by Lyn Gala
When Shan couldn’t come up with an explanation, Temar stood up and patted him on the leg. “Get some sleep, Shan. We can talk about it tomorrow, okay?”
That wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay. However, Shan blinked and Temar was gone, leaving Shan alone with his tangled thoughts. “Well, shit,” he muttered as he closed his eyes. That hadn’t gone well.
Chapter 22
ONE awkward morning with curious looks from Temar and one very awkward day with Ambassador Melton and Shan’s headache had grown to epic proportions. Melton had tried to link any sales to Livre joining the AFP, and he didn’t seem to understand why Shan might have doubts about that. Worse, he kept giving Natalie little looks, clearly encouraging her to try and convince him to go along with the program. The more Natalie talked, the more Shan started to wonder if she hadn’t manipulated him so he would trust her judgment.
Every time she urged him to consider the advantages of being a member planet, Shan could feel the sandrat eating his brain just behind his right eye. It didn’t help that Temar kept watching, his chin resting on his hand as he kept looking around with this wide-eyed confusion that made Shan feel two inches high.
He ate the food they brought during one break without tasting it, turning down the wine that appeared.
“I am not comfortable committing my planet to an alliance,” Shan said for about the hundredth time. He was starting to think Naite would have been a better ambassador. He would have ended the interminable debates with one well-placed fist, and then they could have all moved on.
“The border planets need to present a strong front. I know your people missed the war, but I understand that Officer Aral explained the horror of it to you last night.” Melton looked toward Natalie for confirmation.
“It was a horrible time,” Natalie agreed.
“I understand that.” Shan looked over to Temar for some sort of support.
“I think Ambassador Polli believes that we simply don’t know anyone well enough to make permanent friendships,” Temar said softly. Ambassador Melton gave him only a quick glance before turning back to Shan.
“We have the military strength to protect you from the Inner Alliance. They have control of Minga, right on your border, and they’d do a lot to get control of these sorts of resources. Their rules, their taxes, their intrusive beliefs are impossible to live under, and that’s what you’re risking.”
Shan took a deep breath. “Ambassador,” he said, “the people of Livre aren’t likely to support any alliance made quickly, and I can tell you this about my people… they don’t put up with anyone telling them what to do. If, as you suggest, the Planetary Alliance came to Livre and tried to tax the people, they’d find that no one on the planet owned more than one shirt and glass would vanish under the sands. We can be a rather disagreeable people when we’re pushed.”
Shan imagined someone from either alliance trying to tell Lilian what to do. Considering that the woman’s sons couldn’t handle her and her two daughters had both moved off the farm, telling people that they loved their mother but they would murder her in cold blood if they had to live with her any longer, it wouldn’t end well. And Naite wouldn’t even bother being polite while he suggested both sides shove their rules right up their backsides, only he’d use much more colorful language.
Ambassador Melton laughed. “I think I like your people. That is why we should be allies.”
“Ambassador Melton,” Natalie said in that ingratiating voice that Shan was starting to mistrust, “perhaps we need to move slowly. We could have a presence on the planet. Perhaps I could act as a local liaison and perhaps Livre could appoint a permanent ambassador to the AFP.”
Shan stared at the woman. Right now, all he wanted was to get off the ship without having to ever talk to these people again.
“If we established a trading office in Landing, we could start building the sort of relationship that would help Livre to come into the alliance.” Natalie turned and smiled at Shan before reaching over to brush her fingers over his arm. Shan blinked. Either she was seriously flirting with him or she was trying to buy a ticket out of the AFP, and at this point, Shan didn’t trust himself to know which was more likely. Looking over at Temar, he could see Temar watching Natalie’s hand with a small frown, and Shan yanked his arm away.
“I understand the need to move slow, but this is a major investment of water and resources. Ambassador Polli, you can see why we would want a long-term relationship in return for this kind of investment.”
