“And you,” she returned, smilingpolitely.
The door closed behind them.
“Why does he make me feel likethat?” McReidy hissed uncomfortably when they were halfway down the corridor.
“Like what?” John asked,completely oblivious.
“Like…” she tried to search forthe right words. “Like… aaagh!” was the only way she could describe it.
John laughed softly. “Becausehe’s good at it.” A moment later he added, “Don’t you think he makes a goodambassador?”
“I think…” She thought about itfor a moment. “It suits him perfectly.”
* * *
The meeting began early nextmorning. The conference room was full of brass. Nothing lower than a ship’scaptain – except John. Some looked like they had consumed a little too muchalcohol the previous night. Booth looked a little worse for wear, his eyesheavy. Bustlethwaite rolled her eyes in disgust. Mikhailovich was leaningback in his chair, his arms folded across his chest, having a quiet sleep. Beside him, Pemberton of the Independence was tapping his pen on his notepad,jotting down brief notes. Most of the others seemed content to merely listen.
Harcourt of the Ark Royal wasconspicuous by his absence.
Powers was chairing the meeting. He rambled on, as he usually did. He had his own opinions and believed invoicing them before hearing from anyone else.
John was at the far end of thetable from Admiral Powers, seated between two captains who he knew only by nameand the ship insignias they wore on their collars – Carmichael of Canberra andManning of Exeter.
John picked up his pen, holdingit by the ends with each hand, rolling it with his fingertips. His eyesremained focused on the pen, lifting every now and then to gauge the opinionsof others. He refused to look at Powers. The cutting stare he had receivedwhen he arrived was over McReidy; he was sure of that.
Finally, Powers stopped talking. No one else spoke.
John ventured a sideways glanceto the admiral. Powers was whispering with an aide. His face turned white. If he hadn’t been sitting, he would have fallen. He brushed the aide away andquickly regained his composure.
“What is it?” Jordan asked. He sat beside Powers and spoke softly. In the sudden silence that hadenveloped the room, it was as though he had shouted.
Powers cleared his throat. “ArkRoyal never made it to the jump gate. She’s been confirmed destroyed.”
The words echoed in John’s ears. He didn’t hear any more. The pen in his fingers was still.
Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. The room closed in on him; the collar of his jacket choked him. He was in acold sweat. He had to get out of there. He rose to his feet and headed forthe door. Somewhere in the distance, he thought he heard Powers call him back.
The door slammed behind him. Heflung himself back against the wall, sliding down it to the floor. His head inhis hands dropped to his knees. He didn’t hear the footsteps along thecorridor that stopped in front of him.
“I’m sorry about Laura.” Mark’sdeep voice was unusually soft.
“Why didn’t you tell me lastnight?” John’s head rose.
“I only just found out.”
“They said she never made it tothe jump gate.”
“She made it,” Mark confirmed. “She destroyed it.”
He rubbed his hand uncomfortablyacross his brow as John stared up blankly at him.
“Look… There’s more to it. Comeback in when you’re ready.”
“I can’t go back in there.” Thatwas the last thing John felt like doing.
“You have to.”
The door opened to the noise of adozen voices speaking over the top of each other. Mark entered, leaving Johnsitting against the wall trying to breathe.
When John returned to the room, discussionhad turned into argument. Mark stood at the head of the table where he hadskilfully taken away Powers’ authority. The admiral’s colour had returned andwas quickly deepening.
Mikhailovich was wide awake andPemberton was leaning back in his chair, giving himself some distance as heobserved. Carmichael rose to his feet and began to loudly state his opinions.
“Sit down.” Mark refused toallow anyone to take control from him.
His words were ignored as Carmichael continued to rant.
“Sit down!” Mark commanded in atone that allowed no answer.
There was immediate silence asall discussion stopped. Carmichael’s mouth remained open in mid sentence. Heclosed it and sat.
Mark continued in a calmer tone. “Quite frankly, no one knows what’s going on out there –”
“I’m quite sure we can handle iton our own.” Powers tried to take back the meeting.
“No, you can’t.” Mark refused tolet him. “Do you think you’re the only ones losing ships –?”
John silently crept back to hisseat. Mark nodded slightly to acknowledge his return without missing a word ofhis speech. Only Manning spared him a brief glance, catching movement out ofthe corner of his eye as John slipped back into his chair. Carmichael was toopreoccupied with his own admonishment.
“At least twenty ships are gone. All destroyed before they could even send out a distress signal. From what wehave been able to put together, whoever is responsible has a technology beyondour own.”
“And who, may I ask, are ‘we’?” It was Powers again.
“The other ambassadors.”
Powers snorted with contempt.
“At least we are working togetherfor our mutual benefit instead of behaving like a spoilt, egotistical brat.” Mark eyed Powers.
Not what he’d said the nightbefore, John remembered, his focus now clearer.
The admiral cracked. His faceturned red with fury and he rose to his feet. “Why you –! If I had my way –”
“You have no authority over me,” Markthrew back. “And unless you wish to see the rest of your fleet wiped out, Isuggest you listen to the proposals put forward.” He turned to speak to theentire room, his eyes connecting with every man there. “The Antarians andBetelians will fly with you. Emperor Komodo has offered four cruisers and twobattleships. The Centauri’s wish to remain neutral. They won’t do anythingunless their own world is directly under threat. Unfortunately, they havegreat influence. The Denebs are waiting to see what you will do. The Hamal,Algol and Alpheratz systems are offering support.”
Mark paused, allowing the gravityof his words to sink in. The silence indicated they were.
“I’m afraid I need an answer assoon as possible.”
Powers cleared his throat. Everyone expected him to speak.
Jordan rose
