The V'Dan (41 page)

He blinked at her. (
I keep forgetting you are a lot more devious than you seem.
)

She smiled slightly; his sending had undercurrents of wariness, yes, but more swirls and eddies of admiration and respect threaded throughout than that sense of uncertain caution. She took it as an edged compliment, the kind where Jackie knew she didn’t dare let herself get a swelled head. It would not do to fall into the trap of believing her actions were always going to be for the best, after all. Staving that off meant analyzing her motives each and every time.

(
Be glad I use my powers for good, then, I guess,
) she told him. (
I really would rather get along with him, and I would far, far rather get along with the Solarican Empire, and all the rest. But your communications isolation leaves each system’s foremost leader in a precarious position. They end up so immersed in protecting their own system and their own interests, due to how long it takes to communicate with everyone else, they forget that their decisions can have very far-reaching consequences for other systems as well as their own.

(
I can understand the reason behind his actions even as I must stand against them. An understandable reason is not the same as a license to act as though theirs is the only source of authority.
)

(
You have a remarkably sophisticated culture, Bright Stone,
) Li’eth observed dryly.

(
We’ve had a hundred thousand years of evolution, and a hundred thousand variations to explore, learning how to make it so,
) she agreed. (
But then so have you, in your own ways.
)

(
Thank you.
) There was a pause, then both of them shifted awkwardly. Li’eth blinked and frowned slightly. (
I’m feeling restless again. How long has it been since we held hands?
)

Jackie twisted and checked the chronometer on the workstation monitor. (
Not quite one hour. The spans are definitely getting shorter.
)

(
We will have to be more intimate than just holding each other, soon,
) he warned. (
I can distract myself with work, as can you, but in these lull moments . . .
)

She felt her cheeks growing a bit warm. (
I know. I’m trying to figure out how to break the news to your mother that her precious baby boy, for his own sanity’s sake, has to sleep with a foreigner who looks like a child.
)

(
That would be my job, not yours,
) Li’eth stated. He shifted just enough so that their matching poses of folded arms and backsides leaning on the counter behind them allowed their upper arms to touch. Both were wearing sleeved outfits, so it wasn’t nearly as effective as skin-on-skin, but it did soothe some of the need to be close. (
Speaking of some of us being in close proximity to you Terrans . . . while I requested V’kol be reassigned to my side, Ba’oul and Dai’a were given leave to go home for a little bit before being reassigned—they nearly died a very ugly death, and I don’t begrudge them wanting to go home. However . . . Leftenant Superior Nanu’oc has finagled her way into sticking around the Winter Palace through her Second Tier connections, even though her county lies a lot closer to the Summer Palace than here.
)

(
Oh?
) Jackie asked. (
And this is important because . . . ?
)

(
Rumor has it she’s been seen in the company of one Lieutenant Brad Colvers. On several occasions,
) he told her.

(
That . . . is not exactly a pairing I would have picked,
) Jackie admitted slowly. (
I mean, I know they started getting to know each other a little more because of her punishment assignments, but I wouldn’t have picked either of them as interested in getting to know the other side.
)

(
Neither would have I,
) he told her. (
But there you have it . . . Should I do something to send her off on an assignment, so you don’t have to accidentally encounter her again?
)

Tempting as that thought was, Jackie shook her head. (
No. They do have a right to see each other, if that is what they wish. And if I can’t blame you for wanting your best friend to stick around, I can hardly blame her from using her own influence to stick around for him. If that’s why she’s sticking around. She might still be trying to find a way to get back at me somehow, though you’d at least think she’d realize I’m too firmly ensconced in my much higher rank, by now.
)

MAY 27, 2287 C.E.

JANVA 20, 9508 V.D.S.

In person, Count Daachen was a bit more canine than felinoid to Jackie’s eyes. She wasn’t sure why, possibly something about the jaw and nose, but that was the impression she had. It also occurred to her, as he entered her formal office with his ears turned back, whiskers down, and nostrils flaring a little with each angry breath, that the noses of the Solarican race were more Human-like than truly catlike.

