> I find it strange that most of
> the ships asking for a truce are Clarke allied, which worries me.

Perhaps that is because we did not ask for this fight and are interested only in preserving the Earth Alliance and the safety of humanity. The government of the Earth Alliance has declared these mysterious aliens to be a threat to Earth; that is all the reason I need to oppose them.

Those of you who believe that the accusations against President Clarke are true and that Captain Toen's actions are honorable ask yourselves: why has the THESEUS not yet been heard from? I have sent a tight-beam message to Captain Toen asking him if he will honor the truce; he has not deigned to answer. Is Captain Toen in league with these "shadows?" Does he simply no longer care about Earth now that Hague's little palace coup has failed? Or is he so obsessed with killing "Clarke-supporters" that he has become blind to all other necessities?

I know there is a great deal of mistrust here; it is possible that many so-called rebels do not trust this truce simply because they did not call for it. That is understandable: had Captain Toen or Captain Wikan been the first one to suggest a cease-fire, I might have been skeptical myself. Nevertheless, until the nature of these other ships is determined, we must put our differences aside. As for your mistrust of me and the other "Clarke-supporters," if the DIONYSUS targets your ship, you will know about it in time to return fire.

I restate my position: the DIONYSUS will not fire on any EA ship unless that ship fires on another EA ship. I strongly urge all EA ships to do the same. Unfortunately, only 2 Hague-supporters have yet agreed to this truce; unless we hear from some more soon, we will have to assume that you intend to continue hostilities and we will have no choice but to retaliate. It takes 2 sides to make a truce gentlemen; if you really want to end this senseless killing of each other, then do so now!

Commodore Field
EAS DIONYSUS