“Isn’t this exciting?” Elizabeth exclaimed. She spoke, simply for the sake of saying something, and instantly wished that she hadn’t.
She didn’t want this handsome stranger sitting next to her to think that she was some out-of-town, backwater tourist who would be impressed by a building over three storeys high. She had to be cool, calm and collected here.
And, remember, behave yourself, Elizabeth! You’re a happily married woman, she thought to herself.
Chapter 14: The Universal Alliance Delegation, Ganthus City
First Admiral William Caudwell hated formal events. This time, however, there was no way out. The Ganthorans had invited them to a traditional “Welcoming” for the Time Warrior Candidate, and it would be a dress uniform event. When informed of the formal function, Billy’s heart had sunk. Old habits, however, died hard in the mind of Billy Caudwell. Despite the years of political chicanery and double dealing in the part of his mind that was Teg Skarral Portan, Billy still couldn’t escape the mindset of the persecuted youngster he had been at school.
Well, he considered, if I’m going to have to go, I may as well make the best of it. Setting things into a military context, Billy recognised that he should treat this as a reconnaissance mission. Ambassador Sarkor Nicx was keen to glean every scrap of information and knowledge that she could from her new hosts. Although, still formally at war with the Ganthorans, the armistice created by accepting the Time Warrior challenge allowed Ambassador Nicx to begin to work her particular brand of diplomacy.
The exception to the rule of Dress Uniform was Ambassador Nicx. This being a formal diplomatic event, she had no alternative other than to wear the long, light blue robe with the golden waist sash of the Alliance Diplomatic Corps. The sleeves of the robe were long and loose, allowing some freedom of movement and a degree of personal comfort for the wearer. And, since this was a formal event, Sarkor Nicx had no alternative other than to wear the three headbands of her species. The bands that her mother had given her were of a valuable silver metal that were handed down through the female line of her family. Setting the bands into her long, black, curly hair, Sarkor Nicx had been pleased with the contrast effect of silver on black. However, with the dress arrangement sorted out, Ambassador Nicx and First Admiral Caudwell stepped forth into the fray of the Welcoming Ball. Nicx punched in the six-digit code in the hand-held device that would take them to the Reception Hall of the Imperial Palace.
The circular Reception Hall of the Imperial Palace was every bit as grand as the name suggested. The pale, cream-coloured floor beneath Billy’s feet was polished and sleek, echoing to the swish of soft-soled shoes and the harsher click of the military boots that stepped across it. The walls were of a similar pale cream colouring pattern, with large light panels thirty feet high and ten feet wide. They were interspersed by images of long-dead Ganthoran Emperors and Empresses, who smiled and scowled down upon the mingling crowd of guests from the image frames. The ceiling of the Reception Hall was a darker brown colour, from which hung large light cubes to supplement the light sources from the walls, whilst spaced neatly throughout the Reception Hall stood the ridiculously slim support pillars that held the ceiling up.
On Earth, the support pillars would have been tall, broad and straight, these dark brown almost black, pillars spiralled and corkscrewed upwards in a strange confection of shapes and angles that seemed to defy all the known laws of physics.
The Reception Hall was already filling with people who arrived from the dozen Tele-Portal doors scattered around the perimeter of the Hall.
“Ah, First Admiral Caudwell, Ambassador Nicx, welcome!” Second Adjudicator Tiba broke the increasingly oppressive silence in the Reception Hall.
The smaller, and more rotund, part Thelian Second Adjudicator welcomed them from the Tele-Portal doorway. Wearing a black tunic and breeches, Tiba had set off his evening wear with a narrow gold sash from his left shoulder in an outfit that did not draw too much attention to his spreading waistline.
“Adjudicator Tiba,” Sarkor Nicx said, “thank you for this great honour.”
“Not at all, Ambassador.” Tiba smiled the honest smile of the Thelians. “To be quite honest with you, everyone in Ganthoran society is absolutely bursting with curiosity to see the new Time Warrior Candidate. It is said that some people would kill their own parents to get an invitation to the Welcoming Ball.”
“Then, I do trust that we do not prove to be a disappointment,” Sarkor Nicx said.
