Harriman made a sour face. "Don't be such a muddle- brain! The only way you can prevent nuclear war is by producing a force that's stronger than nations. Selene by itself can't be that strong. But De Paolo's moving toward a real world government—with muscle. It's what we need. Hell, Woodrow Wilson recognized that! But up until now no international organization has had the muscle to make the nations toe the line. Well, now we do. Or we will."

"Damned right," Marrett agreed. "We're gonna build a whole new thing out of all this. A real world government. The age of nationalism is over, finished. Has been, ever since Sputnik. We're just trying to build something effective in its place to hold the world together."

Marrett took a long, thoughtful pull on his beer. Putting the bottle down, he said, "Listen. A world government isn't gonna solve all the world's problems overnight. And there's always the danger of a dictatorship on a global scale. But compared to what we've got today, a world government looks damned good to me."

Harriman added, "Chet, it's a question of quid pro quo. If we want these nations to recognize Selene, if we want to be admitted to the United Nations, to get the United States and 542 the Soviet Union off our backs, then we've got to play along with De Paolo. There's no choice. It's a question of political reality. Help De Paolo get what he wants and he'll help us to get what we want. Quid pro quo."

"While the whole fucking human race hangs in the balance," Marrett added.

Kinsman asked, "These people we talked with today —they're going back to their respective governments?"

"They're on airplanes right now," Marrett said. "De Paolo will carry the ball from here on. All we need from you is your agreement to keep up your end of the bargain."

"And that will get us recognized by a large enough bloc of nations to have us voted into UN membership?"

"If none of the Security Council members vetoes our application," Harriman said.

"That means Russia and the States."

"Right."

"Why would they be nice to us?" Kinsman asked.

"Because," replied Marrett, "De Paolo's gonna let them know that weather control's on the way. They can't afford to be left out in the cold, and storm, and drought, and flood."

Kinsman stared at him. "You can really do that?"

"Sooner or later. A lot sooner than they think." Marrett let his big fists rest on the heavy white tablecloth. "Been doing it on a small scale for years. It's been used in war, mostly to increase rainfall and cause floods. Or wipe out crops. It's actually easier to do it on a big scale—you've got a lot more reinforcement factors working for you."

Harriman broke in, "And on the near term, we have the power to knock off all their commsats and other space assets. Let's see them try to get groceries from California to Connec- ticut without telephones or navigation satellites!"

Kinsman felt his face pull into a frown.

"But it's working, Chet!" Harriman insisted. "They know what they're up against. Why do you think the U.S. and Russia are trying to be nice to us and letting those immigrants go—including Leonov's kids and Diane's daughter?"

"Yes, maybe . . ." Kinsman wanted to nod, but instead found himself blinking, the way Pete did. "But they asked for a postponement of my speech to the General Assembly." 543

"I am in agreement with them on that point," Landau said. "You must avoid additional strain and return to Selene as quickly as possible."

Ignoring him, "But why did they push for a postpone- ment?" Kinsman repeated.

Marrett shrugged. "Who the hell cares? They're just giving De Paolo a few more days to line up everybody. Time's on our side."

"Is it?" Kinsman wondered. "Is it really?"

Friday 31 December 1999:

1700 hrs UT