Angelmass

"Mr. Telthorst," Forsythe said, looking at the other with new interest. So this was one of the shadowpower group that allegedly kept Pax politics focused on the bottom line. "Officers," he added, letting his eyes sweep the group behind Lleshi. "This is my aide, Ronyon."

Ronyon touched his sleeve to get his attention. Can you tell them I really liked the men with the guns and the fancy clothes? he signed, his eyes still glowing with pleasure. They were really neat!

"What's he doing?" Telthorst demanded. He had, Forsythe noted, taken a hasty step back when Ronyon's big hands began their intricate dance. "Tell him to stop."

"He's just talking to me," Forsythe said. "Ronyon is deaf and mute. He communicates through sign language."

"What did he say just now?" Lleshi asked.

"He said to thank you for the honor guard," Forsythe said. "He very much enjoyed it."

"I thought you said he was deaf," Telthorst said, his voice dark and accusing. "How could he hear the fanfare?"

"He couldn't," Forsythe told him. "But he can see. He happens to like fancy uniforms and ceremonial guns."

"Really," Telthorst said, looking Ronyon up and down suspiciously. "So you're saying he's retarded, too?"

There was insult in the words, and for a moment Forsythe teetered on the brink of verbally blistering the man for it. But there was too much at stake here to allow personal feelings to intrude. "His mental development has been arrested, yes," he said instead, forcing his voice to stay calm. "But he's a good and conscientious worker, and an asset to my staff." He paused. "And, I might add, more pleasant company than many of those I meet in my daily activities."

Telthorst drew himself up—"We have a conference room set up over here," Lleshi said before the other could speak, gesturing to the side. Telthorst shot him an a

The "conference room" was little more than a pilots' briefing room, plainly decorated and relatively small. The table was big enough to handle the group, though, and the chairs were reasonably comfortable. Lleshi took the chair at the end closest to the door, gesturing to Forsythe to take the far end. Telthorst rather pointedly sat down at Lleshi's right. Ronyon sat down at Forsythe's left, still gazing admiringly at the two guards who had stepped inside the room and now stood at attention flanking the door.

"Before we begin the negotiations," Forsythe said when everyone was settled, "I'd like to ask what exactly you've done to Lorelei and the Lorelei system."

"These are not 'negotiations,' High Senator—" Telthorst began.

"We destroyed the four nets in the asteroid belt," Lleshi told him. "Along, I'm afraid, with those defending them and ma

Aside from that, to my knowledge, we have harmed no one and caused no damage."

Forsythe felt his throat tighten. Mining ships. The ones he personally had ordered to be armed. "To your knowledge?"

"My task force commanders had orders to hold, not destroy," Lleshi said. "Up to the point where the Komitadji arrived at Seraph they had complied with those orders. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing what has happened since then."

"I see," Forsythe murmured. It wasn't a very satisfying answer, but it was clear it was the best he was going to get for now.

Ronyon touched his sleeve. Has something happened at home? he signed, his forehead furrowed with concern.

"What did he say?" Telthorst demanded.

"He asked if something had happened at home," Forsythe translated, feeling a sudden flicker of guilt.

In all the activity over the past few days, it hadn't even occurred to him that Ronyon had been left completely out of the information loop regarding the Pax invasion of Lorelei. "These gentlemen have sent warships to Lorelei, Ronyon. They've taken control of the system, but I don't think they've hurt too many people."

Ronyon looked over at Lleshi, a look of stu

"Tell him to stop that," Telthorst snapped. "This is a surrender conference, not a children's tea party."

"That's enough, Mr. Telthorst," Lleshi said. "High Senator, will you translate?"

"He wanted to know why you invaded Lorelei," Forsythe said. "He asked if we were doing anything to bother you. Or anyone else."

"I see." Lleshi shifted his gaze to Ronyon. "I'm sorry, Ronyon, for whatever we're doing to your worlds. But we're soldiers, and our duty is to obey the orders we're given. I give you my promise that we will not hurt any more people than absolutely necessary."

"All of which depends on how much the High Senator is willing to cooperate," Telthorst added.

"Which brings me to a question, High Senator. What exactly is that ship doing out at Angelmass?"

"They're doing a quick emergency study of the black hole," Forsythe said.

"What kind of emergency study?"

"Angelmass has been exhibiting strange behavior over the past few weeks," Forsythe said. "It started with radiation bursts, and has progressed to where it's actually changing its orbit."

"How?"

"I don't know," Forsythe said. "But I'm sure that if you ask nicely, Mr. Kosta will be happy to give you the complete story when he gets back."

Lleshi's reaction to Kosta's name was little more than a lifted eyebrow. Telthorst's was much more dramatic. "Kosta?" he repeated. "Kosta?"

"Yes," Forsythe said. "I see you know the young man."

Telthorst flashed a dumbfounded look at Lleshi, looked back at Forsythe. "Kosta," he muttered.

There was a tentative plucking at Forsythe's sleeve. Mr. Forsythe? he signed, an oddly intense expression on his face. Jereko and Chandris didn't go to study Angelmass. They went to throw it away.

Forsythe frowned. "What?"

"What?" Telthorst asked.

"Just a minute," Forsythe said, leaning toward Ronyon. "What do you mean, throw it away?"

"Throw what away?" Telthorst demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"Just a minute," Forsythe snapped back. "Ronyon, tell me again. What are Jereko and Chandris doing?"

Ronyon threw a furtive look at the other end of the table. Jereko said Angelmass is going to try to hurt people, he signed. He said the only thing they could do was use the catapult to throw it out of the system.

"That's crazy," Forsythe said. "He can't be serious."

"Bad news, High Senator?" Lleshi asked calmly.

Forsythe looked over at him, wondering what he should say. The truth? Or something that sounded at least plausible? "He says Kosta believes Angelmass is too dangerous to stay here," he said. "He says they're going to try to use Central's catapult to throw it somewhere out of the system."

Telthorst inhaled sharply. "Is that even possible?" Lleshi asked. "I was given to understand that the Seraph and Angelmass nets and catapults were linked together."

"They are," Forsythe murmured, the shutdown of the Seraph net suddenly making sense. "But if he shut down the net at this end... I don't know. He might be able to do it."

"And he has shut it down, hasn't he?" Lleshi asked. "He's shut down both nets, in fact."

Forsythe nodded. There was no point in lying; a well-equipped warship like the Komitadji would certainly have picked that up. "We were guessing he didn't want company."

"This is a trick," Telthorst put in, his fingertips rubbing restlessly against the table top. "He's making all this up."

Lleshi pursed his lips. "Mr. Campbell?" he called.

"Crypto Group confirms, Commodore," a disembodied voice replied briskly from one of the upper corners of the room. "He's using a dialect of the old Unislan sign language, and we've got enough for a baseline. Actual message: 'Jereko says Angelmass will hurt everyone. He says they must throw it away out of the area using the catapult.' "