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was unquestionably a man who could not do things in a small way.
Yvette was, if anything, even more resplendent. She had chosen to match his color scheme of purple and
gold in what little she wore, but the arrangement of the colors was the exact reverse of his. Her footwear
-
calf-high leather boots encrusted with amethysts and diamonds - was royal purple, sparkling and flashing
as she walked. Her tight shorts - very tight and very short, were gold lame. Her midriff was bare, and
her
breasts were supported by a shamefully thin and transparent purple silk scarf that tied behind her neck.
Her belt was wide - gold backed with carlon, and heavily jeweled. A jeweled half-veil of fine gold mesh
highlighted rather than hid her face. And, to cap the delectable package, her hair - which was the same
rich purple as her boots and scarf - sported a tiara that would have dazzled the Empress herself, so
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overloaded was it with gold filigree, diamonds and amethysts. The tiara alone had been appraised
conservatively at - and insured for - one million, three hundred ninety thousand rubles; yet Yvette wore it
as casually as a sun-bonnet.
Ignoring the stares of the people waiting in the long line and the sidelong glances of the office workers,
the outrageous pair walked briskly up to the front desk. 'We are Citizens of Earth,' Jules proclaimed
loudly
to the startled receptionist as he courteously but firmly edged his way into the narrow space between a
fat
-40-
woman and the desk. The clerk was too stunned by the appearance of these apparitions to move; Jules
took advantage of her indecision to lean over, pick up her hand and tuck a hundred-ruble bill neatly into
it.
'Carlos and Carmen Velasquez, Citizens of Earth,' he repeated even more loudly, dropping two ID
cards
onto her desktop. 'You sure do have a nice planet here, yes, ma'am. 'Course, all we saw of it was on
the way from the spaceport to here, but I'm a man of quick opinions. I know what I like when I see it,
and I
like this here Algonia, yes, ma'am. Your duke wouldn't be thinking of selling it, would he?'
The poor receptionist's jaw dropped open.
"Course not,' Jules laughed, giving her a broad wink. 'Dukes don't go around selling their planets; I was
just funning you. Still, this is a nice place, and my wife and me'll be happy to stay here for a while.'
Yvette, who had chosen so far to stand beside her brother silently with her nose in the air, now deigned
to
speak. 'This is the office where newcomers apply for sixty-day visas, is it not?'
The flustered clerk's face brightened as the conversation finally reached a level she could comprehend.
'Oh no, ma'am ... sir. That would be Gospodin Rixton's office downstairs - the SOTE, ma'am ... sir.'
She
seemed quite relieved to be able to shoo this duo out of her jurisdiction.
'What seems to be the trouble here?' A tall blond man with a pencil-thin mustache oozed his way across
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the floor to stand beside them. 'Problems, Gospozha Chen?'
The girl turned to him, a 'thank-you' lighting up her face. 'Gospodin Rixton, these two people . . .'
'Citizens of Earth,' Jules interrupted. 'They'd like to apply for a sixty-day visa.'
'I'll handle it, then.' He put an overly-friendly arm on Jules' shoulder and steered him out of the line. 'My
name is Alf Rixton, and I'm the first assistant of SOTE here on Algonia . . .'
'Delighted to meet you,' Jules said loudly, pumping the man's hand. 'We're Carlos and Carmen
Velasquez, Citizens of Earth. We'd like to stay a couple of months on this wonderful planet of yours.' He
reached into his pocket and produced another hundred-ruble bill. 'I trust you can arrange it for us. We'll
be
staying at the Hotel Splendide.' He stuffed the bill very blatantly into the SOTE man's hand, then he and
Yvette marched out of the room.
To their inner disgust, Rixton made no attempt to return the bribe.
-41-
CHAPTER EIGHT
AMBUSH IN THE PARK
THE STANLEY DOCTRINE. Asone of her principal reforms,Empress Stanley Five imposed on
society
the formal hierarchical structure still in use today. Given the fact that stratification was inevitable in any
social system, she elected to ,introduce the arrangement that had served mankind the longest - that of
hereditarynobility. Her logical mind took what was essentially a chaotic state of affairs and reorganized,
simplified and, in a sense, standardized it.All inhabited space was divided into thirty-six Sectors, with
Earth considered to be the center of the sphere. Each Sector is ruled by a grand duke, and may contain
hundreds of planets. Single planets are ruled by dukes. Marquises rule continents or the equivalent
thereof. Earls rule over what would previously have been considered states or small nations. Counts rule
countries. Barons - the lowest ranking nobility - rule cities or districts.(Stanhope, Elements of Empire,
Reel 2, slot 408.)
The Hotel Splendide was the plushiest, most exclusive caravansary on Algonia. Rooms there started at
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two hundred rubles a night and rose sharply in price. The hotel's chef was famous throughout most of
Sector Three, and it was not uncommon that meals in the Splendide's restaurant ran to seventy or eighty
rubles a person. The grounds of the hotel covered more than forty hectares, and included virtually every
recreational facility, licit and illicit, known to man. There was even a small private forest for guests who
wanted to 'commune with Nature' without going too far from civilization.
Thus it was only natural that such a hotel would become the stopping place of Carlos and Carmen
Velasquez, those flamboyant and flashy Citizens of Earth. Their arrival there created a small whirlwind of
activity, and they quickly established themselves as favorites of both management and staff. Not only
because they settled into the penthouse suite - at a thousand rubles a night - for what promised to be a
long stay; not only because they were outgoing, gregarious and fun-loving; but also because they did not
seem to realize that money came in denominations smaller than fifty Im perial rubles.
Though publicly they remained unflappable, privately the scale on which they were living frightened them
a bit. 'We could camp half our family in here,' Yvette said when first they were alone in their suite, 'and
still
have room left over there in the corner for tumbling mats.'
'It's all in a good cause, though,' Jules said, going over to one of the suite's four enormous vibrobeds and
sprawling out on it. 'I know it's hard, but we'll have to learn to live with luxury for a while.'
'I'm just afraid I'll getused to it, that's all!'
The two visitors quickly settled into a regular routine of seemingly relaxed activity. They never rose
before
eleven and, after a light brunch, engaged in games of tennis and rondola by themselves, or played in
team sports with other guests. Then came a brisk swim in the indoor pool, followed by a midafternoon
snack. They retired to their suite until dinner, after which they walked for at least one hour through the
relatively deserted pathways of the hotel's planned forest. Unsuspicious activities for two people on a
vacation for the purposes of relaxation.
But those walks in the late evening played a central role in their plans. Heretofore, all the SOTS agents
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who had investigated the criminal activity on Algonia had gone looking for it. They had found it, of
course,
but it was Yvette's theory that perhaps they had only found what was meant for them to find. Perhaps
the
d'Alemberts would have more success if they let the criminal activity find them.
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