The projection paused again. Hope stared at it for a moment, experiencing some regret that it had been a Human colony world that suffered such a fate. She had spent considerable time among them, even grown . . . fond of some. None of them, however, as far as she was aware, resided on that world.
“That is . . . unfortunate.”
The hulking warrior-leader did not bother to mask his dismay at her mild acceptance of the situation.
“It will be,” he declared boldly. “For them.” He looked around at the others, as if daring them to contradict him. “We are preparing legions for departure.”
A lengthy and uncomfortable silence followed this announcement.
The elder administrator finally spoke. He looked toward Hope, but did not meet her eyes.
“We seek your blessing, Revered One,” he said softly, lowering his head.
Hope waited and then looked toward the thickly-armored warrior-leader. Both his posture and expression told her that he was willing to proceed with or without her explicit consent, regardless of protocol and custom.
“The Humans will send a ship as well,” came a voice from her left.
Hope turned to see another member of the warrior genus trying to maintain his confidence at having spoken aloud. She could tell that he was still fairly young. The exposed inner layers of his wings still shone bright red, not yet darkened with age and exposure.
Hope felt a sudden surge of concern.
“Which one?”
The young warrior-adept glanced toward the warrior-leader. The warrior-leader granted him a disapproving scowl, but nodded for the younger one to continue.
“We do not know,” he reported quietly, losing much of his earlier courage before brightening slightly. “But we suspect three possibilities.”
“Show me.”
The young warrior-adept hesitated only a moment before changing the images displayed above the gathering table. It now showed views of three different starships. The form of one of them, although changed in subtle ways, Hope recognized immediately. She stared at the image, struggling to maintain at least the outer semblance of control.
“Do we have your blessing?” the young warrior-adept asked tentatively.
Hope regarded the floating images for a moment longer before answering.
“No,” she replied flatly.
The warrior-leader straightened. His wings rippled.
Before he could speak, Hope added, “I will go.”
A mixture of surprise and agitation played over the warrior-leader’s expression. There were soft murmurs from many of the others gathered around them. Hope could tell that some of them wanted to protest, but none dared to aloud.
The administrator-elder managed to find his voice first. “Quarters will be prepared for you.”
Hope glanced toward the warrior-leader. He only stared at her now. His expression told her little of what was going on behind his dark eyes.
She was tempted to tell the administrator, His will be acceptable, while nodding slightly toward the warrior-leader. The administrator-elder would undoubtedly see that it was done, and the warrior-leader could not protest. Tempting, but she recognized that she needed him to command his troops, something he could not do as effectively if she subjected him to such a petty exhibition. If the administrator-elder chose to take such an action on his own, that was a different matter, but not one that she would openly encourage.
“Inform me when ready,” she said and turned back toward the sealed doors.
“Yes, Revered One,” the voice of the administrator-elder followed her.
One of the young warrior-guards quickly opened the door for her, not bothering to first check for approval from anyone else within the room.
Hope stepped back out into the corridor and paused as the door was closed behind her. She had much to do before she could depart. Some were matters that she had not thought she would need to deal with perform until a time much further into the future—if ever. That, however, had now changed. She found, though, that she was not at all certain how she felt about that.
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