Octavia looked at all of us. 'I think you are all under a misunderstanding. We are not going to punish you.'

  'What?' I said without thinking.

  'We are going to commend you.'

  'Commend?' said Le Seaux.

  'Yes, we congratulate your ancestors.'

  The three captains beside the cases bowed deeply.

  Le Seaux said nothing.

  Chen said nothing.

  When the bowing was over, Octavia said. 'Aren't you wondering about your own case, Lieutenant Burns?'

  'Yes, Admiral,' I said. 'I am very interested to know what my ancestor did.'

  'As it turns out,' she said, the blue eyes looming. 'It was me who met him. This ship was called the HMS Morgause, a warship that saw action in the same Napoleonic war in which Captain Le Seaux's ancestor fought.' She stepped closer to me. The cerulean eyes blazed, the icy white robe flowed, the skin on her bare shoulder glowed so clear. 'The ship was commanded by Captain Alexander Burns of the British Royal Navy.' She stopped two yards from me. 'A most fearsome warrior,' she said, 'though very inexperienced at that time.'

  I looked deep into those amazing eyes, and did my best to hold them and not flinch.

  'What did he do, Admiral?' I said. 'Did he fire on you with cannon?'

  'As it turns, out Lieutenant, he did,' She moved closer. I could now smell the scent from her hair, 'but that is not his crime.'

  'No?' I said.

  'No, Lieutenant. He did worse than shoot cannons. He broke my heart.'

  27

  WITH A NOD from Admiral Octavia, Captain Drusilla dismissed the assembled officers and crew.

  Le Seaux and Chen were invited to rest in two cabins somewhere else on the ship. I was requested to stay behind. Le Seaux asked once more if it were possible to read out the Accord's message straight away. The Admiral said they would convene again in eighteen hours. She said that by then it would be daytime at the AON Commission headquarters in AONT Los Angeles, which would make a more appropriate time for the message to be read. Le Seaux then asked when we would be returning to Earth. Admiral Octavia said she would tell us tomorrow. When Le Seaux asked if the Admiral might give an indication what she wanted from Earth, the Admiral also said that this too would be revealed tomorrow.

  Tomorrow, it seemed, was going to be a signature day.

  An aide carrying two helmets appeared beside Le Seaux and Chen. Then they were invited to follow her back down the same passageway through which we had entered.

  But Le Seaux was not ready to leave. 'Admiral,' she said. 'I would like permission to speak with Lieutenant Burns.'

  'I would prefer if you did not, Captain Le Seaux,' said the Admiral. 'I wish to talk with Lieutenant Burns alone...about his ancestor.'

  'Admiral, I would prefer it if all your communications were made through me.'

  'To you? Are you saying I may not speak to your fellow visitor?'

  'No, Admiral. Pardon me. I only meant that I would prefer if I were present when you speak to Lieutenant Burns. It's the wish of the Accord Commission. It is not meant to be disrespectful.'

  'I see, but I wish it otherwise. I think it will promote greater harmony between our two worlds. Don't worry, Captain. We'll only talk about history.'

  Le Seaux was silent. She looked about to say something more. She blinked five times. Looked at me. Frowned. Turned. Turned back. Bowed to the Captains. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Then followed the aide and Chen back through the door.

  I was left alone with Admiral Octavia and the twelve captains.

  Octavia turned to me with a look of conspiracy, as if to signal how good it was the adults had left the room.

  'Would you like to see some of the ship, Lieutenant?'

  'Yes, Admiral. Thank you. I would, but I am sure Captain Le Seaux and Mr Chen would also like to see the ship, especially Mr Chen.'

  'They will see it later.'

  She raised her chin slightly. Drusilla instantly snarled an order. The captains bowed and filed away toward the door at the far end of the stateroom. No sooner had they left when four more women filed in. They also wore blue Navy uniforms with short jackets and small caps. Beneath the caps were a range of hair styles, also from Beauties From The Biggest Sitcoms Of The 1960s.

  Two of the women wore long hair swirled under the caps. The other two wore their hair cut short but not short like Le Seaux's hair or Captain Paine's. It was cut to a length just above their white shirt collars.

