the ambassador heading for their table, a plate in her hand.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Of course not.” Yolandi pulled back the chair next to her. “Please do.”
Filavantri Dimitara sat daintily down and held Dray's gaze. “Did you see Bane leave?”
He shook his head. “I was in the gym. I heard it was a sight to see.”
She inclined her head. “He has completely disappeared from our scanners. The Tecrans, as well.”
“So they're happy now?” Yolandi asked.
“We've given them what they asked for, so I assume so.” Dimitara shrugged. “I didn't exactly get a thank you, though.”
“How long until we reach Tecra?” Zutobi set her empty plate aside.
“We'll be there in two hours.” Dimitara looked less than enthusiastic. “Already I've seen footage from Tecra that shows how deeply they resent our coming.”
Dray lifted his shoulders. “If it was my planet, I'd be resentful, too, but they can't pretend they didn't bring it on themselves.”
“I think the line is that they didn't know what the military were doing, so they shouldn't be punished.” Dimitara started eating the meat on her plate, and Dray caught a flash of those sharp, sharp teeth again.
“We expected that.” Yolandi sighed. “They don't want to accept responsibility, but the people of Tecra run the government, and the military is part of that. They can't use the excuse that they didn't know. They should have known. They weren't vigilant enough.”
Dray thought of all the checks and balances in place in the Grihan military, and had to agree.
If they hadn't known--and some of them must have done--they should have. They needed to accept their punishment and cooperate.
“Well, eat up, then get ready to face what looks to be a hostile welcome,” Dimitara said. She had looked worn down for the last few days, but she lifted her head and drew in a breath, and Dray realized she looked fierce. “I received a message from Rose McKenzie this morning. She thanked me for leading this team. And it reminded me all over again what I found in Sazo's Class 5 holding cells. The death and destruction. You're right, Yolandi. They should have known, and I'm damn sure some of them did. So we do not cower, and we do not bend in the face of their unhappiness. They broke the most sacred rule we have, and they need to accept the consequences.”
Dimitara's voice rose as she spoke, and Dray realized everyone in the dining hall had heard her. Every eye was on her.
Including the Tecran liaison's, Vauk.
Dray watched her turn away and hurry out.
But there was no place to run.
The UC team was arriving in Tecra, and he had a feeling in his gut that this was going to be a lot less cordial than the councilors representing the five member groups had thought it would be when they created this alternative to war.
He shook off his foreboding and made his way to his rooms to pack. Grihan Battle Center had been a lot more realistic about this mission than the UC. They'd discussed the likelihood of things not going as planned. Dray had a list of possible scenarios and he could and would alert his superiors if any of them looked likely.
They'd be ready if the Tecran realized they really couldn't accept UC rule.
And so would he.
Chapter 9
The sun set early.
Lucy shivered against another gust of freezing wind that ripped through the narrow back alleys, but it was even colder closer to the cliffs.
She'd zigzagged her way across the city as the day wore on, taking the narrow alleyways, cutting across from street to street, always moving.
She tested doors as she went, finding them all locked.
She could only hope there wasn't some kind of video surveillance, or the police would be looking for a suspicious person who was trying doors all over the city.
She realized with a start she didn't even know what the city was called, and then shoved the thought aside.
What did it matter right now?
Suddenly, the wind cut off, and she blinked, saw that in keeping close to the wall of the building she was walking past, she'd found a little pocket of protection.
Unable to face the sting of cold on her cheeks again, she huddled in closer, closed her eyes and felt the seep of tears behind her eyelids as her whole body shuddered in relief.
Just a few minutes, she told herself.
Just a few minutes of not moving, of not being cold.
She didn't know when she heard the sound of footsteps, but not soon enough, because