McReidy awoke with a start. Itwas an incredible experience and she vividly remembered everything that hadhappened. She looked at her clock. It was a little after three. She wonderedif she should call John and tell him. It was nothing that wouldn’t wait untilmorning. The thought of waking him up just to annoy him was tempting. Sheresisted and settled back down. Another thump on the pillow would have tocontent her.
She spent the rest of the nightundisturbed – there were no more dreams.
John couldn’t wait for work andjoined her for breakfast. She summed up the situation in a couple ofsentences, telling him where he could pick up the survivors, and smiling toherself. The tension disappeared from him and she knew that he did worry. He’d probably been awake all night waiting for her to call, though he wouldnever admit it.
* * *
The five ambassadors may haveagreed on a mutually convenient location. That, however, was the only thingthey had agreed on. There was nothing but petty bickering from the moment theyarrived.
John greeted each one formally asthey materialised on the transporter pads with their entourage. Most acknowledgedpolitely and moved clear of the pads for the next arrival.
Barely had the last one finishedmaterialising when he stepped off the pad and strode towards another, a raisedfinger pointing in anger and the rear end of a sentence spewing from his mouth.
“Gentlemen, please.”
The two stopped midconfrontation, glared at each other and turned to John with assumed airs ofinnocence and civil formality.
A polite smile was fixed onJohn’s face as he remembered what Mark had told him about Druins and Fragettes. He reeled off the greeting to the latter and received the appropriate response.
“Mister Rodgers?” John queriedthe transporter operator.
“That’s everyone, sir.”
John nodded and turned back tothe ambassadors, noting that Antal and Buron were holding hands. He recalledthe closeness of the twin worlds of Adule and Omecra. No wonder their worldshad been at peace for thousands of years.
“If you will come this way,” heindicated the door, “I will show you to your accommodation.”
They were met in the corridor bydominoes. Having become bored with running them along the floor, Humphries hadrun them up the wall and across the ceiling, forming an archway they had topass through.
“What is this?” Kerrod theHeedran asked as he peered closely at the tiny bricks rising up the wall.
“It’s… um… a gravitationalexperiment by one of my bridge officers.”
They all accepted the explanationeasily.
John felt his hair begin to rise. He didn’t know if it was his misleading guilt or the fact that he was standingunder the arch. He was partly right in his explanation. The dominoes weregravitationally attracted to the walls and ceiling. A trip to engineering andKowalski’s help soon made that possible.
John’s head and shoulders wereattracted to the ceiling. His hair stood up in all directions as though he hadreceived a burst of static electricity. He stepped away from the arch andmoved further down the corridor. His hands went to his head and tried toflatten his hair into some sort of normality.
The ambassadors studied the archas they stepped through it, the hair on their heads teasing upwards. Ersog’sbeard rose to level out with his chin, slowly drifting in an arc in front ofhim. The Fragette brushed it down as he cleared the arch.
The interest of the entouragesremained on their ambassadors and the anticipated hostilities of the others. Yet they stepped carefully, keeping their bodies and errant clothing well awayfrom the bricks.
John took them to the cargo bay,ignoring the inquisitive looks and quiet murmurings. He wasn’t giving them thefull tour – there were too many of them and he wasn’t there for theiramusement.
The cargo bay door was open. Engineering had cleared out all their materials and set up partitions thatallowed privacy.
“I am afraid I must apologise forthe accommodation. This is a transport ship and we simply do not have thefacilities to cater for you.”
“There is no need to apologise,Commander,” Antal smiled.
“We are grateful that you couldretrieve us,” Buron added.
“This is unsatisfactory.” Kerrodspoke over the top of them. “I cannot be expected to share with my entourage,let alone… them.” He glared towards the others.
“All the other ambassadors aresharing with their entourages,” John explained.
“I do not see them being treatedlike livestock,” Kerrod’s eyebrows slowly folded down to narrow his eyes intoslits of disapproval.
“There is no otheraccommodation. Short of kicking my crew out and having them sleep in thecorridors, which I will not do.”
Kerrod saw John’s answer as opendefiance. His jaw jutted and his chest puffed out as he filled out to his fullframe, now standing a good foot taller than John.
“Do you know who I am?” heseethed.
“You are a guest on my ship.” Bluff or intent, John didn’t care. “If this is not suited to you, there isalways the brig.”
The Heedran hesitated, then hisjaw lowered, his chest deflated slightly and he shrank down the few inches tohis original height.
“This map,” John pointed to thebasic outline stuck to the wall just inside the door, “shows where you arepermitted. The intercom is set up to translate,” he indicated the button belowthe map, “as are all the intercoms in the permitted areas and corridors. Thereare several races on board and I expect you to treat each other with respectand civility or you will find yourselves restricted to the cargo bay. Arethere any questions?”
“I won’t be anywhere near him,”Delma pointed to Ersog.
“And I won’t be anywhere nearyou,” Ersog replied clearly before the translators lost his next comment.
The argument that had ceased inthe transporter room was about to erupt here as Delma rushed at the Fragette. Ersog suddenly pulled a weapon. Delma struck him before he could aim, his headflying back, the weapon waving about. The two struggled over the weapon, whichfired into the ceiling.
John swore under his breath andlunged for Ersog,
