Objective 1
Burtch, and everyone else in the room could feel the intensity of Dorthea's threat as she stared daggers at
Rex Valhoun
from across the table. Burtch was very concerned about Dorthea's reaction for many reasons, but mainly, he was worried because he knew that
she knew better than to behave this way at a diplomatic event. Sure, she had her signature moments, but he had also seen her compose herself very well at times over the years. For her to react this way after so many years of growth, Burtch had to think that there was something more to this than what meets the eye.
But he dared not intervene just yet. He hoped that Dorthea could pull it together here and start being sensible, but if he was being honest with himself, he had never seen her this bad before. Rex seemed to be blowing her off, and that could only make it worse. And Dorthea very rarely went anywhere or did anything without a plan… even if it was unhinged…
She smirked at Rex and shifted, calmly lifting her hands from the table and slipping them into her pockets. Burtch was suddenly very alarmed that maybe she had brought a small holdout blaster to confront Rex. Burtch considered drawing his own blaster to prevent a diplomatic nightmare and shooting her with the stun setting. But something seemed more calculated in her movement than what Rex's reaction to her suggested. Despite her explosive entrance, there was a sense of self control in her demeanour. Burtch couldn't connect the dots, since Dorthea was always either totally out of control, or meticulously in command. With Dorthea, there wasn't much of a middle ground.
She then smiled with daggers in her eyes as she spoke again with venom in her tone,
"Oh, you're here to negotiate? That's so responsible. Well you're lucky that I like
Willow & Ivy
as much as I do, because if not, you'd be on your way to leaving my station by now without a ship. So let me reiterate: I don't negotiate with stupid tyrants. Specifically," she said the word in such a sharp manner that suggested that Rex was dense and needed more explanation than should be necessary,
"We don't have any business with you unless you agree, right here, right now to revoke the unconstitutional arrest warrants that you put on mine,
Var-Sulis
, and
Viken Dobson
's heads. Var is only guilty of hurting your little feelings, which is apparently a crime in your nation. I'm guilty of force-knows-what, and my brother is maybe guilty of arming your military with the best weapons in your arsenal. So, again, you have ten seconds. Otherwise, you have no right to be here."
Suddenly, all the pieces clicked together. Burtch knew for a fact that Dorthea was fiercely protective of her brother. She also cared about the few other friends she had too, but when it came to her brother, she'd burn the whole damn galaxy to the bedrock if she had to. It explained her mood on the way here, in hindsight, and it led Burtch to assume that something was
definitely in her pocket. She had clearly been preparing for this. It Probably wasn't a blaster like he had thought before, but a signal transmitter. Most of the marines and law enforcement officers on the station were loyal to the Nomadic Peoples Coalition, so it wouldn't have been hard for Dorthea to assemble a task force in case Rex denied Viken's pardon. Granted, there were loyalists to the imperium on the station, but there was no telling how much backup Rex could have arranged for himself. What happened next could either ease the tensions, or turn them a bloodbath.
And the way she sees it, she might as well see to her own pardon, and Var's while she's at it, Burtch surmised internally,
If he doesn't give her this here and now, then she'll be willing to start a war over it.
Rex Valhoun
|
Loreena Arenais-Valhoun
|
Willow & Ivy
|
Tsubasa Kira-Taiyou
|
Grand Shepherd Burtch
|
Dorthea Dobson