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. I must add
that the Chief of Staff is an auditor without a vote; he is not a Companion of
this Circle. Sambo, do you have anything to add?"
"You seem to have made my speech."
"Because you were stalling. You are free to correct, amend, and elaborate."
"Oh, never mind. You should give elocution lessons."
"Do you now wish to be excused?"
"Are you telling me to leave?"
"No."
"I'll hang around awhile as I want to see what you do with this joker. Why
didn't you simply conscript him and assign him to Task Selene? He's an obvious
criminal type; look at his skull, note his attitude toward authority. On my home
planet we never use anything as sloppy and unreliable as volunteers ... and we
don't have a criminal class because we draft them into the forces as fast as
they show their heads. There are no better fighters than the criminal type if
you catch 'em young, rule them with iron discipline, and keep them more scared
of their sergeants than they can possibly be of the enemy."
"That will do. Sambo. Please refrain from expressing opinion uninvited."
"I thought you were the great champion of free speech?"
"I am. But there is no free lunch. If you want to make a speech, you can
hire your own hall; this one is paid for by the Circle. Hilda. Speak up, dear."
"Very well. Richard, most interventions recommended by our historians and
mathematicians are not brute force, but actions far more subtle, carried out by
individual field operatives
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