The Stones of Nomuru

"May I speak with him?" asked Kara.

"Sure." Salazar unstrapped and handed over the poignette. Kara and Firestone went through a simple, banal set of greetings and inquiries; but Salazar noted a warmth in Kara's tone that he had not heard from her since her first arrival at Nomuru.

He thought, does this mean that my best friend and I are rivals for my ex-wife? That would be a sticky one, worthy of an Italian opera! Salazar did not worry about competition from Bergen, since Kara was not one to forgive a black eye. But Cabot ...

Kara handed back the poignette. As he strapped the instrument on his wrist, Salazar noted the date it showed in the calendar that Terrans had devised for Kukulcan. The familiarity of the date nagged his mind until it burst upon him that it was exactly ten years, Kukulcanian time, since he and Kara had first been married.

A little shaken, he said: "I think we can drink, now." He raised his mug. "Kara, do you know what day this is?"

"Why ... Fourteen Quintilis, isn't it?"

"Yep. But doesn't the day mean something to you?"

The green-gray eyes under the dark curls gave him a level stare that pierced him like a sword of ice. "No."

"But—but it's—"

"I know what you mean. Let's say the date meant something to me once, but it doesn't any more."

Feeling like a deflated balloon, Salazar slumped, took a gulp, and stared at the floor. Anger, sorrow, and self-reproach struggled for command of his psyche. He suddenly felt old, although with modern medicine he could look forward to a century or more of active life.

Kara's voice came as if from afar. "Sorry, Keith; but you asked."

As Salazar continued to stare morosely, she said: "The Empress doesn't seem like a typical Kook."

The archaeologist roused himself. "She's a superior Kookess; her outlook is closer to ours than the rest of her species. That's one of her problems. She sees the need for change, but the inertia of Kookish culture makes Terran conservatism look wildly radical. So whenever Gariko plans to introduce some departure from established ways, she's skating on thin ice."

Kara asked: "Is there an Emperor? A Mr. Gariko?"

"Gariko has a consort, named Aobu or something. I understand he's a minor civil servant in her department of commerce."

"They don't make the consort a prince or a duke?"

"No; it's not a feudal system, but an impenetrable bureaucracy. All they give Aobu is an extra honorific, which could be translated as 'super-honorable' or "honorable squared.' Otherwise he shuffles his papers, writes his reports, and goes to service the Empress when she sends for him."

With a light laugh, she said: "Now that's the kind of husband a girl needs!"