by Diana Palmer
“Never.” The driver laughed. “We revere our trees. We consider that they have a living spirit, which must never be violated.”
She smiled, but as her eyes found a huge statue of Cashto, the galot who was revered in Cehn-Tahr culture, she shivered. It was black as jet, muscular, with glittery green eyes and snow-white fangs. It crouched over the city, like a feral protector.
“I hate those statues,” Jasmine said gruffly. “I hate cats!” Jasmine averted her eyes, an action that, accompanied by her harsh words, wasn’t missed by the driver, who became less talkative and placed his attention on the road. Jasmine didn’t notice, but the ambassador did. She was making a bad situation worse, with her phobias. If he’d had them seen to, by a psychologist, so many bad things might have been avoided.
* * *
THEY WERE CARRIED to a towering stone villa with a fountain out front and a light, roomy interior with ten bedrooms and an enormous sitting area downstairs, with a walk-in fireplace.
Jasmine wondered if they burned wood, but the driver had already gone.
“I’m sure that it’s powered by something other than wood,” her father remarked. He touched a panel on the side of the fireplace and flames appeared in it. They were actually warm, so the tech needed to power it must be formidable.
“That’s nice!” she said. She looked around. The furnishings were all blue and white. There were nature paintings on the wall, and blue carpeting. “It’s very pretty. It reminds me of Mekashe’s villa. When do you think we’ll see him?” she added. “I don’t even know how to get in touch with him. He never told us where he worked.”
“I imagine we’ll see him at the reception tomorrow.” He glanced outside. It was already dark. Their trip had taken a long time. “We should get some rest.”
“I guess so. But I’ll never sleep! I wish I’d bought a different outfit to wear,” she added. “This one is a year old...” She saw her father’s pained expression and grimaced. “I’ve spent too much already,” she said at once. “What I have will be fine! Really!”
She hugged him. “I’m sorry I’m such a pain,” she said. “I’ll try to reform. Honest I will.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he said, kissing her hair. “Your mother would be proud of you.”
“She’d be more proud of you. The first human ambassador ever to serve on Memcache!” she exclaimed happily, drawing away. “It’s an incredible honor.”
“I suppose it is.” He felt his heart dragging the floor. Tomorrow, his pride would join it there. “Bed, daughter. We have a long day ahead.”
She laughed. “But a happy one. Good night, Daddy!”
“Good night,” he replied, smiling.
The smile faded the minute she was out of sight. He sank into an armchair and gave way to the anguish he felt. There was no one to see the pain in his face now.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, it was raining. Jasmine was worried, because her gauzy blue dress would get wet. She hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella. It only rained on Terravega when the technicians decided that the vegetation in the huge life domes needed water. And it was advertised days in advance that showers were coming. Here, apparently, there was no control over the weather at all.
“How do people know what to wear, when the weather isn’t announced?” she wondered aloud as she joined her father in the foyer. The transport was due any minute.
“It was like this on Terravega, before the devastation,” her father replied. “I remember hearing my grandfather talk about it.”
“Ages and ages ago.” She looked around. “I love the house.”
“It’s very nice.”
“Do we have a cook?” she wondered. “Or do they send us meals...?”
“We can worry about that later,” he said quickly, ushering her outside. The rain had stopped. “Our ride is here.”
* * *
HE WAS UNUSUALLY quiet all the way to the embassy. Jasmine more than made up for his silence.
“Do you think Mekashe will be there?” she wondered aloud. “I thought he might call us when we arrived. Surely, he knows we’re here!”
“He might have been unable to,” her father said dully. “He was called home. I’m sure his job is the reason he didn’t get in touch.”
“I suppose so.” She looked out the window as the small vehicle whizzed toward the towering building that served as home to the Imperial family, religious hub and political entity. It was like the building that housed the Dectat—softly rounded, glowing in shades of blue and gold.
“Isn’t it magnificent?” Jasmine sighed, glancing at her father. “Honestly, Daddy,” she said, exasperated. “We’re not going to a funeral!”
“Is that how I looked? Sorry.” He managed a convincing smile.
“I want to see Mekashe so badly,” she said. “We’ve hardly been apart for longer than a few hours since we boarded the starcruiser. I hope nothing has happened to him,” she added worriedly.
“I’m sure that he’s fine,” her father replied. “Probably just too occupied with his work to think about other things. Even pleasant ones.”
She smiled. “We’re going to meet the emperor,” she enthused. “I’m so nervous! Aren’t you nervous, Daddy? It’s a truly historic occasion. You’re the very first human ambassador here!”
And probably the very last, he was thinking morosely as they pulled up at the steps that led to the tall building.
The driver opened the door for them, but without looking at them fully. He indicated the way up.
“They’re very—what’s the word I want?—reserved, aren’t they?” Jasmine remarked as they made it to the top of the wedge-shaped staircase.
“Very.”
“There’s another blue man!” she exclaimed as they started into the building.
“Jasmine,” he groaned.
She caught her breath. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry—I’m still doing it! I’m so sorry!” she amended. “He’s...an Altairian, right?”
