e done something right, because our government has lasted,
intact, for over four hundred years. Will you tear all that down
because of your obsession with communism? Even your beloved George
Washington turned down the chance to be a monarch, saying it was
contrary to all that he had fought for.

There is nothing more I can say but to fully clarify my position, so
that there will be no chance of further misunderstanding.

A) I will not ask Congress for a Declaration of War. I will say only
that your attack on the colonies was the result of miscommunication
between us, and then attempt to make reparation to the provinces of
Democratic Germany and Greater Czechoslovakia. I am prepared to take
full responsibility for this 'misunderstanding' myself, so long as your
exploits stop now.

B) I will not disown you, as you suggest, nor call your bluff in
public. I am not looking for a fight, nor will I back down from one.
You will remain my Secretary of State, but immediately relinquish all
military title and authority. I'll not have a maverick heading the
armed forces of this nation.

C) My orders to you now, as your Commander-in-Chief, are to break off
from any plans of further adventurism, and return with the Third Fleet
to Commonwealth space at once.

THROUGH HIS RAGE, THE SECRETARY HAD SENSE ENOUGH TO REALIZE THAT THIS
LIST OF DEMANDS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUT FORWARD BY STONE. FOR ONE
THING, THE WORDING WAS MUCH TOO COGENT. AND IN FACT, IT WAS THE ONE
PART OF THE LETTER NOT LARGELY INTACT FROM THE PRESIDENT'S ORIGINAL
DICTATION. DESPAIRING AT HIS OWN IGNORANCE, AND NOT KNOWING WHOM TO
TRUST, STONE HAD TURNED TO HIS VICE PRESIDENT, A CAPABLE MAN, WHO AFTER
LONG AND SECRET CONSULTATION WITH SAM BACON, WHITE HOUSE
CHIEF-OF-STAFF, HAD WRITTEN THE PARAGRAPH FOR HIM.

You may consider me a small and weak man. But I have the power of the
Constitution behind me. And we will also see, should you choose to
defy me, how the American people, including the military, will react
when they find out they've been lied to, and committed murder on your
behalf.

I ask you once again, to be reasonable.

Sincerely,

Edgar James Stone
President of the United Commonwealth.

General Hayes stood perfectly still for perhaps two minutes, holding
the piece of paper in his tightly clench hands, looking at the blank
portion at the top of it with unfocused eyes. The two lesser generals,
knowing better, did not interrupt his me