Diplomatic Recruit: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Empress' Spy Book 1)

by S. E. Weir

  ADAM had corrected Phina and said that “artificial entity” was more accurate than “artificial intelligence.” She’d frowned and told ADAM that AE just didn’t sound right, so he was stuck with the term.

  Phina had explained that the contact Alina had received from Mal, the famous fashion designer, had originated with ADAM.

  Alina gasped, and Phina winced at the screech when she spoke. “Really? Oh, ADAM, thank you so much!”

  Alina stood up and danced around the room while moving her arms everywhere in excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!”

  Phina smiled as she watched her friend’s joy. “See, ADAM? Friend for life!”

  Speaking privately through her implant, he sounded amused as he responded. >>Yes, I do see.<< Through the speaker, he asked, “Alina, what sort of fashion are you interested in?”

  “I just love all of it!” She gushed about various designers and styles for some time. Phina was surprised ADAM followed along with her friend without any hesitation, knowing styles and brands and asking her for her opinion often. Phina was lost. She sat back, bemused and delighted about two people she liked enjoying getting to know each other.

  “Now, Alina, what are your thoughts on shoes?”

  Shaking her head with a smile, Phina noticed that Alina’s eyes sparkled with pleasure. It was one of her favorite topics. She pushed up from the couch and made dinner for the two humans among them, enjoying the rest of the night with her friends.

  As she fell asleep that night, Phina thought that even if the Diplomatic Institute bombed out for her, having Alina and ADAM in her life made everything worthwhile.

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Diplomatic Institute

  Two mornings later, Phina headed for her first day of class. She had felt like she’d moved from getting her butt kicked repeatedly to only getting her butt kicked most of the time in her morning session with Maxim. She strode toward the coordinates Anna Elizabeth had sent to her tablet a week ago, feeling a little nervous. Phina didn’t know what to expect, but she felt ready for anything.

  After finally finding the right door, she walked through the entrance to the Institute and stopped when she saw the massive number of people inside. For a moment, she seriously contemplated walking out, but she took a deep breath and slowly wove through the crowd while trying to avoid running into people.

  “Excuse me. Pardon me.”

  Humans and Yollins mainly comprised the crowd around her, but occasionally she saw a Karillian, a Torcellan, or…actually, she didn’t know what that alien was called. She tilted her head as she studied the being who looked almost human but was hairless and had something strange going on with its eyes.

  When she saw the alien noticed her attention, she averted her gaze and moved to what she thought might be the office door. She squeezed by a few humans and a Yollin who were talking together and peeked through a doorway just as Anna Elizabeth walked out. Phina backed up a step to give the beautiful woman space as Anna smiled in welcome.

  “Great, you’re here, Phina. I’m happy to see you.” Anna’s warm eyes sharpened as they turned to the students lounging in the room. Raising her voice, she beckoned them forward. “Please follow me, everyone. We will find somewhere more comfortable to chat.”

  Phina followed the masses into a larger room off a hallway. As people found seats in the short rows, she realized there weren’t that many people in the room; it had just felt that way since they were all pressed together. She sat in a chair at the back and counted, estimating around forty people.

  Anna Elizabeth stood smiling at the front of the room, silent until the buzz of whispers and movement died down. “Welcome to the second year of the newly revitalized Diplomatic Institute, version 2.0. We are pleased you have joined us. The Diplomatic Institute is in the business of developing the finest diplomats in the universe. You should try your very best to learn the material and work hard. You will learn serious skills and knowledge in a number of topics. It’s strenuous but very rewarding. It’s possible that up to half of you will drop out or fail the year. However, that will depend on you. If you work hard and learn everything you possibly can, then you will most likely pass. You should now be receiving your copy of the school manual if you are new this year.”

  Sure enough, Phina felt the buzz from her tablet, notifying her of a message. She pulled her tablet out and accessed the manual. Her ears tuned out Anna Elizabeth briefly as she read the mission and vision statements and other pertinent information on the first page.

