“The natives are no immediate threat to us. Lord Okatar,” said one of the nobles. “It is the Terrans.”
“The Terransi” Okatar spat”They’re lucky to be alive, and they know it. They are merely trying to protect themselves; they are no danger.”
“But still, they have a powerful force.”
“I wish they would offer us battle,” Okatar said. “We would overwhelm them, once and for all. But, no, instead they retreat, they flee from usVery well. Let them run.”
“What have you in mind?”
Okatar stopped his pacing and faced the council table. “We are going to make this planet feel the full might of the Komani. Until now we have attempted to deal with the Shinarians as allies. But they have betrayed usNow we shall treat them as subjects. This planet is ours for the taking, and I intend to take what we want from it.”
“What about the Shinarian forces still allied to us?”
“They have plotted against us. Merdon and his children’s army have hoped that we would drive off the Terrans, and then be so weakened that they could drive us off.”
“Do you intend to force Merdon to join the Terrans?”
“That, he will never do. No, I intend to offer him a bargain—a bargain on Komani terms. He can still serve with us, but as a subject, not an ally. When we are finished ith Shinar, he can take control of the planet, but he will be our subject.”
“If he refuses this bargain?”
“He will die.”
“And the Terrans?”
Okatar smiled fiercely. “We shall start a campaign of terror and looting that will turn this planet upside-down. We shall take what we need and what we want from the Shinarian countryside and the towns that have no Terran garrison. Sooner or later, the Terrans will be forced to offer us battle. They will stop running and try to attack our forces; possibly they will attempt to attack this camp. When they mass, we will mass. When they attempt to strike at us, we will destroy them!”