1.0Sci Phi Journalhttps://www.sciphijournal.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="sStZiAHcVJ"><a href="https://www.sciphijournal.org/index.php/2016/12/23/price-of-allegiance-by-alex-shvartsman/">Price of Allegiance by Alex Shvartsman</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.sciphijournal.org/index.php/2016/12/23/price-of-allegiance-by-alex-shvartsman/embed/#?secret=sStZiAHcVJ" width="600" height="338" title="“Price of Allegiance by Alex Shvartsman” — Sci Phi Journal" data-secret="sStZiAHcVJ" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://www.sciphijournal.org/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> PRICE OF ALLEGIANCE Alex Shvartsman “Mr. Tobin, there is a Cicada here to see you.” Alastair Tobin, Earth’s ambassador to the Galactic Union, was more than a little surprised. In his eight years of service he could count on one hand the number of times anyone had visited his office on Union Central Station. On the rare occasion when an alien had business to conduct with the humans, theythe alien sent him a message. For a member of the Union’s oldest and most influential species to show up at his doorstep was unprecedented. “Ask it in,” Tobin responded via the