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from Mentor...?”
    “No,” Joshua admitted. “Nothing. Not even a peep.”
    Mentor had been one of the few Association Oligarchs to realise that the Association was heading for disaster. His decision to take a small fleet to Earth and make humanity a present of advanced technology had been against most of the Association’s strongest laws, even though they’d been broken many times in the past. After Earth had started expanding, Mentor had been summoned home to Center to face his peers. No one knew what had happened to him after his trial. The Association considered itself too civilised to apply the death penalty to an immortal being, but there were plenty of lesser punishments they could have used. Or maybe Mentor had simply decided to join his fellows in retreating from the universe.
    It had also been Mentor who had started the young Joshua on his strange career. A group of human terrorists had tried to assassinate the alien, but Joshua had saved his life and – in return – Mentor had given him his own starship. The Oligarch was so rich that an entire starship, even one with its own gate generator, was pocket change to him. Joshua had ignored demands from the Federation Navy that he turn the starship over to them, instead setting out on an extended tour of the galaxy. Over the years, he had built up his own small trading empire, an empire that made him one of the richest men on Earth. And yet his entire fortune was still nothing more than pocket change to many Galactics. They tended to underestimate Joshua because he was poor by their standards.
    Earth’s technology didn't hold any attractions for the Galactics, at least not the races that had developed their own spacefaring technology before the Association had discovered them. The planet did, however, have many other resources they could trade, including artefacts and old movies.   Independence Day   had been surprisingly popular, although the Galactics who’d distributed it had branded the movie as a comedy. The sight of Galactics howling with laughter as giant flying saucers lowered themselves into Earth’s atmosphere was not for the faint-hearted. Why didn't they simply bombard the planet from orbit if they wanted it so badly?
    “The Hegemony intends to take Earth,” Sampson said, flatly. “And as far as I can see, we’re alone against the universe.”
    Joshua nodded. It tied in with his own experiences. Some races were friendlier than others, but as the Association’s power dwindled, the more advanced races were starting to assert their own domination. The free trading network he’d used had been created by the Association and would probably die as the borders started to slip backwards towards Center. No-one would help Earth, save perhaps only races with little to offer.
    “I see,” he said, finally. “I notice that one of the colonist-carriers is gone...?”
    “Classified,” Sampson said, shortly. Joshua grinned. Mentor had brought Earth four colonist-carrier starships, massive ships capable of carrying a hundred thousand humanoids in stasis between worlds. One of them could transport a select group of humans – and a complete genetic template – beyond the Rim, hundreds of light-years away from the Hegemony. Humanity would live on even if Earth was destroyed.
    “But we have only one option if we want to maintain our independence,” Sampson continued, ignoring Joshua’s grin. “We have to take the offensive and strike first.”
    Joshua stared at him. For a moment, he didn't believe his ears.
    “You want to start a war?” he asked. “Are you   insane ?”
    “I would prefer to fight now than fight when they have a chance to bring more of their power to bear against Earth,” Sampson said. He ran through the strategic rationale. “In your opinion, as someone with more experience of the Galactics than most, do you think the plan is workable?”
    Joshua paused, considering. “The Funks tend to bow down to those they consider their