“At this point, I’m not sure it’s fair to call this an investment as much as a trade. We have merchandise. We’ll trade for water, technology, and animals.” Shan tried to keep his face neutral, but it wasn’t easy with Natalie rolling her chair closer and Temar on the other side of the table watching with an intensity that suddenly looked more like Lilian Freeland than Shan wanted to think about. It was probably because they had the same fair skin and blue eyes, but Shan was starting to get that same uneasy feeling as when Lilian was unhappy with him.
Melton leaned back. “We can certainly deal with this as if it was a one-time trade, but that means you’re asking us to divert an ice-mining ship and a drop system for water when this might be a one-time deal. That’s an expensive proposition.”
Shan frowned. “Why would this be one time?”
Melton’s mouth hung open several seconds before he spoke. “I keep trying to offer you a long-term arrangement, and you continually turn it down.”
Shan shook his head. “No, you’re offering to have us in your alliance, which would limit us to working with you.”
“Would you rather work with the Inner Alliance?” he demanded, puffing up like George Young.
Shan didn’t have an answer, and he had the feeling he’d badly misspoken. “No, I’m sure we wouldn’t,” Shan said in his most soothing voice. The longer he was talking to these people, the more he realized that he liked machines much better than people.
“Ambassador Melton,” Temar said softly, “our people have a saying. They say that the truth is finer than sand.”
Melton frowned, looking from Shan to Temar in confusion as Temar seemed to gather his thoughts.
“If someone’s story doesn’t make sense, we’ll say that it doesn’t even hold stones, much less sand, and of course if truth is finer than sand, it runs through a much finer mesh. We aren’t saying we want to trade with someone else or even that we don’t want an alliance with you.”
Shan figured Temar could say that honestly, since he didn’t have all the information, but Shan didn’t interrupt as Temar seemed to talk their way out of the mess Shan had made. Melton was leaning back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him as he concentrated on Temar.
“We are suggesting,” Temar continued, “that we carry this bag for a while and see if it holds the truth. We’re a cautious people, and if we have to pay a little extra because of our caution, you can understand that, yes?”
Melton still looked concerned, but it was Natalie who spoke up.
“Coming from a world where local predators attack from under the sand without warning and where humans can be prey, this sort of caution is predictable. I like your saying, Ambassador Gazer. Truth is finer than sand.” She smiled at Temar, and the sandrat gnawing on Shan’s brain chewed a little harder.
“Ambassador Polli?” Melton asked.
Shan nodded. “Temar is right. I never meant to offend you, but my people are much too stubborn to accept any alliance quickly or easily. As Ambassador Gazer points out, they’ll want proof that the mesh is woven tightly enough to hold both sand and truth.”
Melton frowned as he glanced back down at the datapad with their latest numbers.
The current trade represented more wealth than Shan had seen in his life. The water wouldn’t be enough to finish terraforming the planet, but it was enough to make the current farms run for another seventy or eighty years. And this was one deal. Shan tried hard to not show any emotion. After all, he’d
listened to confession while people talked about adultery and fighting and cursing, and he’d gotten pretty good at keeping a straight face through it. He’d even gotten to the point where he could meet people on the street and not twitch as he remembered what they’d told him during their previous confession.
“The deal includes the optic glass samples?” he asked.
Shan looked over at Temar to see if he had any opinion on whether to try and push for more. He gazed back at Shan, his eyes flicking to Natalie, and Shan quickly looked away. “Those are samples. If you want to buy them, another thirty-three thousand gallons per sample would work.”
“Deal,” Melton said, far too quickly. The people of Livre would consider it a good trade, even if Melton would have paid a lot more, and from his tone, it seemed like he would. “We can stay here until the water ships have confirmed their first delivery, if you’d like, Ambassador Polli.”
Shan thought he would pretty much rather saw off his own leg that stay with these people longer than necessary, but he pasted on a smile. “We should start this with trust and assume the mesh will hold the truth. You can distribute our goods, and we are happy to return to Livre, announce the deal, and wait for the deliveries.”
