| |
The next morning I left Pitr asleep and sneaked out for some breakfast. Alyssa was already there. I started to wish her a good morning, but my words dribbled to a halt before they all got out. ‘You look very - different!’
I felt my cheeks reddening. Alyssa obviously had the same sort of inquisitive nature as me. She’d obviously made use of the fresher and had also been playing with the machine that made clothes. She was wearing her long hair loose, shining and pinned back at either side with something I couldn’t see. She had changed her Boreetan clothes for soft leggings in pale grey and a darker tunic that came snugly down to just above her knees It had long sleeves and a high neck, and there were soft slippers that matched her tunic.
I managed to find us something to eat from the machine, and we sat at the table talking.
‘Why are you so mean to Pitr?’ Alyssa asked, surprising me.
‘I’m not. Not all the time, anyway.’
‘You push him. I heard you, through my door.’
I sighed, struggling to find an answer that would mean something to Alyssa, and maybe to me.
‘I don’t mean to,’ I said. ‘I try to understand how difficult this is for him, but I feel like he is always criticising me for wanting to experiment with new stuff.’
A soft chime came from the entrance door, and we both stepped out into the seating area in time to see the door slide open. A man stood in the doorway, dressed in something that looked like a Issu’s uniform but which was even more ornate and had more shiny things stuck to it. He looked older than Issu, older even than my father, and he had grey hair at his temples and speckled through his neat little beard. He cleared his throat softly.
‘My apologies for turning up unannounced. I wonder if it would be possible for us to have a little chat?’
He walked into to room without waiting for an answer, and as he passed us I realised that he was only three or four centimetres taller than me. He settled himself in the single chair between the two couches, fidgeted for a moment, then smiled warmly at us and waved his arms at the couches.
‘Please, take a seat.’
I got the impression that he thought we had been waiting for the invitation. He did give off the same sense of being in charge that my father did when he had his ‘official’ head on. I took the couch on one side, Alyssa the other, and we both ended up perched uncomfortably on the edge, half turned to face this new visitor.
‘Wasn’t there a third?’ he asked, looking confused.
‘I can go fetch him?’ I suggested. He smiled and nodded, so I got up and went over to ‘our’ room. The door slid aside and I poked my head in. Pitr was sitting on one of the beds, with only one small light to the side illuminating the room.
‘There’s someone here to talk to us,’ I said. ‘You coming?’
He gave me a very strange look that he held a little too long, then got off the bed and walked past me out of the room. I saw caught a whiff of stale sweat and realised he hadn’t washed or changed his clothes after all. As we went back to the couches, Pitr sat on the empty one and I, feeling guilty, sat next to Alyssa. She gave me a surprised look and I felt a slight glow in my cheeks.
‘Ah, and here we all are,’ said the man. ‘Time for some introductions. My name is Tell, and I am Exxoh to his majesty, Captain Ward, third of that name. Now, which of you is the Emissary?’
We flicked glances at each other, surprised by how much everybody here seemed to know about our mission.
‘I mean which of you it was that Noah contacted.’
‘That would be me,’ I said. ‘I’m Garret.’
He looked at me expectantly
‘Garret Trent’
‘I’m most pleased to meet you. I hope you will allow me to call you Garret, even though I must ask you to call me Exxoh. Protocol, you know, and you wouldn’t want people to think you were ignorant, would you?’
I shook my head, but I didn’t get his point, and didn’t know what he meant by ‘protocol’.
‘Would you like to introduce me to your friends, and then I would be fascinated to know why the three of you are together. All the previous Emissaries came alone.’
‘You know about the others?’
‘Of course. Your friends?’
‘Sorry. This is Alyssa. She is the granddaughter of Chief Brytar, of Clan Fet - Fer ...’ I dried up, and couldn’t remember. Alyssa flashed me an irritated looked and opened her mouth to finish what I had been saying. The Exxoh beat her to it.
‘Clan Festrain, I believe. I am honoured, Ma’am,’ and he inclined his head slightly in a very formal recognition. Alyssa looked even more surprised than I felt, but she returned the gesture and managed to look just as formal. I tried to catch up.
‘And this it Pitr Shokov, my best friend, who offered to come along with me before we knew what the trip was about.’
‘Most courageous. I am pleased to meet you, too.’
Pitr looked uncomfortable, and gave a jerky nod back in recognition. It disturbed me, but I think he was looking uncomfortable about me calling him my best friend.
The Exxoh chatted with us for a half hour. I know it sounds odd, but that’s the only way I can put it. He was asking about how our trip had been, and he was asking Alyssa about how her people were doing. Genuine sounding stuff like was their medicine still adequate, and was there anything the Go-yen could do to help, but nothing suspect like asking where they were, or how they set out their guards to watch for Go-yen soldiers.
Alyssa was polite, careful in what she answered, and very political, but I could see that she didn’t trust this Exxoh, and that she didn’t understand whatever game he was playing with her. Thinking about what Alyssa had told us about the way the Go-yen treated her people, I was either looking at a case of only knowing one side of a story or this guy was lying through his teeth.
Then he turned to me, specifically.
‘Garret, if you wouldn’t mind leaving your friends to find their own entertainment for a few hours, would you mind coming with me on a little trip? You have an ability few can celebrate, and there are machines here that can only be truly controlled by someone with your talents. It would be a great favour if you would look at one or two of them for us, perhaps tell us why they have stopped doing what they were supposed to do?’
That caught me by surprise, but at the same time it seemed harmless enough.
‘Can’t we all come?’ Pitr asked.
The Exxoh chuckled and waved a hand in a friendly dismissal. ‘Dear boy, you would be bored to tears in minutes. No, better we do this in a small group and then we can get it over with as quickly as we can.’
Pitr looked like he was drawing breath to argue, but I beat him to it.
‘Sure. So long as it’s only a couple of hours, I guess it can’t hurt.’
From the other couch, Pitr glared at me then turned his head away. I avoided looking at Alyssa too. I had a feeling that she wouldn’t be looking on me any more kindly than Pitr. I kept my attention focused on the Exxoh.
‘Ready when you are,’ I said.