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Arielle Delven’s wrist-comp chimed seventeen hundred hours. Her free weekend had arrived! She’d taken an extra day off to travel with Dirk to Sundara.
Standing from the mini desk crammed into her closet-sized office, Arielle dressed in her waterproof coveralls that ran from her feet up to her waist. The coveralls stank from wading through filthy water wherever she went. Krozitch rested in the middle of a swamp, the same as all the other Malsain cities she’d encountered in her limited travel time. Perhaps all of Gleeson was a swamp.
At the door, she grabbed her jacket from the wall hook and flipped off the light. No sooner had she stepped out of her office than Berren Sadik, her supervisor, called out to her.
“Have you finished Holgersen and Petrescu’s expense reports to Paalou?”
“Just finished,” Arielle answered, approaching his corner office. “It’s awaiting your approval.”
“What about Holgersen’s briefing before the Malsain committee on Foreign Affiliations?” Berren’s gray eyes narrowed, accentuating his wrinkles.
“I’ve gotten Holgersen’s revisions. I’ll update the package on Tuesday.”
In addition to the Holgersen briefing, mounds of digital paperwork filled Arielle’s wrist-comp. As a Consular officer, she assisted all Space City travelers to Gleeson with their approvals to visit, oversaw their itineraries, and ensured they attended a security briefing Berren gave here at the Space City Embassy in Krozitch upon arrival.
On top of that, Berren had her handling the expense reports for the two diplomats stationed at the Embassy. He transferred all the diplomats’ receipts to her, along with any brief summaries, although the diplomats rarely bothered with those. Instead, she had access to their calendars so she could write a mini summary of their activities based on the meetings.
None of it was the kind of work she’d imagined during her diplomat training programs.
“Why don’t you work on it this weekend?” Berren suggested. “I’d like it for review by lunch on Monday.”
Arielle smiled, taking care not to show her annoyance. “This is my travel weekend to Sundara.”
He frowned. “Travel weekend? I didn’t approve any travel off Gleeson.”
“I completed the travel authorization form and got your signature a month ago.” She kept her voice neutral, as if reminding him, not accusing. “I also put it on your calendar.”
He pulled up his calendar on his wrist-comp and studied it a moment. “Very well. But I want that briefing ready first thing Tuesday morning.”
She started to remind him she had Monday off as well—final review with Holgersen was the end of the day on Wednesday—but she decided not to press it. She’d work it Monday evening when she returned.
“I’ll have it ready.” Arielle fled before he could add to her duties.
Emerging from the embassy, she stepped down into knee-high swamp water. The one-story embassy, rather small and unassuming compared to most government buildings she’d seen, still dwarfed most other Malsain buildings here in Krozitch. It rested on massive concrete pillars that raised it just out of the water, although during heavy rains the floors flooded several centimeters.
The rotten stench of swamp water pervaded everything out here. Thick-trunked Glabrous Hag trees covered with Home Shade—what she thought of as Spanish moss—comprised most of the city. The Malsain built their homes and offices up among the branches, open to the elements except for the Home Shade covering.
Arielle waded past gray Drowning Nectar plants, which ate any insects foolish enough to sample their sticky sap. It was no wonder the Malsain stank. Tepid water filled their cities. But even with the coveralls and jacket to protect her from getting soaked, her regular clothes stank, too. She sweated profusely from bundling up in such a humid environment.
Whenever she left this assignment, she planned to throw away her entire wardrobe and buy a new one.
The Malsain she waded past gave her amused smiles, their long tongues licking the air.
“What’ss your russhess?” a Malsain asked.
“Don’t you want to sssmell the nectar?” another taunted.
While she hurried from place to place, they luxuriated in the swamp water. Many swam, scaly tails propelling them through the waters.
“Catchess.”
A flick of a tail splashed the water, sending a blood-banded serpent flying at her head. She screamed and ducked. The serpent hissed as it soared past her left ear.
Did every Malsain in Krozitch consider it their personal mission to make her daily excursions miserable?
The diplomats had their own private thorneway inside the embassy, allowing them to minimize outdoor excursions. Berren got exceptions to use the private thorneways, too. But not her. Not even for travel off world.
When she arrived at the Krozitch public thorneways, Arielle presented her ID to the guards. Tomorrow she’d see Dirk for the first time in over two months.
Unlike her, he’d been lucky. He had landed his first job at the Embassy on Niveum. During the spring he’d applied for several jobs, while she had only applied for the Space City Embassy in Tanarille on Sundara. Despite knowing it was one of the more coveted Space City Embassies, she’d relied on Tiru’s backing to get her a job. As a retired Azzaro diplomat, Tiru maintained many contacts at the Space City Embassy. Arielle had assumed that would be enough. When that had fallen through, she’d received an assignment to Krozitch, underscoring the importance of not putting all one’s toads in the same pot, as the Malsain put it.
“Travel from Krozitch to Tanarille ready for access,” a guard announced.
A thorneway activated, and Arielle stepped through it.
First on her agenda: head to Tiru’s house to clean up and change. Thankfully, Dirk wouldn’t see her before then. Tonight, she would have dinner with Tiru and her husband, Instructor Zelo. Tomorrow they’d travel out to the Otoch monuments to meet Dirk before the Triplet Geysers erupted.