Eseere: The Language of Wind

The Ambassador

Republican City, The United Republic of Provinces, Nasai, White Moon 3303 - September

 It was well into the morning by the time Safiya reached Republican City and she was exhausted from the five hour trek. With her shoulder sack slung across her back and her ID papers in her hand, she walked over to what she hoped was the last security checkpoint that she would ever have to see. The clerk in the booth verified her identification and informed her that the Tribal Ambassador’s Office was located inside of the tall grey stone building called Legislation Hall, behind the booth and to the right, without her having to ask. Her feet hurt terribly and she could have easily collapsed onto the curb for a nap but she willed herself a few more feet forward towards Legislation Hall.

Unlike the laborer cities, off-worlders were everywhere here: walking, jogging, driving in land transport vehicles, or sitting in the grass. Some of them openly stared at Safiya just as she openly stared at them, some with welcoming smiles and some without. She’d seen an off-worlder in Punji Village, a gruff city clerk with pink cheeks and a large round face, but these off-worlders had a different look to them: gentler and more refined. It really was remarkable how much they looked like the Sahyunese. Safiya had never seen off-worlders from the neighboring planets in person, but she’d seen still pictures and VisionComm films about Marduk and the Seneca star system, and the Mardukan and Senecani people did not resemble the Sahyunese nearly as much as the earthlings did.

Safiya reached the gray building and climbed the wide stone steps to the entrance. The entire lower floor was made of glass walls and windows with thick glass doors and she was required to show her identification again before being allowed inside.

“The Tribal Ambassador’s Office is at the end of the hall, last door to the left,” the Republican Guard behind the large reception counter informed her, again without her having to ask.

“Thank you, sirrah,” Safiya replied and crossed through the body scanner to the wide, well-lit corridor.

Safiya was struck by the grandeur of the tall ceilings and hanging crystal lamps above her as light streamed into the hall through the glass walls and from skylights upon the ceiling.  Off-worlders dressed in finely tailored suits of white, blue or gray strode past her, talking in pairs or in small groups, or speaking into small hand-held devices. Safiya reached the glass doors of the Ambassador’s office and pushed through them with a sigh of relief. The young man inside was bent over his desk and talking into a voicecomm when she entered the reception area.

The room was lined with windows along one wall and a row of potted winter plants reminded Safiya of Natar. Several cushioned armchairs carved in the dark wood of the whana trees and designed in the straight lines and simple style of Am’maahni carpentry were arranged symmetrically in pairs beside small square tables in the same design in front of the windows and the left wall opposite the entrance contained a slender, white marble fountain with water bubbling upward in thin, sparkling arcs beneath a large gilt framed plaque containing the laws of the Sovereign Tribes of Sahyun stenciled in gold lettering.  There was a closed door behind the man’s desk and another in the corner beside the fountain.

The man looked up when Safiya stepped in front of his desk and took a double take before a charming smile spread across his face.

“Ok, yes. Thank you, Councilman,” he said into the voicecomm console as he prepared to disconnect.  “You can expect the data by the end of the day. Good day to you as well.”

He was Am’maahni from the look of him and greeted her warmly, “Peace and blessings to you, sister. How may I be of assistance?”

His eyes roamed appreciatively over her face and his smile widened when she spoke.