Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition

“It is an honor to meet you,” Gor-Kaal
said as he made fists and touched
them against one another with the
backs of his hands towards Nathan.
Nathan returned the gesture. It was
the Krenth equivalent of a handshake.
An actual handshake might be
considered a vulgarism to the Krenth,
as there were all sorts of taboos against
unnecessary physical contact.
“I will be escorting you to the Council
Chamber in the Tower of Excellence
within the hour,” Gor-Kaal said.
The “Tower of Excellence” was the
primary government building for
the nation of Krenthalkon, and from
what Nathan heard their central
government was small enough to fit
entirely into one building. Of course
the building was of immense height,
but half of it was libraries, archives,
and museums.
After the introduction, they left
Nathan alone for some time, but
returned when it was time to go
to meet the Sovereign. Nathan
was escorted into a vehicle along
with some of the diplomatic team,
while the remaining members of
the diplomatic team were taken in a
series of other vehicles. Each member
of the team was assigned at least one
Martian bodyguard, sometimes more.
They drove down the streets of the
city, passing massive buildings on both
sides of the road. Since the windows
of the cars were tinted, no one paid
noticed that there were aliens inside
or paid them any heed. When they
reached the Tower of Excellence,
the cars parked in a sheltered drive
through, again shielding them from
the eyes of the public, and they were
instructed to disembark.
The Krenth security was either highly
professional, indifferent, or used to the
presence of aliens, as none of them
stared or reacted to their presence,
from the highest official to the lowest
guard. Over the door was an enormous
plaque with an inscription in Krenth
written in large letters. It took Nathan
a few seconds but he was able to
read it.
“LOGIC IS JUSTICE,” it read.
But Nathan was given no time to
think about it. He and the diplomatic
team were made to pass through some
black objects which looked like plastic
or metal doorframes with no doors,
and once on the other side they were
escorted into the elevators and up to
one of the top floors.
When they got out of the elevators,
they were escorted down a long
hallway of black marble with
decorative patterns of silver inlay. The
lighting overhead was a clear white
light with no tinge of any color. The
doors to the council chamber were of
finely carved black stone, or at least
something that looked like stone.
Kor-Neev entered first, followed
by the human delegation, and their
guards stepped through last. The room
was large, and somewhat reminiscent
of gothic architecture with columns
and sharp pointed arches, but the walls
going around the outer perimeter of
the room were actually tinted windows
which afforded a view of the cityscape.
In the center of the room was a long
horseshoe shaped table of glossy black
material.
Martians were seated all around the
outside of the table, and all were
dressed predominantly in black. Some
were dressed more elaborately, and
decked out in glossy silver jewelry
with black gemstones. Most were
men but a few were women. All of
them wore some kind of hat of silver
and grey metal. The man at the head
of the table had the biggest chair,
and he wore the tallest hat of all.
It reminded Nathan of the crowns
worn by ancient Egyptian pharaohs.
He wondered if it was supposed
to symbolize something deep and
philosophical, and if so what. If the
Krenth had been a simple culture,
he would have supposed the hat to
represent having the biggest head, and
by extension the biggest brain, but the
Krenth were far too sophisticated for
that, or so he thought.
The man at the head of the table was
introduced as Sovereign Tor-Anaz
Semth. Kor-Neev introduced all of
the Earth men next, then she began
introducing all of the other Martians
who sat around the table, but after
some time she was cut off by one of
the men who sat close to her father.
“This is wasteful of time, Advocate,”
the Martian said. “If these men are
like the others in ability they will
not memorize our names so swiftly.”
The statement was logical, and true
enough. None of the Earthmen would
be able to memorize all those names
so quickly, except for Dr. Robinson,
and perhaps the lawyer, Henley. But
the statement was blunt and tactless,
and showed a severe lack of manners,
or indifference toward them.
At least, by Earth standards.
“Very well,” Kor-Neev said. “In that
case I propose that we utilize name
plates.”
“Your suggestion has already been
anticipated, Advocate,” the Sovereign
said. “Name plates will be distributed
and utilized upon commencement
of the trial, for the benefit of the
Earthmen.”
AUTHORS PRESS
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The Sovereign officially welcomed
the Earthmen to Krentholkan, never
mentioning Mars or whatever the
local name might be for the planet,
then he immediately proceeded to