by Juliet Sem
Once back out in the station, their guide pointed out another amenity.
"Rillul need sunlight for health," he said, "So Autocracy station provides complimentary simulated sunlight booths for quarter hour sessions at a time. There are singles booths as well as multiple occupant booths. Throughout the Triker section are lockers with humidifier masks where they can get a complimentary refill at any time. If there is something any Union personnel need if they decide to trade here, the station would be happy to know what it is."
"That's very considerate," Rue commented, "But speaking for Sandar, I can't think of anything that crucial to our comfort at the moment. I will mention it in my report home, however."
Rue led them to a Rillul kiosk. She scanned the description of products with her cuff before entering. Keestu saw immediately that it was a clothing store. She saw intricately woven fiber sandals, and there was a lengthy description in Rillul beside them. She keyed up the optical character recognition program before scanning the writing. The translation told her that these were "made of 100% sacred vine fiber, but for the sake of safety and additional comfort on hard decks has had a synthetic sole added."
Seeing a table of products with a sign that had translations including Unity, she broke off from her group and wandered over, Tenget shadowing her. She saw net shopping bags with handles, which were touted as being lightweight enough to stuff in a pocket, but also expanded and were strong enough to carry half a kilo of Rillul red fruits.
She looked up when Tenget stepped forward, an interested expression on his face. He picked up a string object that was comprised of a single braided cord, which expanded into a split in the middle that had a bit of thinner netting between the thicker braided cords, and then rejoined to a single braided cord on the other end. One end was braided flat had a braided loop on the end; the other half was a rounded braid that had a large knot on the end.
"What is it, Tenget?"
"It's a sling. They are used to throw rocks to stun or kill food or enemies. I had no idea that slings were indigenous to Rillul," he murmured back. "Sandar has what looks to me to be the exact same design in the weapons museum. Its use was most popular in the warmer regions which had large herds of animals running across open plains that were too fast to catch, but it wasn't unheard of in the north, though they favored spears, spear throwers, and bows and arrows in their terrain."
Keestu turned back to the toys in surprise. If the designs were identical, it could be indicative of contact between their cultures in antiquity.
Tenget gave her a smile and subtly indicated that Rue looked ready to leave.
Keestu hurried back to her friend. "Sorry, Your Highness," she said. "The woven toy slings looked quite interesting, and my bodyguard was giving me more information on it."
"Do you think your younger brother might like such a toy?"
"Oh," Keestu said, realizing that Skomer, indeed, would be interested in the weapon, while Kang would be interested in the cultural aspects of sling use.
"I think I will buy two for him. You know how he likes to have one to use and one to keep in his collection."
Rue nodded, and Keestu hastily made her purchase, which consisted of her presenting her items to the merchant, and their escort providing the data chit for scanning without comment.
After visiting several more Autocracy kiosks, they headed back to Sandar's Jewel. "I must record a report for King Ismer," Rue explained to their guards. Their Autocracy guards declined to come aboard, choosing to lounge about the cargo area while Rue and her companions boarded.
"I think that went very well," Vahin said, stiffly formal. "I will go make my report to King Ismer. Princess, if you wish to include a private message, please record it soon for inclusion into the next capsule home."
Keestu nodded and went to her quarters, Rue tagging along. The door whooshed closed behind them, and Rue sighed. "That was not as hard as I was anticipating," she commented as she carefully removed her jacket and hung it up before sitting down on a bunk with another sigh.
"What is it?"
"I actually missed not having Prince Dinus there the entire time," Rue admitted.
Keestu couldn't help but smile. "I think you like him more than you know," she said gently to her friend. "I know when I met the former Kielra Senator, I had an instant crush on him. His soft voice with that amazing accent, and his dark brown eyes, wavy black hair, and that naturally bronze skin, well I was instantly smitten, but I was only eleven at the time, and going through a growth spurt, so I was the clumsiest I've ever been in my life. But he was quite kind to me while I was mooning over him."
"I hadn't joined the staff yet," Rue said, "What happened? I don't remember ever seeing him or hearing of him until now; and now the senator of Kielra is a woman."
"He got married and stepped down as Senator so that he could start a family with his wife," Keestu said. "I was heartbroken when I found he'd taken a position that allowed him to stay on Kielra full time. But then, I'd never told him I had a crush on him, so after a while it wasn't so hard anymore. I'm certain if he remembers me, it's just in passing, so my fumbles at the table are probably not something that stuck in his mind." Keestu frowned, "Then again, they could be the only thing he remembers about me--the klutzy heir to Sandar!"
Rue laughed, as Keestu had intended. Keestu had taken off her own jacket and rooted around for a data chip, finally finding the container in a side pocket on her bag along with a large number of secure cases. She pulled out a hand-held recorder.
"Do you want to make a report to my father?" Keestu asked her friend. "It's not necessary, but I think he'd like to hear your take on the proceedings here."
"Not at this time," Rue said. "I think I'd like to just go get a cup of javene, give you some privacy. Unless you'd like me to bring you back a cup?"
"No, thanks," Keestu said.
"I'll be off then," Rue said.
