Chapter 58

Carl confronts the captured naga Rishi, who reveals himself as an ambitious political operator plotting to seize power back home. Rishi offers Carl a contract granting Earth citizenship rights in naga territories and five generation ships in exchange for legitimizing naga settlement on other planets in Earth's solar system. Carl rejects the deal and executes Rishi, dismissing the political maneuvering as a distraction from the imminent battle ahead.

Carl enters a secured cell where Rishi, the surviving naga warlord, has been held. Rishi explains his strategy of hiding during the final battle against Vinata—he predicted the princess would fail and sought to preserve himself to negotiate with Carl afterward. He reveals that the naga leadership planned to flee the Syndicate system entirely to escape involvement in a xenophobic political movement called the Great Consensus. After news of their defection broke, Rishi hid and drafted a contract on his own authority, claiming he was authorized to make binding deals. He announces his successful coup: his brothers are deposing Vinata's father and the current government back home. Rishi presents Carl with a document establishing him as the de-facto leader of Earth, offering citizenship rights for Earth natives in naga territories plus five generation ships in exchange for allowing naga colonization of Earth's solar system post-crawl. Carl, unimpressed by the political scheming and warned of incoming hostilities in forty minutes, rejects the proposition. He mocks Rishi for being just another power-hungry leader and executes him, dismissing the entire negotiation as a distraction before the battle.