Spinneret

The first speaker covered his eyes briefly with the backs of his hands. "I do not object; I merely caution. The subtleties of alien minds are still new to me."

"Do not grovel," the Senior Commander admonished sharply. "Coward's Advocate carries rights as well as duties. No one may challenge you for what you say—but you must not then leave that role."

A startled expression passed over the other's face, replaced quickly by dismay, and the Senior Commander permitted himself a moment of satisfied amusement.

Coward's Advocate was always the hardest Command position to fill, but it was usually possible to trap newcomers into it in precisely the way he had just done.

By the time the new Coward's Advocate had built his clan's power to the point where he could withstand any challenges his role might retroactively bring him, there was bound to be someone else the duty could be maneuvered onto.

The moment passed, and it was back to business. "You and you," he said, gesturing to the two most powerful Clan Commanders. "One warship each.

You—" he indicated a third—"a heavy troop carrier. Each clan to provide a company/ minor. Rendezvous at Kylisz Outpost in ten days; assault launch in eleven. Question?" He looked at the new Coward's Advocate, but the latter remained silent. "Then we are dismissed."

Chapter 12

Dr. Simon Chang had a round face, an almost equally round body, and a naturally su

Meredith had to agree. Though much of the cable had acquired a heavy layer of dust, a six-meter length near one end had wound up in a nearly vertical position, its own weight having since bent it into a shiny quarter-circle. At the very tip were the remnants of the cords that had once co

"I don't doubt it." Chang tore his eyes away long enough to glance around the warehouse-sized shelter that had been erected around the landing site. "But we've brought a good deal of specialized equipment with us. What have you learned so far?"

Meredith beckoned to a harried-looking officer. "Captain Witzany, Corps of Engineers," the colonel introduced him. "His people are the closest thing to materials specialists we have. Captain, tell Dr. Chang what you've got."

"Very little, I'm afraid." Witzany gestured to something that looked like a giant vise. "We know now that its tensile strength beats that of a graphite-epoxy bar by at least a factor of three, but that was the limit of our jury-rig. The glue—or whatever— doesn't seem to bond appreciably to liquids or gasses, but it really does extend a few centimeters into any solid material that contacts it."

"Does the effect begin before contact is made?"

"No, sir. It's not like a magnet starting to attract iron, if that's what you mean."

Chang nodded thoughtfully. "Have you learned anything more about its electrical properties? The preliminary report was rather self-contradictory."

"That's the cable's fault, not ours," Witzany replied. "It's a very all-or-nothing sort of material: either insulates or superconducts, but nothing in between. Based on that, we're guessing that if we ever do break it, it'll snap without stretching first."

"When we break it," Chang corrected mildly. "Have you done any tests on the emission spectrum when you heat it? I know it becomes superconducting, but the heat has to come out somewhere."

"We did that, sir—it took three days of continuous heating to get it hot enough, but we managed it. The spectrum centers mainly in the red and infrared, of course."

"That should be good enough." Chang looked at Meredith. "From that we should be able to get some idea as to its composition."

"I wish you luck, Doctor," Meredith said. "I don't believe Captain Witzany's team has been able to match up any significant section of the spectrum with known elements or compounds."

Chang waved that aside. "I think my library will be adequate to the task. I'd like two clear copies of the spectrum and some computer time as soon as possible."

Something sour flickered for a moment in Witzany's eyes. "Yes, sir," he said. "I'll be happy to give you any assistance you need—"

"Won't be necessary, thanks," Chang told him. "My staff and I can handle things from now on. Just give us all the data you've got and then you'll be free to return to your other duties."

This time the look in Witzany's eyes lasted long enough for Meredith to identify it. After sweating over the cable for a month and a half it was suddenly and casually being taken away from him, and he didn't like that at all.

Neither, Meredith suddenly realized, did he. Astra was finally getting the official attention it deserved—but in a way, it served mainly to remind him of the lukewarm support they'd been given up until now.

Witzany nodded toward Meredith. "Colonel Meredith has classified all our reports. I'll need his written authorization before I can turn them over to you."

"Don't be absurd, Captain—I have both Congressional and Joint Chiefs clearance to examine anything on Astra I want to."

"Of course, Doctor," Meredith interjected. "It's just a formality, but a necessary one. It'll just take a few minutes."

"Colonel—"

Meredith cut off Chang's protest with an upraised hand as his phone buzzed.

"Excuse me," he said, and answered it.

It was Major Brown at Martello. "Colonel, we've got a Rooshrike spacecraft approaching. Says he's Beaeki mil Dies na—the one who visited right after we arrived—and that he wants to land and talk with you."

Meredith felt his eyes narrowing. "About what?"

"I don't know. But he's being very polite."

Meredith focused on Chang. "Can you put me through to the Pathfinder on a tight beam? I want Captain Radford."

"Just a minute, sir."

Chang took a step toward Meredith. "Is anything wrong?"

"I don't know yet," the colonel told him shortly.

There was a crackle and Radford's voice came from the phone. "Radford here.

What's up, Colonel?"

"Had anyone on Earth leaked news of our cable before you left?" Meredith asked.

"Specifically, had they leaked it to the Ctencri or the other aliens?"

"As far as I know, it was still a dead-dark secret," Radford said slowly. "Why would you think … the Rooshrike ship?"

"Yeah. I find the timing highly suspicious, given they've been ignoring Astra entirely for the past three months."

There was a short silence. "I thought the idea of bringing the cable down there was to keep anyone from trying to filch it."

"It was." Meredith let his breath out in a hiss, tapped a button on his phone.

"Brown?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"I want you to patch me through to the Rooshrike. You and Captain Radford are to listen in and make recordings of the conversation. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Give me a second to set up the tamper-proof recorder," Radford added.

Meredith was suddenly aware that all activity and conversation in the cable shelter had ceased. Chang was looking slightly befuddled; but Witzany and his assistants had nothing of uncertainty in their expressions. They knew something was up.

The phone beeped. "You're through, Colonel; go ahead," Brown told him: Meredith brought the phone a bit closer to his mouth. "This is Colonel Lloyd Meredith. I'd like to speak to Beaeki nul Dies na."