reet outside was crowded with New Texans, all of them on our side,
shouting slogans like, "Death to the Bonneys!" and "Vengeance for
Cumshaw!" and "Annexation Now!" Some of it was entirely spontaneous,
too. The Hickocks, father and daughter, were given a tremendous ovation,
when they finally left, and followed to their hotel by cheering crowds.
I saw one big banner, lettered: 'DON'T LET NEW TEXAS GO TO THE DOGS.'
and bearing a crude picture of a z'Srauff. I seemed to recall having
seen a couple of our Marines making that banner the evening before in
the Embassy patio, but....

CHAPTER X

The next morning, the third of the trial, opened with the defense
witnesses, character-witnesses for the three killers and witnesses to
the political iniquities of Silas Cumshaw.

Neither Goodham nor I bothered to cross-examine the former. I couldn't
see how any lawyer as shrewd as Sidney had shown himself to be would
even dream of getting such an array of thugs, cutthroats, sluts and
slatterns into court as character witnesses for anybody.

The latter, on the other hand, we went after unmercifully, revealing,
under their enmity for Cumshaw, a small, hard core of bigoted xenophobia
and selfish fear. Goodham did a beautiful job on that; he seemed able,
at a glance, to divine exactly what each witness's motivation was, and
able to make him or her betray that motivation in its least admirable
terms. Finally the defense rested, about a quarter-hour before noon.

I rose and addressed the court:

"Your Honor, while both the prosecution and the defense have done an
admirable job in bringing out the essential facts of how my predecessor
met his death, there are many features about this case which are far
from clear to me. They will be even less clear to my government, which
is composed of men who have never set foot on this planet. For this
reason, I wish to call, or recall, certain witnesses to clarify these
points."

Sidney, who had begun shouting objections as soon as I had gotten to my
feet, finally managed to get himself recognized by the court.

"This Solar League Ambassador, Your Honor, is simply trying to use the
courts of the Planet of New Texas as a sounding-board for his
imperialistic government's propaganda...."

"You may reassure yourself, Mr. Sidney," Judge Nelson said. "This court
will not allow itself to be improperly used, or improperly swayed, by
the Ambassador of the Solar League. This court is interested on