The Tourney

by Juliet Sem

  "Well, thanks for trying, Captain," Keestu said. Nebo nodded, turning back to his console.

  The Rillul ring came into visual range very quickly, since the Jewel hadn't scrubbed off much speed after entering the system. Keestu kept quiet, watching the crew double, triple, and quadruple check their position to make sure they would not collide with the Rillul ring. Prince Dinus' ship had already been boosted out of the system, and com didn't report any other ships within their sensor range, so Keestu ended up being bored. She supposed if she was a member of the crew with a real job to do she would not be bored, but being a passive observer wasn't something she found very exciting.

  Finally, they were back in hyperspace, and the view screen shut down.

  Dejected, Keestu retired to her cabin as soon as she was given clearance to move about the ship. Rue didn't join her, and Keestu didn't order her attendance, enjoying the unusual solitude it afforded her. She reread the information they had on the Autocracy, wondering if she should try and learn some basic phrases in any of the languages, but at a loss as to where to begin, she shut the console down and made her way to the gym for a workout before dinner.

  After a relatively restless night, Keestu urged Rue to take her time grooming for their first appearance on Autocracy Station. "My mother always says the first impression is a lasting one, and you should to make the best one possible on our tour of Autocracy Station."

  "Right," Rue agreed. "I was thinking either the purple or green suit would be better to wear, since black is viewed as the most somber, so I was thinking I should save it and all my lace accents for the first rounds of negotiations to indicate I'm serious about the trade agreement. But should I wear the purple or green today? Prince Dinus's minor planetary color is purple, and if I'm seen with him while wearing it, I think it could be misconstrued that I'm inferior in station to him despite the fact that I'm playing the part of the Crown Princess of Sandar. But this lighter shade of green may be considered an even less strong color, and I don't want potential negotiators to view me as weak, given the manner in which they choose their rulers."

  Keestu frowned, considering Rue's insights before responding. "You know, I have no idea how to answer your question. You have valid points regarding each of the color choices, and I agree that an informal pantsuit is the way to dress for entering Autocracy Station, but I'm at a loss as to which color you should choose."

  "We should ask Vahin," Keestu suggested. "A male point of view could provide the insight we are missing."

  "Your mother would be horrified, asking a man for his opinion on clothing!" Rue giggled. "I'd leave that out of your report."

  Keestu couldn't help but smile. "But he is my protocol adviser, so I think this falls into his domain. I'm going to call him in." She went to the console and typed in her request. It took only moments for the door to chime since Vahin was still in his cabin across the hall.

  "What can I help you with, Your Highness?"

  "We are at an impasse, Vahin, and we need your insight. Rue is trying to choose which of her pantsuits to wear for her first appearance on Autocracy Station. She feels black is too somber and should be saved for wearing to the negotiations. The other choices are purple and green. We feel the darker purple is stronger than the lighter green, but since purple is the lesser color for Prince Dinus' planet, we are wondering if that would be inappropriately identifying the Crown Princess as his inferior."

  Vahin's eyebrows first went up in surprise then wrinkled together as he considered the situation. "Interesting points. Exactly what shade is Rue's purple outfit?"

  Rue went to the closet at the back of their quarters and brought her suitcase, pulling out her jackets for Vahin's inspection.

  "Hmm," was all he said, as he went to the console and typed in a query. An image of Prince Dinus as he appeared with his entourage at the first formal dinner on Sandar appeared on the screen.

  Without urging, Rue brought the purple suit forward so that Vahin could examine it next to the image on the screen. Vahin studied it, before handing the jacket to Keestu, who placed it back in the suitcase as Rue handed him the green jacket.

  "Very good," he said, repeating his actions. He motioned for Rue put the green jacket back into her suitcase.

  "I don't think you would be considered inferior next to Prince Dinus in the purple since your purple is a darker shade than that of his stripe. Since we feel the Autocracy considers darker shades more dominant, Rue should be viewed as Prince Dinus's equal, though his minor planet's color and her suit are the same color."

