The two Speakers, seated with several Dominion officials at a long table on the dais directly below the podium where she now stood, were making futile attempts to restore order. Each banged gavels and shouted at the Dominion members in the seats nearest them.
This is hopeless, Adela thought disgustedly. Totally and irretrievably hopeless. She found Woorunmarra in the assembly, flanked by several Imperial guards in the guest seating area, and saw that the feelings of failure that were now going through her were also reflected in him. The dark features that so effortlessly beamed his very thoughts when happy, expressed, she was sorry to discover, unhappiness even more effectively. Her lips drew into a tight line and she shook her head in frustration. He nodded back, indicating that he understood.
A movement below her caught her attention. Speaker Niles had leaned to his Eastland counterpart and was discussing something with him, and even though he had to shout for the man to hear, she still wasn’t able to make out what he was saying over the din. The two spoke animatedly for several minutes, seeming to be in nearly as strong a state of disagreement as the chamber at large, before Salera gave an assenting wave of his arm.
Niles leaned forward and shouted into the microphone. “This chamber will come to order or it will be cleared!” He hammered the gavel on its strike plate several times as he shouted. “This session will be terminated and the chamber cleared!” It was necessary for him to make the threat repeatedly before it seemed that the noise finally began to subside.
Just as the uproar had begun in the lower portions of the chamber before spreading up through the spectator galleries, so now did the slow wave of quieting. Speaker Niles continued to hammer away with the gavel until everyone returned to their seats and all that was left in the chamber was a heavy, constant murmuring.
“Members of the Joint Dominion, your attention. If there is a further outburst similar to the one just concluded, we will declare this Dominion terminated.” He looked to his side, and Speaker Salera leaned forward.
“Speaker Niles of Dannen is correct. While I am hesitant to bring these important proceedings to a halt, and while I am on record as being in opposition to the Speaker’s position as it regards the requests made of us by the Emperor’s representative, I am forced to agree that disorder in this chamber cannot be tolerated.”
The murmur decreased further.
“Very well,” said Niles. “These proceedings will resume from the point at which they were interrupted. Speaker Salera?” He placed the gavel on the table and leaned back in the chair.
“Thank you,” Salera said, standing to address the chamber. “There was a question on the floor from Eastland Representative Blakert of Stannary. Representative, the floor is yours; would you please restate the question?” Salera indicated a man in the fourth row and nodded his head reassuringly to him. Even from her vantage point behind Salera, Adela could tell that something passed between the Eastland Speaker and his representative, some silent message or agreement that she couldn’t understand.
In the fourth row, a man stood and faced Adela. “Since the Empire is asking Pallatin to participate in this project on a planetwide basis,” he began, “requiring a united statement issued by the Joint Dominion before taking any action against us, what would be the Imperial response if no statement were to be issued?”
What’s he getting at? Adela wondered. She saw that most of the people in the chamber grew nervous at his question.
Speaker Niles stared at Salera, a deadly, questioning expression plain on his face. The sound of whispering among the representatives reached her ears.
“I’m afraid that I was prepared only for your scientific and technical questions regarding the project to save Earth’s Sun,” she replied. “Your question steps into the area of legalities and colonial protocol, and I’d like to defer your question to Lieutenant Woorunmarra, who has accompanied me here today. The Lieutenant is here to interpret the legal aspects of our dealings with your government, and reports directly to Commander Montero aboard the Levant.”
Both Niles and Salera, almost in unison, said, “No objections.” Speaker Niles motioned for him to approach, and he joined Adela on the podium.
Woorunmarra spoke directly to the man without hesitation. “Am I to understand, Representative Blakert, that a joint statement might be delayed, for reasons beyond the control of the Joint Dominion?” He had obviously studied the protocol of the colony’s governmental procedure, and Adela was impressed with the way he presented himself. When he spoke, he spoke in an official manner, and she was surprised to hear that nearly all traces of the accent and speaking patterns to which she’d become accustomed had vanished. She was not the only one impressed, it seemed; both Speakers had turned to listen to him as he responded to the question and they, too, seemed taken with him.
“No, Lieutenant.” Blakert paused and regarded the Speaker for his Congress. Salera nodded slowly for him to continue. “I am asking what the Imperial response would be if the two Congresses could not agree to issue a joint statement.”
Woorunmarra considered the question for a moment before replying. “If lengthy debate on the wording of a joint statement were to continue, Commander Montero, as the official liaison for the Emperor, would take no overt action against the people of Pallatin—unless a direct attack were made against the Imperial vessel Levant or against any member of her crew—until such time as a vote was taken in Joint Dominion, and a statement issued.”
“And if no such statement was forthcoming, Lieutenant… ?” The man appeared to try to remember the pronunciation of the Lieutenant’s aboriginal family name, but gave up. “What would be the Imperial response?”
There was a sudden increase in the background chatter among those in the chamber at the question, and Speaker Niles was forced to retrieve the gavel from its resting place and strike it firmly a few times to restore order. When relative quiet had returned, he turned to the podium to indicate that the Lieutenant could continue. When he did, Adela saw the worried look on his face, the undisguised fear in his eyes.
“There would be no overt response,” Woorunmarra said levelly. The man remained standing, looking pleased at the answer until he added, “Initially.”
“Initially, sir?” Blakert replied.
“It is a point of Imperial law and custom, as I’m sure you are fully aware, Representative Blakert, that the Empire would not wish to interfere with, nor make demands of, a member world that is not united in its dealings with the Empire. However, just as Commander Montero has been given the authority—by Emperor Javas himself—to determine the best course of action to take should the Joint Dominion issue a united statement against the Empire; so, too, has he been given the authority to deal with Pallatin, as he determines best, should there be a total lack of cooperation. The decision would be his to make, at such time as he sees fit to make it, and would be backed up by the full might of the Hundred Worlds.”
“May I ask a question of the Eastland Representative?” inquired Niles, then waited. Dominion rules of order required the permission of the Eastland Speaker before he could directly address or interrogate a representative of the opposite Congress who had been granted the floor. Salera seemed about to refuse, but apparently thought better of it and motioned for Niles to proceed.