Dray scanned the five ships moving toward them, three in the front, two in the back.
To him, it looked like an attack configuration. And that's probably what the Tecran were going for.
They had to be feeling more than a little sensitive about having their military and government run by strangers for the next five years.
They couldn't help flexing a little muscle, perhaps.
They would be very much aware that every battleship in the United Coalition would descend on Tecra if anything happened to the UC teams coming to take the reins.
Although it would be cold comfort to him and everyone else onboard the Urna to know their deaths would be avenged.
Suddenly Bane, who'd been lurking beside the Urna like a large wrecking ball, moved forward, and faster almost than the eye could track, flew up and over the Tecran envoy and settled into place behind them.
There were audible gasps among the crowd.
“The weapons on the back two Levron are hot, and being shielded to disguise the fact.” The words in Dray's ear surprised him enough that he jerked.
Bane.
He drew in a breath. “I'll pass that on.”
His murmured response had Zutobi glancing at him with a frown.
He began moving through the throng, looking for the head of the UC leadership team.
Around him, he could hear the tension in people's voices as they speculated about what was happening.
There was no one here who didn't understand they stood on the very knife edge of violence.
“Wait before you do anything.” He spoke conversationally, hoping Bane was still listening, but tension coiled in his gut. He didn't know how to exert any control over a thinking system. They had no Earth women with them, and he wondered now whether that had been a mistake.
Someone like Rose McKenzie would know what to do. More to the point, Bane would at least consider what she had to say.
He caught sight of Filavantri Dimitara, the head of their delegation, as the crowd swirled around her. She was Bukarian, chosen to lead the council team because she had been one of the first councilors to see firsthand what the Tecran had done with the Earth women and the thinking systems they'd built into the Class 5 battleships.
It had been decided that the Grih couldn't lead this delegation. Shots had been fired between them and the Tecran, and no one believed they'd be objective. But the Bukari had a reputation for evenhandedness, even if Dimitara was considered too attached to the Earth woman, Rose McKenzie, and perhaps less objective about the Tecran because of it.
The Tecran had tried to block her appointment on those grounds, but they just didn't have enough standing in the UC after everything that had happened, and Dimitara had been voted in unanimously by the other members.
“Ambassador.” Dray interrupted the conversation Dimitara was having with one of the Fitalian members of their leadership group, Pilto. The one who'd requested that Bane hang back when they approached the Tecran.
He knew he had a suspicious mind, but Dray found himself looking at Pilto a little more carefully given the current circumstances.
“That thing is causing exactly the kind of chaos and ill will I suspected he would.” Pilto flung a hand out toward the Tecran envoy. “Look at that.”
“You don't think the Tecran were doing the same, coming at us in attack mode with five Levron?” Dimitara's question settled something in Dray's chest.
Their leader was no idiot.
He'd planned to draw Dimitara aside, but given the fuss Pilto had made, and the mutterings of agreement around him, he decided it would be useful for everyone to understand the benefits Bane brought with him.
“I have information that the rear two Levron are coming in with weapons hot, and they're shielding it.”
Dimitara had turned when he'd addressed her by her title, but now she gave him her full attention. “How do you know this?”
Like Pilto, Dray gestured toward the envoy, and Bane.
Dimitara drew in a sharp breath. “He told you directly?”
Dray nodded.
The Fitalian ambassador's gaze moved between Dray and Bane, his eyes getting even wider than they were usually. “I thought he was neutral, not aligned with the Grih.”
Dimitara turned on him, eyes flashing. “The Tecran are approaching us with their weapons hot and shielded, Bane has moved into a protective position to help us, and your take on the situation is jealousy that the information was passed on through the Grih?” The disbelief and disappointment in her tone had the effect of making the ambassador shuffle back a few steps.
When he had nothing to say, Dimitara dismissed him by turning her back on him and scanning the crowd. “Vauk!” Her call to the only Tecran representative on the team was loud enough to silence those around them.
The Tecran woman moved toward them reluctantly, aware of the avid eyes on her. She had been standing to one side, watching the Levron approach, and Dray could see the snap of temper in her eyes at being waved over.
“Why are some of those Levron coming in with weapons hot?” Dimitara didn't mince words.
Vauk blinked. “I'm sure that's not the case--”
“They're shielding, but that doesn't fool us. It certainly didn't fool Bane. Please explain.” Dray noticed his words registered with most of the team members standing in earshot, and they all drew closer, faces serious.
“I--” Vauk tapped at her ear, and then turned away, murmuring in Tecran.
“I can hear chatter between the Tecran battleships.” Bane's voice was soft in Dray's ear. “Some members of the military decided to try and launch an ambush. They weren't planning on shooting at the Urna, just me. This wasn't known to the political leaders who are present in the front three ships.”
“Apologies for any distress caused,” Vauk turned back to them, her face twisted in a false smile. “This is just standard practice when our Levron travel in convoy. No offense or harm was meant.”
“No harm other than to Bane,” Dray said.
Vauk blinked again.
“We know your military were planning to fire on him.” Dray made sure he could be heard by everyone.
There were plenty here who resented Bane, and were more sympathetic to the Tecran than they deserved. He wanted all the Tecran's tricks out in the open, so no one was fooled.
“How dare you say that?” Vauk drew herself up. “What proof do you have--”
One side of the Urna's transparent wall became opaque, and then a visual comms of three Tecran generals discussing their strategy to shoot Bane played out across it.
There was dead silence when it finished.
“I've relayed the same clip to the Tecran politicians onboard the Levron and back home on Tecra.” Bane's voice was dry, but Dray thought he heard the edge of glee in his tone. “As well as to UC headquarters.”
Everyone's gaze swung to Vauk.
“I . . . didn't know! I'm not in the generals' confidence.” She took a step back, turned on her heel and ran out of the viewing area.
“My guess is she's off to resign.” Zutobi had moved in next to Dray again. She was watching the Tecran woman disappear down the passageway.
“The Tecran won't accept it. They can't lose her now, because the UC would need to appoint a new liaison, and that would take a few weeks. They won't want to have no eyes or ears in the leadership team that long.”