He was explaining in pieces andshe wanted complete answers. He seemed to be struggling and she had mixedfeelings about seeing him on the back foot as he’d put her when it was such aserious matter. She sipped her drink and dived into her pasta, waiting for himto continue.
“When our world was invaded,” hechose to start at the beginning, “there was little time to do anything. Ichose to stay. My companions thought otherwise, deciding I was too importantand must be saved at all costs. I disagreed. My family… Someone saw fit toknock me unconscious before I could leave the Capitol Building. I detect guiltin all of them when I scan them.”
“So you don’t know –”
“Oh, I know who inflicted theblow,” he raised one hand to the back of his head. “I still disagree, but Iunderstand. Our defence forces were destroyed before they could leave theground.”
“You said, ‘our ambassador’,” shequeried.
“He was killed in the attack. Aswas half the government. The only thing that prevented complete annihilationwas unconditional surrender. On my order, it was given. By then, we were offthe planet and out of contact. Our ship suffered damage and we were lucky toget where we did. If you had reached Manados, you would have been destroyed. There was no other way to communicate with anyone.”
“Interstellar telepathy?” McReidycontinued.
“Is a technique that has not beenused for centuries. It is more myth than reality.”
“All myths have their basis inreality.”
“I am forever grateful that youbelieve in such. To most Manadosians, it is impossible. To put it in termsyou are familiar with: it takes the correct receiver tuned into the correctfrequency at the correct time.”
“I feel like a piece ofequipment.”
“You are much more,” he smiled. He could be appreciative and flattering at the same time. “One can admire thebeauty of a flower, become intoxicated by its sweet perfume, and walk awayleaving it untouched on the plant where it grows.”
Not the men she knew. Sherespected his honesty, and liked the comparison.
“How did you know it would beus?” she wondered.
“I didn’t. I gambled on findinga stray thought to warn your people. Only when you came closer – when youanswered, the signal was stronger – did I know it was your ship coming.”
The rest of the evening wascomfortable. McReidy didn’t feel threatened. Her mind was her own and sheallowed herself the luxury of enjoying Cush’s company. The conversation waspurely social; there wasn’t the slightest hint of anything else.
It was late when McReidy finallywent to bed. Much too late to get any decent sleep. She half expected Giacomoto be asleep on the lounge. His quarters were much too crowded for his ownliking. He liked the peace and quiet of her quarters – and much preferred thecompany. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d kicked him out. A quick glancein the direction of the lounge told her he wasn’t there.
If getting to bed was too late,being woken was too early. McReidy pried open one eye and glanced at her clockbefore pulling the pillow over her head to try to block out Lorraine’s voice. “Go away,” she groaned.
Lorraine was not going to giveup. She took the pillow from McReidy’s grasp. The struggle that ensued asMcReidy tried to keep the pillow was in vain, and Lorraine sat down on the bedbeside her.
Bounced, jumped, trampolined! Anything but sat, McReidy groaned. When you sit, you don’t keep wriggling.
“Late night last night?” Lorraineteased.
“Shut up,” McReidy snapped,trying to cover her ears with her arms.
“You know you’re due on thebridge in ten minutes.”
“No, I’m not –” Both eyes shot openas McReidy stared at the clock and tried to remember what day it was. “Yes, Iam.” She flew out of bed, almost knocking Lorraine off in the process.
McReidy was late to the bridge. A fact that didn’t go unnoticed by John.
“Good afternoon, LieutenantCommander. So good of you to join us.”
She was only a few minutes late. Her sharp glare only seemed to bring a smile to his face. She took her placebeside Giacomo. Ignoring John was the best thing to do. She had no intentionof giving him the satisfaction of rattling her.
The first complaint about theambassadors had McReidy leaving the bridge. It might be doing John the worldof good not having to worry about them, but it wasn’t doing her stress levelsany good. She was going to make him pay for this. It was only that thoughtthat kept her reply civil when he sent her to sort out the problem.
* * *
The ship ran relatively normal –relative to the fact that there was near chaos every day. Gillespie finallygave in and taught Cush to play poker, although John refused point blank toallow him into their games. Cush then taught his fellow Manadosians, which wasa complete disaster. They couldn’t resist the temptation of delving into eachother’s minds, completely defeating the purpose of the game.
The Arans discovered basketballand alcohol. Not necessarily in that order. They had ‘adopted’ Humphries andwere quite agreeable to try anything he suggested.
Antal and Buron rarely left thecargo bay, preferring to keep to themselves. When they did come out, it wasusually to spend time in sick bay. Their interests were biological andbotanical. Dunlop didn’t mind as long as they kept out of his way. Persistentannoying did exasperate him.
Kerrod’s chauvinism was gettingto McReidy. His outright contempt for Bela and her women sent sparks flying,but it didn’t stop him from making a pass at her. Bela was furious – even morethan she had been with Finook’s failed attempts. McReidy could not talk senseinto her. The only thing that consoled her was the promise that the commanderwould attend to it personally as soon as he got off duty.
Serve him right, McReidysmirked. A few hours with Bela in return for dumping the ambassadors on herwould do nicely.
Delma and Ersog tried to behave. By the look of it, they weren’t trying too hard. After the incident when theyarrived, John didn’t trust either one of them. Neither did anyone else. A fewminor scuffles had been broken up before they could escalate. Away from eachother, there were no problems. In the same room – it was
