9 Get Used to People Being Up in Your Business
Get Used to People Being Up in Your Business
H er quarters on the imperial starship were considerably more comfortable than the conference room had been.
A lavish suite bigger than her apartment at home, boasting fancy amenities like a giant holo and a ridiculously oversized bed complete with massage features.
A wi n dow even provided a view of the cold vastness of space.
She fiddled idly with the orrist basalt necklace the governor had gifted her.
Even wrapped in a protective sheath, the coal-like rock emanated heat—her instincts told her to avoid contact at all costs.
The wisest thing to do would be to deposit the necklace in a trash receptacle where it could neither harm her nor be discovered on her person.
But when she rose to do just that, she found herself hesitating.
Other than the jumpsuit currently adorning her body and the little plastic bag full of earplugs in her pocket, she hadn’t been permitted to bring any personal possessions with her. And something about the way the orrist basalt burned felt inextricably X-er, like holding a piece of her family close.
She didn’t want to lose that.
A persistent knock at her door jarred her from her thoughts. She removed her earplugs, squished them into her pocket, and, making a split-second decision, quickly slipped the orrist necklace over her head, tucking it between her undershirt and jumpsuit. She hurried to answer the door.
Kalvin stood primly in the corridor. “May I come in, Ambassador Ialan?”
“Ambassador? That’s new.” She stepped aside.
He entered, and they both stood there somewhat awkwardly as her door zipped closed.
He was the same height as her. From this close, he appeared several years older than she’d initially assumed him to be.
Perhaps in his late middle years, though it was hard to tell with some races.
For thousands of years, offshoots of humanity had been scattered across the galaxy, evolving slightly to adapt to their new planets or territories.
The lineage of most X-ers could be traced to New Terran colonizers hundreds of years before the Expan Empire.
Kalvin crossed to one of the sitting room’s armchairs, his gait slow and measured. Temmi settled on a firm leather couch across from him. The orrist basalt around her neck radiated soothing heat through her undershirt and into her chest. She liked the way it centered her.
Kalvin idly tapped a finger against the surface of his commbridge.
“I’m the heirs’ producer,” he said after a moment.
“When you arrive at the manor, you’ll be introduced to your own.
However, your assigned producer won’t be privy to the unique circumstances of your participa tion on the show, so I want you to feel comfortable reaching out to me, personally, should the need arise.
” He dug into a pocket of his dark slacks and withdrew a slender box.
“This is a restricted CB for your personal use. All internet access has been disabled.” He handed the box over.
Temmi accepted the tech with a small surge of excitement. She was dying to take the device apart and figure out how it worked.
“Our flight to Expan will take approximately two imperial standard weeks,” he continued.
His eyes were deep-set and gave off the impression that he was perpetually exhausted.
“Day one of filming is scheduled to begin the morning after our arrival on Expan Proper, which gives us only the duration of this flight to prepare you. To that end, we’ll be filming your promos while en route.
Blessing Stone has scheduled you for diplomacy lessons and media training, both beginning tomorrow morning.
For tonight, Manny will be visiting you to establish your on-screen image, and in the morning, we’ll have you visit the ship’s medical supervisor to administer your vaccines. Any questions?”
“I’ve never seen the show. Can I get access to past seasons?”
“I’ll have a DC sent over with the five most recent seasons. The structure can vary year to year, but filming will take about eight weeks, with the show airing as it’s filmed.”
“DC?”
“Download cartridge. It’ll transfer the show directly to your CB.”
Temmi nodded. “Thanks. Also, where are you from? Your accent doesn’t sound Expanese.”
Kalvin’s thick eyebrows drew together, but his expression remained blank.
“I’ve spent years schooling the accent out of me, but still it comes through.
” Standing, he shook his head in a manner that seemed to be meant only for himself.
“Enjoy your first night on the imperial cruiser, Ambassador Ialan.”
“No, really.” Temmi rose from her couch to face his retreating form.
“Where are you from? You’re not Expanese, and yet you’re producing royalty on the biggest reality show in the empire?
I haven’t been so sheltered on X72 not to be impressed by that.
