Chapter Sixty-Seven
Morn laughed. "All right, old friend! Let's get right down to business.
One of the main reasons I came, North, was to convince you to become a
Speaker. Your becoming a Peepian Priest has stirred some discontent
among your people. They're afraid you've gone Peepian and your
loyalties now lie more with them, than with The Republic. If you become
a Speaker, then those fears would be sat aside. They would know your
loyalties still lie with The Hashon Way."
2 "You don't believe anything like that," North argued. "You know I
hate this Priest business. It was something The Peepians pushed on me,
without warning."
3 "Of course I know," agreed Morn. "I never question your loyalties,
but it is what other people think that bothers us right now."
4 North stared at his friend hard. "What other people think," he
continued, "never bothers you in the least, Morn. Don't give me this
crap! You want me to be a Speaker for some other reason, but you don't
want to tell me. I don't like it when you keep secrets, I don't like it
at all! But I don't question that there's a good reason
for everything you do. Very well, I'll take your Speaker's Tests. But I
want something in return."
5 "What?" Morn asked.
6 ''I need ten Glukan hulls," North announced, "four battleships and
six cruisers. The Peepian yards are not equipped to build capitol
ships, but they could fit them out easily enough. Unfortunately we
don't have the financial resources to pay for them right now, and The
Peepians are
too damned proud to accept charity. Even my financial resources are
stretched to their limits. There is more I could do here if I
had the credit for exchange."
7 Morn leaned back nestling into the chair's wing