The two Councillors on the list for seventeenth Wassas were Councillor Jenna of Dispos and Ken of Hosta. They were to arrive at the eleventh and fifteenth periods respectively. But first came the meeting with the empires leaders.

The First Councillor and the Marshal arrived promptly at the ninth period. The Head Steward met them.

“A long night Head Steward?” First Councillor Les Doman Resta looked tired but hide it well.

“Indeed sir, but I think that yours was just as long.” The Steward was tired but actually had been dismissed early. As soon as confirmation was received that Lia Du Passa and her group had been arrested, he had been told to go to bed. Lea Cania had also been sent to bed. The two were both up by the eighth period and Madla Dinsta had chuckled when she saw them.

They were not amused.

Looking like he had had a good night’s sleep, Marshal of the Legion Ress Lissor strode in and greeted them all with a hearty good morning. Used to going without sleep in combat situations, he could pull an all-nighter rather more easily than either the palace staff or the First Councillors office.

Missing from the meeting were Chief Ferni Massett and Rita Caenett. Both of whom were excused by the Dark Lord. They had been up most of the night attending the debriefing of Quill mam Ugikl. The Dark Lord told them that he needed them rested, not half asleep at their desks.

Gratefully, they returned to their separate suites.

In the usual room, the First Councillor and the Marshal gave the customary bows to the Dark Lord. Strangely, none of the ladies were present. No one dared ask where they were.

“You look well my Lord.”

“Thank you First Councillor, I am sorry to say that you look tired.”

“Nothing I cannot handle sire.”

“I trust not, I fear that it will be a long day for you. Have your staff handle what appearances that you feel that you can trust them with.” The Dark Lord suggested.

“I will consider that my Lord.”

The Dark Lord nodded and turned to the Marshal who regarded him steadily back. A smile touched the Dark Lords lips but all he said was that the Marshal looked well.

“Thank you sire.” The Marshal replied.

“I fear that you have a heavy burden ahead of you, Marshall. The Star Commander is at least a week away. And much needs to be done.”

“Indeed sire. I have called for a full inventory of available craft in the galaxy and in the cluster.”

“Excellent.” The Dark Lord smiled. “Now that we have the formidable Lia into our hands, I am sure that after an interrogation under a lie detector, we will have the most likely locations of her brother. Do you agree?”

“Indeed my Lord. The assistant ...” The First Councillor checked his notes, “Lilly Nanta, is eager to cooperate and has already provided much pertinent information.”

“Very good, both of you. Now, none of the five are to be released except by my personal order. Steward, draw up the appropriate document for my seal.” The Dark Lord ordered. “I am sure that the lawyers for Lia and the others will be hammering down the doors of the Justice Ministry, demanding their release.”

The Head Steward nodded replying, “Immediately sire,” as he tapped on his comm unit.

The Dark Lord continued. “And include both the traitor from last night and Biana Lee Appa. While the last is guilty only of being a poor judge of character, releasing her prematurely could create problems. Also, get her into a hospital, I fear that her love for alcohol will soon rise and rebound on her.”

“Yes, sir.” There was more tapping, including by the First councillor. None were surprised that the Dark Lord knew that Biana overindulged.

The Dark Lord steepled his fingers and sat back in his chair. “Now, to our next move. Marshal, I want several task forces, they don’t need to be large, just a quad or two. Cruisers mostly will do, they are to investigate the bases belonging to Star Builders. With the assistance of the First Councillors office, Ministry of Trade, any other ministry as well as your own Office of Construction, draw up as complete a listing as possible.

“The task forces are to be sent to and occupy said bases however it is important to avoid any disruption unless necessary. While any resistance is to be suppressed, the force used must be only that necessary. I do not like putting constraints on the amount of force that the Legion is to use but most, if not all of the personal of Star Builders premises that have to be examined will be completely innocent of the charges to be leveled at Slav di Naska and his cronies.

“Following the examination of the base, all evidence gathered is to be submitted to the Justice Ministry. Security police are to be included and will be the ones actually doing the investigation, assisted by the Legions own police force.

