The meeting with the Chinese ambassador started almost as well as my hallway encounter with Dr. McJerkoff. It seems that while the governments involved had agreed to sending the Dutchman out, which to me amount to a forehead-slappingly duh of a decision, there was less agreement about putting me in command. The British ambassador shook my hand, wished me good luck, and made a point of mentioning the SAS team that was his country's contribution to the Dutchman's military crew. If the British government had reservations about me commanding the mission, they were too polite to say it. Or they calculated it wasn't worth fighting over.

The Chinese ambassador was more direct. China had a two star Air Force general, a guy with an impressive resume, who they thought should command the mission. The Chinese had no problem with me being aboard the ship, especially as a liaison with Skippy, but even though I was now a colonel again, a two star would outrank me by a considerable amount of authority.

Gerald Schmidt was a special White House advisor who had been appointed to smooth relations with our allies about the Dutchman's voyage. Schmidt tried to negotiate with the Chinese, but General Brenner was not listening to any of that. "Then we'll promote Colonel Bishop to a three star general." Brenner glared. "Or, hell, a five star, if we have to. We're not playing this game with you."

The Chinese ambassador must have decided the time for diplomacy had passed. "American arrogance is astonishing. Your country is not a super power in space, yet you act as if-"

"Hey, hey," Skippy fairly shouted, "quit with the jibber jabber!" That had become one of Skippy's favorite expressions. "You brainless apes do whatever you want about titles and uniforms, it doesn't mean a damned thing to me. Joe's rank can be Grand Exalted Poobah, or Bobo the Clown, and he'll still be captain of the ship, you got that? If you gang of flea-bitten monkeys want to come along, then you accept that Colonel Joe is in charge."

Bobo the Clown? I wondered right then, which was amazing how much my mind could wander, did clowns have rank? Did a clown with a big red nose outrank a clown with a-

"He is young, and inexperienced." The Chinese spoke slowly, diplomatically, addressing Skippy directly. "What is special about Colonel Bishop?"

I had been wondering the same thing.