‘What’s the itinerary now?’ he said as Amara cancelled the summation diagram from the terminal. For an answer she keyed a map of the Tzist Arm on to the screen. Wandering along part of the inner curve ran a jagged line, each kink and angle marked by a symbol and denoting a planet they had surveyed.
‘Logically we should head for Verrage, the nearest regional capital, but that will bring us into the commercial space routes where we might be detected.’ She bit her lip, then zoomed in on the approaching stretch of the Arm.
‘We ought to try to get as close to Verrage as possible,’ he commented.
‘True enough.’ Stars and star groupings were sliding past in glowing colours on the screen as she tried to pick a tortuous path that would avoid the main space-faring lanes. ‘There’s a lot of information to be gained from this region.’
‘Perhaps we should ask Captain Wilce to pick a route,’ Estru suggested. ‘Safety is his responsibility, after all.’
‘I don’t want to give Verrage too wide a berth. But I dare say you’re right.’
She turned to the vidcom asked for Captain Wilce.
12
The Diask: a garment unique to Caean, composed of independent panels of stiffish, chunky cloth cut into various shapes. Lacking stitching, seams or fastening, the panels maintain position solely by reason of the cloth’s natural tendency to adhere to itself, a quality which is heightened by friction. The garment thus clings during motion and relaxes somewhat when still. Wearing the diask brings a sensation of security and containment.
The Bliaut: a garment of ancient origin but much developed and variegated in Caean. Consisting basically of a corset-like bodice with wide, sweeping sleeves, elaborately decorated, low, curved waistline and heavily folioled skirt or breeches.
The Cyclas: a loose garment cut from a single piece of cloth with a single hole for the head. In the same class as the chiton (a long loose tunic with overfold fastening on the shoulder) and the kalasiris (a long-sleeved or sleeveless robe) but unlike them an essentially simple garment. To cut a new cyclas is regarded as one of the tests of a true sartorialist, since originality can only be achieved by means of tensions and warps in the weave. The cyclas, like its cousins the chiton and the kalasiris, imparts a sense of airy freedom.
The Houppelande: a gown made in a bell shape and of rich cloth, sometimes reaching only to the thighs, but more often falling in increasing fullness to the ankles. Gracefulness of the heavy folds, both in skirt and sleeves, is an important feature. The houppelande gives a feeling of graciousnesss, richness and slow dignity.
The Arras: a broad hanging garment consisting of flat, tasselled front and back curtain-panels depending from wide shoulder-rails, usually worn with a matching rail-like headdress and veil. The arras gives an impression of screened secrecy and withdrawal. Faintly reminiscent of a mandilion or some kinds of herald’s tabard.
The Leviathan: a set of clothes covered in moving human images, so that the wearer seems to be clad in a living multitude. Variations on the leviathan use fewer, perhaps only one, image – a face set in the chest, perhaps, furnished with a voice and a certain degree of computer-backed personality able to respond to the wearer’s social environment. The leviathan can express sociability and extreme extroversion, but also multiple personality, instability of mind, and extreme distraction from one’s surroundings.
The Remontant: a garment in which the human frame is utilized as the supporting stem for a flower theme. There is an infinite variety of remontants, most of which express a springlike quality denoting delight in new life, blossoming energy and artistic talent.
These are but a few examples of the garments commonly worn in Tzist. It would be impossible to give any really adequate idea of the vast diversity of Caeanic apparel, which perhaps is best indicated by the fact that nearly one third of the Caeanic vocabulary is concerned with clothing. Oddly, the concept of fashion does not exist in Caean; the country is subject to no sweeping changes of mood or mass imitation. An important feature of the national structure is supplied, however, by sub-cults which could be described as ‘fashion societies’, but which are known in Caean as ‘sodalities’. There are innumerable of these, some small and local, some nationwide, each with its own historical, philosophical or cultural theme or goal which is pursued by means of suitable costume.
All the above, and most other distinct categories of garment, could be regarded as having specialized applications. If a dress of universal potential exists then it is the form of attire most commonly worn in Caean and Ziode alike, and known simply as: The Suit: consisting essentially of trousers, a jacket, and more often than not a waistcoat. In this form the suit can be traced as far back as pre-expansionist Earth, reaching a peak of inventiveness in the twenty-first century of that era. In all known succeeding cultures it has survived as the predominant mode of dress among males and sometimes even among females, by reason of its convenience and flexibility of expression. In the hands of the Caeanic sartorialists it has radiated into a whole universe of styles, often losing its original character and merging into other, more specialist, classifications. Many established modes are known by apt names: the Scythe (making a man incisive, speedy), the Skyscraper (bringing a feeling of tallness, uprightness and commanding power), the Zipflash, the Suit of Light, the Airplane, and so on.
The Caeanic ideal is a suit of clothes that encompasses the whole man and not merely some aspect or potentiality of him. Only the near-legendary Frachonard is believed to have accomplished such perfection, and then only in a limited number of his creations.
Arth Matt-Helver, Travels in the Tzist Arm
Sinuating through the velvety curves of superphotic space, the Caeanic battle cruiser had been shadowing the Callan for days. Captain Wilce, preparing to make a fly-by of the star group containing Verrage, had continued to entertain the faint hope that it was merely flying on a course coincidentally parallel to their own. But he had not been so impetuous as to veer away in order to put that hope to the test. Sudden changes of course attenuated the effectiveness of their baffles.
On the fifth day, however, he was forced to acknowledge the failure of their mission. His face grave, he made a call to Amara.
‘We have just received a transmission from the commander of the Caeanic ship,’ he told her. ‘He tells me we are to be escorted to Verrage. He also instructs us to pipe aboard a party of his officers.’
Amara went white. ‘Is there no chance of getting away?’
‘None at all, from a fully armed cruiser. They’ve clearly broken our bafflement.’