Janice Amesly from the Imperator's Office strides confidently before me and my ears tell me that Marshal Lu is easily keeping pace two steps behind as we hustle through a long hallway... one with cameras and maybe even a security device or two built into the walls. We were in the Terran Governor's Offices, but we have taken an elevator into windowless environs and we have easily walked a kilometer since exiting. We finally reach a corner and another elevator.

"I've gotten enough exercise with this that I can have a slice of pie when I'm done," I comment to the air in front of me. Neither answers and I'm left wondering what the two of them think.

The door whisks open and Ms. Amesly leads into a fairly short corridor... one that is markedly fancy. No one skimped on the furnishings and fixtures here. In addition, there are four professionally dressed men, two at a doorway halfway down on the right, one here by the elevator door, and one at the far end of the corridor. I suspect we are headed to the guarded door... nope, Ms. Amesly turns left instead and we enter a large conference room already somewhat populated by folks sitting around a long oblong table.

My mobi vibrates... but it doesn't chime... odd, that, it usually chimes. My arm comes up and as the screen materializes the Marshal is suddenly at my side. I hold the hologram up for her to see as I read a message:

"Have fun at the barbecue. Xin's dad is having a bad day, don't let him get to you. Just be yourself. G"

"What is that?" Mei-Li asks.

"Note from a friend, I guess I'm supposed to be visiting someone for dinner." She looks at me like I'm not being completely honest, but I look at the note and say, "What do you think she could have meant?"

She shrugs, seems to agree that the note seems innocent, and steps out the door into the hall.

I, however, know for certain that it is from Gloria and I need to be wary of Mr. Po for some reason. Looking around the room, I spot him near the end of the table. There are nine other people here, not counting myself or Ms. Amesly.

From the hallway, one of the men calls, "All rise for the Imperator!"

Everyone in the room rises and in strides the man we all know from his vids and posters: Imperator Costigan. He moves with purpose and some sense of haste to the seat at the far end of the table, then sits rather unceremoniously.

Without preamble, he states, "Let's get this done."

As someone hands him a pad-sized glas and what I can only assume are briefing materials, Janice motions me to the seat directly opposite the Imperator's... I get to have him glare at me down the length of the table. Great, just great. Any imaginings I might have had that this was to be anything like a personal meeting are fleeing for the shadows... though bright lights seem to have limited those to patches under the chairs and table.

I have no clue what to do or say... what am I supposed to expect? Fortunately, this has been orchestrated somewhere else in advance.

At the Imperator's right sits someone I don't recognize, but next to them is Mr. Po and one closer is the petite woman shrink from the OES Island... Ms... oh, what was her name? Doctor Lee. Yeah, that's it. Next to her is an empty chair, then a woman I don't recognize dressed to the nines and a equally smartly attired man in the chair next to her. One empty chair separates this last person from me... correction, Ms. Amesly is taking that chair.

Continuing around the table to my right is an empty chair, then a woman Navy officer with a star flag on the table in front of her and then Captain Josiah Priest. Next to him is a Marine officer, also with a single star flag at his place. Finally, three more faces I don't recognize sit between the Marine and the Imperator.

The woman to the Imperator's right clears her throat and announces, "Interview of Citizen Shawn Ryan of Terra, time and date stamp," there is the sound of a quiet beep, "Recording secured on code word 'Indigent'. Do not duplicate or transcribe without the Imperator's personal permission." There is another beep and the room quiets as everyone looks my way.

"You will forgive my going right to the point, Ryan," Imp. Costigan begins, "But I hate to waste time. Is this stuff true?" I can tell he is holding up a glas of some sort.

Beside me, Ms. Amesly speaks up, "Sir, we have not shown Citizen Ryan the report."

"Puts you in a bad spot, then doesn't it?" He half chuckles and half growls.

Mr. Po clears his throat at this moment and opines, "I seriously doubt it sir."

"You know Po, don't you Ryan?"

