"Well," Kevan said after a pause, "Pergute probably knows I know about him. If nothing else, I was out in public this morning and forgot the device in my room. I ran into Pergute while I was out. If they were monitoring at all, they'll know the device is out of me. I think Pergute can pretty much only assume he's the only suspect."

"However," Urish'tal said, "he is the best resource we have for translation."

"What about Sarsh'ta?"

"Pergute is the better translator."

"Do we trust him with it? Considering what's at stake? I could bring a copy out to her and we can see how the two translations compare if we're having Pergute do it."

"No," Urish'tal said. "Her outcast status makes that a politically dangerous move."

"Then we have no choice but Pergute."

"So it would seem. In other circumstances this would go a long way towards creating positive opinion about your people. Unfortunately, it will probably never be made public. Agronet's advisors will probably all be informed, which will at least help influence them."

"In the meantime, while I have you here," Urish'tal gestured at the displays around her, "perhaps you can help me with a few of my questions on these?"

"Certainly," Kevan nodded.

They spent the better part of an hour going over the data that his people had sent. Some of the translations had not been included in the information the Rich'ti had initially sent to the Humans, so there were many medical terms that were still written in English as opposed to Rich'ti. As Kevan still had some difficulty with reading some of the language, Urish'tal showed him how to access his own computer from a Rich'ti computer station and he forwarded the English version to her so he could make comparisons. He was surpised to be able to tap into his computer so easily and wondered about how secure his messages and files actually were. He wondered just how much practice Pergute was getting with his translations.

Kevan was able to answer quite a few of the translation questions, but there were some snags when it came to the medical context. He was not a doctor, and didn't understand some of the terminology himself, much less the Rich'ti equivallents. In the end, she was still particularly frustrated over one of the enzymes they were suggesting that seemed vital to the antidote.

"I believe I can find or create equivallents to the rest of these, if I'm understanding them correctly," she said frowing, "but this one appears vital, and I've never seen anything resembling it before."

"It seems like it's extracted from a plant, although I'm not familiar with the specific variety that is mentioned," Kevan said, peering at the screen that talked about it. "Tell you what, compose a message with your questions and I will forward it to the right individuals. Go ahead and have Pergute make the translations. To be honest, he may be better at translating the written format anyway. I've not had as much experience reading your language."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the inconvenience.

RaynDragon

"Very well," she replied, "I will have it to you shortly."

There was nothing else he could help with, so he excused himself and stepped out of the office. Lineel was still waiting near where she had been left, but she was inspecting some of the equipment and displays.

"Sorry to leave you waiting out here," Kevan apologized.

"It's nothing. If you want to talk about boring I can tell you about some of the lectures I'd be sitting through about now. Don't worry, you aren't keeping me from anything important."

"Has there been any update on how things are going with the riot?"

"I haven't heard," she said. "I'm sure the news channels are talking about it."

"I'd like to had back to my room and find out, then."

"Certainly," she said and gestured for him to follow her.

Back outside his quarters there was a new male standing guard. He was tall and lean, with dark fur.

"This is Mirket," she said. "Mirket, this is the human Kevan."

"Honored," Mirket said. "Do I salute?"

Kevan thought about it for a moment.

"No, that won't be necessary," he decided. "I'm not military."

"Very well," Mirket replied, nodding formally and resuming his rigid stance in front of the door. Kevan headed into his room, holding back an amused laugh. He briefly checked his messages for anything important before switching on the holographic video display that was a part of the room. He'd seen the control panel for it, but didn't know where to expect the image to appear. He stepped back to see that it was conveniently located over what had looked like an end table next to the bed. He plopped down on the bed, gesturing that Lineel should grab one of the guest mats lying about the room.

They watched in silence for a while, and Kevan found himself amazed at just how much footage the press was able to get of the riot. He briefly reminded himself of the hovering cameras he'd seen before and suspected that they could send those into dangerous areas while staying safely behind the lines of police keeping them away. He was also surprised to see that they showed the bodies of those who'd been killed - some victims of the rioters, and some of the rioters that the military had been unable to take down with non-lethal measures. Kevan noted that the wounds on those shown as victims were far more violent than those on the rioters were.

The military seemed to have it under control, although they were still rounding up a few stragglers that seemed to be trying to flee back out of the city. The rioters had been separated into groups of fifty and were under heavy guard until more restraints could be brought in. Quite a few looked unconscious, but there were several rioters who remained awake. One started screaming things towards one of the cameras, saying the Brey-hahd were going to kill everyone on the planet, before being silenced by being hit across the chest with a stun weapon that knocked him unconscious. Later, he saw similar scenes as the cameras showed views at other guarded groups.

There were brief interviews with a couple of soldiers, who really didn't say much. Eventually, they announced that an interview with both Agronet and the military commander of those troops would be coming in a few minutes. They also mentioned upcoming interviews with victims who'd been inside the community building that the rioters had taken.

Agronet was interviewed first, and it was explained that the military commander was still busy finishing it up. They called it an interview, but to Kevan it was a press conference. A group of reporters gathered around him and all shouted out their questions.

"There are a number of things to be addressed today," Agronet began. "I understand you have a lot of questions, and I will answer them as I can at the end."

Agronet started with the Brey-hahd war. He gave a little more information on how it was going, listed out the colonies that had been lost, but not describing specifically what had been done to them. He gave some additional numbers of losses, and mentioned that plans were still being finalized about what to do about the lunar colony. He left out the possibility of the moon collapsing.

