"Have no fear, Sarjah," Hento said. "Reema and I will maintain order over your eager assistants."

Gray put a hand on Hento's shoulder. "Excellent."

Good lord, were all of these people Gray's assistants? There must be nearly thirty of them.

Why had he bothered to hire her? He didn't need her at all.

Not at all.

And even worse, if he was leaving Hento and Reema here, he certainly wouldn't be taking Daria to the meeting. Damn. She needed to get closer to those Earth delegates.

Gray turned and scanned the crowd. "Reema," he called.

The small group around Gray parted, allowing Reema to move to his side. "Yes, Sarjah?"

"How long until the meeting?"

She looked at her ID band. "Twenty Earth minutes, Sarjah."

"Perfect. I'll go in and greet the delegates individually before I call the meeting to order."

Reema pointed to a set of double doors at the far side of the room. Blast-proofing metal covered the entire wall, including the doors. They weren't taking any chances. "The delegation awaits you beyond those doors, Sarjah."

Gray nodded.

A young man carrying a shimmering vest worked his way through the crowd and tapped Hento on the shoulder. Hento turned. "Ah, thank you." Then he held the vest out to Gray. "Sarjah, I have a shielding vest for you."

Gray shook his head. "No, Hento. I will not wear armor to a diplomatic meeting."

What? Why would he take such a risk? The crowd fell silent again. Everyone must be listening as avidly as she was.

Hento gaped for an instant, clearly shocked. "You must, Sarjah. The dissension within the Earth faction makes the situation most unstable. Any of the Earth delegates might do harm to your person."

"With a weapon? Do you imply that the security detail is incompetent?"

Hento bowed his head, more deferential than Daria had ever seen him. "Extra precautions are always wise, Sarjah. This you well know."

Before Gray could speak, the young man who'd carried the vest spoke. "Sarjah, I beg you to wear the armor," he said vehemently. "You dare not trust any Earther."

Damn the man. How trustworthy would the Prendarians be if Earth had invaded their world? Bitter experience had taught her not to trust his kind, that was for sure. And even though she'd just been insulted -- the only real Earther in the whole damned room -- no one even looked at her. She might as well not exist.

Her jaw ached. Damn, she'd been grinding her teeth.

Gray gripped the young man's bicep with one hand. "We must learn to trust them," he said, his voice quiet but clear in the silent room. "If we cannot, then our mission has already failed."

The man bowed his head. "As you will, Sarjah. Go with the gods."

"Go with the gods," other voices echoed.

He could go with the gods or with the devil, as long as he brought her along.

Gray turned to Hento, grasped his hand and shook it. "Fear not. All will be well."

Hento said nothing, merely looked grave. He moved back, blocking Daria's view, so Gray could step past.

As if they shared one mind, the fawning crowd parted to give Gray a pathway to the door Reema had pointed out. He started down the human corridor.

Damn, he was leaving her behind. With all these Prendarians for company... and no hope of even seeing the Earth delegates, let alone speaking to them.

But before he took another step, he turned and searched the faces in the room. When his gaze met hers, he smiled. "Daria, come with me."

Yes!

She managed not to shout the word, but she couldn't restrain her grin.

Several Prendarians gasped. No doubt everyone felt the same shock she did. But she stepped out of her corner and moved to Gray's side with her head high, as if his order was the most natural thing in the world.

He led the way down the long corridor of Prendarian uniforms, and she trailed behind him with her head bowed, trying to hide her gloating smile. He might not need her, but he was taking her with him anyway.

After he'd singled her out like this, they probably all thought she was sleeping with him. She didn't even blush. Who the hell cared? She'd find an ally behind those blast-shielded doors, and that was all that mattered.

When they reached the doors, he stopped for a moment and gave her a cocky smile. Then he took a deep breath and pushed open both doors, as if making a dramatic entrance. Why shouldn't he? With his unshakable confidence, he probably thought this was going to be a party. His party.

She followed him through the doors and found herself at the top of a small flight of stairs that led down to the sloping floor of a huge room. A huge room filled with people... hundreds of people. How many had Reema said were here? Two hundred eighty-four? That made her odds of finding an ally pretty good.

The furniture was nothing but long, curving tables that formed huge half-circles along the sloping floor. Evenly-spaced chairs lined each table, all facing a small stage. No need to guess where Gray would be sitting. The stage was the only place for a man like him.

The delegates were scattered among the narrow rows of tables and chairs, but the two camps were clearly separated -- Prendarians milled around one side of the room, while the Earthers stood in small clusters on the other. Great, the Earthers were already divided along racial lines. They couldn't even unite to fight a common enemy. No wonder the Prendarians had won the war in just a few months.

The Prendarian contingent had gathered closest to the door, and they fell silent when they caught sight of Gray. The silence swept through the room in waves, although a few indistinct grumbles came from some of the Earth contingent. Good.

Daria looked around. Damn, everyone was staring at her. No, they must be staring at Gray. She just happened to be standing close to him.

Gray went down the stairs with Daria following. He worked his way to the right, greeting the first person he came to with a handshake.

"Greetings, Marta."

Marta, a tall woman, looked startled by having her hand clasped. "Greetings, Sarjah."

Gray turned to the next Prendarian, leaving Marta to give Daria a long, measuring look. A look Daria had seen on many Prendarian faces.

This woman didn't trust her. Not one bit.

Oh well. Daria didn't need her trust.

