Phil considered the invitation, sitting in his office with Harinder across from him. He could decline it quietly, making this much more of an informal meeting between commanders, though that might prove troublesome later, considering where he was headed. On the other hand, arriving at Aditi in tandem with the Gloran Emperor would look an awful lot like a treaty relationship, which was something Aditi had never managed.
“You are going, right?” Harinder asked sharply as she watched his face.
“Yes,” Phil agreed. “But I had to stop and think about it for a long moment. What has Tanel said about the treaty language they’ve been reading from Lady Kugosu?”
“He sent home for more ambassadors than our own Miliya Gavraba,” Harinder laughed. “She’s advising them from as much of a neutral position as she can, but obviously he won’t trust her that much. Still, it is close to what we’d been offering, because Dalou started with our document.”
“Which they have since signed,” Phil reminded her. “We already have one solid ally here. Two with Meerut, though Governor Milose isn’t a power to be contended with. Yet.”
“Are you planning on mousetrapping Kerenski before Aditi?” Harinder asked.
“He might be doing that himself,” Phil countered. “What does he say when he has all my command centurions as well as the various local captains together in a single room, just before a major engagement with Aditi, military or diplomatic?”
“Do we expect Aranyani to break ranks?” Harinder asked.
“No,” Phil said flatly. “Kaur is many things, but duplicitous is not one of them. She’ll be with us even after some fool of a Senior Director orders her to break from the squadron. They’ll cashier her in disgrace later, I expect, but she might have other friends she could call on to see that she’s never left out in the cold. That includes us.”
Harinder nodded.
“In that case, you need to hit the shower now,” she said smartly. “Kerenski specified day uniforms, like they wore here, instead of dress, but you need to look good in front of all of his people. You might also need a haircut tomorrow before you start giving interviews to Aditi newspapers.”
Phil nodded and shut everything down on his side.
Exiting, he turned to the redneck.
“You shower, too,” Phil ordered him. “Day uniform and the smaller travel pack. We’ll assume he’s not about to poison us over dinner, but I’m avoiding the wine.”
“Got it,” Markus said, taking off at a jog.
Phil turned to Harinder.
“Why do I feel like this is something of the penultimate crisis of the Balhee Cluster, rushing madly at us?” he asked.
“Because it might be,” she replied. “And there is still Yaumgan at some point.”
“That’s why I said penultimate.”