“Aren’t we a war anymore?” Vicky asked, taking a sip. “This is delicious tea.”
“The proprietor of the Forward Lounge procured it,” Nelly sniffed. “Of course it’s delicious.”
“Want a sip?” Vicky offered, impishly.
“I assure you, if Kris and Jack rutting around has not tempted me to take on flesh and blood, tea and clotted cream haven’t a chance.”
“Nelly!” Kris half shouted.
Nelly didn’t answer Kris, but the entire table was laughing. Vicky and Bill spewed tea from their noses and were gasping for breath, grasping for napkins and still laughing.
“Nelly, I’m fingering the button.”
“Kris, I apologize,” Nelly quickly said. “I should not have shared your intimacy with anyone beyond you and Jack. Now, can I please stay and do what I do best, like finding ways out of the messes you get us into?”
The speed with which Nelly went from contrite supplicant to hard bargainer gave everyone whiplash, but Kris found herself taking a deep breath and bringing the room back to the matter at hand.
“Okay, my brain trust. Vicky has a mob. One might even call it a jungle. None of these people have any experience at give-and-take or at maintaining transparency while negotiating their way from A to Z. How do we help them get the skills they need, the practice with those skills, and, in the process, manage things so that they don’t kill each other? Or worse, slip out in the night to conduct their own negotiations with the Empress. We can still be stabbed in the back.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Vicky said.
“We had,” Al said. “You have the north side of the resort, cabins, and lodge. They have the south side. You share the swimming pool. I suggest you hire lifeguards from the local economy to assure those drowning are actually rescued and not loaded down with stone so the body won’t be found.”
“You make this sound like war,” Vicky said.
Bill moved to answer her. “I believe an ancient wise man back on Earth said, ‘Warfare is the continuation of diplomacy by other means.’ You must learn to consider diplomacy a continuation of war by more peaceful means. Both are ways of resolving your conflicts. Hopefully, diplomacy will have a lower body count.”
“So how do we do this?” Vicky asked.
Quite a few hours later, Vicky brought in several key representatives from her most important planets. Their talk went long into the night. Next morning, tents as well as a large pavilion were delivered to the resort grounds. Hired locals began to lay down floors, unroll rugs, and put up canvas.
That morning, Nelly also published the first issue of The Grand Duchess’s Imperial Gazette, recording for all to see just what had been going on in Kris’s quarters the day before. The paper included no videos but did have attached articles selected by Kris’s brain trust on how to get to yes with helpful hints on how not to kill anyone while doing it.
Nelly’s Gazette was downloaded over a thousand times. Apparently, Vicky’s allies weren’t the only ones interested. Quite a few people in Cuzco wanted to know what was going on, likely with hopes on how they might make some money on the visitors.
Ten of the Emperor’s advance team downloaded copies as well.
At least four of those were known to be in the Empress’s pocket.
Kris just shook her head when Nelly told her that. Then Nelly added that she and Jack had come up with their own idea of how to keep Kris safe in the negotiations. “A week ago, we sent off to Wardhaven for ten thousand tons of Smart MetalTM.”
“Isn’t that a bit much, Nelly?”
“Jack intends to present you your very own castle; outlandishly palatial with plenty of space and security every which way you look.”
Kris thought about that. “I still won’t take Ruth down there.”
“I’d never suggest it.”
Someone, likely King Ray or Mac, had assigned a Royal US courier ship to stand by at High Cuzco Station even before Kris’s squadron arrived. She’d wondered when it suddenly left. It must have made some fast jumps; the newly commissioned battlecruiser Dauntless soon showed up sporting quite a big bump around her middle.
She carried thirty thousand tons of Smart MetalTM for Kris and orders to join her squadron.
Riding as passengers on the Dauntless were quite a few architects and engineers. They messaged ahead from the jump some draft plans for a proposed castle. From the looks of it, it had to be based on the mad dreams of some insane prince from old Earth. Still, it was sure to impress.
