a million
years was not too long to seek vengeance!

IX

Night had fallen in the park beyond the huge Foreign Office building
and the air was damp and cool. Duke shivered in the shadows that
covered his bench. He should head back to his room, but he had no
desire to listen again to the meaningless chatter that came through the
thin walls. Time didn't matter to him now, anyhow.

He swore and reached for a cigarette, brushing the crumpled newspaper
from his lap. He'd been a fool to think Flannery would bother with him,
just as he'd been a fool to turn down Queeth's offer. He'd wasted his
day off from the messenger job.

Footsteps sounded down the walk that led past his bench, and he drew
deeper into the shadows. The steps slowed and a man moved to the other
end of the bench. Duke drew heavily on his cigarette, tossed it away,
and started to get up.

"Drink?" There was a hand holding a flask in front of him. He
hesitated, then took it, and let a long slug run down his throat. In
the faint light he could make out the face of Director Flannery. The
man nodded. "Sorry I was out when you came, O'Neill. One of the guards
saw you out here, so I came over."

"You should have been in," Duke said, handing the flask back. "I've
changed my mind since reading about some of your deals in the _Journal_.
Well, thanks for the drink."

One of Flannery's prosthetic hands rested on Duke's shoulder, and the
pressure was surprisingly heavy. "When a man takes a drink with me,
captain, he waits until I finish mine." He tipped up the flask and
drank slowly before putting it away. "I suppose you mean the
Cathay-Kloomiria mess?"

"What else?" Mess was a mild word. The Sugfarth ship had seemed to make
victory for Cathay certain the first few days, but the war had entered
a new phase now. Cathay couldn't maintain the big ship, and it was
practically useless. It had simply served to reduce Kloomiria to a
position where both sides were equal. The war showed signs of settling
down to another prolonged, exhausting affair.

"Yeah, I read the editorial." Flannery sighed. "We did let a couple of
fools make Cathay think we'd bail her out. At the time, it seemed wise.
The son of old Var was due to assume rule in a little while and he was
strongly pro-human. We wanted to hold things off until he took over and
scrapped the war plans. When he was killed--well, we pulled out before
Var was any stronger."

"And sent Queeth's crowd in to do yo