"Gertat had started negotiations with the humans for a cooperative military venture against the Brey-hahd," Agronet reminded them. Kevan could tell he was building to a conclusion. He wondered if the Rich’ti had speechwriters or not. "I am continuing that effort with the assistance of the human representative here. Progress has been positive, and human ships will be arriving soon that will enable us to focus on striking back rather than just defending."

"This was brought to the attention of the outcast population because what happens may ultimately affect them as well. There are more than one group of outcasts in the wilderness, and the violent ones responded to the news poorly and reacted from a purely emotional state. Cooler heads prevailed with the rest, and I will allow the outcasts to determine trials and sentencing for these rioters today. Their behavior was intolerable, but we will not respond to it in kind. We are an enlightened civilization and will continue to act as such in all ways."

"Furthermore," Agronet continued. "It has come to my attention that these outcasts have a system of government of their own in place. I will be allowing one representative of that government to come to the capital city periodically to open negotiations and keep events such as the one that occurred today from occuring again."

There was a pause as the reporters all broke in, some asking questions and others expressing shock that he would allow an outcast into the city. He gave them a moment before raising a hand and cutting them off.

"Because of the Brey-hahd, the Rich'ti stand at the brink of extinction. Not just this, our homeworld, but all Rich'ti. We do not have time to fight amongst ourselves when the real enemy has reenforcements on the way. The Brey-hahd have found flaws in some of our traditional ways that have allowed them to destroy our cities and our ships with hardly any effort. We must consider more drastic options at this time if we hope to survive this war. We must set aside our fears and our differences and work together for our very lives. Panic will get us nowhere. Fear of change will only hold us back right now. I will do whatever is required to save us all from the Brey-hahd, and we will sort things out again later if we are still here to do so."

He paused at that point, as if waiting for them to explode again, but there was an uncomfortable silence amongst the reporters instead.

"Are there questions? I only have time for a few," Agronet said.

"Why were we not told of the full situation with the Brey-hahd?" one reporter asked.

"When Gertat was Takor, we knew things were going badly," Agronet answered, "but he chose to slow the rate of information given to the general public in the hopes of avoiding panic. I am not sure of Logur's reasons, but he wished to evacuate the homeworld and focused on that as his only plan of action. I cannot stand by and watch us abandon the birthplace of our people. I will do whatever is necessary to stop them. It ends here. Even if it means opening communications with another race. We are a proud race, but it means nothing if we are dead."

"There have been a number of references made during the riot of burning, what is the significance of this that we haven't been told?" another reporter asked.

"As we saw in the encounter with the ship that crashed in the city earlier, a number of their weapons are based on fire," Agronet answered. Kevan leaned back, studying the hologram of the Takor. The crowd of reporters seemed to accept the answer, and Kevan nodded in a silent applause at the defusing response. And he says he's not a diplomat...

"So you've known about all this, right?" Lineel asked him while a reporter asked something about how many had been injured in the rioting.

"Yes," Kevan replied. "If it hadn't been for me the outcasts still might only be barely aware there was even a war going on." In the hologram Agronet explained that he did not yet have exact figures.

"So does that make you partly to blame for the rioting, then?" Lineel questioned "Since if they'd been left alone they wouldn't have been told and they wouldn't have known to riot?"

"It was because of an attempt on my life that I was out there. At the time there was the possibility I'd be out there permanently, especially after Logur's rise to power. If anyone could be considered to be to blame for it, it would be the people behind the assassination attempt."

"Besides," he added, "the outcasts already had a plan to make themselves heard. The news of the war just stepped up their timetable is all. The rioting was unexpected, as the plan the outcasts had made was far more peaceful. Their plan is unecessary now, though, as communication lines have already been opened with the government here."

In the background, Agronet answered a couple more short questions before ending the interview. The image returned to the first reporter who had been announcing the interviews before. She said something about the commander still being unavailable, and mentioned that interviews with some of the victims would be coming up next. The broke away for some brief news on weather around the planet, as well as some coverage on how a sporting event had gone.

"Was it difficult for you? Living with the criminals?" Lineel asked.

"They aren't all criminals out there," Kevan tried to explain. "It may have been criminals sent there initially, but there are now families of Rich'ti that have never been inside a city before. And not all of those who were cast out had actually committed a crime. Some were merely at the wrong end of a political battle. I've come to understand that many new Takor systematically get rid of their opposition by having them cast out in one way or another."

"There are usually a few people declared to be traitors when a new Takor takes office," Lineel admitted. "There has been much talk about the fact that Agronet hasn't done that."

"Agronet seems to have made it clear that he wants to change some things," Kevan explained. He has been watching the outcasts for some time. That might be something he's been wanting to change."

"Also, among my people it isn't uncommon to wait before arresting a criminal. If he's part of a larger group, leaving him free and watching him may lead you to the rest of the group. Then you swoop in and grab them all at once."

"So you think there are groups of criminals hiding around here?" Lineel asked, sounding either skeptical or suspicious, he wasn't entirely sure which.

"Someone tried to have me killed," he reminded her. "It was not the work of an individual. A tracking device was put in my food. It was put there by a group that wants to keep close watch on me. Also, Logur did not rise to power on his own."

The news program came back, and Kevan held his hand up saying, "I want to hear this, just a minute."

The interviews with local civilians were sometimes direct interviews, and sometimes voiceovers during scene shots of either vandalism or unconscious bodies being sorted out. Most talked about the roughness and meanness of the outcasts. The word savage was used repeatedly. The program spent less time on it than he expected after their initial promotion of it. Instead it seemed as though they were glossing over it.