"Yes, sir... er... your honor... um..."

"Costigan will do in this room, I don't have time for formal BS."

Pretty plain spoken, "Yes, sir. Mr. Po hosted me for some interrogation at his island."

Po comments loudly, "As you clearly stated in this report."

"What report?"

"This one!" He all but yells, while slinging a glas down the table at me. I catch it and look it over. At a cursory reading it looks like many pages, reports on what I've done and said, pretty much since Gloria first sat down opposite me in the Covalex bar.

"This isn't mine, Mr. Po."

"Imperator, I have an expert here who will gladly testify that her updated profile of Mr. Ryan shows him to be an unflinching liar. I contend that this report shows he is also a master spy who has been playing with us all along for reasons only he can know."

I feel my anger rise and I think the Imperator wants to make sure the bait is taken, "He just called you a liar, Ryan. What do you think about that?"

Gloria warned me... the barbecue... she meant they are planning to roast me! Through clenched teeth, I reply, "He is in error."

"Alright, Po," the man opposite me says, "Tell me what you've got."

Po stands and addresses everyone around the table, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this report contains material that could only have come from one source." He pauses and gestures at me, "Shawn Ryan."

The most unexpected thing happens... Captain Priest starts laughing. From Po's expression in response, I suspect there is no love lost between these two. Everyone else in the room, including Imperator Costigan, looks first my way, then at the Captain, and finally back at Mr. Po.

With the naval officer still a bit past holding decorum, the Imperator says quite clearly, "Po, you care to explain that little bombshell?"

"That will not be a problem, Imperator." He looks around the room and even Josiah quiets down. "I would like to state for the record that we sweep our buildings for bugs and recorders several times each day. All meeting participants have to cross detector lines. Meetings are white noise covered to limit all but our own recording filters. Our procedures are updated daily with any new set of best practices sent from OES headquarters. This ignores the fact that anything larger than a banfish is detected and accounted for to a range of six kilometers from shore and nothing we do not allow exists for long on our island... getting a new bug ashore is impossible.

"The only way to know what happens in any meeting is to be present. I can account for all the other participants in the days we met with Shawn Ryan and they did not release this document. Yet there are detailed transcripts of EVERYTHING said and done while Ryan was on the island. EVERYTHING!"

Costigan looks my way with a rather incredulous expression. "You got an answer to that Ryan?"

"Gloria said that MARC pulls this stuff off of the OES storage."

Now it is Mr. Po's turn to laugh, albeit a plainly forced laugh that lasts only long enough for effect. "You have to think I'm daft... didn't you think I would check out your tale of 'MARC' agents with superior knowledge and technology? I have the budget breakdown for their whole Committee right here, from the Imperial Senate's last fiscal appropriations bill. According to the Imperial Archive's breakdown, they have less budget than I have just for my people in Prime, not even for the entire planet. For them to operate such a fancy universe dominating secret agency, there would have to be a budget equal to Synthworld!"

The Imperator calmly says, "Go on."

"For example, the 'committee' that supposedly runs this little charade is composed entirely of pensioners; VOLUNTEERS, no less! They are ex-civil servants, a couple of retired military, and several former UPARQ professors. Not ONE is former OES, and just one is former Advocacy. The entire staff list for MARC is less than two thousand, including a group even they call 'Flunkies'. I have twice that many agents just here on Terra."

Loud enough to catch several people's attention, the well dressed woman on my left says, "For all the good it does to have them."

"Excuse me?" Po sounds annoyed.

"I will have something to say when you are done with your rant, Mr. Po."

"My RANT?!"

"I didn't stutter." There is a ton of animosity here, and the woman isn't hiding it.

"Senator, I would have expected a bit more consideration."

"Your people on this planet trip over their own toes. I'm chair of the Intelligence Committee, remember? I see the reports. I even seem to remember your experts said this man," she gestures towards me, "Was completely unfit for incorporating because he had, and I quote, 'No tradecraft'. As if that wasn't enough, your cadre of experts haven't solved the Gallen issue yet, have they?"

