Assorted groans and grimaces greeted his words. This had come to be a traditional opening. He knew, as they did, that the yearly meetings had become a week-long social gathering and party for the crews. That, combined with the captains’ own last-minute preparations, usually guaranteed that no one arrived at the meeting well rested.
“Before we begin,” he continued, “I’d like to take a moment to thank Captain Egor and the Scorpion’s crew for hosting this year’s meeting. As those of you who have hosted these meetings in the past will testify, there’s a lot of work that goes into the preparations. Egor?”
Egor rose to a round of automatic applause, and gestured for silence.
“My crew has asked me to convey their regrets and apologies to you for their absence from the pre-meeting parties on board the other ships,” he announced with pompous formality. “Contrary to popular belief, this is not because I’ve confined them to the ship.”
Egor paused for a moment, but no laughter greeted his attempted joke.
“Actually,” he continued, “they’ve been working on their own on a surprise they’ve cooked up for today’s meeting. I don’t know what it is, but they’ve been planning it ever since they found out the yearly meeting was going to be on the Scorpion-and if I know my crew, it should be memorable.”
He sat down, and Tambu waited until the polite applause died.
“Thank you, Egor. Now, before we get into the agenda, I’d like to announce a change in policy as to how this meeting is to be conducted. As you recall, last year we encountered difficulty discussing points on the agenda, both from the size of the assemblage, and from my attempting to guide the discussion from the chair. Well, this year, we’re going to try something different.”