Melton smiled so wide his whole face seemed to stretch in new directions. “We are going to be allies. Those of us out here on the border know the value of a handshake and a word. And I’m offering you mine. You’ll get the trade goods.” Standing up, he offered his hand, and Shan rose, shaking it solemnly. “Ambassador Gazer,” he said, offering his hand to Temar. Temar shook it, but that emotionless mask allowed only for a small, insincere smile. Shan had to talk to him, explain a few things before the trust between them eroded too much.
“Ambassador Melton, yesterday I was ill, forcing our tour to be cut short before Temar could see the waterfall. I simply have to allow him to see it, since it’s unlikely that either of us will have the chance again.”
“Of course, of course.” Melton was still all smiles, but his attention had turned to a datapad where he furiously typed—probably orders to send out the Livre goods. Then he looked up. “Ambassadors, you will have to join me some time on Loralei. The tropical jungles are magnificent, and I have a house built into the side of a cliff that overlooks the most magnificent waterfall. It plummets almost nine hundred meters to the lake below.”
That surprised Shan, since he’d gotten the feeling from Natalie that the border worlds had issues with poverty that meant that ships sometimes went unrepaired. “It sounds lovely,” he said. Right now, there was only one waterfall he cared about, and as amazing as it was to see water flow that way, it wasn’t the water he was interested in, per se.
“I can show them the way,” Natalie said. She stood up, and now they were all standing, so Shan inched backward toward the door.
“Of course. Thank you.” Melton had returned to his datapad, and Shan gave a quick nod and then turned and headed for the door. Temar was already there, watching with those sharp blue eyes, and Shan wondered how fast he was going to have to talk to explain this whole mess.
“This way,” Natalie said with a smile as she gestured toward the door. Shan headed out, unsurprised to see Rula waiting. “I do hope you don’t mind that I invited myself to your planet. Livre sounds beautiful, and I know that we can learn so much from each other.” Rula looked over her shoulder at Natalie before striding down the hall.
Shan had to assume she knew they wanted to visit the waterfall, and he followed. “No, I don’t mind at all, as long as you understand that Livre doesn’t have a lot of the… things you’re used to,” Shan warned. Either that, or he was promising that she wouldn’t encounter the same homophobia.
“I grew up in a war zone. Trust me, I know how to do without. I really should bring Rula, though. I’ll need an assistant, and as much as I trust your people, your world sounds rather dangerous. She’s rather good at taking care of herself.”
“I suspect you’re not bad at doing that for yourself,” Shan muttered. “You’re welcome to bring Rula. I assume it will just be the two of you? No offense, but I don’t think most Livre residents want an invasion of immigrants who don’t know how to walk the dunes without getting buried under them. It will take some teaching to keep you out of trouble.”
“I think the two of us can manage quite nicely,” Natalie said as she moved closer, walking so that their shoulders brushed against each other. Shan might not know much about flirting, but he did recognize the look she gave him as she ducked her head and watched through her lashes. He recognized it, but he really had no idea how to handle it. He stared ahead at Rula’s and Temar’s backs.
“Here we are,” Rula announced as they stopped in front of the double doors that led to the gardens.
“Great.” Shan moved forward so fast he brushed past Temar, only to turn and offer an apologetic look. Temar’s eyebrow went up, but he didn’t say anything as Rula opened the doors. The scent of flowers and wet earth rolled out of the room like a slow sandstorm that sluggishly moved the lazy sands. However, the desert never smelled anything like this. Now that Shan knew what the plants hid, he could pick out the rumble of the waterfall even from the door. He wondered what purpose they had in dropping water over those terraces, but he suspected it had more to do with water purification or maybe the life cycle of some species rather than having an attraction that people could enjoy. These people didn’t strike Shan as the sort that cared all that much about others’ enjoyment, not unless the people in question were high-ranking ambassadors.