"Senator, we are working on that even as I speak."

"Of course you are, you are in this meeting and that qualifies."

"Okay," Costigan finally interrupts, "That's enough from the two of you for right now. Po, do you have more to say about Ryan's case?"

"Yes, Imperator. I actually visited the local head of MARC, a 'Librarian' named Morgan. I could have fit his office into my wife's closet. I didn't see anything worth note and the surveillance device I left hasn't revealed any covert operations happening since our meeting. If he leads part of this super shadow agency, I'm the king of Kashmir. Further, I've wasted good man hours having some of my best agents check on the rest of his staff: four 'Researchers', all number crunching math and higher science types who might be useful, but who are all the underpaid academic weenies that could never keep a secret; there are some 'Reporters', but they are apparently out in the field somewhere or other; I already described the remaining group, 'Flunkies'. Does Mr. Ryan here actually believe that any of us would think this constitutes an agency with advanced tech and their fingers in every pie?"

I keep thinking about what Gloria's note said: "Xin's dad is having a bad day, don't let him get to you. Just be yourself." It is patently obvious that Xin's dad is having a bad day and he is trying to make fiction into facts to get to me. What exactly does it mean to be myself?

Imperator Costigan looks my way and I realize that everyone else is doing likewise.

Time to speak up, I guess, "They told me they're called MARC. If they aren't, how am I supposed to know? Maybe they figured that I would tell whomever and you wouldn't believe me. How should I know? Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be a better spy than you are. Do you seriously think that?"

Several eyebrows around the table rise and Mr. Po is again the center of attention. I think a hint of doubt flickers there, but Dr. Lee chooses this exact moment to clear her throat and ask, "Imperator Costigan, may I speak?"

"And you are whom, again?"

"Doctor Lee, ranking OES profile and asset psychologist on Terra."

"Okay, what do you have?"

"As a careful reading of this document indicates, I did not believe Mr. Ryan to be more than a liar from the start. What I failed to recognize is that he has had special training to defeat human flutter tests... no result from our lie detectors can be considered accurate when someone has had such training. Our own deep cover agents often have similar training, but I have no recollection of someone this old doing it so effectively. Since we have failed to determine the origins or reasons for this, it is my professional opinion that he is a risk to even have in the same room with you, sir. I recommend that we detain him and move him to a facility designed to break down his resistance until we can question him effectively."

Captain Priest is laughing again. "You OES types, if it doesn't match your little profile, it can't be what it is. What a joke."

"Stifle it, Priest," Po growls.

"Why, gonna have your dog suggest that I be renditioned, too? I thought we were here to solve a problem, not witch hunt a possible lead into a coffin."

The Imperator and most of the other people seem to be watching this like some kind of ball match, their heads turning back and forth.

"Ryan is a security risk and you are not concerned?" Mr. Po is more than irate and it is really showing. "Some patriot you are."

"He is less a security risk than your daughter is," the Captain snaps back.

"Excuse me?!" Po roars.

"How else could he have penetrated your system to get your post interview report? He must have been incredible if the pillow games won her over so easily. No... wait, according to this document, he has the sexual stamina of an average sixty year old... which he happens to be. How devious a provocateur can he be, reporting something guaranteed to humiliate himself while knowing that should the truth come out it would show that he is such a master that he has gained total control over your own daughter?"

Po seems for a moment at least a little confused, but Dr. Lee brightens, "Of course, that would explain the details I was concerned about. He is a sexual master and Xin was seduced. How could I have missed that?" Looking at the Captain, she asks, "So you would agree that he is even more dangerous than I thought?"

Captain Priest shakes his head and addresses the Imperator, "I suggest that someone might be checked for paranoia and I don't mean Citizen Ryan here."

Po looks at the doctor and sinks slowly into his chair.

"Ryan, are you a spy?" Imperator Costigan asks me.

