500 Words - "Diplomatic Immunity"
Apr. 23rd, 2004 05:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caraigAfter that last one, I got a bit drained, so I was off for a few days. So let's see how this one turns out. As it happened, I ran out of steam, so this is little more than a snippet.
The jet liner landed and began taxiing to the gate. A light rain was falling, not enough to cause the pilots or tower trouble but enough for the meteorologists to start looking nervously at the weather service reports.
The airport security personnel were nervous for a completely different reason.
The plane -- it had nothing more than usual commercial markings for Quantas -- came to a stop and shortly the folkdance of of the ground crew was completed. A few more minutes of clanking and groundcrew work, and the gate doors opened.
She stood perhaps a hair under five and a half feet tall. Her skirt-suit was elegantly tailored, in a black material that could have been a kind of finely-woven velvet of sorts. The lapels and lining to the suit were a deep, rich-hued purple silk, emphasizing her figure.
In visage, her skin almost matched the color of her suit, a lustred black that drank in the fluorescent light. Her fine, bone-white hair was for the most part gathered neatly at the nape of her neck, save for two strands which framed her face, each ending in a worked silver bangle. Her eyes were a wine red, and yet came through as nothing if not sharp and almost rabidly alert. Nevertheless, her demeanour was calm and reserved, as was that of the two large suited guards who accompanied her through the gate.
"Madame Ambassador." The voice was musical, and the svartaelfani woman turned immediately to face the speaker. Like her, the person meeting her was accompanied by two suited persons, except only one was aelfan; the other was human or, more likely, half-aelfan. The speaker was of lithe and unassuming build, in a rather dapper white suit and dark shirt, more suited for Sydney's climate than the northern hemisphere at this time of year. He smiled disarmingly -- she had to admit that he hid his revulsion well -- and nodded. "I'm the Ambassador for Arrnnor. I thought it would be good to meet you in person when you arrived."
She smiled -- the expression was a little tight -- and nodded graciously. "You honor us, Ambassador. The nation of Domedor is pleased by this welcome."
That smile again; he was quite good at this. She entertained the idea briefly that he was being sincere, but quashed it immediately. The idea was on the border of unthinkable, though some on both sides had been occasionally so naive.
"Well, then, if you would accompany me outside, Madame Ambassador. The President of Australia and the mayor of Sydney will be meeting us in the Opera House."
The Domedoran ambassador nodded, and shortly they were in the limousine, accompanied by a howling train of Sydney police autos. Neither of the aelfani enjoyed the ride with the blaring police sirens. Still, both of them appreciated the effort that the humans had made to host this new round of peace negotiations.
About midway through the trip, the caravan cutting through what would be acrowded Wednesday downtown Sydney, the Arrnnor Ambassador said unexpectedly, "Madame Ambassador... do you really expect these negotiations to bear fruit?"
She looked at him levelly, her red eyes meeting his own gold-green ones. Their gaze was locked for a full minute, before she shook her head once. "No more than you do, Mister Ambassador."
He nodded. "Just so we're both aware of it. We should give the humans the impression that we're making a token effort."
"Yes. It's a pity things are simply too honest between us for them to understand."
The jet liner landed and began taxiing to the gate. A light rain was falling, not enough to cause the pilots or tower trouble but enough for the meteorologists to start looking nervously at the weather service reports.
The airport security personnel were nervous for a completely different reason.
The plane -- it had nothing more than usual commercial markings for Quantas -- came to a stop and shortly the folkdance of of the ground crew was completed. A few more minutes of clanking and groundcrew work, and the gate doors opened.
She stood perhaps a hair under five and a half feet tall. Her skirt-suit was elegantly tailored, in a black material that could have been a kind of finely-woven velvet of sorts. The lapels and lining to the suit were a deep, rich-hued purple silk, emphasizing her figure.
In visage, her skin almost matched the color of her suit, a lustred black that drank in the fluorescent light. Her fine, bone-white hair was for the most part gathered neatly at the nape of her neck, save for two strands which framed her face, each ending in a worked silver bangle. Her eyes were a wine red, and yet came through as nothing if not sharp and almost rabidly alert. Nevertheless, her demeanour was calm and reserved, as was that of the two large suited guards who accompanied her through the gate.
"Madame Ambassador." The voice was musical, and the svartaelfani woman turned immediately to face the speaker. Like her, the person meeting her was accompanied by two suited persons, except only one was aelfan; the other was human or, more likely, half-aelfan. The speaker was of lithe and unassuming build, in a rather dapper white suit and dark shirt, more suited for Sydney's climate than the northern hemisphere at this time of year. He smiled disarmingly -- she had to admit that he hid his revulsion well -- and nodded. "I'm the Ambassador for Arrnnor. I thought it would be good to meet you in person when you arrived."
She smiled -- the expression was a little tight -- and nodded graciously. "You honor us, Ambassador. The nation of Domedor is pleased by this welcome."
That smile again; he was quite good at this. She entertained the idea briefly that he was being sincere, but quashed it immediately. The idea was on the border of unthinkable, though some on both sides had been occasionally so naive.
"Well, then, if you would accompany me outside, Madame Ambassador. The President of Australia and the mayor of Sydney will be meeting us in the Opera House."
The Domedoran ambassador nodded, and shortly they were in the limousine, accompanied by a howling train of Sydney police autos. Neither of the aelfani enjoyed the ride with the blaring police sirens. Still, both of them appreciated the effort that the humans had made to host this new round of peace negotiations.
About midway through the trip, the caravan cutting through what would be acrowded Wednesday downtown Sydney, the Arrnnor Ambassador said unexpectedly, "Madame Ambassador... do you really expect these negotiations to bear fruit?"
She looked at him levelly, her red eyes meeting his own gold-green ones. Their gaze was locked for a full minute, before she shook her head once. "No more than you do, Mister Ambassador."
He nodded. "Just so we're both aware of it. We should give the humans the impression that we're making a token effort."
"Yes. It's a pity things are simply too honest between us for them to understand."
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 02:43 am (UTC)As per normal, I love your ... evocative style of writing, and the attitude of the aelfani toward the humans. I almost get the feeling you could do something similar with the Star Trek Federation trying to arrange a truce between two waring alien races.
Can't think of anything I didn't like about this to be honest, I'd just like to see more of it.
Brett
Two little things...
Date: 2004-04-25 04:31 am (UTC)Anyhow, on to more useful comments.
As ever, your writing is good, I do quite like how this one ends, too.
Ok, perhaps not entirely useful, but I'm really, really, really tired right now :)