Chapter 25: The New Ambassador

Mike Miller, his family and Yuki stood in the Arrivals Lounge of the Capitol Spaceport, waiting for the shuttle bearing their new employees Carole Hargreaves and Mindy Williamson to arrive. The day was hot and humid, and not for the first time Mike welcomed Spica's dress code. He suspected that Carole and Mindy would too, once they got used to it.

The two newcomers were easy to spot: of all the passengers leaving the Princess Eugenie, they were the only adults suffering an acute attack of shyness, and the only two with tan lines.

He stepped forward, his wife Maggie at his side. "You must be Carole and Mindy, right? Welcome to Spica." After the introductions, he added "First we're off to get you settled in to your apartments, and then we're off to a restaurant for dinner, then the baths – Yuki and I agreed you'd need a nice relaxing bath. Then, tomorrow, we'll get you started in on the case."

As the two girls walked to the car – all the worldly possessions fitting into a single small suitcase each – Yuki made a suggestion to them. "If you're going to try to cover your breasts and genitals like that, you're only going to draw attention to them and look ridiculous to boot. Put your hands down by your side and walk normally."

Looking around, they saw all the other women walking exactly the same way as Yuki was suggesting. It still took a bit before they started to walk normally.

The next morning, Yuki used an official hover car to pick up the ladies at the apartment they would be using as a dormitory for their year-long stay. Carole and Mindy made a quick dash into the vehicle, so as to be exposed for the minimum amount of time to prying eyes.

"Sleep well?" enquired Yuki, a friendly smile on her face.

"Well..." said Mindy, "once I got used to no pyjamas..."

"I loved it!" the stout Carole averred. "No clingy undergarments! I slept like a log!"

"Yes, I had to roll her out of bed this morning," teased Mindy. She got serious. "I'd like to apologize about that scene I caused in the restaurant last night."

Yuki reassured her with, "Happens to most people, when they first come here. You'll get used to it very quickly."

Mindy had walked into the washroom at the restaurant. Like all other public restrooms on Spica it was unisex, and Mindy had screamed at seeing a man innocently relieving himself at one of the urinals.

They arrived at the Embassy at the same time as Mike did. Mike went directly to his desk to start reviewing the overnight communications while Yuki and her two newly hatched ducklings made coffee and brought in four mugs.

"Let's start with the two of you before Yuki and I get on with our work," Mike began as he sipped his coffee – black, no sugar, as Yuki had long ago discovered. "Pick a file." He pointed to two data pads on his desk. Each of the new arrivals grabbed one of the pads.

"Mine says, 'Arcturus'," noted Carole.

"Mine's 'Deneb'," added Mindy.

"That's your assignment. Until it's finished, neither of you will be communicating between each other what you're working on, and neither of you will be meeting with me with the other present – unless I'm passing on information that is completely neutral. You can discuss your files with me and Yuki, preferably the two of us together, but not between you two. Understand? We need to keep you independent of each other."

They nodded uncertainly, clearly not comprehending "why", and he sighed. "You are acting as the proxy for those planetary systems. Any decision you make has to be seen by each planetary government as being in its own interest, not in the interest of the other side. Effective right now, you are the de facto ambassadors for Deneb and Arcturus. Mindy, you're lucky in that there's already a planetary representative for Deneb here, but Shirley Templeton is new to Spica, never had to deal with foreign governments before, is alone and needs all the help our embassy can give her."

He then briefed them on the findings of the Board of Inquiry on the SS Bucyrus Incident, and added, "Understandably, both Arcturus and Deneb want this young man brought to their system for trial. Your job is to represent your star system and convince the judge that he should be extradited to your star system. Yuki has given each of you a list of local lawyers who are willing to take on this case. Pick one, work on the case, and present it to me for review. Separately, mind!"

With that, Carole and Mindy went off to start interviewing lawyers. The lists Yuki was able to put together were depressingly short, but the choices were very experienced.

Mike started to go through his daily calendar with Yuki when the first interruption of his day began. The duty communications tech rapped on his door.

"Sir, we have an urgent request for communications from SS Port of New Orleans, a freighter that just arrived in orbit from Arcturus. Captain Tiffany O'Malley commanding."

"For me?" asked Mike incredulously. "What could that be about?" Yuki just shrugged, equally mystified.

"Well, no helping it. Pipe the call through." He turned on the vidphone screen built into his desk.

The vidphone screen revealed an older, somewhat stout red-headed lady in the uniform of a Captain from the Solaria Merchant Marine. Behind her stood a man of early middle age in a strange civilian outfit – after over nine months living without a stitch, though, all dressed civilians looked strange to Mike – wearing a harried look. What was strangest about the outfit, Mike realized, was that it hearkened back to about 1800, complete with broadcloth coat.