down their throats.'
'No one said politics was self-consistent,' Jonny shrugged. 'But it worked, and that's all that matters.'
'So you heard the courier report already,' Jame nodded. 'The Troft response was very interesting to read—the experts say the phrasing indicated our capitulation on the Corridor issue really caught them off-guard.'
'I'm not surprised,' Jonny said. 'But I wouldn't worry about this setting any precedents. Remember how hard it is for the demesnes to get together on any future demands.' He glanced around the visible sections of the starfield, hoping against hope that Danice Tolan would make a last-minute appearance.
Jame followed his gaze and his thoughts. 'I wouldn't count on seeing your friend before you have to go. She's probably up to her cloak and laser in the Joint Command's decommissioning procedure—I think they've suddenly decided they don't like having independent paramilitary units running around the Dominion.' He smiled briefly, but then sobered. 'Jonny... you're not condemning your own world to slow death just to prevent a war, are you? I mean, trading with the Trofts is all very well on a theoretical level, but none of you has ever actually done it before.'
'True, but we'll pick up the techniques fast enough, and with the
'I hope you're right. You haven't got much going for you out there.'
Jonny shook his head. 'You've been on Asgard too long to remember how it feels to be a frontier world. Horizon, Adirondack, and now Aventine—I've never lived on anything but. We'll make it, Jame... if for no other reason than to prove to the universe that we can.'
'Governor Moreau?' a voice drifted down from the ship beside them. 'Captain's compliments, sir. Control's given us permission to lift any time.'
And it was time to say good-bye. 'Take care of yourself, Jonny,' Jame said as Jonny was still searching for words. 'Say hello to everyone for me, okay?'
'Sure.' Jonny stepped forward and wrapped his brother in a bear hug. Tears blurred his vision. 'You take care of yourself, too. And... thanks for everything.'
Two minutes later he was on the
Jonny's eyes searched out a ground-view display, watched the tiny image of Jame just disappearing into the entrypoint building. 'I'm ready any time,' he told the captain quietly. 'Let's go home.'
Copyright © 1985 by Timothy Zahn
Cover art by Vincent DiFate
ISBN: 0-671-65560-4
The chapters 'Veteran' and 'Loyalist' appeared in slightly different form in