The trial got started the next with a minimum amount of from Sidney. The and were read, the three not guilty, and then Goodham with a paper in his hand to address the court. Sidney up to take his position him.
"Your Honor, the wishes, to agreement of the defense, to enter the stipulations, to wit: First, that the late Silas Cumshaw was a politician the meaning of the law. Second, that he is now dead, and came to his death in the manner to by the of Sam Houston Continent. Third, that he came to his death at the hands of the here present."
In all my planning, I'd that. I couldn't let those without protest, and at the same time, if I the of Cumshaw as a politician, the trial easily end right there. So I prayed for a miracle, and Clement Sidney me.
"Defense won't anything!" he barked. "My clients, here, are of a conspiracy, a to the true of the death of Silas Cumshaw. They ought to have been or here, and if the wants to anything, they can do it by testimony, in the regular and way. This of free-wheeling is only one of the many by which the of this are being to the and ends of a of landowners!"
Judge Nelson's the bench with a like a shot.
"Mr. Sidney! In to your clients, I would to them to lawyers in the middle of their trial, but if I another like that about the of New Texas, that's what will happen, you'll be in for contempt! Is that clear, Mr. Sidney?"
I settled with a of which got me, I noticed, from my Ambassadors. I the questions in their glances; I had what I wanted.
They calling up the witnesses.
First, the doctor who had Ambassador Cumshaw's death. He gave a of the which had killed my predecessor. Sidney was trying to make something out of the that he was Hickock's family physician, and more time, when I got up.
"Your Honor, I am present here as curiae, of the which the Government of the Solar League has in this case...."
"Objection!" Sidney yelled.
"Please it," Nelson invited.
"This is a of the people of the of New Texas. This of the Solar League, sent here to with New Texan to the end that New Texans shall be to a and of the all-devouring of the Galaxy—"
Judge Nelson sharply.
"Friends of the are as having a proper in the case. As this case from the death of the Ambassador of the Solar League, I cannot see how the present Ambassador and his staff can be excluded. Overruled." He to me. "Continue, Mr. Ambassador."
"As I understand, I have the same of cross-examination of as for the and defense; is that correct, Your Honor?" It was, so I to the witness. "I suppose, Doctor, that you have had a of experience, in your practice, with wounds?"
He chuckled. "Mr. Ambassador, it is gunshot-wound cases which keep the of medicine and alive on this planet. Yes, I definitely have."
"Now, you say that the was by six different projectiles: right almost severed, right and right out of the chest, and so as to be one, and left leg by complete of the left and hip-joint?"
"That's right."
I up the 20-mm auto-rifle—it a good sixty pounds—from the table, and asked him if this have such wounds. He that it and had.
"This the type of used in your New Texas political liquidations?" I asked.
"Certainly not. The are pistols; sometimes a hunting-rifle or a shotgun."
I asked the same question when I cross-examined the witness.
"Is this the type of used in your New Texas political liquidations?"
"No, not at all. That's a very weapon, Mr. Ambassador. Wasn't on this planet; by the z'Srauff star-cluster. A like that sells for five, six hundred pesos. It's used for big game—supermastodon, and like that. And, of course, for combat."
"It seems," I remarked, "that the defense is an point there. I if these three ever, in all their lives, had among them the price of such a weapon."
That, of course, Sidney to his feet, to this attempt to the of his clients, which only helped to call attention to the point.
Then the called in a named David Crockett Longfellow. I'd met him at the Hickock ranch; he was Hickock's butler. He from an old which had retired him from work on the range. He was in and to his name and occupation.
"Do you know these three defendants?" Goodham asked him.
"Yeah. I marked one of them for identification," Longfellow replied.
Sidney was up at once, objections. After he was down, Goodham that he'd come to that point later, and a line of to that Longfellow had been on the Hickock on the day when Silas Cumshaw was killed.
"Now," Goodham said, "will you relate to the the of which came to your personal on that day."