“This will need to be organised as soon as possible. In addition I want two task forces stationed here at Tihab. I doubt that Naska will launch an attack on Tihab, but we need to be ready. One of the task forces is to consist of planetoids and one of fast battleships. They are to be ready as soon as possible.” The Dark Lord paused.

“Do you have any questions?” There was a fractions silence, then with a smile. “Other than, where are the Ladies?”

The three men started, then laughed. “We did wonder, sire.” The First Councillor spoke for the three.

“They were celebrating their activities in the last few hours. It was good for some of them to be involved. It shows that they will do what is necessary, and that they have other talents than being beautiful.” The smile that appeared was a mixture of amusement, pride and memories of times past.

“Sire, the second group of task forces, what is their function?” Ress Lissor spoke after a pause.

The Dark Lord was silent for a fraction, His mind seemed elsewhere. Shaking his head, he looked at the Marshal.

“The fast battleships are to be ready to reinforce the cruisers.” The Dark Lord replied. “They should be ready to react anywhere in the galaxy. Each ship must be ready to act on its own or as a group, depending on the circumstances. They will have to be flexible. Similar task forces are to be created in all galaxies where Star Builders has a presence.

“The planetoids must be ready in a similar fashion. But they are to be active. As soon as the location of Slav di Naska is confirmed, they must be ready to depart and capture him. For flexibility, a quad of heavy or light cruisers should accompany them, if any can be spared from the first task. If none are available, the planetoid must be ready to act on its own.”

The Marshal stood silent, thinking for a fraction. “Sire, a quad of planetoids will not be a problem, neither will a quad of battleships. But to call up the heavy and light cruisers will be difficult in the numbers required. We could call some from nearby galaxies but that will take time. Star Builders has interests in at least two of the nearby Galaxies that I know of. Those companies and planets will have to be investigated.”

The Dark Lord agreed, “You make a good point, send a message to the Star Commander. Describe what we have discussed, ask if he has any suggestions for us. A fresh viewpoint is always helpful.”

“Immediately sire.”

“Thank you Marshal.” The Dark Lord gave a nod. “First Councillor, I trust that you will be able to provide the necessary information to the fleet soon. I realise that the obtaining of such information is not your direct concern but push all your Ministries as hard as you can.” He gave a grim smile. “If any Minister complains, tell him that I will drop by to discuss such problems with him. Also, please keep the council fully informed.”

He looked at both his senior advisors.

“This is all in your hands from now. I will only contact you if necessary. Bring any important decisions needed or contact me if you feel it is truly important, otherwise I trust your judgement.”

“Sire.” “My Lord.” The two bowed then turned as Lea Cania walked in with a folder, the customary one covered with red material and only used for carrying important documents. She handed it to Grada Karkart, who accepted it with a nod.

Everyone watched with interest as he opened the folder. “The documents you requested, sire.” He handed them on to the Dark Lord.

“Thank you Head Steward, Miss Cania. My thanks also to the staff.” The Dark Lord gave Lea a look that showed He was impressed.

Lea nodded and smiled. “It was nothing sire, we were discussing earlier what might happen. All the big companies have teams of lawyers, so we had already looked up what you had done in the past when the Head Steward commed me. It was actually the printing out of each document that took the time.” This earned her admiring looks from all the men.

“A pearl of an assistant, Steward, you have a fine eye for staff.” The Dark Lord murmured, handing back the stamped orders. Lea blushed and looked down at her feet, although she had no idea what a pearl was, she guessed that it was a gem of some kind.

“Now, off with you and let us hope that no further matters come to light to annoy us.”

As the four left, they met Ladies Dana and Andrea on their way in. Dressed in their iconic form fitting clothes, they both looked as beautiful as ever. “Good morning Ladies.” “Good day.” Came from Les Doman Resta and Ress Lissor. The Steward and Lea nodded their heads in greeting.

With smiles and good wishes exchanged, the Ladies continued in while the rest headed back to the Stewards office.

After the Marshal and the First Councillor left Lea turned to the Head Steward.

“Tobis Nenna?” Lea asked. Grada looked startled for a brief fraction, then laughed.

“I had forgotten about him. We must leave that to Rita and Ferni for the time being. Discuss it with them when they turn up.”

With a nod they parted