  The Diplomatic Corp had been established at the beginning of the Empire to facilitate the introduction of alien species into the Etheric Empire, protect Etherian citizens from unknown entities, and prevent the Empress from having to intervene as much as possible.

  Phina snickered at the thought of Bethany Anne’s intervention. The scene in the Empress’ receiving room just before the Karillian first came to the Empire’s attention had become a legend. It wasn’t often that the Ixtalis, a race of information-acquisition agents who prided themselves over others, were taken to task for their arrogance. Phina appreciated their goals but couldn’t bring herself to approve of their morals…or rather, the lack of them. That event had also gained Empress Bethany the loyalty of Addix, the Ixtali she had saved from the painful death her people would have given her. From what she knew about the incident and the people involved—from hacking into records, of course, since it wasn’t public knowledge by any means—Phina figured Bethany Anne would put Addix’s skills to use at some point if she hadn’t already. No grass grew under that woman’s feet.

  Upon remembering “that woman” was the Empress, Phina coughed, her cheeks flushing, and focused on the manual again.

  Diplomatic candidates will enter the Diplomatic Institute, progress through their courses under the supervision and mentorship of an existing diplomat, and graduate when their studies are deemed complete. Completion in the student’s course of study will be assessed by the dean.

  Phina thought this over. Perhaps some students would be able to graduate early, then, and perhaps some would be slow. Considering the academic skills she had been careful not to expose, Phina didn’t know what to think about that one, but the phrasing was clever in its simplicity as well as its implications.

  Diplomats will travel where and when the Head Diplomat directs, the position currently being occupied by Anna Elizabeth Hauser. The diplomat’s primary allegiance is to the Empress and the Empire, and they will do all in their power to uphold honor and Justice throughout their service. For this reason, it is recommended that Diplomatic Service candidates and graduates remain single for the duration of their service to the Empire. Senior diplomats are the exception to this since they largely have stationary postings at Imperial Consulates.

  “Recommended that they remain single for the duration of their service?” Phina whispered as she wondered how many diplomats developed issues about that. Most people were not as boy-crazy as Alina or as stand-offish as she was, but even being somewhere in the middle could cause problems. Good thing remaining single wasn’t an issue for her. It would just give her a better excuse to put Alina off about those blind dates.

  Imperial Consulates are posted at strategic locations throughout the Empire with the sole purpose of facilitating relationships between the surrounding planetary cultures and the Etherian government…

  Phina jerked her head up from reading as Anna Elizabeth’s next words pierced her concentration, “Mentors will be chosen and announced next Friday. I trust there will be no attempt at hacking to get the list this year, Mr. Anderson?”

  Anna Elizabeth raised her eyebrows pointedly at a man appearing in his mid-twenties who sat in the row in front of Phina and down on the right. She could just see the edge of the grin on his smooth face below a messy thatch of black hair before he replied. “Of course not, Dean Hauser.”

  “See that you don’t.” She stared at him another moment in all seriousness, likely hoping to impress on him the importanc
e of following her words.

  Mr. Anderson merely widened his grin as he returned the stare. Phina didn’t know if it was confidence or arrogance that made him so bold, but she could see that he bore watching. He had troublemaker written all over him.

  “Thank you, everyone, for your attention. Please proceed to your classes, and come back here at the end of the day.” Anna Elizabeth clapped once and waited for them to leave.

  The students moved out of the room in various groupings. Phina could see some were friends already, likely those who had been here last year. Those who were likely new walked by themselves. She was so interested in watching everyone as they left that she didn’t realize she had hung back until the door shut.

  Chapter Seven

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Diplomatic Institute

  “Hey, new girl.” Phina followed the voice to see that Anderson guy staring at her with calculating but playful brown eyes, a raised eyebrow, and a smirk on his face. He seemed to be of mixed heritage, at least half of which was Earth Asian.

