"That's not necessary," Cortin told him. "Just ask Matthew to have the rest of my team report, and wait till they arrive. In the meantime, I assume the one with what looks like major's leaves is in charge?" "Yes, Excellency. He says his rank is Lieutenant Commander, but since his position is Captain of the IAS Columbus, he goes by that rank as well." "Odd." Cortin turned her attention to the Lieutenant Commander/Captain while the trooper left to speak to her butler. "Which should I call you, Imperial?" The man shrugged. "Whichever you want, Colonel. Either one's correct." "And your name?" "Ivan DeLayne, Lieutenant Commander, Imperial Terran Navy, ident code HERIE-1935-8586. Your Excellency." Cortin chuckled, amused at the man's insolent tone. "Excellency--" Odeon said behind her, sounding angry. "Take it easy, Captain," Cortin said, smiling. "He doesn't know any better." She studied the Imperials for a moment, then said, "But I should caution you that my team is more protective of my position than I am myself, Captain DeLayne. It would be wise not to agitate them unnecessarily." DeLayne stood silent, and Cortin nodded. He wasn't going to carry on a conversation, lest he inadvertently give her some information he didn't want to--but he wasn't reckoning with her truthsense. She didn't want to go to extreme measures with him unless she had no other choice--he wasn't a criminal, after all--but she did need some basic information, and yes-or-no questions would give her that whether he cooperated or not. "Were you looking for our worlds in particular?" No answer, of course, but his reactions were clearly negative. "No. All right." She turned to the troopers guarding the Imperials. "How far into our space did they get?" "We caught them a parsec from St. Michael, Excellency. They sent off a message shortly after we came into sensor range, before we could destroy their transmitting antennas." "Damn. So the Empire knows we exist." Cortin sighed, not bothering to hide it. "What's so bad about that?" a young Imperial asked. "There's no reason to be afraid of the Empire!" "Shut up, Conley!" DeLayne ordered. "I don't think she ought to," Cortin said quietly. The other members of her team were entering by then, replacing the regular troopers. "Miss Conley--I can't read your rank insigne, to use your proper title--although my second in command disagrees, I believe we have every reason to fear an Empire we fled from some four centuries ago because our religious views were condemned. A number of conditions we've encountered since, causing changes in our way of life, can only make that condemnation worse, possibly--even probably--causing persecution that would wipe out the Kingdom Systems. Three ships held us then; now, we don't have enough to carry a tenth of our population to safety." "Should you be telling them that, Excellency?" Odeon asked.