Read Online Trade Secret (eARC) by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee - Free Book Online
Authors: Steve Miller, Sharon Lee
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this."
Perforce Jethri bowed polite agreement with his host, and began setting questions aside for later as the door opened and an elegant cart was rolled in by a smiling crewman, preceded by a very tempting waft of aromatic breeze.
*
The small foods and two cups of tea finally being disposed of, Jethri dared to cast glances at both of his companions, who'd managed very ably to spin small-talk of amazing variety into a web of interesting but off-topic conversation, much of it informative and with no feel of the artificial or the preplanned about it.
They covered, on account of the tea, which was something called Hightide Stone on Stone, near as it would translate to Terran, times they'd had to refrain from pointing out that the tea they were served was not the tea they were told--in this case not because they had the wrong tea, but because there'd been quite a scandal a few years back where a trader without melant'i , and apparently without taste buds, had mixed up a blend of tea and tried to sell it as a singleton rarity, offloading it to an incoming trader as part of a mixed lot. That trader had proudly served it at an open house only to have the first person to have some stop at a sniff and repudiate it as a lie, loudly. There'd been several Balances due, and through the intricacies of that dance of melant'i and Balance arrived at a discussion of mislabeled items and thence to ports where such tricks were more frequent and then to worlds where social customs had frozen after a plague, and the common distance for speaking with strangers--even in Trade--might be measured in shouting distance.
"Yes, yes. Jethri, I know," said Master Trader ven'Deelin, surprising him as much with the force of placing her teacup on table as with her words, "elders are slow in moving from one point to the next, and so we are. In this case, it is because we are comfortable and comrades, and can see the possibility of being without each other for some while. And yes, you have a question before us, which, I think, now we can answer."
Now, though, the cups were empty. It took but a motion of her hand and Pen Rel rose in his smooth and silent way, and ushered the cart out of their middle and into the hall before sliding back into his seat.
"The Scout has offered me to understand that he arrives for a discussion which may well require personal attention in support of melant'i , and not only personal attention, but personal attendance. I feel he brings a problem of magnitude. He mentions issues of clan and kin, he offers that Balance may well be owed and that he is not the one to measure it.
"What may be the issue he does not tell me, only that he has requested most urgently a meeting at the first opportunity. Miandra and Meicha come to my mind, my son, for they have managed to involve him in their little intrigues, and if that is the case, then surely I should not be taking the ship entire off course again so soon."
She then looked closely at him, and Jethri felt a chill -
"Else, of course, the matter may lie in a different sphere, for you, also, have been taken into the Scout's necessities. Given the connection between the pair of ragamuffins and you--and the Scout--the complexities are many and I dare not be unwilling to deal, for the Scout is a man of extremely meticulous understanding."
This was said as much to Pen Rel as to him, Jethri saw, and in fact the hand motion was emphatically aimed at Pen Rel, who let his face relax slightly, and sighed, outwardly.
"It is so, my friend, Pen Rel said. "I have found it so for several dozen Standards, you know."
There was a silence but for the flick of fingers and the settling of breath, and then the Master Trader sat up and favored both her auditors with a decisive smile.
"And thus, we are all informed that I shall be part of this decision-making, for surely the Scout is spending valuable time in a matter of Balance; and in this case my duty is clear: if I need to part from Elthoria' s routine
Perforce Jethri bowed polite agreement with his host, and began setting questions aside for later as the door opened and an elegant cart was rolled in by a smiling crewman, preceded by a very tempting waft of aromatic breeze.
*
The small foods and two cups of tea finally being disposed of, Jethri dared to cast glances at both of his companions, who'd managed very ably to spin small-talk of amazing variety into a web of interesting but off-topic conversation, much of it informative and with no feel of the artificial or the preplanned about it.
They covered, on account of the tea, which was something called Hightide Stone on Stone, near as it would translate to Terran, times they'd had to refrain from pointing out that the tea they were served was not the tea they were told--in this case not because they had the wrong tea, but because there'd been quite a scandal a few years back where a trader without melant'i , and apparently without taste buds, had mixed up a blend of tea and tried to sell it as a singleton rarity, offloading it to an incoming trader as part of a mixed lot. That trader had proudly served it at an open house only to have the first person to have some stop at a sniff and repudiate it as a lie, loudly. There'd been several Balances due, and through the intricacies of that dance of melant'i and Balance arrived at a discussion of mislabeled items and thence to ports where such tricks were more frequent and then to worlds where social customs had frozen after a plague, and the common distance for speaking with strangers--even in Trade--might be measured in shouting distance.
"Yes, yes. Jethri, I know," said Master Trader ven'Deelin, surprising him as much with the force of placing her teacup on table as with her words, "elders are slow in moving from one point to the next, and so we are. In this case, it is because we are comfortable and comrades, and can see the possibility of being without each other for some while. And yes, you have a question before us, which, I think, now we can answer."
Now, though, the cups were empty. It took but a motion of her hand and Pen Rel rose in his smooth and silent way, and ushered the cart out of their middle and into the hall before sliding back into his seat.
"The Scout has offered me to understand that he arrives for a discussion which may well require personal attention in support of melant'i , and not only personal attention, but personal attendance. I feel he brings a problem of magnitude. He mentions issues of clan and kin, he offers that Balance may well be owed and that he is not the one to measure it.
"What may be the issue he does not tell me, only that he has requested most urgently a meeting at the first opportunity. Miandra and Meicha come to my mind, my son, for they have managed to involve him in their little intrigues, and if that is the case, then surely I should not be taking the ship entire off course again so soon."
She then looked closely at him, and Jethri felt a chill -
"Else, of course, the matter may lie in a different sphere, for you, also, have been taken into the Scout's necessities. Given the connection between the pair of ragamuffins and you--and the Scout--the complexities are many and I dare not be unwilling to deal, for the Scout is a man of extremely meticulous understanding."
This was said as much to Pen Rel as to him, Jethri saw, and in fact the hand motion was emphatically aimed at Pen Rel, who let his face relax slightly, and sighed, outwardly.
"It is so, my friend, Pen Rel said. "I have found it so for several dozen Standards, you know."
There was a silence but for the flick of fingers and the settling of breath, and then the Master Trader sat up and favored both her auditors with a decisive smile.
"And thus, we are all informed that I shall be part of this decision-making, for surely the Scout is spending valuable time in a matter of Balance; and in this case my duty is clear: if I need to part from Elthoria' s routine
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