found him looking at me. It would be full
dark in four or five hours; there ought to be something spectacular to
see in the cloudless skies of Capella IV tonight.

Fleet Admiral Sir Rodney Tregaskis would see to that.

_FROM REPORT
OF SPACE-COMMANDER STONEHENGE
TO SECRETARY OF AGGRESSION, KLUeNG:

... so the measures considered by yourself
and Secretary of State Ghopal Singh and Security
Cooerdinator Natalenko, as transmitted to me by
Mr. Hoddy Ringo, were not, I am glad to say,
needed. Ambassador Silk, alive, handled the
thing much better than Ambassador Silk, dead,
could possibly have.

... to confirm Sir Rodney Tregaskis' report from the tales of the few
survivors, the z'Srauff attack came as the Ambassador had expected. They
dropped out of hyperspace about seventy light-minutes outside the
Capella system, apparently in complete ignorance of the presence of our
fleet.

... have learned the entire fleet consisted of about three hundred
spaceships and reports reaching here indicate that no more than twenty
got back to z'Srauff Cluster.

... naturally, the whole affair has had a profound influence, an
influence to the benefit of the Solar League, on all shades of public
opinion.

... as you properly assumed, Mr. Hoddy Ringo is no longer with us. When
it became apparent that the Palme-Silk Annexation Treaty would be
ratified here, Mr. Ringo immediately saw that his status of diplomatic
immunity would automatically terminate. Accordingly, he left this
system, embarking from New Austin for Alderbaran IX, mentioning, as he
shook hands with me, something about a widow. By a curious coincidence,
the richest branch bank in the city was held up by a lone bandit about
half an hour before he boarded the space-ship...._

_FINAL MESSAGE
OF THE LAST SOLAR AMBASSADOR TO NEW
TEXAS
STEPHEN SILK

Copies of the Treaty of Annexation, duly ratified by the New Texas
Legislature, herewith.

Please note that the guarantees of non-intervention in local political
institutions are the very minimum which are acceptable to the people of
New Texas. They are especially adamant that there will be no change in
their peculiar methods of insuring that their elected and appointed
public officials shall be responsible to the electorate.

DEPARTMENT ADDENDUM

_After the ratification of the Palme-Silk treaty, Mr. Silk remained on
New Texas, married the daughter of a local rancher there (see file on
First Amba