he last thing we need now is added
instability. We may find ourselves in the midst of a Constitutional
crisis soon..... Don't you see?" He felt a strange passion rising
inside him. "It's not just you or I that are under attack, but the
whole system. The work of Jefferson and Adams, and so many others, is
receiving probably the toughest challenge it's ever faced. But it's
never cracked before, and believe me, there've been plenty of chances.
You," he said slowly, emphatically, "are the duly elected President of
the United Commonwealth. Hayes is no more than a crazed demagogue with
a gun. We've got to hold on to that. We've got to hold on....."

And then suddenly, incredulously, he laughed. And in that momentary
freeing of the heart, so long caged and disciplined toward a single
end, he felt a childish joy, and release so pure that warm tears
started at his eyes. Stone looked at him, bewildered.

"Don't you see it, Edgar? Don't you really? The only difference
between us is that you never let yourself play the hero in schoolyard
games, thinking you weren't good enough, or just being bitter about
your father, or some other damned thing. You're no worse than I am,
believe me." Slowly he mastered his mirth, though the feeling of
defiant freedom lingered. "We're neither one of us heroes, my friend;
but it seems we're all we've got. You need more illusions,
Edgar---they keep you longer from the void. Try on the mask of virtue
next. It may save our asses yet."

"But what about the Soviets? What can we possibly do in thirteen days?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Or find it washed out."

"Maybe. But for now we've got to deal with Hayes. 'Sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof.'"

Stone thought for a moment. "Who said that, Jordan?"

"Jesus Christ."

"I didn't know you were a believer."

"I'm not."

The three summoned in Press Secretary Miller, who could no longer be
fed bits and pieces of the truth. Robert Weiss, Stone's other top
adviser (and firmly in General Hayes' camp) continued to demand to see
the President. Bacon continued to deny the request.

The message was sent to Hayes, who now made no secret of his
whereabouts: ten days from the limits of Soviet Space. Unreachable by
stealth, yet tantalizingly close.

The pieces continued to move across the board. The middle-game, which
wasn't a game at all, had begun.

VII

The trouble and damage cause