When the AAnn spoke the name of the Viisiiviisii, she reflected, the word emerged as a single long hiss. “You just said yourself that the AAnn favor the strong, who in this conflict you perceive to be the Sakuntala. There are several indications—nothing definite or verifiable, mind—that the Deyzara might be behind these disappearances. That could indeed be the case, though much remains to be substantiated before any formal accusations can be levied. However,” and this time it was Thessu, mesmerizing stare or not, who blinked, “if certain parties who support the uprising of the radical Sakuntala were responsible, it would go a long way toward explaining one aspect of the disappearances that continues to puzzle my advisers and myself.”
Jallrii was the perfect picture of reptilian nonchalance. “Truly, the longer such puzzlementss remain unssolved, the more elaborate consspiracy theoriess have a way of becoming. Purely for the ssake of disscussion, how could we in any way be ressponssible for the dissappearance of thosse of whom you sspeak? Ssurely you are not ssuggessting that Thessu and I ssomehow managed to evade your local ssecurity, ssneak into your sskimmer facilitiess, ssabotage the missing craft, and esscape again? All, of course, without being sso much as ssniffed by anyone elsse?”
“I am not suggesting anything of the sort.” An eerie serenity had come over her. Outside, the rain continued to fall, indifferent to the confrontation taking place inside the main administration building. “My technicians inform me that a very high degree of technical skill would be required to carry out such sabotage, particularly to manipulate a skimmer’s sealed emergency instrumentation. It is a matter of some dispute as to whether any of the Deyzara technicians on local staff possess those attributes. It is also generally conceded that no Sakuntala technician does. That forces one to contemplate other possibilities.