by M. D. Cooper
Petra pursed her lips and then started.
Petra asked.
Then the lift doors opened, and they were treated to a sight unlike they’d ever seen. The costumes Danny had fitted them with were well on the tamer end of the spectrum.
In her first glance, Tanis saw a giant man, a couple whose torsos both dissolved into a mass of ropey tendrils, many attaching to the other person’s body, a horse—just a plain horse with a bridle and saddle, and a two-meter-long starship with a person’s head coming out the top. Strange as it was, the ship was rather impressive as it flew past; its thin construction seemed not to have enough room for a person inside, and there were several places where she could see deep into shuttle bays that should have been inside of the wearer’s body.
“You would have made a way better ship,” Sera said with a wink.
“Yeah, but look him up,” Tanis said. “He’s one of the fleet admirals. I wouldn’t have wanted to copy—stars, what am I saying? I think this giant cannon has gotten to me.”
“You like the cannon,” Sera laughed. “Imagine if you had one of those on your arm all the time? It’d be badass.”
“Just be happy I had enough flowmetal left to make that sword for you, or I’d make you fight your way out of here without any weapons.”
Sera said privately.
A gleaming figure approached, and Tanis’s visual overlay identified the person as the empress. Her body was sheathed in gold, and she walked in a pool of water that seemed to move with her, splashing at her feet as she walked. Water sparkled as it flowed up her body, and as she drew closer, Tanis realized that the water was laden with jewels that rolled up her body with the liquid. When the water reached the empress’s head, it fountained out behind her in a massive spray, only to be caught in a grav field that drew the droplets back down to the pool at her feet.
“President Sera, Admiral Richards, I’m so pleased you could make it. You look fabulous. Admiral, ready to lay waste to anything in your path, and Madam President, I would be shocked if scandal does not lay at your doorstep by morning.”
“Thank you, Empress Diana,” Tanis replied and Sera added. “We appreciate you letting us borrow Danny.”
Diana waived her hand and diamonds flew into the air, falling into the pool at her feet. “It was no trouble at all. I like what he has done with you, Petra. I’ll have to find him and thank him later.”
Petra scowled, but didn’t attempt to speak. Danny had ensured that any attempts would only come out as hisses.
Diana stepped up to Petra and smiled. “How do you feel Petra? Ashamed? Betrayed? Embarrassed? I hope so. You can get a taste of how I’ve felt these past two days. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Petra’s face fell and she let out a soft hiss.
“Ah, how delightful. You’re speaking your native tongue. I debated using a leash to pull you around all night, but I decided against it—you’ll need to have some credibility after this.”
“I hope this isn’t how you’ll treat your allies in the future,” Sera said with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course not,” Diana said with an upturned nose. “So long as there is no betrayal. Besides, this is a very light punishment, all things considered.”
Diana nodded. “Angela understands. Now come, there are people I’d like you to meet.”
Tanis was not normally one for fashion and showmanship—that was Sera’s forte—but she had to admit that the costumes the upper echelon of Scipio adorned themselves in were very impressive. She witnessed everything from a woman who was nothing more than a head on a small disc with long spidery limbs, to a centaur that she was certain was constructed from two people.
Diana stayed with them as the night wore on, introducing her new allies to many of the admiralty and the highest-ranking generals. They met important business people, governors, rulers of influential worlds, and three of the prelates.
Tanis had spotted the fourth prelate, Fiona, moving through the crowd several times through the night, but they never managed to catch the woman.
Eventually, Tanis begged off from the introductions to get some food and a drink.
As she stood near one of the bars where women poured drinks while hanging from trellises, covered in writhing vines, she saw a flash of black and yellow, and turned to see Prelate Fiona approaching.
The prelate’s costume was simple—compared to many of the others—but it was impressive, nonetheless. From the waist down, the woman appeared to be a massive snake, moving so sinuously that Tanis had to assume she had no legs to speak of—or if she did, they contained no bones.
She appeared human from the waist up, though the snakeskin covered her entire body, including her hairless head. Her eyes were very large, and their yellow, vertical pupils gazed at Tanis disinterestedly.
“You’re the Admiral, the one the empress’s new pet brought?” Prelate Fiona asked.
“I am,” Tanis said, not wishing to argue Petra’s status with the woman. “Diana has been trying to meet with you this evening, Prelate.”
“She and I will have our chat soon enough. I asked that she join me in one of the upper meeting areas. It is too loud, and there are too many ears down here for what we need to discuss.”
“Oh?” Tanis asked. “What would that be?”
“Imperial business,” Fiona hissed, her tongue forked as well.
Angela replied.
“I suppose there’s a lot of that to go over,” Tanis said with a smile. “Scipio certainly is vast.”
“Yes, you should remember that,” Fiona said as she slithered away, her tail slapping at Tanis’s legs as she moved past.
Tanis laughed softly, and ordered herself a glass of wine and a martini for Sera, balancing them carefully on her one hand.
When she returned, Diana and Sera were speaking with a small, rotund man who looked like a cross between a dwarf and a beaver. He waddled off as she reached them and offered Sera her drink.
“Nothing for Petra?” Diana asked with a smirk.
“I don’t think she wants anything,” Tani
s replied.
“No?” Diana looked back over her shoulder and Petra shook her head vehemently. “I suppose she doesn’t want someone to have to hold it for her.”
The empress covered her mouth as she laughed softly.
“OK, Diana, I understand your ire,” Sera said. “But this is bordering on childish now.”
“Your AI is surprisingly blunt,” Diana replied.
Angela replied, not bothering to hide her irritation.