Longfellow his story. "At about 0900, I was dustin' up and straightenin' in the library while the Colonel was at his desk. All of a sudden, he said to me, 'Davy, you call the Solar Embassy and see if Mr. Cumshaw is doin' anything today; if he isn't, ask him if he wants to come out.' I was workin' right the telescreen. So I called the Solar League Embassy. Mr. Thrombley took the call, and I asked him was Mr. Cumshaw around. By this time, the Colonel got through with what he was doin' at the and came over to the screen. I to my work, but I the Colonel askin' Mr. Cumshaw he come out for the day, an' Mr. Cumshaw sayin', yes, he could; he'd be out by about 1030.
"Well, 'long about 1030, his air-car came in and on the drive. Little single-seat job that he himself. He it about a hundred from the veranda, like he did, and got out.
"Then, this other car came droppin' in from nowhere. I didn't pay it much attention; it might be one of the other Ambassadors that Mr. Cumshaw'd along. But Mr. Cumshaw around and looked at it, and then he started to for the veranda. I was standin' in the when I him startin' to run. I jumped out on the porch, quick-like, and my gun, and then this auto-rifle firin' the other car. There was only eight or ten from this car, but most of them Mr. Cumshaw."
Goodham waited a moments. Longfellow's voice had and there was a about his face, as though he were trying to tears.
"Now, Mr. Longfellow," Goodham said, "did you the people who were in the car from which the came?"
"Yeah. Like I said, I cut a mark on one of them. That one there: Jack-High Abe Bonney. He was handlin' the gun, and from where I was, he had his left to me. I was tryin' for his head, but I always overshoot, so I have the of holdin' low. This time I too low." He looked at Jack-High in hatred. "I'll be sorry about that as long as I live."
"And who else was in the car?"
"The other two the same litter: Switchblade an' Turkey-Buzzard, over there."
Further that Longfellow had had no direct knowledge of the pursuit, or the of the in Bonneyville. Colonel Hickock had taken personal of that, and had left Longfellow to call the Solar League Embassy and the Rangers. He had no attempt to move the body, but had left it in the until the doctor and the Rangers arrived.
Goodham to the middle table and up a pistol.
"I call the court's attention to this pistol. It is an eleven-mm automatic, by the Colt Firearms Company of New Texas, a of the Colt Firearms Company of Terra." He it to Longfellow. "Do you know this pistol?" he asked.
Longfellow was almost by the question. Of he his own pistol. He the number, and pointed to different and on the weapon, telling how they had been acquired.
"The that Mr. Longfellow his own weapon," Nelson said. "I assume that this is the with which you to have Jack-High Abe Bonney?"
It was, although Longfellow the qualification.
"That's all. Your witness, Mr. Sidney," Goodham said.
Sidney an attack.
Questioning Longfellow's eyesight, intelligence, and integrity, he to personal toward the Bonneys. He that Longfellow had been with Cumshaw to about the of New Texas by the Solar League. The so that and attorney had to be from the bench. But at no point did Sidney shake Longfellow from his one statement, that the Bonney had Silas Cumshaw and that he had Jack-High Abe Bonney in the shoulder.
When he was finished, I got up and took over.
"Mr. Longfellow, you say that Mr. Thrombley answered the screen at the Solar League Embassy," I began. "You know Mr. Thrombley?"
"Sure, Mr. Silk. He's been out at the with Mr. Cumshaw a times."
"Well, and Colonel Hickock and Mr. Cumshaw and, possibly, Mr. Thrombley, who else that Mr. Cumshaw would be at the at 1030 on that morning?"
Nobody. But the had been waiting for Mr. Cumshaw; the Bonneys must have had knowledge. My questions that point clear despite the obvious—and court-sustained—objections from Mr. Sidney.
"That will be all, Mr. Longfellow; thank you. Any questions from else?"
There being none, Longfellow down. It was then a minutes noon, so Judge Nelson for an hour and a half.
In the afternoon, the who had Jack-High Abe Bonney's testified, the which had been from Bonney's shoulder. A man from Ranger crime-lab him to the and that it had been from Longfellow's Colt. Then Ranger Captain Nelson took the stand. His was about what he had me at the Embassy, with the that the Bonneys' that they had Ambassador Cumshaw was out as having been under duress.
