Selena couldn’t help being enchanted by the view of the spaceport from so high above. All the people and performers in the rotunda looked like brightly colored insects and she was glad of the chest-high railing that ran on either side of her. She was rather sorry to step off the walkway and follow the guard through a set of automatic doors into what she assumed must be the parking area.
Indeed, they did seem to be in a kind of parking garage, she saw, looking around—except that none of the cars she could see had wheels. They all seemed to be riding on cushions of colored smoke—blue and green and purple.
They stepped out onto a sidewalk area and the guard turned and spoke to Valen.
“Sir, if you would kindly wait, I will go and get the vehicular transport for you and your Dependent Female.”
“Of course.” Valen nodded and the guard walked swiftly away, still not having said a single word to Selena.
In short order, he drove up in a long, sleek car with a sparkling royal blue exterior. It was floating on a cloud of dark blue smoke which roiled busily beneath the underside of the car but never seemed to escape out from under it.
The guard got out and came around to open the back door for them, though he still refused to look at Selena.
“Please help yourself and your Dependent Female to the finest Grothian ale,” he said, speaking exclusively to Valen. “Also, your Dependent Female’s itinerary can be found on the back seat. The trip to the palace will take approximately one half of one solar hour.”
“Thank you,” Valen said, frowning. He pointedly helped Selena into the back of the car first and then turned back to the guard. “We’ll want you to take us directly to the Major Domo’s office,” he told him. “We have urgent business to discuss there.”
The guard frowned.
“I was told to take the female to the Ambassador’s residence.”
“I will make certain she gets there after we see the Major Domo,” Valen said, his frown deepening.
The guard nodded.
“As you request, Sir.”
“Very good.” Valen got into the car and, to Selena’s relief, they at last left the spaceport.
18
The interior of the car was like a plush, pale blue cloud, with padded seats and tinted windows, as well as an opaque divider between the driver’s area and the back. Selena saw, with some relief, that this gave them complete privacy. For a moment, at least, she was able to cover her breasts with her arms and feel less naked and exposed.
“Would you like some Grothian ale? It really is quite good,” Valen said, opening a bright pink bottle and pouring a dark green, fizzing liquid into one long, thin glass.
“Thanks, maybe a little,” Selena answered, distractedly. She had found a stiff piece of parchment on the plush, pale blue seat beside her, and was studying it intently. Thanks to the translation bacteria she’d been given aboard the Mother Ship, she was able to read the sharply-angled alien letters.
Selena Bates—Itinerary it said at the top and then there were a whole list of events. Some of them made sense, such at “Nightly Banquet with the Emperor and Empresses Three” but others were confusing. What, for example, was the “Pet Parade?”
She looked up at the top again and did a double take.
“Valen, what time is it here?”
He consulted the expensive-looking platinum chronometer on his wrist.
“It’s nearly five, Ma’shorkan time. Why?”
“Nearly five?” Selena felt a bolt of panic. “It says here on the itinerary that I’m supposed to be presented to the Emperor at six!”
“Then we have no time for drinking,” he said grimly, putting the fizzing glass of ale into a cup holder beside him. “You’ll need to get changed. Have you got anything fit to wear to meet the Emperor? That certainly won’t do,” he added, nodding at her ragged t-shirt.
Selena blushed with embarrassment.
“I think so—my friend, Kat, researched Ma’shorkan fashions and made all my clothes on her replicator.”
Quickly, she opened her pink carry-all cube and began sifting through the various miniaturized dresses. Thanks to Kindred technology, they all looked about the right size to fit a Barbie doll, but they could be re-sized to fit her quickly and easily.
Valen leaned over her shoulder to offer his advice.
“No, not that one,” he said, ruling out a blue ball gown Kat had made her. “That one either. Wait—there—the gold one. That is much more his Majesty’s style,” he said, pointing.
“All right—I’ll re-size it.”
Selena took the small bottle of re-sizing solution and carefully squeezed three drops on the tiny dress. Almost before she had time to recap the bottle and replace it in her carry-all, the dress started growing. In less than a minute, it was back to normal size and big enough to fit her.
“Yes—that’s perfect. You’d best get into that at once,” Valen told her. “I’ll close my eyes so you have some privacy,” he added stiffly.