“Your share of what?”
Angry mutterings rose from those warriors and representatives who had accompanied her. An increasingly wary Aniolo-jat was honestly confused. “I listen to my brothers and sisters, and I hear discontent. What troubles the S’Toa and its friends?”
“You ask for our support,” she told him, “and some of us give it freely. Where the A’Jah and the Y’Hua lead, I should like all of the S’Toa and others to follow. But that cannot happen until we certain we follow as equals, not as servants.”
What was going on here? he found himself wondering uncomfortably. “Was it ever said or implied otherwise?”
“There are many ways of saying things,” declared an elder in the entourage. “We want our share.”
Again, the laying of a cryptic claim. “You have your percentage of what booty has been taken from the Deyzara.”
“We not talking of share of that,” growled Sesesthi-toa. “We demand our share of additional credit paid you by our scale-skinned friends.” Further grumbling from the assembled rose in support of her request.
Aniolo-jat’s ears all but folded in upon themselves in confusion. “What are you talk about? Is no ‘additional credit’ from the AAnn. All funds given to support our cause are openly admitted to and accounted for.”
She glared at him, nearly rising from her unmoving chair. “What about last four payments of two hundred thousand Commonwealth credits each? Where is admitting and accounting for that?”
Could they all be out of their minds? “Are no such payments. Where did you hear such crazy tales? Have you been talking military tactics with forest spirits?”