The Imperial Precincts were breathtaking.
Her Royal Highness, Grand Admiral Kris Longknife and her Marine general escort, and consort, were carried in their palanquins across a gray stone bridge to where guards in deathly white stood. An officer spoke briefly with Ron, looked askance at the two humans, and then ordered a half dozen Iteeche warriors in white wielding long pole weapons with wickedly long blades to step aside.
In the shadow of the gate several dozen well-armed and armored guards in black held their very modern weapons at the ready. Kris glanced behind her. Lieutenant Longknife, the sole member of her honor guard to make it this far, stood at attention, facing the gate.
Kris strongly suspected that that would be exactly the way she found the lieutenant when she got back.
Assuming I get back.
Through the gate, Ron urged his porters to speed, and they broke into a trot. Kris didn’t have to tell hers to pick up the pace.
I wonder how many of us will have to take poison if I’m late?
From the rapid pace of her carriers, she suspected there would be plenty of poison to go around if it came to that.
But Kris knew that her worry now could not do a damn thing to change their fate. So, she allowed herself to put on her tourist hat and gawk at the court on display around her.
The path they trod was cobbled with rounded stones of every color. It wound through ponds and gentle knolls covered in flowers of every hew. Here were soft pastels. There, were brilliant primary colors. It was enough to take Kris’s breath away.
NELLY, CAN YOU THIN OUT THE SCREENS AND GIVE ME A BETTER VIEW WITHOUT SHOWING ME OFF?
DONE, KRIS, AND THE FILAMENTS COVERING THE WINDOWS OF HER TRAVELING CHAIR GREW THINNER, GIVING KRIS A GOLD-TINTED VIEW OF THE WORLD AROUND HER.
For a long five minutes, Kris was carried through this carefully sculpted wonderland. All too soon, they passed from the gardens to a square that stretched empty, paved in small stones of agate and jasper. Kris blinked twice before she spotted the pattern. All the stones, taken together, pictured waves on a gently tossed ocean. Here and there were even crystals of many different colors sparkled in the sun like foam on the sea.
LOVELY.
IF WE WEREN’T IN SUCH A HURRY TO GET TO OUR OWN FUNERALS, WE COULD REALLY ENJOY THIS, Jack drawled over Nelly Net.
IT’S A NICE DISTRACTION, DON’T YOU THINK?
MORE IMPORTANT IS WHAT YOU THINK, DEAR.
I THINK IT’S SAD THAT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE PROBABLY NEVER NOTICE ALL THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS.
LIKELY. SO WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
THAT DOUBTLESSLY, THERE WILL BE A SURPRISE AT THE TNED OF THIS RAINBOW AND I DON’T WANT TO OVERTHINK IT.
Jack somehow managed to answer that with a grunt on net.
They were getting close to the building that appeared to be in the center of the Palace grounds. It was approached by a tall bank of long, low steps. Kris was jostled about as the ride got a bit rough. It didn’t keep her from taking in the Palace they approached. A tall, windowless wall made of huge blocks of a dazzling white marble rose straight up to an overhanging roof of buttressed red wood. At the corners rose solid blocks of black stone that quickly turned into gossamer spirals of silver and gold. Kris could hardly gaze upon them.
THERE’S PLENTY OF MANNED CANNONS AND ARTILLERY IN THOSE TOWERS, Nelly informed Kris. MY NANOS ARE BEING SHOULDERED ASIDE BY SOME PRETTY BIG BRUISERS. NOT NEARLY OUR LEVEL OF TECH, BUT GOOD ENOUGH THAT I’M GOING TO HAVE TO START A WAR IF I WANT THOSE NANOS IN THE PALACE.
THANKS FOR THE WARNING, GAL, BUT NO WARS. REMEMBER, NELLY DOES NOT START WARS.
I WILL REMEMBER, KRIS, her computer drawled in her head.
Huge doors, a good five meters across and maybe twenty-five tall, were hauled open by bare Iteeche in beautifully colored tattoos. Maybe a dozen pulled each door. As they opened, another dozen came into view, straining their backs against them.
I wonder what they do in their spare time? Jack asked.
Kris rolled her eyes at the idea. Clearly, the Iteeche went in for a lot of back-breaking labor, just look at her porters. Again, here was a data point for her about this court she was to be accredited to in a few minutes.
Inside, the Palace appeared to be one huge cavern. Just how big it might be was impossible to tell. Thousands of banners streamed from the ceiling. Each was two to three meters wide and easily fifty meters long. Still, each waved lazily to a gentle zephyr.
ARE THOSE WAVING IN THE BREEZE OR ARE THEY CREATING THE BREEZE? Kris asked Nelly.
I CAN’T TELL YOU FOR SURE, KRIS, BUT I THINK THE FIBER IN THE BANNERS IS FLEXING ITSELF. WE HAVE SOMETHING LIKE IT. I THINK IT’S MAKING THE GENTLE WIND YOU’RE FEELING.
The air inside was cool and pleasant on Kris’s skin. Considering the heavy wool of her uniform, she was grateful for that. The porters hurried through the forest of banners, leaving the white marble walls behind them. The floor their bare feet padded across was white stone as well, seamed with silver.
NELLY, THE BANNERS SEEM TO HAVE DESIGNS WOVEN INTO THEM. CAN YOU MAKE ANYTHING OUT?
KRIS, I CANNOT RECOGNIZE A PATTERN TO THEIR HANGING. HOWEVER, I MAY HAVE IDENTIFIED SOMETHING LIKE THE PLANETARY SEAL FOR ONE OF THE PLANETS WE CAPTURED DURING THE ITEECHE WAR AND GAVE BACK.
