The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 21.2

Sabrina slept late the next morning, and Tassan had already yielded his post to Darice when she woke. When she got to her own apartments, Rndara was waiting for her, looking affronted as Justek pushed his way in front of Sabrina first. "My lady, this came for you by courier at first light."

He held out a small cube. Sabrina hesitated, then reached for it. "Give me half an hour to review it. Then ask Prime Minister Rassir, Lady Imari, and Commander Mukryilla to come see me."

Justek raised an eyebrow, surprised by her rather hollow voice, and bowed before leaving. Rndara helped Sabrina dress in silence and then withdrew, looking worried.

Sabrina went to her study, locked her door, and slid the cube into her comconsole. Haaron's voice narrated the meeting proposal, which began with the list of participants. There would be no Wayships other than Khediva; Homeworld would be represented by the battleship Sentinel, the ship aboard which the original deal had been struck. Sabrina felt relieved that at least she would have some familiarity with the opposing force if something went wrong. High Tirqwin Asnefer would oversee the scanning of Khediva's logs; Tirqwin's mindscan would be performed by an expert from Homeworld, with one Lthosyenne neurological expert, Lady Chavadanafra, and Sabrina as witnesses. The two operations would be performed one after the other so the trio of witnesses could be present at both.

So far it seemed very reasonable, and Sabrina wondered if perhaps Haaron had overreacted. Or perhaps he had objected to the stipulation that she have only two bodyguards, neither of whom could be Miahn. Well, that was easy; she had to take Tassan now, and she wanted Darice with her, so that made two non-Miahn bodyguards.

All three parties, Homeworld, the Lthosyennes, and Praxatillus (represented by Haaron and Ambassador Olviron), had pledged to withdraw from the meeting area immediately after the scans were made. Depending on the outcome of Homeworld's analysis, there would either be another meeting or a simple communication through the Homeworld and Praxatillus ambassadors on Lthos that the war would continue.

The location was the last thing listed; it was a string of coordinates in another arm of the galaxy, in a sector Sabrina didn't recognize. Haaron's voice grew even more grave as he concluded, "In orbit around the planet designated PS-4129, formerly known as Pharo."

The word rang a faint bell in Sabrina's mind, but she couldn't place it. She was sure she had never been in that sector, and she didn't think she had ever met anyone from there. She turned to her comconsole's files and did a search for the word. It turned up several entries, all of which were classified at the highest level by the Council of Trême. Sabrina did not have authorization to access them. But the classification alone told her that this planet had some importance to Miahns, and that made her wonder why Homeworld had chosen it. Well, Lady Imari could access the files, and faced with this proposal, she would have to see that Sabrina was informed about Pharo.

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"No? And that's it? No explanation, no discussion?" Sabrina stared at the trio of grim Miahn faces across her desk.

"Yes," Imari replied. "That is it. I, for one, have nothing to add."

"But I'm the Regent! I have to have information to make an informed decision!"

"No amount of information could make you qualified to judge in this instance," Imari informed her, eyes flashing. "They cannot be serious. They made this proposal knowing we would refuse it."

"But why?" Sabrina cried, fighting the urge to pound on the desk in frustration. She turned to Rassir and Mukryilla, who had been silent, disturbingly neutral, since Imari had refused Sabrina access to the classified Council of Trême files.