Immediately, Shan started down the path, stopping when Temar paused to finger a delicate flower. “Temar?” Shan asked. Maybe it was his tone of voice, because Temar dropped his hand to his side and headed after Shan.
“Coming,” he offered cheerfully. Shan headed down the path, Temar and Natalie in tow. Now he needed to get rid of Natalie.
When they reached the section where the path turned from textured metal to the textured grate that allowed the falling water drops to escape through it, Shan turned and rested his hand on Natalie’s arm. “Could you check on the shipment, make sure that everything is loaded safely?” he shouted over the waterfall’s roar. They still had to follow another turn in the path to see it, so Shan wasn’t sure if this part of the path could be recorded or not.
“I’m sure they’ll be careful,” she shouted back, tiny drops of water gathering on her thick lashes. Her brown hair darkened with the moisture and she gave him a look that made it clear she did not want to leave his side.
“Please?” he asked, raising his voice. “I trust you to make sure that everything is done right. After they sent an old shuttle down to pick us up, I’m not sure I trust everyone here to understand how fragile glass can be.”
Natalie gave him a searching look, and then nodded. “I’ll leave a guide at the door to lead you to your quarters or to the dining hall when you’re done. Just let him know where you want to go.” She turned and gave Temar a nod before heading back the way they’d come. Shan wondered whether she needed Rula or if she didn’t trust them to keep her lover safe. Of course, from the way Natalie acted toward him, he was starting to question himself whether those two were truly lovers. Right now, though, he cared more about his own lover.
Chapter 23
“THE waterfall’s this way,” Shan said, which was obvious enough, but Temar smiled and started down the path. The second time around, the waterfall was equally impressive. Shan slowed as it came in sight, appreciating the sheer power of such a simple thing as water. “Running water,” Shan said reverently. Seeing it on vids could not match seeing it in reality.
Temar leaned close. “I’ve actually seen water run. Remember?”
Shan looked down, and Temar had an amused look on his face, even though the one time he’d seen running water had not been an amusing incident.
“I haven’t.” Shan leaned close so he wouldn’t have to shout. The water roared over the artificial rocks, and the cool wind flowing past them ac
tually carried drops of water. “I’m still awed by it.”
“It really is awe-inspiring,” Temar agreed. He leaned closer, and Shan looked across the open water to the walkway, where a man in a uniform watched them.
“I want to get a closer look. This water is amazing. I never thought I’d see open water like this.” Shan let his hand fall away, even though he wanted that contract. When Temar let him walk away without comment, Shan could feel his guts tighten. He walked to the edge of the water, where he could stand behind a plant larger than him. He was used to wisp grass and pipe traps and chokeweed. They were gray plants with tiny leaves that hid in the sands. Even growing up in the valley, the crops had thin leaves and small flowers. This thing had leaves larger than his head—fat, arrow-shaped dark-green leaves.
“It’s beautiful,” Temar offered as he came up behind Shan, but instead of touching Shan, he reached out to run his fingers along the edge of the plant’s leaf.
“I can explain,” Shan whispered. Hopefully the roar of the water would hide his words, because if Natalie was right, they were on dangerous territory.
“Explain what?” Temar whispered back.
“I’m not interested in Natalie, not like… not sexually,” Shan said, desperate to say that before someone could interrupt them. He couldn’t lose Temar over this. He couldn’t.
Temar frowned at him for a second. “I know that,” he finally said.
Shan opened his mouth, fully prepared to defend himself, and then it sank in that Temar wasn’t asking him to defend his actions. Temar said he believed him, and from the expression on his face, he didn’t have a shadow of doubt on that front. Shan was temporarily stunned into stillness.
“What I don’t know is why you’re acting like this,” Temar added.
“You don’t think… I mean… not that I’m interested in having sex with her, because I’m not, but you never thought I was?”