"You're going formal on me," Gau said. "I remember that being a sure sign that I've pissed you off."

"Don't assume too much familiarity, General," orenThen said. "We have been friends, yes. Perhaps we still are. But you shouldn't doubt where my loyalties lie. Don't think that just because you've ensnared the majority of races into your Conclave that you have some great moral authority. Before the Conclave, if you were to attack my colony, it would be a land grab, pure and simple. Now that you have your precious Conclave, it's still a land grab, pure and simple."

"I remember when you thought the Conclave was a good idea," Gau said. "I remember you arguing for it to the other Whaid diplomats. I remember you convincing them, and them convincing your ataFuey to have the Whaid join the Conclave."

"The ataFuey was assassinated," orenThen said. "You know that. His son was of an entirely different mind."

"Yes he was," Gau said. "Oddly convenient for him that his father was assassinated when he was."

"I can't speak to that," orenThen said. "And after the new ataFuey took the throne it was not my place to go against his will."

"The ataFuey's son was a fool, and you know that," Gau said.

"That may be," orenThen said. "But as I said, you should not doubt where my loyalties lie."

"I don't doubt where they lie," Gau said. "I never have. They lie with the Whaidi people. That's why you fought for the Conclave. If the Whaid had joined the Conclave, you could have colonized this planet, and more than four hundred other races backing your right to be here."

"We do have a right to be here," orenThen said. "And we do have the planet."

"You're going to lose it," Gau said.

"And we never would have had this planet under the Conclave," orenThen said, plowing through Gau's words. "Because it would be Conclave territory, not Whaidi. We would merely be sharecroppers, sharing the planet with other Conclave races. That's still part of the Conclave mind-set, isn't it? Multiple races on single worlds? Build a planetary identity that's no1 based on species but on allegiance to the Conclave, to create a lasting peace. Or so you believe."

"You used to think that was a good idea, too," Gau said.

"Life surprises," orenThen said. "Things change."

"Indeed they do," Gau said. "You remember what set me on the path to the Conclave."

"The Battle of Amin, or so you like to say," orenThen said. "When you took back the planet from the Kies."

"Entirely unnecessarily," Gau said. "They're water dwellers. There was no rational reason we couldn't have shared the planet. But we wouldn't. They wouldn't. And both of us lost more than we could have won. Before that battle, I was as xenophobic as your damned ataFuey, and as much as you're pretending to be now. After it, I was ashamed how we poisoned that planet when we took it back. Ashamed, Chan. And I knew that it would never end. Unless ," made it end. Unless ," made things change."

"And here you are with your great Conclave, your so-called hope for peace in this part of space," orenThen said, mockingly. "And what you're doing with it is trying to pry me and my colony off this planet. You haven't made it end, General. You haven't made things change."

"No, I haven't," Gau admitted. "Not yet. But I'm getting closer."

"I'm still waiting to hear how any of this makes my colony so important," orenThen said.

"The Conclave Agreement says that those races who are members of the Conclave may not hold new worlds for themselves; they colonize the worlds they discover but other Conclave members will colonize, too," Gau said. "The agreement also says that when the Conclave finds a planet colonized by a non-Conclave species after the Agreement, it takes that planet for the Conclave. No one gets to colonize unless it's through the Conclave. We warned non-Conclave species about this."

"I remember," orenThen said. "I was chosen to lead this colony not long after you said this."

"And yet you colonized," Gau said.

"The Conclave was not a sure thing, General," orenThen said. "Despite your sense of destiny, you still could have failed."

"Fair enough," Gau said. "But I didn't fail. Now the Conclave exists, and now we have to enforce the Agreement. Several dozen colonies founded after the Agreement was created. Including this one."

"Now I see," orenThen said. "We're the first in a series of conquests for the glory of the Conclave."

"No," Gau said. "Not conquests. I keep telling you this. I'm hoping for something else entirely."

"And what would that be?" orenThen asked.

"For you to leave on your own," Gau said.

OrenThen stared at Gau. "Old friend, you have entirely lost your mind," he said.

"Listen, Chan," Gau said, urgently. "There is a reason it starts here. I know you. I know where your loyalties lie—with your people, not with your ataFuey and his policy of racial suicide. The Conclave will not allow the Whaid to colonize. It's as simple as that. You will be held to the planets you had before the Agreement. No more. And from those few planets, you will see the rest of space fill up without you. You will be isolated—no trade and no travel to any other worlds. You will be contained, my friend. And contained, you will wither and die. You know the Conclave can do this. You know ," can do this."

OrenThen said nothing. Gau continued. "I can't make the ataFuey change his mind. But you can help me show others that the Conclave would rather work through peace. Give up your colony. Convince your colonists to leave. You can return to your home world. I promise safe passage."

"You know that's an empty offer," orenThen said. "If we abandon this colony we'll be branded as traitors. All of us."

"Then join the Conclave, Chan," Gau said. "Not the Whaid. You. You and your colonists. The Conclave's first colony world is about to open to emigrants. Your colonists can be among them. You can still be the first to a new world. You can still be colonists."

"And you would get the public relations coup of not massacring a colony's worth of people," orenThen said.

"Yes," Gau said. "Cf course. That's part of it. It will be easier to convince other colonies to leave their worlds if they can see that I spared you on this one. Avoiding bloodshed here can help us avoid bloodshed other places. You'll save more lives than those of your colonists."

"That's part of it, you said," orenThen said. "What's the other part?"

"I don't want you to die," Gau said.

"You mean you don't want to kill me," orenThen said.

"That's right," Gau said.

"But you will" orenThen pressed. "Me and every one of my colonists."

"Yes," Gau said.

OrenThen snorted "Sometimes I really wish you didn't always mean what you say."

"I can't help it," Gau said.

"You never could," orenThen said. "It's part of what passes for your charm."

Gau said nothing, and looked toward the stars, which were beginning to show in the darkening sky. OrenThen followed his gaze. "Looking for your ship?"

"Found it," Gau said, and pointed upward. "The Gentle Star. You remember it."

"I do," orenThen said. "It was small and old back when I first met you. I'm surprised you still command from it."

"One of the nice things about running the universe is that you're allowed your affectations," Gau said.

OrenThen motioned back toward Gau's platoon. "If memory serves, you've got about enough space on the Gentle for a small company of soldiers. I don't doubt that's enough to do the job here. But if you're determined to make a statement, it seems underwhelming."

"First it's overkill, and now it's underwhelming," Gau said.

"Your being here is overkill," orenThen said. "It's your soldiers we're talking about now."

"I was hoping not to use any of them," Gau said. "And that you would listen to reason. That being the case, there wouldn't be a need to bring any more."