The Morcai Battalion: The Pursuit. Diana Palmer

more qualified professional politicians. The decision didn’t sit well with them,” he added with a sigh. “I suppose they’ll be hoping that I’ll trip and break my neck, leaving the job open for one of them.”

      “You’ll be fine,” she repeated, smiling. “You’re so smart, Daddy. It’s why they gave you the job. You get along well with people, too. Diplomacy is one skill I’ve never been able to conquer. I keep hoping, but my tongue just flaps at both ends.” She laughed. “There I go again. Mekashe said he’d need a translator because of all the idioms I use.”

      “Cehn-Tahr speak most alien tongues, even the rare dialects,” he replied. “I think he was just teasing you.”

      “I wonder what he does?” she said aloud. “I mean, he dresses well and this is an expensive form of travel...”

      “We’ll have plenty of time to find out in the weeks ahead,” he assured her. “Meanwhile, eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

      She sighed as the table opened up and hot platters of food that they’d ordered from the foodcomp appeared as if by magic. The table folded back into itself with utensils and plates neatly placed and food arranged in the center.

      “It’s magic.” Jasmine laughed as she watched. “I’d heard about these foodcomps, but I confess, I didn’t quite believe the gossip.”

      “Tech is gaining ground in the galaxy,” he agreed. “I’ve heard some amazing things about Kolmankash on Memcache. It’s the most famous tech development center in the three galaxies. They say the tech there really is like magic.”

      “What sort of tech?”

      He shook his head. “Nobody knows. The Cehn-Tahr don’t share intimate knowledge of their culture with outworlders. All we get are whispers.”

      “Maybe Mekashe would take us there one day, to see the tech for ourselves,” she said dreamily.

      He raised both eyebrows. “Let’s live one day at a time and not rush things,” he said.

      She sighed. “Okay. But it’s hard.”

      “Many things are. And that’s the truth,” he agreed as he watched his coffee cup fill itself.

      * * *

      THE NEXT MORNING, Jasmine dressed with great care, in a very correct leisure gown of flared pale yellow skirts and a modest bodice that laced in front, with tiny sleeves that just covered her shoulders. Her bare arms were softly rounded, her nails manicured and trimmed. She wore her hair long, instead of in its usual high coiffure. It curled and waved down her back and fell around her shoulders in a pale blond cascade. She wore tiny aqua waterstones hooked in her earlobes, and used the lightest hint of a floral cologne. She hoped she looked good enough to impress a certain handsome alien.

      She and her father had finished breakfast and were lounging in the recreation center at a wall table when Mekashe joined them.

      He wore a very correct suit, with a banded shirt of blue and white, and slacks that outlined his powerful legs. He smiled as Jasmine almost ran to meet him.

      “You look very nice,” he commented.

      “So do you!” she burst out without thinking, and then flushed at her own boldness. “Daddy’s got the chessboard set up already,” she added quickly, to hide her self-consciousness.

      “Good morning,” the new ambassador greeted, standing long enough to give Mekashe a formal bow, which was returned.

      “Daddy was chess champion of the college where he taught,” she said.

      “Indeed. Impressive,” Mekashe said politely.

      “Well, reputations are easily destroyed, I’m afraid.” The ambassador chuckled. “I daresay you’ll beat the socks off me without much effort.”

      “Socks.” Mekashe looked blank.

      “They’re worn on the feet with shoes. Casual shoes,” Jasmine explained. “A very ancient sort of apparel. It means that you’ll win.”

      “An odd manner of expression. Apologies,” he added with a smile.

      “None needed,” the older man assured him. “Most idioms are odd, and I’ve come across them in an amazing array of human languages.”

      “Truly, we find them in alien tongues, as well,” Mekashe said. He chuckled, or what passed for chuckling in a Cehn-Tahr. “There are several dialects of Rojok, including a quite ancient one which was never spoken by a human until Dr. Edris Mallory came along.”

      “Dr. Mallory?” the ambassador asked softly.

      He nodded. “She was a Cularian specialist before she bonded with a Cehn-Tahr of my acquaintance.”

      Jasmine’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard many stories about Dr. Madeline Ruszel, but they don’t mention Dr. Mallory in the flash reports.”

      “As you may have already gathered, we share very little of our culture with—” he hesitated to offend by saying “outworlders” “—other cultures,” he said instead.

      “I’m quite good at keeping secrets,” the ambassador said, smiling. He glanced at his child a little warily. “My daughter, however...”

      “I can so keep a secret,” she said, and made a face at him. “Well, really important ones, at least. I’m so excited that we’re actually going to live on your planet!” she added to Mekashe.

      He smiled. “I think you will find it quite beautiful.”

      “Does it look like Terravega?” she asked at once.

      He shook his head. “We have no pressure domes, nor is there a need for them.” He cocked his head at her. “If you would like to see Memcache, I can arrange for a holo of it in one of the rooms.”

      “I would love that!” Jasmine enthused.

      “You are also welcome to view it,” Mekashe told the ambassador easily, and smiled again. “It will help you to understand us if you see the manner in which we live.”

      “But you said that you couldn’t share things with people outside your culture,” Jasmine began, puzzled.

      “An ambassador and his family would hardly qualify as people outside,” he said gently. “Since you will be living among us. The taboo only applies to those who have no connection with us.”

      “I see.” She beamed.

      He was entranced by her beauty. He had thought her gorgeous the night before, but in the artificial light of “day,” she was even more exquisite. Her hair fascinated him. It was long and curling and glorious. He ached to touch it.

      He cleared his throat as he seated himself across the chessboard from the human. “So,” he began. “Who goes first?”

      * * *

      JASMINE ENJOYED WATCHING the match. Mekashe won with staggering ease, but the ambassador was good-natured and didn’t seem to mind.

      Meanwhile, Jasmine was filling her fascinated eyes with their guest. She’d never been so entranced by a male of any species. He had thick black hair. It had a definite wave to it. He kept it short, but she could imagine that if it had grown long, it might have the same curl that her own did.

      He had a very muscular physique. She wondered what he did for a living, because he didn’t seem the sort of man to be a diplomat or even a sedate aristocrat. He had the hard, honed look of a man who made his living in ways that might not fit in parlor society.

      She wondered at the quick look Mekashe gave her while she processed the thought, almost as if he read her mind. She laughed to herself. She’d never read that any of the Cehn-Tahr were telepaths. She was being fanciful.

      “You’re quite skilled, young man,” the ambassador mused.

      Mekashe laughed.