  She stared back and nodded. No need to be unfriendly, but she didn’t want to encourage him either. She was here to learn, not make friends—particularly not with the school troublemaker. Since Phina had tripled her number of friends in the last few weeks, she wasn’t in a hurry to add more.

  “Go on to your class, Jace.” Anna Elizabeth’s voice startled him into breaking his stare. Apparently he had forgotten she was still in the room. Phina stifled a snicker at the realization on his face.

  Jace turned and saluted their teacher. “Yes, ma’am.” By his smirk as he walked away, Phina guessed he knew Anna Elizabeth didn’t like being called ma’am and did it anyway. Cheeky.

  Phina stood and walked to the end of the row and toward the doors, her eyes following him out. She sensed that Anna Elizabeth had stopped next to her, though she didn’t hear her move. “So, is he arrogant, a jerk, or a fool?”

  “You tell me, Phina.” She turned her head to see Anna Elizabeth giving her one of those smiles adults wear when they imply, “If you think you’re so smart, figure it out for yourself.” She didn’t think Anna Elizabeth was being mean, but she still sighed. When the realization hit her that she herself was now an adult, she almost snorted. Almost.

  Training. This was all training.

  If Phina remembered that, she would likely find things much more useful and learn more than they were being taught. This attitude had allowed her to accomplish what she wished to in high school: absorb what they were taught, then seek out what they were not and learn as much as possible. Avoid attention by pretending to know just enough to get by. Anna Elizabeth now knew that tactic, however. Smelly purple eyeballs. Wincing, Phina shook her head. No, that phrase and that tactic weren’t going to work here.

  “Go on now, you will be late for your class. Do you have your schedule? Yes? Please come find me if you need me or have a problem.”

  Phina patted the pocket where she had placed her tablet, then nodded at Anna Elizabeth, thanking her before leaving the room. She pulled out her tablet to check her schedule, and several classes were listed: Ethics, Cultural Studies, Languages, Current Events, and Communications, with a break for lunch in the middle. Following the signs pointing to her first class, she opened the door to find a group of eight students sitting in front of a distinguished older gentleman. Noticing her entrance, the man broke off speaking. Students and professor eyed her for a moment, then the gentleman greeted her with a smile on his dark face.

  “Hello. You must be Seraphina Waters?”

  “Phina.”

  “Thank you, Phina. Please take a seat.” He gestured at the last seat available, thankfully located in the back. As she sat down, the man spoke again.

  “So, to continue, what are ethics?”

  “Moral principles?” a casually dressed blond man several years older than Phina answered.

  Their teacher nodded, his eyes warm and kind. “Thank you, Derek. Anyone else?”

  “Codes of conduct?” This came from a quiet Yollin female. Given the development of her frontal protrusions and coloring, she was only a little older than Phina.

  “Good answer, Sis’tael.” He leaned against the small desk at the front of the room and held out his hands, gesturing for more.

  An older dark-haired student with a shaggy beard answered, “A system for choices.”

  “Yes. All of these answers are essentially correct. Ethics in its most basic sense is this: what you are willing to do, what you won’t do, and any situations where those answers may change. What we will look at over the next couple weeks is different ethical philosophies or ideas and how those apply both to the individual and the culture as a whole.”

  As the class continued, Phina fully expected to be bored but found herself drawn in. Leaning forward on her elbows, she continued to follow the professor’s reasoning and examples. His conclusions intrigued her. Just before the end of the class period, he gave an example using current events.

  “How does an ethical system change within a culture? Take the Leath, for example. What we know of the Leath indicates their ethical system is based on the decree of their ‘gods,’ or as we know them, their Kurtherian overlords. What the Leath’s gods dictate, the Leath do. What implications does this give us?”

  There was silence in the classroom for a long moment, though the students shifted as if hoping he wouldn’t call on them. Phina hesitated, then repeated something she had seen in a report by General Lance.

