The foreign minister showed no sign of reacting to the king's warning.

"I appreciate us being straight and forthright here" he simply answered. Looking at the king for a moment he continued. "I have one concern I would like to discuss in the same spirit."

He raised his glass towards his face and let his drinking tube dip into the liquid. The level could be seen sinking. He then put the glass back on the table, while the tube disappeared slowly between his jaws.

"You Terrans seem to have spread far and wide in this sector... What guarantees do we have that you will not try unite all Terran-populated worlds and attempt to dominate this sector?"

This display, which he had avoided so far, could now reinforce any xenophobic tendencies and maybe reveal hidden motifs in the king's answer, hoped the foreign minister.