Empire of Night Ch8

Alex sat at the desk in the office he’d been given, writing up request forms, letters, a statement for Callahan regarding the incident with that diplomat, who had, in fact, lodged a complaint.
Lisril, who had posted herself by the door, shifted from foot to foot. “Do you need to sit?” He didn’t look up.
“No,” she said. “I’m fine.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let me rephrase that; take a seat; we’re not stopping once we’re out in the city.”
She sighed but did as he asked, and he smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “For your help this morning.” Their English lesson had gone pretty well. He had scratched out the alphabet in his, not amazing, handwriting, and she’d helped coach their pupils through them.
It was strange because they couldn’t learn how to speak the sounds without mechanical assistance but could develop a sense of phonetics by what they could hear. Lisril still spoke her ABCs with an odd accent, even to that day.
“Of course,” she said. “How could I do otherwise? Do you know when you’ll be done with that?”
“Soon,” he promised. He could understand her sentiment; this sitting around didn’t really agree with him either. “In fact,” he said. “Why don’t you call for someone to come escort us and get these where they’re going, I’ll finish this up, and we can go inspect our building space.”
She nodded, and he finished his letter as she did as he asked. When she returned, he pushed his pile of documents toward her.
It was a small thing, but she would appreciate the chance to dote a bit. She took the offered pile, and he stood.
“No.” She held up her hand. “It will be a little while; no need to get up yet.”
He resumed his seat, and she took his packet to the MP, and he knew it would be an MP because Lisril wouldn’t have waved a woman down, not a human woman, anyway, she’d asked to deliver their message.
She returned and took her seat with a sigh, glancing at his candle and the light filtering through the slit window. “We might be late, meeting with Dr. Liang.”
He looked to the window himself. “Should we postpone our inspection?”
“No,” she said. “Eli will be there, better to snub an electrical engineer than an Empress.”
“Suppose it is. Anyway, I doubt the doctor will mind; I’ve heard he’s pretty mild.”
“Then that settles it.”
There was a knock, and she stood, offering him her hand. “Shall we?”
He took it with a chuckle, rose, and pressed her fingers to his lips. “I shall be very pleased to accompany you.”
She laughed, and they walked to the door, paused while she straightened his jacket, then she opened it and followed him out.
A guard greeted them, not one of the silent honor-guard sort, just a regular guardswoman. He nodded to her. “We’re to inspect the construction site.”
The guard nodded. “Yes, sir, this way.”
She led them down and out to the periphery of the palace; he would have preferred a dedicated building, but there were political considerations, so the palace it was.
He’d specified a large room near the edge of the structure and on the ground floor to make running cable to it easier. He hoped what was on offer would be sufficient; it would be awkward to tell his host he needed something better.
Finally, they arrived at what appeared to Alex to be some kind of ballroom or feasting hall. He stopped in the doorway, surveying the scene. It would be big enough; he looked up at the ceiling, judging the room’s height by eye. Probably. 
He told Lisril to make a point of getting the room’s exact dimensions; then went to join their host. 
Elliza stood before a mess of crates stacked along one wall, which contained components that had been sent ahead of them.
She noticed them and offered the shallowest of bows. “M’lord,” she said. “We are pleased to see you,” she said.
He nodded to her. “Thank you, your Magnificence. I see you’re having a look at the supplies.”
“Yes,” she said. “We confess to having lacked time to inspect them previously.”
He looked at the boxes. “I hope we haven’t inconvenienced you with this meeting.”
“Nonsense,” she said. “This is a most agreeable moment, and We are pleased to have the opportunity. Might We inquire as to the function of the arrayed?”
He nodded and joined her before the crates. “It’s all a bit technical, and it might be easier to give more details when it’s all assembled, but the simple version is this will allow us stable, instant communication between our planets.
She nodded,  he’d given a much better explanation last night, but this was all political theater, the Empress showing official interest in her partner's projects. So the actual details didn’t matter.
“Is it necessary that the device be so large?”
He cocked his head; that was a relatively interesting question. “Yes and no,” he said. “If you only want to send one message, we could make it almost small enough to fit in the palm of one hand, but all this,” he waved his hands at the packages, “is required to get repeatable communications. This isn’t all of it either; the brain, if you will, the part that sends and receives the messages, is quite delicate. It probably wouldn’t survive coming down on a shuttle; once the rest is finished, we’ll construct a space elevator for that, and I’ll install it myself.”
Elliza nodded. “Something to that effect had been mentioned to Us during Our discussions on the matter.”
“Good,” Alex said. “I think this is all I need to see for now; thank you for taking the time to meet me.”
