>Kettering called after him, "Lasiter!" in his most authoritative voice. Which Lasiter stopped, turned, saluted, then turned and left. Walking only a meter past Kitanya on his way out, and then on past Rear Admiral Jora. For her part, Jora could nto hear, but picked up the emotions. As Lastier passed her, and Kettering's eyes (and those with him) moved up past her, they saw a large smile on her face. Large, contemptous, and full of laughter.
Her anger flared, but she said nothing. Kettering was more than she had even anticipated. She had thought him to be a predator, but she had been mistaken. Predators do what they do because they feel it necessary to their survival. It may not be a good decision, but it was what they thought they had to do. Kettering was more than that. He was malicious, conniving, and greedy. He enjoyed the pain of others, and that made him the most dangerous being in all of Starfleet. She wanted to be there when he fell, just to make sure he and his pig were stamped out completely, their figurative heads cut off and the stumps burned. But as Tyrus left, Kit knew that much of Kettering's respectability went with him, and that was comforting. It would leave him without the advantage of numbers, but the core that remained would be even more desperate and more dangerous. On Earth, Hitler came to power in the same way Kettering proposed, and with Hitler came his band of thugs that perpetuated atrocities unrivaled in almost every other civilized world. Kettering would do it on a galactic scale. What concerned her most was that Hitler had concocted some of the problems that led to his legal dictatorship of Germany; when people are afraid, they want strong leaders, they want protection, and they'll pay almost any price to get it. If Kettering's hand was in any of the problems the Federation faced... She talked to a few people politely afterwards, but watched the serpent before leaving. It was going to be a long week, and she doubted she'd get much sleep that night. She went home and tried to sleep, but it eluded her. Finally, she got up and started investigating Kettering and possible connections to either the felinids, the Vanasians, police actions, or anything else that could be used to instill fear in the Council or the citizens and would make him, as an aggressive-talking proponent of protection, look like the 'savior'. (eh?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God.... I could be eating a slow learner! --Lynda Montgomery
