CHIP. If I may, Captain. Starting with the Treaty of 4612, the Asu bound several worlds to an international coalition that would see the Asu in a position to leverage the upside return of ferrous substrates as described in such treaties, in effect putting the Asu in a position of coalescing economic variance factors into a single marketable stream, while at the same time imposing trade embargoes on world systems that failed to buy into such agreements. This, coupled with their well-documented usage percentages, as well as the ongoing treaty discussions of the DRATL in the Rovenoe System, has led to the Asu's re-positioning themselves at the top of the economic (and quite possibly governmental) hierarchy while at the same time maintaining a firm and well entrenched grasp on much needed commodities. A rather remarkable system, I must say. SKIP "(his eyes dazed)" Huh? JOE. Get to it, Chip: what do they want? CHIP "(as though it's perfectly obvious)" Iron. JOE "(with a snort)"Right. SKIP. As if, Robotguy. Iron is probably the most available element out there next to hydrogen. "(with a snicker)" You might as well say they want oil or something. "nb: This is a slightly revised edition of the original book."