It took Koven several attempts before he was calm enough to record his report. And even then he wasn’t that calm. He found that his hands were shaking with the combination of fear and anger, more anger than he had ever known. A man who had never hurt anyone was now certain that he could kill.
The report was long and gave factual details that were sometimes unnecessary. That the floors were made of sandstone was not that important to the report, but Koven included that detail. Along with the color of the heavy curtains and a brief description of Tal that included the opinion words “strongly beautiful” and “deeply sensual.”
But most of the report centered around the shoot-out and the murder of Tal. Koven stood stiffly as he recorded his report.
“Sir. They tried to kill me,” he said in his report. “I can’t stress that enough.”
Koven sent his report and waited. He would not go back down to the surface until his report had been reviewed. He hoped that Wingut would pull him out of the mission, but he knew that the odds were low. Professor Klept would prevent any assistance or replacement. Koven settled back and watched the news report from the History Department.
On a planet called Parnon, people had voted to impose restrictions on visitors. The ecosystem on Parnon was not sufficient to handle the millions of tourists that came to see the crystal waterfalls. Tour operators were complaining, and several large cruisers were rerouted.
Koven’s report was read twenty-two tox after it was submitted. Koven waited for a reply. And then he waited some more. Then he ate. Then he watched more news reports.
He nearly leapt out of his chair when the reply from Wingut came. He opened it as fast as he could.
“You’re doing a fine job. Continue your mission.”
That was it. Nothing more. Koven found himself talking to himself loudly as he paced around his quarters.
“That’s all there is? I’m risking my life and all he can say is ‘you’re doing a fine job’?”