However, Captain Nelson's didn't need the confessions.
The was off the air-car, and a of men with a power-dolly it out in of the bench. The Ranger Captain it as the car which he had at the Bonneyville jail. He over it with an ultra-violet and where he had his name and the date on it with ink. The of AA-fire were on it.
Then the other object was and as the gun which had the air-car. Colonel Hickock the gun as the one with which he had on the air-car. Finally, the expert was to the again, to link the two by means of in the car.
Then Goodham Kettle-Belly Sam Bonney to the stand.
The Mayor of Bonneyville was a man of fifty or so, short, bald, in Levis, a white shirt, and a grease-spotted vest. There was no about how he had his nickname. He a of tobacco into a spittoon, took the with solemnity, then himself with another and told his of the attack on the jail.
At about 1045 on the day in question, he testified, he had been in his office, hard at work in the public service, when an air-car, by gunfire, had in the and the three had in, sanctuary. From then on, the along smoothly, the lines by Captain Nelson and Parros. Of he had the shelter; they had to have been near to a political and were in of their lives.
Under Sidney's cross-examination, and coaching, he out the of Bonneyville's at the hands of the landowners, and the of the Hickock goon-gang. Finally, after the last of class-hatred out of him, Sidney him over to me.
"How many men were the when the three came sanctuary?" I asked.
He couldn't say, maybe four or five.
"Closer twenty-five, according to the Rangers. How many of them were in the jail?"
"Well, none. The was all out that mornin'. They was just common drunks, cases, that thing. We them out so's we make some repairs."
"You them out you to have to the jail; you in that these three would be along sanctuary, and that Colonel Hickock's hands would be right on their heels, didn't you?" I demanded.
It took a good five minutes Sidney stopped long for Judge Nelson to the objection.
"You these men all their lives, I take it. What did you know about their financial circumstances, for instance?"
"Well, they've been ground an' by the big an' the money-guys...."
"Then weren't you to see them such an aircar?"
"I don't know as it's such an expensive—" he his mouth suddenly.
"You know where they got the money to that car?" I pressed.
Kettle-Belly Sam didn't answer.
"From the man who paid them to Ambassador Silas Cumshaw?" I pressing. "Do you know how much they were paid for that job? Do you know where the money came from? Do you know who the go-between was, and how much he got, and how much he for himself? Was it the same that paid for the attempt on President Hutchinson's life?"
"I to answer!" the declared, trying to his out about as as his midriff. "On the that it might or me!"
"You can't a Bonney!" a voice from the put in.
"So then," I to the voice, "what he means is, incriminate." I to the witness. "That will be all. Excused."
As Bonney left the and was out the door, Goodham the bench.
"Now, Your Honor," he said, "I that the has succeeded in definitely that these three actually did fire the which, on April 22, 2193, Silas Cumshaw of his life. We will now to prove...."
Followed a long of witnesses, each to some public or private act of philanthropy, some of character. It was the of thing which the defense lawyer in the Whately case had been so to stipulate. Sidney, of course, to make it all out to be part of a to a Solar League on New Texas. Finally, the rested its case.
I Gail and her father at the Embassy, that evening. The was with New Texans, all of them on our side, like, "Death to the Bonneys!" and "Vengeance for Cumshaw!" and "Annexation Now!" Some of it was spontaneous, too. The Hickocks, father and daughter, were a ovation, when they left, and to their hotel by crowds. I saw one big banner, lettered: 'DON'T LET NEW TEXAS GO TO THE DOGS.' and a picture of a z'Srauff. I to having a of our Marines making that banner the in the Embassy patio, but....
X
The next morning, the third of the trial, opened with the defense witnesses, character-witnesses for the three and to the political of Silas Cumshaw.
Neither Goodham I to cross-examine the former. I couldn't see how any lawyer as as Sidney had himself to be would of such an of thugs, cutthroats, and into as for anybody.
The latter, on the other hand, we after unmercifully, revealing, under their for Cumshaw, a small, hard of and selfish fear. Goodham did a job on that; he able, at a glance, to what each witness's was, and able to make him or her that in its least terms. Finally the defense rested, about a quarter-hour noon.
