CHAPTER 13Ultimatum
Admiral Hogarth sat in his office and listened to the muted words whispering from the ultra beam receiver snug against the bone behind his ear. He smiled, and, pressing a button in his pocket, broke the connection.
He glanced up as Rennie entered the room.
The stocky captain looked worried, his heavy brows creased in an unusual frown, and his grey uniform was more rumpled and dusty than normal. He slumped, uninvited, into a chair.
“How long’s this Laurance going to hang around?”
Hogarth shrugged, a peculiar expression in his pale, washed-out blue eyes. “Until he finally decides to go back home I suppose. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t like him here, that’s why. I’ve a feeling he’s trying to cause trouble.”
“Indeed?” Hogarth relaxed, his slender fingers resting on the