"Depends on who you ask, sir. MARC and the Seer's have both said that in some ways I am, whether I like it or not."

"Hmmph, sounds like a devious answer to me." The Imperator looks around the table. "He answers 'Maybe'... not exactly confidence building unless you grasp that he didn't say 'No'." Looking back at me he follows up, "Ryan, have you had any training on how to lie well enough to pass OES flutters?"

"Is a flutters a lie detector?"

He visibly smiles before answering, "Yeah, just like on the holovids, only better."

"Nope, no training. I'm a lousy liar."

Several folks chuckle and Costigan nods, "So, Po, I understand you want him detained and sent into some black hole for questioning, likely never to be seen again?"

The OES officer sits fairly straight and clearly responds, "Yes, sir, that is our recommendation."

"Duly noted. Senator? Did you still have something to say?"

"I'll wait until we hear from the High Advocate's people and our friends in the military."

The Imperator nods and looks to his left, "Director? What say the experts at the Advocacy?"

"I think Section Chief Mills is better able to answer, sir."

"Mills?"

"Thank you, Imperator. My concerns with Mr. Ryan stem mainly from his interaction with the now deceased Dalton Banner, aka. 'Vixen', in a Prime eatery a few weeks back. We have not been allowed to fully question him and the only Agent that had spent any time with him is now in the morgue at seventh section on Gen awaiting next of kin."

"You didn't finish questioning him when you had him in custody?"

Mr. Po speaks before Ms. Mills can, "They were asking questions that are covered under OEGC 2741-171 Section 4. My man took control of the process when Mr. Ryan seemed all too willing to answer questions about covered matters."

"Yeah, well, no one told me about your rules," I snarl with rather obvious frustration, "And Major McMurdoe sure as hell didn't seem to care to be..."

The Imperator cuts me off, "Ryan, stuff it. I want to hear what they have to say."

Well, slap me silly and call me stupid. Why the heck am I here? Hmmph, let's see if I want to cooperate when my turn comes. All that stuff about me being a go-between sure sounds like a smoke screen now that I'm here; they are just deciding what to do to me... well, except the Captain, I think he still wants something. Well, and maybe the Senator... though it occurs to me that there were supposed to be two Senators behind the whole Tish and Gallen thing... is she one of them?

Costigan looks back over at the woman seated two to his left and says, "Mills. Are there things that you can ask here?"

She looks rather surprised, then looks my way. "Yes, Imperator, I believe there are questions I could ask here."

"Director Carmody, can I presume Mills cleared for 2741-171?"

The person who must be the director nods, "Yes, sir."

The Imperator looks around the table, "Senator, I presume your aide is also cleared to secrecy act 171."

"Of course, Imperator."

He looks back at the Advocacy Section Chief, "Okay, Mills, ask Ryan your questions. Ryan, you may answer anything in this room, don't worry about the secrecy act stuff."

I nod, but am still deciding if I really want to cooperate with whatever witch hunt this woman intends to perpetrate.

"Thank you, sir," she begins, then standing, she strolls down the table in my direction. "Citizen Ryan, You knew the deceased, Mr. Dalton Banner... correct?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We had..."

She interrupts, "Just answer my questions, Citizen."

I think she can tell that I'm getting annoyed, but if anything her smile means she wants that response.

"You were once his partner, is that correct?"

"We shared bounty contracts, but we weren't partners."

"Let me rephrase that. You were once his lover, is that correct?"

"What?! What the hells are you talking about?"

"Banner was registered as gay. It is well known that he prefers to fly with men he is intimate with."

"Well, I sure as hells wasn't one of them."

"Do you deny that you flew with him?"

"No. Doesn't make me a switch hitter."

"Did Mr. Banner have your mobi number?"

"Of course, I listed on the Bounty Hunters guild board and I've had the same mobi id for nearly forty years."

"Did he call you and ask to meet you the night you murdered him?"

