>Carrhae studied Kitanya. She could come up with a lie, a good one, but
>she suspected that it would not be good enough to fool the Caitian.
>She also knew that Matt trusted Kitanya. She was not yet willing to
>do the same. "Matthew told me about it," she finally said, choosing a
>half-lie, "Only in passing, however."
It wasn't quite true; humanoids were so obvious when they lied. Body
language, scent, the slight change in pitch of the voice - it all gave the
away. But it wasn't a complete lie. And pushing the matter wouldn't get
her anywhere with a Rihannsu. M'rrell had taught her that much. It was
the best she was going to get, and it wasn't important enough to make an
issue out of, so she let it go. But something was going on with her, that
was clear. "Ahh, I see," she said, nodding.
>Earlier, she had thought that she had allowed her emotions to take control
>during her "discussion" with Renaud; now, she wondered. Glancing over at
>her right hand--the one that held the glass--she saw that it was still
>trembling slightly. Casually, she set the glass down and moved her hand,
>resting it on her lap so that it was out of sight. She *would*
>keep herself in control until she could find the privacy necessary to
>reinforce the barrier she had constructed around Matt's memories.
>
>Again the picture of calm professionalism, she said, "Perhaps you will
>tell me more another time. For now, I propose we discuss the purpose of
>this meeting."
Kitanya sipped at her wine that the waiter had just brought. "Special
Operrrations is an infiltrrration, deep rrrreconnaissance and pinpoint
strrrike orrrganization. That is ourrr mission. But one cannot strrrike
without strrrike teams."
(resp?)
"My prrredecesorrs have seen to it that SpecOps is cut off at the knees.
It's my job to fix that. But therrre arrre things in the wind that may not
give me a lot of time to leisurrrely recrrruit, trrrain and field all the
people I need. That would take yearrrs to do prrroperrly, and we may only
have months, if we'rrre lucky. So I need people now, people trrrained in
Special Operrrations, people who know what they'rrre doing and can get it
done prrroperrly and safey. And the people I need arrre yourrr strrrike
teams, Admirrral."
(resp?)
"Ourrr teams do overrrlapping missions, and many of the outposts you rrrun
arrre SpecOps bases, paid forrr by us. Some of yourrr operrratives on
these teams arrre forrrmerr or currrrent SpecOps people. Not only doesn't
it make any sense that we arrre both doing the same jobs, but it doesn't
make sense that SpecOps is paying forrr outposts we cannot contrrrol. So
one of two things has to happen: I get those teams back, orrr Intell
starrrts paying forrr them. And having looked at yourrr budget, the
latterrr would not look good to the Council."
(resp?)
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A little girl asked her father, "Daddy? Do all fairy tales begin with
'Once Upon A Time'?"
He replied, "No, there is a whole series of fairy tales that begin with
'If elected I promise'."
