Chapter 27The next day’s Council meeting was of an entirely different tenor to the previous one. Following Taithur’s announcement of the detection of the approaching Fleet there was a stunned silence, then uproar.
When it subsided, a faint voice asked, “Are you sure this time?”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Ersand could not help smiling a little at this plaintive rebuke, but he crushed the faint flicker of hope with a ruthless gentleness.
“Yes,” he said. “There’s not the slightest question. They were screened from our scanners, routinely I suppose, but when they locked onto our beam, which took only seconds incidentally, they dropped their screening and effectively announced themselves. God knows what kind of equipment they’ve got, but only the Fleet could have it. I’m afraid th
