“What chance?” Tambu pressed.
“The chance to call the shots for a change. If we set this up right, we can have a hand in all decisions from here on.”
“And if I don’t agree, you’ll kill the captains,” Tambu said slowly.
“You understand perfectly,” Hairy leered. “You don’t really have much of a choice, do you?”
“I have a few.” Tambu smiled. “There is one thing I don’t understand, though. I think you may be laboring under a misconception. Who do you think you’re talking to right now?”
“Who?” Hairy blinked, taken aback by the question. “This is Tambu, isn’t it? I mean, you said-“
“That’s right, sonny!” Tambu exploded, his voice cracking like a whip. “You’re talking to Tambu! Not some sweaty planetside official who wets his pants when you rattle your saber. I’m Tambu, and nobody tells me how to run my fleet. Not the planets, not the Defense Alliance, not the captains, and definitely not some jackass who’s throwing a tantrum because he thinks he’s being treated badly.”
“But if you-” Hairy protested.
“You think you’re in a position of power?” Tambu snarled, ignoring the interruption. “Sonny, you don’t know what power is. I’d give orders to burn an entire planet to cinders, people and all, before I’d let you blackmail me into turning the fleet over to you, and you try to bargain with a roomful of hostages? You’re a fool, Hairy! If my mother was in that room, I wouldn’t lift a finger to save her.”
Hairy’s face was pale in the viewscreen. He no longer looked arrogant and confident. He looked scared.