Kevan wondered if Agronet or an advisor had perhaps spoken with the news agency. He hadn't seen as much to suggest free speech was as closely protected here. He made a mental note to inquire further on that topic.

After that they finally had the chance to bring the military commander on. From what Kevan could tell he was pretty high ranking, although not the highest-ranked commander on the planet. There was a quick overview of some of the tactics that were used to stop the outcasts and then the interviewer shifted the focus of the interview over to the Brey-hahd war instead. Suddenly the commander was being asked questions on what measures were in place to defend the planet if the Brey-hahd made it to the surface.

The commander seemed a bit surprised to have the questions asked of him, but responded in part by talking about some of the fireproofing they were doing to the military gear and the vulnerable locations on the Brey-hahd armor that their soldiers were being trained to aim for. He also mentioned that ammunition that would be more likely to penetrate the armor was being widely distributed as well, despite a heavier cost to making it. Then he excused himself, saying that the prisoners needed to be escorted out of the city and his presence was needed.

There was some final footage of the procession out of the city. Those outcasts who were awake and walking were carrying others who were unconscious. The military forces had split them further down into groups of twenty to thirty, and each was heavily guarded. Kevan saw strategically placed snipers on the rooftops along the route as well, and wondered if they were also armed with something non-lethal. While some outcasts snarled at the soldiers or up at the hovering cameras, none made an effort to break ranks. Most were in shackels, although it looked as if some were bound in rope. The only ones not bound were the outcasts doing the carrying, and Kevan suspected that they'd been picked out as the least violent of the bunch. He noticed that none of the ones he saw carrying Rich'ti out bore the murderer brand, while most of the ones being carried did. He also noticed that even the unconscious ones had been bound somehow. The soldiers weren't taking any chances.

Outside the city gates was a huge gathering of Rich'ti, calmly waiting several hundred feet back from the city's edge. Kevan saw that there was really nothing but a low fence keeping them from entering the city, but they waited well back. Soldiers stood nervously along the fence, weapons in hand but not actually pointed at the outcasts. As the groups of rioter outcasts were brought out, the other outcasts took over from the soldiers, guarding them with a combination of rifles and spears and other weapons Kevan didn't get a chance to identify.

More interesting to the cameras was the single Rich'ti that was allowed to come back in with the soldiers after the rioters had been delivered. Kevan recognized Chek'tun, and it seemed that the reporters had been told his name, for it was mentioned in the broadcast. The commander led Chek'tun back into the city with a contingent of guards, although all weapons had been holstered by that point. The reporter doing the voice-over mentioned it as a new day in Rich'ti history. Across from Kevan, Lineel seemed to have a concerned frown on her face as she watched.

"Something bothering you?" he asked her. He reached over and turned off the display.

"Why are they letting that one back inside?" Her tone sounded to Kevan like it was tinged with hostility.

"He's the chosen representative of the outside population. I'll have to ask him if they've considered a new name to go by. They can't go on being called outcasts any more."

"Why not? That's what they are?"

"You think so, do you?" Kevan asked. "What if I told you that many of them were born out there, and haven't committed a crime. What if I told you that most of them were born out there?"

"Then they've still been raised with it. They weren't raised as Rich'ti."

"And what does it mean to be Rich'ti?" he countered. "My people struggled with the same question. There are different kinds of humans. Some have whitish skin, some have brown skin. Some have yellowish skin and some have reddish skin. Throughout our early history there was segregation because one group wasn't sure another group really counted as human."

"Different cultures have different ways, but a human raised in one culture is just as human as the next. If a Rich'ti child was raised among my people wouldn't he or she still be a Rich'ti. Maybe not Rich'ti, but a Rich'ti?"

"The ones out there aren't so different than the ones in here. Out there, some of them have been accused of crimes. In here there are some who have committed the same crimes or worse, but simply haven't been accused of it. You can't tell me that no Rich'ti in the cities haven't lied, or tried to commit murder."

His computer beeped to signal that a message had arrived.

"Think about this for a while," he added, standing up. "Every Rich'ti that has ever been outcast was raised among you. Being raised as Rich'ti doesn't prevent that. Maybe, just maybe, their ways just might be better. It should be at least worth talking to them to find out."

The message was from Urish'tal, with her questions translated by Pergute. He read over it quickly to make sure it made sense, but had to admit that despite his misgivings about the Rich'ti, Pergute did have a good handle on translating between the two languages. He added some comments of his own in a header, again stressing the urgency of the request, before forwarding it all on to the appropriate people. He wondered how quickly his people could get the needed plant here if there was no way for Urish'tal to create something similar enough. He turned back to find Lineel still frowning at him.

"They are criminals," she said. "The Rich'ti that have been cast out are no longer considered Rich'ti because they broke our laws or at least created some dissention against the general order of things. If they cannot abide by our laws or follow the proper channels to change them, then they lose their rights."

"What about their children, though?" Kevan asked. "They have committed no crime."

"But they have been raised by the same criminals that had to be cast out!" she protested. "What kind of values would they have if the only examples they have to go on are the ones of convicted criminals. Look at what happened today! That kind of violence is not tolerated here. To strike out against another without just cause, without proper challenge that allows them a chance to defend themselves? To murder? That is unheard of! Most of those in that riot were not branded. The children of the murderers proved today that they can be just as violent as their parents. So now you expect us to trust the children of the liars and other criminals as well?"

