by Lindsay Peet
CHAPTER SEVEN
I sought out Sirah, hoping to get some insight on Solip City and maybe even Pex al-Pex, although I was a little nervous that Sirah might get jealous if I seemed too interested. On the other hand, I was adjutant to the Inspector General, and she was the daughter of the mayor of a town that was so remote it wasn’t even on maps, so who was she to get jealous, right? Surely she understood how diplomacy works – at least that’s what I’d say if she got worked up about anything.
When finally I found her she was at work in her father’s office. It looked like this was going to be strictly business, as even I shouldn’t be boffing the mayor’s daughter in his office. Not during working hours – and not that she didn’t tempt.
“Chief Adjutant Daskal, how good to see you!” she greeted me. That girl had a gift for saying the most proper things and making you hear a wink and a nod. Maybe it was the contralto, maybe her pose, I don’t know, but in a flash I was back to thinking about locking the door and throwing her on a desk, and I don’t think she would have minded a bit.
“Ah, yes, Ms. Rekaburb, I’m looking into this group at Solip City, the founders of this Planetary Union. When I report to His Excellency the Inspector General I must have all the facts; besides that, to negotiate their integration into the Empire it’s essential that I have as much insight and information as possible.”
“You intend to negotiate, then?” ‘Over what?’ asked her expression, her head tilted slightly, and honestly I wondered too why the all-powerful Empire wouldn’t just dictate terms, so it was a slight mis-step. “ What would you like to know?” she asked professionally.
“They arrived here by mistake, as did everyone else, until his Excellency’s party got here. Is that right?”
“I have no way of knowing for sure, but I believe that everybody’s arrival here was unplanned. That includes the Solip City group.”
I paused and replayed my question and her answer, and went on. “I understand they arrived with some weapons, some speeders, and perhaps some wireless communicators. Does that sound right to you?”
“Again, I don’t know, but that also sounds about right.”
“Any idea what kind of weapons they have? How many speeders? How capable their wireless communicators are?”
“What I’ve seen in weaponry is fairly lightweight, just some hand-blasters, but they’re light-years beyond what anybody else here has, or could make. We’re still using powder and projectiles when we need them. I’ve heard that they might have heavier stuff, that they might even mount them on speeders, but for all I know they might have planted those rumors themselves. I wouldn’t put it past them, and I wasn’t interested enough to chase them down. As for speeders, I’d guess they have half-a-dozen, but I have to add that I’m no expert, and if they wanted to fool me it wouldn’t be hard to make me believe they had more, or fewer. Of course, that also depends on the spare parts they brought, because it’s a cinch that if, say, a power drive goes down they’ll find it tough to make a repair.”
I digested this, too. “And this Planetary Union thing – how goes it?”
“For the most part, they’ve stirred up a tremendous groundswell of apathy. Since nobody had sophisticated weapons before, and we all had plenty of room, there wasn’t reason to fear for our security. The odd fanatics who landed here mostly were just grateful to be left alone, and really hadn’t yet developed any desire to force anybody else to live according to the fanatics’ laws. Besides, if somebody wants more room, we believe there’s another continent or three on Caliuga. Of course, those might be settled now, too, we don’t know, or much care, but the possibility’s there.
“But now Caliuga has weapons, we have more movement, we have increased trade, and we have disputes. Minor ones, but still. Again, for all I know the PU’s behind those, too, way back behind the curtains, but there it is. So they present themselves as mediators in dispute resolution, promoters of trade, but with certain rules to promote uniformity and fairness. And enforcers of those rules.”
“How do they enforce their rules?”
“Most often just by nagging. Last year we had a problem with Lumbeige, about fifty klicks away, as I’m sure you and His Excellency know,” she drawled. “Somebody there bought a ton of nabana-fruits from a Caliugan, and when the fruits arrived the buyer decided they were too small. The gross weight was right, but the individual fruits were too small to suit the buyer.
“So, the PU got involved, sending letters, then delegations, then regulators, then lawyers. Said the fruits didn’t comply with the PU standards for nabana-fruits, and that we were risking Draconian penalties. Nobody here had ever heard of Draconia, but it sounded bad, so at that point my father decided just to settle, and got our vendor and their buyer to come to terms, with a little bit of help for the vendor. But the damage had been done, and now they use that incident as precedent to insist on having a permanent presence in Caliuga. Of course, since Lumbeige was already part of the P. U., they had the edge in the dispute.”
“But they never came around and arrested anybody, or seized property” I asked her.
“No, but between the lawyers and their bodyguards it was all very intimidating, as I’m sure it was meant to be.”
“And this Pex al-Pex – was she part of this dispute resolution group? Had you ever seen her before?”
“Oh yeah, I saw her before. I thought she was one of the lawyers, but now I’m not so sure. She might have been the head negotiator with the team of lawyers. Ask my father if you really want to know, Mr. Daskal.” Was that brittle jealousy rearing up?
“Thank you, but you’re doing just fine, Sirah. One more thing, and please give this some thought, and don’t hold back.” Her eyes got a mischievous gleam at the last words, but I plowed on.
“Is there anything about the Solip City people, or the PU, that doesn’t smell right to you? Anything that makes you wonder, makes you think that there was something else going on, besides what they said was going on?”
Her head tilted and she looked up. “Nope. Within their own rules, what they’ve done all fits together. Of course they did make up their own rules. And, once you stepped outside and looked in, it all seems kind of funny-odd, like somebody wearing clothes that don’t belong to them.” She paused and smiled mischievously. “Like if somebody else put on an Inspector General’s uniform and made proclamations and inspections, they might be able to pull it off, unless and until somebody stopped and asked a question or two. Of course, they’d have to have a reason to ask questions.”
That brought a pause. I was nicely boxed in – and my Sirah was sexy, young, devious and clever, not the naïve thing I’d imagined her to be. My appreciation and lust grew more with each moment – here was a woman after my own heart, and probably also after anything else of mine that she could get her hands on. “Hmm, I see. Thank you Sirah.
“Oh, one more thing,” I added. “You mentioned a delegation the PU left here. I’d like to contact them, and sooner rather than later.”
“They have a ‘trade mission’ office here, which I showed you. You can just drop in. Normally it has just one guy in it, but I think with His Excellency’s presence, they’re well-staffed right now.
“Including Pex al-Pex, who is staying in a ranch house outside Caliuga,” she added, anticipating my next question. Well, it was obvious where my next stop was. I was kind of disappointed that Sirah didn’t seem jealous at all now, just mildly amused as I left her – try to understand women!
I would have to make arrangements, and find something to keep Lordano and Jedub out of trouble, if Wanliet could find them.