"Excellent," Beyazh commented absently as he peered at Tissaurd through narrowed eyes. "I should enjoy a tour of the ship, Captain. Do you suppose you could arrange to free this magnificent woman from her duties?"
"Er... now?" Brim asked.
"But of course," Beyazh answered with a look bordering on disdain. "Only a fool would dawdle when presented with such an opportunity. Come, Captain. I applaud your professional disregard of this seductive woman's obvious charm. But I have no such impediment, and only a limited time to act." He raised his bushy eyebrows. "Shall we be about it, then?"
"I shall relieve her myself," Brim said, leading Beyazh forward to the two Helmsmans' stations.
Now here was a man of action, clearly attracted to beautiful women. And Tissaurd was a beautiful woman.
"I am eternally in your debt," the bearded man said in a tone that strongly augured otherwise.
Clearly, he was also used to getting his own way most of the time.
When they reached the forward end of the bridge, it was almost as if Tissaurd had been expecting them, for she turned in her seat the instant Brim touched her shoulder. Her smile was enough to light the whole bridge. "Why, Captain Brim," she said, "who is this utterly handsome man you've brought onto the bridge with you?"
Beyazh didn't wait for an introduction. Sweeping past Brim, he grasped Tissaurd's perfectly manicured fingers and kissed them gravely. "Lieutenant Tissaurd," he murmured, looking into her eyes from a deep bow, "I am known as Beyazh, a humble Fluvannian politician—and I am deeply honored to be in thy presence."
Brim swore he could hear Tissaurd purr like a Halacian Rothcat.
"I am honored by thy presence," she said quietly—almost privately. Her eyes were completely alert, yet her face had a languid aspect that could only be described—at the moment— as carnal. "How may I make this passage more meaningful to thee?" she asked, a little too assertively for Brim's likes.
"Ah, Lieutenant," Beyazh sighed, "I have so little time to discover the delights of this ship.
Perhaps I can persuade you to be my tutor. By all that is holy, and perhaps a little that is unholy, as well,"
he added with a wink, "I vow to inwardly digest thy every word as if it were an on of the purest gold.''
"I should be honored to be thy guide in all the passages and chambers of this ship," Tissaurd said, gleefully settling into her role. "Just so soon as my watch at the helm is finished."
"My passion for this ship is such that I may not be able to tarry that long," Beyazh moaned. He looked beseechingly at Brim. "Captain," he said. "You did promise to relieve Lieutenant Tissaurd of her present duties, did you not?"
Brim took a deep breath. "I did," he admitted, now struggling to smother the smile that threatened to inundate his face.
"In that case, I beseech you to do your duty," the Fluvannian said, his eyes again fastened on Brim's as if the request were actually an order.
"Number One," Brim said, feeling ridiculously as if he were about to relate something that the good-looking officer already knew, "I promised Ambassador Beyazh that I would stand the last metacycles of your watch myself."
"Oh, Captain," Tissaurd said in an excited voice, "how thoughtful! And of course, Starfury is already running under autohelm."
Brim smiled in spite of himself as Tissaurd led Beyazh into the aft companionway. She could be so awfully appealing. And whatever else he might turn out to be, it seemed clear that the Fluvannian Ambassador was a man of action who also recognized a well-turned ankle when he saw one. All in all, Starfury's first trip to Fluvanna promised to be a lively one—at the very least.
FLUVANNA ______________________________
Kingdom of Fluvanna
Nabob: Mustafa IX Eyren, The Magnificent
Planets: 916; Inhabited: 8
Andronicus, Calleri'l, Dragases, Ordu, Voso Gannit, Voso Gola, Voso Tuvalu, and Wogoria
Population: (est. 52009) 47,250,000 (average annual growth: 2.2%) Capitaclass="underline" Magor, Ordu
Monetary Unit: Fluvannian Credit
Language: Fluvannian
Economic Summary: Gross Dominion Product: C166 billion; Per-capita Income: C1,460; Habitable Land used for agriculture: 43%; Principal Products: cotton, mu'occo tobacco, cereals, sugar beets, nuts; Labor Force in Industry: 16%; Major Products: celecoid quartz kernels, textiles, processed foods, hullmetal; Natural Resources: celecoid quartz kernels, chromate, copper; Exports: celecoid quartz kernels, cotton, mu'occo tobacco, fruits, nuts, processed livestock; Major Trading Partners: The Empire and associated states, esp. Sodeskaya.
GENERAL
Most modern travelers visit Fluvanna to observe its rich heritage of archaeological sites and historical monuments. Numerous cultures have flourished there over a span of millennia, at least ten abandoning unique artifacts before the dawn of recorded history. Magor, the capital city, is located on Ordu, largest of eight planets supporting permanent population centers. With an enormous variety of topography and scenery ranging from semitropical vacation planets with white sand beaches and rivieras of colorful flora (Ordu, Andronicus, and Dragases), dense rain forests and vcee' plantations (Wogoria and Calleri'l), to rugged landscapes of the Voso Triad, gateways of the domain's celecoid quartz kernel growing areas, linchpins of Fluvannian economic life.
As many writers on Fluvanna have remarked, this is a domain that stands astride two mutually repelling elements: an overwhelming historical heritage and the inexorable march of progress. With one foot in the past and the other in the present, the population is gripped in a cultural schizophrenia that often seems confusing to outsiders, but which is always a source of considerable interest.
Contemporary Fluvanna may at first strike the visitors as a somber and troubled domain, having suffered in recent years from severe economic and political problems. But this has not in the least diminished the genuine warmth and friendliness of the Fluvannians themselves, whose hospitality to visitors is proverbial. One should be prepared to encounter the Fluvannian greeting wherever he goes on these friendly planets; "Zin ilegs'oh!" (Welcome!), responding with "Kud lubs'oh!" (We are pleased to be here!).
Brim piloted Starfury to lightward over downtown Magor while Beyazh provided a running travelogue from his observer's seat directly behind Tissaurd in the CoHelmsman's position.
"Magnificent!" the diplomat enthused, waxing poetic as he peered out over the starship's nose. "A golden island surrounded by a garland of waters, if you will." He pointed through the Hyperscreens. "That garland is the Hiemial, an incomparably beautiful waterway that flows from Lake Gonfall—which we overflew only moments ago—into the Gulf of Varn, that large body of water you can see ahead of us. Its two branches separate the ancient, insular part of the city from its more modern boroughs and suburbs on either side. I myself live just beyond the left branch, near the great domed structure atop that first range of hills."
"The harbor section is on the far bank of that branch, I take it," Brim commented.
"Correct, Captain," Beyazh said. "The 'Levantine Quarter,' as it is known. A military base forms its boundary upriver, farthest from the Gulf. You can see a number of our capital ships are in port today."
Brim nodded musingly. Even from this altitude he could see that the warships were clearly from bygone epochs. Calhoun's advisement of their years, however, had done little to prepare him for how really ancient they were. The fleet yard looked more like a colossal museum man a military base. Two were clearly of the ancient Charles Martel design with ventral armament in the "lozenge" arrangement favored by starship designers of more man five hundred Standard Years past: twin-mount center-pivot turrets mounted fore and aft and two more on either beam sponsoned out over the tumblehome. Others shipped two squat KA'PPA masts with flying decks running between them. Altogether, an odd collection of antiquated warships from all over the galaxy.