Timothy Zahn - Spinneret

"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 Spinneret control room. If something should happen to the others you'd be locked out forever."

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.

"You just like the UN less?"

"I like the idea of UN control of Astra less," he corrected. "Like you, I believe all of us here can do a better job of administering the Spinneret than any big government. And with the Ctencri trade locked up, the UN is fast becoming a form of big government." Wearily, he got to his feet. "Colonel, if you don't need us anymore, I'd like to get back to bed."

"Of course," Meredith nodded. "You might as well all go. I'll need you alert by midmoming when I announce our new independence. I've got a feeling it's not going to go over very well."

"Don't worry, Colonel," Hafner said, yawning prodigiously as he levered himself out of his chair. "We'll probably even have a national anthem written by dinnertime."

Meredith sat quietly for a few moments after they were gone, his own eyelids feeling like stone tablets. National anthem, indeed, he thought. You can tell right away how much experience he's had working with people.

His phone buzzed: Major Brown. "The UN shuttle's ready to lift, Colonel," he reported. "Shall I let 'em go?"

"Sure." He paused, waiting. A moment later the roar of repulsers filled the room, oddly deadened by the soundproofing they'd packed into the walls. The sound faded slowly, finally reaching the point where normal conversation was possible.

"Major? You still there?"

"Yes, sir," Brown growled. "Damn dizzy yahoo took it low and slow; probably trying to wake up as many people in Unie as he could."

"More likely trying to pick out the Spinneret entrance. Msuya's not going to give up that easily." He thought for a moment. "You still have a connection through to the Rooshrike?"

"Yes, sir."

"Friday at sixteen hundred; right," Brown said. "What do I give as the purpose of the meeting?"

"To discuss our marketing plans for the Spinneret cable … and to settle on a security arrangement for Astra."

Brown was silent for a moment. "You don't seriously think Saleh would send troops here, do you?"

"I don't know, but if I were him I'd take some kind of action pretty damn fast. You see, as a sovereign nation, we can make trade deals with other countries without going through the UN bureaucracy—and if that trade includes Rooshrike-supplied technology, we'll be bypassing the UN's monopoly. Saleh'll go from master of the universe back to chief referee at the world's biggest nursery school, and I can guarantee he's not going to go quietly."

"Mm. So you're meeting the aliens here to keep Msuya from eavesdropping?"

"More or less. Also to underline our new independence—I doubt that the aliens much care where we talk, but it's a symbol of authority on Earth to have people come to you instead of vice versa."

"If you don't mind my saying so. Colonel, I think we have more important things to worry about than taking symbolic pot shots at Msuya's backside. How in the world are you going to sell this to the troops and civilians, good U.S. citizens all?"

"I don't know," Meredith said frankly. "I'm sure we would have come to this point eventually—we couldn't stay UN territory forever—so it's not like the idea will be totally unimaginable. It is going to be a mess, though. I just hope we can keep people from going off half-cocked one way or the other before they've thought about all the pros and cons."