by DC Bastien
Vadim took Avery's lead and stood with his legs braced at almost shoulder-width, his hands clasped lightly behind his back. It was a comfortable stance, though he would have preferred to sit. He knew more than the basics about Sianar formality, but there were things he was learning here that he suspected were normally just expected of visiting official dignitaries or otherwise kept amongst their own people. He took in the room's details with the casual ease of one long-trained, looking at exits, at weak spots, and for good points to use for cover. It kept the mind going as you waited, and it kept you sharp.
If it also involved a little imagination in constructing violent exchanges... well, that wasn't a problem. It was just a way to pass the time. Vadim slipped into the semi-trance state; half aware of surroundings, half overlaying them with his daydreams, before a movement from the young Sianar dragged him back to the present.
"He will see you now."
The room beyond was impressive with a huge, reaching ceiling. Vadim didn't want to look up, but he was sure there would be intricate and beautiful paintings overhead. There was only one chair, on a three-step dais, where Ail-Tho-Gameth was seated. Vadim followed a half-step behind, and echoed Avery's respectful genuflection.
"Stand, Avery," Ail told him. "And this is Captain Vadim?"
"Greetings, Ail-Za, may I present to you the Captain who has sheltered your daughter."
"You don't need to mind your tongue behind closed doors, Tho," Ail said, his tail swishing idly. Vadim was surprised to hear the close greeting directed to the Enforcer. "And it is good to meet you, Captain. Avery tells me you look after Kre as one of your own?"
Vadim stood, relieved, and nodded. "Yes, Sir. I didn't know who she was, but it don't matter to me either way. My crew are my crew, and if I trust them to be on my ship, then I look after them."
"Why are you here?" the Za asked.
"It is your daughter, Ail. She has been... taken by a faction within the Ur-court."
For a moment, Vadim could see why people feared the Sianar. His hunter's eyes sharpened, the glint predatory and keen. His claws extended from both sets of paws, and his ears turned back in anger. "Where is she?"
"She is on a planet called Lineon. We were investigating an issue there which is sensitive, and which it's better that you don't know every detail of, for your own protection and hers."
"And she is in danger?"
"She is."
"I will send a fleet at once--"
"With all respect, Ail-Za, this needs a delicate touch."
"Explain," the man barked. It was more command than request.
"If you go in with violence, it will cause more unrest in an already politically-charged area. There is inter-species tension, and I believe it is not by chance. Captain Vadim was lured to that area where a group of Roq made an attempt on your daughter's life. I do not believe it is an accident in an area where there is also negative feeling towards the Hleen. If you go in full of fire and fury, it could provoke all-out war."
"War? Between who?"
"Between the Hleen and everyone else, the Sianar and everyone else, and the Ur and... well. You get the picture."
"What does your companion have to say about this?"
Vadim swallowed. He'd spoken to some pretty high up people in his time, but never advised a leader of a whole species. "It's true. We were attacked, but that was before I knew your daughter's ancestry. I thought it was a simple racial issue, but there's something bigger going on. We were trying to get to the bottom of it."
"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" Ail asked.
"Sir," Vadim cut in, before Avery could reply. "We're trying the softly-softly approach. Plus, we didn't want to cause any worry. I think you should let Ithon try his method, and if it doesn't work? Then you bring down your whole fleet on Lineon and work out what's gone wrong. Just give him a few days first."
"Appoint me as your Amanuensis Extraordinaire," Avery said. "Give me three days to get her back, and then go in shooting."
The Sianar snorted noisily, his nostrils flaring. "Are you aware what you're asking of me?"
"I am, Za. I am."
Ail-Tho-Gameth pushed to stand, his not-inconsiderable eight feet of height towering over them both. "Three days, Avery-Tho. Three days. And I expect that not a hair on her body is bent."
Avery bowed lowly, eyes on the floor. "My hands are your hands, Za."
Vadim wasn't sure if he should do the same, so he just dropped his gaze.
"You know there's no precedent for this?"
"I have studied the case-law, Za. I believe that I can convince the Ur-court of the validity."
"You know those book-loving bastards better than I do." Ail sprang from the dais, landing lithely just before Avery. Vadim was suddenly aware that one swipe of those broad paws - claws out - and Avery would be torn in two. Instead, he pulled one of Avery's hands up on his paw, and licked over the back of it. "I swear your paws as mine, Tho. Do anything to make me regret this, and I will have to rip your throat out myself."
Avery didn't even blanch. "Za, I swear no act of my hands will make you sorrow."
"Go. Get my daughter."
***
Back on the ship, Avery punched in the co-ordinates, sending them to the closest Whale-line heading back to Lineon.
"Amanuensis Extraordinaire, huh?" Vadim asked.
"Yes."
"You know that's a Hleen thing, right? Not Sianar. They aren't known for getting intermediaries to act for them."
