Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition

arched ceiling. The walls along the
sides of the lobby were lined with
gold mirrors, and in front of those
were small gardens with yellow and
orange foliage.
They were in what was evidently an
expensive hotel, and which had been
completely cleared of Martians, save
for the staff and a squadron of security
teams for their own protection.
Unfortunately, they were still not
the only tenants, as Nathan soon
discovered.
As he was standing near the counter
waiting to receive his room key, the
main hotel doors opened up and a
group of men stepped inside. Three
of them were Martians, but the
other three were clearly Earthmen
of the Asiatic persuasion. They were
wearing uniforms, two had relatively
simple uniforms, while the third had
an elaborate officer’s uniform with
medals and a hat. The officer had a
mustache and round glasses, and his
hand rested on the hilt of a sword.
He looked around the lobby and
glared at Nathan when their eyes
met. Then he snapped his fingers
twice and said something in a foreign
language as he pointed to a hallway
at the other end of the lobby. The
men with him proceeded to move
in the direction he pointed, while he
glared at Nathan for a second longer.
Nathan raised an eyebrow but other
than that he held his gaze until the
other man snorted disdainfully and
moved off toward the hallway.
A moment later, someone from
behind the counter tapped on his
shoulder.
“Sir, your room key is ready,” the man
behind the counter said in English,
but with a heavy accent.
Nathan turned around to see the
Martian clerk holding some kind of
card in his hand.
“What is this?” Nathan asked.
“Your room key sir,” the clerk said.
“It is an electronic lock. All you have
to do is swipe this card through the
slot on the mechanism, and the door
will be unlocked.”
“That’s interesting,” Nathan said. “But
I was actually asking about those
fellows who just passed through.
“They arrived before you did.”
“But why are they in the hotel with
us?”
“The Japanese are staying on the first
floor, the Germans are staying on the
second. You Americans and English
will be staying on floors four and five.”
“Whose idea was it to have us share
the same hotel?”
“The Sovereign’s.”
“Everyone here is under truce,”
another Martian said. “This is a battle
of words, not force, therefore it should
authorial magazine | 53
not matter if you are within physical
proximity of one another.”
Nathan said nothing further, but it
did not make him happy, to say the
least. He and the others were shown
to their rooms, and for the first time
in a long time Nathan was able to take
a shower, and after that, he was able
to flop down onto a real bed. As he
looked up at the ceiling pondering
what to do next, there came a knock
at the door.
When he answered the door, he found
Kor-Neev escorted by a Krenth man
dressed in mostly black. He had a
sleeveless black tunic which ran down
to his feet in front and in back, and
underneath he wore a dark gray shirt
with wide baggy sleeves, and wide
baggy pants. He wore a dark visor,
similar to what Nathan had seen
the Martians wear when they were
on Earth.
“Captain Benson,” Kor-Neev said
in formal sounding English. “This is
officer Gor-Kaal Emk. He is to be
your chief security liaison.”
“A body guard,” Nathan said.
Or maybe just a guard?
“That is correct,” Kor-Neev replied.
“As you know, you are to be introduced
to the Sovereign. Bear in mind what
I told you of Krenth etiquette.”
“How could I forget?” Nathan asked.
Shouting, except in cases of emergency,
was considered indecent. It was not
against the law, but it was a strong
taboo, and could result in eviction
from a government building or a place
of business. It was rude to enquire of
a person’s welfare unless there was a
legitimate cause for concern. Showing
strong emotion was considered taboo,
and it was better to keep the face
expressionless.
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