«However, none of this will be enough. Loyun Chard's great starship must be nearly finished by now. The attack will come before we can hope to strengthen the asteroid base enough. Then the base will be destroyed. We will no longer be able to observe or attack Targa or help the underground in its fight against Chard. They may give up their fight. We cannot betray men and women who have risked their lives to help us, or leave Chard with a united planet behind him.

«So we must find a way to destroy the starship. Chard had poured men and material into building Dark Warrior, starving the rest of his military effort. If we destroy the ship, Targa will be helpless in space for years. Men and metal can be replaced, but not lost years.

«During these years we can build up our fleet-«his glance took in the Menel as well as the Kananites «-and the Targan underground can win support. Chard himself may die or be overthrown, and our own planets will be safe.»

«How is the starship to be destroyed?» said one of the Menel. Engraved bracelets on all four arms showed he was of the Warrior Goran, probably the equivalent of a military attache to the ambassador. «From what we have learned, it is much too strong to be attacked in space with the ships we have now.»

«True. But the underground on Targa may be able to find a way to destroy it from within.» He turned to Riyannah. «The underground has friends among the scientists and engineers at some of Chard's space bases, don't they?»

Riyannah nodded. «They have even won over some of the shuttle pilots who fly men and equipment up to the starship in orbit.» She hesitated briefly. «They also told me they had plans of Dark Warrior. I didn't see the plans before I had to escape, but I think they were telling the truth.»

«So the underground seems to have everything needed to enter the starship and destroy it from within,» said Blade. «I suggest that we send a small mission to Targa with equipment and weapons to help them carry out the attack. It will take only a few people and one ship. It will also take less time than anything else we can do against Dark Warrior.»

«You, of course, would be part of this mission?» said the Councilor from the City of Quinda.

«I think I am certainly one of the best people for it,» said Blade. «You know that my people are warlike and that I have been trained in war skills almost since I was a child. I do not say this makes me a good man or a wise man, but I think it makes me the right man for this mission.»

«Perhaps it does,» said the Councilor. «But it also makes you a brother in spirit to the Targans. How can we be sure you aren't proposing this mission so that you can then cause it to fail? If we let everything depend on this mission and you destroy, what happens after that? Then-«

The Councilor didn't get any farther. «You fool!» snapped Yu Hardannah. Riyannah looked as if she wanted to leap across the table and attack the Councilor. The Menel ambassador's claws were clicking angrily.

Blade rose and glared across the table at the Councilor from Quinda. «If you know that much about me, you know more. You know how much I hate people like Loyun Chard and his soldiers.

«You know that my own planet has suffered from people like them. You know that while I may not think much of the way the Kananites are running this war-«

At that point all the Menel burst into the hooting and whistling that was their laughter. Blade stopped, realizing he'd done exactly what he'd promised Riyannah not to do-insulting and abusing the Kananites. He found he didn't care. If the Kananites wouldn't help him carry out this mission, he'd ask the Menel and the Kananites be damned!

Eventually the chairman of the War Council restored something like order and allowed Blade to continue. «I will submit to another brain probe, if you wish, since you do not seem to trust the results of the first one. But I hope you will decide we do not need to waste that much time. I am an enemy of Loyun Chard. I will be until I die. I hope that is enough for you.»

«It is,» said the chairman. «But-may I ask how you plan to get aboard the ship and destroy it?»

Blade shook his head. «I wish I could tell you, but I can't make any detailed plans until I've talked with our Targan friends.» Privately he suspected the attack on the starship would be a one-way mission, no matter how it was done. They might even be reduced to ramming it with one of the shuttlecraft. That would at least delay Dark Warrior's first mission by several priceless months, even though it might not be fatal to anyone except the crew of the shuttlecraft. He saw no point in mentioning any of this. He was a barbarian warrior in the eyes of most of these people, except for the Menel and possibly Riyannah. If he talked about ramming the starship, they might think he was too mad to be trusted.

That was the end of any argument against carrying out the mission or having Blade lead it. The Council moved on to details, and once more politics reared its stubborn head. Should people from all six Cities represented on the Council be sent on the mission? That would mean taking the time to choose them. Or should they send the first half-dozen people who came to hand? That would mean only the Cities of those people would have any share of the credit for the victory. Was it wise?

After listening to an hour of this nonsense, Blade was ready to pound his head against the wall or pick up a chair and start pounding Councilors over their heads. The Kananites wouldn't give up «politics as usual» even if the Day of Judgment was staring them in the face. He noticed the Menel ambassador's claws clicking again and Riyannah's face turning grim.

Before matters could build to another explosion, Blade decided to interrupt. «I've been thinking this over. If I can have just one reliable person to help me, I think I can do everything necessary. If you can send the equipment and weapons to give to the Targans-«

«I'll come with you,» said Riyannah. «The Targans already know me, so I won't have to win their trust. Also I already know the weapons we'll be using.»

Before Blade could thank Riyannah, the Councilor from Quinda intervened once more. «You are of Mestar,» he said sharply, looking at Riyannah. «What is more, you have done some questionable things in this affair already. Can we trust you? Even if we can, do we wish to give Mestar all the glory in this-?»

This time the Menel ambassador's claws reached out toward the Councilor. He got himself under control just before the claws closed on the man's throat. All the other Menel were hooting like sirens and bubbling like stewpots. The Speaker wasn't translating any of it, but from the tone Blade suspected they were all cursing Kanan and the Kananites.

Blade picked up his water glass and banged it on the table to get silence. Then he nodded to Riyannah.

«I am quite willing to give up my rights as a citizen of Mestar,» she said quietly. «I will become a Yarash, a Lone One, with no City to call my own for more than a year at a time. That way no one can say Mestar has won this victory. Now will it be safe to send me to Targa with Blade?» If her eyes had been lasers, the Councilor from Quinda would have been fried in his chair.

«Riyannah — «began her uncle, his face twisting in surprise and pain. She shook her head.

«No. There must be an end to this nonsense. Can we do nothing like sensible beings? You've said we can't trust this warrior Blade. I wonder what he could say about not trusting stubborn fools?» She went on like that for quite a while. By the time she ran out of breath, Blade didn't need to say anything. Riyannah had said it all for him.

«I think Riyannah and I can do the job,» said Blade, when he could speak again. «But more is needed to earn the trust of the Targans. Riyannah told me you have promised to give them some of your science and technology, after they've helped you defeat Loyun Chard. Is this correct?»