“Oh no, Ambassador, we haven’t had a Welcoming Ball in almost three years, since the last Candidate, and we Ganthorans do like to put on a good display.” The Adjudicator smiled and clapped his hands loudly; twice.
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Tiba called to the people on the two staircases. “Our honoured guests have arrived, so could you please step towards the wall.”
With a buzz of excitement, the people on the stairways complied and began to line the walls of the Reception Hall. Once again, the loud rush of conversation broke out as Adjudicator Tiba nodded to some unseen watcher.
With that simple nod from Tiba, the entire area of wall between the two staircases slowly began to open outwards towards Billy and his party.
“Please?” Tiba, with a small bow, indicated that they step forwards towards the ever widening opening in the wall.
As the party of four began to move towards the opening wall, a strange swishing sound began. Looking towards the Ganthorans, watching their progress, Billy could see that the people were rubbing their hands together; with their hands set straight, at ninety degrees to each other, the ladies were rubbing their fingers in a small, circular, clockwise, pattern. For the gentlemen, they rubbed the palms of their hands together in an anti-clockwise manner. This was apparently the Ganthoran equivalent of applause, and once again, First Admiral Caudwell was quite un-nerved by it all.
Smiling as best they could, the party stepped forward into the unknown, with the sound of rubbing hands in their ears. As they approached the wall opening, the swishing sound grew even louder. The gap in the wall began to widen, showing the interior of what Billy Caudwell supposed was the ballroom. It seemed to be a dark and gloomy area when compared to the bright lights of the Reception Hall, reminding Billy of the school dances that he had attended back on Earth. Yes, those dances where he had been too shy to ask anyone to dance, he remembered. Feeling more than a little anxious, Billy Caudwell eventually followed a few feet behind Sarkor Nicx as she stepped onto the small ramp that led into the Ballroom, as the swishing sounds of Ganthoran applause assaulted his ears.
The Ballroom itself was long and narrow and seemed to stretch out into eternity. The small, shallow ramp from the Reception Hall led onto a small platform surrounded by a low rail. The rail divided in the centre of the platform, allowing the guests onto the dance floor courtesy of two steps, which were flanked by two muscularly built Imperial Guards in dress uniform. There were no chairs or decorations on the platform.
It had been designed simply as a viewing area. Looking up from the platform, Billy Caudwell could see, in the gloom of the ballroom, that there were three further levels built above the dance floor. Like a theatre, or an old dance hall, back on Earth, the balconies were railed for the safety and protection of the revellers. From what Billy could discern, they were not divided into sections like theatre boxes, but were flat open platforms in their own right.
The ceiling which towered above the Ballroom floor was invisible to Billy Caudwell, the gloomy lighting being too feeble to reach to that height. It took Billy’s eyes a few seconds to acclimatise from the bright light of the Reception Hall to the gloom of the Ballroom. No sooner had Billy started to focus on the expanse of people on the dance floor and the balconies, than his already jangled nerves were startled once more by the Ganthoran Welcoming Fanfare.
For important visiting dignitaries, the traditional Ganthoran Welcoming Fanfare consisted of a one-octave scale played quickly three times, very loudly, with the final note being
held for five seconds. A startled Billy stopped in his tracks for a few seconds as his brain registered this further assault on his hearing. With no musicians in sight, the Ganthoran Salutation to the Conquering Hero was either pre-recorded, or the players were somewhere out in the murky gloom of the cavernous Ballroom. As he halted for a moment,) Billy felt the firm pressure of Sarkor Nicx’s hand in the small of his back propel him gently forwards onto the platform.
With the swishing sound of the Ganthoran applause echoing and re-echoing from the walls and balconies of the Ballroom, Billy stood in front of Ambassador Nicx and Adjudicator Tiba.
“Smile and wave.” Ambassador Nicx’s mouth was set in a fixed grin.
Reluctantly, Billy complied with a shy, sincere smile, followed by a feeble wave and nod of acknowledgement.
“First Admiral Caudwell, Ambassador Nicx.” The familiar voice of Grand Adjudicator Bellor welcomed them.