  The four women filed up to Octavia, saluted and then stood at attention, their faces blank, their gazes directed up into the distance.

  'Thank you, Drusilla,' said Octavia.

  Drusilla smiled, turned and walked from the stateroom.

  'Walk beside me, Lieutenant,' Octavia said.

  This was easier said than done. I waited for her to lead off, but she stood motionless, as beautiful and imperious as a statue. So, awkwardly, I crossed the few yards between us and stood beside her. She placed her arm through mine and stood closer--close enough for me to once again register the caramel scent of her hair, and feel the curve of her hip against my thigh.

  'Ready?' she said, and we began to stroll along the enormous window. Our reflections in the glass revealed a beautiful woman in a white robe, a hulking sailor in a blue camouflage Navy Work Uniform, and four women in blue uniforms of their own, all walking as if this were the deck of a pre-Accord luxury passenger liner and not a spaceship from the far side of the galaxy.

  'You can relax, Alex,' said Octavia. 'The formalities are over.'

  'Thank you, Admiral.'

  'You are walking so rigidly, Alex. Is it because you are so tall and muscular, or is it because you never escorted a woman on a walk?'

  'Not a walk like this one, Admiral.'

  'Women on Earth prefer not to be escorted--is that so?'

  'Lieutenants don't offer their arms to Admirals.'

  'Civilians, then--civilian women prefer not to be escorted.'

  'The Accord believes women shouldn't have any reliance on men.'

  'Not even during courtship, or to show affection while walking?'

  'The Accord believes that courtship is a pre-Accord ritual that oppressed women. The Commission discourages it, as they do marriage and families. Accord women--those people who identify as women--follow that advice strictly.'

  'Affection, then?'

  'Affection is also considered a pre-Accord concept.'

  'That leaves nothing but loveless sexual encounters, or perfunctory coupling to procreate. Am I right, Alex?'

  Her intonation was disarming. I hadn't actually heard many pre-Accord women speak because the archives of film and audio recordings were mostly forbidden. But in the few movies about the PEA that I had seen, some of the women spoke this way, in sentences with old fashioned grammar. It was one more beautiful and intriguing thing about Octavia.

  'Alex, you've gone silent.'

  'Apologies, Admiral. I was thinking...about your question.'

  'And?'

  'The encounters aren't always...loveless.'

  'You speak from you own experience?'

  'It's more from the many courses and study I've undertaken in the Navy--those and my observations.'

  'Your observations? What do you mean?'

  'Only that humans...people have drives stronger than any lesson can override. It's not all loveless in the Accord. But it's what the Commissioners would like it to be. I'm sorry Admiral. I'm not expressing myself very well.'

  'Call me Octavia.'

  We walked through an arch-shaped opening in the bulkhead and emerged into an even larger stateroom than the one we had just left. The view of the stars was even more spectacular. The window was twenty yards high and extended almost the entire length of this section of the ship, which I guessed to be the same size as our shuttle. It gave the sensation of actually being out in space.

  'Impressive, no?' she said.

  Octavia's dress swished as she walked. I was conscious of her body moving inside it. Her hip continually brushed against me as we moved along the window. Don't forget, I told myself, that she is a visitor from another planet. Who knows how she really looks? Her sandaled feet might suddenly turn into claws. Her beautiful face might actually be a furry snout.

  Then I reminded myself not to other her.

  And I remembered my ancestor's warning in the dream.

  'My apologies, Admiral,' I said when one of my boots nearly trod on her feet. 'I was watching the stars instead of where I was going.'

  'Call me Octavia,' she said again.

  We reached the end of the long window. Octavia stopped and turned. The escort of four women stopped also. They were about ten yards behind us.

  'Do you know that star, Alex, the brightest one out there?'

  'I'm not sure which one you mean?' I said.

  'I'll help you,' she said. She growled something towards the four escorts. The one in front with a dark fringe, like Barbara Feldon in Beauties From The Biggest Sitcoms Of The 1960s withdrew a device from her pocket and twisted it. Instantly, the lighting inside the room dropped and we found ourselves in almost total darkness. The only light was from the stars themselves.