  "Thank you for your input, Vahin," Keestu said as her adviser rose to leave the room.

  He nodded formally as he backed out of the room, the door sliding closed on his still bowed head.

  "Okay," Rue said brightly. "Purple it is. What color are you going to wear?"

  "Well, since I don't have a matching purple suit, my light red suit should harmonize with your purple. Do you think the pants or the skirt would be more appropriate? I was thinking the skirt and flat shoes, since I am supposed to be your inferior, and suit skirts used to be considered proper dress for the weaker members of our society, so even with me walking beside you, no one should mistake me for the dominant party in our group. If I wear hose, I shouldn't have to worry about it being too cold on station."

  "I think you should wear pants, since everyone in the Autocracy contingent was wearing pants the entire time they were on Sandar."

  "Yes, but they didn't have any women with them," Keestu pointed out. "So we really don't know what their women wear here."

  Keestu went to the console and tapped in a request. "Unfortunately, there's nothing so trivial as Autocracy clothing trends in our files. However, if you are in pants, it should be acceptable for me to be in them, so I will wear slacks instead of a skirt. "

  Rue dressed in her suit, paring it with the matching purple shirt, while Keestu put a white shirt.

  Keestu helped Rue arrange her hair into an appropriate bun so that the royal headdress could be attached to it. Rue arranged Keestu's hair into a style appropriate for a handmaiden before positioning her Lady's headdress.

  "I feel strange wearing such a small headdress," Keestu commented, eyeing her reflection critically. "I've worn one since I was five, so I feel almost naked without the weight."

  "Well, if it's any consolation, I can feel the tassels swinging around on your headdresses," Rue replied, "And I find myself just hoping it doesn't fall off the whole time I'm wearing it."

  "It won't," Keestu reassured her. "If that's one thing I've learned lately from my training sessions, it's how to secure a headdress."

  They left their jackets hanging in the closet and went to the bridge to await emergence.

  Captain Nebo greeted them courteously while the rest of the crew remained busy at their stations.

  "We will be emerging close to mid morning Autocracy Station time according to the information given us by Prince Dinus," He told them. "This places us there after breakfast and before the midday meal, so you should probably eat before going on station. We have nearly an hour before emergence, so you have plenty of time to visit the mess for breakfast."

  Rue and Keestu left the bridge for the mess hall. The food dispensers held a variety of breakfast selections, and Keestu watched a Jewel crewman pouring a cup of javene. He nodded courteously to them as he screwed the cover on his beverage container and left, leaving them alone in the common room.

  "Do you get the feeling the crew is avoiding us?" Rue asked as she got her breakfast.

  "Sometimes," Keestu responded, looking over the selections as she waited her turn. "But only because I think they are uncomfortable being with me in a casual atmosphere. Most of Sandar only sees me at official functions, where I have to be on my best behavior, and not in everyday situations like the palace staff is witness to. With time you get used to it, though before you came to the palace, I felt rather lonely at times. I remember one time I was so frustrated with being treated differently I dema
nded that my father revoke my Crown Princess status and let me leave the palace for any other noble house, so I could go have a 'normal' life. Now that I'm older, I see that it would be impossible. Being the firstborn, I will always be considered the heir, and it would cause no end of trouble to him if he were to suddenly announce Skomer as heir to the throne."

  "I don't know if Skomer would take it," Rue said. "I've heard him say more than once he wants a military position."

  "OK, then either Kang or Hemda. From what she said to Prince Dinus at that first dinner, I think Hemda would happily take over my duties if the crown was offered to her."

  Rue laughed. "I'm surprised nothing came up about her offer on the infocom after that dinner. Usually some noble leaks tidbits like that to them, and Hemda is a favorite for everyone to watch. I just hope she isn't embarrassed by the stories when she gets older."