"I know. But I also know that when the Most-Learned Tuerthai chose to use the Amanuensis Defence for her nephew, she set precedence. Ur-law recognises that what stands for one head of state must stand for all. When Tuerthai excused her nephew, she opened the possibility for all races to appoint an Amanuensis."
"Which would grant you... well. All the powers of the great Ail-Tho-Gameth, then? They have to treat you as if you're the ruler of the Sianar?"
Avery's little smile was not so subtle. "Yes. You should technically address me as 'Za'. And no matter what the Enforcers and the Judges wish to do to me, they cannot interfere with my pursuit of Ail's wishes. As long as I hold that aegis, I am diplomatically inviolable. Well. As long as I do not commit any Ur-crimes. The loss of one set of identities is hardly enough to bring down Ail's authority."
"You sneaky bastard. That's practically a Get Out Of Jail Free card."
"Indeed. It also means that the Ur-court on Lineon will have no choice but to cede to my wishes. Especially if I make a public request for Kre and Loap to be returned."
"Wait... so you've got diplomatic immunity, but what about me?"
Ithon swivelled his chair around. "What do you mean?"
"Well, won't they just arrest me? I did commit a slightly bigger crime than dropping a badge."
"You are under the Amanuensis, also."
"...you can only have one Amanuensis."
"True, under Hleen rules. But under Sianar rules, such an office would be--"
"No."
"What?"
"No. No! The hell is wrong with you?"
"Look, do you want to be protected or not?"
"Did you seduce me just to put me under your protection, Ithon? Is that why you dragged me into bed?"
"If I recall correctly, you were doing the seducing, and no! I just thought it would be helpful."
"And if we hadn't gotten our freak on, what then?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'd have made you stay on the ship."
Vadim was almost vibrating with rage. "How did he even know?"
"No matter how many showers you take to wash me off your skin, you can't clean the pheromones off, too. You reek of sexual satisfaction and bonding for any Sianar or Roq in a ten-mile radius, you idiot."
"Find some other way."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You want to turn this ship around, fly back to the Sianar Za, proclaim that although we're fucking it's just 'friends with benefits' and that you want to claim some secon
dary legal protection for yourself? Go right ahead. I'm not coming in when you embarrass us all like that, I'll leave the ship running for you."
"You really think this is a good idea? Genuinely? You know if we use Sianar mate-designation that any crimes I commit from now on are your responsibility, and vice-versa? You really want to tie yourself to my actions like that?"
"Look, Ail-Za just accepted your actions, by proxy, as his own. If he's willing to trust you, do you mean to say he's wrong?"
"I mean to say I never signed up to be bonded with you, you dick. And assuming that we are, after only one night?"
"If it's to save the galaxy, then you can suck it up, mate." The double-entendre definitely intended. "When this is all over we'll officially get 'divorced' and then you can stop whining. It's a marriage of convenience. All you need to do is tell them I'm not prepared to adopt or rear your children, that it was one of your mate-requirements, and they'll uphold it."
"You are an ass."
"I know. You're welcome. I love you too."
"Aurgh!" Vadim stormed out from the bridge. He needed to be more drunk for this.
***
[Sianor: My Kip wants to kill your boy XD]
[Ashroe: I think you meant to say 'kiss'.]
[Sianor: That too. Mostly kill.]
[Ashroe: Ithon wouldn't force him to stay in a loveless marriage, but he would force him to stay in a temporary legal-reasons one.]
[Sianor: Damn Enforcer and his tax breaks!]
[Ashroe: Face it, Kip loves the drama. He pretends he doesn't but he surrounds himself with back-chatting smart-asses.]
[Sianor: Don't let him hear you!]
[Ashroe: Oh Kiiiiiiippppp.]
[Sianor: Stop it! Stop it!!!]
***
Chapter Twenty-One - Mission: Distinction
"Put me through to the High-Judge," Avery said, as they fell into an orbital pattern around Lineon. "On the authority of Ail-Tho-Gameth."
"You are aboard a ship marked as fugitive, after the kidnapping of an Ur-Judge. Stand down."
"The Ur-Judge is still in the court. It's probably above your pay-grade, though. I'm transmitting the official codes now. Get me the High-Judge, or I will go above her."
There was silence. A long, long silence. Vadim examined the dirt under his fingernails, counting Mississippis as he waited. It wasn't long enough to be a delaying pause; it sounded more like a frantic searching.
"What the hell do you want?" asked the sharp voice over the comms-line.
"Is that any way to speak to the designated Hand of his Eminence, Ail-Tho-Gameth?" Vadim answered, just as curtly. He noted Avery's pleased surprise, and filed it away for later use. "You have his daughter, Kre-Tho-Tiamet. I am sure your biometrics scans identified her for you. The Za requires her, and her companion, Hale Loap."