“I do nnnot apprrreciate being kept
waitinnng
,” he growled, glaring at her. His garments were shades of gray, layered so that they echoed his tabby-striped appearance. The hemlines of his sleeveless thigh-length vest and knee-length robe fluttered to a stop a second after he did. Jackie thought he looked rather good.

A pity he’s a modofrodo in his attitude.
She wouldn’t dare say the epithet aloud, choosing instead to speak politely. “Greetings, Count Daachen. You look well groomed today. That outfit is very flattering.”

“I did nnnot come here to discuss ffffashion!” he hissed, tail lashing.

“That’s rather odd,” Jackie replied lightly. “Because what you’re upset about is nothing more than fashion. Even more strange, your people are born so that some have marks, and some are markless, yet you do not get upset at how they stay that way for the whole span of their lives . . . unless they get deliberately modified, of course. But here you are, upset that
my
people are born markless, and stay markless, for the entire span of
our
lives. And all because the V’Dan—an entirely separate nation—are born markless but develop spots and stripes and swirls and whatever at some point during puberty.

“It’s all rather shallow compared to true maturity. After all, maturity is something that looks beyond mere surface appearance to gauge the quality of the
person
, not their mere appearance,” she added dryly, staring at Daachen but addressing her words to the other person in her office. “Would you agree, Grand High Ambassador?”

“I woullld,” Grand High Ambassador Trrrall purred, his tone languid yet amused.

The count whipped around, grunting faintly when that caused his tail to hit Jackie’s desk.
“Meerr shnalll gu Trrrall?”

Seated in one of the padded but lumbar-free chairs in Jackie’s office, the Grand High Ambassador of the Solaricans gestured with a black-spotted, white-furred arm toward the younger male. He, too, addressed his counterpart, not the count, and he did so in V’Dan.

“I am a bit concernned, Grrrand High Ambassadorr, that the esteemed Count Daachen did not see fffit to visit me ffirst. It is the task of
alll
Solaricanns to visit with theirrr
own
embassy firrst, befforre lodging a compllaint with a fforeign nationn,” Trrrall added. He held the gaze of the startled count. “This is how we avoid diplomatic innncidents. Sinnnce you have not donne this, it is good that I am alllrready here.”

“Count Daachen, do you have something to say at this time?” Jackie asked politely.

He looked between her and his people’s ambassador to the V’Dan, and pointed at her. “This V’Dann rrrefuses to sharre their communnnications technology with our system!”

“This beinng is
nnot
V’Dan,” Ambassador Trrrall stated
bluntly. “You arre attempting to judge herr people as if they arre
Vedoychrr
when they arrre actually
Sillgrenn
.”

“They arrrre V’Dann. We are all
Alliannce
,” Daachen insisted. “We are not near the
Vedoychrr
, let alone the others!”

Vedoychrr
, Jackie realized, was most likely the name of a pocket of Solarican settlements. Or rather, a set of allies near a different pocket of settlement. “Trrrall is talking about a metaphor, Count. My people have a saying that also applies. ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ It means that when you are dealing with people of a specific culture, you should deal with them on their own terms, not on any other nation’s terms. After all, surely you would not apply the courtesies and protocols required of the V’Dan Empire to someone from the K’Katta nation . . . would you?”

His ears went down and back at that, and the count’s tail flicked as well. Trrrall rose from the chair, graceful despite his age. “Count Daachen, you have serrved our Queen well enough . . . but you have grrrown too arrrrrogannt for yourrr position. You will rrretire—this is withinn my authorrrity,” he added, pointing a claw-tipped digit when the younger male started to speak in Solarican. “I speak in V’Dann so that the beinng you insullted unnderstannds. By yourrr choices, you have caused a dipllomatic incidennt that has caused innnjurry to yourr citizenns.

“War Lord Krrrnang has already rrreached Nnephrrit 113 by nnow. He is infforming your system of yourrr demotionn and is instrructing your householld to pack everrything. They will come herre, and your ffamily willll be rrreassigned elsewherre. You will rrremain here in our embassy untill the nnnext ship home is rrready to depart, orr a suitable rrelocation colony is picked.”