Kris and Nelly made a few mods under Jack’s cautious eye and sent them back. Even as the Dauntless went into orbit, it spun off a lander that converted to a glider once it finished entry into Cuzco’s atmosphere and came to a dead stick landing in the parking lot next to the lodge, light as a feather.
Next morning, presto, the castle was ready for occupancy. Oh, and the Imperial Emperor and Empress had jumped into the system.
“That oversize barge was the Golden Empress last time we laid eyes on it,” Vicky snarked. “I guess under my father’s eye, even she has to admit that she’s not what she wants to be. At least not yet.”
“You want to come see my palace?” Kris asked Vicky.
“I’ve already seen pictures of it. It looks like a castle to me. That curtain wall around it is sure to keep the average assassin out.”
“Only the average one, you think.”
“My dear darling stepmum can afford to hire the best. After all, it’s only my father’s tax money,” came out with pure Imperial Grand Duchess hostility.
Despite her attitude, Vicky was only too eager to see Kris’s new digs. They took the beanstalk down with a company of Marines and most of the staff of the Forward Lounge. A heavily armed motorcade was already at the station to whisk them off to the forested hills above Machu Picchu. There, waiting for Kris, was an amazing sight.
A hill, just beyond the north edge of the lodge’s parking lot, had been cleared of trees to provide a spectacular view for the restaurant on its third floor. Now its view was of a fairy castle, complete with spiraling towers along a curtain wall.
“We’ll post sentries in the towers, but the real watch is the sensor suite,” Jack pointed out.
Their limo drove straight through the gate and up to a covered portico. Jack opened the door for Kris and Vicky, and the Royal Wardhaven Princess led the Imperial Grand Duchess through huge double doors that appeared to be heavy oak but swung open as if they weighed nothing.
“The magic of Smart Metal,” was all Kris had to say to get an awed “Wow” from Vicky.
The massive foyer showed a plush red carpet underfoot. The walls were a bright cream satin wallpaper with gold and silver patterns running through it that somehow formed a vision of fields and mountains. Lit sconces added a soft glow. Overhead, a vast crystal chandelier sent dancing rainbows around the room.
“The Empress is going to be so jealous of this,” Vicky said, her mouth hanging open. She shut it to grin at Kris. “And Dad won’t believe you did this.”
“Oh, he will,” Jack said. “You’ve seen how the Princess Royal could be decked out. So have they.”
“Oh, right.”
“There’s more,” Kris said. She pointed to the left. “Those three lovely arched doorways lead to a banquet room. To the right, you have three more doors and a ballroom. Diana told me that much of the work of a conference like this is done over drinks while socializing. We will be entertaining in something a lot fancier than a rustic dining room and great hall with the heads of horned animals hanging on the wall, don’t you think?”
“Very much,” Vicky said. “What’s up the spiral staircase? I can’t wait to see you and Jack make an entrance down it. I do hope that you brought a few ball gowns.”
“Hmm, that’s interesting,” Jack said with a loving leer. “A ball gown with miniature medals and all your
orders on it.”
“With the weight of all that, I’d be risking a wardrobe malfunction?” Kris said.
Jack gave Kris a hopeful look.
“Down, boy. Down,” Kris said, and changed the subject. “The staircase leads to the upper floors that are reserved for bedrooms and essential services, like the Marine barracks and nano defense center. If you try to go up the staircase but aren’t an authorized person, you will be warned at the first step. If you keep going, there are autocannons covering the stairs halfway up.”
“You really don’t want to go where you aren’t wanted,” Jack said.
“Kris, can I visit you for some girl time?”
“Have your computer talk to Nelly, and we’ll see about it.”
Vicky rolled her eyes but didn’t voice any objections.
“What’s through those four double doors beside the stairs?”
