Aldo finally turned back to regard her thoughtfully. “Your father? Yes. You would be about the right age I suppose. Lucas Droad is your father, I presume?”
Nina steeled herself for grim news. She felt tears gathering, and she sternly ordered herself not to allow them to bubble up and stream down her cheeks. Why should she cry for a man she’d never met upon hearing of his death? She tried logic and willful stubbornness, but still she suspected she was about to begin bawling in front of this handsome, capable stranger like a princess who’d spilled her ice cream.
“He’s not aboard, my dear. He didn’t come on the trip. Instead, he sent an ambassador, who is now deceased. He also sent me to aid him.”
Nina felt numb. She was relieved and crushed all at once. “He sent others? Why didn’t he come himself?”
“He said he had some kind of-arrangement. With your mother, I believe.”
Nina sighed and walked to examine the rip in the hull more closely. “I see. My mother…of course.”
“I can tell you are upset he did not come himself. But consider: he may not have survived.”
Nina wasn’t listening to him. “My mother drove him away, and forbade him to return, I understand now. She truly was a witch.”
“Olivia Droad is your mother?” Aldo asked. “I am to speak to her.”
Nina gave a harsh laugh. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I ran this very sword through her body some months back,” Nina said, giving her brother Leon’s sword pommel a resounding slap. “I am Olivia’s heir, the new Baroness of Droad House. You will speak with me privately tonight, after these fops are done pawing at you.”
Aldo’s eyes ran up and down her person, as if reappraising her. He nodded slowly. “Very well, Baroness.”
Aldo found that the ‘fops’, as Nina called them, were about to descend. Once they figured out no one else was coming off the ship, and realized these three disreputable-looking characters were the only living creatures aboard, they became the center of attention. Aldo, Joelle and the crazy skald Garth were all swept along in a sea of finely-scented, furred and jeweled persons. All of them spoke at once, saying useless things, but when one known as Duchess Embrak appeared, the others quieted. They soon learned the Duchess ruled here in Lavender City. It was her family’s fiefdom.
The Duchess moved through the crowd as if they were not there, and they melted at her approach, forming a bubble of space in the press. She was tall, blonde, and sour of face. She inspected each of them with cold, calculating eyes.
Aldo stood tall under her inspection, although not so tall as the Duchess herself. Joelle looked annoyed, while Garth appeared addled as always. The skald’s fingers twitched and his face moved in odd patterns. He appeared to be trying to locate an escape route. Aldo smiled faintly, he could not blame the man for that.
There was no escape for any of them, however. As she introduced herself formally, Aldo realized there were strict protocols of behavior in these situations on Ignis Glace, and no warden of protocol was more watchful than Duchess Embrak.
She waved her hand toward a large, ornate building with a roof in the shape and color of a red onion. “Let us walk.”
They followed her, and the crowd slipped away on every side as they approached. Others clearly wanted to greet them, but dared not interrupt while they were in the presence of the Duchess. If for that reason alone, Aldo appreciated her company.
“You three are the ship’s complement-in its entirety?” the Duchess asked.
“We are the survivors, yes,” Joelle answered.
The Duchess’ eyes flicked to her, then back to Aldo. “Who is in command here?”
“I am the Nexus officer in command of the ship,” Joelle said.
Again the Duchess eyed her momentarily, before regarding Aldo again. “And you are?”
“Aldo Moreno, madam. Aide to the deceased Ambassador Garant. Effectively, I’m the diplomatic representative of the Nexus Senator Lucas Droad.”
Hearing Droad’s name, the Duchess recoiled slightly, but recovered. “The original Ambassador is dead, and you claim his title?”
“I do.”
“Ambassador,” said the Duchess thoughtfully. “A respectable position.”
“That is my title,” Aldo said, deciding on the moment he liked the ring of it. Clearly, these people liked titles.
“And why have you come, Ambassador?”
“To warn you of the coming ship. The aliens aboard are very capable-like nothing humanity has faced before. We have excised them on two worlds, but only after millions lie dead in each case.”
“I see,” the Duchess said, “you realize, of course, that your government has already transmitted this warning?”
“Yes, but it is the experience of Nexus officials that local colonial governments do not always grasp the depths of the danger.”
The Duchess nodded slightly, then looked over her shoulder toward Garth, who followed them with a stumbling gait. At that moment, Garth was engaged in systematically plucking single hairs from his own head. Her lip curled a fraction. “And who is that person?”
“A skald,” Joelle said, “do you have them here? They have battled with these aliens in the distant past.”
“A skald, do you say? We have no such-persons.”
“Odd,” Aldo said. “I thought they wandered every system in the Faustian Chain.”
“Perhaps I’ve never been made aware of them. I doubt that, however. They are-distinctive.”
“Yes, well…” Aldo said, seeking to change the subject. “About your preparations for war… What kind of fleet do you have to defend this world? Have they been deployed into high orbit to intercept Gladius?”
Duchess Embrak made a flicking motion with her fingers, as if to rid herself of some fleck of filth. “The coming ship is the concern of Nexus officials. We have increased their funding, three-fold, and they have assured us they can handily destroy a single freighter the moment it enters our system.”
“Uh, right,” Joelle said. “Is there any way we can meet with these Nexus people?”
Duchess Embrak made a face that indicated a hint of disgust at the prospect. “As you are a Nexus official yourself, you should be able to pass their security curtains. People of high birth do not normally associate with off-world officials here, be warned.”
“This matter must rise above local traditions and politics, Your Grace,” Aldo said. “The aliens that are coming will not have been idle during their long years aboard Gladius. They will probably reach Ignis Glace, and wreak havoc here.”
Duchess Embrak looked surprised. “We are quite capable of defending ourselves, Ambassador, should such a thing occur.”
Aldo sighed quietly. As they passed through a vast portal into the red-onion building, he began to realize why Lucas Droad had sent him to this world. They weren’t going to drop their mindsets and cooperate easily.
He glanced sidelong at the Duchess. She was clearly a major player in world politics here. She was not his usual type, but then, exploration always had its own rewards.
Forcing a confident smile, he began to flirt with her in his own swaggering fashion. She seemed distantly amused.
It was a beginning.
Aldo and Joelle were left on their own in the spaceport terminal when the Duchess declared their interview at an end for the time being. She offered them accommodations at the local hotel named Gloaming Splendor, and suggested they meet at a later date at her own residence. She then took her leave.
The moment she left, the crowd of lesser nobility descended. Everyone wanted a holo-pic, a tapping of fists in greeting, and cheek-touching hugs. Aldo found these repetitive actions pleasant with the younger females, but tiresome with the rest.