“Yes,” he said heavily.
“My tongue is going to be the death of me,” she groaned.
She had no idea how true that might have been, the ambassador thought. “You must try and be more sensitive to the feelings of other people, Jasmine,” he said quietly. “Especially here.”
“I know. I’m trying. Really I am. It’s just...everything is new and a little frightening.” She hesitated and lowered her voice before they got to the moving staircase that lifted guests to the next level. “Daddy, you don’t think they’ll have, well, any of those horrible cat statues here...?”
“Grit your teeth and hold your tongue,” he said under his breath as he noticed a Cehn-Tahr couple glancing at them in an unfriendly way.
She bit her lip. The aliens were absolutely glaring. “Is there something you aren’t telling me?” she asked her father.
“They’re religious objects,” he said in a rough undertone. “It’s the equivalent of trying to burn down a church back home, what you’ve said about the cat statues.”
She gasped. She looked up at her father, wincing. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked miserably. “I’ve said such terrible things to Mekashe about them. I didn’t know!”
“I wasn’t allowed to tell you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter now. Just please try to get through the next hour without offending anyone else, Jasmine.”
She felt stung by his words. He’d never spoken to her like this. She began to realize what a terrible position she’d been putting him in, with her unruly tongue.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. She touched his sleeve, her face lined with worry. “I keep doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing. You’ve been overly tolerant with me,” she added after a minute. “You’ve sheltered me too much. You should have shouted at me more.”
His eyes were kind, if sad. �
��I love you, just as your mother did. You were our only child. We both went a little overboard with you.” He drew in a long breath. “We tried to shelter you from any unpleasantness. What we forgot is that other people wouldn’t. Here—” he indicated their surroundings “—if you speak out of turn, there are grave consequences.” He didn’t add that there already had been.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut, no matter what,” she said, trying to reassure him. “Truly I will.”
He started to speak, thought better of it and led the way up to the next level and out onto the huge patio where the reception was being held.
Jasmine saw a man in a uniform, with long blond hair and slit eyes and red skin. She glanced down and noted that he had six fingers on each hand. She forced herself to smile, not to react. It was harder when one of the Serian races joined the group; they were more like dogs than humanoids, with four legs and heads that arched up from a long neck. They had fingers like tentacles and they spoke in a language that sounded more like gurgling underwater than speaking Standard.
“Goodness, they look like the dogs we keep for pets on Terravega,” Jasmine said without thinking.
Several aliens, including the doglike ones, looked at her with disdain. She ground her teeth together. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she whispered to her father. “I’ll do better. I promise I will!”
Ambassador Dupont knew that she’d try. But even though she was making an effort not to behave badly, it was too late. Far too late.
“That’s a Rojok, isn’t it?” she whispered to her father, indicating the man in uniform. He was standing with a beautiful Cehn-Tahr woman; Jasmine could tell her race by her golden skin and jet-black hair.
“That’s Chacon,” he replied, as fascinated as she seemed to be. “He was field marshal of the entire Rojok military before he became Premier of the Rojok Republic. He’s bonded to the emperor’s daughter. She’s standing beside him.”
“Chacon.” Her voice trailed away. She remembered speaking of him to Mekashe and shuddering at the so-called atrocities she thought he’d committed. Mekashe had said that Chacon was admired even by his enemies. He looked dangerous.
“There’s a refreshment table, if you’re thirsty,” he told his daughter, guiding her toward where a group of humanoid-looking aliens was sampling the culinary delights.
Jasmine looked around. “Do you know if there are other new ambassadors here?” she asked.
“Yes. There’s one from Chacon’s planet and two from the Jebob and Altairian governments.”
She noticed them speaking to the emperor, who seemed pleasant and attentive.
“The emperor’s very big,” she commented. “He’s tall, like Mekashe.”
“Yes.”
She turned again and noticed a squad of military standing in perfect formation near the emperor. Her heart jumped as she noticed their leader, standing at parade rest, looking straight ahead.
“Daddy! That’s Mekashe!” she exclaimed. “Who are those soldiers?”
“That’s the Imperial Guard,” he replied quietly.
“Mekashe is standing in front of them...”
“Yes. He’s their captain, apparently,” the ambassador said heavily. “I knew that two members of the kehmatemer were aboard our ship, on their way home. I didn’t know that Mekashe was one of them.”
“He’s in the military.” She groaned inwardly. “I was eloquent about how I hated the military, too. He never said a word.”
Her father didn’t answer. He noticed that nobody came near them, nobody spoke to them. Even the families of the other ambassadors kept well away, glancing toward them uneasily.
“The emperor’s greeting all three of those new ambassadors. But you’re the first human ambassador ever to come here. Why is he ignoring you?” Jasmine asked haughtily. “It’s not right!”
“If you value your life, and mine, be quiet,” her father said curtly.
She gaped at her father. It began to occur to her that they might have been lepers for the way the other guests were treating them. The emperor never looked their way once. Neither did Mekashe, who stood at attention and never glanced at Jasmine.
Her heart fell. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. She stood on tiptoe to whisper to her father.
