Spinneret

"An interesting offer." Perez leaned forward to look past Carmen at Meredith. "I must apologize to Colonel Meredith though—I don't believe he had finished his discussion with you and President Allerton. Colonel?—the floor is yours."

Meredith gazed at Perez's face for a heartbeat before turning back to Allerton.

What is he up to? He's got Msuya's offer—why turn the conversation back to me?

Just to see if I'll go ahead and hang myself?

"Actually, we were about finished," Allerton said. He, too, was looking at Meredith … and his intense expression was nearly a duplicate of Perez's. "The colonel will be turning over Spi

Meredith braced himself. All right, you ghouls, here I go. Watch me twist in the wind. "No, sir, I will not," he said. "I don't feel Mr. Msuya or any other UN

official can handle the Spi

"Then you're relieved of all duty," Msuya said, the satisfaction in his voice unmistakable. "General Sandoval can be down in an hour; until then—"

"One moment, sir," Perez interrupted mildly. "I don't believe the Council's been consulted on whether General Sandoval would be an acceptable replacement for Colonel Meredith."

Msuya stared at him. "What are you talking about? Who the UN appoints to oversee its territory is its own business."

Perez looked at Carmen. "Miss Olivero, I submit such an attitude toward a duly elected assembly indicates the UN's unfitness to properly manage the Spi

"I agree," she said, a slight tremolo in her voice betraying her tension. "Mr.

President; Mr. Msuya—pending an official vote, the Astran Council tentatively rejects Colonel Meredith's replacement."

"What sort of nonsense is this?" Msuya snorted. "Meredith is leaving Astra and that's final. If you don't like it you can send a protest to General Sandoval through one of his troops."

"'Troops'?" Hafner asked. "So now you're bringing in occupation—"

Meredith silenced him with a gesture. "Miss Olivero is right," he said quietly. "I'm not leaving Astra."

The silence from the other end of the table was thick enough to drive tent stakes into. "You will leave," Msuya said at last, "or you will be guilty of treason, both to your own country and to the UN. Your own troops will turn on you rather than share in your crime."

"Possibly. But you may overestimate their loyalty to the UN. Most of us remember your lack of genuine interest in Astra before the cables began appearing."

"You have a paltry four hundred men," Msuya barked, his control snapping at last.

"I can rent a cargo cruiser from the Ctencri and have four times that many here in ten days. Do you want to see your people ground like vermin into the dust?"

Meredith lifted his left arm, tapped the phone strapped to his wrist. "In less time than it takes for your sixteen hundred men to board their shuttles, I can be in contact with the chief Rooshrike representative out there. What do you think he'd do if I told him I was being invaded and asked for his help?"

"I'd simply explain you were no longer in charge—"

"He knows me. He doesn't know you."

"The Ctencri would support our demand."

"The Ctencri have no warships here … and the Rooshrike aren't disposed toward doing them favors."

Msuya spat something venemous-sounding, the tightness of his jaw visible through his cheeks.

Allerton cleared his throat. "You realize, though, that Mr. Msuya is right about the legal consequences here," he said. "By disobeying my direct order you automatically draw a court-martial. All of you, in fact, will almost certainly be found in violation of various federal laws, up to and possibly including treason.

Meredith focused on him. "All Astrans who'd rather not stay under the new conditions will be allowed to leave on the next ship," he said, wishing he knew what the other was thinking. Allerton's words were harsh enough and his tone only marginally less so; but his expression was relaxed almost to the point of contentment. Is this what he really wants? he wondered. Open rebellion that'll draw the UN's fire away from the U.S.? In that case he's got a real treat in store.

"For the rest of us, I expect you'll have to try us in absentia. But I'm not sure American laws will apply to citizens of a foreign nation."

The words hung in the air for a good three seconds before anyone else caught on.

"A what?" Hafner whispered as Carmen and Perez turned to look at him.

Allerton's expression never changed. "You're seceding from the union, then?" he asked.

"Not really, sir—Astra never was technically U.S. territory. We are declaring independence, however."

Msuya slammed both fists onto the table. "This has gone far enough. Guards!—all four of these people are under arrest."

The two men to the right of the door stepped forward, small guns magically appearing in their hands. " Allerton—your men, too," Msuya snapped.

The other two guards took tentative steps forward, stopped at Allerton's signal.

"The Secret Service doesn't follow your orders," the President said coolly. "They have no authority to act in a case like this and therefore will not do so."

Msuya flashed him a look of pure hatred … and Meredith raised his phone and flipped its speaker to nondirectional mode. "Major, did you get all of that?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Brown's voice came back, loud enough to be heard at the far end of the table. "The Rooshrike have been alerted. A landing party is standing by."

Msuya was the first one to speak. "You're bluffing."

Meredith shook his head. "They'll come if we ask them to," he said calmly. "The last thing you're equipped for is full-scale combat."

"I could kill you and your fellow scorpions first," he spat.

"You could," Meredith acknowledged. "But you'd be killing three of the five people who have access to the Spi

For a long moment Msuya sat there, frozen. Then, slowly, he stood up and gestured to his guards, who put their weapons away. "As I said once before, Colonel," he said, his voice quiet as a graveyard, "you can throw me off Astra now … but you will live to regret it. The goods shipment you've contracted for with the Rooshrike will not leave Earth; the UN and the Ctencri will see to that.

The embargo against you will be vacuum-tight, and will not be lifted until Astra starves to death or you're brought to New York in chains. Think about that when you're reduced to eating sand."

Turning, he strode to the door, yanked it open, and disappeared into the night air, followed by his guards. Allerton stood up and nodded, his face carefully neutral.

"I'm sure, Colonel, that you haven't heard the last of this," he said quietly. "But— unofficially, of course—I wish you luck." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left.

"Well," Hafner breathed as the Secret Service men closed the door behind them.

"He must still be in shock."

Perez pushed his chair back and let his own straight-backed posture dissolve into a tired slouch. "Not at all," he said with a sigh. "Allerton's delighted at the way things have turned out. By declaring independence we've gotten him off the hook with the UN—he's not responsible for our actions, so Saleh can't legitimately stick the U.S. with a trade embargo or whatever."

"So we get hit by it instead," Carmen murmured.

"We were going to get embargoed anyway," Perez shrugged. "At least this way the U.S. doesn't suffer."

Meredith cocked an eyebrow at him. "I was under the impression you didn't think much of the U.S.," he said.

"Not liking the government but caring about the people aren't incompatible attitudes," Perez replied.