Norlander - J'rahl

Jessica felt her eyelids sag and her head droop. She quickly rubbed her face, trying to wake up. Savon was staring out the front window of the transport, occasionally glancing down at the radar.

"What or who?" She cleared her throat. "Whom ... are you waiting for?"

Savon smirked. "J'rahl."

That perplexed her. J'rahl was an ally, a close friend. Savon had been talking of an ambush. Why would Savon be...

"Ambusing a friend?"

"No," he said, his eyes focused on the blip which appeared on the screen. "Teaching someone a lesson."

She moved to his side, noticing the convoy which had appeared in the distance. "I don't understand."

"My 'friend' made a deal with the Kasadonians."

"But you have been trying to make a deal with them for months."

"Yes. However, an opportunity presented itself and J'rahl proceeded on this own, failing to consult with me.  Which would have been all right if I had been involved in the final decision-making."

Jessice was quiet, her eyes fixed out the window. She did not understand, but she didn't want to look stupid.

Unfortunately, Savon could read her silence as well as her words. "J'rahl negotiated a deal that was favorable to him, which is understandable -- I don't fault him for that. Problem is, there were problems with the deal. He developed a work-around which he thought would allow it to all settle out in the end."

"And it didn't?"

"No. Fortunately, I know the Kasadonians and had safeguards in place for when a deal was negotiated. J'rahl's plan backfired and I was able to recover. However, if cost me time and effort I did not want to have to expend. It could have been avoided if he had just consulted with me first." His eyes moved from her, focusing on the seven transports which appeared from the east. "I knew how much he wanted that deal, and I would have most likely allowed it  with some modifications. But he took that away from me -- he made the decision for me. Now he has to deal with the consequences."

The sound of blaster fire rang through the air, then an explosion. Even through the thick windows of the transport, Jessica could hear squeals and screams.

"Are you going to kill him?" she whispered, closing her eyes to the carnage.

"No." His fists clenched. "But he might wish I did."