Gray hadn't bothered to introduce her. "I'm one of Gray's assistants," she said to Marta.

Marta said nothing, as if Daria wasn't worth speaking to. Her gaze went back to Gray. Daria could see the doubt in the woman's eyes.

Doubt about Gray.

Gray had already moved past several other Prendarians. They merely gave her curious glances as she walked past them to catch up with him.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Shondo," he said to a dignified, older man.

Shondo gave a brisk nod. "Sarjah."

And then Daria got another slow, assessing look, which passed back to Gray.

Damn. They were all suspicious now. Suspicious because he'd brought her with him. An Earther.

And none of them trusted Earthers. Gray didn't count -- he was a collaborator, an Earther raised on Prendara, a relative of the Premier Leader. But even that elevated stature couldn't quite hold up when he had an Earther like her in tow.

Maybe Gray thought his importance could withstand the suspicion. Or maybe he hadn't thought about the consequences when he'd brought her along with him.

And why the hell did she care? If her presence made them suspicious of Gray, that worked in her favor.

She didn't bother introducing herself to... Shondo, she saw on his small, elegant nametag. What could she say? "I'm his fuck buddy?" They were all thinking it, no matter what she said.

She had to walk by three other assessing Prendarian faces before she stood next to Gray again. "Greetings, Grelden," Gray said.

Grelden merely smiled at Daria as she passed. Maybe he was better at hiding his doubts than the others.

It took at least ten minutes of hand-shaking before Gray finally made his way to an Earther.

Daria didn't recognize the first man in line.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Brian," Gray said. "May I call you Brian?"

"Of course, Sarjah."

"Oh, you must call me Gray."

None of the Prendarians had been offered that informality. Their culture seemed rigidly stratified, so maybe Gray knew that none of them would dream of calling him by his name, even if he invited them to do it.

But Brian, the gullible Earther, was positively charmed. A brilliant smile lit his round face as she passed him. At least he didn't appear to hold her in mistrust. But he didn't look like he'd be willing to help her overturn this constitution, either. Far from it.

She tuned out Gray's voice, focusing only on the delegates' faces, looking for any sign of tension or dislike.

What about this man? No, he seemed too impressed with Gray. Too fawning.

The next one looked too trusting.

This woman was too accommodating.

Another fawning man, beaming at Gray and bowing repeatedly as if he'd just met some kind of messiah.

Oh, this woman looked like a possibility --Janice Anglish, her nametag read. Daria committed that name to memory. If she got desperate, she'd hint around, see if the woman was likely to help her.

Gray turned to the left, greeted a man, and walked past him to the next one.

Daria gazed at the man's face, barely three feet away, and her breath caught. A familiar face. A familiar Earther face. Thank God.

The man was looking at Gray's back. When he focused on her, his expression didn't change. Not a flicker of an eyelid, not a blink of surprise. But his gaze moved from her to Gray, then back to her. And he smiled... a slow, cagey smile. If a fox could smile, it would look just like that.

His nametag read Henry Reed Jamison, but she knew him as a different name.

Spider.

One of Tank's best friends.

Thank God.

Chapter Seven.

For the second time in her life -- twice in the same crazy day -- Daria climbed into a hovercraft. She held both sides of the door for balance, even though the vehicle only rocked a couple of inches when she stepped aboard. Probably less movement than a gas-car made. But this damned alien thing just felt so... so unstable. No wheels, no visible means of defying gravity, yet it hovered a few feet off the ground even when the engine wasn't humming.

She settled in the back on a cushion that felt more like a couch than a car seat. At least the hovercraft was roomier than she'd have imagined from the sleek exterior. One of the benefits of riding in a more expensive model than the utilitarian cab she'd been in earlier today, no doubt.

She didn't even know where Gray had managed to get this hovercraft. They'd taken a cab to the meeting. People must bend over backwards for you when you had as much money and power as Gray.

He got in and sat next to her, grinning as he slid an arm around her shoulders. He looked so damned happy.

She smiled back at him -- a genuine smile. She felt pretty good herself. Now that she'd seen Spider, the mission was a guaranteed success. Tank and Spider went way back. What a shock to see someone like him among Gray's delegates. Reema must not have screened the candidates very well, if someone like Spider could slip through the cracks.

He was probably working an inside angle to derail this constitution. She'd find a way to talk to him tomorrow... see if she could do anything to help.

Hento stuck his head in the open doorway and looked at Gray quizzically. "You don't wish to pilot the craft, Sarjah?"

Gray pulled her a few inches closer. "I leave the craft in your capable hands, Hento." Then he put his lips to Daria's ear. "I plan to keep my own hands busy."

She felt her cheeks heat, even though Hento couldn't have heard.

A wet lick on her earlobe made her squirm and tilt her head away from him. "Stop that,"

she hissed.

Gray nuzzled her neck. She pulled away, or tried to -- his arm held her tight against his side. But he relented on the kissing, turning his head forward.

Hento settled in the front, and Reema climbed in beside him. Apparently Reema lived on Gray's spaceship, too. How convenient. She'd probably spent most of the trip to Earth in Gray's bed. Well, Daria would be there tonight. She edged a little closer to him.

The motor purred to life. Did Hento really know how to fly this machine? It didn't seem like the usual kind of thing for a diplomat to do. All the cab drivers had to take special classes. She'd heard it was twice as complicated as flying an airplane.