  'Now do you see?'

  'The bright star over there?' I said.

  'Exactly.'

  'That's Polaris,' I said. 'Or what we call Polaris. It's one of the stars all sailors know for navigation, along with Sirius. They're the most important, although we don't actually use the stars any more.'

  'No,' she said. 'Your technology has advanced since the days of compasses, sextants and clocks.'

  'Like my ancestor, Captain Burns?' I said.

  'Yes,' she said. 'Like your ancestor, Captain Burns. He was a brilliant navigator. Or so he told me.'

  I could tell it was time to talk about my ancestor and whatever he had done to Octavia, which must have been serious, at least from Octavia's point of view. A broken heart--it sounded so un-warlike, and so out of place in the context of aliens and spaceships and voyages across galaxies.

  A strange thought entered my mind: could it be that Octavia was mad. This beautiful, sophisticated woman beside me--could she be illogical and reality-challenged, as the Accord doctors described some conditions?

  I looked at her profile. She looked back at me. Her beauty was astonishing all over again, especially in the starlight, especially so close.

  The air thickened. I spoke quickly to fill the silence.

  'How well did you know him?' I asked. 'My ancestor, I mean. You must have known him quite well when you were here to...'

  'Your ancestor certainly liked the way I looked.' She was now almost in front of me, not beside me. Her breasts were against my arm. She turned her face to me. 'You really are very like him, Alex.'

  'I never heard of him until today.'

  'Only today?'

  'Yes, when you mentioned him. We're not allowed to know our ancestry in the Accord, except that we were part of a group.'

  'But that's not true, is it, Alex?'

  'What's not true, Admiral?'

  'You have seen your ancestor before, haven't you--in your dreams?'

  'How do you know that?' I said.

  'There is a lot I know about you Alex--everything from where you were born to your career in the Navy--even very private things, such as your lack of advancement, your frustrations, even your romantic life--or your lack of a romantic life. And that's despite all the attention you receive from young cadets, like Frank.'

  'How?' I said. 'How do you know?'

  'One kiss to remind me,' she said. 'Of him.'

  'What?' I said, not believing what I had just heard.

  'One kiss,' she whispered.

  It's not possible I thought. It must be a test or a trap, a setup to either humiliate me or compromise the Accord. If she knew so much about me, she would also know how dangerous it was for Accord men to approach women, let alone for an emissary from the Accord to go kissing the admiral of a visiting nation's Navy.

  'Now, Alex.'

  I looked at the four escorts. I could see them in the starlight, watching on with blank faces. I had to change the conversation. I took a step back from Octavia, but her hand was still on my arm, her grip strong.

  'Admiral, I can't.'

  'Don't worry about them. I'll send them away.'

  'It's not that.'

  'Your Accord rules? The sexual harassment rules? I give you my consent, Alex, if that's what you need.'

  'With respect, no, Admiral,' I said.

  'You don't find me attractive?'

  'No, Admiral. I mean, yes. You're very attractive.'

  'Just attractive?'

  'Beautiful.'

  'How beautiful?'

  'More beautiful than anyone I've ever seen.'

  She smiled. 'Then, hurry up, Lieutenant. Don't keep a lady waiting.'

  'No, Admiral,' I said. 'I'm sorry. It would not be permitted by the Accord. My duty is to the Commission. I can't, no matter how much I might want to.'

  'Are you mad, Alex?' she said. 'Look at me. There's no-one on Earth like me.'

  'Even so, Admiral. I can't.'

  'You mean you won't,' she said.

  'It comes to the same thing.'

  'One kiss to remind me of your ancestor, Alex. It's a very small thing. Think of it as redressing the wrong he did.'

  'No, Admiral,' I said again. 'With respect.'

  It was the strangest situation. If Octavia had simply reached up and kissed me herself--surprised me, it would have been over. No harm done. But instead she commanded me, making it into a test of conviction to the Accord, or a test of my will to resist her. I wanted to kiss her. No doubt. A face like hers. It was a fantasy. She was beautiful. And powerful.

