"I understand an unusual spunnel communication has arrived from the Planet Pluto Special Zone." Camari announced. "It is addressed to all Heads of State attending this convocation. The message calls for an audio-visual presentation in the view tank. Any objections?"
Without waiting for a response, he nodded over his shoulder. Ram murmured into the tiny transmitter in his hand.
The view tank, centered above the conference table, lost its soft neutral glow, blinked, and the Planet Pluto sector appeared. The tank displayed the debris of a space battle: ruptured ships, unrecognizable masses and fragments, and bloated human bodies. In the background were the Slingshot Terminals, intact.
From around the table came sounds of breath drawn sharply, gasps and muttered curses.
The view narrowed and zoomed in on a broad sheet of drifting metal. It bore the emblem of the Jovian Combined Strike Team. Large letters emblazoned above the emblem spelled out the partial word "Windst…"
All eyes in the room were spellbound, fixed on the tank. All, except for President Pazzim of Callisto. At the sight of a drifting scrap that had once been the pride of his fleet, he groaned loudly, hunched his shoulders and lowered his head. He did not look up again.
The hull of a battle cruiser formed along the tank's outer edge and tumbled slowly end over end toward center. Bow collapsed, the ship drifted into and out of view. Experts from the back seats leaned forward and whispered. The lifeless hulk had been the Plutonian Battle Cruiser Dragon.
Camari shifted his eyes to Narval, half up from his seat, face putty-white, lips quivering, eyes transfixed on the view tank. Tearing his eyes away, he pointed at Camari and screeched.
"It's a trap." His voice trembled in panic and became a wail. "This is another stratagem concocted by Camari to frighten us."
He gestured wildly and his mouth dribbled. "I know your ways, Camari. You're trying to divide and pit us against each other so that you can move in and take over. It won't work. Since you cannot shake our unity and resolve with empty appeals for Slingshot, you now invent battles that never took place. They just couldn't have happened. We're on to you. You're a fraud and a cheat. I move this convocation be terminated immediately. I, for one, have no intention to remain and be subjected to further lies."