After the door closed behind her, Keestu inserted the blank chip into the recorder and turned it on.
"Hello, father and mother," Keestu said, "We have arrived at Autocracy Station and have taken our first tour. It's an entirely different layout than the Hub, but there are similarities in that certain areas are reserved for storage of goods and there is also clustering of restaurants near the hotels. One strange thing is that the Triker use simian animal labor for loading and unloading and moving of cargo. They also require portable humidifiers to keep from drying out too much on station, which the station provides free of charge. The Rillul need sunlight, and simulated sunlight stations are provided for them free of charge. Both the humans and Rillul use operator run electric equipment to help them move goods about the station--only the Triker use animal labor. The escort provided by Prince Dinus said that Autocracy Station would provide any necessities for maintaining health similar to those of the Triker and Rillul if required for Union personnel. Rue left it open in case either the Shatopa or Chtawlikt require something we are unaware of. We ate at a restaurant that caters to all species, and while they seat the Triker in a separate section, the human and Rillul tables were mixed together. It appears that most of the food the Rillul eat is higher in fat and sugar than what is recommended for humans, but there are many crossover dishes and others have been modified for either human or Rillul digestion depending on origin. The datapad menus are very intuitive to use and offer Autocracy, Unity, Triker, and Rillul languages and scripts for easy reading. Our waitress was quite fluent in Unity, so the translator cuff was unnecessary. I did use it to speak briefly with a human waiting on the Triker as he didn't speak Unity or a dialect of the Autocracy that my cuff could reliably translate. I asked, and our waitress is actually trilingual, speaking her native form of Autocracy, Unity, and the main dialect of Rillul. I was told that many on the station use Unity to communicate with the Rillul as a neutral trade language; so, I anticipate few problems with the average trader coming here. They use barter for transactions, but all I saw offered for payment was a data chip, so I can't
tell you what was bartered for either our meal or a small purchase we made at a Rillul kiosk.
"As a side note, mother, I finally saw some Autocracy females. They dress just like the males. I found it odd to see that many of the higher-ranking nobles on station looked recently beaten--I saw several with black eyes and broken noses, and a few were limping as well. I don't recall seeing any Autocracy commoners, unless those wearing the secondary colors as their main color are commoners and/or servants of the nobles. Oh, and something important to remember is that the Triker and Rillul cannot have their ships berthed next to one another. The Autocracy guide didn't elaborate, just said that the Triker get aggressive if their ships are next to the Rillul, though I saw no signs of aggression between the species anywhere else on station. So they are only segregated by race on the landing platforms. The Triker from the ship next to ours completely ignored us, so it's not the shape of our humanoid bodies that cause this reaction. I think that covers everything for now, except to say please remind me to talk to you about Vahin on my return. Say hi to everyone for me. Love Kee."
She listened to the playback of her recording before pulling the chip out of the hand-held recorder. She put it in a capsule and activated the security seal. "Voice key and keyword required for opening," was displayed on the screen. "This message will automatically erase if tampering is detected." No one other than the king and queen would have access to her message, and even if someone had recordings of both their voices, they would have only one chance to find the right keyword.
She went to the bridge, finding Vahin at an empty console, having just finished his own report. She handed her sealed message capsule to him without comment and went to change. She was too keyed up to sit still, and figured some time on the ship's treadmill would help her burn off the nervous energy she felt, so she headed back to her cabin to change.
Chapter eleven
The next two days on Autocracy station passed without incident. Rue had recommended they visit a Triker kiosk, which sold several types of meats recommended for humans and the Rillul, and dozens of vegetables and fruits as well. They didn't leave the Jewel to check out the nightlife on station other than a single short excursion to see what entertainment was offered. They found the usual: Spacer bars, dance halls, live entertainment venues, and gambling dens, all of which were a lot more raucous than was proper for the heir of Sandar to stay and experience, so with regret they had to decline staying in any of the places they'd visited, though other members of the Jewel's crew went out and enjoyed those activities in pairs on their own time.
Their third day, they woke to a message from Prince Dinus stating that the Autocracy vessel assigned to carry them was due to arrive just before midday, and the transfer of Princess Keestu and her personnel to Autocracy care would take place after the midday meal. Keestu, awake early and restless from her confinement, had convinced Tenget since she was traveling as a handmaiden that she would be perfectly safe taking a jog around the station. She didn't inform Vahin of her intention to go on her run outside the vessel, hoping she was nipping his overbearing manner in the bud since it seemed he would be only too happy to try and deny her his "permission".
She and Tenget stretched before leaving the Jewel, finding that the daytime guard contingent hadn't arrived yet. However, the night supervisor came up and afforded her a stiff bow, which she and Tenget solemnly returned.
"What is your pleasure, Sandarian?"
"I and must keep up my physical fitness, and I therefore require an escort while I go on my morning run," Keestu purposely maintained a formal decorum.
"Certainly, Sandarian." The unnamed man motioned to several of the guards who stepped up and listened while he instructed them in one of the Autocracy's languages.
Keestu noted that those who were to accompany them looked marginally younger than the others and looked quite fit, and Keestu thought that they should be easily able to keep up with the pace she was accustomed to running.
