Transitional Troubles II

The Stars Are Also Fire, 40.

If the Lunarian freighters release rocks or missiles towards Earth, then Terrestrial retaliation will crush Luna. Dagny persuades the Terrestrial President that, knowing this, the Selenarchs will not bombard Earth. The Trust backs the freighters when they do not respond to the President's command to go. (The Covenant allows him to invoke emergency powers to do this.) Fireball refuses either to move against the Lunarian vessels or to lift more troops to the Moon. (The Federation contracts with Fireball to spare itself both expense and bureaucracy.) Ecuador, where Fireball is incorporated, backs Guthrie and introduces a motion for Lunar self-determination. However, both Fireball and Ecuador will support pacification of Luna if Earth is bombarded and meanwhile offer to mediate. Lars Rydberg of Fireball goes to Luna and confers with the download. In the Assembly, one side argues that the alternatives are Lunar independence and war, the latter unacceptable, whereas the other side argues that nationalism killed multi-millions and must not be allowed to re-emerge. (This echoes Poul Anderson's first future history series.)

Armed Selenarchic retainers occupy powerbeam stations for the duration of the emergency. The alternatives for the Federation become to yield to Selenarchic demands or to commit genocide on Luna while destroying the stations in the attempt to regain them. The Assembly yields. The freighters enter Lunar orbit, discharge commonplace cargoes and are ceded to the Federation as part of the agreement. Some Terran Moondwellers celebrate while others emigrate.

The Trust, the Selenarchs, Fireball, the freighter captains and the download have carried off what Dagny describes as a "'...charade...'" (p. 502)