Thread: Romeo, Juliet, and the Black

Norik's eyes met the Martian woman's as she left the box, and returned her angry glare with a confident smirk. It was a fine story, almost exactly the one he would have told were their positions reversed. The problem of course was that there was no proof. A deep, thorough investigation of every piece of the wreckage would probably turn up something that proved someone other then the Martians were there no one could remove every trace but such an investigation would take a long time, long enough that the political situation could change another dozen times by then. As soon as the soldiers left the hall exploded, everyone shouting accusations and denials at once. The moderator was shouting as well, demands for silence that were going ignored. Frankly there was little he could do here, not when he could go and see to it that the Martians further tarnished their soldier's conduct. A few whispered words with the envoy and a replacement was brought in, freeing Norik to head out. First, a quick stop by his quarters to rid himself of the worst of the ceremonial bullshit he was forced to wear and check the whereabouts of his quarry. The diplomatic station required everyone on board to carry small transponders that marked their location, making espionage supposedly impossible but actually just more difficult. It seemed that the remnants of the Black Light team were all in the bar attached to the diplomatic wing, a neutral area that was large enough for people of all factions to drink without getting in each others way too often. Unless of course, someone went in to deliberately poke the bear. The bar was almost always full. Out here in space people often set their own hours and defined their own days which meant, quite literally, it was always five o clock somewhere. As such there were already several Terran soldiers and personnel in the bar when Black Light arrived, but beyond a few glares and jokes muttered amongst themselves there was no aggression. Usually everyone just wanted to get drunk in peace, and an informal truce inside the bar had held for the duration of the diplomatic meeting. They were left to their own devices for about half an hour before Norik arrived at the bar, still in uniform but without most of the insignia and decorations that so annoyed him. He gave the room a once-over but finally just sat down with the fellow Terrans, and the drinking continued uninterrupted. But soon enough, Norik began to whisper to some of the other soldiers, men who appeared to be no more then privates or corporals and yet not so long ago had worn the black armor of the nonexistent. They spoke to others, and soon the entire Terran force knew exactly what was about to happen, and the part they were to play. If everything worked out, they'd be having quite a bit of fun and making the Martians look bad. At last Tellson stood, a cup in his hand and swaying slightly as though he was far drunker then he actually was. Let me just say, he announced loudly, speaking over the general din of the bar, that I want to give a hearty congratulations to our Martian friends over there. He waved the cup towards the Black Light team. 70 of their men lost, the factory they were protecting destroyed, and no one but lies about us to blame for it. But they made a damn good try, eh? he laughed, glancing towards the sole woman. Don't worry hon, you'll get 'em next time.