Published in If magazine, No. 1112 of 1994. The Second Secretary of the Earth Diplomatic Corps Retif always comes out with honor from a variety of legal and diplomatic puzzles. Four short stories (Mechanical Superiority, Bandits and Mandates, Peacekeepers, and The Fall Is Not Bought) featured in this issue of the magazine are part of a cycle about diplomat Retif. The space diplomat Retif, whom you will now meet, is Keith Laumer's favorite character: the author devoted fifteen books to him (the first was published in 1963). ). By the way, Laumer himself in the late 50s was the Third Secretary of the US Embassy in Burma, so he knows all the secrets of the diplomatic service firsthand. Today we are pleased to present to the readers of the magazine his inventive and witty hero .