She repeated her little bow. “No, it has been a pleasure to accommodate you. But, on the subject of accommodation, would m’lord be amenable to taking his supper in Our quarters this evening?”
He chewed on his lip, thinking back to the previous night’s conversation with Lisril; honestly, he still had his doubts. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“No,” Elliza said. “It would be no imposition whatever.”
He shrugged, mentally; what the fuck? “Then how could I refuse?”
“Excellent.” She really did sound pleased, too. “Then We shall eagerly await the evening, and M’lord should, of course, feel welcome to extend Our invitation to his women. Now, if you will excuse Us, We should be mortified if We delayed you any longer.”
Alex returned her bow this time. “Thank you, your Magnificence.”
Then, he was alone with a grinning cat. “She likes you,” Lisril whispered.
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s go; we’re late enough as it is.”
She offered no comment but a giggle and followed dutifully in his wake.
They were transported to the power plant by coach; once they were done, they would take a hike through the city, find the team planning the build-out, and then stop by one of the local guildhalls to deliver their request for labor.
Lisril helped him down into the streets, and he led her into the building. 
They were immediately greeted by a burly Dyrantisa woman. “You must be the engineer,” she said. “We were expecting you earlier; did you have some trouble?”
He looked around. “Where’s Liang?”
The woman blinked in surprise. “He- the Doctor’s other duties called while we waited, I-”
“Well, go find him.”
The woman gaped, clearly not used to being dismissed by a man. “The doctor is-”
“Employed,” he said. “By the Departments of State and Defense, and will make time for the most important infrastructure project in human history.”
Lisril put a hand on his shoulder and stepped around him. “Please,” she said, seamlessly assuming the role of good cop. “Forgive him. M’lord has a hectic schedule, and we still need to keep an engagement with the guilds to deliver an Imperial writ. So if there’s any way we can speed things along here….”
It wasn’t strictly true; they didn't have a meeting scheduled, but the mention of Imperial business got the woman moving, though she still didn’t look happy.
“Thank you,” he said, once the other woman was gone.
Lisril returned to his back and put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing them gently. “I must say,” she said. “I feel like I’m seeing a new side of you these past hours.”
He leaned back against her, enjoying her touch. “Well, I don’t have to make her happy.”
Her tongue flicked over his earlobe. “Don’t hold back too much,” she whispered. “I rather like it.”
“Save it for the bedroom, Kitten,” he chuckled. “We’re on the clock.”
“You’re not hourly.”
He snorted. “I guess I’m not.”
Still, she backed away, and soon their host joined them. A diminutive little man, Alex didn’t know much about Liang, only, he’d come from China as a refugee when the trouble there had kicked off. It had been a big deal for a little while, and then the media had lost interest.
“Dr. Hagan,” Liang’s voice was soft and high, a little nasally. He spread his arms as he approached. “It’s good to see you.”
Alex nodded and offered his hand to shake. “Sorry I was late,” he said, “I ended up with more paperwork than I was expecting.”
“Not at all,” Dr. Liang said. “I’m just glad you made it, my-” The little man glanced at his forewoman. “Employees have told me the streets are somewhat more dangerous during the day, thieves and the like.”
Alex nodded. “I’m happy to tell you we had no trouble.”
Looking at the man. Alex got an idea of why the forewoman had seemed so shocked at his challenging her; he didn’t think this mousey little guy would stand up to an actual kitten, let alone his.
Liang smiled. “Good, would you care to have a look around?”
Alex glanced at a clock hanging on the wall. “I think I can give you a little time, but we’ll have to make it fast.”
Liang nodded. “I’m sure you’re eager to get underway.”
He, the forewoman, and Lisirl followed the engineer through the building, occasionally stopping as he pointed something or other out. Finally, he stopped in front of a large window overlooking a room where active construction was taking place. “This will be the boiler,” he said. “The first new coal plant humanity will build in two generations.”
Alex nodded. “If you don’t mind my asking,” he said. “Why not fusion?”
“A fair question,” Liang said. “There are two primary reasons; the first is, we aren’t expecting too much demand at first; a fusion plant won’t be immediately necessary. Secondly, the concept of lighting a fire to boil water is penetrable to the local population; the diplomats thought it would be an easier sell if we started with somewhat familiar concepts, just until the locals saw the benefits of electricity.”
They weren’t giving Dyrantisa enough credit; then again, how would he explain igniting a star in the middle of their city?
      “As long as it’s reliable,” he said. “I think I’ve seen enough; let’s work out the details.”
Dr. Liang nodded and turned to the forewoman. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said. “Ms. Sezechel, would you be good enough to check on the work crews now?”
