They landed without incident, on dry ground this time. The Federation spaceport was very small. Becker set the Condor down beside the Arkansas Traveler. Both ships were instructed to have their personnel remain aboard until the Federation officials boarded their ships and inspected them.
"I just hate customs," Becker said. "Now we gotta play 'hide the kitty.'"
Acorna smiled. She had heard the plop of paws behind her, indicating the return of gravity and the departure of the cat. His harness had given him no trouble. When he chose to shed it, RK divested himself of a harness as easily as he shed hairs in warm environmental conditions.
In her time with RK, Acorna had learned that the cat understood what went on around him almost as well as Becker did. He just made a game of letting his human companions underestimate him so that he was free to follow his own agenda without interference. She did not doubt that he would hide if it suited him.
Or not.
Becker shook his head when he turned to see the empty harness. "Well, he knows the ship like the back of his paw. He hides so well even I can't find him if he doesn't want me to."
Nadhari nodded. "The sacred cat will choose his own path. RK must sense where he is now."
"Maybe," Becker said, scratching his head. "I don't really know for sure if RK has ever been here. When I rescued him, it was from a wrecked ship in a totally different quadrant of space. He might have been a second generation ship's cat-you know, from a litter a Makahomian mama Temple cat had after she was smuggled off-world."
"He knows," Nadhari said.
"Permission to come aboard," an unfamiliar voice hailed them from the com unit.
"Granted," Becker grunted. "Uh-just a minute. I have to send the robolift down for you."
"The what?"
"We're a salvage vessel. Functional, not pretty. We don't have a nice door in the side of the ship for you to hook your gantry to. Just a sec."
Becker pushed the button that activated the robolift, but though there was a groan and a clank somewhere in the workings, nothing moved. "Sorry," he said to the com unit. "It may have to thaw a while. We had a little trouble with our navigation system and made a forced landing on that swampy neighbor planet of yours." He consulted the computer and gave the coordinates. "We were viewport-deep in water when Captain Mac-Donald pulled us out and saved our necks. Going back out in space dripping wet might have iced up the lift a bit. Since we're going for speed here, I'll try taking a torch and a crowbar to the seals. That should work. It's gonna be a minute before I can let you in, though. Maybe you better go see Captain MacDonald first."
"Very well, since the timing is useful to me. Lieutenant Commander Macostut will be joining the boarding parry as soon as he is able to, so that he may on this occasion personally greet the Linyaari ambassador."
"That's very courteous of him. The ambassador will approve. I'll let you know when I free the lift."
Mac said, "I will attend to it, Captain."
"I can do it," Becker called after him. "It's my ship."
Before Mac could return, however, Acorna said, "If I may make a suggestion, Captain. These Federation officials strike me as being impressed by rank and privilege. Nadhari and I have decided to use this delay to change into more formal clothing. She has her dress uniform. Miiri packed something… ambassadorial… for me to wear to meet the Niriians, which I plan to put on before the planetary delegation arrives. Perhaps you might wish to don your most impressive uniform as well?"
He considered a moment, rubbed his chin, and sniffed at his armpits. "I guess I could shower and shave, too, huh?"
Acorna hid her amusement and listened to the ship's sounds for a moment. "Nadhari has just finished her shower, I believe, so there will be time for you to do those things, should you wish to."
Acorna and Becker escorted the Wats out of the bridge and back to their quarters, where they locked them in, and continued on to their separate quarters to make themselves ready for their official visitors. By the time Mac returned to the bridge, Acorna had donned her new outfit and taken time to enhance her appearance, so that her silvery mane curled fetchingly to frame her face and grace her long neck. Her horn shone like a golden opal. Her trews were cut so that the feathers on her calves made a decorative trim, edged with small jewels that matched the beautifully embellished belt girding her flowing white tunic. Grandam Naadiina had given Acorna the belt to wear before the venerable lady's heroic death. It had been a lover's gift from Naadiina's life-mate to Naadiina, and Acorna cherished the memories it brought each time she put it on.
And now there was her new treasure, she thought with a mixture of pleasure and pain, touching the disk through her tunic. It was a gift of her lover if not actually from him. Should she wear it outside? She decided it was too precious, that she didn't want to share or explain it just yet.
Nadhari wore the dress uniform of the Red Bracelets, as she had when attending formal occasions with Mr. Li. It was, not surprisingly, red, gleaming with brass trim, and made of a material that both enhanced the shape of her panther-lithe body and allowed her complete freedom of movement.
Acorna wasn't sure where Becker's uniform came from-her guess was that it was salvage from another ship. The captain wore a tailored gray outfit with silver burtons and trim, an attractive combination with the gray of Becker's mustache and the little beard he was sporting. He wore an insignia of a silver vulture rampant over a barrel, with his name and title forming a leafy silver border around the image.
He tossed Mac a plainer version of the same uniform and said, "Go oil yourself or something, Mac, and put this on to meet the bigwigs."
Mac's pupils dilated with pleasure. "A uniform? I am now an official uniformed crew member! Oh, Captain! May I have a hug?"
"Hell, no, you'd crush the life out of me! Where do you get that stuff anyway? You've been talking to Mrs. Harakamian again, haven't you?"
Mac was busy stripping and pulling on the new uniform.
"Not here," Becker said. "There are ladies present."
"Oh," Mac said, clearly wondering what one thing had to do with the other.
"And pick up your old stuff on your way out," Becker grumbled. "You want this place to look like a pigsty?"
Acorna suppressed a giggle. Only through Mac's industry had the Condor gained any semblance of order. Before the android had been restored, reprogrammed, and thus rehabilitated from his service under the treacherous criminal Kis la Ma njari, Becker's ship had more closely resembled a junkyard than an interstellar vessel. Jonas had had salvage stored and piled in every available corner and strapped overhead. The only maneuvering room around the ship had been little more than a narrow trail from one end of the Condor to the other.
She supposed Becker's remark was compounded of embarrassment and the sense of captainly importance he assumed with his fancy uniform.
With the robolift cleared for action and everything shipshape, Becker hailed the Federation post again. In a short time the ship's outside monitors picked up a small group of uniformed people walking in tight formation toward the ship. Becker lowered the robolift, which worked perfectly.
After exchanging questioning glances at the unusual outfitting of the ship, the delegation followed the man in the shiniest uniform forward. Once he had stepped onto the lift, they joined him. Becker pushed the button to raise them to the lower deck. "Ladies, we should greet our guests, don't you think?" he said.
Lieutenant Commander Dsu Macostut made his priorities clear immediately when he ignored Becker's salute and bowed instead over Acorna's hand. "Ambassador Harakamian-Li. We have, even on this backwater posting, heard of your remarkable exploits on Kezdet and the splendid work you and your patrons have done with Maganos Moonbase. We never imagined we would have the honor to meet you."