The Tourney

by Juliet Sem

"Hancóna Cilóir," he reminded her.

  "The Rillul ship Plains Runner." Keestu, as she had been taught, keeping control of the situation. "Where is it berthed?"

  The leader of their escort murmured into his radio, waiting until a reply came back.

  "Some distance away."

  "Take us there."

  "Certainly, Sandarian," the man said, striding forward to lead the group.

  Since he was walking closer to Keestu and Tenget, her trainer kept any additional comments to himself. Seeing this, Keestu slowed her pace so that their leader pulled ahead. A glance behind showed that the rear guards had slowed; keeping the same careful distance they had since she started her run. She noted with pleasure that it was a larger distance than they held when Rue was present.

  Their walk was fast, but not too urgent, and Keestu looked at the Rillul again. He gave her another brilliant and grateful smile, and she couldn't help but smile in return.

  "What is your name?" "Neb zhé manan óroca?"

  "Sirin. Manan?"

  "Keestu," she told him, without waiting for the cuff's translation or thinking about it.

  "Keestu," he breathed in the lilting accent of his kind, and to her the name had never sounded sweeter.

  Tenget groaned. "I think you just blew your cover."

  "Oh paj," Keestu swore. "Sirin, I hide here. The Autocracy thinks my name is Rue," she quickly explained to him.

  Fortunately, the translator cuff's volume wasn't that loud, and none of their escort had heard her, for none of the guards reacted to her admission or the cuff's translation. Tenget muttered under his breath after looking around, "You may be lucky this time, but you have to remember your cover. Please think before you speak next time."

  "Yes," Keestu agreed. "Sorry about that."

  She was, startled when a few moments later, Sirin took her hand. She let him hold it, meaning to reassure him of his safety, but her heart started racing in her chest. His hand was warm, his grip sure but not too hard, and Keestu, thrilled by his continued intent regard, didn't protest. When she happened to glance at Tenget, his eyebrows were raised in surprise, but to his credit he said nothing. After all, no one else with her knew she was a crown princess, and she hadn't told her title to this wayward Rillul, only her true name.

  To Keestu it seemed like an eternity and yet only a few minutes before their guard led them to a Rillul berth. The station was just now starting its day, and Keestu became aware of other beings moving around her. She had been so taken by this Rillul that she hadn't paid any attention to where they were going.

  The Hancóna Cilóir had been messaged, and a contingent of Rillul waited them for them on the dock.

  "The captain wishes to speak with you," her cuff told her after the Rillul greeted her politely. Sirin, still holding her hand, tugged on it urgently. When Tenget and the Autocracy contingent made to follow her aboard, the Rillul held up his hand. "Only the rescuer, please."

  "I suppose I'll be safe enough going aboard by myself, Tenget," Keestu told him. "You and station control already know I'm going in."

  "Wait out here," she told the Autocracy guards, who took up positions around the boarding tube.

  Allowing Sirin to pull her into the boarding tube, she found herself in her first alien ship. It was nothing like she expected. The chamber she found herself in was filled with a variety of plants.

  The Rillul who had greeted her took her on a slightly winding path to a bench bolted to the floor. On the bench sat a much older woman, but judging by the way everyone deferred to her, Keestu realized she must be the captain.

  She reluctantly freed her hand from Sirin, who went immediately to the woman, murmuring so low and fast that her cuff failed to give her a translation. She did, however, hear him say "Triker" several times.

  The woman looked up with consternation on her features, and finally cut off Sirin's explanation with a wave of her hand.

  The woman stood and came over to Keestu. She was slightly stooped with age, but was just as thin as the rest of the Rillul Keestu had seen. Her eyes were a soft gray, and her hair was white.

  Keestu started to sketch her a formal bow, when the woman suddenly reached out and seized her hands, squeezing them gratefully.

  "Nolë min," she said, her voice fervent.