I rose and the court:
"Your Honor, while the and the defense have done an job in out the of how my met his death, there are many about this case which are from clear to me. They will be less clear to my government, which is of men who have set on this planet. For this reason, I wish to call, or recall, to these points."
Sidney, who had as soon as I had to my feet, managed to himself by the court.
"This Solar League Ambassador, Your Honor, is trying to use the of the Planet of New Texas as a sounding-board for his government's propaganda...."
"You may yourself, Mr. Sidney," Judge Nelson said. "This will not allow itself to be used, or swayed, by the Ambassador of the Solar League. This is only in the the case it. You may call your witnesses, Mr. Ambassador." He at his watch. "Court will now for an hour and a half; can you have them here by 1330?"
I him I after across the room at Ranger Captain Nelson and his nod.
My witness, that was Thrombley. After the of his name and with the Solar League Embassy on the record, I asked him, "Mr. Thrombley, did you, on the of April 22, a call from the Hickock for Mr. Cumshaw?"
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Ambassador. The call was from Mr. Longfellow, Colonel Hickock's butler. He asked if Mr. Cumshaw were available. It that Mr. Cumshaw was in the same room with me, and he came directly to the screen. Then Colonel Hickock appeared in the screen, and if Mr. Cumshaw come out to the for the day; he said something about shooting."
"You Mr. Cumshaw tell Colonel Hickock that he would be out at the at about 1030?" Thrombley said he had. "And, to your knowledge, did else at the Embassy that?"
"Oh, no, sir; we were in the Ambassador's private office, and the screen there is tap-proof."
"And what other calls did you receive, to Mr. Cumshaw's death?"
"About fifteen minutes after Mr. Cumshaw had left, the z'Srauff Ambassador called, about a personal matter. As he was most to Mr. Cumshaw, I told him where he had gone."
"Then, to your knowledge, of yourself, Colonel Hickock, and his butler, the z'Srauff Ambassador was the only person who have that Mr. Cumshaw's car would be landing on Colonel Hickock's drive at or about 1030. Is that correct?"
"Yes, plus the z'Srauff Ambassador might have told."
"Exactly!" I pounced. Then I and gave the three Bonney a glance. "Plus the z'Srauff Ambassador might have told.... That's all. Your witness, Mr. Sidney."
Sidney got up, started toward the stand, and then of it.
"No questions," he said.
The next was a Mr. James Finnegan; he was as of the Crooked Creek National Bank. I asked him if Kettle-Belly Sam Bonney did at his bank; he said yes.
"Anything about Mayor Bonney's account?" I asked.
"Well, it's been active lately. Ordinarily, he around two-three thousand pesos, but about the of April, that took a big jump. Quite a big jump; two hundred and fifty thousand pesos, all in a lump."
"When did Kettle-Belly Sam deposit this large sum?" I asked.
"He didn't. The money came to us in a cashier's check on the Ranchers' Trust Company of New Austin with an that it be deposited to Mayor Bonney's account. The was on a of yellow paper in Basic English."
"Do you have that now?" I asked.
"No, I don't. After we'd recorded the new balance, Kettle-Belly came in, we'd recorded it. He told me that if we got another deposit like that, we were to turn it over to him in cash. Then he wanted to see the letter, and when I gave it to him, he took it over to a booth, and the curtains. I got a little with some other matters, and the next time I looked, Kettle-Belly was gone and some girl was using the booth."
"That's very interesting, Mr. Finnegan. Was that the last of your with Mayor Bonney?"
"Oh, no. Then, about two Mr. Cumshaw was killed, Kettle-Belly came in and wanted 50,000 pesos, in a big hurry, in small bills. I gave it to him, and he at the money like a dog at a bone, and a bottle of red perma-ink, the we use to our bank seals. Three of the got splashed. I offered to them, but he said, 'Hell with it; I'm in a hurry,' and out. The next day, Switchblade Joe Bonney came in to make payment on a note we were on him. He used those three in the payment.
