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— Let him hold on… he recovered the phone, — Broos? Where’s the problem… Have you got a copy of it in front of you? All right first, in clause four. For the purposes of cobalt stockpiling, national security and so forth and so forth, that during the life of this contract as stated in clause one supra the government hereby agrees to purchase from Typhon International five point two thousand tons of contained cobalt annually, at the guaranteed price of four dollars sixty seven cents per pound, now. Down in seven. In order to expedite this and so forth and so forth the government agrees to advance to Typhon International the sum of thirty-nine point seven million dollars to construct a smaltite processing plant for the extraction of contained cobalt and then down in eleven, the government agrees to sell, at cost, to the processing plant to be erected operated and so forth by Typhon International in the country of Gandia, sufficient smaltite ore to yield at a minimum the amount of contained cobalt as set forth in clause four supra and for which purposes this contract shall be deemed to be… what? Because if they wanted to buy nickel they would have said nickel. They didn’t come to us to buy nickel. They didn’t come to us to buy iron or arsenic they came to buy cobalt and cobalt occurs in smaltite, if we come across nickel or iron or anything else in the ore reduction that’s… well let them scream giveaway they… I know he does, I say if we spell things out here we’re the ones who are shouting giv… No he’s right here…

— Broos…? the phone came up clenched to a deaf ear, — no damn time to start nitpicking, if this contract’s not signed sealed and delivered while Monty’s still running things here his signature on it’s no more damn good than Jefferson Davis,’ already got enough damn problems leftwing press adding two and two getting five sounds like a few blacks jumped the gun over there blew up a damn bridge or something, Blaufinger on the phone here first damn thing he’ll want to know’s if there’s any talk about sending in troops to stabilize the situation. The answer’d better be we’re damn well not and I want Frank Black to make that good and damn clear to the press corps down there and anybody else that noses in hear me? Civil war breaks out seceding this Uaso province it’s nobody’s business but these damn Africans’, we can’t get in there and support secession don’t mean we want some damn fool introducing a resolution on the floor supporting the established government either hear me…? he hunched further getting the phone to his other hand, — what’s that…? getting it clenched to his other ear. — You do some arm twisting get that damn resolution tacked on there hear me? We’re the ones that’s building the damn smelter the government’s not, we’re the ones taking the chance they’re not, you hear me…? and the phone came tendered at arm’s length where Miss Bulcke caught it. — You hear that Beaton?

— Excuse me sir General Blaufinger is still…

— Here I’ll take it.

— Mister Moncrieff is on the line now, thank you for wait…

— Hello, General…?

— Beaton you hear that? Resolution exempting private investment in a hazardous business climate you make damn sure that’s cleared up before Monty signs, hear me?

— Rumors General, just rumors, we… three planeloads? No they couldn’t be ours, the whole… but half the armies over there have US stamped all over them there’s no reason to be afraid the… no of course not General I didn’t mean to imply… Yes I know you did General even our own history books treat it as a brilliant campai… I’ve never discussed it with General Box no, but… Yes I’m sure he would General but we want him out of there right after this groundbreaking, these reports have already jeopardized the contract and if you can’t restrain Doctor Dé until we have the… now just a minute General, we…