I leaned back in the bed and folded my arms across my chest. "So the United States wins after all, right?"

Fromkin shook his head. "That's the joke, son. There may not even be a United States when this war is over-even if we win. Whatever is necessary for the human species to defeat the Chtorrans is of such overriding importance that the survival of any nation, as a nation, becomes a minor matter. Every single one of us committed to this war knows that the survival of anything is of secondary importance when weighed against the survival of the species. Period."

He leaned back in his chair again. I didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. And then I thought of something. "I can see that's your position. Now, what was the justification for including me? Remember, I was supposed to get killed there too-not be a hero."

Fromkin did not look embarrassed. He said, "That's right. And you weren't supposed to be rescued either. That nurse, Dinnie-she can be a perfect pain in the ass sometimes-she saved your life. She disabled two of our marines when they tried to pull her away."

"They were going to kill me?"

"Uh, not exactly. It just seemed, ah, politic not to rush to your aid. But nobody told her that. When they tried to pull her away, she crippled them. Broke one fellow's kneecap, the other one's collarbone, arm and sternum. She stayed with you the whole time, wouldn't let anybody near you unless she knew them personally."

"And what happened in the operating room?"

Fromkin looked startled. "You know about that too?" I nodded.

"A senior officer suggested that your treatment be ... postponed. She invited him to leave the operating theater. He refused. She gave him a choice. Under his own power or otherwise. If otherwise, she guaranteed he wouldn't like it. She was right. He didn't like it. She's under arrest now-"

"Huh?"

"Protective custody. Until some things get sorted out. I promise you, she'll be all right. But you and I need to have this little chat first."

Something occurred to me then. "Why you and I? Where's Uncle Ira? Shouldn't he and I be having this conversation?" Fromkin hesitated. "I'm sorry. Colonel Wallachstein is dead. He didn't get out of the auditorium in time." There was pain in his face.

"No-!" I cried. "I can't believe that!" I felt like I'd been slammed in the chest with a brick

"He pushed three people out ahead of him," said Fromkin. "I was one of them. He went back for someone else. I waited for him at the door. He never came out."

"I-I don't know what to say. I hardly knew him. I don't know if I liked him-but I respected him."

Fromkin waved it away. "He respected you for killing that fourth Chtorran. He told me so. In fact, he authorized your bounty check Sunday morning, just before the session."

"Bounty check?"

"Don't you know? There's a one-million-casey bounty for every Chtorran you kill. Ten million if you capture one alive. You're a millionaire now. Twice over. I'll authorize your second check. I'm taking over certain responsibilities for the Agency. That's why you and. I are having this chat."

"Oh. Are you my superior officer now?"

"Let's just say I'm your, ah, liaison."

"With who?"

"You don't need to know their names. They're the people who worked with Uncle Ira."

"The same people who decided I should be killed?"

Fromkin exhaled in quiet annoyance. He folded his hands into his lap and collected himself. He looked me in the eye and said, "You need to understand something about that. Yes, you were supposed to die. The people you work for made that decision."

"Nice people," I said.

"You'd be surprised."

"I'm sorry, they don't sound like the kind of people I want to work for. I may be an asshole, but I'm not a stupid one."

"That remains to be seen." Fromkin went on quietly, "Until Sunday afternoon, as far as anyone could tell, you were a liability. Nobody figured on you bringing that Chtorran down. I admit it, I'm still surprised-but when you did that, you stopped being a liability and started being a hero. You're an asset now, son. Sunday's pictures demonstrate that a human being can stop a Chtorran. The world needs to know that. You've become a very useful tool. We want to use you-if you're willing to be used. The earlier decision is inoperative now. You can thank Dinnie for that. She bought you enough time so we could come to that realization. Hm," he added. "We may have to recruit her."

I didn't know whether to feel relieved or angry. I said, "That's all I am? A tool? You can tell them I'm grateful. I hope I can do the same for them sometime."

Fromkin caught my sarcasm. He nodded in annoyance. "Right. You'd rather be right. You'd rather exercise your righteousness."

"I'm angry!" I shouted. "It's my life we're talking about! That may not mean much to you, but being eaten by a Chtorran could ruin my whole day!"

"You have every right to be angry," Fromkin said calmly. "In fact, I'd worry about you if you weren't, but the thing you need to get is that it's irrelevant. Your anger is your business. It means nothing to me. So handle it so you can get on with your job." "I'm not sure I want the job."

"You want to kill Chtorrans?"

"Yes! I want to kill Chtorrans!"

"Good! We want you to kill Chtorrans too!"

"But I want to trust the people behind me!"

"Jim, stop taking it personally! Any of us-all of us-are expendable, if it will bring the rest of us closer to the goal of stopping the infestation. Right now, our problem is the resistance of every person who doesn't see that the Chtorran problem is the overriding one-especially those who are entrusted with the responsibility for handling this circumstance. They're in the way. If they're in the way, they have to be moved out of the way. So don't get in the way. And if you do, don't take it personally."

"I think that makes it even more horrifying," I said. "The sheer callousness of it."

Fromkin was unimpressed. "Oh, I see-your ideals are more important than winning the war. That's too bad. Do you know what a Chtorran calls an idealist? Lunch."

I glanced at his uniform. "Is that an enlightened position?"

"Yes," he said. "It is." He didn't expand on it.

I said, "You still haven't answered my question."

"Sorry. Which one?"

"What was the justification for wanting me dead too?"

Fromkin shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You looked like a liability, that's all. I told you, don't take it personally."

"Is that it?"

"Uh huh." He nodded.

"You mean it was just calmly decided-just like that?"

"Yep."

I couldn't believe it. I began to splutter at him. "You mean to tell me that you-and Colonel Wallachstein-and Major Tirelli-just calmly sat around and decided my death?"

He waited till I ran down. It was a long wait. Then he said, "Yes -that's exactly how it happened. Calmly and unemotionally." He met my furious stare with an unashamed expression. "In the same way that we calmly and unemotionally decided to turn the Chtorran loose on a roomful of our colleagues. In the same way that Duke calmly and unemotionally decided to handle that little girl in the brown dress. Yes, I know about that too." He added, "And in the same way that you calmly and unemotionally decided to handle Shorty and that fourth Chtorran. There's no difference, Jim. We just left out some of the hysteria and drama. But otherwise, there's no difference, Jim, in what we did and what you did.

"You accepted the responsibility when you accepted that flamethrower in the first place. The truth is, the things we did that you don't like are really the things you did that you don't like. Right?"

I had to admit it.

I nodded. Reluctantly.

"Right. So give the people around you a break. It isn't any easier over here. We just don't have to be drama queens about it. So you can spare me your goddamned self-righteousness! If I want to be beaten up, I can do it far better than you can! In fact, I already have. I know the arguments-better than you, probably! You think I haven't gone around this bush myself a few times?"