tended to be)
by the external calm and relative inaction on the part of the
Coalition, and the still more ominous silence of Soviet Space. In his
more lucid moments the Secretary realized the strength of his ultimate
foe: that a great bear waited for him deep in the woods, and that
killing it, even with the full weight of the Commonwealth behind him,
would be no easy task. But for now he feared nothing and no one.

ONE STEP AT A TIME, he told himself. One step at a time.

*

It was late afternoon, U.C. Earth time, though that measure seemed
quite meaningless while circling a planet of turbulent seas two hundred
times Earth's mass, dotted with tiny islands rising thousands of feet
above the wrack, itself revolving around a sun not to be spoken in the
same breath with our own.

Leif Janson felt this lapse of human significance acutely, as he paced
back and forth in Communications Room One, waiting for the approaching
message from the diminutive planet which had spawned him. Even aboard
the Dreadnought, dwarfed as it was by everything around it, this
feeling of smallness and mock importance would not leave him.

He recalled the words of Joseph Conrad, describing the way the primeval
forests of Africa must have looked upon the coming of the white man to
steal its ivory. "Fantastic invasion." And so it seemed to him now.
How could man even pretend to dominate such a Universe, in which his
unnoticed presence, lasting but the blink of an eye, could not begin to
compare with the Infinity which his mind could not even comprehend?
All that a man could ever hope to do was live in peace with himself,
and understanding with his neighbors. And of late the Commonwealth had
done a damned poor job of that. To find love, and to pass that love on
to his children.....

"Major Janson." He turned. "Message coming in."

"Good. Get it recorded then go below. Lieutenant Frye, contact the
Secretary and ask him to come down right away. Tell him the message is
in, and that I've cleared the com room. Then report to your quarters
and await further instructions."

"Yes sir."

Several minutes later Janson stood alone beside the main decoding
computer, listening to the drum of approaching footsteps. General
Hayes strode into the room with the same expression of confident,
aggressive attention that he always wore, perhaps pulled a bit tighter
about the cheekbones by tension and desire.

With him were two other men: Brig