” And she meant it, too. She was alone, hurtling through deep space toward a foreign planet.
She needed allies, and though their interactions had been brief, she sensed she might be able to find one in Kalvin.
He paused by her door and turned to her. “That’s a wonderfully diplomatic start, Ambassador. Are you familiar with the Ncklogui Space Stations? They were populated during the Second New Terran War.”
Temmi shook her head. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Her knowledge of history was limited to the X System and what she’d been able to pick up from the pieces of Expanese popular culture that wormed their way into X72.
“Most know my home from watching Annie’s Sacrifice. It was a historical drama popularized some years ago.”
“Actually, I do know what you’re talking about. That’s the show about the Uiyoni Conflict, right? The one with the Expanese Fleet soldier who sacrificed herself to the Uiyoni to save the empire? My brother made me watch it with him last year.”
Even Temmi, secluded out in X72, knew of the Uiyoni.
A dangerous race of sapient aliens who were—according to mixed media sources which may or may not be reliable—capable of killing humans with a single touch.
Though how that worked was anyone’s guess.
Sapient alien races were a taboo subject—fear of the nonhuman ran deep in Expanese culture.
Two hundred and thirty-two imperial standard years before, the empire had formed as a way to bring together the scattered pieces of humanity following a war waged by artificial intelligences, intelligences that were said to have been introduced by now long-disappeared aliens.
The war, known historically as the Artificial Collapse, had reshaped both the galaxy and humanity.
Now the empire’s “United Humanity” didn’t have room for anything but humans.
Still, everyone knew other sapient life forms existed.
Or, at least, had existed before the Collapse.
The exact number of alien species, however, wasn’t common knowledge.
Beyond the Uiyoni, which had been the empire’s only first contact in the last century, Temmi had heard of one other species: Swimmers—an invertebrate alien native to the Hirain System.
And the reason the Hirain System had been humanity’s last holdout in joining (read: being annexed by) the empire.
Kalvin again tapped his commbridge absentmindedly.
“The Ncklogui Space Stations are in the Ranger System; they border Uiyoni space. They’re the farthest our jumpgates can travel in that direction.
During the Uiyoni Conflict, my home became a battleground.
Today, Expan uses Ncklogui as a base for Fleet operations along the border.
I’m from the smallest of the three stations.
Nckwiago, population eighteen thousand. I’m named after the station, actually.
It’s very common for men there. Kalvin Kar-Beidell is my Expanese name.
I adopted it when I left Nckwiago for Expan Proper. ”
“Must’ve been a fraught place to grow up,” Temmi said. “You ever meet an alien? Is the Uiyoni touch really poisonous?”
Kalvin’s mouth dipped into an almost-imperceptible frown. “That’s enough questions about me, Ambassador.”
“Okay. One more about the show, then. You’re aware of the agreement between myself and the princess. How do I stay long enough to earn the money she’s offered me?”
Kalvin’s frown deepened. He went quiet for a long, drawn-out moment. Temmi wondered at the silent battle that appeared to be happening inside his head.
The silence ended with an audible exhale.
“Watching past seasons is a great place to start. Beyond that, winning is about building as real a relationship as possible with the heirs—His Highness, specifically. None of the other competitors are locked in a star cruiser with him for two weeks. And I happen to know he likes to read alone in the library every morning at dawn. You’ll find the ship’s layout already preprogrammed into your CB. ”
· · ·
Temmi only managed a fourth of her dinner before sending it away.
Too many nerves were flitting about in her gut.
To distract herself, she tinkered with her new, restricted commbridge.
She wanted to figure out how the thing worked so she could un-restrict it.
Access to online databases would be invaluable.
Plus, tinkering with mechanical devices soothed her.
Problem was, she didn’t have the right tools for a full disassembly and diagnostic.
She’d need to ask someone to help her track down a few things.
What were the chances one of the guards could procure an external circuit board?
Whoosh.
Temmi startled at the sound of her cabin door depressurizing. Who had the audacity to come in without knocking? She quickly clipped her new CB around her wrist and slipped the bits she’d already dissected into her jumpsuit pocket just in time for the door to zip open.