  "Thank you," the cuff said. The woman, meanwhile, went on speaking, and Keestu concentrated on hearing the translation. "If my grandson had gone missing, it would bode ill for my ship; if there is no heir to a ship, it is retired from service. After a horrible accident recently claimed all other possible heirs, Sirin has found himself in a position he never imagined would be his. He did not know the dangers of going out alone, having never encountered the Triker before. The Hancóna Cilóir owes you a huge debt, Keestu. Sirin is sorry he hasn't yet learned Unity so he can say it in your own language, as am I, since we are new to our positions. We understand you are a visitor here and therefore must be from the Union."

  Keestu smiled at the captain. "You are most welcome, Captain. The Autocracy told me of the problems that can be associated with Rillul being too close to the Triker ship berths, and I'm happy I could help." She paused so the cuff could translate.

  "I hope we will find a way to repay our debt to you someday," the captain said.

  "Thank you," Keestu said, touched. "But, that's not necessary. My people believe that taking right action is its own reward."

  Sirin came off the bench, sensing that Keestu was ready to leave. He gently cupped her face in his warm hands and leaned in closely to stare intently into her eyes once more. "Nolë min, ungalas dala." He kept his hands on her cheeks, and Keestu breathed in deeply, trying to identify the slightly spicy scent coming from his skin, wondering if it was natural or if it came from soap made on Rillul.

  "Thank you, dark beauty," the cuff said. The translation made Keestu blush as her heart rate rose in response to the heartfelt thank you and compliment as well as his touch.

  "You're welcome, Sirin," she managed to say after a few moments lost in his intense regard.

  Meanwhile, the captain was frowning at him. "Dó jin, Sirin!"

  "Stop that, Sirin!"

  Sirin reluctantly released her and stepped back, his hands stroking along her cheeks in a manner that sent another flush of excitement through her, before finally stepping back beside his grandmother, who said in dismissal. "Thank you again for bringing him back to our ship. I would offer more hospitality, but we have been assigned our exit window and must leave immediately. We wish you a pleasant stay in the Autocracy." She gestured for Keestu's guide to escort her off the ship.

  She bowed formally to them, as one of lower rank would be expected to do before turning to leave, as the captain and Sirin turned away.

  She was still reeling slightly from the intensity of Sirin's regard as she left the ship and stammered her thanks to the Rillul who'd guided her. He gave her a bemused smile and formal bow of his own before returning to the Hancóna Cilóir.

  Tenget took one look at Keestu's face and was instantly at her side. "You're flushed. What happened?"

  "Nothing untoward, Tenget," Keestu said, smiling reassuringly at her trainer. "Just a very gracious personal thank you from the captain and Sirin. Apparently, he's heir to the ship, and if anything had happened to him, the ship would have been retired from service."

  "Really? I didn't know that about the Rillul."

  "The captain said that an accident recently made Sirin the ship's heir. His grandmother said that's why neither of them speak Unity--she never expected to be captain of the ship, and he was not expected to become the heir."

  Their Autocracy guide stepped up.

  "The Triker have been dealt with," he informed them without preamble or further explanation. "We can now return you to your ship without any fear of reprisals. We can go the way we came or we can continue with your exercise session."

  Her pride piqued at his condescending tone, Keestu opted for the latter. "I had planned on a longer run, and now that
we are this far around the station, I might as well complete the circuit."

  She nodded for him to show the way, and he pointed and motioned for her to precede him. Keestu tilted her head at Tenget, and they resumed their jog.

  More of the station was awake now, and Keestu found that she had to swerve to avoid groups of beings who were loading or unloading ships.

  "Tenget, what do you think will happen when Prince Dinus finds out what I've done?"

  "The only advice I have regarding what's happened on this run is that you report your encounter with the Triker and Rillul to the Jewel's captain and let him pass the information on to Autocracy Station. You should also tell your father in your next message that command of at least some Rillul ships is passed down through families."

  Keestu nodded, falling silent once more. She wasn't anywhere near winded on this run, as she was concentrating on maintaining a steady rhythm that ate the kilometers up.

  Nearly two hours after she had started her run, Keestu passed through a set of emergency doors and found herself back in the section that housed her ship.

  Keestu dropped to a walk and used the remainder of the distance for her cool down.

