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fresh air on his purple, wrinkly flesh but it did little good to improve his mood. He’d just gotten finished with another futile attempt to negotiate with Star Force regarding the acquisition of new planets in what they called the ‘lizard occupation zone’…except there were no more lizards in it. There was no one in it. But they were stubbornly denying anyone else access, and those bold enough to try to put down colonies in the region were forcibly removed when they were discovered, not to mention hit with severe economic and sometimes territorial penalties.
           The Gnar knew not to trifle with them, but since there were only a few ammonia-based atmospheres in the galaxy it made no sense not for them to allow Paget’s people to colonize them! No other race could breathe the air, and aside from returning their original homeworld to them, Star Force was keeping the Gnar out of all the others…including two that used to be their own possessions!
           The rest of the territory that the Gnar had lost to the lizards were worlds where they had to wear armor and live indoors, much like here. They didn’t even own the full planet, only 3/8ths of it, and it was what was known as an ‘Alliance World.’ The Gnar had fled to several worlds like this within the ADZ long before Paget had been born, then negotiated, traded, or bought other regions to expand their territorial base while constantly having to live under Star Force mandates. Technically they didn’t run the Gnar’s territory, but they were meddlesome whenever one of their rules was being violated.
           As it was, only the Gnar homeworld was free of their stench, which was located in the occupation zone and that meant that all the surrounding systems were off limits to further colonization! How could they grow again if Star Force wouldn’t let them have any of the worlds that they weren’t using? What right did they have to dictate to the Gnar what they could or could not do!
           Paget had argued this and many other points to no avail. The Star Force city in the border zone between planetary regions was where he had just come from, sitting there like a watchdog over the Gnar and the other races on this planet, and few people actually liked going there. He had gone out of duty, but the obstinate behavior of their representatives was intolerable! Yes, they defeated the lizards and good for them for doing so. The Gnar were willing to pay to acquire one of the ammonia worlds, even some of the inhabitable ones nearby their homeworld. Damn it all, they were even willing to pay to reclaim some of their former colonies on non-ammonia worlds that the lizards had taken from them, but Star Force would not sell to them.
           This wasn’t uncommon, for most other races were in the same position. Homeworlds had been returned to most, without charge, but everything else Star Force was holding on to save for those races that were playing by their rules and ingratiating themselves whenever possible. The Reen were the worst offenders and to date had acquired 13 star systems in what had used to be Calavari territory!
           Paget kicked aside a datapad lying on his floor in frustration, seeing it bounce off a wall and spin around on the smooth, hard floor for a few seconds before becoming still. The sound brought his broodmates running, but he calmed them down with a twitch of his lumpy head and headed for his private room, not interested in talking with any of them or his children, though he did request they send him some food.
           While they ran off to work on that he sealed himself away from the noise of his growing family and sat down behind his comm terminal. While he was a high ranking official within the Gnar and one of the most senior on this planet, room here was scarce and even his ‘luxurious’ domicile was small compared to what his station deserved. He had 6 broodmates and 38 offspring at this point, but