all the time."
"You forget," said Dink, "we're his colleagues now. So we can call him and Rackham 'you boys' too."
Graff stood up from his seat at the head of the table. "I've made the offer. You'll think about it whether you mean to or not. You'll watch events unfold. You all know how to contact me. The offer is open. We're done here for today."
"No we're not," said Shen. "Because you aren't doing anything about the real problem."
"Which is?"
"We're just potential warmongers and baby killers," said Shen. "You're not doing a thing about Hot Soup and Alai."
"And Virlomi," added Fly Molo. "If you want somebody who's dangerous, it's her."
"They will get the same offer as you," said Rackham. "In fact, one of them already has."
"Which one?" asked Dink.
"The one who was in a position to hear it," said Graff.
"Hot Soup, then," said Shen. "Because you couldn't even get in to meet Mr. Caliph."
"What smart fellows you all turned out to be," said Graff.
"'Waterloo was won,'" quoted Rackham, "'on the playing fields of Eton.'"
"What the hell does that mean?" asked Carn Carby. "You never even went to Eton."
"It was an analogy," said Rackham. "If you hadn't spent your entire childhood playing war games, you'd actually know something. You're all so uneducated."
17
BOATS
From: Champi%T'it'[email protected]
To: WallabyWannabe%[email protected]/mil.gov.au
Re: "Good Idea"
Of course Graff's "offer" sounded like a good idea to YOU. You live in Australia.
--Dumper
From: WallabyWannabe%[email protected]/mil.gov.au
To: Champi%T'it'[email protected]
Re: Ha ha
People who live on the moon--pardon me, the Andes--shouldn't joke about Australia.
--Carn
From: Champi%T'it'[email protected]
To: WallabyWannabe%[email protected]/mil.gov.au
Re: "Who was joking?"