"He called but it sure as hells wasn't murder. He was trying to kill me."

"Did you know that he had recently lost a companion?"

"No, why should I know that, we hadn't..."

She interrupts again, "Was he upset and wanted your company?"

"No, he said he had..."

"Then why would you have gotten up in the middle of the night your time to fly to Prime?"

"He said he had information about who was out to kill me. I take that serio..."

"Really?" she cuts me off again with a tone reeking with doubt. "Why did you already have your weapon out when Mr. Banner turned the corner in JonJohn's?"

"He was there to kill me."

"How do you know that?"

"He knew about Hornek Tish and Vixen being a man. And he nearly stabbed me with that blade."

"Didn't he draw the blade to defend himself?"

"I'm not that slow."

"You were already armed and ready for him."

"Damned straight. He was coming for..."

"You threatened to blackmail him."

"What? You get some Color slipped into your lunch?"

"There is no call for..."

"Rudeness? Like interrupting? Like you've done to me every time I've tried to give a complete answer?"

"I am asking the questions."

"The hells you are, you are asking the LEADING questions. There's a BIG difference."

The Imperator speaks up, "Settle down Ryan."

"Sir," I respond with barely controlled anger, "I've been railroaded by unscrupulous Advocacy types and those nine years they stole are definitely NOT forgotten."

Costigan nods, "Yes, I've been briefed on that unfortunate error." He looks at the Section Chief and orders, "Mills, sit down." Once she has, he continues, "Ryan, tell me what happened."

"Sir, there had already been two attempts on my life. Banner was someone I had flown with before, we had traded favors..." I glare at Mills and add, "... None sexual. Comrades in arms often keep an ear out for trouble for associates who might have services or cash to make any effort worth the trouble warning them. That's what I thought he was doing when he called and asked to meet. He had a list of cloak and dagger things he wanted done, but I figured maybe he was worried that whomever he was ratting out might suspect him if he didn't take precautions."

"You had your weapon out and shot him?"

"Sir, You may not know how bounty hunters work, but I do. Banner was working and I was his target. You don't live to be my age without learning how to be prepared when you recognize that things are going sideways."

"Did you shoot before you saw the blade?"

"No, sir."

"Why did you think he was this Vixen? Wouldn't that be a woman's title?"

"As I said, sir, I already knew that Vixen was a man."

Mills speaks up, "And just how did you know that?"

"The OES' Major McMurdoe had told me that while I was on their island." Holding up the glas that Po had thrown at me I continue, "And I bet that is in here if everything else from the OES party is included."

Captain Priest chuckles before he chimes in, "Page 341, third paragraph."

"Thank you, Captain," the Imperator states. "Mills, has he satisfied your concerns?"

"No, sir. I think most of that stuff would get shredded under a good cross-examination. I say he is guilty of murdering a former lover until I see better evidence to the contrary."

I inhale to serve a retort, but Imperator Costigan seems to know it is coming and cuts me off, "Mellow out, Ryan, you aren't getting arrested. OEGC 2741-171 Section 4 applies to you and that covers too much evidence for you to be taken in, much less sent away again. I say so. Understand?"

I want to argue, but I'm suddenly weary of the whole mess. "Yes, sir," I reply.

The Imperator seems to accept my response and continues around the table, "Admiral, do either you or our laughing Captain wish to make an addition to our little party?"

The Admiral speaks in a calm voice, "My man on this case is Captain Priest, sir. I happen to agree with his conclusions, but perhaps he can offer the details better than I can."

"Captain?"

"Thank you, Imperator. As this report confirms, Shawn Ryan is a fortuitous accident for the Empire. While I can not pinpoint this document's source, I have indeed heard about a shadow organization that serves from within the Empire. If it is not actually MARC like they claimed to Mr. Ryan, it isn't his fault. In fact, when I personally went to the district hospital shortly after OES Agent Vas was killed, one of the wounded women who had been in the room when the battle happened was reportedly a MARC 'Flunkie'; the attending physician is the one who told me about her. Granted, without an appropriate finding, I am not allowed to peruse the hospital's vid records, but it is also worth note that the woman who came to pick up this 'Flunkie' perfectly fits Ryan's description of 'Gloria'. She was on scene for no more than four minutes and my expert opinion is that she was as observant as I would hope I am in the field."

