CHAPTER 28

DELAY

Mission Day One - continued

Jason was standing on the flight deck of the ARGO, facing the main view screen. "I've finished, Cardinal. You were right. It didn't take long at all. How soon will the extraction team be here?"

"Ah, there's been a delay there," the man on the screen replied apologetically.

The Prince frowned, not liking the sound of this at all. "What kind of delay?"

"The Glyateven government is being…difficult," the Cardinal replied calmly.

"This was supposed to be a done deal!" Jason exploded. "In and out in no time, remember? Those lunatics are already planning on taking over the planet, and they want me to help!"

"Excellent!"

"What?" Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing. "There's nothing excellent about it! They want me to take the place of the third member of the Triad, for pity sake!"

"Who better to keep them in check until the extraction team arrives?" came the smug reply.

"They don't want me to keep them in check. They want me to help them take over the planet," the Prince snapped angrily. "I'm a good strategist, but I'm not that good. I doubt they'll be interested in a bloodless coup. They've already tried to shoot me once."

"Obviously they missed," the Time Lord replied aridly.

Jason gave him a sour look. "No, actually, they didn't. I told them I wear a personal forcefield to prevent injury from laser weapons."

"Indeed. How very clever."

"You still think I'm the best man for the job?"

"Ambassador, think of all the innocent people of Eldeberon," the Time Lord on the screen implored.

"I'd rather think of innocent me, if you don't mind," the Alterran retorted. "That wasn't the assignment. Now you're asking me to completely infiltrate their power base."

"I have complete confidence in your deceptive abilities."

Jason gave him a dark look. "That's not what I meant. If this goes wrong I'm in the soup."

"I'm sorry. The soup?"

"Cooked. Done for. They'll hand me my head on a plate."

Wythe sighed heavily. "I thought you were experienced at this sort of thing," he said in a disappointed tone.

Jason's annoyed expression did not change. "I am. But deep cover requires a lot of planning. I usually have a team of others to watch my back, and a way out if things go wrong. According to you, officially, I'm not even here. In fact, nobody even knows I am here!"

"My dear Ambassador Krystovan, you have my full support."

"You know something, Wythe. From where I'm standing, that's not all that reassuring." So saying, Jason hit the button, ending the transmission.

oOo

Fitzhugh was already on his feet. "Doctor, is it your contention that all of the recordings from the ARGO security logs are genuine?"

"It is," the Doctor replied guardedly.

"Isn't it possible that they're a fabrication?"

"A lie, you mean?"

The prosecutor smiled thinly. "Perhaps deception is a better term."

"In other words, Prince Jason forged these recordings."

"I couldn't've put it better myself," Fitzhugh replied smugly. It was a cheap shot but it had the desired affect. It enraged Jason.

Knowing the reaction this would provoke, the Doctor took a step back and held out a hand, catching the Alterran by the shoulder as he was rising to his feet and thrusting him back into his seat. He then went on as though nothing had happened. "What you're saying is that after perpetrating this heinous act, Prince Jason created these recordings to incriminate Cardinal Wythe and exonerate himself."

"Exactly."

The Doctor had not finished. "Then he completely forgot to mention said recordings to anyone after he was arrested, incarcerated, cut off from his family, stripped of his Ambassadorial rank, put under a psychiatric microscope, and finally charged with offenses that could very well get him executed!"

Eustis banged the gavel and gave opposing councils a reproving look. He then asked mildly, "Doctor, is there any way to authenticate these recordings?"

The Doctor was taken aback, uncertain how to respond. Jason rose to his feet but wisely waited for the Doctor to find out what he was going to say before replying. "My lord, the ARGO is programmed to transmit my location and the corresponding encrypted security logs to Imperial security on Alterrous whenever I'm away from Tel-Shye," the Prince informed.

"How very convenient," Fitzhugh snorted. "Was this a recent security measure?" The piercing look Jason gave him in response made him flinch.

"No," the Alterran replied coldly. "It was implemented by the Emperor nearly eighteen years ago after I was kidnapped out of my own ship."

There were hushed whisperings among the spectators. The events surrounding the Prince's kidnapping were well known to those on the High Council.

"Is the prosecution satisfied with this explanation?" Eustis inquired evenly.

"For the moment," Fitzhugh replied, adding, "I will not object to the ARGO recordings being entered at this time under the provision that they are subject to verification. If they cannot be authenticated as being genuine, I ask that they be stricken from the record."

"I have no objection to this stipulation," the Doctor replied.

"So noted." Eustis replied.