The "Quintet" was the unofficial name given to a group of five senior bureaucratic officials of the Solarian League who, due to the power of the bureaucracies they served and the limited powers of the representative and political bodies, were the League's real policymakers.
As of approximately 1920 PD, the members of the Quintet and their offices were:
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs — Innokentiy Kolokoltsov
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of the Interior — Nathan MacArtney
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of the Treasury — Agatá Wodoslawski
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of Commerce — Omosupe Quartermain
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of Education and Information — Malachai Abruzzi
Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Rajampet Rajani was the unofficial sixth member of the group, though the other five did not consider him so, which he resented.
The Solarian League Navy was only included when direct military force was required.
In many respects the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs usually served as the group's de facto coordinator. (SI2)
They were known as the Mandarins, a word from the Chinese language that referenced the bureaucracy of the Chinese empire on Earth. It was Audrey O'Hanrahan who first called them that. (HH13)