesn’t fool me, nor will he fool Canada. We would have stood with you to the end. Now, now you have abandoned us, and still, you expect us to fight for you and die.”
Anna sat back in defeat. Her stomach knotted. This was terrible. She knew a hard moment of bitterness and words spilled out of her. “You waited too long to join the fight, Mr. Prime Minister. Canada waited when it should have joined us from the beginning so it would have never come to this.”
He looked at her wide-eyed. “On top of everything else, you will berate me?”
“Yes,” she heard herself say.
His mouth opened, and he blinked at her with astonishment.
“Act now,” she said. “Take a risk with us and we will rejoice together in another year or two.”
“In another two years, there will be no more Canada nor will there be a United States. We will all be thralls of the Germans and the Chinese.”
“Then take a risk,” she said.
Prime Minister Roland bit his lower lip. “We’re not able to stop the Germans, not if you don’t help. I will have to mass the Canadian Army on the Ontario-Quebec border. Then I will have to travel to Beijing and see if the Chinese will still accept our neutrality.”
“I wish you would have faith in us, Prime Minister. As long as you’re giving the Germans Quebec—”
“I will have to ask you to leave,” the Prime Minister said. “This…capitulation to blackmail, it makes me sick. Tell the President we will stand with America if you stand with us. But if you agree to the Germans taking Quebec, we will realize that you have abandoned us. In that case, Canada will have to seek out its own future.”
Anna blinked back tears. Was this it? Had Chancellor Kleist shattered America’s last alliance through diabolical trickery? No, she couldn’t leave it like this.
She stood, and she came around the Prime Minister’s desk. She wore a black dress. It showed her legs to good effect. She reached out, and she could see his surprise.
“This is highly unusual,” Roland said. “I will summon my security officers.”
“Prime Minster,” Anna said, taking one of his long-fingered hands in hers. She clutched his fingers, and she knelt on her stocking knees. She noticed his gaze flicker to her cleavage.
“This is the moment of gravity for each of our nations,” she said. “Canada and the United States have long been the firmest friends. We have the longest demilitarized border in the world. We are each other’s best trading partner. Many of our best scientists are Canadians. We defeated the Chinese together in Alaska. We can do the same here. What I’m asking you, sir, is to trust us. The President’s back is against the wall. We are on the verge of defeat. But I want to assure you, Prime Minster, that we mean to defeat the Chinese utterly. We will hand them such a staggering loss that it will restore the US power in North America. We need Canada. We need those hard-fighting troops of yours to stand with ours. Only then can we hope to achieve a reversal that gives us both our precious freedom. I beg you, Prime Minister, stand with us. If ever there was a moment in American history where we needed Canada’s help, this is it.”
Prime Minister Roland swallowed audibly. He stared into Anna’s eyes. “You…you are very compelling, my dear.”
“I believe in my President, sir, and I love my country.”
“Please,” he said. “Sit down. This is—this is unbecoming for the two of us.”
Anna climbed to her feet, looking down at him. She squeezed his hand before letting go. Then she returned to her chair, demurely sitting.
The Prime Minister took out the white handkerchief in his breast pocket and mopped his shiny forehead. “I-I don’t know how to respond to such a…” He waved his hand.
“Sir, trust us. Trust David Sims. He knows how to defeat the Chinese. He did it in Alaska and he did it again in California. This is a bigger war, so he needs more time. But he will do it in the end.”
“I have witnessed his successes. But can your President also defeat the Germans in Quebec?”
That was a good question. But instead of telling the Prime Minister that, Anna said with a demure smile, “Let us deal with one enemy at a time, sir, one enemy at a time.”
“Hmm, maybe you—or your President—has the right idea in that.”