  She thought she noted a greater respect from the group of Autocracy guards accompanying her, who all nodded at her as they moved aside so she could enter the access tube connected to her ship.

  Keestu boarded as quickly as possible, sighing with relief as the lock hissed shut behind her; she still didn't trust the fragile feeling tube to maintain its integrity.

  Vahin did not greet her in the airlock as she expected he would. She wondered whether the Autocracy guard had reported the incident to the crew of the Jewel. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then informed Tenget, "I think we'd best keep the incident quiet. I don't like the attitude Vahin has been displaying to me lately, and as the situation is already settled, I see no reason to give him an excuse to gripe to me about imagined breaches of protocol."

  Tenget considered her instructions for only moments before nodding assent. "As you wish, Your Highness. I will, however, report it to King Ismer," he warned her.

  "As will I," Keestu said. "I don't think I've made an enemy of the Triker, but I think we may have a new ally in the Rillul. I imagine they have some goods they'd like to share with us, especially after seeing Weegai's fish recommended for them on the menu of The Happy Crewman."

  They were at their quarters, and Keestu nodded to Tenget in dismissal as she hit the chime to give Rue warning that she was about to enter, and then palmed the door open. Rue, however, wasn't inside. Keestu noted that their bags had moved near the door of the cabin.

  Leaving her quarters, Keestu went to the bridge. Captain Nebo was standing at the com station, nodding to acknowledge her entrance, then turned his attention back to the boards while speaking quietly with the com officer. Rue was not on the bridge.

  Keestu checked the galley next. Rue was not there, either. She buzzed at the quarters Gontu, Tenget, and Vahin were sharing. Tenget opened the door after a short delay, and Keestu noted that he had already showered and redressed, though he was still toweling his hair as he answered. "Yes, Princess?"

  "I was wondering if you'd seen Rue or Vahin. I didn't see them on the bridge or in the galley."

  "No. For that matter, Gontu is also absent. Did you ask Captain Nebo where they were?"

  "No, he was busy. I suppose I should just get my shower in while I have the time since the Autocracy ship may ready for us if they are gone."

  Keestu returned to her cabin and took a better look around. She found Rue had laid out an outfit for her, perhaps with Vahin's assistance. She showered as quickly as she could and dressed in it without hesitation. It was a plain black pantsuit paired with a white blouse. Keestu thought it looked very plain without the lace jabot and cuffs she usually wore with this outfit.

  She dried and styled her hair, taming the natural curliness she'd inherited from her father with difficulty; the small shipboard hair dryer really didn't have the heat Keestu preferred to apply to the unruly mass to keep it looking presentable for the longest period of time. She quickly pinned it all up into a large bun, and then added her lady's headdress, adjusting it several times until she was certain the single tassel was as centered as she could make it.

  She was packing her brushes when the door chimed, and Rue entered a few moments later.

  "There you are," Keestu smiled. "Out with Prince Dinus?"

  Rue blushed. "Yes. He wanted to inquire about our translator cuffs. We didn't have any extras to give the Autocracy, but Vahin had some schematics that Uriel provided in case the Autocracy was interested in them. Prince Dinus thinks it would make trade easier in the more remote regions of the Autocracy where the dialectal variations are most common, despite the fact that he said that everyone learns one of the three main dialects at least as a second language."

  "Hmm, so there may be more factions within the Autocracy itself than we realized," Keestu murmured. "Interesting. I wonder if it would harm trade if our cuffs don't have the dialect programmed for a backwater ruler should he or she win the tourney?"

  "I didn't even think of that. Vahin knew enough about the cuffs to know that a single cuff doesn't have enough memory to hold information on all the dialects. However, with a few changes in design, memory chips could be used to load new ones and overwrite certain areas of memory, of course leaving the language translated to and from intact. However, I think it should be possible to overwrite that as well in case the cuff is sold to someone who speaks a different dialect than the original owner."

  "So have we given the schematics to Prince Dinus, then?"

  "Yes, as a goodwill gesture on the Union's part. Vahin agreed that it would show that we want everyone in the Autocracy to be on equal footing with us whether they speak Unity or not."