“Grand Adjudicator.” Sarkor Nicx gave a small, courteous bow.
“Welcome!” Bellor beamed a dazzlingly insincere smile and climbed up onto the platform between the two Imperial Guards.
Raising his hands and arms into the air, Bellor called for silence from the applauding and expectant crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this evening we welcome First Admiral William Caudwell of the Universal Alliance to Ganthus City.” Bellor launched into what Billy Caudwell hoped would not be a long and tiresome welcoming address.
“Very few men have the skill and strength to qualify as Candidates for the Time Warrior ritual, and even fewer have the vision and courage to accept the challenge.” Bellor paused for dramatic effect.
Standing nervously beside Grand Adjudicator Bellor, Billy considered that this was yet another of the consummate politicians that arose maybe once in a generation.
“First Admiral William Caudwell is one of those rare men who possesses the vision, skill, strength, and courage necessary for those who attempt to become a Time Warrior Candidate. We welcome you, First Admiral, and wish you good fortune in the ritual.” Bellor ended the mercifully brief welcome with a wolfish grin.
The swishing and rustling sound of applause broke out almost immediately the echo from Bellor’s voice had faded.
“Grand Adjudicator, do I respond to your welcome?” Billy asked nervously.
“If you wish, First Admiral.” Bellor was pleasantly surprised at the young human’s modesty.
Previous Candidates for the ritual had previously launched into long and, at times, quite tedious replies, full of self-praise and flowering flattery.
“Grand Adjudicator.” Billy signaled for the applause to die down.
Within seconds the entire Ballroom was held in a spellbound hush.
“Grand Adjudicator, thank you for your words of welcome and praise.” Billy bowed slightly to Bellor. “Good people of Ganthus and the Ganthoran Empire, there is too much dancing and enjoyment to be done this evening, so I’ll keep it brief.” Billy was rewarded by some polite laughter from the crowd. “Thank you for your welcome, your hospitality and for this fine evening’s entertainment. Please, enjoy your evening.”
Having spoken his last words and acknowledging the crowd with a bow, the fanfare sounded once again, making Billy jump slightly. The swishing and rustling of some warm and genuine applause indicated that what Billy had said had gone down well.
“That was just about perfect for this evening, First Admiral,” Bellor said.
Billy raised his hand nervously to acknowledge the applause, and nodded another brief bow to the crowd. When the swishing sound of the hand-rubbing applause had died down, and the last echo of the startling fanfare had dissipated, the Ganthorans resumed dancing. The music seemed oddly familiar to Billy Caudwell, although it had no recognizable tune or melody, it did have a rhythmic beat for dancers to follow. The notes and phrases seemed to flow and merge into the rhythm in what sounded like a series of random expressions.
No sooner had the strange music began, than a crowd of several hundred young Ganthoran women dashed towards the base of the platform, giggling and squealing with delight and excitement, holding out their left hands. Slightly confused, and not being used to so much female attention, Billy looked nervously at the squealing and giggling crowd.
“They’re asking you to dance, First Admiral,” Bellor whispered into his ear.
“But, I don’t know how to do Ganthoran dances,” Billy replied anxiously.
“Well, I suspect they won’t be slow in teaching you,” Bellor said.
“They’re not exactly shy and retiring wallflowers, are they?” Billy smiled nervously to Sarkor Nicx.
“Go on, First Admiral.” Ambassador Nicx wore a broad, beaming smile of amusement. “Enjoy yourself, us lesser mortals have work to do this evening.”
“Do I have to dance with all of them?”
“Well, I don’t know about your Alliance customs, but traditionally we prefer to dance with one at a time.” Bellor cheekily smiled at the First Admiral. “Just place the palm of your left hand on the palm of the one you wish to choose.”
Closing his eyes, Billy stretched out his left hand, palm downwards, over the cluster of outstretched hands below him. Circling his hand over the expectant hands below, he leaned forwards and found he had already made contact. The instant his hand made contact, he felt his hand and fingers caught in a vice-like grip, followed by a loud piercing shriek of triumph and delight. Opening his eyes, he barely had time to register the features of the young Ganthoran lady random chance had selected to be his first partner for the night, when he felt himself being bodily pulled from the platform by her powerful left hand onto the dance floor.