  “It makes them dangerously predictable and unpredictable at the same time.”

  The older gentleman solemnly gazed at Phina with his dark-brown eyes and nodded. The other students turned back to look at her with varying expressions of confusion, understanding, and concern on their faces. She realized that the human students were of differing ages. None appeared older than mid to upper thirties, but with humans gaining greater longevity, Phina couldn’t confidently tell their age based on looks.

  “Yes. This is exactly what makes them so dangerous. Their ethical boundaries, or morality, could shift at any moment, based on what their gods tell them. Within their code, the Leath will stick to the letter, but the Kurtherians can change that code at any time.”

  The students shifted uneasily. Phina didn’t blame them. The Leath had attacked the Karillians with fierce determination. It only had been due to the alliance with the Etheric Empire and the Leath’s predictable tactics that the Karillians had successfully withstood the massive attack. Since Bethany Anne had brought the Empire between the Leath and their goal, the Leath had now set their sights on the Empire. The idea that the Leath would be even less predictable than before was frightening.

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Diplomatic Institute

  Later that week, Phina waited in her seat for the Music Across the Universe class to begin. She sat behind two students, one a timid female Torcellan and the other a young human male who appeared to be in his upper twenties and had blond hair and an arrogant look on his face. Phina had been listening to him brag about himself and loudly criticize certain things about the school.

  “…I mean, why do we even have a class about music? What use is that for diplomacy? It’s not important like planetary politics, negotiation, or even current events.”

  “Oh, but don’t you think…” The Torcellan female didn’t get far before she was interrupted by the teacher walking in.

  “Mid-day to you, everyone. My name is Addison Stone.” An older but pretty woman who Phina later learned played many instruments spoke to the class with a musical lilt to her voice as she stood at the front of the classroom with a confident smile on her face.

  “If you aren’t here for Music Across the Universe, then you may be in the wrong room. Everyone supposed to be here? Good. Let us discuss the purpose of this class. You may have wondered, why do we even have a class on music? It’s not serious, or a critical topic like planetary politics or negotiation, right?”

  Phina felt a smile grow on her face. Their gray-
haired teacher might be older, but she was as sharp as a knife and must have been listening in on the conversation before she walked in.

  “Wrong. Music is just as important for several reasons, but mainly two. First, if both you and your diplomatic counterpart are familiar with the music at hand, it gives you a point of discussion. If you haven’t learned this yet, a diplomat’s work doesn’t just pertain to the formal talks between you and the other parties. It happens before and after when casual interactions take place, and you will want to have topics and experiences to bring to the conversation.

  “You will learn more in your Negotiation class about this idea, but these casual conversations are just as critical, if not more so, than the formal discussions as they will provide a common ground and a reason for the other party to listen to you when it matters. To put it simply, you build relationships through those conversations, and those relationships are critical.”

  Addison spared a small smile for the arrogant man in front of Phina, who watched his neck grow red. She wondered if the flush was from embarrassment or anger. Either way, he had been rude and would now hopefully have a more open mind.

  “Back to why music is important! There are only three activities that are universal, just appearing different depending on species and culture, which are sports, arts, and entertainment. Almost every species and culture has at least one of each category, though sometimes you will find a culture where some are mixed as one, even all three together. The Baldere are one such species. I’ll give you a word of warning now. Never make light of the Balderian games of Rikhar, where they all compete against each other to become the Balderian leader for the next ten years. It is entertainment, athletics, and art form rolled into one, and it is the most serious thing in their culture.

  “When you come across a new species, these three topics are some of the first you should inquire about. Which brings me to the second reason music is important to know. When you show that you know, care about, value, or appreciate the music and other aspects of each species’ cultural experience, it shows them that the Empire values them as a culture and species. This goes a long way toward bridging the distance and gaps between you and those of the new culture as you forge an alliance or bring them into the Empire.”