Mark Tiedemann - Chimera

Even the Terrans dressed in one or another Spacer fashion, though they still stuck out. Coren thought he knew why: Terrans dressed for personal status while Spacers dressed purely for personal taste. On a Spacer, the quality and expense of the clothing said nothing of their place in the hierarchy, which kept Terrans continually unable to rank them on sight-something Terrans did among themselves habitually.

"Coren."

He followed his name and found Ariel looking at him. She stood with three people: two Spacers, the other Terran. He recognized the Terran.

"Coren," Ariel said, taking his arm, "may I introduce Ambassador Sen Setaris of Aurora."

Coren bowed slightly and Setaris returned it. She was Spacer tall and austerely attractive, her hair glowing white around a seamless face. She could be fifty, or one hundred and fifty for all that Coren could tell.

"Welcome, Mr. Lanra," she said. "I trust you aren't in any distress?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

"Good. Make yourself comfortable, this is an informal gathering. Should you wish, my house is open. "

"I appreciate that, Ambassador."

"And this, " Ariel moved on, "is Ambassador Gale Chassik of Solaria. "

Chassik looked very different from Setaris. Heavier, dressed in the thick Solarian manner, his head was nearly smooth. He smiled broadly and the lines in his face were deep. Coren began to extend his hand, then remembered the Solarian aversion to being touched. He bowed again.

"Ambassador."

"Pleased, Mr. Lanra. It's good to see Ariel out of her shell again. We've missed her."

Ariel smiled. "I've missed you, as well." She turned to the Terran. "And this is Senator Jonis Taprin of Earth."

"I recognize the Senator, of course," Coren said, extending his hand. "How do you do, sir. "

Taprin was pale and middle-aged, lines in his forehead qualitatively different from those in Chassik's. He was thin and nearly as tall as Setaris. He clasped Coren 's hand. "This must be an unusual occasion for you, Mr. Lanra. I understood you worked for Rega Looms. "

"That's true, sir."

"What would he think of you consorting with Spacers?" Taprin grinned at Chassik and Setaris, including them in the joke.

"No more than he would of you doing so, Senator," Coren said.

The Spacers laughed softly. Coren noticed the quick resentment in Taprin 's eyes, gone just as quickly.

"Honestly, though," Coren said, "I'm here at Ambassador Burgess's invitation. I'm currently on leave from Mr. Looms' service. "

"Isn't that unusual?" Chassik asked. "You are his chief of security, are you not?"

"I am. But I have very capable people handling his day-to-day operations. On the road as he is, I have to look after the home office. But even I get a few days off from time to time."

More polite laughter.

"Enjoy yourself, Mr. Lanra," Setaris said. "If you'll excuse Ariel and me…?"

Setaris took Ariel's arm and the two drifted off.

"Ambassador Setaris sets a marvelous table," Chassik said. "The buffet should not be missed." He gestured toward a long table near the entrance to the house.

"In that case," Coren said, "I should do the diplomatic thing and eat something."

Taprin smiled. "Stay away from the mauve buttons with the yellow cream sauce. They sneak up on you at the most inconvenient times."

Coren glanced back when he reached the long table filled with Spacer delicacies. Taprin and Chassik faced each other, talking intently. He searched the crowd and spotted Ariel and Setaris, near the edge of the patio, also talking intently.

He surveyed the food arrayed down the length of the long table and saw almost nothing he recognized. He located the buttons Taprin had warned him about and, perversely, took one. It possessed a faintly musty taste beneath a cinnamon-sweet tang. The sauce reminded him of buttered scallops. Nothing unfamiliar.

"Drink, sir?"

He glimpsed a tray to his left containing several tall glasses. He took one.

"Thanks. "

The servor rolled away, then, and Coren watched it, a robot shaped like a mobile table, moving deftly among the partiers. He caught a glimpse of a few more spaced throughout the gathering.

The liquid in the glass shimmered golden and he wondered where it put him in the order of importance. He sipped: tea with almond liqueur. He popped the rest of the button in his mouth and washed it down.

"I trust this isn't going to become complicated." Taprin stood beside him. "Complicated, Senator?"

"You understand me, Mr. Lanra."

"I do. I'm sure both of us understand the risks of unmanaged implication."

Taprin winced. "Just so we do." He was not finished, though. He fidgeted, sipped at his drink, and finally asked, "Have you and Ariel known each other long?"

"We met last year. "

Taprin blinked, startled. "I wasn't aware she'd been seeing anyone…"

"Should you?"

Taprin frowned.

"I'm sure, Senator, whatever else gets discussed here tonight, Ariel Burgess's personal relationships won't be part of it."

Taprin nodded. "Excuse me."

Coren watched him walk away, toward the house. So much for being nonconfrontational…

"Do you think he can defeat your Mr. Looms?"

Ambassador Chassik stood beside him, also watching Taprin retreat to the interior of Setaris's residence.

"The election is still six weeks off," Coren said. "Anything can happen between now and then. "

"I know. That's always surprised me about you Terrans. Given your temperament, one would think you'd find a less volatile way to choose your leaders."

"For example?"

Chassik shrugged. "For example, on Solaria the process is accomplished by a combination of appointment and annual assessment. A vote of confidence keeps the appointed official in office. Too low a vote…" Chassik drew a finger sharply across his own throat. He grinned quickly. "Politically speaking, of course."

"Who does the appointing?"

"There is a college of electors. We never know who they are."

"I see. I think we'll keep our volatility."

Chassik laughed.

"My question," he continued, "is not academic, Mr. Lanra. Should your employer defeat Senator Taprin, new arrangements must be made. I would consider it a favor if you let Mr. Looms know that Solaria is open to a dialogue. "

"You do know Rega's position on Earth-Spacer relations."

Chassik nodded. "In spite of his public pronouncements, I'm sure he's at base a reasonable man."

"Is Senator Taprin a reasonable man?"

"More than others, less than some. "

"When the time comes, I'll pass that on," Coren said.

"Thank you, Mr. Lanra."

"I would think, though, that you would tell him yourself. You used to know him personally, didn't you?"

Chassik's eyes narrowed briefly. "I won't insult your no doubt substantiated intelligence by denying it. That was, however, a long time ago."

"Before you were ambassador, wasn't it?"

"I was newly arrived on Earth. He was one of the few Terrans who took any time to show me around."

"I suppose it helped to be in business together. I found that interesting. It's not very common these days, is it?"

"We were never 'in business' together, Mr. Lama. You're mistaken. "

"Oh. I apologize-perhaps I misunderstood. You both owned shares in some of the same companies. "

Chassik shook his head. "Even then, Rega was not sanguine about mixing with Spacers. If we did have common investments, it was quite by accident. "

Coren nodded. "Ah. Forgive me. I was under the impression that he brought you in on a project."

"What project might that have been?"

"Something to do with prostheses, I believed. I forget the name of the company. "

Chassik shrugged. "Rega showed some interest in our medical technologies along those lines, but nothing ever came of it. He found our procedures too invasive. Later on, his discomfort turned to fanaticism. We haven't spoken since he became head of that church of his. "