thermore, our diminished
reserves of metals, minerals and other essential
substances, on the one hand, and the benefits of
an operational Slingshot, on the other, creates new
challenges of common concern and more options in
the search for solutions. Unless we accelerate our
collaboration to resolve the resources crisis our
civilizations may well erupt once more toward
potential disasters such as the one we are here
trying to escape."

Following President Camari's opening remarks, the
conference was addressed by INOR Chiefs of State.
Each expressed the aspirations of his or her people
and their capabilities toward attainment. All agreed
that their meeting was timely, that the problems
were mutual, and that the agenda be addressed
without delay.

The exchanges were intense as the conferees sought
a balance between inalienable rights and solemn
obligations. Many issues were extremely complex:
What are an inhabited planet's or satellite's
jurisdictional limits within territorial and
contiguous space? What are the rights and
obligations of one Region's military and commercial
vessels and citizens when inside the lawful
boundaries of another? What is the definition
of "innocent passage" in the context of a
multi-national Solar Community? How are our
dynamic and constantly changing interplanetary
and interregional space lanes to be maintained? Who
will pay for such services? Questions posed in one
context were injected into others or phrased to
highlight a wide range of diverse interests and
nuances.

Discussions among the primary conferees were, at
times, suspended for caucuses of Heads of States
orbiting a central planet with their advisors. Ad
hoc committees were set up to explore options
in depth, or at minimum, to provide clarity and
context to the issue. The meeting rooms along
the periphery of the assembly hall filled with
specialists who argued loudly, in whispers, and at
length.

Often, additional data was needed from Seats of
Government. The spunnel communications channels
were loaded with traffic, and archives throughout
the system opened, many for the first time in
millennia. The Conference Disk's computers absorbed
facts and expert opinions and spewed distillations
of new conclusions.

Slowly, positions clarified and consensus took form.

A draft Declaration of Principles emerged from
the back rooms. It dealt with only a few of many
problems that needed immediate attention, leaving
a broad a