"He wants to shake hands," said Reith, "the way we do."
As the ceremony proceeded, Ordway muttered: "Dashed different from the other, eh?"
The Grand Master asked shyly in Mikardandou: "Said I that right, Master Reith? I essay to study the Ertso tongue for future dealings with your land."
Reith bowed to hide a smile. "I am gratified that Your Superiority takes such a lively interest in our Terran languages."
"I thank you. My Treasurer, meanwhile, hath set herself to master the English. It were expedient to prepare ourselves to address Terrans in any of their tongues. Pray, state how many such languages there are."
"The last I heard, sir, about three thousand."
The Grand Master flinched. "Great Bákh! We shall never live to learn so vast a number!"
"Fear not, Your Superiority. Most Terran languages are spoken by small groups only. If you master a few leading ones besides Portuguese—say, English, French, Spanish, and Chinese—you'll be able to communicate with any Terrans you will meet. I note you referred to the Treasurer as 'herself.' What has befallen my friend Sir Kubanan?"
"He hath retired to the home for superannuated Knights. My lady Treasurer now handles all the business of the Republic; and you, of course, will make your financial arrangements with her." The Grand Master beckoned his secretary. "Daest, kindly fetch Her Sagacity."
After the secretary departed, the Grand Master exchanged pleasantries with the movie executives, Reith and Alicia interpreting. At last the secretary ushered in a handsome Krishnan female, not quite middle-aged, whose breast-baring gown of sky-blue and orange was confined by a winking bejeweled girdle. At the sight of Reith, her antennae quivered.
"Ah, Far-goose!" she cried in tones of arch reproach. "How cruel you are, to pass again and again through Mishé without paying me a visit! It hath been a score of years since we had intimate converse; albeit the memory thereof still burns within my soul! I have had but a glimpse of you betimes, leading your bands of Terrans about our city, and rarely a hasty greeting; that's all. Art afeared of me, dear Far-goose?"
Flushing to the roots of his hair, Reith did not translate this speech. A glance showed that Alicia was struggling to suppress a burst of laughter. Ordway, with a sharp look, muttered: "What's funny, Alicia?"
She shook her head without replying. Mustering his dignity, Reith said: "Your Sagacity, I must watch my charges vigilantly, for they are often as foolish in their ways as Mikardand's commoners can be in theirs. Now permit me to present my associates ..."
As White and Ordway bowed awkwardly, Gashigi replied, in English as weird as the Grand Master's Portuguese: "Ah-ee am pa-lee-sed to mit ze guest-ess fa-rom ze Airf."
"Your Sagacity's English is coming along splendidly," said Reith. "But for serious business, it were better for each to speak his native tongue, while Doctor Dyckman and I interpret."
Gashigi made the Krishnan affirmative head motion. "Then let us begin our business forthwith. How soon will this making of a living picture start... ?"
Fallon excused himself and vanished. For two hours, Gashigi and Ordway verbally jousted, bandying times, sites, numbers of extras, rates of pay, and problems of logistics. As before, Ordway showed himself a master of complex calculation. Gashigi, equally able, did nearly all the talking on the Krishnan side, now and then turning to the Grand Master to ask: "Ye agree to that, sir, do ye not?"
Each time, Sir Yazman muttered a vague assent. Reith got the impression that the Treasurer had him firmly under her thumb.
By sunset, the negotiators had roughed out a tentative agreement. Gashigi said: "You understand, my noble Ertsuma, we must consult with our committees ere we can sign our compact. Neither you nor the Knights are bound as yet. Let us meet again tomorrow at the ninth hour. In the morn, rest and enjoy the sights of Mishé, which Sir Fergus is well qualified to display for your edification."
The visitors bade farewell, again shaking hands in Terran fashion. The Grand Master said: "Had we known before of your arrival, we had staged a banquet in your honor. As 'tis, that must needs await the morrow. You will dine with us then?"
Assuring the Grand Master that they were delighted with his invitation, and bidding Gashigi a wary good night, Reith shepherded his party back to their quarters in the Citadel.
By prearrangement, the travelers met Anthony Fallon at a tavern in the lower city. This was an ill-lit place with a low ceiling of soot-blackened beams. The room was heavy with the odors of cookery, and the smoke made White cough.
The consul presented a buxom Krishnan female of middle-years, saying: "This is my wife, Paranji. She doesn't speak a word of English, so you can say what you like in that tongue."
Reith looked a question. Smiling, Fallon continued: "Oh, I was married by the most solemn, binding Krishnan rites and have a brace of stepchildren at home. You see, Fergus, it's all very well for the Knights to play at musical beds; but I live among the commoners, who adhere to a moral code that would make Savonarola look like a playboy."
"By Qondyor's toenails, you've certainly changed, Tony!"
"Don't we all—at least, those who get sense with the passing of years? How did your meeting go?"
Reith gave a resumed "I got the impression that Gashigi rules that roost."
Fallon grinned. "You can jolly well say that again! Fact is, the Garma thought Yazman too young and inexperienced. There were a couple of stronger candidates for the office; but since each had about the same number of partisans, they compromised and made Yazman Grand Master. He was Gashigi's lover of the moment, and she saw to it that he made her Treasurer. Can't say she's not good at her job! Now tell me about this cinema project of yours."
When Ordway had summarized the script, Fallon wrinkled his face in distaste. "I might have guessed. Knights in shiny armor galloping around on ayas; ladies in bare-tit dresses leaning out of castle windows, and all that feudal rot."
Ordway bridled. "Rot? Now look here—" He broke off to cough from the smoke.
"What somebody ought to do," said Fallon firmly, "is to picture the lives of ordinary Krishnans. You chaps have no idea of what the lack of modern technology means to the poor bastards. You pal around with a few lords and get an entirely false picture of life on this planet.
"For the vast majority here, life involves a perfectly appalling amount of drudgery, which bears most heavily on the ordinary women. Your commoner Krishnan and his wife work their arses off from dawn to dusk, just trying to stay alive. If they accumulate any surplus, it's taxed away to support the glittering courts of the dours and dashts and the Chief Commissar up on the Citadel." Fallon jerked a thumb to indicate the Grand Master. He continued: "You wonder why these people stink? Well, if you had to lug all your bath water, a bucketful at a time, from a well or a street tap or a fountain, you'd stink, too. They don't read much, even when they've been to school; why? Ever try to read by the light of a taper, or one of those little pottery oil lamps, which is all they can afford? After a quarter-hour, your eyes smart so you can't go on.
"If you think the folk stink, you should have been here thirty years ago, before the Interplanetary Council let in soap technology. After talking about it for years, the I.C. at last decided that the knowledge of soap and eyeglasses would do the Krishnans more good than harm, though Krishnan chauvinists like to claim the Krishnans invented these things on their own. Things will improve when the Krishnan Industrial Revolution really takes off."
"And then," said Ordway, "their population will simply explode, so they'll end up with more poor, hungry people."
Fallon shrugged. "Perhaps, unless they show better sense about population control than Terrans did in the past. They certainly won't become better off at their present level of technics. So what you cinema wallahs should do—"