Mr. Po grumbles something and the Captain pauses as if he expects Po to speak up. When the OES man sits silent, Priest continues, "However, even if they are not the source of the document, I'm convinced that someone who has the Empire's interests at heart forwarded it to your office."

The Captain has our complete attention and the Imperator simply says, "Go on."

"Thank you, sir. Several months ago, I became aware that there had been an attempt on Ryan's life from an unknown pilot of a UEEN tagged 350R while in the Hadur system. The fact that Ryan was employed as a civilian escort for a Xi'An diplomatic courier made the case interesting enough to personally start checking up on. It wouldn't be the first time they had flipped one of our people, you know? Well, I started checking him out while searching for the killer. When Ryan disappeared a week later, it raised my curiosity further. I started digging.

"What I found was a modest record and a good reputation from four decades as a wing escort for merchants and couriers, including the Xi'An he is currently contracted to fly with. He has spent some time as a bounty hunter, though without as much success, and he has never had trouble with any of the governments he has interacted with. True, the Advocacy appears to have wanted nothing to do with him since the Ikasori mistake was uncovered, but I wasn't able to even find any record of arrests at any local levels. The times he has been questioned related to deceased bounty subjects have all ended satisfactorily for the interested government agencies.

"His ground roots are a modest tea plantation in the Torre Nor district here on Terra; it appears to be something of a labor of love, the plantation accounts appear to have been regularly supported from his personal accounts, I doubt seriously that he has ever made a single credit in profit. He has no family contacts, though I have discovered that he has a younger half-brother who retired from the Navy just four standards back."

I'm rather surprised that he would know this... I sure didn't.

The Captain continues, "Recently, his small tea growing business became a group affair; he shared ownership in his tea plantation with two other folks when he sold them a half share... the funds were used almost immediately to buy his 350R. Selling cherished assets to buy a craft capable of keeping up with his employer's Xress... not exactly how someone with money backing him acts, is it?"

I shrug, but he isn't even looking my way.

"So, you think he's a saint of some sort?" the Senator asks with enough sarcasm that it lowers my opinion of her drastically.

Captain Priest stares her down while replying, "No, Senator, I have no such delusions. I do think he is an asset that we can't squander."

"Squander," Po exhales with disgust, "Time spent with him is squandered by definition."

"On the contrary, Shen, he has seen what we haven't."

"And says up front that he was being deliberately shown things... and can't be certain that what he saw wasn't manipulated."

"But if he can confirm what we have glimpses of, he is an intel gold mine."

"You can't trust anything he says," Doctor Lee announces as if we hadn't already heard her assessment.

"And I believe," Captain Priest retorts, "That you, Doctor, have issues with people who don't fit into your little models... especially when they don't put up with your antics."

"How dare..."

"Stop it, both of you," Imperator Costigan orders. "Captain, do you have anything else to say?"

"Sir, I think we can't let this source slip by."

"What do you propose?"

Now the Admiral speaks up, "Imperator, we are prepared to commission Citizen Ryan as a Lieutenant Commander in Naval Intelligence. He would be retired, of course, and able to draw pension immediately upon resolution of the current tensions. Should he not wish to be commissioned, we have an order drawn up for your signature that would place him at our disposal as an enlisted person through an Article of Draft."

As I gasp at what she is proposing, the Senator chimes in, "That was a Messer era ploy, wasn't it, Admiral?"

"The Navy has needs, Senator. You know this quite well, so you can stop grandstanding for Ryan's benefit."

"You have no idea what I have in mind for Ryan."