Overbalancing slightly, Billy had to jump in a rather ungainly manner from the platform to the floor, straight into the scrimmage of young Ganthoran women, who began to jostle and push him to the dance floor. Smiling anxiously, Billy Caudwell was dragged off like a dead antelope carcase by a pack of hungry hyenas prior to consumption.
The Guest of Honour may have chosen one of their numbers to begin with, but the other young ladies would wait patiently for their turn to dance with the young human who just might be their next Emperor.
“I almost feel sorry for him, you know?” Sarkor Nicx watched with amusement as Billy Caudwell disappeared amongst the pack of young Ganthoran women.
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Bellor said, “we’re looking for cordial relations here, not a Diplomatic Incident.”
Laughing softly, Sarkor Nicx shook her head as Billy Caudwell disappeared into a giggling scrimmage.
Ganthoran dancing, as Billy Caudwell discovered, was not too different from dancing on Earth, something like two or three hundred years before. The objective seemed to be to keep your left palm in contact with that of your partner whilst you performed various movements. Turning one way and then the other was a popular movement, with some leaning forwards and backwards, turning hands at the wrist without losing contact, nodding and bowing, along with various skips and steps that made up the repertoire. For the first few dances, Billy did his best to concentrate on what his partner was instructing him to do between the barrage of constant and inane conversation.
After the ordeal of each dance was over, he was rapidly surrounded by the gaggle of young ladies asking for the next dance. It was like one of those cartoon shows back on Earth; they seemed to be circling around him on the dance floor like vultures around the man crawling through the desert. When the music stopped, the vultures would spring forwards at him with their left hands held out. Having been accustomed to no female attention back on Earth, he found himself being mobbed. At first, he was flattered and enjoyed the attention, but as the young ladies became more predatory and insistent, it started to annoy and frighten him.
During one dance, Billy noticed the tall, suave Ganthoran figure of Third Adjudicator Arrad prowling around the edges of the dance floor. Wearing an outfit entirely of white with the exception of the gold sash at his waist, he was a handsome individual. Calmly, he
walked over to one of the young ladies at the edge of the floor, bowed politely and held out his left hand, palm downwards. The young lady looked at him with a mixture of shock and anxiety, before touching the back of his hand with hers. With his best insincere and sheepish smile, Arrad bowed once again and backed away from the scene of his humiliation
“What was all that about, with Adjudicator Arrad?” Billy peered at his dance partner, a tall young woman called Lethra.
“She turned him down,” Lethra said, “a bit too full of herself that one.”
“Why?” Billy attempted the cross-over movement that would mean the dancers exchanged places without letting go of their left hands.
“That’s Nietta; she’s Frontier General Kallet’s niece, thinks she’s a bit too good for Third Adjudicator Arrad, got her eyes set on a young Captain in the Imperial Guard. She doesn’t know he’s slept with half the wives of his Regiment.”
“General Kallet? He’s one of the Frontier Generals? Is he here tonight?”
“I suspect that he is, they’ll all be here to have a look at you.” She smiled coyly, shaking her shoulders and her barely covered breasts, trying to draw his attention back to her. “Adjudicator Arrad thinks she’s wonderful, but he’s Arrad. He’s boring, always tied up with his duties. He’s not exciting and brave like you are.”
“Really?” Billy smiled, deftly avoiding the blatant attempt at flirtation.
Yes, they weren’t backwards at coming forwards on Ganthus, Billy considered, filing away that particular piece of information for Ambassador Nicx and Officer Sownus. Third Adjudicator Arrad had eyes for General Kallet’s niece, whilst she was in love with some exciting, two-timing Imperial Guard Captain. Well, didn’t that sound just like back on Earth, Billy considered, the hound gets the gravy once again.
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Grand Adjudicator Bellor clapped his hands to draw the attention of everyone in the huge Ballroom as the dance finished. “In honour of our new Time Warrior Candidate, we have prepared something very special for you.” The normally reticent Bellor smiled.
Time Commander (The First Admiral Series) Page 14