There are Reach ships over there.
And Drusa goes still in the background as she picks up on my feelings on the issue.
I would probably be thinking 'Well, shit. Flashback to his last death or about to go on a murderous rampage? Hell, why not
both?'
Our pilots have had the good sense to part us in high orbit on the opposite side of the planet. I noticed orbital patterns getting rearranged on our way in as they moved 'docked' ships around and rearranged their orbital defences in such a way as to imply that us moving would be unwise. I mean, it's nothing that we couldn't deal with… Which means that they're probably doing it to reassure other people.
Seriously, I could understand if they didn't know anything about the Reach, but they do. What exactly are they telling themselves about the likely results of having them here?
Probably something like 'Oh, I'm sure they won't try anything, we're too
valuable an ally to risk antagonising.'
"And out." I turn to look at the-. "Cap-." The captain, who has apparently found something to occupy their attention on the far side of the bridge.
He looks up.
Wise man, not wanting to be too close to the clearly mad person.
"My lord Illustres?"
"So are we allowed to use our own shuttles, or do we have to wait for a local pilot for that as well?"
I take it just flying down under their own power would be completely out of the question... Probably a bit hard to track a Lantern who doesn't
want to be noticed.
"We can.. use our own, so long as the flight path is confirmed in advance. But your meeting with their delegation isn't until tomorrow."
"It doesn't take four days to arrange a meeting with a junior civil servant. I'm going to scare them into pulling their fingers out." I turn away. "Lantern Drusa, you are free to accompany me or continue researching local conditions as you choose."
OL... Oh,
fuck it, I can't even be mad.
OL gonna OL.
I march out of the bridge, and after a moment's hesitation she follows me. Though from the way her eyes are glowing I suspect that she's chosen 'why can't I do both?'.
"What will you do?"
At least the lady knows how to multitask. Probably not a good idea to let OL out of her sight, after all. Who know
what trouble he'll get into without a minder?
Not that having a minder will stop him...
"At this point, there's no good reason not to meet with me. Even if it's just offering up the office gopher as a sacrifice. Either they should have that ready, or they should directly tell me that they don't want to meet me. The only reason for prevarication is panic. I will bet my right arm that they're running around like headless chickens down there."
She nods slowly. "So you intend to do something that will make them want to talk to you."
To be fair, consider the
last few diplomatic missions you've been on. If the Gyuanites have been getting the Reach's side of
that, they're probably expecting you to fly up and rip the roof of the Diplomatic Offices...
"Any guesses?"
"The Reach. You're going to… Walk into their embassy and make polite conversation until someone comes to get you."
And nothing would scare them
more. Heck, they might start shooting the second you open the door.
"You're good at that." We step into the elevator and I press the button for 'personnel shuttle bay'. "There are people who've known me for years who can't predict me like that."
"It was a survival skill."
...Ouch, Drusa,
ouch. On the upside, you've probably got a better life expectancy than most around OL. He
likes you, so he'll endeavour to keep you alive.
"Oh, ow."
"I'm not comparing you to them, I'm saying that I needed to learn how to predict what people with power over me would do."
Not improving your position here, Lantern.
"Do you find being right satisfying?"
She hesitates.
"Yes."
Well, that's
good.
"Okay, so exactly what am I going to talk to the Reach 'negotiator' about?"
"At first, you will make polite conversation about local politics. You will say something self-depreciating. On the surface you will mean it as humour, as self-depreciation is a sign of admirable modesty in your culture. But they will see it as you playing with them, and you are intelligent enough to know that. Then… I'm not sure. Either you will directly ask them about what they're actually planning, or ask them a searching question about their personal desires. You will ask the other once you're happy that you've got a complete answer with whichever one you asked first."
Great, she's playing Xanatos Speed Chess, using
imaginary players. And yet she's got OL pegged
so well.
I puff out my lips, nodding. "That's a pretty-"
The lift doors open and we head towards a shuttle.
"-good guess. You don't think I'll start a fight?"
Given Dox asked you not to? No, you'll wait for them to get spooked and try something.
Then you'll have the moral high ground of a
self-defence claim...
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it doesn't help you complete your mission."
'Want the end, want the means' indeed. I guess she spent the last week in transit building up a
solid psychological profile of her boss, then.
"And if I encountered a scarab?"
"Apparently polite conversation filled with snide comments, while you implied that you could kill them all without any difficulty. Unless they were a slave dominated by their scarab, in which case you would escalate as much as you could under local law."
Because a Scarab on-planet would be a gross violation of the Gyuanite's hospitality, and a feather in OL's cap?
"Yeah, basically."
We board a waiting shuttle and I wave at the pilot.
"Surface, please. Don't really care where."
Since you can get anywhere you like quickly enough
anyway. Plus the trip gives you time to remotely observe Gyuanite Desire Networks, eh?
"Yes, lord."
We take seats on opposite sides of the small passenger compartment.
All the while the pilot is quietly praying to whatever he, she or they believe in for mercy and a greater likelihood of survival...
"You know, I could probably get you moved to working with Ratchet and Dox if you want." Then I jerk forward. "Initial thought."
"You want something in return."
Stop poking the rookie, OL. But I suppose that
would be her initial suspicion of intent.
I lean back.
"Reflected thought?"
She makes a point of relaxing herself. "You're honestly just trying to put me somewhere where my desires will do the most good."
Ah, she's
good.
"And that's why I'm not going to do those things with the Reach that you said I would." She makes a small frown. "You're going to." She keeps frowning. "Your theory of mind is clearly good enough that you can accurately predict my actions. Nothing about going there actually needs me to go there."
"Other than the fact that you're far more intimidating than I am."
OL's like a walking bomb. Him merely existing in the same star system is intimidating, especially to the Reach.
"They know that I'm on the planet."
"They won't trust the Yunan report or sensor readings. Not for something this important."
So they'll be looking to covertly locate and scan him? Just to be sure it's not a clone, robot or shapeshifter?
I take a couple of glamour pendants out of subspace and float one over to her. When I put mine on my entire body appears to change.
"It can't disguise the presence of a ring, and a sufficiently skilled magic user would spot it. But the Reach don't have any of those."
Oh, sneaky, sneaky. Now, who do you look like, I wonder? Lantern Drusa? OR just a generic grunt Lantern? Ooh, why not make yourself look like Mr Spock, for the
lulz?
She puts hers on, and then I'm sitting opposite myself. She takes a moment to check it over, then has her own ring scan her to make certain.
"And if they do discover that I'm not you?"
Hope they
don't pull out the big guns right away? Because I doubt your personal shields are up to OL's level.
I grin.
"Then won't it be extra funny when they find out that I am me?"
...Okay,
now you lost me. Are you counting on their paranoia sending them into a spiral of 'oh,
shit!' as a
distraction? Or just as a
prank?