"Those that rioted today were acting out of fear and panic," Kevan told her with a sigh. "They did not represent the entire group, and they do believe that peaceful measures will get them anywhere. The majority of the outcasts, on the other hand, want nothing more than peaceful negotiations to occur. From what I learned while I was out there, their laws are far harder than yours here. Every Rich'ti you've cast away out there had gotten a second chance with them, but their lives are harder. In order to survive, they all have to pull their weight. I was made to understand that lies and deceptions are handled swiftly and harshly. I honestly shudder to think what will happen to those rioters today when they are judged and sentenced by the others."

"That doesn't change anything," she said, starting to sound frustrated.

Kevan shrugged, letting the matter drop. "I'm guessing Chek'tun will be brought here, if nothing else to meet with Agronet in a private office. Let's go up and see if they're here yet."

Kevan opened the door and, after a hesitation, Lineel followed him. He let Mirket know where he'd be, and headed to the elevator. There were others in the elevator when it stopped to let them in, so they rode upwards quietly. None of the other passengers were going as far, but when they arrived at the top they were still quiet.

There was a pair of armed guards waiting when the elevator opened, but they stepped out of the way. Agronet's advisors were clustered together in the garden area. Kevan could make out the top of the Takor's head in the middle of the mass. There was a heated argument going on. Kevan held back to let them be.

Suddenly the group opened up to form a wide ring. Agronet and one other stood in the middle. Now Kevan moved closer to see what was going on. The other standing in the middle was nearly as tall as Agronet, and held a knife. Another knife was tossed to Agronet, who barely caught it.

For a moment they circled, Agronet seeming to favor one leg. The opponent kept shifting the knife from one big hand to the other.

Finally the challenger lunged forward, bringing his knife up in his left hand. Agronet stepped back and left. In a wide overhand swing he brought his knife down and embedded it hilt-deep in the challenger's forehead. The challenger's momentum carried him forward, and he slumped to his knees before falling backwards. The knife remained in place.

"Does anyone else wish to question my leadership?" Agronet asked loudly.

There was a long silence, broken only by the shuffling of feet. As if some unspoken command had been given, the advisors all suddenly turned and headed in various directions, many in small groups that spoke furtively to each other in low tones as they quickly left the room. Kevan spotted Pergute, tailing at the back edge of one of the groups, as if listening but not adding to the conversation.

Kevan hesitated a moment, as guards came up and removed the body. He did not recognize the male, which at least meant that it hadn't been one of the Advisors themselves. He was still a bit stunned, having never been in attendance as someone was deliberately killed before. He'd been to a couple of sporting events where injuries had proven fatal, but they had been whisked away to hospitals, in an attempt to save them. Though he'd seen enough footage of the previous two challenges to not be shocked by it, there was still something unsettling about having been in the presence of it.

Agronet noticed him and gestured towards the office Kevan had seen him in before. Agronet told Lineel to wait outside, and closed the door behind them quickly. As he took a seat on one of the mats, he noticed Agronet was obviously in a great deal of pain in the leg he had been favoring. The Takor sat down quickly, and grunted in the process. Kevan held back from asking about it, but hoped that his people would respond to Urish'tal's questions quickly.

"That was the Takor of one of the nearby colonized planets, in the next system over. I'm afraid you won't be meeting him now," Agronet said, gesturing back at the room they'd just left. "I'm sure he'll be replaced soon enough. Hopefully the next one won't come and challenge me too." He shook his head with a long sigh.

"I came to inquire about Chek'tun," Kevan said, getting to the point.

"Yes, I thought as much," Agronet nodded. "I have arranged for rooms for him here in this building. He has living quarters and an office available to him. I am also looking into an aide and a driver for him as well. You are helping train me on what should be provided, you see." He gave Kevan the Rich'ti equivallent of a grin. "They shall need to be screened carefully though. There is a lot of hostility against him right now."

"I'm setting up an area for diplomat housing," Agronet continued. "The two of you will both have offices near each other, and housing near each other. There will be a separate security contingent for that section of the building, as well. I already have technicians preparing the room. It also means I can finally get the modifications you've been waiting patiently for done. It will all be ready by tonight."

"Oh. Alright," Kevan replied.

"Chek'tun will be available shortly, but not for a little while yet," Agronet explained. "You will both have secure communications in your offices, and your living space will be connected to your office."

"That will be good, thank you."

"There was another thing I wanted to ask you, Agronet. How long would your fastest ship take to get to human space and back?"

Agronet's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"One component of the antidote is something that I think Urish'tal is having difficulty with. If you had a ship that could go get it, I'm sure we'd be glad to make some available to you."

"There and back about three days," Agronet said. "Urish'tal says I have little more than four or five left."

"Then I suggest you get that fastest ship on the way now and communicate the specifics to it once we have it all worked out."

Agronet seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"My people seem to have come up with an antidote, Agronet. One of the plants used is not similar enough to anything you have for Urish'tal to make it with, however. If we can get it here in time, then you won't have to worry about trying to find a successor who will see your plans through."

For a moment Agronet's expression changed to one Kevan had trouble reading. He thought he could see the weight of pain and exhaustion hanging on the Takor's shoulders, burdened further by the weight of responsibility that came with his position. There was more emotion mixed in with the expression, but it was fleeting enough that Kevan couldn't be sure what all he had just seen.

