Max Clarkson's response reached Ravelle in sections.
The first page appeared beneath Tomas Newl's cipher mark shortly after sunset. The second followed four minutes later. By the time the archive plate finished verifying the final page, Captain Ressa Kale had already sent for the officials who possessed authority to act upon it.
She did not summon every official who wanted that authority.
The city council's western chamber held twenty-four seats around a lowered central floor. All twenty-four were occupied when Kale entered the following morning. Another sixty observers filled the galleries. Guild representatives stood beside municipal officers. University delegates shared a bench while their assistants filled the aisle behind them. Three men from the coalition, that had supplied most of the challenge army, had arrived with written demands.
Tomas's transmission rested on the central table.
The verified text contained less than most people in the room wanted.
