Beckman raised an eyebrow. Nie Yun's reaction was far calmer than he had imagined, even a little... indifferent?
Did he really not care, or was he simply hiding his feelings? It seemed... this opponent was even more calculating than I imagined...
"Beckman, stop making slanderous accusations!" Reynolds snapped.
"Lord Reynolds, you know I serve on the General Staff. Compiling battlefield data and reviewing each fleet's combat performance are part of my duties. If anything I said was wrong, you are welcome to point it out," Beckman said mildly.
"You..." Reynolds was instantly lost for words, his face flushing red.
The facts were accurate, but Beckman was clearly presenting them out of context. Reynolds wanted to lash out and flip the table, but when he thought of Gilad behind Beckman, and the even more formidable Victor Family, his confidence faltered.
His family counted among the upper classes of the Gemini Civilization, but there was still an enormous gulf between them and a family of elite power brokers like the Victor Family.
That was the difference between having powerful backing and not having it!
What he could not understand, though, was why the other man was hounding him so relentlessly over a single slip of the tongue.
I never offended this fellow, did I? Did he really have to take things this far?!
While Reynolds stewed in his grievances with no one to turn to, Nie Yun also turned curiously to Ishar. "Lady Ishar, did those two have a grudge?"
Ishar shook her head. "As far as I know, Reynolds was only recently transferred here from another star region, just like us. Their paths probably haven't crossed before."
Then was this the local faction putting the newcomers in their place? Nie Yun's thoughts raced.
At present, only about half the forces under