“Those lead to the Hall of Mirrors, where we’ll be meeting. Beyond that are the quarters for my brain trust and their people. Diana said they needed to be able to come and go freely. Jack swears they can.”
“But no one who doesn’t have their biometrics better try to follow them home. Again, I’ve got autocannons covering their entrances.”
“I’ve heard about a Hall of Mirrors somewhere,” Vicky said. “Wasn’t some war back on old Earth settled in such a hall?”
“I copied it though I’ve made it larger, and there’s more marble and fancy lighting to go with the mirrors,” Nelly said.
“You’ve got all this from thirty thousand tons of Smart Metal,” Vicky said, still in awe.
“Actually, we did it with twenty thousand tons,” Nelly reported.
“Only two-thirds of your metal? What will you do with the rest?” Vicky asked.
“We could make the castle walls higher and more intimidating,” Kris said, but she’d spotted the envious way Vicky eyed the castle. “Or we could loan you some to build your very your own castle.”
Vicky thought on it for a long moment, and then sadly shook her head. “I’ve got a very fancy pavilion on order. Huge. Big enough for a throne room, without a throne, just a receiving area. There’s enough space for me and my immediate team, and a third bay for a meeting room. I think it would be better if I didn’t look too Longknifeish.”
“I have to agree,” Nelly said. “I don’t think the brain trust would like you to give Vicky Smart Metal so obviously. However, Vicky, it might be nice if I slipped some of the Smart Metal between the threads of the canvas of your pavilion. Just enough to make its wall impervious to the usual cutting tools, bullets, or rockets. You know, that sort of stuff.”
“Could you do that, Nelly?”
“Of course I can do it. If I do it right, I can cover Admiral Waller’s pavilion as well as the St. Petersburg circus tent.”
“Circus tent?” Kris asked.
“There were only so many pavilions available,” Vicky said. “Mannie’s got his people in a tent they got from a local circus. It’s quite a big tent. They’re providing space for representatives from several of the planets in St. Petersburg’s immediate trading zone. Mannie says having all of them under one roof gives them plenty of time to get organized and try to present a common front.”
“If Mannie’s doing that, I suspect the other major planets will be doing the same if they’re smart,” Jack said.
“I think a lot of them learned from that little get-together of yours,” Vicky said. “We’ve spent the last two days getting our ducks in a row. We’re ready for the Empress when she gets here.”
“Nelly, see how far you can stretch the Smart Metal without spreading it too thin,” Kris said.
“I’m working on it with Sal,” Nelly said.
“One thing,” Vicky said. “Could you give me a Smart Metal bed? It’s either put up with a rental or buy one, and prices are though the roof.”
“I think I can do that,” Nelly said.
“Kris, do you plan to borrow any Smart Metal from the squadron’s ships?” Jack asked.
Kris thought on that for a long minute, then shook her head. “That is something I will not do. I don’t trust anyone here at the table not to slip a fleet in so they can get their own way. Vicky, I’m not looking at you, but can you honestly tell me that you have control of all the elements of your alliance?”
Now Vicky shook her head. “I’d like to think my people aren’t that dumb, but I can’t swear to it. As for the Empress, no way would I trust her. Not with so much as a bucket of sand on a long and sandy beach.”
“It was a good question, Jack, but I think you got the answer you expected.”
“I did. It was a question that needed raising and a policy that definitely needed to be made and locked in place.”
“Now, Vicky, why don’t you go check out your pavilion while Jack and I see just how decadent Nelly made our bedroom.”
“And bath, and parlor for receiving guests,” Nelly added.
“You two go have fun,” Vicky said.
“An Imperial Grand Duchess just told us to have fun,” Jack whispered to Kris as they mounted the stairs.
“Then we must follow the Imperial order.”
54
While the Imperial couple made their way to Cuzco at one gee, Kris put the time to good use. Each night, she gave a banquet that then adjourned to the ballroom for dancing and talk.
There was a lot more talking than dancing.
