“Very well, Commander,” he grated. “You’ve chosen to insult me, whatever legalism you care to cloak that in. I’ll give you one more opportunity to back off. If you don’t, then I’ll by God push you back.”

“No, Sir, you will not,” Honor said softly, and Hauptman gave a crack of scornful laughter. His body language radiated fury and contempt as he gave his renowned temper full rein, but his voice was hard and cold when he spoke once more.

“Oh, but I will, Commander. I will. I believe your parents are senior partners in the Duvalier Medical Association?”

Despite herself, Honor twitched in surprise at the complete non sequitur. Then her eyes narrowed, and her head tilted dangerously.

“Well, Commander?” Hauptman almost purred. “Am I correct?”

“You are,” she said flatly.

“Then if you insist on making this a personal confrontation, you should consider the repercussions it may have on your own family, Madam, because the Hauptman Cartel controls a seventy percent interest in that organization’s public stock. Do I make myself clear, Commander?”

Honor stiffened in her chair, her face paper-white, and the steel in her eyes was no longer chilled. It blazed, and the corner of her mouth twitched violently. Hauptman’s own eyes gleamed as he misinterpreted that involuntary muscle spasm, and he leaned back, smiling and triumphant.

“The decision is yours, Commander. I am merely an honest merchant endeavoring to protect my legitimate interests and those of my shareholders in this system. If you insist on interfering with those legitimate interests, you leave me no choice but to defend myself in any way I can, however distasteful I may personally find the measures to which you compel me… or however unfortunate their consequences for your parents.”

Honor’s muscles quivered with hate, her fingers taloned in her lap, and she felt her lips draw back to spit her defiance in his face, but someone else’s flat, cold voice spoke first.

“I suggest you reconsider that threat, Mr. Hauptman,” Alistair McKeon said.

The sudden interruption was so utterly unexpected that Honor turned to him in amazement. Her executive officer’s face was no longer masklike. It was tight with anger, the gray eyes snapping, and Hauptman regarded him as if he were an item of furniture whose presence the magnate had forgotten.

“I’m not accustomed to accepting the advice of uniformed flunkies,” he sneered.

“Then I suggest you become accustomed,” McKeon replied in that same, hammered-iron voice. “Ever since your arrival in this briefing room, you have persistently attempted to construe Commander Harrington’s actions as a personal attack upon yourself. In the process, you have insulted her, the Royal Navy, and the discharge of our duties to the Crown. You have, in fact, made it abundantly clear that neither the law nor your responsibilities under it are as important to you as your own precious reputation. Despite your calculated insolence, the Captain has maintained an air of courtesy and respect, yet when she refuses to ignore her duty as an officer of the Queen or modify it to suit your demands, you have seen fit to threaten not just her personally, but the livelihood of her parents.” Contempt blazed in the lieutenant commander’s eyes. “I therefore warn you, Sir, that I will be prepared to so testify in any court of law.”