"Then, about a week ago, there was another cashier's check came in for Kettle-Belly. This time, there was no letter; just one of our regular deposit-slips. No name of depositor. I the check, and gave it to Kettle-Belly. I remember, when it came in, I said to one of the clerks, 'Well, I wonder who's going to off this time.' And sure ..."
Sidney's of, "Objection!" was all his previous into one.
"You say the the deposit, the one in Basic English, was taken away by Kettle-Belly Sam Bonney. If you saw another of the same sort, would you be able to say or not it might be like the one you mentioned?"
Sidney more objections; I was trying to expert without previous qualification....
"Not at all, Mr. Sidney," Judge Nelson ruled. "Mr. Silk has asked if Mr. Finnegan say one document any to another."
I asked permission to have another in while Finnegan was still on the stand, and called in a Mr. Boone, the of the Packers' and Brokers' Trust Company of New Austin. He had with him a letter, on yellow paper, which he said had an deposit of two hundred thousand pesos. Mr. Finnegan said that it was like the one he had received, in typing, and wording, all but the name of the person to account the money was to be deposited.
"And account this benefaction, Mr. Boone?" I asked.
"The account," Boone replied, "of Mr. Clement Sidney."
I was that Judge Nelson didn't the of his gavel, after that. Finally, after a of to clear the court, order was restored. Mr. Sidney had no questions to ask this time, either.
The looked at the next of paper I gave him, over it, and asked the for assistance.
"I can't this-here thing, at all," he complained.
One of the got out a of and yaps, and gave it to the of the to copy into the record. The next was a z'Srauff, and in the New Texan he was wearing, he was something to open my eyes, after years on the Hooligan Diplomats.
After he took the stand, the of the looked at him for a moment. Then he to Judge Nelson.
"Your Honor, how am I go about him in?" he asked. "What a z'Srauff by, that's binding?"
The President Judge for a moment. "Does here know Basic well to the oath?" he asked.
"I think I can," I offered. "I a great many years in our Consular Service, I was sent here. We use Basic with a great many peoples."
"Administer the oath, then," Nelson told me.
"Put up right hand," I told the z'Srauff. "Do you say, in of Great One who all worlds, who has knowledge of what is in the of all persons, that what you will say here will be true, all true, and not anything that is not true, and will you so say again at time when all worlds end? Do you so say?"
"Yes. I so say."
"Say your name."
"Ppmegll Kkuvtmmecc Cicici."
"What is your business?"
"I put of cloth into this world, and I take meat out of this world."
"Where do you have your house?"
"Here in New Austin, over my house of business, on Coronado Street."
"What people do you see in this place that you have with?"
Ppmegll Kkuvtmmecc Cicici pointed a three-fingered hand at the Bonney brothers.
"What did you make with them?"
"I gave them for money a machine which goes on the ground and goes in the air very fast, to take and about."
"Is that the thing you gave them for money?" I asked, pointing at the air-car.
"Yes, but it was new then. It has been by from now."
"What money did they give you for the machine?"
"One hundred pesos."
That started another uproar. There wasn't a in that who didn't know that five thousand would have been a give-away price for that car.
"Mr. Ambassador," one of the interrupted. "I used to be in the used-car business. Am I to that this ... this being ... that air-car for a hundred pesos?"
"Here's a copy of the bill of sale, from the office of the Vehicles Registration Bureau," I said. "I it as evidence."
There was a at the of the room, and then the z'Srauff Ambassador, Gglafrr Ddespttann Vuvuvu, came the aisle, by a of Rangers and two of his attachés. He came and the court.
"May you be happy, sir, but I am in here so not I have to make noise, but it is only time since it got in my knowledge that one of my is in this place. I am here to be of help to him that he not in trouble, and to be of help to you. The name for what I am to do in this place is not part of my knowledge. Please say it for me."
"You are a friend of the court," Judge Nelson told him. "An curiae."
"You make me happy. Please go on; I have no to put stop to what you do in this place."
"From what person did you this machine that you gave to these for one hundred pesos?" I asked.
Gglafrr barking and and at my witness. The looked startled, and Judge Nelson with his gavel.
"That's of that! There'll be nothing spoken in this but English, through an interpreter!"
