“I sent Ser Olmy on a mission around the Recovered Earth to provide an independent view of our relations. This seemed necessary in light of the four recent assassination attempts on Hexamon officials and Terrestrial leaders. We in the Hexamon are not used to such…extreme attitudes.

“They might be the last vestiges of Earth’s political past, or they might indicate breaking strains we are not aware of—reflections of our own ‘belt-tightening’ in the orbiting precincts.

“I asked him to bring me an overview on how the Recovery was proceeding. Some believe it is finished, and so our Hexamon has designated the Earth itself ‘Recovered,’ past tense, job accomplished. I am not convinced. How much time and effort will be necessary to truly bring the Earth back to health?”

“The recovery goes as well as could be expected, Ser President.” Olmy consciously altered his speaking and picting style. “As the senator from Australia and New Zealand is aware, even the Hexamon’s vast technologies cannot make up for a lack of resources, not when you wish to accomplish such a transformation in mere decades. There is a natural time required for Earth’s wounds to heal, and we cannot accelerate that by much. I estimate that about half the task has been accomplished, if we say that full recovery is a return to economic conditions comparable to those preceding the Death.”

“Doesn’t that depend on how ambitious we are on Earth?” Ras Mishiney asked. “If we wish to bring Terrestrials to a level comparable with the precincts or Thistledown…” He did not finish his sentence; it was hardly necessary.

“That could take a century or more,” Olmy said. “There’s no universal agreement that Old Natives want such rapid advancement. Some would doubtless openly resist it.”

“How stable are our relations with Earth just now?” the president asked him.

“They could be much improved, Ser. There are still areas of strong, overt political resistance, Southern Africa and Malaysia among them.”

Ras Mishiney smiled ironically. Southern Africa’s attempted invasion of Australia was still a sore memory, one of the greatest crises in the four decades of the Recovery.

“But the resistance is strictly political, not military, and it’s not very organized. Southern Africa is subdued after the Voortrekker defeats, and Malaysia’s activities are unorganized. They do not seem worrisome at the moment.”

“Our little ‘sanity plagues’ have done their job?”

Olmy was taken aback. The use of psychobiologicals on Earth was supposed to be highly confidential; only a few of the most trusted Old Natives knew of them. Was Ras Mishiney one such? Did Farren Siliom trust Tikk so much that he could mention them casually?

“Yes, Ser.”

“Yet you’ve had qualms about these mass treatments?”

“I’ve always recognized their necessity.”

“No doubts whatsoever?”