“Grand High Ambassador,” Jackie stated carefully, puzzled by the punishment. “I do not wish to challenge your authority in this matter, but isn’t relocating his entire family a bit harsh? Could he not just be given some other job in the Nephrit System?”

“The severrrity of his insullt could have rrrepercussions throughout all Solarican ennclaves,” Trrrall told her. “If therre is a way to get yourrr communications system to reach our homeworrrld ffrom here, then it could rrreach the Queen’s
Empire anywherre in the galaxy. Thrrreatening your vessell with violennce is
beyonnd
unacceptable behaviorr. Our Queennn does nnnot apprrrove of extorrrtion. It does nnot rrreflect well upon our nnation to be the
first
with a diplllomatic incident.”

He pinned the gray-striped count with a hard look and his whiskers forward, his ears down. Daachen shrank back subtly . . . then lifted his chin and tilted his head to the side. His ears were flat, whiskers down, tail close to his legs, with only the tip twitching. She realized after a moment that he was exposing their species’ equivalent to a jugular vein. A posture of surrender.

She took pity on the count. “Actually, the V’Dan have already had the dubious honor of creating the first diplomatic incident. But he did not mean to cause the problem, he apologized promptly, and he took steps to ensure it would never happen again. Not only within Terran jurisdiction, but within V’Dan as well. We have forgiven him for it.”

“I apolllogize forr insultinng you . . . and yourr people. Grrrand High Ambassadorr,” Count Daachen stated.

Quickly holding up her hand V’Dan-style, palm toward herself, Jackie shook her head. “My people have a saying. ‘Too little, too late.’ Your attempt at an apology comes a little too late to do any good. I am not angry at you, Count, but I am disappointed in you. For the sake of your family, who are blameless, I shall see if I can influence your Grand High Ambassador to be lenient and allow your family to stay within visiting range of the people they may have come to know and love in the Nephrit System.

“After all, it would take at least a few more Solarican colony leaders being rude to my people and me before I’d ban the use of our communications arrays from all Solarican systems just from verbal abuse,” she admitted to Trrrall.

“Then I shalll be more gennerous with his rrelocationn,” Trrrall returned. He flattened his ears and whiskers a little. “I do apollogize in advannce, Ambassadorr MacKennzie. I also have been tempted to view you as youngerrr than you rreally are. I shall strrruggle to make surre it does not affect our ffuture interractions.”

“Your honesty is respectable, your regret is honorable, and both are deserving of leniency,” she replied.

The count looked between the two of them, then asked cautiously, “. . . Will my system . . . forrrmer system . . . be given access to your communications?”

“In time,” Jackie told him. She shook her head when he flicked ears and tail. “That unit was reassigned elsewhere. Your system will have to wait until Nephrit 113 can be worked into a new delivery route. We have limited ships available, limited refueling resources, a finite production rate, and we are reserving spare relays for capital systems. Such as this one, which has seven major population hubs scattered throughout the system, and the home system of the Gatsugi, which has six.”

“Come, Count Daachen,” Trrrall ordered. “We shall leave the Grrrand High Ambassadorr to her work. You annd I have rrreporrts to write. Ambassador, we shall connntinue ourr discussion laterr.”

“Of course,” Jackie replied smoothly.

Neatening his robes, the elder statesman shooed the younger out of Jackie’s spacious office with a flick of his clawed fingers. The gesture was a bit Human-ish, but their tails told the real story. Trrrall’s was curved up; Daachen’s drooped down.

Very Human-like, and very feline, and very something else,
she decided. Daachen’s arrival had been delayed so that Trrrall could arrive swiftly—War Lord Krrrnang had explained to her people about the proper protocol of reporting to their own embassy first, in case Daachen came all this way and failed to follow that protocol. The two of them had exchanged a few pleasantries and comments about their impressions of the V’Dan Winter Palace before Daachen had entered the room. It wasn’t much of a conversation to continue, but Jackie did look forward to it.

Now if only she could view a discussion with, oh, say, the K’Katta Grand High Ambassador with equal equanimity and poise.