"Yow! I am sad that what I did was not right," the z'Srauff Ambassador contritely. "But my person here has not as part of his knowledge that you will make him say what may put him in trouble."
Nelson in agreement.
"You are right: this person who is here has no need to make answer to any question if it may put him in trouble or make him less than he is."
"I will not make answer," the said.
"No questions."
I to Goodham, and then to Sidney; they had no questions, either. I another of paper to the bailiff, and another z'Srauff, named Bbrarkk Jjoknyyegg Kekeke took the stand.
He put into this world for small to make with; he took out of this world meat and leather. He had his house of in New Austin, and he pointed out the three Bonneys as in this place that he saw that he had before.
"And what did you make with them?" I asked.
"I gave them for money a gun which sends out of twenty-millimeters very fast, to make death or come to men and animals and to and things."
"Is this the gun?" I it to him.
"It be. The gun was in my world; many like it are there. I am that this is the very gun."
I had a copy of a house bill in which the gun was and by number. I it as evidence.
"How much money did these three give you for this gun?" I asked.
"Five pesos."
"The on this gun is six hundred pesos," I mentioned.
Immediately, Ambassador Vuvuvu was on his feet. "My person here has not as part of his knowledge that he may put himself in trouble by what he says to answer these questions."
That put a stop to that. Bbrarkk Jjoknyyegg Kekeke took in to answer on of self-incrimination.
"That is all, Your Honor," I said, "And now," I continued, when the had left the stand, "I have something to present to the court, speaking as and as Ambassador of the Solar League. This cannot the three men who are here on trial. These men should have been to trial in this court: it has no over this case. This was a case of first-degree murder, by assassins, against the Ambassador of one government at the of another, not an act of political the meaning of New Texan law."
There was a silence; the and the were stunned, and most of all were the three Bonney brothers, who had been watching, fear-sick, while I had been a rope around their necks. The from the of the gave Judge Nelson a needed minute or so to his thoughts. After he had order restored, he to me, grim-faced.
"Ambassador Silk, will you on the you have just made," he invited, as though every word had that were in his throat.
"Gladly, Your Honor." My words, too, were and my as they came out; I my weak, and my mouth as though I had an old copper in it.
"As I it, the laws of New Texas do not their ordinary protection to in the of politics. An act of personal against a politician is only to the that the politician has not, by his public acts, the of with which he has been injured, and the Court of Political Justice is for the purpose of or not there has been such an of in the out by the to the or politician. This rise, of course, to some practices; for instance, what is at law a trial of the is, in substance, a trial of his victim. But in any case in this court, the must be a person who has or killed a man who is as a politician under the government of New Texas.
"Speaking for my government, I must that these men should have been in this for the of Silas Cumshaw. To do otherwise would the and that our Ambassador, or any other Ambassador here, is a politician under—mark that well, Your Honor—under the laws and government of New Texas. This would not only make of any Ambassador a for any who to of the of another government, but more serious, it would place the Ambassador and his government in a position relative to the government of New Texas. This the government of the Solar League cannot tolerate, for which it would be to the of this to enumerate."
"Mr. Silk," Judge Nelson said gravely. "This takes full of the of your arguments. However, I'd like to know why you permitted this trial to to this length entering this objection. Surely you have clear the position of your government at the of this trial."
"Your Honor," I said, "had I done so, these would have been released, and the their would have come to light. I that the of this is to questions of relative and innocence. We must not sight, however, of the that the of any is to the truth, and only by the of the trial of these murderers-for-hire the author of the be uncovered.
"This was important, for the government of the Solar League and the government of New Texas. My government now who the death of Silas Cumshaw, and we will take action. The government of New Texas has now had out, in anyone can read, the that this is in truth a battleground. Awareness of this may save New Texas from being the of a larger and more battle. New Texas also who are its enemies, and who can be upon to as its friends."
"Yes, Mr. Silk. Mr. Vuvuvu, I haven't any from you.... No comment? Well, we'll have to close the court, to this phase of the question."
The black screen up, for the second time the trial. There was for a moment, and then the room a pot of sound. At least six out among the three minutes; the Rangers and were order.