"I'll send the ship," Agronet said quietly. "Please arrange with your people for a pickup point for this plant and let me know so I can convey the details to the courier."

Kevan nodded and Agronet waved a hand in dismissal.

"For now, I have other matters to attend to. I will send someone to let you know when your rooms are ready, and Chek'tun knows which code to reach you at when he wishes to speak with you."

"Of course. Thank you." Kevan rose quickly, not wanting to delay the Takor further. In Rich'ti fashion, he held back from saying anything in way of parting, but turned and left the room quickly instead.

He stood outside the office for a while, staring at the garden without seeing it. He wondered for a moment what was bothering Agronet. He supposed the better question was what wasn't bothering him. The takor had just killed someone, was trying to save his people, was dying, and was trying to be the leader for all of his people. There was probably more going on that Kevan didn't know about. He made a mental note to try to pass more things through Trorkash when possible to keep from pestering Agronet as much.

"Problem?" Lineel asked eventually.

"No. Just a lot going on. It looks like it's time for more waiting. I have to send a message."

They went back to his room and he sent the request to prepare a rendezvous point with the compounds Urish'tal needed for the antidote. There weren't other messages.

"I'm hungry, interested in food?" he suggested.

"I could eat. I know just the place," she said with an expression he wasn't quite sure how to read. He had a feeling it was a mischievous one, but he accepted.

He followed her to the elevator and they went down to the parking garage. Somehow she knew exactly how to find the aircar, although he wondered if they couldn't have technically taken any of them as he had yet to see any keys or anything required to get them started. She lifted it up smoothly out of the tight parking spot and maneuvered it back out of the garage.

It wasn't a long trip, only a few minutes, although it still seemed as if Lineel tended to exceed the average speed maintained by all the other drivers. Soon enough they were settling down in a small garage beneath a gray dome-shaped building. She led him up to a small lobby where they were greeted by a male Rich'ti who introduced himself as Bran'tuke.

"We are honored to have to have the visiting Human as our guest," he said with a low bow.

"I think you know where to seat us then, yes?" Lineel asked him, with bob of her head.

"Indeed I do," Bran'tuke replied, giving her a look Kevan couldn't interpret. "This way please."

Pleasantly surprised by the warm greeting, Kevan followed him through a couple of hallways. There were closed doors along them, and he could hear talking and laughter coming from behind them. A variety of aromas swept over him as they moved and his stomach rumbled in anticipation of some of their sources.

He stopped dead in his tracks after following Bran'tuke into one of the rooms. Inside the place was modelled exactly like a popular human diner - one who's chain of franchises had restaurants on almost every colonized human planet. There were booths and tables, and he even recognized the music playing, although it had been popular about fifteen years earlier.

"What is this place?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Each room is a different race," Bran'tuke explained. "We may not like to communicate with other races much, but we do like to investigate their cultures now and again. Please, I would be most appreciative if you would help to confirm the accuracy of both setting and food. While we do not have the same ingredients, we have tried to approximate the taste of each dish. Your opinion would prove most helpful!"

About a quarter of the tables and booths were in use. Bran'tuke grabbed menus from a rack and led them to a booth. "Someone will be with you shortly," he said before nodding his head and leaving them.

"So what do you think?" Lineel asked.

Kevan looked around the room, shaking his head a little. The appearance was about right for what it was, although he noticed the fabric on the booth seats had the wrong texture. A couple of Rich'ti females wearing aprons moved from table to table. He decided that Rich'ti wearing aprons was one of the funnier things he'd seen in some time.

"Well, the music is a little out of date," he said, "but the look is about right, although Rich'ti look a little out of place."

He flipped open the menu. It had pictures, but all the text was in Rich'ti. Some of the items had names that didn't translate well, so they kept their human names, although spelled phonetically in the Rich'ti alphabet.

"This should be...interesting," Kevan remarked. "Do you come here often?"

"Well, no, actually," she said. "First time, to be honest. I've been to some of the other rooms here."

He'd been to human versions of the place often enough that he automatically found himself scanning down the menu to find the particular version of hamburger he frequently ordered. True to the human menu, the Rich'ti version offered it's hamburgers in both the all-beef or all-vegetable options. The one he usually liked came with grilled onions, mushrooms, and swiss cheese on it, along with a tangy sauce that he enjoyed. It concerned him that the Rich'ti really had no idea what any of it was supposed to taste like. He decided not to try and substitute his usual favorite, but looked down the menu for something that he wouldn't anticipate the taste of quite so much. Eventually he settled on an italian pasta dish, with garlic bread. He figured that even if it didn't taste like the original it was less likely to potentially taste terrible than some of the other options.

"What would you recommend? I like things spicy," Lineel asked, peering at the menu.

"Well, normally..." Kevan peered at the selection of mexican dishes. "I'm not sure how the Rich'ti version will taste, but I guess try the Chiles Renellos with the meat. The human version is the spiciest thing on their menu anyway."

"Perfect! I'll try that then," she said, closing the menu and setting it aside. Kevan went to close his own and then looked at it again for a moment, something naggling at the back of his brain. Suddenly he realized what it was - the Rich'ti numbers sitting in the place of where the human prices would normally be listed. Each item had a cost in "credits" and it occurred to Kevan that he had no Rich'ti currency of any kind. He wasn't even sure what they used for currency.

"One question I do need to ask, however," he began. "How is payment handled?"

Lineel laughed. "For you, here, there won't be any. As for me, as long as I'm with you I'm on government business, so that's not a problem."

