Nyk walked with Illya into an empty conference room at ExoService headquarters.
"Illya," he asked, "what is this about? Where's our special envoy?"
"She'll be conferencing in from Gamma-5. I should warn you, Nyk -- she's someone
we've locked horns with before."
"Who might that be?" Nyk chuckled. "Tomyka Wells?"
"None other."
"Impossible..." He pondered. "Tomyka has been ... rehabilitated?"
"Tomyka spent the first two years of her confinement being such a model citizen,
she convinced a magistrate to cut short her sentence. She has been working with the latest
Secretary of Agriculture on Gamma. The rumor is their relationship extends beyond
professional."
"Hmmph," Nyk snorted. "I wonder what sort of man would appreciate Tomyka's ...
unique charms."
Kronta smiled. "He'd need to be a very strong one."
"Or, a very weak one," Nyk replied. "Latest Ag Secretary? How many have there
been?"
"They've installed a revolving door on the Gamman Ag ministry. This is the fourth
in three years."
"Why the turnover?"
"We can blame THAT on the Altian-Lexalese rapprochement. Mykko Wygann has
been opening large tracts of land, and the Altians have been sending unemployed ore-workers to
be field hands."
"What grows on Lexal except for inkroot?"
"They have discovered the Lexalese southern tier has a climate nearly ideal for
growing winter wheat."
Nyk nodded. "Let me guess -- The resulting wheat surplus has hit the Gammans
hard."
"On top of that, the Altians have contributed more than ore-workers. They've installed
a couple of their mass drivers to put the containers into orbit..."
"...Resulting in lower production and freight costs."
"The first Lexalese-Altian wheat came on line two seasons ago. For centuries, the
Gammans have been accustomed to a monopoly on being the Hegemony's breadbasket."
"Now, they know what competition feels like. Hence the turnover at the Ag
Ministry."
"Right, Nyk. They're scrambling to figure out how to deal with it. They've even
petitioned the High Legislature for subsidies."
"I can imagine how well that went over."
"They called the situation a crisis impacting every colony. It fell on more or less deaf
ears. Do you see what happens when you spend a year and a half cooped up in your little
Earthbound hole? You get cut out of the loop."
Nyk smiled. "It's a loop I'd just as soon remain out of. How does this lead to
Tomyka's assignment as envoy?"
"This diplomatic initiative has been going on, quietly in the background for some
time. Now, both parties are ready to move it up a notch. Once word circulated, Tomyka called in
a few of her remaining favors among the ExoService brass and got herself appointed."
"It seems out of her character," Nyk replied. "I never envisioned her as a diplomat.
As an enforcer, yes -- a diplomat, no."
"She wanted it bad. We could tell she wanted it -- so bad she could taste it."
"I still can't believe she'd make such a fuss over this sort of an assignment. What are
they planning? A treaty between the Abo and the Gammans patterned after the Lexalese-Altian
one?"
"The Abo? What makes you think this has anything to do with the Abo?"
"Your note to Seymor referred to a lost colony. I assumed..."
"You assumed wrong. The colony in question is Varada."
"Varada..." Nyk rolled the word around in his mouth for a few moments. "The lost
colony of Varada..."
"Misplaced would be more appropriate... It's time for Tomyka to conference in. She
can fill you in with the rest."
Nyk turned his chair to face a wall-mounted vidisplay. Kronta activated it and the
image of a late-middle-aged woman appeared. "Nykkyo Kyhana," she said. "Well, well, well... I
didn't know YOU were to be our interpreter."
"I didn't know YOU were to be the envoy," Nyk replied.
"Please, Nykkyo -- let's not start on the wrong foot. Let's let bygones be bygones. I
hold no hard feelings and neither should you. After all -- you were the victor."
"Agreed... Tell me, Ms Wells..."
"Tomyka," she replied. "We are on the same team."
"Tomyka -- tell me how I can help negotiating with Varada. Tell me why we're
negotiating with them at all."
"Some background, Nykkyo... What do you recall of your school history lessons
regarding Varada?"
He looked at the ceiling. "Varada -- second or third colony discovered ... Earth-like
planet ... for some reason they were excluded from the Floran Hegemony."
