"Who use nanomachines."

The staff chief shook his head. "The voters don't care that much about the nanomachines. What's getting them worked up is the sight of a bunch of Americans getting attacked by the Peacekeepers—who are mostly foreigners."

"But they elected me because I pushed the nanotech treaty."

"That's not important to them now. As long as the Moon people keep their nanomachines on the Moon, the average American voter doesn't care a gnat's fart about it."

The President glared at her staff chief for long icy moments.

He gave her a weak grin. "Don't blame the messenger for the message," he said.

She huffed at him, then reached out and flicked on her desktop computer. "I want to see these numbers for myself."

The staff chief leaned back in the rocker and watched her face as the data from the constantly ongoing public-opinion poll flickered across her screen.

When she finally looked up at him she asked, "What should I do?"

"Call Faure and tell him to back off, maybe?"

"Don't be ridiculous! It's much too late for that."

"At least tell him that you're concerned about the safety of the American citizens at Moonbase."

"But they've declared their independence! They don't want American citizenship!"

"We don't know if that's just a ploy or not. Either way, there're probably a lot of men and women up there who want to keep their citizenship and come back to the States as soon as they can."

The President shook her head. "I can't weasel on Faure. I've been one of his strongest supporters! If I turn on him now, the word of this Administration will be worthless all around the world. Nobody would trust us again."

"I'm thinking about your re-election campaign."

She waved a hand in the air. "That's next year, for God's sake. By that time Moonbase will be under U.N. control and this whole flap will be forgotten."

Her staff chief still looked worried.

"All right," the President said,'so Yamagata will be running Moonbase and taking over the spacecraft market. If Masterson Corporation goes for it, what am I going to do about it?"

"Once the opposition starts gnawing on that bone . . ."

She shook her head stubbornly.

"They're already starting to make noises in the Senate," he insisted. "Joanna Brudnoy's been talking with half the committee chairmen on the Hill."

"It's a fait accompli," the President said curtly. "In another forty-eight hours or so the Peacekeepers will have taken over Moonbase and this whole problem will resolve itself."

"Maybe," the staff chief said softly. "But what happens if Moonbase drives the Peacekeepers off? They did it once, you know."

She scoffed at him. "That's impossible and you know it."

"Yeah. But still

"Don't you intend to sleep?" Lev Brudnoy asked his wife.

Joanna sat in the exact center of the largest sofa in their living room, her eyes riveted to the big Windowall screen above the dark fireplace.