> "That is something I would verrry much like to avoid," she said, sipping
> her water. "We arrren't off-guarrrd, merrrcifully, but we arrre woefully
> unprrreparred. And unforrrtunately, it doesn't take a lot of investigation
> to discoverrr that. And now with all these rrridiculous charrrges against
> Brrrennan as well as otherrr negative prrress that anyone with a vid
> monitorrr can pick up, it only highlights ourrr frrractiousness in the
> upperrr eschelons, which is indicative of the state of the fleet." She was
> not happy at all. That and Lasiter's condition, which while she did not
> question his judgement, did raise questions about his ability to handle
> this situation in the long-term. "It will be an interrresting meeting this
> afterrrnoon, and this evening with Lasiterrr. Orrr perr! rhaps I should
talk
> to him firrrst."
>
"That is a matter of protocol. You would know best..."
Protocol was one thing. This was something different. Lasiter was likely to
know everything that Black had told her, but it did not seem right to go on
about their business as if he didn't exist. And she was going to try and
press him on the timetable for Spec Ops. With a strong Spec Ops, they might
be able to buy some time for the rest of the fleet. A few critical deep
missions might delay the felines just long enough to give the fleet a
fighting chance. And now that she had strike teams again, courtesy of
Intell...
She leaned forward. "I think it's time for an unofficial meeting with
Admirrral Lasiterrr." She rang up M'Rrenn. <[Hello old friend,]> she said,
not wanting the pig in the other office to listen to her private
conversations if she could avoid it.
<[Good day to you again, old friend. What can I do for you?]>
<[Does the Admirrral have time to see me? Some things have developed that
make me feel I need to talk to him unofficially before the official briefing
goes down.]>
<[That depends on how much time you need. If you need two hours,
the answer is no. If you need something 30 minutes or less then you can
come now.]>
{response}
<[Very well then. I will tell him that you are coming, but I just want to
warn you. he is in a strange mood. It just came on him shortly after a
meeting with Admiral t'Llhweiir. It is not a bad one, but one that is more
reflective than the norm. Just be prepared for a mood shift inthe middle of
your meeting. See you shortly.]>
{reactions}
With the channel closed, Aurellius commented..... "Have fun storming the
castle. As a earth saying goes..."