"I see. I'll have to help negotiate an exchange rate between our currency and yours. I'd be a poor guest if I didn't pay for things."

"Up to you," she said with a shrug.

Kevan closed his menu and it wasn't long before a waitress came to take their order.

"Welcome, and especially welcome to you, Representative," she said. "I will be serving you today, my name is I'kren." She turned to Kevan first. "And what would you like, honored Representative?"

"I'll have the mostaccioli with garlic bread," he answered. He wondered how strange the alien word sounded to them.

"Oh, is that how it's pronounced?" the waitress asked with a tilt of her head.

They spent about five minutes discussing pronunciation on a couple of items on the menu before the waitress finally turned and took Lineel's order as well. He noticed that they had even managed to duplicate the small handheld devices that human waitresses used to enter the order into the system. Kevan suddenly had an amusing image in his head of a Rich'ti fry cook peering at a display in the back as he flipped burgers in his big white apron. He held back from chuckling at the thought as he handed over the menu.

"How do they manage to get so much detail on this place?" he wondered aloud to Lineel.

"I really don't know," she said. "How accurate is it?"

"Pretty close," he said, looking around again.

"Well we do a lot of monitoring broadcasts of other races," she said. "I guess there has been some detailed information about this restaurant transmitted at some point."

It occurred to him that the restaurant had been used as a setting for scenes in at least a couple of movies, and that they had commercials all over the networks that usually showed restaurants and employees in them. It suddenly didn't seem as difficult to get the visual end of it looking right, although he had his reservations on how the food was likely to taste. There was generally a lot of information to be had off the Business Portal Network end of the Web, where businesses had sites for more information about their general workings. He knew that the restaurant also had a site on the Shopping Portal Network where a person could place an order for delivery or pickup. He'd used it many times from work himself.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of us so far?" Lineel asked, breaking him from his thoughts. She had turned sideways in the booth seat and was lounging on it more like a raised mat. She leaned back on one hand and had her head turned to look at him while they talked.

"Hmm," he vocalized, not sure at first how to answer. He caught himself stroking his lower lip with a fingertip, and he made himself stop.

"I've met a number of different races. One thing you start to notice after a while is that there are some things that are the same everywhere you go. Every culture tries to develop laws that keep things civil, and have at least some struggle over how to justly enforce those laws."

"Your challenge system is interesting and a little unique. I think it makes for strong individuals, but I think sometimes it also gets in the way. I think your people and mine both have a lot to gain from an alliance and from exchanging goods and ideas."

"There's more you're not telling me," she said, almost sounding accusing.

"I've still only seen certain aspects of your culture. It's different from my own, so some of it takes some time to get used to. Some of it will take more time for me to make sense of. It hardly seems fair to judge anything too soon based on things I don't completely understand. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose so," she said after a moment's delay.

"Do you always answer questions so... diplomatically?" she asked, rolling her head the way a human might roll their eyes.

"No," he laughed. "In fact I've probaby said more less-than-diplomatic things while I've been on this planet than I'd care to admit to."

To his surprise, the meal showed up just then. They had managed to cook it in hardly any time at all. From a glance, the plate looked exactly like the picture on the menu, which he'd recognized as the same picture used on the human menus too. Lineel's meal also looked identical to the image of it.

The aroma was different than he would have expected though. Whatever meat they had used in the meat sauce in his mostaccoli was darker and muskier than the beef usually used back home. The cheese was surprisingly similar, though oilier in nature than mozzarella. The pasta, on the other hand, looked like pasta, and had the consistancy of pasta, but seemed to actually be some sort of vegetable, not too dissimilar from a bamboo shoot in taste. The bread was served warm and very flavorful, although the "garlic" spread was more like a slightly herbed butter than anything else.

The meat sauce was red, as if it had been made with tomatos, but sweeter than the real version, and with an odd aftertaste that he couldn't identify. Overall, it wasn't horrible tasting, but he did not feel inclined to finish his plate.

The meal was served with human-styled silverware and plates, and he spent several minutes explaining to both Lineel and the waitress how to use them. While Rich'ti utensils were not too different, they were angled and curved to fit Rich'ti hands. It gave Kevan a real impression of how much larger Rich'ti hands were than a human's as he watched Lineel struggle with the utensils that looked almost child-sized in her fingers.

They didn't talk much during the meal. Kevan made a few attempts at small talk, but she mostly seemed to brush them off with overly simple answers. He didn't try very long.

"Well it's...interesting," Lineel eventually said about her dish. She did end up finishing it, however.

"To be honest," he said after making sure the waitress wasn't in earshot, "the flavors are really nothing close."

It wasn't too much longer before the waitress returned. She asked if they wanted dessert, which Kevan had to explain to Lineel. Kevan declined, not quite brave enough to see what they'd do to mimic cheesecake. Lineel followed his lead.

"So this was your first meal here, right?" he asked Lineel.

"I've eaten at some of the other rooms here, but not this one. I prefer some of the others, although none of the rooms here are my favorite places to eat. All the foods are too...weird."

"Well, if you have a favorite place, we'll have to eat there next time. But this has been an interesting experience."

As they left the room and headed down the hallway to the exit, Bran'tuke stopped them in one of the hallways. Suddenly Kevan found hiimself bombarded with questions on the "accuracy" of their human-styled room. After a moment, he put up his hand to stop the Rich'ti.

