Raven Rattle

        "He was my teacher."

        "Your name, please."

        She hesitated. What was the name that she had used to register at the university, years before? It had been so many years. Before Jon's childhood friend Martus was Imperial Bureaucrat and Jon, with fire in his heart, had returned to Earth to help Martus conquer.

        So long ago. According to her people, Martus reigned with closed eyes. Imperial Edict now forbid "tourist" travel to "superstitious colonies", not like the old days when they partook of learning together as a great adventure.

        "Your name, Madame?" The woman was losing patience.

        "Nuu-Chah. You would say Sand-Woman, I believe." Yes, that was the translation, not that it meant anything here, nor would Jon recognise it. It ws her last name, her adult name, conferred to her in memory of the days she stood on the sand, determinedly watching the sky for the return of her red-headed lover. He never came again. All his promises had been so much salt water.

        The woman looked up at her. "Your real name, please. We can't let anyone in to see faculty unless they are security checked and you can't be an old student without a real name."

        "I'm from Kagwantan. That is my real name."

        "I can tell where you are from," the woman sniffed. "Your Kagwantan name will be appended onto the name the university used for you. What was that name?"

        "The name he gave me was Janedoe."

        The woman was satisfied, "You can go in and see him now." She touched a pad on her desk to alert Jon and read a message there. "Apparently, he's been expecting you."

        It was Nuu-Chah's turn to smile now. So they were spying on her.

        He never came back. But he sent her messages asking her to join his revolution. He never thought she'd last on Kagwantan once she'd fallen in love with him. She was too "smart" for that, she needed "civilization". Oh, she thought, how much you knew and how little.

        The woman wasn't finished, "He's a Knight now. You call him 'Sir Jonathan". And do not sit on the floor. It is not etiquette here."

        Saving her 'great man' from a breach of etiquette. My, thought Nuu-Chah with a smile, that is devotion.

Nuu-Chah walked into a dark mahogany panelled room. There were green velvet curtains and it smelled of old paper. He was there, behind a large black lacquered desk. He was small now, disappearing with age into his armchair.

        He got up to meet her with a smile. "My Janedoe."

        "Sir Jonathan," she smiled back at him. "I hear you are a Knight."

        "I am pleased to see you."

        "And I you." They embraced briefly. His bones were like a bird's and he smelled old. She wondered if she had the strength to talk to him, to tell him. She wondered if he could make her feel happy again, if he had ever made her happy. Was it a malicious destiny that had placed him on Kagwantan so long ago when she was ripe to fall in love?

        "Please take a seat, Jane and let us have some tea." He motioned her over to a small sitting area consisting of a lacquered table and two low cushioned chairs. Tea was arranged on the table with care. There were coloured cakes that looked as though they were made of paper.

        He must have known the minute I touched down, she realised. A spy network in place. This high tea was prepared for us, no doubt with secret watchers in the walls. Why do they fear an old woman?