"But you are plotting against Varsek?"
She stopped and looked at him with eyes as lambent as those of an angry cat.
"If you have thoughts of helping your own cause by going to Varsek about me, forget them. In the first place, Varsek helps nobody. In the second place, I can have you silenced before you could ever get to him."
"No," said Wyatt slowly, "I wasn't thinking of going to Varsek. But what he said about you is true. You do want the command. You figured that Earth, armed and prepared, would give Varsek such a setback that you might be able to oust him and take over."
"Do you blame me?" whispered Brinna. "He's a swine. A cruel, treacherous, sadistic swine. You saw him. No wonder there's a Second Party."
"How big is it, Brinna?"
"Big enough to worry Varsek. Loran is the third poor devil he's tortured to death trying to find out who's in it. He hasn't managed it yet, but he will. And then—" She made an expressive gesture of slashing.
"You said you hated everything the Second Party stands for. What does it stand for?"
"Peace," said Brinna, as though it was a shameful word. "They want to take the Task Force home and force the government to stop this galaxy-wide swing of conquest."
"And you don't want peace?"