The Knight by Kate Sherwood

Author:Kate Sherwood [Sherwood, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Chapter 12

“THE allied armies are headed for the wormhole.” Morgan, as always, sounded vaguely accusatory, but Adam was beginning to believe that was just the man’s natural tone of voice, at least when talking about political matters. “We’ve been scolded publicly by the Europeans, the Asians have expressed their disappointment, and Oceania, for some damn reason, offered to send troops in our place. They’d better not be trying to steal our colonies.”

“The way things are looking right now, I’d trade the colonies for their share of the oceans here.” Adam tried to sound confident and relaxed, but he didn’t think he was fooling anyone. “What’s the timeline? It takes about eight days to get to the wormhole entrance, right? And then a few hours to travel through it?”

“Those numbers are for freighters and small passenger vessels,” General Mackie said. “The military ships will be a bit faster. About six days to get to the wormhole.”

“And it takes time for communication to travel back and forth. Are the expeditionary forces authorized to accept surrender? Or do we have to wait for the message to get to Earth, and then send orders back to lift whatever actions the military is taking?”

“I don’t have answers to those questions,” Mackie said through a tight smile, “because we are not part of this military operation. Standard procedure would be for the troops on the ground to be able to agree to a ceasefire, with a full surrender needing approval from the Earth commanders. But as I said, I don’t have specific information for this venture.”

“Our forces are ready to go, right? If we decide we need to send them?” Adam knew he shouldn’t have asked halfway through the question. The general had gotten downright touchy since the council had decided against joining the allies, and he wouldn’t appreciate any questions about his competence.

“We are fully prepared, as always.” Mackie raised an eyebrow. “So that’s that, for now. Maybe this would be a good time to ask you about your rabble-rousing females. They’re at their rally right now, aren’t they? I trust that steps have been taken to ensure that this event doesn’t turn into another damned riot?”

“Security is tight,” Ackerman said firmly. “The crowd is large, but well controlled at this time.”

“Seems foolish, having the damn event right outside our door.” Apparently the general wasn’t ready to let this go. “Just because your women are involved, Adam? You don’t trust Don to be able to protect them any further away?” Apparently the talk between the general and Ackerman had gone smoothly if Mackie was now criticizing Adam for not trusting the security forces. Or it was just one more shift in the treacherous sands of council politics.

“The rally organizers asked for permission to use the square, and we didn’t see any reason to refuse them. And if we can finish up here, I’d like to go out and show my support.”

“Your wife was right,” Morgan said with a smirk. “You are starting to sound like a politician.

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