Tanis was surprised by Angela’s vehemence at first, but then she felt ashamed that she had gone along with it. In their eagerness to appease the empress, they had let Petra’s self-worth be sacrificed.
“I don’t think you—” Diana began, but her ire faded under Tanis and Sera’s steely gazes. She lowered her eyes, and her haughty sneer faded. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I need to adjust my attitude in respect to AIs.”
Diana’s gaze shifted to Petra, and she let out a long sigh. “You’re right about Petra; I’ll summon Danny to free her arms and let her speak.”
“I think that’s a wise decision,” Sera said.
Tanis saw that Petra’s eyes were wide with relief, and a minute later, Danny approached their group and led her away.
“He has a whole repair shop set up in one of the rooms,” Diana explained. “Some of these costumes require considerable maintenance over even just twelve hours.”
“I can imagine,” Tanis replied and changed the subject. “I finally met Prelate Fiona, by the way.”
“Ah yes, she’s been pestering me all evening for a private meeting, but I’ve told her not until after I make the rounds. I may behave like a child, but I’m still a child with duties.” Diana said the last with a wink and a wave of her diamond-dispensing hand.
“I don’t think we accused you of that,” Sera said.
Diana nodded solemnly, and then smiled and reached out to shake hands with a couple that walked by.
Diana didn’t respond for a moment as she spoke with an admiral and her husband, a famous restaurateur, and introduced them to Tanis and Sera.
Diana proceeded to introduce a few other dignitaries to Tanis and Sera, and a few minutes later, Petra returned. Her arms were freed, her mouth and tongue returned to normal, and the words were gone from her chest.
She didn’t say anything as she approached, and Tanis glanced at Diana, her eyebrow raised.
Sera cleared her throat.
Diana nodded, and Tanis detected a hint of red on the empress’s golden cheeks as she approached Petra.
“I owe you an apology, Petra. I was callous and childish. I know half the people around here would cut me down if it helped them get their supper faster, and I treated you like I would have treated one of them. But I also know you’re not like that. Despite our circumstances, you’ve been a good friend.”
Petra nodded. “And I’m sorry there was a…less than honest start between us. I hope we can move forward; professionally, but maybe personally, too.”
Even with Petra’s extended legs and hooved feet, Diana was still as tall as Petra. She inclined her head, stepped closer so that the water around her feet was lapping at Petra’s as well, and whispered, “Let’s see what they all make of this.”
Diana’s lips met Petra’s in a long and passionate kiss.
Conversation around the group came to a standstill, and the bubble of silence rippled outward. Somewhere, a glass dropped to the floor, and the sound of it shattering punctuated the air, causing a few startled cries.
Petra grabbed Diana’s waist, pulling her closer, Diana’s water flowing up both of them now, and Sera let out a cheer that was picked up by others nearby. A moment later, the room was filled with shouted approval, applause, and a few catcalls.
Petra’s white wings flared out and then folded around the couple, an act which cut off the a-grav emitter’s ability to manage the flow of water from Diana’s head, and caused a fountain of water and jewels to spray out over part of the crowd.
The volume in the room had crept back up to its previous din, but Tanis heard Diana say, “Was getting tired of that, anyway.”
“We’ll see you two later,” Petra said as she and Diana turned and walked toward one of the rooms along the perimeter.
“Now that’s some quick turnaround,” Sera said.
Tanis nodded. “That’s a woman who only runs hot or cold. Though I suppose Petra has been with her long enough to know what she’s getting into—I hope. We’ll want to make sure she still has all her body parts, come morning.”
Tanis laughed.
Over the course of the evening, everyone in the room had begun to realize that Tanis and Sera were important in some as-yet unknown way—the Empress spending several hours with anyone was unheard of. The fact that Diana had just publicly declared her affections for their ambassador further cemented the attendees’ belief that there was something very interesting about the Transcend and its emissaries.
Before long, Tanis and Sera were swarmed with people asking for details about the Transcend’s location, their economy, form of government, fashion, planets, favorite foods, and everything in between.
Through it all, Angela kept tabs on Petra. Not obtrusively, but they all expected something bad to happen during the party, and it was either going to happen to Diana, to the Transcend delegation, or both.
After an hour, they got a notice from the NSAI managing the meeting rooms that Diana had arranged for them all to meet with Prelate Fiona on the third level in a few minutes.
From what Angela relayed, Petra and Diana were still enjoying one another’s company. Sera and Tanis decided to let them be a few minutes late and approached the broad staircase together.
As they began to climb the steps, Sera laughed. “Why am I doing this? I can fly!” She spread her wings and lifted of
f into the air, gracefully ascending to the third level.
Tanis had passed the landing on the second level, close to the room Petra and Diana had disappeared into, when Angela spoke up.
Tanis tried the door and it was locked. Nano flowed off her hand and dissolved the latch in moments. She pulled the door open and saw Petra lying on the floor, her wings splayed out behind her.
Tanis approached and bent over her as best she could. The Hand agent was breathing, but her heart rate was elevated. “Petra, what happened?”
“Servant’s entrance. Took her.”
Petra pointed at the side of the room, and Tanis could make out the outline of a door in the wall. She touched Petra’s stomach, delivering a dose of mednano—in case Petra’s was compromised by the targeted EM pulse that had hit the room.
Then she raced toward the rear door, wrenching it open, and ran into the corridor beyond. It was narrow, and her ridiculous pauldrons almost scraped both walls, but Tanis knew she didn’t have to time to extricate herself from the costume.
She followed the trail of fallen jewels and droplets of water, pushing past a servant who had to flatten herself against the wall to avoid being crushed.
Tanis said as she leapt down to the next landing.