"Nadi Bren!"
There was a sudden hush, except of the music from the tape system. Security was all but impossible, as Algini said, "A phone call, Bren-paidhi. From Mogari-nai. They say the ship is calling you. They say they'll patch through."
"This is Bren Cameron," he said, still out of breath from reaching the office phone, "Go ahead, Mogari-nai."
"It's going through, nand' paidhi. Stand by."
He was still a couple of drinks to the worse and cursing his bad judgment, because, dammit, he'd known a call from the ship was at least still pending, and he'd assumed — assumed — it wouldn't happen. He took deep slow breaths, trying to pull his scattered wits together.
The next voice was thinner. " Hello?" it said. " This isPhoenix-com. Bren Cameron, please."
"This is Bren Cameron. Go ahead, Phoenix-com." He could hear the rippling murmur of gossip underway among the servants down the short hall, but the party had quietened, Saidin, at least, being as aware as Algini what was at stake in this phone call.
"Mr. Cameron, this is Ramirez."
"Good evening, sir."
" Good evening. Sorry to miss your 1200 request. We've been sifting through a swarm of material, yours, theirs— I just got off the com with the island, and the President is claiming you haven't any authority to negotiate, I should tell you that first."
Damn, was the thought. He said, he trusted calmly, while juggling the phone receiver on his good shoulder and trying at the same time to reach the record button with the good hand — he punched the button —"The President has no authority to negotiate for atevi, sir, by the meaning and intent of the Treaty, the text of which you have. By grant of Tabini-aiji, sir, I dohave the authority, and while I don't imagine —" God, the alcohol was making the room too warm, or the tape was cutting off his wind "— while I don't imagine the President is too pleased with that situation, I'm going to continue to provide translation between you and the atevi authority."
" I think we've come around to that point. What's the aiji's position on dealing with us?"
"Entirely open-minded." This wasn't a diplomat he was talking to. He picked up the bluntness and matched it. "The deal's been integrated economies, equal technological levels. Atevi and humans were building launch facilities before you arrived, to share renovation and operation of the station. That's the deal in progress. The aiji sees no cause to change that."
"Is he receiving this?"
"I can arrange it in a matter of minutes."
"No need, if you'll inform him we certainly want a good relationship with his government and we've selected the representative to go down there, at his request, on two conditions: one, our representative gets official status and official protection; and, two, there'll be an immediate application of resources to getting up here. I want an official confirmation from him that this will be the case."
"You'll get an official confirmation of both points, sir, but I can say there'll be no problem with that."
"We're dropping two representatives, one to you, one to Mospheira."
"No problem with that, either, sir."
" Good. We've got the volunteers. — Jason? Jason Graham. Bren Cameron."
" Mr. Cameron." Anew, younger-sounding voice. " This is Jason Graham. Glad to make your acquaintance. I gather I'm likely to be seeing you soon."
"Looking forward to that. You've got a landing craft, then?"
" Well— we've got one. I'd like to call tomorrow, your choice of times, and get some feeling about what I'm dropping into."
"Delighted." He was. "Local daybreak's easy to figure. We left your clock when we landed. Tomorrow morning?"
"Daybreak. Dawn. Sunrise. All those words. Tomorrow dawn, it is. Good night. Do you say that?"
"Good night," he said, with the least small unease of realization that those were all dictionary words to the man. Conceptually dead. Three hundred and more years away — and daybreak was conceptually a dead word to him.
He signed off with the technicians at Mogari-nai, snatched the tape out of the machine before anything could happen to it, and phoned Tabini's private phone with, "I just had a brief ship contact, aiji-ma. They've apparently agreed to everything we want. I'll get you the full text."
" This is very good, Bren-ji. This isvery good."
"They say they've got a landing capability of some kind and two people are scheduled to come down, one for the mainland, one for Mospheira. I'm going to talk to their representative at the crack of dawn tomorrow and I'll have more detaiclass="underline" the conversation was very brief. They want, they said, good relations with the atevi government. That's about the limit of the conversation, but it was cordial and positive."
" Very good news, Bren-ji. Good to hear. — Bren-ji?"
"Aiji-ma?"
"One hears of celebration over there."
"I'm terribly sorry if I've disturbed you, aiji-ma."
"No, our walls are quite thick. Enjoy the evening, Bren-ji."
"Thank you," he said, bewildered, as Tabini hung up.
Then it slowly came to him that there was something changed, and they might have reason to celebrate — the threat to the world might have taken a turn toward real, productive solution.
He walked out to the dining hall where a hushed assembly of servants stood waiting — hushed until he arrived: then the staff began to ask all at the same time, "Did you speak to the ship, nand' paidhi?" and "Did it go well, nand' paidhi?"
"Hush," Saidin said, scandalized. "Hush! This is by no means our business."
"But it did go well, nand' Saidin," Bren said. "If we can believe what I hear from the ship." He dared not claim to have reached any agreement, although he was sliding giddily toward believing it himself, for reasons that had more to do with where the resources were than any confidence in innate generosity in orbit over their heads. For that, he counted more on Mospheira, and that, very little and in offices not in ultimate authority over anything.
But around him there was growing excitement on faces. Algini was still in the group, and the crowd in the dining room and the hall numbered, he was sure, every servant on staff. Even Saidin and Algini seemed to catch the enthusiasm when he'd said as much as he had said, and someone put a glass in his hand, which accounted for all his ability to hold anything. It smelled at least like the safe variety, a wary touch of the tongue didn't have the queasy rough taste the truly dangerous drink had, and while he was engaged in deciding that, Saidin snatched it from him with an exclamation of dismay and replaced it with another, Saidin berating the glass-giver in the same instant for unwarranted carelessness with the paidhi, who everyone knew had a delicate stomach and a delicate constitution and was, moreover, Saidin's harangue continued, a virtual invalid lately wounded in the service of the Association, beside the hazard to lady Damiri's reputation in their carelessness.
The music had come up again, and cook's cart had arrived, this time with trays of chilled sweetmeats, probably a month's provisions, on which the servants descended and stripped tray after tray. Saidin was nibbling a sweet herself, and Algini had a number of very nice-looking young ladies backing him against the wall and firing questions at him, doubtless on his recent adventures and the reason for the bandages.