Sovereign if necessary; at my request, he is sending one of his
personal representatives to ease our inevitable absorption into the
Empire."

There was a long silence, then the High King sighed. "If you think
that best, Protector, I can hardly argue. I assume you'll take
complete charge of the negotiations?"

"If that is Your Majesty's wish."

"You have resources I do not, and at least as much devotion to our
mutual home; yes, it is my wish. I'll make the necessary announcement
immediately."

"I feel inadequate, Your Majesty, but I will carry on as well as I
can." Cortin stood silent for a moment, then returned to her seat.
She'd hoped King Mark would take over, and was disappointed he hadn't.
She had no diplomatic experience, and, she suspected, no skill in that
field; how could she possibly bring about the sort of non-destructive
Imperial takeover that would save the Systems and her Family?

"Joanie?" A voice finally broke into her abstraction.

"What is it, Mike?"

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I can't-- Yes." Cortin straightened. "If I'm in total charge of our
relations with the Empire, I'm going to work on the assumption that we
can become a fully functional part of it, with as much independence as
it allows--as much as I understand the Sandemans and now, according to
you, the Traiti, have. Tell Dave to release the rest of the prisoners
and ask Captain DeLayne to join us, then have Matthew assign them all
guest quarters. Find out if their ship will fit into the Lodge's
grounds, and if so have it brought here; otherwise, they're to have
free access, including transportation, while it's at the spaceport.
Miss Conley?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"Do you have any idea how long it'll take Ranger Medart to get here?"

Conley shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, sir. I don't know
where he is, and I'm not even too sure where we were when your warship
captured us. Captain DeLayne might know."

"Thank you." Cortin wasn't sure whether to hope for no delay or a long
one. The first would get the suspense over with; the second would mean
a longer true freedom for the Systems. "Will you be subject to any
discipline for cooperating with me?"

Conley grinned. "Since it worked out, no--I might even get a
commendation. If it hadn't, well . . . but I had a hunch I could trust
you."

"I'm the last one to argue against following hunches," Cortin said,
"but I should point out that doing so can