Another pause. This one sounded contemplative. "If you know they are in custody, you know that they were apprehended under assumed identities, and that this requires investigation."
"We do," Avery cut in, smoothly. "It was part of an investigation the Za was making into protocols. But now he requires his heir to be restored, as the investigation has concluded smoothly."
"There is no need for sovereign states to--"
"You will make the Za-le Kre-Tho-Tiamet and her companion Hale Loap ready to be collected in one standard hour," Avery answered, and killed the channel.
"You've kicked up a hornet's nest, you know," Vadim said.
"I have. But notice how they didn't question my designated authority, or the protection it implies to you? Interesting, don't you think?"
"For a High-Judge who has supposedly spent her whole life in legal battles and challenges? Incredibly interesting."
"You know you could just stay here. If you don't want to act as my kin, I mean."
"And leave your six unflanked?"
"Oh, you just want my ass in one piece? How sweet."
Vadim sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if you actually want anyone to like you."
"I don't."
"Thought so."
***
Messenger did not dock in the Ur-court's private area, as they were apparently 'renovating' the spare bays. It sounded alarm bells for both men, but they couldn't prove shenanigans without wasting precious time that could trap them in some legalese or another. Plus, they wanted to rush their erstwhile companions off-world before any more harm could potentially befall them.
The Ur-court was much more homogenised than the Sianar palace, and coming from somewhere so strikingly decorated to something that was created to be the least-offensive to the most people... it jarred in its blandness. The only colour was in the murals that now seemed a little more sinister than the last time Vadim had been here, and he wondered where the fault-lines would show first. The Roq and the Sianar might briefly team up against the Hleen - mostly because they had always felt like their historical disagreements were their own, and would reject anyone who tried to side with one of them over it - but there was too much bad blood for that to hold up for long. The Humans usually favoured the Hleen because they looked most similar of the other races, but there was a huge counter-culture bubbling just under the surface. The Kior-Dhalias probably would retreat in horror, rejecting any advances and crumbling before any attack, the Munts would go wherever their 'guardians' pointed them, and the Bankers? Well.
There was an Earth saying about men with deep pockets in times of war.
Here Vadim strode alongside Avery, much more confident in the layout and the protocol than on Raboros. It was worrying how easily it all came back. Last time he'd been impersonating an Enforcer, but really he'd just been reprising a role from not so long ago. There was comfort in knowing your place, in knowing the words to say. He wasn't here as an Enforcer, now, but he'd seen the way dignitaries acted when they came to the Ur-court, and they invariably acted as if they owned the building. So that's what he did, too.
Avery laughed at the two Enforcers who asked for their papers, and told him to clear it through Raboros. They brushed past and into the private area set aside for people of influence, or people whose cases were so high-profile that they warranted a little privacy for politeness, if nothing else.
"The Za-le will be with you shortly," a Sianar Enforcer told them, clearly chosen to cause the least offence. His expression was unreadable when he recognised them.
"It's been a while."
"I did not know you were..." His eyes flickered from one to the other. "I did not know you were even... connected."
"I know, he's part of my chequered past, what can I say?" Vadim shrugged. "Nice to see they gave you a cushy job. Knee still sore?"
Avery was going to ask what happened, when the doors at the far end opened, with Kre and Loap herded in by several Humans.
"Captain!" she called out, forgetting to be reserved. "What a pleasure it is to see you!"
"Kre! Get your tail over here!" Vadim called out in reply. Then - before the group were fully in earshot - he turned to the Enforcer. "Fal, you sniff 'em when they get close. If they don't smell right, you call me Kip. Got it?"
Fal nodded.
By the time the little group had arrived, Kre's initial enthusiasm had dampened to suspicion. Vadim didn't blame her, because he was pretty damned suspicious, too.
"You came faster than we hoped," Loap said, his tongue straying out a little too long when he said it, evidently tasting the air.
"Had to make a pit-stop first," Vadim answered. Loap knew how fast the Messenger could get here, so the statement was a loaded one. "Had to see Kre's old man."
Sianar fur didn't change colour, but if it could, Vadim was sure Kre would have gone pure white everywhere except her cheeks. As it was, she simply froze stiff. "You saw the Za?"
"He wants to thank you for concluding his investigation into Ur-law enforcement," Avery told her. "He couldn't trust anyone but you with the job. He sent us to take you back home."
"Oh."
Avery turned sharply on his hee
l to the other Enforcers. "So, ladies and gentlemen, if you'd excuse us? We'll need their items out of the impound, and we'll be on our way."
"It was a pleasure to see you both again, Captain, Za," Fal said, making it clear that he couldn't smell anything wrong.
Kre turned sharply, eyeing Fal.
"Za?" she asked.
"It's a long story," Vadim told her. "Come on."
***
Once they'd got their bags, the four of them went to leave the Ur-court. Kre, Loap and Vadim were edgy, but Avery seemed completely at ease.
