"You cannot use force," Blane's voice stated flatly. "For the first time, the governments of Earth cannot fall back on destruction when everything else fails. To destroy us would make your economic collapse inevitable now. You cannot go back to your past or the savage rules of your past. You can only meet us honestly and concede the just demands we propose." Many were surprised at the proposals--the joint work of two years of thought on the _Tsiolkovsky_ and a final flash of insight on the part of Blane. They wanted recognition from the UN that they were an independent territory. They wanted to incorporate as an independent stock company on Earth, under direct UN charter. For that, they were willing to pay reasonable taxes on operations done within any country. They were willing to pay a reasonable price, to be settled by a committee of neutral nations, for the two stations, for the ships--and even for the Russian ships that were destroyed--and for complete sovereignty over Johnston Island, which would now be worthless to Earth. They would pay for this by the issuing of stock, which could be redeemed in time through the profits that were easily provable as more than adequate to meet their debts. And they were to have full control of further ventures and services to be transacted on the station. Weather predictions would be on a subscription basis, research on the station would be by lease, and other services could be adjusted to a fair market value. There was more, but much of it was only repetition to make sure all was understood. It finished with a simple request for a quick decision, since no more business could be done with Earth until the agreements had been reached. The President nodded. "You'll agree?" he asked. "What else can we do?" the Premier asked in return. "He's right. We can't continue today without the services we're used to from space. A series of accidents has left us no choice." The President settled back, apparently satisfied. But he was less sure. Had there been accidents involved? Some man must have hated war in space enough to sabotage a fleet of ships. Other men had hated that same war enough to break all discipline and strike out against a whole planet. And men and women on two separate stations had so detested the thought of being crushed in a surface struggle that they had independently schemed for this proposal. He let his eyes rest on the delegate from Israel who was yielding to the delegate from Saudi Arabia. It didn't matter who made the resolution to accept the proposal of Blane on a tentative basis. There would be no veto possible now. And on Earth, the tension was relaxing already. Perhaps now, even the surface enmities could be settled in time. The Fifteenth Space Disarmament Conference was ending. THE END