"No!"
"Just once--for fun?"
"No. I want our money-grubbing Peacekeeper to carry a message to His
Excellency. I want His Excellency to read some Terrestrial History. Once
upon a time there was a place called the Byzantine Empire that laid
across the trade routes. The upper crust of people used to serve the
Presence of God in a golden throne whilst their underlings dealt in
human slaves and procured comely concubines for the emperor; their
policemen took bribes and human life was cheap. And when Byzantium fell,
all the world was forced to seek a new trade route. So tell His
Excellency that he'd better clean up his own foul mess, or some
barbarians will clean it up for him."
"And that," said Buregarde, "goes for your dad-ratted cat!"
[Illustration: FIN]