"Varada," Wells replied. "Current planetary population about two billion. The planet
is situated such that interstellar navigation in and out is very dangerous. More of our scouts were
lost in the Varada approach than to all other colonies, combined. As a result, the High
Legislature decided the colony was too dangerous and was to be abandoned. However, the
settlers who were there liked the place and preferred to sever ties and become independent rather
than pack up and ship out.
"The Varadans attempted, about a thousand years ago, to normalize relations. An
exploratory expedition there revealed something very troubling about how their society had
evolved."
"Which was?" Nyk asked.
"They had evolved into a rigid, stratified society, comprising a leadership class at the
top, and with professional, merchant and worker classes in the middle."
"We have societies like that on Earth," Nyk replied. "What of the lower class?"
"That is where the difficulties arose. The lowest rung on their ladder was a slave
class."
"Slavery? The Varadans practice slavery?"
"What is even worse," Tomyka added, "is that they enslaved their own people."
"Please explain to me why it's preferable to enslave someone else's people."
Wells ignored his remark and continued, "As you know, the Floran Compact forbids
involuntary servitude; the HL constitution forbids it and each and every colonial charter forbids
it. The Varadans were told to abolish slavery as a condition for normalization. They walked
away from the table."
"And, now they're back. How did we make contact with them?"
"The Varadans have no interstellar fleet. Their technology resembles Floran's at the
dawn of our Golden Age. They do have primitive tachyon transmitters, and they have been
hailing us for ... for about a hundred years. About a year ago, one of our exo scouts intercepted
the hail. We have been communicating, laboriously, for the past year. Each communiqué must be
translated and relayed to an exo scout, which must move close enough to transmit; then wait and
relay the reply back. We feel we are ready for face-to-face communications."
"How do I fit in?"
"Nykkyo -- You are fluent in Esperanto. We want you to interpret for us."
"The Varadans speak Esperanto? By the time of the first colonies, the language had
already evolved."
"The Varadans speak a language that resembles Old Floran."
"I don't speak Old Floran."
"Old Floran is quite close to Esperanto," Kronta interjected. "Have you ever read
Red Dawn, Red Dusk in the original Old Floran?"
"Our national literary treasure... I can't get through it in modern Floran."
"You are a natural linguist, Nykkyo," Kronta added. "I wouldn't have recommended
you if I didn't think you could handle it."
"There must be linguists in the diplomatic corps who can translate. Use the ones that
translated the initial missives."
"They can read the language and translate it -- but they can't speak it."
"All right -- I'll give it a try."
"Good," Tomyka said. "In two days time, you are to proceed to the transit platform.
Go to the ExoService wing and receive instructions there. An exo scout will transport you to
Varada, where you will meet with Prefect Ogan. I will follow in two or three days. It'll give you
time to practice with the language."
Nyk looked toward Kronta. "I'll want Andra with me."
"The ax'amfin witch?" Wells exclaimed. "Never!"
"Why do you want her?" Kronta asked.
"Because she IS ax'amfin. She was taught the arts of statecraft and protocol.
She's also a quick study when languages are concerned. If these are to be diplomatic meetings,
I'd want her there. She can advise me based on skills she was taught."
"I refuse to permit this," Wells protested.
"Those are my terms," Nyk replied. "No Andra -- no participation."
Wells glowered through the vidisplay. "Very well. Illya, get some assurances." The
teleconference display went blank.
"I really rather you didn't bring Andra into this, Nyk."
"Why not?"
"I don't trust ax'amfinen."
"Andra has never done anything contra to the best interests of the Hegemony," Nyk
replied.
"True, but maybe because she's never had to choose between loyalty to her school
and loyalty to her home."
"Andra's not like that. She has a well-developed sense of right and wrong."
"My previous statement stands," Illya said. "I like Andra, and she's never crossed
me, personally. But -- an ax'amfin would never be my choice for an important mission."
"I think she'll be useful. I certainly don't know how she could hurt."
"What's your plan?" Kronta asked.
"I'll swing by Sudal and pick up Andra. Then we'll take the scout to Varada."
