, MacDougal moved out of the atrium, and turned so that he could be seen by the other three ambassadors of the Stellar Group. “Fellow Ambassadors, my apologies to all of you. As you have heard, both these men bear fault in permitting this serious problem to arise. Their own words convict them of error and of negligence. As soon as this meeting is over, you have my word that I will move at once to have them removed from office. They will never again be in a position to—”

“No-o-o.” The word came rolling from the Angel, delivered slowly and heavily through its computer link. “We will not permit such action.”

Rarely for him, MacDougal was caught off balance. “You mean — you do not want me to dismiss Commander Mondrian and Commander Brachis?”

“No indeed.” The topmost frond of the Angel went into slow but wide-ranging oscillation. “That cannot be. The punishment must fit the crime. We, the Angels of Sellora, request a move at once to Closed Hearing. We request full closure, without staff. There should be no one but Ambassadors present.”

“But then the record—”

“There must be no record. The subject for discussion is a question so serious that it can be pursued only in full closed hearing. For this, we invoke our ultimate Ambassadorial privilege.”

Even as the Angel spoke, an opaque screen was flickering into existence around the atrium. The lighted areas around the four Ambassadors were visible for a few seconds more, then there was nothing in the center of the Star Chamber but a ball of scintillating darkness.

Luther Brachis stepped forward to stand next to Esro Mondrian. The two men were alone, outside the dark sphere. Within it sat the four Ambassadors of the Stellar Group. Their earlier meeting had been the first full audio and visual meeting in twenty-two years. Now came the first Closed Hearing in more than a century.