by E. M. Foner
Kelly finally located the jewelry box, which contained the necklace from Yeafah and a few pieces of costume jewelry that looked better in the Shuk than on her person. The colors swirling in the crystal pendant almost looked like they were alive with anticipation at being reunited with the lock for the first time in countless years.
“Can you keep a secret?” Libby finally asked by way of a reply
“Of course I can keep a secret. This is exactly what I was complaining about to Jeeves earlier,” Kelly replied in frustration, as she took the necklace and exited the bedroom.
“Then sit down for a minute,” Libby advised, just as Kelly was passing her LoveU massaging recliner. Kelly decided that the party could wait while she treated herself to a quick pick-me-up, and settled into the LoveU with a moan. The chair embraced her gently, assessed her tension and muscular rigidity, and immediately started in with a program of Fintrian nerve stimulation and neck massage.
“I was concerned about Paul and Blythe,” Libby confessed. “I’ve made millions of matches over the years, and while the two of them make the best of friends, they aren’t well suited to be husband and wife. And it’s a matter of record that no human children who attended our school and shared the same Parents Day have ever married each other.”
“Why’s that?” Kelly asked, in an effort to take an active enough part in the conversation to avoid passing out from pleasure as LoveU drained away her tension.
“Humans have a very strong taboo against incest, and the Stryx school operates like a foster family,” Libby explained. “Blythe isn’t just a business partner and a former pupil, she’s my friend. I couldn’t watch her waste her youth tied to Paul, just waiting for something that was never going to happen.”
“And how about Paul’s feelings?” Kelly asked loyally, since it didn’t seem fair that Libby should be rearranging the whole galaxy just for Blythe’s benefit.
“Jeeves is Paul’s best friend,” Libby explained. “That’s why I asked him to help me find your foster son his ideal match. It’s the last assignment Jeeves accepted from my dating service before resigning,” Libby added sadly. “He says he’s too busy with other things now, but I know he just didn’t want to work for his mother anymore.”
For the first time ever, Kelly sat bolt upright in her LoveU without waiting for the gentle letdown cycle.
“You and Jeeves picked out Aisha for Paul and that’s why I finally got an intern?” she demanded. “Libby, how could you? That’s incredibly…”
“Brilliant?” Libby interrupted helpfully. “I’m afraid Blythe saw through me the second I tried the old tube lift trick, you wouldn’t believe how many matches I’ve made over the years with that one. She’s just a little suspicious by nature.”
“I think Aisha’s actually a good fit for the diplomatic service,” Kelly said thoughtfully, already over her initial burst of indignation. “But was it so hard to find somebody for Paul that you had to reach all the way back to Earth for her?”
“I can see you’ve never run a dating service,” Libby scolded the ambassador. “It’s not as simple as matching DNA samples and brain scans with personal histories and aspirations. You also need to introduce couples in the right way at the right time. Despite their professional abilities, Paul and Aisha are never going to be extroverts like Blythe and Clive. I couldn’t have gotten their romance off the ground if I hadn’t introduced Aisha into your home.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kelly inquired, as she accepted LoveU’s help getting back on her feet.
“Now that you know, it would help things along if you let Clive have the necklace and suggest that he take Jeeves along to protect your interests,” Libby replied. “I think it will make things easier for Blythe, and her parents would worry too much otherwise.”
Blythe and her parents are worried about Clive taking advantage of my loaning him the necklace? Kelly tried to figure that one out as she returned to the picnic, where Dring was in his glory relating tales of the long-forgotten Effterii.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Kelly asked, handing the necklace to Clive. The former cage fighter gazed transfixed at the crystal pendant, and for a second, Kelly thought he was going to break down and cry for joy.
“I’ll agree to whatever deal you want,” Clive told Kelly humbly. “I just want to be the first one onboard, to be part of living history.”
“I’ll let you take the key if Jeeves is willing to go along with you,” Kelly responded. Not comfortable with the mercantile reason Libby had supplied, she added the hastily conceived explanation, “I wouldn’t want it on my head if you can’t control the ship.”
“I’d be honored if you came along,” Clive said to Jeeves. “I know you can get more out of my ship than I can, so the whole trip would take just a few weeks.”
“As long as Shaina and Brinda can spare me,” Jeeves replied, with a glance down the table at his new business partners.
“Go for it,” Brinda told him. “We’re still working out the circuit schedule and advertising, so the first auction is at least two months away. Besides, anybody who hasn’t slept in twenty years deserves a few weeks off.”
“It sounds like an exciting vacation,” Blythe said enviously, causing Kelly’s heart to skip a beat. Next to Libby, the Prophet Nabay was a mere carnival fortuneteller.
“Come with me,” Clive offered instantly. “There’s plenty of room on the Caged Bird, and I’m sure Jeeves and I can rig up a magic ball on a cable to get you some weight while we’re coasting.”
“Let me talk it over with Chastity,” Blythe replied hesitantly, which was so out of character that everybody stared in her direction. Blythe compounded their surprise by starting to blush, perhaps for the first time in her adult life.
“Don’t use me as an excuse,” Chastity said wickedly, enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of her older sister’s embarrassment. “I’m used to you running off and pretending to do business all the time while Tinka and I deal with the actual customers.”
“Well, I’m going then,” Blythe shot back, without trying to figure out how she really felt about the invitation. Like a lioness looking to reestablish dominance over her pride, she reached across the table, and snapped a few times under Paul’s nose to get her former boyfriend’s attention. “And there will be no marriages before I get back!”
“Yes,” Paul answered, having missed the entire conversation while listening to a couple of Horten analysts break down the action at the recent Nova tournament. Even Aisha had to laugh at his answer.
“On Drazen, we have a saying that there is a lid for every pot,” Bork’s wife observed quietly. “It looks like this applies to humans as well.”
“We have the same saying,” Donna replied in a similar register, keeping the conversation private to their end of the table. “But in my daughter Blythe’s case, I’m not sure if she’s the lid or the pot.”
Two seats to her right, Joe looked sadly at the empty pitcher. Then he swapped his glass with Kelly’s nearly full one, and took a happy swallow as Beowulf looked on, impressed by the trick.
“What kind of man steals his wife’s beer?” Kelly demanded
“Bad for the baby and all that,” Joe replied complacently. Finally he had his revenge for the cracker crumbs in bed.
High Priest has a sequel!
Spy Night on Union Station, Book 4 of the EarthCent Ambassador series, is now available. It picks up less than a year after the events of High Priest, with Kelly coming to the conclusion that EarthCent needs an intelligence service to keep human diplomats from being surprised by everything that goes on in the galaxy. Of course, EarthCent has no institutional knowledge of what spies do, or how they work, so the new agency gets off to a slow start. Then Kelly and company come up with a brilliant to get the ball rolling. Spy Night on Union Station can be ordered through Amazon.
About the Author
E. M. Foner lives in Northampton, MA with an imaginary German Shepherd who’s be
en trained to bite bankers. The author welcomes reader comments at [email protected].