  But I had resisted--foolishly or not.

  And now Octavia was angry.

  She turned to the escorts and growled. The Barbara Feldon escort with the dark fringe stepped forward and withdrew a weapon from her pocket, a large pistol, gleaming of the same black metal as the hull.

  'This steward is called Calpurnia.'

  'There's no need for violence, Admiral.'

  'Oh, but there is, Alex.'

  'Admiral, I'll comply with almost any request...in the spirit of harmony. There's no need to shoot me.'

  'I didn't mean you, Alex. I mean Ensign Calpurnia. She will shoot herself the moment I order her to.'

  I smiled at her as if she were joking. I wanted for them all to drop the pretense and start laughing. Any second now.

  But everyone stayed as they were. Ensign Calpurnia stood with the pistol at her side. Octavia looked me in the eye. The stars watched on from outside. She raised one beautiful eyebrow.

  'No, Admiral,' I said again.

  She growled something again. The ensign instantly raised the pistol and fired. The side of her head exploded. Flesh whacked against the window. Whatever blood these creatures contained, streamed down it, ruining the flawless picture of the stars.

  The weapon clattered onto the deck. Octavia growled. A second ensign stepped forward and withdrew a similar pistol from her uniform and stood ready.

  'So much bloodshed for such a small thing.'

  'I can't, Admiral.'

  Octavia's features twisted in annoyance.

  'This is not a test, Alex, if that's what you're thinking. I don't want to know how dedicated you are. I don't want to test your loyalty to the Accord. I've been waiting for centuries. Don't worry about the reaction on Earth. They'll just think it's part of our culture.' She smiled. 'Or even better, if you don't kiss, me, I'll tell them that you sexually harassed me. Sexual harassment, Alex. It'll be consistent with what's in your file already, as a white male. Given the way I look, it would only be natural for you to assault me. You weren't able to control yourself. They'll believe me. And then, l'll tell them the worst thing possible in the entire Accord of Nations.'

  She leaned in close and whispered.

  'I'll tell them you were racist towards me.'

  She looked at me with a triumphant smile.

  'Now, for old time's sake.'

  'Admiral, I represent the Accord Of Nations.'

  'Then, I have no choice.'

  28

  THE SITUATION WOULD have been ludicrous if it hadn't been so dangerous. I was two hundred and forty-thousand miles from Earth, orbiting alongside the moon in an enormous spaceship with a beautiful, dangerous and powerful alien furious at me for not kissing her.

  I couldn't have imagined this scene even if I'd tried.

  And for a just a brief passage of time, I had a moment of clarity. Of just how dangerous it really was. If she chose, Octavia could use the weapons of this ship to attack Earth. The troops, the lasers and whatever else could be deployed with a simple nod.

  She wasn't interested in harmony between nations from different planets. She had some personal vendetta to work out, based on being spurned by my ancestor. It just didn't make sense. How could any nation put someone so unpredictable in charge of some much destructive power?

  Unless, the nation itself suffered from a similar kind of madness.

  Suddenly, I felt afraid. Not just for me, but for the Accord and all the people on Earth.

  But more revelations were to come.

  Octavia turned and raised her chin at the three remaining escorts. One reached into her jacket pocket and brought out a small handheld device and clicked it. A portion of the great window lit up with a view of the Earth. It tracked in closer, going through the clouds to AONT USA, then sub-territory California and finally to a city and then down to streets of a typical suburb.

  I recognized my mother's house.

  'Is this the night Kresta and her friend perform their yoga?' said Octavia, smirking.

  'Admiral, please,' I said, suddenly thinking of a way out of this mess. 'Could we wait until this diplomacy stage is over? Then perhaps I can meet you as a civilian. We could meet up after the formalities. I could show you some of Earth. At the moment, I must think of the Accord first.'

  'The Accord,' Octavia said. 'The Accord, the Accord, the Accord! It's all you and your thin-lipped comrade can say. The Accord, the values, the pronouns. If only you knew how deluded you are. How stupid it sounds! And how stupid it really is.'

  She was working herself up.

 

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