"And I'm sure he will like whatever even less than being drafted into the Navy."

"I would agree," the Senator responds. "That doesn't change my point: Messer era tactics will be exposed by the press and you would hurt us all. After all, your Captain's assertion supported by this report..." she holds up her glas with what I presume is another copy of the MARC report, "... And even the early OES evaluations, is that Shawn Ryan speaks his mind and does so without limits and with complete honesty."

The Admiral calmly replies, "We don't have to leave him out in public to wander around."

As the two of them stare at each other, I decide it's my turn. "Just what the hells are you proposing? Kidnapping me but with a Navy uniform instead of a straight jacket or a prison uniform?"

Captain Priest turns to me with an expression that is almost as icy as his tone, "You can be treated as just a data store. If you don't want to cooperate, we too have ways to encourage an attitude change."

"Put a fork in it sonny," I snap back. "At least the OES wasn't trying to dress up their desire to interrogate me with a bunch of fancy words. And you might ask Lee about the success her goons in New Austin had."

"Her goons are amateurs."

"Like hell they are," Po snaps.

"STOP IT! EVERYONE STOP!" The Imperator is really angry and is shows as he rises to his feet and leans over the table. "I don't give a damn about any of your little turf wars. And Ryan, just let ME deal with them, UNDERSTAND?!" He is shouting and all but the Senator and maybe Ms. Amesly seem at least a little intimidated. As he continues, he settles back into his seat, but the tension in his voice remains, "WE have a situation here. WE are not prepared to face war with the Vanduul on the one side and the Xi'An on the other. WE are in this room to assess the character of this fossil and any possible value he might represent to ME in trying to stop something I damn sure didn't start and seriously don't want to let go any further."

He looks around the table and then asks, "Is that completely understood?"

Everyone nods... except me. Call me a fossil, and then act like I'm property? I'm getting tired of this stuff.

Now the Imperator is glaring my way, "Ryan, you can say yes and let me continue, or I can give you to one of these organizations to do with as they see fit. Do you understand?"

"I understand. So what?"

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe this fossil is just not interested."

He sighs, "Okay, bad choice of words on my part. You are my dad's age, and I call him that."

"And he approves?!"

"How should I know?"

"You call your da a fossil and you don't know if it offends him?"

"Trust me, I call him a lot worse than that... just like he does me."

"Well, it's a lousy way to get on my good side."

"You want some honesty, Ryan? I'm trying to find any straw, however thin, that will protect the UEE. I couldn't give a damn about your good side, and I sure as hell wouldn't be here talking with you if it weren't for this report. An anonymous someone else thinks I need to know about you; at this point, I'm starting to doubt that."

"Fair enough. Can I go now?"

He glares at me again, then looks at the Senator. "You still want a piece of him, Amanda?"

The Senator turns to me and smiles; the kind of smile I imagine a spider to have when a fly is hopelessly tangled in its web. Predatory. Merciless. Deadly.

"Citizen Ryan here has an interesting view of reality. Xi'An is good. His own kind are bad. Yet, we are gathered here to decide if he can be a help to us... humans... his own kind."

She is looking directly at me but what she says is for the others, not me. "Do I think he is a master spy? Heavens no. Is he a criminal, guilty of a crime of passion? I seriously doubt it. Is he a stroke of good fortune with an encyclopedia of knowledge about a military he has only seen some of?" here she glances the Captain's way before gazing at me again, "No, he has already told someone everything he knows, the well is dry.

"Let's be serious, Shawn Ryan is too credit strapped to retire comfortably and too footloose to want to. He is an opinionated grumpy old man who has hitched his wagon to the other side. His friend has led him so far afield of where he originally thought he was going that I doubt that he doesn't regularly wish he could undo the whole thing. I would suggest that he is too much of a romantic to just do the prudent thing when it is offered him and too much of a dreamer to realize his time is past.

