Barid's reply was calm and logical. "Would you have done anything differently, had you known? Would you have even been able to intervene? I wanted to ensure that this wasn't some technique your ships had developed; by not giving them time to prepare, there wouldn't be any chance for it to do anything, but react. And we saw no reaction. So, we must come to the conclusion that a third party is somehow involved, here, and wants to allow your ships to enter into my domain. Curious, is it not? Who might possibly have the power to intervene on such a scale, the desire to do so, and the ability to do it in such a way that neither of us can identify the source? That's not a rhetorical question, either; if you have any idea, I'm all ears."