The day was filled with meetings followed by more bloody meetings. Jack insisted Kris not leave the castle, so most of the meetings were in her lovely, first-floor conference center.
Having a huge banquet hall, ballroom, and conference hall with breakout rooms for smaller discussions was impressive. Very impressive.
And very effective. Kris had everyone at her palace, getting them used to the palatial surroundings.
Kris even invited the Emperor’s advance team to the banquets, balls, and some of the conferences. Jack assured that they were heavily monitored by security, but it wasn’t nec- essary.
The Imperial advanced team was shunned like lepers by the delegates from the rebel alliance.
Kris eavesdropped on the Imperials’ small talk. The more they saw of her suddenly appearing castle, the more they were in awe of it.
Vicky’s brain trust did convene one negotiation session with the Imperials to adjust the venue for the formal meetings. They proposed that half still be held in the resort’s Great Hall but that the other half be in Kris’s Great Hall of Mirrors. Kris expected some objections, so she offered to give up all the rooms in the lodge.
The Imperial advanced team caved like bats.
“The Emperor may even prefer the better amenities of the Hall of Mirrors. Your chairs are a lot more comfortable.”
“The chairs adjust to the persons sitting in them,” Kris said.
“Yes,” the leader of the Imperial team said, leaning back in his chair and having it conform to his every move. “Can all the chairs give a massage?”
“Some can. Some won’t,” Kris said.
“I’d be willing to use my good offices to encourage the Emperor to meet here more often if you could arrange for him, the Empress, and me to always have massage chairs.”
“I think that can be assured,” Kris said. “A lot of the chairs can be massage chairs. It’s just if there are too many requests, the computer may not be able to meet demands.”
“Just so the Imperial couple and I get our rumps taken care of.”
“I can assure that,” Kris said.
NELLY, YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO MAKE THE CHAIRS QUIT WORKING FOR THE EMPRESS AND HER FAMILY WHENEVER THE MEETINGS GO LONG.
I’M SO GLAD YOU TOLD ME, KRIS. I INTENDED TO DO IT ANYWAY, BUT IT’S NICE TO HAVE PERMISSION.
The Emperor and Empress arrived at High Cuzco Station and immediately took the nex
t ferry down the elevator. Nelly reported that the entourage filled up the next four drop ferries and totally screwed up the change of shift. There were fistfights for places on the four o’clock ferry, and the overflow had to wait for the four thirty.
The problem, complete with video of the fistfights and swords being drawn with tired and irritated workers in the background, made the evening news and was repeated on the late-night news as well. The Emperor’s visit was not off to a good start as far as the people of Cuzco were concerned.
The Emperor wasn’t too happy, either. But it was the Empress’s reaction that warmed Kris’s heart. The Imperial couple was sharing the two best suites the lodge had to offer. They were large and comfortable, but, in keeping with the ambiance of the resort, quite rustic.
And they had a lovely view of Kris’s castle.
Kris knew exactly what the Imperials thought about their accommodations. She had a nano hovering just outside their window transmitting every shout and scream. In the end, the advanced man was banished to a small room on the top floor. The only reason he kept his head was because the prime minister suggested that he might be helpful if there were any questions about the ground rules Kris Longknife and Vicky had agreed to with him.
The man actually crawled from the Imperial presence on his hands and knees.
Kris waited a few minutes to allow the couple to get control of their rage before sending Major Henderson, dressed in formal blue and reds and with an honor guard, with an invitation to a reception and formal dinner Kris was throwing in honor of the Imperials present.
The Empress quickly spotted that the careful wording, “Imperials present,” could well mean both them and Grand Duchess Victoria.
That put her in another rage, but she could not vent it on a Royal US Marine. Before she might try, the Emperor dismissed Major Henderson with a promise that a response would come later.
When the Empress calmed down, they, with the second man from the advanced team, went down to see what facilities were available for proper Imperial entertainment.
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