“What’s happening here?” she asked under her breath.
He couldn’t even tell her. And the cold treatment they were receiving was having an effect on him. It was a humiliation that he’d never suffered before in his life.
Finally, the emperor nodded to the other ambassadors, turned and started out the door. Mekashe shot orders to his men, turned and marched them out after the emperor.
“He’s not even going to speak to you?” Jasmine said angrily.
“Jasmine...!”
“How rude! How very...!”
“Jasmine!”
She shut up. Her father was looking at her with fierce anger. She was nonplussed. He’d never been so harsh with her.
A minute later, a steward came to them. He didn’t bow or make any other acknowledgment.
“Your belongings have been carefully packed and are waiting aboard the starcruiser at the spaceport,” he told Ambassador Dupont coldly. “Your passage is already arranged. Transport awaits you outside the building.”
He didn’t even nod. He turned on his heel and walked away.
Jasmine was so shocked that she forgot to be indignant as her father took her hand and pulled her with him to the steps.
CHAPTER NINE
THEY WERE SETTLED in their stateroom aboard the Terravegan-bound starliner before Jasmine could collect herself enough to ask what was going on.
“I’ve been recalled,” Ambassador Dupont said as they sat in the living room. “My appointment has been rescinded.”
“But why?” she asked, still crying. “Mekashe didn’t even look at me! The emperor didn’t speak to us. I don’t understand!”
“Jasmine...”
She dabbed at her eyes. Then she looked at her father with horror. “You told me to be quiet, when we were going into the building. I said some things about the doglike aliens... Was that why?”
“Of course not,” he began.
“You’re not telling the truth,” she said, reading it in his tired face. “It was, wasn’t it? I offended the emperor because I was indiscreet about his guests and I made that comment about the cat statues. Mekashe warned me that he took offense easily.” Her face reddened. “Well, what a stupid, silly attitude! Imagine sending an ambassador home because his daughter insulted some dumb alien race and didn’t like cat statues! And Mekashe didn’t even defend me, did he?” she raged. “He just let me go without a word!”
“Mekashe is obligated to do what he’s told by the emperor,” her father said.
“Like a perfect soldier,” she said furiously. “I thought he cared about me! I thought he wanted a life with me! Well, if he’s that petty, if his race is that petty, I don’t want to be part of them!”
He knew that she was trying to make the best of a bad situation. He couldn’t tell her about Mekashe, about his true form. He couldn’t tell her that her screams and insults toward the Cehn-Tahr aboard the starcruiser had brought them to this. He didn’t dare reveal to her that the Mekashe she’d grown to know was actually something quite different. He was bound by law not to reveal the Cehn-Tahr’s true form. In any case, knowing Mekashe’s true form would hurt her even more. With her morbid fear of cats, she couldn’t have had a life with Mekashe.
She noticed her father’s reticence, finally, and looked at him. He was devastated. That was when she realized just how bad things were going to be. He’d lost his job. Worse than that, he’d lost a position that had been the first of its kind. He would be the first and last human ambassador to the Cehn-Tahr. All that because she’d spoken out of turn, and not even about the Cehn-Tahr thems
elves, for heaven’s sake! She’d been only mildly insulting about a creature at the reception! And, well, there were those comments about the cat statues. If they were religious objects, it wasn’t surprising that she’d caused offense.
She went close to him, worried. “Daddy, I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “I know how much this job meant to you. But it will be all right. I mean, your bosses can contact the emperor, can’t they, and explain that it was my fault.” She brightened. “Then it will be all right, and you can come back.” She grimaced. “I won’t come with you, of course. I might offend someone else and cause more trouble. I can get a job.”
Her tone was bitter. She’d cared so much for Mekashe, and he hadn’t even looked at her. Probably, he’d just been having a bit of fun with her before he went back home to his military job with his cat statues.
Religious objects. She frowned. Did they actually worship cats?
She started to ask her father, but he’d slumped down into a chair and closed his eyes.
“I haven’t slept well for a long time,” he said gently. “I think I’ll try to nap, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t.” She bent and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll just watch the news in my room.”
He heard her footsteps die away. He fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. At least the worst was over, he thought.
* * *
JASMINE WENT FROM station to station on the Tri-D vid, restlessly, but nothing interested her. She turned off the vid and pulled out the little virtual Nagaashe that she’d bought that wonderful day with Mekashe when they’d visited Dacerius in the holoroom.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She’d never loved anyone so much. It had been agony to part from him, even overnight. Now she’d part from him for a lifetime.
He was in the military. To have achieved such a high position at his age—he had to be in his early thirties—meant that he’d been a soldier for a long time. He hadn’t told her. No wonder. She’d been so blunt about her distaste for anything military. Why would he have told her?
That attitude, and her fear of cats, had been a hurdle he must have felt they couldn’t overcome. But he might have tried, except for the emperor’s cold shoulder. She couldn’t believe that such a tiny thing—her brash words—had been responsible for getting her father fired. She’d never have thought the Cehn-Tahr were so petty. She knew their society was rigid in its beliefs, but that was ridiculous.
