Takahashi shrugged, then nodded. "Yes. The sosh and anthro groups don't have level three clearances. Rimskaya guides them as best as he can without breaching security."

"Don't you get sick of this charade?"

Takahashi shook his head vigorously. "No. It is essential."

"Maybe," Patricia said doubtfully. "I have a lot of work to do before Lanier returns."

"Certainly. Do you wish an escort?"

"No. I'm going back to Alexandria for a while. Then I'll be in the seventh chamber if you need me for anything."

Takahashi paused, hands in his pockets, and nodded, then returned to the cafeteria.

Farley came out seconds later and caught up with her by the garage outside the compound. "Hitch a ride?" she asked.

"Rupert's given me driving lessons. I think it would relax me to drive for a while."

"Certainly," Farley said. They signed out a truck and climbed aboard.

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The room smelled of stale smoke, air conditioning and nervous labor. When Lanier and Hoffman entered, there were four others already inside, all men. Two wore silver-gray polyester suits; bulky, balding, comic-opera Russians. The other two wore tailored wool worsteds; their styled hair and their girths were just barely respectable. Hoffman smiled at all as amenities were exchanged, after which everyone sat around an oval conference table. An awkward silence drew out through several minutes as they waited for Hague and Cronberry to arrive.

When the groups were evenly matched, the senior Russian official, Grigori Feodorovski, removed a single sheet of paper from a cardboard folder and laid it on the table. He then pulled a pair of wire-frame glasses over his nose and behind his ears with one smooth sweep of a hand gripping the temple piece.

"Our governments have some necessary points of discussion concerning the Stone or, as we call it, the Potato." His English was excellent. His expression was calm and unhurried. "We have presented these objections to ISCCOM, and now we must hear what you have to say.

"While we concede under protest that primary exploration rights go to those who first visited the Stone—"

That, Lanier recalled, had been a concession two years in coming.

"—we feel that the Soviet Union and our allied sovereign states have been cheated of their rights. While Soviet scientists have been allowed on the Stone, they have been constantly harassed and not allowed to conduct their work. They have been denied access to important information. In light of these and other grievances, which are at this moment being presented to your President and the Senate Space Advisory Council, we feel that ISCCOM has been compromised, and that the Soviet Union and sovereign ally states been. . .” he cleared his throat, as if embarrassed—"treated most malignantly. Our fellow states have been advised that further participation in the multinational Stone investigation, dominated as it is by the United States and NATO–Eurospace, will serve no purpose. Therefore we will soon withdraw our personnel and support for this enterprise."