Gail Hickock, who had been on the of the spectators' seats, came up while I was still the of my diplomats.
"Stephen! How you?" she demanded. "You know what you've done? You've those loose!"
Andrew Jackson Hickock left the table and approached.
"Mr. Silk! You've just the of three men who one of my best friends!"
"Colonel Hickock, I I Silas Cumshaw you did. He was one of my at Dumbarton Oaks, and I have always had the respect and for him. But he me one thing, which you to have since you yourself—that in the Diplomatic Service, personal don't count. The only thing of is the of the of the Solar League."
"Silas and I were attachés together, at the old Embassy at Drammool, on Altair II," Colonel Hickock said. What else he might have said was in the as the black screen down. In of Judge Nelson, I saw, there were three pistol-belts, and three of automatics.
"Switchblade Joe Bonney, Jack-High Abe Bonney, Turkey-Buzzard Tom Bonney, together with your counsel, approach the and the verdict," Judge Nelson said.
The three and their lawyer rose. The Bonneys were and laughing, but for a lawyer clients had just from the of the gallows, Sidney was looking unhappy. He had to see what would be waiting for him outside.
"It pains me inexpressibly," Judge Nelson said, "to you three that this cannot you of the of that learned and old man, Silas Cumshaw, can you be to trial in any other on New Texas again for that crime. Here are your weapons, which must be returned to you. Sort them out yourselves, I won't dirty my on them. And may you and for your act as long as you live, which I won't be more than a hours."
With that, he used the end of his to push the three belts off the bench and onto the at the Bonneys' feet. They laughing at him for a moments, then stopped, the belts up, the pistols to check and chambers, and then each others' and at one another. Sidney's two and some of his friends came up and Sidney's hands.
"There!" Gail at me. "Now look at your masterpiece! Why don't you go up and him, too?"
And with that, she me across the face. It like the devil; she was a than I'd expected.
"In about two minutes," I told her, "you can to me for that, or over my corpse. Right now, though, you'd be something solid."
XI
I and to the Bonneys, Gail. Up until she'd me, I'd been weak-kneed and dry-mouthed with what I had to do. Now I was just plain angry, and I that I was a more clearly. Jack-High Bonney's left shoulder, I knew, wouldn't keep him from using his gun hand, but his would be to slow his draw. I'd saving him until I'd with his brothers. Now, I how he'd that in the place: he'd been the one who'd used the auto-rifle, out at the Hickock ranch. So I my plans and moved him up to top priority.
"Hold it!" I at them. "You've been of killing a politician, but you still have killing a Solar League Ambassador to answer for. Now your hands full of guns, if you don't want to die with them empty!"
The of and away from the Bonney brothers. Out of the of my eye, I saw Sidney and a fat, woman with brass-colored as they to under the friends-of-the-court table at the same place. The Bonney and at me, for an instant, unbelievingly, as I got my thumbs on the release-studs of my belt. Judge Nelson's was hammering, and he was shouting:
"Court–of–Political–Justice–Confederate–Continent–of–New–Texas–is–herewith–adjourned–reconvene–0900–tomorrow. Hit the floor!"
"Damn! He means it!" Switchblade Joe Bonney exclaimed.
Then they all for their guns. They were still when I pressed the and the Krupp-Tattas up into my hands, and I up my right-hand gun and Jack-High through the head. After that, I just let my take over. I saw gun jump out at me from the Bonneys' weapons, and I my own pistols and in my hands, but I don't I was aware of the shots, not from my own weapons. The whole thing five seconds, but it like twenty minutes to me. Then there was nobody at me, and nobody for me to shoot at; the big room was silent, and I was aware that Judge Nelson and his eight were from the bench.
I my left-hand gun, and replaced the magazine of the right-hand gun, then it and the other one. Hoddy Ringo and Francisco Parros and Commander Stonehenge were on their feet, their pistols drawn, the spectators' seats. Colonel Hickock had also a pistol and he was Sidney with it, occasionally moving the to the left to the z'Srauff Ambassador and his two attachés.
