Drago had been to the Cheregian Building before, and remembered his umbrella-carrying guide, who asked his name but didn't request identification. They rode a drop tube down a single level to the seventh floor, then followed a clean-carpeted corridor to a suite. The suite and its furnishings were like the building, the corridor, the carpet-not imposing, but they indicated money and conservatism. A receptionist buzzed Cheregian and announced, "Mr. Dravec." Drago did not doubt that Cheregian was watching on a screen.

The receptionist looked up at Drago's guide. "Take Mr. Dravec in," she said.

The first thing Cheregian said was, "I presume you know about the aliens." Everyone on Hart's knew. The Gem of the Prophet had been captured, and apparently the Star of Hibernia. Darwin's World was also in the invasion corridor, not so far from Star. So the Commonwealth embassy there had evacuated to Hart's Desire, which seemed to be safely clear.

Drago nodded. "The aliens don't fool around. They started pounding Tagus the same day they arrived in the system."

"I suppose you have nothing to sell this time," Cheregian said.

"Right. What I'm looking for now is a favor."

Cheregian's rambunctious eyebrows rose. "I suppose you know that Commodore Morgan warned Kunming. A selfless act. What favor do you have in mind?"

Warned Kunming? This made things look more promising. "I want to use the Commonwealth embassy's savant, to propose something to Kunming. But if I simply knocked on their door, I'd probably end up in jail. So I hoped you'd refer me to them. Call me an ex-employee you haven't seen in years… "

"Hmm. And what is this proposal to Kunming?"

Dravec smiled wryly. "For three years I was a midshipman in the Space Academy. I want to scout the aliens. Sting them, see how they respond. Learn whether they have force shields, that sort of thing. Then duck into warpspace and let Kunming know by savant. Which means I'll need to take one with me."

"Aha. What do you suppose the odds are that the aliens will let you escape, after you've, ah, `stung' them?"

"I've got four ships. I'll stand off, send them in and watch, then generate warpspace and report to Kunming. I've talked it out with my captains, at rendezvous." Drago paused. "The aliens moved in and started blasting without any communication whatever. As if they preferred killing to negotiation. So our prospects of survival-mine, the Commonwealth's, the human species'!-look rotten. And this just might help."

Cheregian nodded, thinking sixteen thousand ships. "I'll see what I can do," he said, then tapped keys and spoke to his phone. He was put on hold, but only for half a minute. Meanwhile he keyed the call to his desk speaker, so Dravec could hear both sides of the exchange.

A woman's voice spoke. "This is Ambassador Khai. What can I do for you, Mr. Cheregian?"

"I have a gentleman in my office, a Mr. Drago Dravec. He was referred to me by a business associate who feels I might have more influence with you than he would. Mr. Dravec would like to propose something to you regarding the alien intruders. And he seems to me worth listening to. He's one of Commodore Morgan's associates."

"Indeed! Well." There was a moment's silence. "The alien intruders." Another silence. "I'll send a car for him. It should arrive at your roof in-ten minutes. Considering what Commodore Morgan has done for humanity, we owe him that."

With eyebrows raised questioningly, Cheregian turned again to Drago, who nodded. "He'll be waiting," Cheregian said, then disconnected.

Drago went to the embassy in the ambassador's chauffeured floater. The ambassador didn't ask many more questions than Harlan Cheregian had. She'd already alerted her savant's attendant. Now she talked her way to Admiralty Chief Fedor Tischendorf himself. With Tischendorf "on the line," she turned the session over to the pirate, prepared to assist if necessary.

Savant communicators duplicated not only the speakers' words, but their voice, tone, and emphasis, as nearly as their vocal equipment allowed. Which was nearer than a listener might think possible, given the typical savant's mental and physical difficulties. To Drago it was almost like listening to the admiral himself, who took him seriously, and definitely seemed interested. Tischendorf-famous for his recall-remembered Drago from twenty years past. The pirate had been a promising midshipman, till he'd been expelled for repeated unacceptable behavior while on pass. The Space Academy was fairly lenient about minor misbehavior on pass, but Dravec's had outgrown minor. His loyalty and command potential had never been questioned. His problem had been impulsive mischief or violence, usually inspired or aggravated by alcohol.

The admiral and the pirate rather quickly agreed on what Drago could reasonably hope to learn about the aliens, and how to approach the mission. Then Tischendorf spoke with Ambassador Khai again. "Madam Ambassador, I'd appreciate it if you'd arrange the transfer of Ambassador Rees's savant to-um-Commodore Dravec. And the savant's attendant, of course. Can you do that?"

Rees, Drago realized, had to be the Commonwealth's evacuee ambassador to Darwin's World.

"I'll propose it to Ambassador Rees."

"Do you expect him to balk?"

"I don't expect him to, no. He doesn't need a savant; he no longer has an embassy. And he's been an agreeable guest."

"Good. Let me know when it's arranged. And Drago, keep me informed of your progress."

Though she couldn't have said why, Ambassador Khai had felt a moment's misgiving when Tischendorf asked her to arrange the meeting with Rees. When she went to Rees's small embassy apartment and broached the matter, the man's face went-wooden was the best description. But he agreed to talk with Dravec.

Ten minutes later she brought Dravec to Rees's living room. "Mr. Ambassador," she said, "I'd like you to meet Commodore Drago Dravec. Commodore Dravec, this is Ambassador Llewellyn Gustavo Rees."

Now Rees's face was more stony than wooden. Drago realized something was seriously wrong, but extended his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Ambassador."

Rees's arms remained stiffly at his sides. "I had never," he said, "expected the pleasure of meeting one of Morgan's men under such-gratifying circumstances."

Drago frowned, his extended hand lowering. "It seems you don't like me," he said slowly. "Care to elaborate on that?"

"First let me say how pleased I am that your nest of hoodlums has been destroyed. And if you think I dislike you… I hate your master, Henry Morgan, with a passion you could never understand."

The pirate's gaze was mild, but it didn't soften Rees. "I got that," Drago said, hoping to get the meeting back on the subject. "And I suppose it's appropriate for you to hate him. And me. What do you think about the aliens?"

"I prefer them to you. They perform their atrocities against foreign life-forms. You perform yours against your own species."

Drago stood quietly, groping for a useful response, something that wouldn't torpedo his proposal. "Ah… Meanwhile the matter at hand is a reconnaissance of the alien armada. And I need your savant to make it work."

"You shall not have her, sir. First of all, you intend no reconnaissance. That is a cover, a sham. Your intention is to get hold of a savant for your own piratical purposes. And my savant is female-I'll wager you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Drago's hands took them all by surprise. Quick as snakes they grabbed Llewellyn Rees by the shirt front and jerked him close, even as the seams split. The violence shattered the man, who began to babble. But to Drago the babbling made sense. "Do you remember the yacht Guinevere, Mister Pirate? Do you remember the officers and crew jettisoned out the trash lock? One of them was my younger brother! Murdered! Cold-bloodedly, without even being accused of anything! Our sister was Gomer Colwyn's niece, sent off in a lifeboat. It was she who told us what happened."