"I noticed him dancing with three girls wearing a bunch of grapes apiece. He"s very agile for a man of his bulk."

"You mustn"t discount the Potentate! Remember, beneath that mask of frivolity, he had absorbed a bitter blow."

"He had me fooled," Retief said.

"Don"t feel badly; I confess at first I failed to sense his shrewdness."

The Amba.s.sador nodded and moved off along the corridor.

Retief turned and went into an office. Magnan looked up from his desk.

"Ah," he said. "Retief. I"ve been meaning to ask you. About the ... ah ... blasters. Are you--?"

Retief leaned on Magnan"s desk, looked at him.

"I thought that was to be our little secret."

"Well, naturally I--" Magnan closed his mouth, swallowed. "How is it, Retief," he said sharply, "that you were aware of this blaster business, when the Amba.s.sador himself wasn"t?"

"Easy," Retief said. "I made it up."

"You what!" Magnan looked wild. "But the agreement--it"s been revised!

Amba.s.sador Crodfoller has gone on record...."

"Too bad. Glad _I_ didn"t tell him about it."

Magnan leaned back and closed his eyes.

"It was big of you to take all the ... blame," Retief said, "when the Amba.s.sador was talking about knighting people."

Magnan opened his eyes.

"What about that gambler, Zorn? Won"t he be upset?"

"It"s all right," Retief said, "I made another arrangement. The business about making blasters out of common components wasn"t completely imaginary. You can actually do it, using parts from an old-fashioned disposal unit."

"What good will that do him?" Magnan whispered, looking nervous. "We"re not shipping in any old-fashioned disposal units."

"We don"t need to," Retief said. "They"re already installed in the palace kitchen--and in a few thousand other places, Zorn tells me."

"If this ever leaks...." Magnan put a hand to his forehead.

"I have his word on it that the Nenni slaughter is out. This place is ripe for a change. Maybe Zorn is what it needs."

"But how can we _know?_" Magnan yelped. "How can we be sure?"

"We can"t," Retief said. "But it"s not up to the Corps to meddle in Petreacs" internal affairs." He leaned over, picked up Magnan"s desk lighter and lit a cigar. He blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling.

"Right?"

Magnan looked at him, nodded weakly. "Right."

"I"d better be getting along to my desk," Retief said. "Now that the Amba.s.sador feels that I"m settling down at last--"

"Retief," Magnan said, "tonight, I implore you. Stay out of the kitchen--no matter what."

Retief raised his eyebrows.

"I know," Magnan said. "If you hadn"t interfered, we"d all have had our throats cut. But at least," he added, "we"d have died in accordance with regulations!"

END