Ecolitan Prime (Ecolitan Matter) by L.E. Modesitt Jr. Page A

the Empire, which complicates things greatly, don’t you think?”
    There! He’d thrown his own question on the end.
    If it hadn’t been so serious, he could have howled. Both were compelled to tell the truth, and both were trying to get the other on the answering side of the questions.
    “Greatly, but doesn’t that mean that Accord is out for territorial expansion?”
    “Only in the commercial sense and not in governmental terms because the Institute doesn’t believe in large government, but aren’t several factions within the Empire out to crush us anyway? Which ones? Why?”
    “Not all the Empire; mainly the Admiral and the Ministry of Defense, probably because they’re still smarting over the loss of the Rift, and can’t we stop this farce?”
    “Yes, if we agree not to ask questions.”
    “I agree.”
    Nathaniel looked up to see the fine beads of perspiration on Sylvia’s forehead, wiped the dampness off his own brow with the back of his sleeve.
    He cleared his throat, meeting her slate dark eyes again.
    “How…I’d like to offer a compromise. I’ll tell you what I can, and you can ask me one question afterwards. That question will ask me if what I said is true. Then you say what you can or will, and I ask you the same question.”
    She laughed.
    “For a man with such a dangerous reputation, you’re certainly being straightforward, and I’d even drink to that, but I’d rather not prolong the agony.”
    Nathaniel coughed, looked down at the linen on the table, and then back at the slender woman.
    “My story is simple, as much of it as you probably want to hear. I am an Ecolitan, a professor at the Institute, selected because of my overall qualifications to figure out how to negotiate a trade agreement with the Empire before the Empire can employ the lack of such an agreement as an excuse to justify widespread military action against the Coordinate. The job is complicated because we can’t politically accept a degrading agreement. The Institute couldn’t accept any agreement whose terms might be difficult to keep because we frankly believe that some segments of the Empire don’t want any agreement. At the same time, I should reinforce the idea that armed aggression by the Empire would result in catastrophe for the Empire itself. That will be difficult because no one in the Empire really believes that Accord has that kind of ability. Nor do they want to believe that. It’s true, unfortunately.”
    He spread his hands. “I’d be happy to add any more if it’s a suggestion and not a question.”
    She grinned. “Do you trust me that much? Or do you think you could avoid answering?” She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh…I’m sorry.”
    “No, but I have to trust someone, at least to some degree. It’s probably better to trust a professional. I could probably avoid revealing anything I really wanted to.”
    Sylvia opened her mouth, closed it, then began again. “You seem to have a great deal of confidence, a great deal of faith, in your ability to wreak havoc upon the Empire without taking much in the way of losses.” Her expression was calm and composed by the time she finished the statement.
    “I did not say that. All-out war would probably destroy Accord totally. It would not destroy the Institute nor its capability to devastate the Empire. There is a difference.”
    “Is all this true, and do you believe it?”
    “Yes…to both…with the qualification that any prediction based on assumptions of human nature has a certain potential for error.”
    Her laugh was a breeze of freshness. “My…you do sound like the professor you are!”
    He couldn’t help but return her humor with a short laugh of his own.
    “I didn’t mean to sound so pedantic, but the way you asked the question…”
    The silence following his words lengthened.
    Nathaniel half turned to stare out the wide window toward the foothills and the mountains behind. High white clouds were approaching from the west.
    As he