Their car was slowly crawling by a colorful crowd of parked vehicles. 'What about the present sovereign? How did he feel when our presence
ended the war?'
'An insignificant Emperor's subject does not dare to consider his sovereign's thoughts,' Kissur answered. Bemish jerked.
'What about you?'
'I was quite impressed,' Kissur answered after a pause.
Bemish couldn't help but smile — during the day that Kissur first met the Earthmen, he called them vultures, hijacked a military plane and, having massacred the rebel camp, finished the civil war.
'What impressed you? Our weapons?'
'No, your weapons didn't faze me. I thought that in six months our sovereign would buy the same stuff, maybe slightly older and cheaper. Then, I saw the houses your commoners reside in and the vehicles they drive and I thought that there was no way our sovereign would buy our people the same houses and cars either in six or in sixty months.
'Haven't anything shocked you?' Bemish asked, 'our pop culture, our commercials… A lot of people say that Earthmen have too much material life and not enough existence. They use Weia as an example.'
'If somebody is unhappy, they can visit us. I 'll send them to my Iniss mines and they will have a lot of… existence.'
He grinned and added,'
'Good-bye for now, Terrence. I need to go to the palace and it's time for your visit to Shavash.'
Bemish appeared at Shavash's place right on time.
Mr. Shavash received the Earthman in the Red Office.
The host and the visitor bowed each other ceremoniously. A polite servant poured tea in the porcelain cups and disappeared behind the gold-gilded doors. Bemish noticed no paintings drawn and signed by the Emperor hanging on the office walls, otherwise decorated with the utmost grace. Bemish didn't know yet that a roll signed and bequested by the Emperor costs more than a rank and a title, and that Shavash offered half a million to the Emperor's suckling brother, Ishim, to persuade the sovereign Varnazd to bequest him a gift. Ishim, however, had to return the money — somehow, the sovereign did not like Shavash.
'I am very grateful to you,' Bemish mentioned at the desert, 'that you signed all these papers yesterday and agreed to help me.'
Shavash smiled gently,
'Verily, everybody at the court can only talk about your great success. How can such an insignificant person as me, assist you with anything.'
Bemish lowered his eyes.
'Are you and Kissur old friends?'
'We met just before the end of the civil war.'
'Where?'
'In a duel,' Shavash said calmly, 'Kissur rushed at me with a sword and I shot at him with a revolver.'
Bemish thought for a moment and wondered
'What revolver? The Earthmen hadn't…'
'It's a long story,' Shavash waved his hand, 'and a revolver was jury-rigged.'
'What happened then?'
I almost missed and Kissur's friends charged at me and started to teach me how to conduct duels. Then, they tied me to a rope and dragged me all the way through the city. My back and ribs were broken… Then, the Earthmen appeared and managed to heal me. I've been limping slightly since. And my hand…
Bemish noticed a while ago that Shavash was holding the cup with the left hand while his right palm was shriveled and the fingers were slightly twisted.
'What were you fighting about?'
'A woman. Lady Idari, Kissur's main wife had been my fiancee before Kissur became the first minister and I became a roadside pebble. Kissur arrested a man that I owed my carreer to and obtained his position and my fiancee.'
Shavash suddenly followed Bemish's glance and hid the right hand under the table, but Bemish managed to notice his twisted fingers shaking.
'Now we are married to two sisters. My wife is the Lady Idary's younger sister.'
'Why is he telling me this?' Bemish was horrified.
Shavash put a peach morsel, soaked in honey, in his mouth and said after a brief hesitation,
'Mr. Bemish! I would like to warn you as a friend. Kissur is the sovereign's favorite. He can obstruct you easily, but he can't really help you. A lot of officials hate Kissur for being Kissur. For the disdain Kissur has towards bribers and entrepreneurs, while he lives by the sovereign's benefactions. For the Kissur's opinion that no fortune is more disgraceful than a merchant's profit. For the feasts he throws for the people; for the zealots and heretics calling him the sovereign Irshakhchan reborn… Mr. Inada promised to roll Iniss carpet under your car's wheels when a friend of Kissur visits his villa… Mr. Inada will roll Iniss carpet under your wheels and he will plant a plastic bomb under the Iniss carpet. The offiicials will be signing your papers and playing foul behind your back. Kissur will praise you to the sovereign — they will prove to the sovereign that Kissur is mistaken. My advice to you is to keep your distance from him.
Bemish chewed on his lip.
'Mr. Shavash,' he said, 'I would like to remind you that if LSV is interested in acquiring your company, we will just buy it at an open-access auction. I guarrantee you that we will offer higher price that IC will, and that nobody will be able to kick us out of the auction due to some invented technicalities. Regarding the access to the financial documentation, I am sure that without Kissur I would have spend two more years obtaining it and I know probably the reasons for it. Also, if I may advise you, when you fake the reports, pay more attention to secondary indicators. You know, it's impossible that the construction rate increased by 300 % while the energy consumption stayed the same.
The official was silent for a moment and he closed his eyes.
'Of course. Good-bye, Mr. Bemish, and I wish you the best luck.'
Bemish has barely driven through the Shavash's mansion gates, when a white limousine, long like a sturgeon, slid a millimeter away from him. Kissur's stuck his head out of the window and waved a hand. Bemish will-less swerved to the curb. They got out of the cars and embraced.
'Let's go drive,' Kissur demanded.
Bemish glanced at his Urun indecisively.
Kissur clicked his tongue — a small servant in linen pants got out of the back seat. Kissur pointed a finger at him.
'Give him the keys and he return the car.' Bemish gave him the keys and sat next to Kissur.
'There is a great pub nearby,' Kissur said, 'let's go there.'
The pub was low and damp; a fountain splashed in the middle of a octagonal yard. Next to the fountain, a flat dancing god stood, with an colossal-sized penis and four breasts. The god was generally naked except for a huge advertisement boards covering him on three sides. The ad called to buy 3D-sets by the Corund company.
A nimble chief appeared next to Kissur and placed a great grilled goose, sprinkled with lime juice and covered with a golden crust, and a palm wine jar in front of the guests. Kissur noticed that Bemish was ogling the god and asked the host,
'How much did they pay you for putting the boards up?'
'Two.'
'Here is four. Go and scrape this offal away.' Bemish lowered his eyes. He felt crappy after the yesterday's binge, he didn't eat anything at Shavash's place — he couldn't even look at the goose! What should he do now? Bemish realized that, when Shavash mentioned the offiicials hating Kissur, he meant himself first of all — that's why he told Bemish about his fiancee and his shriveled hand… Should he tell Kissur that his brother-in-law hates him? But they are friends. It would look like an Earthman dropped by, did some fishing with Kissur and quickly