By this time, Nelson and the other eight were in their seats, trying to look and judicial.
"Your Honor," I said, "I that no judge to have his into a gallery. I can you, however, that my action here was not the result of any of respect for this court. It was pure necessity. Your Honor can see that: my government not permit this against its Ambassador to pass unpunished."
Judge Nelson solemnly. "Court was when this little happened, Mr. Silk," he said.
He and looked to where the three Bonney were making a of blood on the floor. "I trust that nobody will my and personal here as any legal precedent, and I wouldn't like to see this of thing ... but ... you did that all by yourself, with those little beanshooters?... Not bad, not at all, Mr. Silk."
I thanked him, then to the z'Srauff Ambassador. I didn't my into Basic. He understood, as well as I did, what I was saying.
"Look, Fido," I told him, "my government is well aware of the from which the orders for the of my came. These men I just killed were only the tools.
"We're going to the them, if we have to send every we own into the z'Srauff star-cluster and every in it. We don't let dogs at us. And when they do, we don't them, we shoot them!"
That, of course, was not striped-pants language. I wondered, for a moment, what Norman Gazarian, the man, would think if he an Ambassador calling another Ambassador Fido.
But it to be the of language that Mr. Vuvuvu understood. He his upper lip at me and and growling. Then he on his and the away from the of the courtroom.
The around him and above him barking, baying, at him: "Tie a can to his tail!" "Git for home, Bruno!"
Then somebody yelled, "Hey, look! Even his watch is blushing!"
That was perfectly true. Mr. Gglafrr Ddespttann Vuvuvu's watch-face, white, was now a ruby-red.
I looked at Stonehenge and him looking at me. It would be full dark in four or five hours; there ought to be something to see in the of Capella IV tonight.
Fleet Admiral Sir Rodney Tregaskis would see to that.
FROM REPORT
OF SPACE-COMMANDER STONEHENGE
TO SECRETARY OF AGGRESSION, KLÜNG:
... so the by and Secretary of State Ghopal Singh and Security Coördinator Natalenko, as to me by Mr. Hoddy Ringo, were not, I am to say, needed. Ambassador Silk, alive, the thing much than Ambassador Silk, dead, possibly have.
... to Sir Rodney Tregaskis' report from the of the survivors, the z'Srauff attack came as the Ambassador had expected. They out of about seventy light-minutes the Capella system, in complete of the presence of our fleet.
... have learned the entire of about three hundred and reports here that no more than twenty got to z'Srauff Cluster.
... naturally, the whole has had a influence, an to the of the Solar League, on all of public opinion.
... as you properly assumed, Mr. Hoddy Ringo is no longer with us. When it that the Palme-Silk Annexation Treaty would be here, Mr. Ringo saw that his of would terminate. Accordingly, he left this system, from New Austin for Alderbaran IX, mentioning, as he hands with me, something about a widow. By a coincidence, the branch bank in the city was up by a about an hour he the space-ship....
FINAL MESSAGE
OF THE LAST SOLAR AMBASSADOR TO NEW
TEXAS
STEPHEN SILK
Copies of the Treaty of Annexation, by the New Texas Legislature, herewith.
Please note that the of non-intervention in local political are the very minimum which are to the people of New Texas. They are that there will be no in their methods of that their elected and public officials shall be to the electorate.
DEPARTMENT ADDENDUM
After the of the Palme-Silk treaty, Mr. Silk on New Texas, married the of a local there (see file on First Ambassador, Colonel Andrew Jackson Hickock) and is still active in politics on that planet, often in opposition to Solar League policies, which he to with an almost prescience.
Natalenko re-read the addendum, his thick and sighed. There were so many he be using Mr. Stephen Silk....
For example—he looked at the tri-di star-map, and his walls—over there, where Hoddy Ringo had gone, near Alderbaran IX.
Those were planets, one settled by the of the Edwards and the other by the children of a Jukes-Kallikak union. Even the Solar League Ambassadors there had taken the of the to they were accredited, of the all-embracing view which their should have them....
Curious problem ... and, how would Stephen Silk have it?
The Security Coördinator a note only to himself....