She glanced at Alex and Lisril, seeming reluctant, but finally nodded. “Of course,” she said. “But if there’s aught you need….”
“Yours will be the first name to cross my lips,” the doctor said. “I promise.”
The woman smiled and went off to do as she was asked.
“Have you had any trouble?” Alex asked.
“A little,” the doctor admitted. “Some of the women were maybe a bit more- eager than they should have been, but I think they mostly worked themselves out.”
Alex nodded. “Good,” he said. “I’m glad you’re happy together.”
Liang coughed. “We’re not, that is, I’m her superior, it would be totally-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said. “I won’t tattletale. Come on, let’s sit and hammer things out.”
Liang guided them to his office, sitting and motioning for them to join him. “I understand the energy requirements for this project are rather demanding.”
Alex nodded. “It needs to be constant, and the power needs to be very clean; any interruption in power or significant fluctuation in voltage will destroy the quantum communications array. The first will be solved with a backup generator at the palace, constantly running, so failover won’t result in loss of the array. For the second, I have a schematic with me.”
“Yes,” Liang said. “I’ll have a look at it then.”
Alex pulled the document out of an internal pocket and folded it out onto the table for the doctor to examine.
“I see,” Liang said softly. “Yes, a dedicated line, hm.” He pointed. “These are power conditioners, active ones. Is it quite necessary to have so many?”
Alex shrugged. “Not really,” he said. “But DoD mandated the extra redundancy, you know how it is.”
“I see,” Liang murmured. “Passthrough in case of a failure, it will add to the complexity; how will we manage maintenance?”
“We’ll have a primary line,” Alex said. “And five failover; if everything works, the failover lines should face less wear.”
“I see,” Liang nodded. “So if we need to move off the primary for maintenance, we can just turn it over to one of the backups. Reasonable, or, no, quite extravagant, but I suppose it is an important project.”
“I wish we had known about this requirement at the outset of this project,” he said. “But- no, it should be fine; we can modify what we’ve done to accommodate your needs.”
“I can have a copy of this sent over to you,” Alex said.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Laing agreed. “I suspect you’ll be having a similar talk with our itinerant friends?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “Would you happen to know where they are?”
“I’ve a map,” Liang dug through his desk. “Somewhere… ah!” He put a bit of parchment down, and Alex took it. It was a map of the city, with the engineering team’s expected route for the day drawn on it different stopping points marked with times.”
“You can have that,” Liang said. “If you want.”
Alex shook his head, marking the heading they’d need to take on his heads-up. “That won’t be necessary.” He handed the map back.
“If you insist.” Liang took the map and returned it to its place. “And do remember what I said; I’ve no reason to doubt my lady’s warning.”
“I’ll bear it in mind,” Alex said. “But I’ve brought ample protection.”
“Oh!” The little man gasped. “I’ve been terribly rude, haven’t I?” He turned to Lisril. “Please, forgive me; I get so caught up in my work.”
“No,” she said. “Not at all, we’re here for a particular purpose, and I’m worthless in conversations like this one.”
“Regardless,” the man said. “I should have at least said hello since it appears to be too late now; I hope you’ll accept my apology and assurance that it was quite pleasant to meet you.”
She nodded to him. “You are pardoned; think no more of it.”
“Thank you,” Liang said and turned back to Alex. “Can you find your own way out? I should check on the women.”
Alex nodded. “We’ll manage.” He collected his schematic, and they stepped out of the office along with Dr. Liang.
“Good day, doctor,” the little man said. “And to you too, of course, Mrs. Hagan.”
Lisril nodded, and the man was gone, off to corral his workers. “He was nice,” Lisril said.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes,” she said, “he reminds me of a Dyrantisa man.”
“Considering a divorce?”
“Don’t even joke,” she said harshly. “Of course not, just- I worry as to how he manages a bunch of unruly women.”
Alex started walking. “Seems to me he doesn’t.”
“Oh?”
“You didn’t catch it?” he asked. “Why do you think he asked that forewoman to go look after the women? She’s probably the one really in charge, and for good behavior, you get a glimpse of m’lord."
She hummed to herself. “I suppose it makes sense.”
“Anyway,” he said. “Sorry, I’m so unmanly.”
“Who says I want you to be?” She licked his cheek as they stepped out onto the street. “We, Dyrantisa, have also found our true partners.”
He took her hand and gave a squeeze. “Would you care to lead me, m’lady?”
She batted her lashes at him. “Why I would be honored, sir.”
In truth, it was really more the case that he led her; after all, he knew where they were going, but she hid it well, and eventually, they found their quarry; it would have been faster, but the engineers had been behind schedule, so they’d missed each other, a couple times.