"This man should not be in this room, he should not have been the center of so much attention, and his friends should still be alive to work with him on his tea farm. But though he is here, we have the opportunity to correct at least some of this Gallen problem he has caused."

"What?!" I interrupt, rather frustrated that she is blaming me for this spy thing.

"The Navy may need a finding to see the records from the hospital, but I don't and I can say that this report's description of what happened in the room when Associate Vas was killed is exceptionally accurate. The persons Seer Dnong expected to react to his announcement were the alleged MARC agent Lanai and Shawn Ryan. The fact that these two were not behind Jenk Gallen nor concerned about him is irrelevant. Without the two of them, and most probably just without Shawn Ryan, Dnong Whatever-his-name-is would not have been hunting for bear and had Jenk Gallen arrested."

"You are out of your mind," I breathe heatedly in her direction.

"Did not the Seer say, and I quote, 'ith asas' after he realized his expectation that you were in league with Gallen was wrong?"

I think back, "Yeah, I think he said something like that."

"You know he did. For the rest of you who may not know the Xi'An, 'ith asas' translates to 'I erred' or more appropriately, 'I was wrong'. If Ryan had not been involved with Dnong since their encounter at Hadur III, Dnong would not have thought he had enough proof to arrest Gallen. This entire mess is all Shawn Ryan's fault. I do not see any plan that rewards him for his part in it as politically viable."

I'm rather taken aback. Looking around the table, I'm not sure what the rest of them think. Captain Priest shakes his head a little and seems to chuckle darkly... but he says nothing.

Imperator Costigan asks quietly, "What would you propose we do with Ryan?"

"Suspend his flight licenses on medical grounds. Remove the threat he poses by making him worthless. He shouldn't be in space to cause any more trouble. Let him go back to his tea farm and be a farmer. He has taken a serious head injury, mark him unfit for space flight and restrict his ability to fly in atmosphere to passenger only. The Xi'An will accept he is not a value any more and move on. By doing this we can be sure they are not getting mixed messages... they will have nothing to go on but what you and the Senate tell them."

The Admiral glares at her, "This would be the same Senate that seems bent on forcing us to mobilize our reserve fleets along the border?"

The Senator matches her sneer and retorts, "If the Navy isn't ready, perhaps they need leadership that can get them ready."

"Enough!" Costigan orders and everyone but the dour eyed Senator looks his way; she seems to be gazing daggers and poison my way... and maybe even unadulterated hatred.

The Imperator says, "I have heard enough. Thank all of you for your input. The suggested courses of action are, as I understand them: rendition him, arrest him, draft him, or ground him. None of you agree on much of anything except that the use I wanted him for is unlikely to be reasonable. The authors of this report may have meant to give us another tool, but Ryan is obviously just unsuitable. I do have to consider that the Xi'An are pretty upset that we have held him, even though there have been medical reasons that he couldn't return to flight. Therefore, my decision is this: leave him working as he is with the Xi'An. It may settle their worries that we are starting a march towards war. Do not kidnap or torture him, do not attempt to steal him away or in any other way use him to further inflame the Xi'An's distrust of our government. Do all of you understand my decision?"

I don't think anyone is happy and most of them are staring at their hands... but they all nod.

"Ms. Amesly, would you escort Citizen Ryan back to his ship?"

"All the way back, or..."

"Take a shuttle, I want you back for a debriefing within the hour."

"Yes, Sir."

"Citizen Ryan," the Imperator finally addresses me, "Thank you for your time and perseverance though this little ordeal. I appreciate that you were at least willing to participate. Thank you." He nods to Ms. Amesly and she touches my arm as he concludes, "This meeting is adjourned."

"Mr. Ryan, let's go," Ms. Amesly instructs.

What a waste of time. The others in the room are rising and getting their materials together. I leave the glas Mr. Po had thrown my way and follow Ms. Amesly out the door. We turn down the long hallway and stride purposefully to the elevator.

Swish.

We step into the elevator's tiny compartment and she pushes a button... and we go up instead of down.