- Prologue

your case now.'

Peripheral vision is a wonderful thing, except that it almost cost Theo an inadvertent laugh as hands on both sides of her flashed quick instructions, Veradantha's No perhaps a tenth-beat behind yos'Senchul's silence.

Chelly looked around, checking with the others at the front table before looking toward Wil, and then, almost pointedly, at Theo. She refolded her hands—left over right—and looked right back at him. Inner calm.

Chelly let the quiet stretch a moment longer, then nodded, naming all present so that he was sure who was who, and so they could be too, then returned to the cheat sheet.

'With the consensus of all present parties I will state the situation as it came to the attention of Ops.'

Inner calm.

Chelly's recitation was bare-boned: a call for medical assistance with security backup came during the early evening free-flight period, with a witness reporting 'a discussion or something' between a pilot and the acting field coordinator during which one person 'was just about knocked out one-handed' and the other was 'bleeding to beat Betelgeuse.'

'A moment, Mr. Frosher.'

Chelly stopped, head turning rapidly. The Commander's hand motion was a soothing For clarity toward Chelly—and a scathing discussion talk talk discussion as she glanced between Wil and Theo. Her look was less than warm and Theo wished she had some tea to sip on.

'I've been called from my dinner to discuss a discussion between two of our students? I see. Please continue.'

Theo felt as if she'd shrunk, but the flight instructor's briefly fluttering hand was calm: fly the ship.

'Accounts vary somewhat,' Chelly continued. 'The witness suggests he became aware of an animated discussion in progress as the principals arrived, one which, I guess the word is 'escalated' because both parties were focused on different goals. The witness indicated that perhaps Pilot Waitley was refusing to thumbprint something and during the insistence, accidental contact occurred between the individuals and—'

Theo's twitch was calmed by Veradantha's smooth, not a problem hand-sign. Wil, meanwhile, jerked 'round to glare at Theo.

Chelly went on.

'The result was that both parties went to the infirmary. Pilot Waitley suffered a flesh wound to the scalp; Wilsmyth suffered contusions and a few moments of disorientation.'

'First strike, Mr. Frosher?'

This from the Commander.

'The cameras might tell for sure, ma'am, but the sequence seems to have been an accidental . . . ummm . . . an accidental swipe of the notebook Wilsmyth carried, which caught Pilot Waitley by surprise. Pilot Waitley's response was, I gather, a move of the dance, a trained response.'

'Thank you. Please continue.'

'I ask the involved parties if the summary of events to this point is accurate.'

Theo sat back, thinking hard, willing away her blush, willing away her anger. Inner calm.

'Yes, but—' Wilsmyth began, and stopped as a hand came to rest on his arm.

'I think yes,' Theo managed. 'That's what Bell would have seen. I mean, that's what happened, I guess. I got swiped upside the head and yeah, that dance move was right there. Automatic.'

Chelly glanced around, then down at his cheat sheet, nodding as if he were mentally clicking off options as he read them.

'We have a situation that was not the result of an inherent fault in the physical plant of the academy, nor was it the direct result of catastrophic equipment failure, nor of procedure.'

He paused, nodded once more with authority, and went on.

'Does any member of this fact-finding wish to go to formal process now? If so, please state your case.'

Theo could see Wilsmyth staring at his pilot advisor, and saw a flurry of low to the table hand-talk she couldn't get much out of. For her part, her hands were still after acknowledging Veradantha's low-voiced, 'Please wait.'

Chelly looked about carefully and nodded. 'Who will assert being a victim?'

The relocated administrator was whispering urgently into Wilsmyth's ear, while at Theo's table, yos'Senchul signed an unruffled: best stay course.

After a few moments Chelly tapped his cheat sheet, looking relieved.

'We now go to a short discussion of events prior to the witness account. As no charges have been brought to this point and neither party has indicated a claim of victim, precedence goes to the senior.'

Theo vibrated with anger and tension, the phrase inner calm, inner calm bouncing around noisily in her head. Her advisors walked on either side of her, Veradantha professing a preference for something out of the ordinary, it being so late in the evening, while the flight instructor was saying something Theo wasn't quite catching about a simple snack from Toovil that could be had for a half-hour's flying.

They left the building, cool air and silence flowing over them. Lost behind were Wilsmyth and his companions, who'd gone right when they'd taken the left at the end of the hall. Wil had been laughing, though she didn't think he had anything more to laugh about than she did.

At that, she wiped her hand on her jacket sleeve again, She certainly hoped never to touch him again. Without a doubt laying him out on the floor was something he'd deserved, no matter how accidental, and shaking his hand