Lisril, ever the stoic, covered her fatigue well, but he’d known her long enough to see that she needed to find somewhere to sit.
He waved the men down as they approached, nodding to each as he walked up.
“You the guy?” one asked.
He nodded. “I’m the guy.” He handed them his schematic. “You’re running six of these cables to the palace.” He gave them a letter. “Show them this; they’ll let you in.”
The men conferred over the plans, and the one who’d greeted him peeked over the top. “A power conditioner every fifty meters?”
Alex shrugged. “DoD wanted it.”
“Uh-huh,” the man said. “And ah, how soon did you say DoD wanted this done?”
“Pretty soon,” Alex said.
The man shook his head. “Ground’s frozen.”
“What do you need?” Alex asked.
The man retreated back behind the paper, whispering with his friends, before popping back up. “Everything.”
Alex shrugged. “Send a list to Alex Hagan at the palace; I have it on good authority everything is on the table.”
“Well fuck, looks like we’re going to be busy, boys. What’s all this for, anyway?”
Alex thought about it, on the one hand, the feds probably wouldn’t like him talking about their project; on the other, it was his patent. “Quantum communications array.”
The paper came down, and the whole group looked expectantly at him. “Messages encoded in entangled subatomic particles allowing instant communication between planets.”
One of the men whistled, long and low, another said. “And here I thought Universal’s laser communications satellites were impressive.”
Alex shrugged. “Anyway,” he said. “My wife and I have somewhere else to be before this evening, so I’ll let you get back to it. Keep the schematic; I don’t need it anymore.”
The men waived, and Alex rejoined Lisril. “You know the way to our guildhall from here?”
“Yes,” she said. “And as fortune would have it, it’s not far; come along.”
She guided him by the arm, and true her word, it really wasn’t far. She opened the door for him, and as they entered, a woman who was in early, or perhaps very late, sweeping looked up from her work. 
“You’ll have to come back later; we aren’t open yet.”
“That’s a shame,” he said, stepping into the guildhall and walking up to the woman. “Would it be alright?” He pulled the letter from his jacket, sealed with the Empress’ signet. “If we waited inside until you were ready to receive people?"
The woman looked at the letter, then at the fading light coming through the window. “Oh,” she said, taking the letter. “Is it that time already? I must have lost track during my work; we just opened.”
“How fortunate!” Alex cried. “May my lady and I use two of your chairs while you have a look at our request? We’ve been standing all morning.
“Yes,” Lisril said. “Please, a chair for my husband, but you needn’t worry after me; I’m quite alright.”
“Nonsense,” Alex took her hands, gave her the I am strong enough to make you rest smile, and said. “Come and sit with me, my love.”
She sighed. “What woman could say no to that?” She turned to the sweeping woman. “Presuming we have your leave.”
“Sit anywhere you like,” the woman said. “I’ll see to your request.”
They sat, and he put a hand on her thigh, squeezing and rubbing. “I think someone deserves a massage tonight.”
She closed her eyes, sighing. “Well, that does feel nice.”
She opened her eyes to look at him and grabbed his hand. “I’m fine, Alex, fine.”
“No, you’re not,” he said. “You’re exhausted, and I know you well enough to tell. We’ll be back at the palace soon; I’m sorry I pushed you so hard.”
“Stop,” she said. “I’m fine, and even were I not, I am your wife, and I have a duty to your care and protection to which my health is secondary.”
He shook his head slowly. “Lisril, I don’t-”
He was interrupted by the guildswoman. “More laborers,” she said to herself. “The palace has been asking for a lot of them recently…. Where am I going to find them?”
“If it’s too much…,” Alex called.
The woman’s head shot up; apparently, she hadn’t realized she’d been speaking aloud. “I didn’t say that,” she said. “I didn’t say that. You’ll have your women mark me; in fact, I can think of two projects I can pull some womanpower away from. Of course, it will leave them a bit underwomand, but a letter of writ is a letter of writ; our clients will understand.”
“There now,” she finished. “Would there be anything else, m’lord?”
He glanced at Lisril. “Could you send a courier to the palace, request they send a coach for us?”
“I can do better,” the woman said, looking pleased with herself. “The guild can provide you a coach, wait around the front, I’ll rouse my driver, and have her ready it for you; it shan’t be long at all.”
Alex nodded, “thank you.”
The woman bowed and hurried out, leaving them alone. “Shall we, m’lady?”
“Yes,” Lisril said, “I’ll be happy to have you back in the palace, anyway.”
She led him out onto the narrow walking path at the side of the road, the two of them looking out for the coach when something, no, someone bumped into him. 
