"No, nothing," Craig snapped.
The other man glared at him a full minute. Craig met the stare and realized the considerable power behind the weak face.
"You don't like this sort of affair, do you, Mr. Craig?"
Craig was forced to look away. "I'm afraid I don't see the necessity," he answered in a controlled voice. "I served the Intergalactic Service well. My records prove that."
"Granted," said his questioner bluntly. "You are a Terran, are you not, Mr. Craig?"
"I should think that would be obvious," Craig said, matching the blunt tone.
The man rapped the table. "That's enough of your impertinence! You may very well have served the Intergalactic Service, but you are on Terra now. Terra, greatest, first of all civilized systems. Intergalactic may very well have to piddle with incompetent savages and wild colonists, but we of Terra assert our supremacy. Remember those words. You may not always find Terra so submissive to Intergalactic as Intergalactic would desire."
"Where are your loyalties, Mr. Craig?" demanded one of the other men suddenly.
"I am a Terran...."
"But your first loyalty is to Intergalactic. Is that right?"