Kaunas sat under a cold gray sky, its river frozen at the edges, its streets quiet in the morning frost.
In the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys stood at the window with a telegram in one hand and silence hanging in the air behind him.
He turned, finally, to face the two aides waiting.
"Summon the cabinet," he said simply. "And ask the president to join us."
By the time the ministers assembled in the main council room, the table was already full with papers and nervous glances.
Defense Minister Stasys Raštikis sat stiffly in uniform. Finance Minister Tallat-Kelpša tapped his pen constantly.
Only President Antanas Smetona appeared calm or practiced enough to look it.
Urbšys began without preface.
"Warsaw is preparing to act. Not militarily. Not yet. But politically. I received confirmation last night through our contacts in Berlin. Poland intends to issue us an ultimatum within the week."
The room stilled.