Since the outer ring of the station was twenty kilometers around, Keestu planned a longer run, choosing to work her way through the Triker section and turning around when she saw signs of the next set of Autocracy berths separating them from some Rillul berths. She had checked a station map and judged the distance to the Autocracy ships and back to be an adequate workout. She started with her warm up pace, Tenget keeping her silent company. Keestu found she liked the cooler air of the station and the quiet of the night cycle; there was little activity at this time. With the station lights dimmed, it was much like running at dawn or dusk at home, so Keestu quickly settled into a rhythm, occupying herself by counting emergency doors.
They arrived at the Autocracy berths, and Keestu was about to turn around, when she spied a group of Triker clustered just beyond the set of emergency doors that separated where Triker were berthed from some Autocracy ships. Their attitude was one of obvious aggression, so Keestu stopped. Tenget gave her a questioning look, and she pointed, turning his attention to the activity beyond.
Spying a Rillul male, Keestu's breath caught in her throat. Several Triker had surrounded him and were slowly closing in, teeth bared. Looking around wildly, Keestu didn't see any other Autocracy humans or Rillul in the area.
Not stopping to consider consequences, she thumbed on her translator cuff, set it to translate Unity to Triker, and hurried over.
"What's going on here?" She called it into her cuff, which quickly snarled out her question.
As one, the Triker wheeled toward her, and Keestu stopped her forward motion, keeping a larger distance from them than she had originally intended, for while Triker faces didn't show much emotion, their multiple rows of bared teeth made her realize that this was as she had feared, a very tense situation. Behind her, she heard urgent murmuring in one of the Autocracy tongues and sincerely hoped that it was her escort calling for back up, for they were outnumbered two to one by the Triker.
However, upon seeing the clothing of her escort, most of the Triker snapped their mouths closed. Their leader grumbled a reply, which her cuff translated as, "The green egg-sucker invades. We defend our nest."
Keestu glanced in surprise at the Rillul, and then took a second longer look. He was quite handsome to her human tastes despite his green skin. He had an interesting shade of slightly reddish mustard blond hair and green eyes, which were wide with anxiety. She noted instantly his eyes were an intense shade of bright medium green, standing out in his paler green face. She stopped short, surprised at how intently he was regarding her in return. Yes, there was a frantic appeal for help in them, but Keestu thought he seemed as taken by her appearance as she was of him. Everything else around her faded in that moment, and she felt a sudden surge of kinship and affection for him, though she didn't even know his name. After a moment of startled staring, she switched her cuff to Rillul.
"What are you doing here?" She maintained an aggressive posture for the sake of the Triker while her cuff gave the translation. There was a lilt to it, and the softness of many of the words was pleasing to hear.
The Rillul started, then gave her a brilliant smile before replying, "Ta serulyë. Tan nart zhé ón Hancóna Cilóir."
"I'm lost. My ship is the Plains Runner," the translator told her.
Keestu switched back to Triker, and taking advantage of their hesitation and respect for the guards with her, issued orders rather than a request, knowing instinctively that asking to be allowed to take this stranger away would result in refusal on the part of the Triker and would lead to an escalation in the confrontation. "He is lost; this is not an invasion. We will remove him from your nest." The translator grumbled out her reply, and the lead Triker's mouth finally closed on his teeth in a curt snap that put Keestu in mind of the Senator of Chtawlikt, but unlike the Senator, who would never have backed off, the Triker leader moved aside, opening the way between Keestu and the Rillul.
Keestu motioned the Rillul to her side, and he complied with alacrity while she switched the cuff back to Rillul. Placing a
hand on his shoulder as a show of strength, she could only note how natural it was for her to touch this young man. His own face relaxed into one of puzzled relief, while at the same time, his eyes rapidly took in every detail of her face as he smiled at her again.
Trying not to melt in response to the warmth in his look, Keestu said, "Let's go." She let go of him and turned, expecting him to walk behind her, but he hurried so that he was walking beside her.
Behind her, she heard what sounded like complaints in Triker, but trusting her Autocracy guards to have her back, she ignored them, though she kept an ear that way for sounds of pursuit.
Coming up beside her on her other side, Tenget muttered softly, "Interfering with the Triker may have been a mistake."
"Preventing an interspecies incident that could cause long-term trouble for the station? I don't think I made a mistake, Tenget."
"But it could make trouble for Sandar if the Triker should find out who you are."
"Since I'm accompanied by Autocracy guards, they only know that I'm a human of some standing in the Autocracy."
Her cuff picked up their conversation and translated it into Rillul for their rescued companion who couldn't hope to understand the veiled reference to who Keestu was. He, however, remained silent next to her, asking no questions of his rescuers.
After they hurried through the next set of emergency doors, Keestu finally stopped. She turned to her Autocracy escort, whose leader was still muttering into a com device and gave him a haughty look, causing him to cease speaking and straighten up, waiting for her next order.
"We will escort this Rillul back to his ship." The translator murmured in Rillul, and the Rillul lifted his face to hers, his luminous eyes glowing with relief and gratitude.