Vorgens shook his head. “The best we can say is that we’ve accomplished a stalemate. Our objective is peace. We have perpetual fighting. That’s failure.”
**What do you propose?” the exec asked.
“That’s the worst part of it—I can’t see any clear way out,” Vorgens admitted. “Either the Komani will remain here until one side or the other collapses from exhaustion, r—worse still—Okatar will pull his clan off Shinar and attack another planet. Then the whole bloody business will be repeated again.”
“What about the reinforcements on their way here?” Aikens asked.
“They won’t be enough to make much difference,” Vorgens said. “In fact, just because they’re so few, they’ll verify Okatar’s claim that the Empire can’t defend Shinar adequately. Those reinforcements might lead to strengthening Okatar’s hand! Other Komani clans might be tempted to join him when they see how weak the Empire’s response is.” A gloomy silence settled over them.
Finally, Merdon said, “I know a way of breaking this deadlock.”
Everyone turned to him.
“Kill Okatar,” Merdon said simply. “Decapitate the Komani clan.”
Aikens grunted. “You’d never be able to get to him.”
“It would just make the Komani fight harder,” the exec said.
“That would be barbaric,” Voi-gens said. “To deliberately plan a man’s death….”
“This is war,” Aikens snapped. “Every one of us runs the risk of being killed.”
“In battle, yes,” Vorgens countered. “But not in bed. No, I can’t condone assassination.”
“But if it were done,” Merdon insisted, “it would break die stalemate, wouldn’t R?”