"The food wasn't the same taste as I am accustomed to, but then you have a different pool of ingredients to use than Human cooks would, and I find it unlikely that any Rich'ti has had the opportunity to sample Human cuisine before. The dishes to look exactly like they are supposed to, however, which is an achievement in itself. The music is a bit outdated, but the overall look of the place is impressively accurate. I must say I'm amazed to find a place like this here," Kevan told the male in one long breath.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Kevan added. "I must, however, be on my way now. I have many important things to attend to." He gave the man a respectful nod before turning and leaving. Bran'tuke uttering a long stream of compliments and gratitude at his back. Lineel nearly had to scurry to catch up, except her longer Rich'ti legs brought her next to him fairly quickly. She chuckled once they reached the parking garage floor.

"Now that was diplomatic, based on what you told me back at the seats," she said, feigning an accusatory tone.

"I didn't say a word of untruth though," he answered, somewhat smugly. "I was impressed by the accuracy of the appearance of the place. And the fact that they've never tasted Mostaccoli before would explain why it tasted pretty much nothing like it is supposed to taste like."

"Are all humans able to manipulate words so well?"

"No, although some are far better at it than I am," he told her, getting into the aircar. "We call them politicians or lawyers."

"Ohhhh, I see," she replied, starting up the engine.

"Everyone says that humans are master liars. So is that true?"

"Who's everyone?" he countered first. "There are races and people that lie habitually. In any culture there will be some that are more or less honest than the average. From my perspective, there is a time and place for everything. Just then wasn't the time to try to tell him what needed to be worked on."

"I see," she replied. They rode the rest of the way back to the capitol building in silence. He watched the city slip past, wondering what his life would have been like if he had stayed home.

Back in his room there were messages waiting for him. The first was that the required antidote compounds were being gathered, with a fast courier ship being prepared. There were five sets of rendezvous coordinates, based upon estimates of Rich'ti travel speeds. They just needed to know which was the better time and location. The ship would be en route shortly, and would be re-directed once the rendezvous point was confirmed.

There were also more news feeds to check up on. He spent about an hour following up on some of those, and still there were more. He sighed when he had had enough. He told Lineel he wanted to take a nap for about an hour, which required a fairly lengthy explanation of how and why his sleep schedule differed from hers.

Finally, she seemed satisfied with his explanation, and told him she'd be outside the door since it would be such a short rest period. He all but sighed with relief as the door closed behind her and he was alone again. He forwarded the rendevous possibilities to Agronet before closing the lid on his computer and turning off the lights in the room. He kicked off his shoes and settled down onto the soft furs of the bed, realizing he had managed to acquire a headache in the last couple hours of staring at the computer screen.

He did not have trouble falling asleep, despite the fact that his mind was whirling as it turned quite a few things over and over in contemplation. It occurred to him as he drifted off that he hadn't set an alarm to wake him after an hour.

Chapter 13

"We have to move. Grab your computer," she instructed.

Through the open door he could see the rest of his guard group was all assembled. All carried rifles. "What's going on?" he demanded, getting to his feet.

"An armed group has murdered the outcast representative," she answered. "Details are a little sketchy still. I'm not taking chances, though, so you are going somewhere more secure until we know what's going on."

He stuffed his feet into his shoes and grabbed the computer and its power cord. He hastily wrapped the cord around the computer for now, wishing for a case to carry it in. The alarm continued sounding, although the volume decreased a little.

She led him out into the hallway, and the Rich'ti formed a ring around him. Lineel led the way. None of them had to say anything to make it happen. They moved down the hallway to a corner. Lineel checked it before they moved down the other hallway. There were a couple more corners, with them sometimes changing course abruptly, before they came to a nondescript, unmarked door.

Ezneel carefully pried the door panel off the wall and started fiddling with circuitry inside.

"Quickly," Lineel said insistently.

Ezneel sneered a human looking smile and the door opened. She pushed the panel back into place and they all went through the door.

"First we'll use a utility corridor to avoid traffic," she said once the door was closed. I want to avoid us being seen until we know more about what's going on."

"The way I see it, we have two options," Larnet said. "Either we find a safe spot here, or one of us goes for an aircar and we head for safety elsewhere."

"No aircars," Lineel said with a shake of her head. "Even if we bring one of them up here to a landing pad, like you're suggesting, there's too much exposure getting into it. Besides, Agronet will get this situation under control quickly enough. We just need a place to hole up for a short while until it's sorted out."

"Alright. Where then?" Larnet asked.

"Further down in one of the buildings," Mirket suggested. "We'll have to go down the hard way though, to keep cover."

"Which one though? Where's the best cover?" Lineel asked, looking at Larnet.

"Probably the agricultural center," Larnet answered. "Technology will be teeming with people in and out of medical, and there's not as much cover in most of their other levels. Too many clean rooms and testing areas. Social and Government are always too busy, and right now everyone will want the gossip. Agriculture is probably curious, but they'll all be sitting around their holo displays and not paying attention to much else if they've heard the news."

"Agreed," Lineel said. "Let's get to the Agriculture Center then. Ezneel, I'll need you to check the system once we're down there. There ought to be at least one or two of the people with offices who are scheduled to be away today. We can hole up in one of those until we get information suggesting it's safe."

The four exchanged nods and then the group was on the move again, continuing down the hallway. There was a move out of the corridor and down one of the larger hallways before Enzeel dealt with another door panel and they were inside another service corridor. This one led to a spiral staircase. Kevan looked down the center briefly and then pulled back again, realizing they were high enough up that he couldn't see the bottom.

