“All the more reason to get this over with and get him out of here as soon as possible,” Blitzkrieg muttered, deliberately missing the point Battleax was trying to make. “What’s the delay, anyway? Where is this Captain Jester?”
“He’s waiting in the next room,” Major Joshua supplied. “Has been since before we disembarked.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
“We’re trying to locate the court recorder, sir. She seems to have wandered off.”
“Shall we get started, anyway?” Battleax suggested casually. “At least with the inquiry?”
“Oh no,” the general said. “I want everything legal and by the book when I nail this guy’s hide to the wall … no ‘procedural mistrial’ loopholes for him to wiggle out of. Major, go out and see if you can find … What the hell is that?”
There was a loud rumble of powerful engines outside. The sound had begun softly as they spoke but had slowly risen in volume until now it could no longer be ignored.
Joshua had moved to the window overlooking the shuttle pads and was staring at something outside the line of vision of the other officers.
“General,” he said without turning away from his post, “I think you should look at this.”
The sound was from a full dozen hover cycles, whose Legionnaire riders kept revving the engines noisily despite their slow pace. What was even more attention-getting, however, was the procession they were escorting.
The entire company of Legionnaires was marching into the area between the shuttle pads and the spaceport. There were no flashy maneuvers such as the Red Eagles had performed during the intra-service competition, yet something in the grim determination of their approach made them nonetheless impressive, if not intimidating, as they drew up in full formation. Of course, this image was enhanced by the fact that they were garbed in full combat uniform and gear, including what appeared to be loaded weapons.