SO, THESE COULD BE PLANETARY BANNERS, Jack put in. THAT WOULD ACCOUNT FOR THE FOREST OF THEM. THEY HAVE ALMOST THREE THOUSAND AT LAST COUNT.
I THINK THERE ARE MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND BANNERS, JACK. NELLY, TRY TO PICK UP ANY PATTERN YOU CAN WITH THE BANNERS AND MATCH IT TO ANYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE ITEECHE.
They came to the end of the forest of waving cloth. Now they faced a vast expanse of gleaming marble. A great distance away, a platform of sea blue stone rose in front of them, approachable only by steep steps. What was up there was hidden behind tall latticed screens of silver and gold that also fluttered in the breeze . . . or maybe created it.
All that was interesting, but the immediate problem was a half-dozen old men, each dressed in a primary color: white, green, red, blue, yellow and black. Arrayed in a crescent behind them stood two dozen of the biggest Iteeche Kris had ever laid eyes on . . . or heard of from her Grampa Trouble. The normal Iteeche would reach seven feet or more. These started at eight feet and went up from there. Backing up their imposing height were thickly muscled arms and legs. They wore golden kilts at their loins. Their white skin was tattooed in blue geometric patterns that emphasized the bulge of their muscles.
Each held one huge grounded pole-axe in their right hand. Huge as in tall, as well as large, blades. They gleamed wickedly sharp.
These armed Iteeche looked ready, willing, and able to slice and dice any transgressing Iteeche to sushi.
They looked only too eager to hack a human into chum.
Kris resisted the strong temptation to go for the service automatic nestled at the small of her back. She did wish that she had not switched it to less lethal sleepy darts.
Ron slowly dismounted from his sedan chair. He walked up to the first Iteeche, who stepped aside, giving Ron a clear view to the Imperial blue rock. There Ron got down on his hands and knees and bent his head to the ground.
Kris had always wondered how an Iteeche knelt. What with eight knees and eight elbows, it looked to be a complicated process. Now she got to watch it in the flesh.
Ron went down on the first knees of his two forward legs, letting the other two legs trail out straight behind him. He then put his two center hands on the deck and went down on the first pair of elbows. He kept his other two hands at his side.
That done, he lowered his forehead to the deck and stayed that way.
Kris dismounted and motioned Jack to come up a step behind her and outboard. She marched up to stand beside where Ron kowtowed, then bowed from the waist in the direction of the Emperor. She held the low bow for as long as she’d expect Grampa Ray would, then added an extra heartbeat, and stood back up.
She then added a nod toward the six multi-colored old dragons and took a step back.
Beside her, Jack had held the fine wooden box with Kris’s credentials in it throughout his own bow, like Kris’s, but deeper, and for a second longer. He did not acknowledge the pompous road block.
There was a distinct stiffening among the brightly colored ones. At least three of the axe men looked ready to pounce, but they held in place when no order was shouted.
The Iteeche in white spoke, addressing his words to Ron on his hands and knees, head still on the deck.
“YOUR EMINENT CHOOSER SAID YOU WOULD BE DRAGGING A PIECE OF HUMAN EXCREMENT INTO HIS WORSHIPFUL PRESENCE. HE DID NOT TELL ME THE PIECE OF HUMAN EXCREMENT WOULD BE AN ARROGANT HERETIC,” Nelly translated on net.
Still with his eyes focused on the deck, Ron answered, “Beware. This human is the chosen of Raymond Longknife, Slayer of Worlds and Poisoner of Dreams. She herself has killed a trillion or more hostile aliens who scream after our blood. Oh, and she understands every word you are saying.”
The white clad Iteeche’s gaze rose from Ron to Kris. Kris hardened her eyes, thinned her lips and bestowed upon him The Look.
The Iteeche took a step back. The vestigial gills along his neck flared and trembled. His eyes, all four of them, grew wide and he uttered a slight gasp as he took a second step back.
Kris stood like a rock, eyes on the offending Iteeche, then whirled on her heels and boarded her sedan chair. Jack did not scramble to keep up with her, but marched to his own drummer purposefully back to his own chair.
“Take us away from this pond scum,” Kris ordered her carriers. NELLY, CLOSE DOWN THE WINDOWS.
I’M MAKING THEM LIKE GOLD MIRRORS.
GOOD. THEY LIKE THEIR PRIVACY. LET’S SEE HOW THEY TAKE TO MINE.
From outside, Kris could just make out low murmurs.
I THINK YOU REALLY SHOCKED THEM, KRIS, Jack reported.
ARE THE AXE GUYS MAKING ANY MOVES?
NOT BEFORE I CLOSED DOWN MY WINDOWS. SAL MADE MINE SILVER. STATUS. BOY, DO THESE PEOPLE LIKE THEIR STATUS.
I’M HAVING A HARD TIME TRANSLATING THE PRATTLING OUTSIDE, KRIS. IT’S NOT ONLY IN A LOW WHISPER, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THESE FOLKS TALK SOME ARCHAIC DIALECT. I CAN ONLY TRACK HALF OF IT.
AND THAT HALF IS?
YOU SCARED THEM. REALLY SCARED THEM. A FEW THINK THEY OWE IT TO THE EMPEROR TO TAKE YOUR HEAD NOW. OTHERS DON’T THINK THEY COULD. MOST JUST WANT YOU AWAY FROM HERE.
AND RON?
HE’S ON HIS FEET GETTING BACK INTO HIS SEDAN CHAIR.
Kris’s chair began to move. NELLY, SHOW ME A PICTURE.
A hologram appeared in front of her. Ron’s chair led the way, his porters going to a trot. Kris and Jacks followed in line behind him. The two crescents of lethal axe wielders shuffled out to open wide around them.
Kris allowed herself a deep breath.