MAY 30, 2287 C.E.
JANVA 23, 9508 V.D.S.

Pacing, unable to sit still, Li’eth moved restlessly back and forth while he waited for the Terrans to reach the Imperial
Wing’s formal
mo’klah
suite. He didn’t see the gilded furnishings, the friezes on the walls of famous scholars and other geniuses, the uniformed staff waiting for the signal to bring in the first of several light courses. Nor did he really see the snow swirling beyond the windows. Not that it mattered; the entire Winter Palace was designed so that no one had to go outside if they did not want. Indeed, the
mo’klah
suite held two real fires in the fireplaces on opposite walls, keeping the chamber comfortably warm.

Some of the Terrans, Li’eth knew, had a midafternoon snack called “high tea.” In specific, it had been an experience he and his surviving officers had experienced while chatting with the Governor of London on their tour of Earth. The experience had involved a specific beverage, little flavorful sandwiches and blended pastes spread on crackers, biscuits savory and sweet, fresh fruit, and sauces for dipping and smearing.

Oddly enough, there was a V’Dan version practiced by the higher Tiers, too, only it was called
moh’klah
, after the main drink served at such meetings, a mix of
klahsa
and
caffen
. There were tea bushes on V’Dan, genetically very similar to their Terran cousins, more so than coffee versus
caffen
, but tea was drunk in both nations by those who liked its astringent qualities more than the slightly bitter
caffen
 . . . or their very bitter coffee.

There was also a treat on Earth very similar to
klahsa
: chocolate. Terrans had focused on developing the ratio of
klahsa
paste or powder to
klahsa
butter, creating dark, milk, and light chocolates. V’Dan had some of that, but his people had also focused on using processed cane sugar into
cho’klah
, raw cane sugar into
meh’klah
, and honey into
sah’klah
for the sweeteners used, and powdered inner bark from the
cimmon
tree, which was a genetic cousin to the Terran
cinnamon
spice, forming the piquant
ri’klah
version of
klahsa
. Those were just the base flavors, too, without adding fruits and other ingredients.

Tea-leaf blends came in a bewildering number of varieties; their high tea with the city governor had included an interesting taste-testing presentation on several different types, with a display of hundreds of more varieties.
Mo’klah
came in its own set of varieties, ranging from dark to light
klahsa
, to
which the percolations of
caffen
beans had been added, and whether they’d been roasted or not, and for how long.

Thinking about
caffen
and coffee, tea and
klahsa
was better than fretting over how much he was missing her physical presence.

Being quizzed on what he thought the Grand High Ambassador and the Assistant High Ambassador might want was a bit awkward. He knew what he liked; Li’eth’s personal favorite for breakfast was a spicy-sweet white
ri’klah
blended with green—unroasted—
caffen
beans. Later in the day, he tended to prefer darker, richer flavors, dark
klahsa
blended with roasted-bean
caffen
served with a hint of
ushen
, juice concentrate made from tart berries. But that was something one could only get reliably planetside. Being stuck in space for years, he had learned to take his
caffen
plain, since sugar and especially
klahsa
was usually rationed for kitchen use, not personal.

He did have the advantage of knowing a little bit about Jackie’s tastes. She liked her coffee with sweetener and cream-rich milk, though if she had the option, she would pick an iced tea, unsweetened, with a bit of lemon or lime. And he knew she liked chocolate. Rosa McCrary, however, was a stab in the dark. Li’eth had tried to ask subtle questions, but . . . telepathy didn’t allow for subtlety. Subthought, yes; subtlety, not really. Jackie had finally asked him directly what he wanted to know and why.

Her reply to his statement that the chefs wanted to know for a formal
mo’klah
service had been refreshingly blunt. (
Li’eth, we are both used to being offered strange local delicacies wherever we travel in the United Planets back home. I personally have eaten bugs, spiders, eels, sea slugs, land slugs, snails, snakes drowned in wine, bird’s nests made out of bird spit, and worse. I am quite certain that whatever your chefs deem suitable for your mother, the Empress, to safely eat will be fine with the two of us.
)