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.I'll be all right." Watching the guard leave, he found himself touching thepistol beneath his left arm, concealed there by his cape, reminding himselfthat she was a soldier, even if unarmed.The guard, he noted, left the doorajar.Jilsomo was still there, in a rear corner of the room, as on the daybefore; she might never notice him until she turned to leave.The Kalif spoketo his commset again."Send her in," he said.Page 47 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe prisoner entered, and even forewarned, he was surprised at her beauty.For just a moment it jarred him out of his normal self-possession.He gatheredhis wits and spoke."Well, Tain, I've looked forward to talking with you." Hegestured at a comfortable chair facing his from six feet away.'"Be seated, ifyou please."She lowered herself with unconscious grace.She wore pantaloons gathered atthe ankles, and a loose blouse, both light blue, in what was probably thelatest Klestronu style.Both were clearly expensive, purchased for her by thecolonel, he thought.Or no, more likely by the colonel's rebellious bride.Thecolonel would have bought clothing more revealing of her form.Which the Kalifsuspected was excellent despite her height.She was as tall as he, her limbs long, her chest not flat.Her hands werelarge and strong-looking, but feminine nonetheless.Her eyebrows were slenderby any standards the Kalif knew, yet seemed unplucked.Her hair was the colorof palest honey, and her eyes a violet blue! All in all the most strikinglyaesthetic combination he'd ever seen, and suddenly he could understand theyoung colonel's reckless decision.He was certain of one thing at once: She had not been a soldier, regardlessof uniform, regardless of having been captured on the battlefield.He'd beenaround marines and soldiers all his life, and while none of them had beenfemale, he had no doubt at all what a female soldier would be like.That wasnot the conclusive point, though, neither that nor her having been in uniform.Beyond either of those, a woman this lovely would not have been a soldier.She'd have been taken to wife by some great noble, and cared for, cherished.But finally and conclusively, behind those eyes there dwelt no soldier.Thatwas the surest evidence.Not even a captain's yeoman aboard some man-of-war.Nor a schemer; that surprised the Kalif as much as her beauty.Behind thoseeyes was an innocent child."I've heard a lot about you," he said, and she answered nothing.Of course,he thought.She knew nothing to say."I'm told you've lost your memory," hewent on."Yes, sir.""How do you like what you've seen of this world?""I've seen very little of it, sir.But what I've seen is beautiful thebuildings, the gardens."His gaze had caught an unspoken addition behind the violet eyes."Thebuildings and gardens," he said."And what else? You almost said somethingelse."She looked down at her hands on her lap."Your cape, sir.It is beautiful,too."Despite all logic, her comment pleased him."Ah! Thank you.I'm glad you likeit.I wear it by virtue of my office; I'm the Kalif, you know.""A man told me that, the man who brought me here.He said he was taking me tosee the Kalif."He smiled."And what did you think the Kalif would be like?"She blushed slightly."Sir, I had no idea.Someone important, I supposed,Page 48 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllike the sultan."He'd known that an effort had been made to keep her ignorant of things here,but still her answer surprised him."When DAAS taught you to speak ourlanguage," he said, "did you learn the wordemperor? ""Yes, sir.""Good.Kalif is another word for emperor.Long ago, the eleven worlds wereruled by an emperor.Then the throne was given to the Kalif, and Kalif andemperor have been one ever since, but called simply Kalif."He gazed at her for several seconds before speaking further."Tain, we wantto find your memory for you.We have an artificial intelligence, SUMBAA, whomay be able to help.I know you've already spoken with the SUMBAA on Klestron,but perhaps ours here can help where theirs did not."She nodded, saying nothing."Meanwhile, I'll have you taken back to your suite.Perhaps we'll talkagain." He spoke to his commset."Partiil, send in the young lady's guide."* * *When her guide had led her away, the Kalif looked at his lieutenant, whomshe'd seemingly never noticed."What do you think of her, Jilsomo?""Aside from her obvious and remarkable beauty? Your Reverence, I doubt shewas a soldier."The Kalif's eyebrows shot up."Really? That makes two of us.Peculiar thateveryone else assumed she was.I suppose it was her uniform.And shewascaptured on a battlefield.They didn't look further than that."What do you think the odds are that we'll learn anything of value from her?""I do not wager, Your Reverence.But if I had to, my bet would be that shewouldn't remember.""I'd bet that you're right, Jilsomo," the Kalif said."And that is a pity,for her as well as us."* * *Later, eating a solitary lunch, the Kalif found Tain Faronya on his mindagain.He'd never been a man with much attention on women.As a bachelormarine captain, he'd kept a mistress for a time, a practice tolerated in themilitary if carried on discreetly by a bachelor.She'd been a veryaccomplished girl whom he'd enjoyed considerably, and who'd taught him morethan a little.But as an ambitious young officer, he'd found her adistraction, besides which, she'd become a bit demanding.Or perhaps demandingwasn't the word; she'd assumed certain things, expected certain things.Nothing unreasonable; he'd recognized that at the time.But after a bit he'ddiscontinued the relationship, and had felt no need to replace her.Later he'd had a few liaisons, then had received his appointment to thePrelacy.Since then, somewhat to his surprise, the professional challenges hadsufficed.This Tain Faronya, though She was sodamned lovely! If it were practical.But it wasn't.The man who could least get away with having a mistress was theKalif.Less, even, than an exarch could.Of course, most exarchs were married;Page 49 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlmarried and well beyond youth.In addition, a Kalif could marry only a virgin,a woman whose reputation was unspotted.Absolutely not some other man'sex-mistress.A flash of animosity startled a low whistle out of him: for just a momenthe'd hated Veeri Thoglakaveera for what he'd done! A sign, he thought, of howirrational a man could be, even himself, when influenced by a woman.He wondered if he'd regret having seen her.Perhaps for a day or two, he toldhimself.He'd put someone else Jilsomo in charge of her interrogation bySUMBAA, and avoid seeing her again.He'd tell Jilsomo not to bother him withany problems about her, and soon other things would preempt his mind
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