They made a quick pace down the stairs, and Kevan found himself breaking a sweat, as Rich'ti stairs were higher than Human ones. Each step was as high as his knee and he was just relieved that they were headed down instead of up. There was a single door at each level and he counted seven before they stopped and Ezneel started messing with the door panel with more intricacy than the last two. The others spread out, two watching for anyone coming up or down the stairs, and Lineel with her ear against the door, listening for anyone coming. Kevan stood there in the center of it all, feeling somewhat useless.

It seemed to take a long time before Ezneel finally announced that she'd found a vacant office. Ezneel conferred with the others, but Kevan missed most of it. He wanted to lean in to hear, but somehow it felt like he'd be intruding, so he stayed where he was. Eventually Lineel pressed her ear against the door to listen again. She nodded. The door slid open.

They moved slowly and carefully. His Rich'ti protectors made almost no noise moving down the hallways, and he did his best to step lightly. He was especially relieved that it was all carpeted. He cringed at the thought of how loud a squeaky shoe would seem.

Larnet stayed a few feet ahead of them. He stopped at each intersection, listening before peering around. Once he motioned them back and they quickly moved back to a prior corner and ducked around it. Eventually whoever had been coming passed, and they moved on.

The proceeded without incident to the office they were looking for. Ezneel opened it in similar fashion and they moved inside. The office was barely furnished at all. There was a simple desk and a filing or storage cabinet and little else. There were papers spread around the desk, and a box on top of the cabinet. The box was too high up for him to guess at what might be in it.

There were no windows in the office, so he suspected that it was more central within the building as the walls of the buildings had all seemed to be covered with windows and balconies. Lights came on automatically as they had entered, and he stood, waiting at the center of the room, wondering what would come next.

"Now we wait," Lineel answered his unspoken question. "We'll give it some time. Enzeel can hook into the system through the panel inhere so we can see what the situation is like. We'll want to keep it quiet in the meantime, so no one knows we're in here." The others nodded in agreement.

"You can hook that back up over here," Enzeel told him, pointing at his computer and over at the wall nearest the desk. "There's at least one receptacle in every room, especially offices. Depending on how much they've told you about accessing our network, you could probably find out more information with it too."

"I'm not sure that everything is quite compatible for me to do that yet," Kevan said. "They've made it so that I can send messages to my people as well as to people within your system. Most of the access to news and other information I've gotten through my holographic projector, the small computer on the door panel, or the library computers I've been directed to. No one has been able to explain if I can access more with this machine or not yet."

"They're probably planning to just let you use a computer of theirs in the new quarters I heard they were setting up. Most Rich'ti who have an office also have a computer. Too bad the one who has this office took theirs with while away." She whispered as she talked and began pulling the front off the inner door panel as she did. Within moment, she was pulling, disconnecting, and reconnecting wires and other items inside. Kevan moved over to the desk and saw that there was a Rich'ti plug on the wall near it. He set about unraveling the mess of cord that he'd hastily wound around the computer and plugging it in. It didn't take him long to have it up and running again. He quickly sent a message to Urish'tal, and Agronet both, asking what was going on. He realized that the amount of people who he knew how to send messages to was limited as well, and he had no idea how to look up what other Rich'ti's "addresses" were to send them messages too.

He used some of the time to catch up on low-priority news from home. Ezneel still had very little information about what was going on locally. Apparently the local news media had learned about and reported a disturbance in the capitol building, but there were no details yet.

"So how did you all find out what had happened?" Kevan asked. "If the information isn't getting outside, what source do you have?"

"We heard it on the security channels of the radio system. There may have been news agencies that heard as well. If so, they either aren't sharing their information or they've been told not to release details yet."

"News media groups among my people tend to feel it their obligation to share that kind of information," Kevan explained, wondering where the limits of free speech were here.

"Some information would cause greater harm than good," Larnet explained. "Such information is not casually spread."

"Like the actual progress of the war?" Kevan asked.

"In one of the recent interviews with Agronet," Larnet explained, "he suggested that not all information had been released in order to prevent widespread panic," Larnet said. "If a reporter were to find out information about something as sensitive as the war and release it without checking with the goverment first, they would be held liable if something like widespread panic occurred."

"About ten or twelve years ago, there was an impending natural disaster on the southern hemisphere in one of the oceans. Scientists were unable to predict if the effects would spread wide enough to reach the mainland. Precautions were being put in place to evacuate the areas if necessary, and the scientists ran simulations on worst-case scenarios. At some point, a reporter got ahold of one of those simulations and broadcast it worldwide. There was no indication on the simulation itself as to which ocean the problem was starting in either. There was widespread panic as huge numbers of coastal residents scrambled to make their way inland, thinking there was going to be devastation along the shores. As a result, many were injured and a few were even inadvertantly killed."

"Three other reporters had taken the first one's story and run it too. In the end, the actual disaster never reached the coast in any manner other than slightly rougher waters than normal. A boating advisory was issued and no evacuation was ever needed. There was a reef system that had been enough to break the heavy waves that might have reached the land. Something like that, I forget the exact details of the scientific end of it. But those four reporters were all tried and found guilty as being responsible for the panic. As a result of their actions, people died and were injured. They were cast out. This helped reaffirm that the reporters should check their facts to be sure that the goverment was ready for the public to receive them."

"If the war is going that badly and everyone knows about it," Larnet finished, " some people will be too busy worrying about it to get their jobs done. It would probably be counter-productive to most efforts to change the way the war is going."