  Keestu grinned mischievously at Rue. "I'm thinking her children will likely be the ones ribbing her about that in the future, since the public archives are open to all. I've gone through them looking for stories on my parents. Unfortunately, my mother was never in the public eye until she met my father, so I don't have any childhood stories I can blackmail her with."

  Rue took her breakfast to one of the tables and sat.

  Keestu looked over the spice and sweetening choices for her cereal, dressing her bowl before joining Rue at the table.

  "Sometimes I think Hemda is older than her years," Keestu said as she blew on her javene to cool it. "She was the first one to point out that I should get names of eligible princes on our visit here, which tells me she has her eye on her future. Of course, mother says that there is more to marriage than just an advantageous alliance, but I don't think Hemda is too far off base. What better way to do both than to get to know foreign royalty now, when there is no pressure to make a match? That would give me an opportunity to get to really know a prospective spouse before I reach the age when everyone will be telling me I need to find a mate."

  "Yes, but you are assuming the exophobes won't be screaming about the dilution of Sandarian blood by an outsider."

  "But dilution can be a good thing," Keestu grumbled. "I just can't see myself marrying some very distant degree of cousin just because he's a Sandarian noble. Plus, most of the former royal houses resented the unification of Sandar and have passed their bias on to their children who avoid interacting with us, though they do not shirk any duties they are given for fear of being demoted to commoner status. They don't say it in our hearing, but I've often felt their resentment when we visit their continents, baronies, or cities, which were formerly their kingdoms. And commoner boys my age aren't allowed to hang out around the palace. You know as well as I do that I've never had a male friend, much less prospective boyfriend. I think I'm seen as unapproachable, and I really don't want to be in Shina's position, considering an anonymous donor for my eggs, as she is. I tell you Rue, being royalty is lonely. Never mind that we are never truly alone, but I know that everyone on Sandar would disapprove if I were to be seen in public with anyone other than a noble. I can just hear the infocom now, saying I'm 'dating way below my station', when all I really want is to meet someone nice. I used to wonder why my grandfather took so long to marry and have children, but now I have firsthand experience how hard it is to find someone!"

  "Well, I was too young to remember it directly, but I think you should go through the archives and see what negative things were said about King Ismer and Queen Mewa when they began dating, and look at Queen Mewa now. She's well respected for taking her crown duties seriously, plus she's seen as putting a more friendly face on the royal house, especially since King Brei raised Ismer under terrible restrictions due to problems the decade after Unification."

  "I can understand King Brei's insistence on our keeping physically fit, if nothing else for the health benefits we get from it, but do we really need to train to fight? I've never been in a fistfight in my life, and I really question why I need to know how to handle firearms because we are peaceful now."

  "It wasn't so long ago that we weren't peaceful," Rue said. "I have to tell you my father was thrilled to hear I was to be learning all sorts of fighting techniques. I suppose the idea of a female Queen so soon after Unification was disconcerting to him because women haven't had to go to war for a couple of generations."

  "I didn't think of it from that angle," Keestu admitted. "I guess there is a good reason I should know how to fight, even though I'll probably never have do it."

  "Well, if you need to do an exhibition fight here in the Autocracy, you shouldn't do too bad in the hand-to-hand techniques."

  "I just wish I had better aim, like you do, Rue," Keestu sighed. "But no matter how many times I go to the range, my first few shots are low."

  "I heard Skomer say one time when we were watching you that your first few shots would not kill a male opponent, just make them wish they were dead, which would discourage any other males from wanting to go up against you. He thought it was a mental warfare trick you'd been drilled in since your training in shooting was publicized. When Tenget heard that, he failed to correct him–or the aim of your initial shots."

  Keestu laughed at that. "So there is an advantage to my lousy aim after all! Still, I wish I was as good as you are," she finished wistfully.

  Their breakfast done, they deposited their dishes in the sterilizer and made their way back to the bridge.

  They belted in and observed bridge operations in a companionable silence until their emergence back into normal space.

  "All crew secure for emergence," Captain Nebo ordered.