He looked and saw a girl, a little shorter than Lisril, running past. “Sorry, suck-”
The carbon fiber cord connecting his wallet to his pants snapped taught, and the girl made a grand arm waiving display of eating shit.
“Nice form,” he said. “Scuffed the landing, 7.5.”
“You little bitch,” Lisril snarled, jumping on the girl before she could scramble to her feet.
“Let go of me,” the girl struggled beneath Lisril, “I’m gonna-”
“Shut up,” Lisril said, “you’ll be lucky if I don’t gut you.”
“Now, now,” Alex crouched down next to the squirming girl, collecting his wallet, “let’s not be too hasty; what’s your story, Sweetheart?”
“Oh sir,” she cried, “it’s my sister, she’s a terrible fever, but my mother drinks up all our money and-”
He stood, “you can have her, Lisril.”
“No!” the girl shouted, “wait!”
He looked down at her, “you gonna keep lying to me?”
The girl glanced from side to side, “do you think a different lie would work?”
He laughed, slapping his thigh, “thanks, I needed that laugh; go ahead, Lisril.”
“Wait!”
“You keep saying that,” he said, “but I’m starting to become impatient.”
“I’m hungry,” she said.
“Hungry?”
      “Yeah, like when you haven’t had enough to eat.”
“You can’t hunt?”
The girl scowled, “you need a license,” she said, “or a fancy title, neither of which I can afford. ‘Rather get the post for stealing than the gallows for poaching.”
“Makes sense,” he nodded, “well, I can fix hungry, you’re hired.”
“Hired?” the girl asked.
“Hired!” Lisril screamed.
“Huh,” he looked around, “didn’t know a street like this could echo.”
“Alex,” Lisril said, “stop being ridiculous.”
He looked down at her, “let her up, Lisril.”
“She tried to rob you!”
“Yeah,” he said, thinking back on a very different life from a long time ago, “I’ve done worse. So I’m going to give her a chance, let her up.”
Lisril sighed and shook her head, “Alex, you can’t-”
“You gave me permission,” he said, “remember?”
She shook her head again but stood and let the girl go.
“How you feeling, Sweetheart?” He asked.
The girl stood, looking for the world like she wanted to bolt; he wouldn’t blame her if she did, “what- what are you hiring me for?”
“Tour guide.”
“Tour guide?”
He nodded, “I want someone who can show me around the city.”
“I am more than capable of-” Lsirl started.
“Can’t afford the overtime.”
“I’m not-” Lisril growled, “impossible, you’re impossible.”
He grinned at her, “I love you too.”
The girl watched their fight, head tilted just slightly, “um, is- do you want to go somewhere in particular?”
“We’re waiting for a coach right now,” Alex said.
“Well, then where’s the coach going?”
He smiled, “surprise.”
She shook her head, “I’m not getting on any mystery coach.”
He shrugged, “have it your way; we’re going to the palace.”
“Palace!” she backed away, glancing all around, “I didn’t do nothing to deserve no dungeon.”
He frowned, “why would the Empress lodge me in the dungeon?”
“For me, not you.”
He nodded, “but you’re my guest, so….”
She eyed him suspiciously, and he threw his arms out to his side, “Sweetheart, if I wanted to lock you up, or black bag you, for that matter, why force Lisril to let you go?”
She seemed to struggle, for a moment, to figure out a good reason before hesitantly inching closer to him. “I’ve got a name,” she said, “it’s Rosslln.”
He nodded, “I’m Alex; you’ve been introduced to Lisril; nice to meet you, Sweetheart.”
Rosslln opened her mouth, but Lisril stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “He’s just hazing you a bit, and lest we forget, you did try to rob him, so let him have his fun. He’ll get bored soon, trust me.”
She grumbled but offered no more objection, and the coach driver chose that moment, looking drowsy and harried, to drive their horses around a corner.
She came to a stop and looked down at the three of them, frowning. “I was told there would be two.”
Alex made a show of counting them on his fingers. “No, there’s three of us.”
Lisril, shaking her head, opened the door and ushered him and Rosslln into the coach. “Thank you,” she said to the driver, “for accommodating us; I’ll see to it the palace compensates you fairly.”
Alex sat, and as Lisril closed the door and took her place next to him, Rosslln seated on the bench opposite them.
She squirmed in her seat and, as the coach got underway, said, “so, the palace, huh?”
“Yes,” Alex nodded, “I think it’ll be a good time, and you’ll like Eli.”
“Eli?”
“The Empress!” he chirped.
The young woman’s cheeks puffed out, and slowly the air leaked through tightly pursed lips; at the bottom of her breath, she squeaked out a strangled, “who- who in thee hell are you?”

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