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began discussing their options.
    â€œWe have to kill a few weeks,” said Pretorius. “We might as well not approach the Petrus system before we have to.”
    â€œWhy not?” asked Ortega as they sat in the galley, trying not to think of their favorite dishes.
    â€œBecause if anyone stops and inspects us, they’re going to find our Michkag, and even if we convinced them he’s the real thing, that’d only last until the true Michkag shows up. Remember, we’re not here just to insert our Michkag, but to kill or kidnap the best-protected being in the Coalition.”
    â€œBesides,” added Pandora, “we’re Men, and we’re at war with the Coalition. Even if they didn’t know about our Michkag, they’d have no reason not to blow us out of the ether.”
    â€œThen how do we expect to approach Petrus, let alone land on it and make the switch?” asked Djibmet.
    â€œI’m working on it,” said Pretorius.
    â€œIs that the only answer we’re to be given?” demanded Djibmet.
    â€œI could tell you the thirty-four approaches I’m considering and let you pick holes in each of them,” answered Pretorius, “but I’d rather wait until I had one that was foolproof.”
    â€œHe’s the best,” added Snake, “or they’d never trust him with this mission. Once it works, the damned war’ll be over in a year, our Michkag will make peace, and the combination of the Democracy and the Coalition will be all but invulnerable.”
    At least I’m traveling with an optimist , thought Pretorius wryly.
    Circe couldn’t read his thought, but she had no problem reading his reaction and smiled.
    He sighed. Yeah, I know. The only thing worse is for nobody to believe in this thousand-to-one scheme .
    â€œSo do we just cool our heels here in No Man’s Land for a month?” asked Pandora.
    â€œWe’ll keep busy,” replied Pretorius. “It’ll give our Michkag another month to prepare for his impersonation. It’ll give you time to monitor more of their messages. It’ll give all of us time to probe for weaknesses. Also, in a few days I’ll adjust the ship’s gravity and atmosphere to match that of Petrus IV.”
    â€œThere’s a couple of pretty powerful pulse weapons that we didn’t jettison,” said Ortega. “We might start practicing with them, and maybe even hunt up some more on some of these worlds out here.”
    â€œWaste of time,” said Pretorius.
    â€œOh?”
    â€œWe’re going to be five Men and an imposter on a planet that, for the duration we’re there, will be the most heavily guarded world in the Coalition. If there are less than half a million uniformed Kabori there I’d be surprised. Short of slipping a Q-bomb into a molar and blowing the whole world to smithereens—and nine out of ten Q bombs never detonate—just how much difference do you think heavy artillery will make?”
    Ortega’s prosthetic face contorted into a hideous grimace.
    â€œI just hate it when you lay it out like that,” he growled. “I like to think we have a chance of succeeding in this damned enterprise.”
    â€œWe do,” replied Pretorius. “But not by outshooting the bad guys.” He saw Djibmet offer the Kabori equivalent of a frown. “Excuse me,” he continued. “I misspoke. We won’t do it by outshooting the temporary enemy.”
    The Kabori inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.
    â€œSo we just float here for a month and hope no one will spot or question us?” said Snake.
    â€œNot exactly,” answered Pretorius. “As we learn more about their defenses, we’ll gradually get closer to them. We’ll stop on the occasional planet where we might pick up something useful.”
    â€œUseful?” asked Circe.
    â€œInformation, for the most part.”
    â€œFor the most