Rest assured they are very, very remote from us in space, and it will never be a frequent association, but a good one, out on the fringes of what we know of the universe. They have already given us better numbers and better information than we have ever had on the space beyond.
Please God that was allthat happened regarding space beyond.
Then there was the statement he needed to write for the Transportation Committee, comprised of members of the hasdrawad and the tashrid. The Transportation Committee was the interface between the legislature and the Transportation Guild. Theywanted to know whether to send the full text of materials the paidhi had provided to them on to the relevant Guild, which managed rail and air transport.
No, damn it, he did not want the full text of the Machigi documents going to that Guild—yet. Not yet. He had already said so, in no uncertain terms. This was the second query. One hardly knew what one needed say to make it clear.
Kindly await the paidhi’s office in consultation with higher authorities regarding this matter. We have not yet concluded an agreement, the seal on the matter is not yet firm, and we are far from contemplating specific routes, although if there are any of merit being suggested on the basis of rumor, we should appreciate those suggestions being referred back to the paidhi’s office for consideration by the parties to the agreement. Meanwhile, please advise the Transportation Guild to exercise patience. Once information begins to be released, the paidhi assures them they will be in the very first tier of that release.
That should keep the committee busy long enough. He already damned well knewwhere the expanded rail line had to go, the only route that had ever been available to it because of simple geology: it had to pass through Ilisidi’s lands, up from the coastal region where her name carried far more weight than any of her neighbors could claim. The fact that geology delivered Ilisidi the only route might not please certain of her neighbors, but no degree of debate would ever deliver a different route. Perfect example of endless circular argument, at which that committee excelled lately. One burst of brilliant leadership in the development of the space initiative, and then—the current chair took over, and nothing had changed since.
Afternoon tea, and it was so very pleasant to have Jeladi bring him only a scant amount of mail.
And most of it in ornate message cylinders from within the Bujavid.
One of those was white lilies on green. Tatiseigi.
Thatwas potential trouble.
Bren Lord of Najidac
Well. That was interesting. It was the second time Tatiseigi hailed him not as paidhi-aiji, as he always had, but as a fellow lordcthough using the lesser of his two titles, that of a minor country estate, instead of the admittedly grandiose Lord of the Heavens. Twice now, seemed to be a social advancement. Lord Tatiseigi went on:
One is in receipt of an inquiry from Lord Brosan regarding matters before the Transportation Committee, expressing concern about the security of rail crews working in the Marid. If you would be so good as to reassure Lord Brosan and other members of the committeec
Et cetera.
God. The Transportation Committee. Again.
One hardly blamed the workers in this case. But their safety was already being assured by the Assassins’ Guild, making it very unlikely there would be trouble. What else could the paidhi-aiji do?—take up a rifle and stand guard over the work crews?—with far less skill than the Assassins’ Guild, one was quite sure.
He wrote, in reply:
Tatiseigi Lord of the Atageini,
From Bren Lord of Najida
Esteemed Lord Tatiseigi, one certainly understands the anxiousness of the Committee and will undertake to assure the gentleman Chair that the Assassins’ Guild isc
A knock at the office door. Jeladi returned, bringing the basket back, this time with only one message-cylinder, one of the polished steel sort used by the Messengers’ Guild for items relayed electronically.
“Thank you, Ladi-ji.” He took the offered cylinder and opened it, hoping it was not from Machigi, with a disaster.
Ilisidi.
With good news.
I shall expect you at supper this evening, nandi, following our arrival. We have likewise invited Lord Geigi and Lord Tatiseigi, and I hope to see my grandson, if he can arrange matters on so short notice. As anticipated, we have important matters to discuss. We understand that Lord Machigi’s representative has now arrived. Would you do us the favor of calling on her and assessing her situation and intent?
Supper this evening. And Geigiwas coming in, having been in direct contact with Ilisidi. Doubtless planes were already in the air. Something was up with those two.
Meanwhile he was going to have to make a delicate social call on extremely short notice, and thank God he hadn’t been caught with a schedule full of committee meetings.
He got up from his desk, went out to the foyer and found Narani at his flower-arranging.
“Rani-ji. Lord Geigi must be picked up at the airport this afternoon, one believes, and he may choose to guest in my premises for a few days. He must be urged to do so, on grounds of security, if you will see that message conveyed to him. I have just received word from the aiji-dowager that I am expected, with Lord Geigi, at formal dinner this evening. This afternoon, a mission on her behalf—I need to go down to the city to visit the Taisigi representative at her offices; one estimates about an hour for that meeting, excluding transit, but arrangements must be made that let me get back to the dinner in good order, ideally with time to consult with Lord Geigi beforehand.”
“Nandi,” the old man said, and one could at that point trust that every single detail of that arrangement would come off in the best possible order. One could do Narani the greatest possible favor by getting out of his way and letting him do his job, which was not going to involve flower-arranging for a good half hour: that it would entail advising Bindanda and Jeladi of the likelihood of a guest; having Banichi contact Geigi’s bodyguard and find out if Ilisidi had included an invitation for lodgings, or if Geigi could be persuaded to accept the paidhi’s; having Koharu and Supani have the paidhi’s best court dayclothing ready for an afternoon outing; having his best eveningclothing ready for the evening; and being sure that the social and meetings calendar for tomorrow morning was cleared of any other obligations in the most courteous possible way in case the dinner ran late—a good guess—or that there might be need for office work in the morning—another good guess.
One could meanwhile heave a sigh of moderate relief and think about the next thing, which was to advise Koharu and Supani he needed to bathe and change.
He had visited the foot of the Bujavid hill very seldom in his career. It was a train trip down to a small station that had a secure transfer point to transport. Legislators used it, committee witnesses might use it; court officials and secretaries used it; and servants of Bujavid households traveling on passes used it.
It rarely had the aiji’s own train pulling into the station at the bottom of the hill. But that was how the paidhi-aiji traveled, when he traveled. He had his bodyguard about him. He had his briefcase. He had the cooperation of a Guild special attachment, who were in contact, besides the ordinary security that surrounded this little substation. The van, specially protected and held for him, with a Guild-approved driver, would transfer him a short distance through the hotel district, and another Guild detachment would meet them at the curb of the Taisigi mission.