Empire of Two Worlds

“I never thought I’d see you soft-pedalling anybody,” I said, grinning.

Bec smiled tightly. “I learned quite a lot from those old books Tone got from Harmen. They called it statecraft: the art of manipulating society. You know something, Klein? I think I like it here. There’s room to manoeuvre. Klittmann was like being in a pressure chamber!” He laughed. “Anyway, that brings me to another matter I want you to attend to.”

He paused. “I’ve found out something interesting. It seems the Rheattites had a National Leader called Dalgo, who got wiped out during the first wave of the Rotrox assault. His wife’s still alive and living here right under our noses. Apparently she’s still something of a symbolic figure for the Rheattites. She could exert a lot of influence.”

“Why haven’t the Rotrox killed her?” I asked.

He frowned. “You’d expect them to, wouldn’t you? Anyway, go and see her, Klein. Maybe we can make some use of her.”

The Lady Palramara lived in one of the green towers that dotted the capital plain of Rheatt — the Rheattites called the place by a name that meant simply “parkland”. By now the Rotrox corridors had overgrown Parkland, tentacling out and trampling down its beautiful gardens, squeezing it tight like some monster.

The Rotrox always preferred to build an enclosed corridor rather than an open road. My Rotrox driver took me in my private runabout through the maze of corridors. We came out by a side exit and there, a short distance away over the springy turf, was the tower, rising tall and slender for about a hundred feet.

I told the driver to wait and walked to the oval doorway at the base of the tower. Inside, it was all green shadow. I stepped in and felt myself being lifted up, passing through a confusion of light and shade, all green. Shortly the elevator came to a stop and a panel slid aside.

“Please enter,” a cool, musical voice said. “I have been told to expect you.”

I walked slowly into the room at the top of the green tower. It was the most beautiful room I had ever seen. It was not large, yet it gave an impression of spaciousness and airiness. The contours were all rounded, the windows broad and graceful. The walls were a pale green. The furniture and ornaments were of a darker green and of a light, glowing mauve which matched the eyes of the woman standing there.

The room I saw only in a secondary, incidental way. My eyes locked immediately on the Lady Palramara.

All Rheattite women are graceful; but she was graceful and something else with it. She didn’t run to skinniness like a lot of her countrywomen: her green flesh was full and round, and soft. Her face was gentle and kind, with stunning liquid eyes, the pupils wide from heavy use of Blue Space.

Straight away you knew she had containment: self-reliance. She was sad, but not beaten. The flowing mauve gown she wore accentuated her curves and made you notice every movement.

“You are one of the men from the unknown world, are you not?” she asked calmly. “Servants of the Rotrox?”

I tore my eyes away from her to case the room. You couldn’t put assassination past someone in her position, especially as she was a woman. I’d come across women carrying a gun for some guy before. I stepped to the window and peered out at the landscape with its odd mixture of Rheattite and Rotrox architecture.

“The light is bright for you?” she asked. “I have heard about your sensitivity. Perhaps I can be more hospitable…”

She moved to a table and did something there. The window panes suddenly shimmered and took on a sepia cast. The room was only slightly dimmer, but the quality of the light had changed somehow. I risked lifting my goggles and found that I could see without discomfort.

“Is that convenient?” she asked. “The light is adequate for me also at this level. It is a matter of selecting the right frequencies.”

I smiled at her, putting the goggles in my pocket. “That’s a neat trick.”

“Merely one more aid to creating a pleasant mode of living.” She moved to the other side of the room as if to get a better look at me, leaning back and resting her hands on a ledge.

“That matters a lot to you people, doesn’t it?” I said. “Making beautiful surroundings. Making life beautiful.”

“Better than conquest and domination. Unfortunately some qualities are always developed at the expense of others. We failed to defend ourselves against the ravages of the Rotrox, What is it you want with me?”

“I’ll be frank, Lady. Rheatt is conquered and you’ll just have to accept that. But we might be able to make things a lot easier on your people than they would otherwise be. I’m not too fond of the Rotrox myself, but we have to co-operate with them for reasons of our own. We don’t want to see your way of life destroyed if we can avoid it. According to what we hear you’re still a person who commands respect in Rheatt. Maybe you could help us. We could give you some official position. It would help the people feel safe again. In return you could help us put through the programme we want.”