The Unscheduled Mission by Jonathan Edward Feinstein Page B

talking, so we’re only supplying a room that fits a dozen comfortably. Everyone we want will fit but he’ll only have five helpers.”
    “It sounds a bit petty to me,” Park remarked.
    “We’ll have a camera in there so he can have as many people watching in as he likes,” Arn replied.
    “I’m sorry,” Park apologized. “I still don’t see the point. He annoyed you so you’re going to annoy him right back? Childish much?”
    “A little,” Arn admitted. “I long ago came to the conclusion that politics and diplomacy have more than a bit of kindergarten to them. The kids who grab get more than the kids who are willing to share, at least when the teacher isn’t looking. Jance is a grabber and the teacher is having a second cup of coffee and a cigarette in the faculty lounge.”
    “Nice metaphor,” Park chuckled, “but I wonder if the best way to deal with a grabber is to be an even bigger grabber. Still, that’s your decision to make. So who’s in the conference room with you and Terius?”
    “You, Iris and Taodore,” Arn responded, “plus a Mer to be chosen by Terius.”
    “Not sure you should have me in there,” Park told him. “I’m going to be needed outside with our hidden security.”
    “I think we need you more inside,” Arn disagreed. “You can communicate with your men and women via your torc.”
    “They don’t all have torcs, you know,” Park pointed out.
    “Oh, forgot to tell you, we managed to integrate torc technology with our cellular system while you were away,” Arn told him. “You’ll have to call via conference mode of course.”
    “I’d better get a group programmed in then,” Park decided. “I don’t even know all their numbers. Well, I can put Marisea on it, if I can pull her away from Cousin. Very well, but I may find the need to go out for fresh air from time to time.”
    “Trouble with tight spaces?” Arn asked.
    “No, just allergic to jerks,” Park retorted.
    “Well, think of it this way,” Arn advised. “The room is large enough for the actual negotiator but not enough for the army we think he brought with him on those ships.”
    “I suppose, but if trouble breaks out we’ll be firing on our own spaceport,” Park pointed out. “But do me a favor, move it to the larger conference room. It has a picture window that faces the hill and our men there will have a view of the proceedings as well as the only way in from the spaceport.”
    “A few snipers armed with antiquated weapons are not going to over-power a large force if that’s what Jance has in those ships,” Arn pointed out.
    “No,” Park responded, “but they will provide cover while the rest of us find a way to fight back.”
    “If it comes to that,” Arn told him cautiously. “We don’t have any reason to suspect treachery, you know, and Terius isn’t going to like our preparations.”
    “Don’t tell him, then.” Park advised. “Arn, we’ve reversed our usual roles here. Normally you’re the one for military solutions and I’m looking for alternative means of persuasion.”
    “I’ve noticed,” Arn told him dryly. “I think it’s time I tried being a diplomat. Why are you so suspicious of Jance?”
    “Partially, I’ve never really trusted him,” Park admitted. “All that useless doubletalk in space really got up my nose, but that warning from Tack is what’s really making me nervous.”
    “The ant prophet made a prediction,” Arn replied flatly. “It was probably drug-induced, and you’re taking it seriously?”
    “His other predictions have come true,” Park reminded Arn. “Naturally I’m hoping he’s wrong this time, but I really don’t want him saying, ‘I told you so,’ if all this goes sour and I didn’t at least try.”
    Jance started making unreasonable demands the moment he sat down at the table the next morning. “Before anything else is accomplished here all Mer and Pirates must accept the Covenant in its entirety and agree to pay reparations