 Why doesn't Bertrand Malloy appear in public?
Illustrated by Martinez In his office apartment, on the top floor of the Terran Embassy Building in Occeq City, Bertrand Malloy leafed casually through the dossiers of the four new men who had been assigned to him. Every man in the Diplomatic Corps who developed a twitch or a quirk was shipped to Saarkkad IV to work under Bertrand Malloy, Permanent Terran Ambassador to His Utter Munificence, the Occeq of Saarkkad. To have shown himself to one of them would have meant instant loss of prestige. It was Bertrand Malloy's job to keep the production output high and to keep the materiel flowing towards Earth and her allies and outposts. They had no intention of sticking their figurative noses into a battle between the two most powerful races in the galaxy.
 He is agoraphobic.
 Threats have been made against Malloy's life. He needs to stay out of sight.  Malloy is too frail to leave his apartment.  He holds a prestigious title. Prestigious men aren't seen in public.  He is agoraphobic.