The battle ground to a halt. What was left of the INOR armada withdrew beyond the reach of the UIPS fleet's long-range weapons, careful to demonstrate that their retreat was in a direction away from the Slingshot Terminals. It was just as well, lines of UIPS destroyers and gunships had formed up as a shield between the work sites and any potential attacker from the residue of the INOR Combined Fleet. The arena quieted. UIPS search, rescue and medical craft searched the area, marking wrecks of both sides with electronic signals, collecting the dead and treating the wounded. Communications lines opened between the fleets. Admiral Selvin requested the INOR commanders to order a stand down from all weapons. All Plutonian Assault Force vessels were ordered to form up and prepare for boarders. Brad and Selvin stood in a corner of the command deck, heads close. Brad drew an object from a pocket as he spoke: the control for the communications barrier Zolan had erected. Selvin, hand to chin, stared at the device, listening. He pointed to it, and then in the direction of the companionway. "Notify Camari," he said. "Now." Brad nodded and raced away. Chapter FORTY-FIVE Camari's impassive gaze roamed the faces of the Solar System's leaders at the conference table. The discussions had quickly degenerated into an open clash of wills between Camari and Narval. The other INOR Chiefs of State sat back to enjoy the contest, posing occasional questions to Camari or Narval, or to both. All knew they were in a waiting game. Camari went along, drawing Narval out. Each was eager for a message from the Planet Pluto Special Zone that would present a new reality and the defining course for the conference. Narval realized that he was being goaded by his INOR allies to exacerbate the confrontation between the Regions. Noting the time, he decided to drop the first bombshell. "We have been called together to prepare a course for the future," he rumbled, looking about with scorn. "Yet we of INOR sit here and quibble among ourselves, lacking a unified will to confront the UIPS directly and compel them to respect our demands. The circumstances of the times call for the raw strength of an iron fist, not for a press of beggars with outstretched, pleading palms." "I take exception," President Straber of Titan leaned forward and waggled his finger at Narval. "We are a confederation of nation-states. Are you suggesting that we abdicate our sovereignty to a single authority? If we were to do that we face the same chaos that preceded the separation of the Regions. We of Titan would find that intolerable." Narval seized the moment to pave the way for the supreme power he felt would soon be his. The message from Drummer would surely come within minutes.