"I'm sorry, sir," Al said, "but I really don't know. Better come along for some dinner. You've had a hard day, and you have a harder one ahead of you tomorrow. We saved a number of difficult problems that we didn't want to throw at you on your first day in office." A ghost of a smile crept over the President's face, then disappeared quickly. "It's all right, Al. Go ahead and eat. I think I'll just stay here and go over these tapes." As Al left, President Wong saw the order for the police action on his desk. He picked it up to call Al to take it with him, but his eyes caught the words _500,000 men_ ... _sixteen years_, and a picture of the terribly wounded veterans flashed before his eyes. Really, he would have to go through the files and find out if the expedition was necessary.... He opened the left-hand desk drawer and stared at the Gnii tapes, but he didn't take any of them out. It seemed like too much of an effort. And then, the conversion bomb was so much more important. He closed the first drawer and opened the one with the conversion bomb tapes. But the Gnii had to be answered tomorrow--the bomb could wait. He slammed the drawer shut. "Gnii," he muttered to himself, and opened the other drawer. Then he noticed that he had put the police action order back into his OUTGOING basket. He slammed the drawer with the Gnii tapes shut again and opened the drawer below it and pushed the order inside, so that it wouldn't be picked up by mistake before he could check on it. "Five hundred thousand men in here," he said as he closed the drawer. "Going to--" Where were they supposed to go? He couldn't remember. He opened the drawer again and looked at the order. To Altair D. The name had no meaning for him. Now, let's see ... oh, yes, the conversion bomb tape. He opened the drawer to take out the tapes, and remembered that the Gnii ultimatum had to be answered by tomorrow. "Gnii, Gnu, Gnuts," he said, opening a drawer. It was the wrong one, and the tapes weren't there. Which tapes? The door opened, and President Wong looked up to see Al's smiling face peering in. "I was passing by, sir," Al said, "and I wondered if I couldn't talk you into supper--" "_Get out!_" the President shouted. The door closed softly. Now where was he?... Oh, yes, the conversion bomb. Conversion, conversion, conversation, bomb, bomb, boom, _BOOM_. But that wasn't it either--it was the Gnii, they had to be answered by tomorrow.... Gnii, Gnii, Gnu, Gnuts, now in what drawer had he put the gnats? And why order a police action against Gnats? Just convert every one of them into spiders.... * * * * * Al walked slowly down the hall, his grin gone, his face looking washed out. He turned into his own little office and snapped on the communications video. "First Vice-President Michael Thompson," he said to the operator. In a moment Thompson appeared on the screen.