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.I complain of other tactics, such as the inability of your staff to provide us recreational opportunity or room for exercise, such as the inevitable insistence of your staff that they lack authorizations, such as the evasive responses of your staff when we make an inquiry regarding the name of this base.We were promised Cyteen.How are we to know whether we are speaking to authorized persons or merely to low-level functionaries of no competency or authority to negotiate the serious matters on which we have come? We have traveled a far distance, citizen, to settle a grievous and dangerous situation, and we have received precious little cooperation from the persons we have met here.” It was not improvisation.He had prepared the speech for an occasion of opportunity, and the visible brass presented the target.Clearly, Azov was a little taken aback by the attack.Ayres maintained a front of anger, the best miming he had yet done, for he was terrified.His heart hammered against his ribs and he hoped his color had not changed perceptibly.“It will be attended,” Azov said after a moment.“I should prefer,” said Ayres, “stronger assurance.”Azov sat staring at him a moment.“Take my word,” he said in a tone that quivered with force, “you will be satisfied.Will you sit, sir? We have some business at hand.Accept my personal apology for the inconvenience to delegate Marsh; it will be investigated and remedied.”He considered walking out, considered further argument, considered the man in front of him, and took the offered chair.Azov’s eyes fixed on him with, he thought, some measure of respect “On your word, sir,” Ayres said.“I regret the matter; I can say little more at the moment There is a pressing matter regarding the negotiations; we’ve come upon what you might call… a situation.” He pressed a button on the table console.“Kindly send in Mr.Jacoby.”Ayres looked toward the door, slowly, betraying no strong anxiety, although he felt it.The door opened; a man in civilian clothing came in… civilian, not the uniforms or uniform-like suits which had distinguished all who had previously dealt with them.“Mr.Segust Ayres, Mr.Dayin Jacoby of Pell Station.I understand you’ve met.” Ayres rose, extended his hand to this arrival in cold courtesy, liking it all less and less.“A casual meeting, perhaps; forgive me, I don’t remember you.” “Council, Mr.Ayres.” The hand gripped his and withdrew without warmth.Jacoby accepted the gestured offer of the third chair at the round table.“A three-cornered conference,” Azov murmured.“Your terms, Mr.Ayres, claim Pell and stations in advance of it as the territory you wish to protect.This doesn’t seem to be in accord with the wishes of the citizens of that station… and you are on record as supporting the principle of self-determination.” “This man,” Ayres said without looking at Jacoby, “is no one of consequence on Pell and has no authority to make agreements.I suggest you consult with Mr.Angelo Konstantin, and send appropriate inquiries to the station council.I don’t in fact know this person, and as for any claim he makes to be on the council, I can’t attest to their validity.”Azov smiled.“We have an offer from Pell which we are accepting.This does throw into question the proposals under discussion, since without Pell, you would be laying claim to an island within Union territory—stations which, I must tell you, are already part of Union territory, by similar decisions.You have no territory in the Beyond.None.”Ayres sat still, feeling the blood draining from his extremities.“This is not negotiation in good faith.”“Your Fleet is now without a single base, sir.We have utterly cut them off.We call on you to perform a humanitarian act; you should inform them of the fact and of their alternatives.There’s no need for the loss of ships and lives in defense of a territory which no longer exists.Your cooperation will be appreciated, sir.”“I am outraged,” Ayres exclaimed.That may be,“ Azov said.”But in the interest of saving lives, you may choose to send that message.“ “Pell has not ceded itself.You’re likely to find the real situation different from what you imagine, citizen Azov, and when you wish better terms from us, when you want that trade which might profit us both, consider what you’re throwing away.”“Earth is one world.”He said nothing.Had nothing to say.He did not want to argue the desirability of Earth.“The matter of Pell,” said Azov, “is an easy one.Do you know the vulnerability of a station? And when the will of the citizenry supports those outside, a very simple matter.No destruction; that’s not our purpose.But the Fleet will not operate successfully in the absence of a base… and you hold none.We sign the articles you ask, including the arrangement of Pell as a common meeting point—but in our hands, not yours.No difference, really… save in the observance of the will of the people… which you claim to hold so dear.” It was better than it might have been; but it was designed to appear so.“There are,” he said, “no representatives of the citizens of Pell here, only a self-appointed spokesman.I would like to see his letters of authorization.” Azov gathered up a leather-bound folder from before him.“You might be interested in this, sir: the document you offered us… signed by the government and Directorate of Union, and the council, precisely as you worded it… abstracting the control of stations which are now in our hands, and a few minor words regarding the status of Pell: the words ’under Company management’ have been struck, here and on the trade document.Three small words.All else is yours, precisely as you gave it.I understand that you are, due to distances, empowered to sign on behalf of your governments and the Company.” Refusal was on his lips.He considered it, as he was in the habit of considering what slipped from him.“Subject to ratification by my government.The absence of those words would cause distress.”“I hope that you will urge them to acceptance, sir, after reflection.” Azov laid the folder on the table and slid it toward him.“Examine it at your leisure.From our side, it is firm.All the provisions you desired, all the provisions, to put it frankly, that you can possibly ask, since your territories do not exist.”“I frankly doubt that”“Ah.That is your privilege.But doubt doesn’t alter fact, sir.I suggest that you content yourself with what you have won… trade agreements which will profit us all, and heal a long breach.Mr.Ayres, what more in reason do you think you can ask? That we cede what the citizens of Pell are willing to give us?” “Misrepresentation.”“Yet you lack any means to investigate, thus confessing your own limitations of control and possession.You say the government which sent you from Earth has undergone profound changes, and that we must deal with you as a new entity, forgetting all past grievances as irrelevant.Does this new entity… propose to meet our signing of their document with further demands? I would suggest, sir, that your military strength is at a low ebb… that you have no means to verify anything, that you were obliged to come here in a series of freighters at the whim of merchanters.That a hostile posture is not to the good of your government” “You are making threats?”“Stating realities.A government without ships, without control of its own military and without resources… is not in a position to insist that its document be signed without changes.We have abstracted meaningless clauses and three words, leaving the government of Pell essentially in the hands of whatever government the citizens of Pell choose to establish; and is this a fit matter for objection on the part of the interest you represent?” Ayres sat still a moment.“I have to consult with others of my delegation [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]