Spinneret

"Excuse me, Mr. Msuya, but I had no independent confirmation of that fact,"

Meredith countered. "As I explained then, such orders or authorizations had to come through the holder of the mandate, namely the United States government."

He glanced at Carmen, got a small confirming nod. "Now, as to providing Earth with cable, we're perfectly willing to do so once we figure out the best way to move it through hyper-space."

"Free of charge?" Msuya asked.

"At the very least, we'll need to be supplied with the equivalent mass in other metals—all of our customers will need to do that much. As for the price … we haven't decided on such terms yet."

"I see nothing requiring any decisions," Msuya said. "Astra is UN territory; we should not have to pay for what is already ours."

"Iowa is a state of the U.S.," Meredith shrugged, "but its farmers don't give their grain away free."

Msuya arched his eyebrows. "I believe I said Astra was UN territory, not part of the U.S. Unless there is some unilateral agreement here I'm unaware of?"

"No, of course not," Allerton said, throwing an a

"Colonel Meredith was merely making an analogy."

And a damn stupid one, too, Meredith berated himself. Msuya had a strong enough case without having extra ammunition hand-delivered to him. At his left Hafner shifted in his chair, and on his far right Perez muttered something inaudible.

"I see," Msuya said, his tone making it clear the point was merely being postponed until later. "That of course leads directly into the whole question of trade agreements and your authority to make them. Do you deny you're offering UN

property—namely Spi

Meredith took a deep breath—and Carmen stepped unexpectedly into the brief pause. "It seems to me, Mr. Msuya, that we've kept very strictly to our legal duties, which I'll point out include both development and defense of the Astran colony. We're currently being orbited by ships of six alien races, more than half of them fully equipped warships. Do you have any idea what they could do if they thought we wanted to keep all of the Spi

"You fought off the M'zarch attack well enough."

"Through a combination of our luck and their ignorance," Meredith said. "Miss Olivero is correct: the only way to keep our neighbors peaceful is to make sure they see immediate benefits for doing so."

"So you're saying these offers of cable are basically fraudulent?" Msuya asked.

"Absolutely not," Meredith said. "Or would you have the human race stuck with a reputation as swindlers?"

"In other words, the UN had better rubberstamp your deals or else."

He was pushing hard to get Meredith into a corner; and Meredith was starting to get tired of it. "If you reject them you'd better be prepared to explain why we, as what the Rooshrike call an equal-status colony, are not permitted to make local trade arrangements. You'd better also be prepared to start any diplomatic overtures back at square one, in that event."

"All right, then"—Msuya switched tracks smoothly—"as long as you've brought it up, what about this alleged trade agreement with the Rooshrike? Or were you unaware that the UN has an exclusive contract with the Ctencri?"

"If you'll recall, Mr. Msuya, you ended your last visit to Astra by threatening us with total embargo of food and supplies," Meredith reminded him. "You made it abundantly clear that we would starve. As Miss Olivero pointed out, I had an obligation to protect Astra. Opening up an independent supply line seems to me to come under that heading."

He had the satisfaction of seeing the other frown with surprise; apparently that wasn't a defense he'd expected. "You can't protect your colony against its owners," he growled at last. "That's a completely ridiculous argument."

"Perhaps," Meredith shrugged. "But I have yet to see any proof that these threats and orders are the genuine will of the UN. It could just as easily be that the Ctencri are threatening Earth with an embargo of its own unless the UN obeys its orders in this matter."

Msuya stared at him for a moment, his jaw working with either rage or frustration.

Then, leaning back in his chair, he gave Meredith a cold smile. "You dance exceedingly well, Colonel, especially for a military man. Let's see if you can dance out of this." He waved a negligent hand toward Allerton. "Mr. President?"

Allerton had the look of a bad toothache on his face. But his voice was firm enough. "Colonel Meredith, as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, I order you to comply fully with any and all instructions Mr. Msuya may give you concerning the Spi

Meredith pursed his lips, trying hard to think. "Has the U.S. mandate been rescinded, then?" he asked in an effort to gain time.

"No, you're still in command of the colony itself. It's only the Spi

"I see." So we've knuckled under to threats of embargo, he thought bitterly.

"Suppose I refuse?"

Allerton didn't bat an eye, "Then you'd be relieved of duties and brought back to the States aboard the UN ship."

Meredith nodded slowly. "Which means you brought my potential successor along with you. May I ask who he is?"

"You'll be replaced by General Benigno Sandoval of the People's Republic of the Philippines," Msuya spoke up. "And, yes, he is aboard the main ship."

At his left, Hafner stirred. "May I ask, Mr. Msuya, just what you'll do with the Spi

Msuya's eyes hardened briefly at the if. "We'll be continuing your work, mainly: learning about the equipment and how to use it."

"With all this knowledge going exclusively to the UN, as opposed to all the world's governments?"

"Primarily. We couldn't risk the leak of sensitive material to die aliens."

"I see." Hafner paused. "And the cable, too, would be UN property, I suppose.

How would it be distributed to countries who want to, say, build suspension bridges with it? Free, or would you charge for it?"

"I don't see that as any of your business," Msuya told him bluntly.

"Oh, but it is," Perez spoke up. "You see, whoever is giving the orders is going to need Dr. Hafner and myself to escort all of his workers into the Spi

"Really." Msuya favored him with a patronizing smile. "Some local union regulation, I suppose?"

"No," Perez countered tartly. "More a matter of continued breathing."

Msuya snorted. "If you mean to threaten us—"

"Not at all. If you'll permit me, I'd like to explain about the things we call Gorgon's Heads." In a few crisp sentences Perez described the Spi

Msuya studied him, his eyes flicking briefly to Meredith and Hafner as well.

Meredith held his peace, trying to figure out what exactly Perez was angling for.

A UN commitment to the expanded immigration the Hispanic wanted? Or was it something more basic—personal power in the new Astran regime, perhaps?

Msuya might have been reading his mind. "I think I can assure you, Mr.

Perez—and you also, Dr. Hafner—that we'll take every step necessary to make sure the Spi