Embassy
© 2023 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail art by  baroncoon, color by  Major Matt Mason


“I beg your pardon?” Navot k’Ven asked.

Settling into the new Imperial embassy complex on Lalande had been doubly uncomfortable for the vir. There had to be accommodations for Nak, her pet morzin, and she was still adjusting to her new status as the Ambassador of the Sovereign’s Throne to Terra. Her promotion had been in recognition of her part in achieving a truce between the Empire and the Terrans.

She wasn’t certain that it was a reward.

The Embassy itself had been shipped to Lalande in several large units. With infrastructure built on the planet to receive the facility, the sections were landed by artigrav and joined together. There was even a garden, which would please her pet as soon as some of the plants grew large enough for him to climb.

“I said, k’Ven-vī,” her new principal aide said, “the Terran Foreign Ministry has requested a meeting between yourself and their Foreign Minister.”

“Is that still Balakrishnan-vī?” the vir asked, her tail slipping across the floor to coil about one of her ankles.

“According to our latest intelligence, yes Ma’am.”

Navot’s ears flicked as she thought. Aka, the Dhole-Akita mix hadn’t been assassinated yet, which in itself was an important piece of data. It spoke a great deal about her resourcefulness, if half of what she’d heard about Terran politics was true.

She made a decision. “Tell her that she is welcome to come to Lalande,” she said, “and I will see what she wants to talk about.”

The principal aide gestured comprehension and left to send the invitation in the proper format, leaving the younger vir to recall the memories of her prior contacts with Anulka-Mei Balakrishnan.