  "Passengers secure," Keestu said without prompting after checking to see everyone was belted in. She listened to the rest of the orders with only half her attention on it while she wondered how and when she would meet any males close to her age.

  The com officer was checking his board, confirming, "All shipboard stations secure, Captain. The ship is ready for emergence."

  The view screen lit up, displaying a countdown timer that was rapidly approaching zero. Paxi was intently watching the timer. "Emerging on my mark," she warned. "Mark!"

  As countdown timer reached zero, the screen lit up, showing chaos that dissolved to show normal space. Keestu gasped in appreciation at the beauty of the Autocracy's star cluster, noting a few hot white and blue stars scattered like bright gems among numerous yellow-gold suns, many of which harbored the livable planets that comprised the worlds of the Autocracy. Bright green and white gas clouds surrounded several of the white and blue stars on the left of Keestu's view, and she saw a red and blue gaseous nebula on the right side of the cluster.

  "Look at that," Rue breathed in awe.

  "It's amazing," Keestu murmured back. "I've never seen anything like it in the Union."

  Vahin spoke, but his voice, too, was low. "The suns of the Union aren't crowded as close together. Even if any of the planets here don't have moons, their night skies must be spectacular. I spoke to an astronomer at home who said that the white and blue stars at the left of the cluster were part a younger star cluster that was drawn by gravity into an older cluster after its formation, and some of them collided with stars born in the older section of the cluster, forming the gas clouds and the nebula."

  "Since there are known negative effects of such intense radiation and bombardment as were caused in the Autocracy cluster during its collision phase, the civilizations we know in the Autocracy had to have migrated there sometime after the two clusters merged. The Autocracy itself acknowledges that humans came to settle the cluster, though the when and why have been lost to them except for the legends about all human planets being colonized by people associated with Rentham."

  Instead of the ping of a buoy, they were greeted with a mechanical-sounding voice recording. "You have reached Autocracy space and are headed directly at Autocracy Station. Remain on your current heading until a live operator detects your presence and follow their instructions to insure safe docking. Enjoy your visi
t."

  The recording switched to a guttural language that Keestu didn't recognize. "Eno gai Autocracy arogra sidra ein Autocracy yisan. Dresam azro taraka ola druon eno ein sakalgri. Ezda oni eno cha."

  The electronic voice switched to a third language. "Tiperil én Autocracy tormaht. Shala tópan bet manan cána lókena min én nalú. Rinya manan yuvancó."

  "We've gone inertial," Paxi announced. "Holding steady on present course until contact with Autocracy Station."

  "All stations are free to move about the ship," the com officer announced. "However, keep a hand on the rails in the event we need to make any unexpected maneuvers."

  Keestu wondered what the two additional languages were and belatedly thought of her translator cuff. Since they were free to move about the ship, she hurried back to her cabin and fetched both her cuff and Rue's, keeping one hand on the safety rail as she went.

  Returning to the bridge, she belted in again and handed Rue her cuff.

  "Oh!" Rue said, "I forgot all about my cuff."

  "Me, too," Keestu admitted. "But I want to know what those two other languages are. Are they two of the Autocracy's standard languages, or not? They didn't sound anything alike to me."

  Vahin frowned. "I am not sure," he admitted. "I assumed they were, but you are right, none of the words seemed similar."

  Keestu turned her translator on and waited. Several minutes later, they reached another buoy, and the messages repeated.

  Her screen lit up, and she read the information out loud for everyone to hear. "The second language is Triker! Wow, strange translation. It reads: 'You in Autocracy territory going to Autocracy nest/station/building. Continue and human will lead/guide you to dock. Success in your hunt.'"

  "Apparently, the translation program is incomplete," Vahin commented. "Because that sounds terribly rude, and several particles of speech appear to be missing."

  "The third is Rillul," Keestu said, intrigued. "Their translation is a bit more polite. 'Welcome to Autocracy station. Fly straight until your leader guides you to dock. Enjoy your visit.'"