  "Is the Autocracy ship here?"

  "I was told it is on final approach and should be docking soon. The escort is waiting outside with a transport to carry us and our baggage to their ship in one large load."

  "Sounds good," Keestu said, standing. "I have some things to tell my father, so I guess I better do it really quickly before we leave."

  "I can leave if you need."

  "No, you should hear this, Rue. Something interesting happened on station, and as your handmaiden I would be honor bound to tell you about it."

  Keestu got into her luggage as she spoke, pulling out a capsule, data chip, and the recorder.

  "Hi father and mother, it's Keestu. I'm ready to leave Sandar's Jewel and board the Autocracy vessel for the remainder of my journey to their capital. But, I wanted you to know this as soon as possible: I went on a long run this morning, and I ran into a group of Triker menacing a Rillul. I interfered with the Triker and rescued a young male Rillul, whom I think is close to my age. I had my Autocracy guards help me escort him back to his ship, which is named Hancóna Cilóir, the Plains Runner. It turns out that the Rillul, Sirin, is heir to his ship; apparently, the captaincy of Rillul ships is handed down to a single genetic line. Sirin's ship would have been forced to retire from service had he gone permanently missing, since his grandmother mentioned an accident had recently killed everyone else eligible to take command. She had come out of retirement to take over the ship for a time, possibly until Sirin reaches his majority. I don't believe the Triker know who I am, but I did slip up and tell Sirin my real name. However, I did not mention my rank or planet of origin, and fortunately the Autocracy guards with us were far enough away that they didn't hear me, so I don't believe my cover is blown. However, should you hear from a Rillul ship named the Hancóna Cilóir, I did assist in rescuing a young Rillul named Sirin. I better sign off now, as it's time to go. I'll send more messages to you at the required intervals. Hi to the sibs. Love Kee."

  Keestu turned off the recorder and slipped the chip into its security case. She sealed the tube, checked it, and hurried to give it to Captain Nebo before it was time to leave.

  Nebo was back at h
is own station, going over reports. He smiled when he noted the message tube.

  "I was just about ready to send out the latest reports. I'm sure the king will be happy to hear from you again, Princess."

  Keestu nodded. "Yes, there was some urgent business I had to tell him before I left, so he would not be caught unaware."

  At Nebo's concerned look, she quickly reassured him, "It's nothing sinister, just useful information, as there is a slim chance he will need to know it."

  "Of course, Princess," Nebo said, not asking for further explanation as he took the message capsule from her.

  "Meanwhile," Vahin's voice sounded animated as he entered the bridge with Gontu, "I think we are establishing a good rapport with our hosts. Prince Dinus certainly is gracious, and I find their manners quite compatible with ours. I am anticipating no problems with treaty negotiations, unless, of course, the favored competitor doesn't win the contest for the throne."

  "Ah, there you are, Princess," he said, bowing stiffly to her. "I trust your run was uneventful?"

  "If it wasn't, I'm sure you'd already know about it," Keestu said, unable to suppress a smile.

  Vahin, misreading her expression, beamed back. "Well, then if a princess disguised as a handmaiden can take a jog on Autocracy Station unmolested, it bodes well for any Union ships that may come to trade here. Unless the Triker and Rillul are exophobic in regards to the Chtawlikt or Shatopa," he amended, frowning briefly to himself.

  Keestu couldn't help herself, and realized a smile was pasted to her face as she remembered her encounter with Sirin. Gontu, alert to nuances in her behavior, tilted a questioning eyebrow at her, but she shook her head slightly in negation, and he subsided.

  "Our hosts are preparing to load our things onto their ship just after the midday meal. We are to go in a group to the restaurant of their choosing, and then we will be transferred to the Autocracy ship afterward. Prince Dinus' invitation was extended to the Jewel's crew, but I have already declined on our behalf."

  Captain Nebo nodded. "I would have countermanded your permission if you had accepted the invitation for my crew, Vahin. I have overriding orders from King Ismer to do as you suggest only if it leaves me with enough crew to fly the Jewel at a moment's notice."