and rubbed
his temple gently as he pondered. "Their combined
forces, and the distances involved, place us at an
enormous disadvantage."

"Without question."

"Ram, what's your estimate concerning the missing
piece?" Camari pointed to the message in his hand.

"The missing piece," Ram replied, "the one we need
most is Sentinel's assessment on where and when
we can strike at INOR's fleet with maximum effect."

"Depends entirely on Sentinel? No other sources?"

"At this stage, none, sir."

Camari lowered his head, lost in thought. After
a moment he raised his eyes to Ram and said,
"We've got to get our thinking through to the Outer
Region, to all citizens as well as Heads of State.

"I want you to get out there, Ram. Be my emissary.
Impress on whoever will listen the disaster
that all of us face, and why we must arrive at a
peaceful solution. Concentrate on the leaders of
major nations; whichever way they go, others will
follow."

"I'll need the formal weight of our government,"
Ram said.

"Of course. I'll notify them all that you are my
Ambassador Plenipotentiary, and that you carry
a personal message from me. Use the spunnel
and send me reports as you go along."

"Narval, too?"

"Of course. And while you're in his area, learn all
you can from whatever sources; but watch yourself
with that bastard. He'd as soon cut your throat as
look at you."

##

"Category one message, spunnel-comm to Earth via
Guardian Station 4. Personal to President Camari
from Ram Xindral. President Gelliman, Callisto,
unchanged in his conviction that Slingshot
will benefit only the highly industrialized inner
planets. He repeated charges that the UIPS
non-renewables deficits resulted from poor control
and excessive consumption of raw materials, plus
breakdown in recycling and conservation policies.
He concluded that Slingshot is our internal problem
and that it's being forced on INOR. Demands UIPS
halt Slingshot construction, withdraw from the
Special Zone, and resolve UIPS resource crises
internally."

##

"Category one message, spunnel to Earth via
Guardian Station 4. Personal to President Camari
from Ram Xindral. Prime Minister Manra, Io, says he
wishes us well in building a bridge to another star.
He makes an issue that transportation, construction
and operations for all phases of Slingshot,
including ultimate storage of incoming raw matter
will be inside INOR jurisdictions; therefore, the
INOR governments h