ugee in sanctuary. The Minister of State said the Cabinet would
consider removing you forcibly from the Embassy if you weren't
surrendered. I said that if the Embassy was violated no ship would clear
for Walden from any other civilized planet. They wouldn't like losing
their off-planet trade! Then he said that the government would not give
you an exit-permit, and that he would hold me personally responsible if
you killed everybody on Walden, including himself and me. I said he
insulted me by suggesting that I'd permit such shenanigans. He said the
government would take an extremely grave view of my attitude, and I said
they would be silly if they did. Then he went off with great
dignity--but shaking with panic--to think up more nonsense."

[Illustration]

"Evidently," said Hoddan in relief, "you believe me when I say that my
gadget doesn't make deathrays."

The ambassador looked slightly embarrassed.

"To be honest," he admitted, "I've no doubt that you invented it
independently, but they've been using such a device for half a century
in the Cetis cluster. They've had no trouble."

Hoddan winced.

"Did you tell the Minister that?"

"Hardly," said the ambassador. "It would have done you no good. You're
in open revolt and have performed overt acts of violence against the
police. But also it was impolite enough for me to suggest that the local
government was stupid. It would have been most undiplomatic to prove
it."

Hoddan did not feel very proud, just then.

"I'm thinking that the cops--quite unofficially--might try to kidnap me
from the Embassy. They'll deny that they tried, especially if they
manage it. But I think they'll try."

"Very likely," said the ambassador. "We'll take precautions."

"I'd like to make something--not lethal--just in case," said Hoddan. "If
you can trust me not to make deathrays, I'd like to make a generator of
odd-shaped microwaves. They're described in textbooks. They ionize the
air where they strike. That's all. They make air a high-resistance
conductor. Nothing more than that."

The ambassador said:

"There was an old-fashioned way to make ozone...." When Hoddan nodded, a
little surprised, the ambassador said: "By all means go ahead. You
should be able to get parts from your room vision-receiver. I'll have
some tools given you." Then he added: "Diplomacy has to understand the
things that control events. Once it was social position. For a time it
was weapons. Then it was comme