It was now the nineteenth Wassas. Apart from the usual sightseers the palace was quiet for a change with only two openly scheduled events. They were Authua of Terra X2 and Johnna Xotua from Timus, the two representatives from the sixth cluster.

“The first is due at the eleventh period while the second is at the fourteenth period. There shouldn’t problems today.” The Head Steward looked up at his team, as he was beginning to think of them. “Did I say that?” They laughed. “Oh, we have the newsman, Tobis Nenna at the tenth period. That should be fun.” That event had not been made public.

There was more laughter and a few comments, then everyone dispersed to their various jobs. Grada was just settling in to his workload when his attention was caught by a sudden hush. Looking up, he saw the Dark Lord framed in his door.

“Walk with me, Steward,” accompanied by a wave of the Dark Lords hand had him scrambling to his feet.

Walking along the corridors the Steward was unsure what to say but as the Dark Lord stayed silent, so did he. Staff glanced at the pair but were not curious. Some of the Ladies they passed moved to join them but stopped when the Dark Lord raised his hand with a smile, although they continued to watch until the pair were out of sight. Eventually the two reached the rear of the palace where they ascended a stair and came to a small sitting area with a view out over the garden.

“Please sit Steward, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”

Reluctantly taking the chair indicated, Grada sat. “I am at your service sire.”

“We will get into it, but first, how go’s the restoration work?”

“Better than expected in the interior, sire, but the exterior, that is another story. I was waiting for the Head Carpenter to report after a complete inspection. The areas of damage are confined to the Hall of Hearings exterior. There is less to do in the interior of the Palace.”

“That is good to hear. Tell the Head Carpenter I appreciate his diligence.” The Dark Lord replied.

Grada nodded, making a mental note to translate the compliment for the Head Carpenter who was a fine man, but not a linguist.

“And the rest of the palace, do you need more staff?”

“We are somewhat tight, but it is manageable, my Lord.”

“Be careful, but bring in more staff. I see people doing two, sometimes three different jobs. There are suitable young people who can come into the palace.” At the incipient protest. The Dark Lord raised his hand. “We will be careful. I will arrange for some of the Ladies to look over the interviews, they will tell you who is suitable at the last. You will also most likely need more room, do what is necessary.”

“I see my Lord, the Ladies will be able to detect someone who is lying to us or if they have an alternate reason to seek employment at the palace.” Garda also noted the order regarding the need for more room.

“Indeed, the news people and others who seek fame have for a long time tried to get through these walls. They have not been penetrated yet.” The Dark Lord smiled. “And that brings me to the real reason for us having this little chat.”

“Yes my Lord?”

“I wish to gauge the mood of people of the Empire more closely,” the Dark Lord frowned as he continued, “My first thought is to send the Ladies out, undercover in pairs, to talk to the populace.” He glanced at the Steward. “What do you say?”

The Steward swallowed. Taking a deep breath he decided that the only option was to be straightforward with his Master.

“My Lord, when you said that I was filled with terror! I have read reports on what they can do going back thousands of years. What they can do, well the thought of them being away from you, well it is not a matter of Little Games as I have read.”

The Dark Lord didn’t smile. He sat silent for a fraction, then stirred. “Your fears are not unfounded. But do recall that you are unused to them. They have operated before under my distant control, if it could be called even that.”

“My Lord, if I may, send out not one but two pairs, separated but together. If there is a problem, well I am sure that four could deal better than two.” Garda suggested.

“I will consider that.” He looked at the Steward and smiled. “Now a question for you. Do you wish to know if I am sending the Ladies out on these missions or not?”

Grada sat back in his chair and considered for a fraction. “On balance my Lord, the answer is no. First, the palace is yours to command which includes the Circle so if any of the government agencies get upset, I would tell them just that. Second, not letting me know enables me to say that the Ladies are yours, they don’t report to me but if they wish, I could ask them to visit.” Grada’s face was the picture of innocence.

The Dark Lord laughed. “Steward, you please me!” He laughed again. “Now go, the time draws close for the arrival of our newsman. It would not surprise me if he arrives early to check us out.”

“Sire.” The Steward stood and left with a bow.

*********

It was an easy guess, Tobis Nenna was a full quarter period early. He had recorded his report on the surprising news about Star Builders and how happy the business community was to see that action had been taken. If there were mixed opinions on Star Builders future, there was virtual unanimity on the soundness of appointing Ganner Re Dapplell to oversee the restructuring. Although this was tempered by a wait and see attitude amongst some.

Wandering around, Tobis was impressed more by the staff then the building, even the cleaners went about their occupations cheerfully. He had been told that the palace staff were well paid but so was he. It wasn’t just money that made people work well, it took more than that so he was even more curious now.

He was wandering towards the Hall of Hearing hoping to get a look through the partly open doors when a hand fell onto his shoulder. Tobis twitched, then slowly turned around. Facing him were two members of the Imperial guard, both with hands on their swords.

“Tobis Nenna?”

“Yes, I am Tobis Nenna.” He was startled, but not really. The guards would have been told to look out for him, he reasoned.

“Come with us please.” The elder started to walk away. The younger one motioned for Tobis to follow. In silence they walked back the way Tobis had come. As he suspected they would, they arrived at the Office of the Steward.

“Ah, the News Front Man.” Lea Cania was at the front counter when they arrived. “He said that you would be early.” She smiled. “Follow me.”

“We are going back the way I came?” Tobis frowned at the suggestion that the Dark Lord knew that he would arrive before the time he was expected.

“The guard were asked to bring you to the office. That is what they did.”

“I see,” Tobis thought for a fraction, “and they do what they are told to?”

“Always.” Lea stopped and faced the Newsman. “They are also very efficient and subtle. They are the Dark Lords personal guard. Don’t forget it.”

The warning, delivered in a flat level tone, accompanied by a level stare, shook Tobis somewhat. He stared at the young woman, nonplussed at the level of maturity that she showed.

Turning, Lea continued down the corridor to an inconspicuous smaller hallway. There was a guard who nodded at Lea’s but examined Tobis’s identification closely. Down the small hallway a door stood open.

Not to Tobis’s surprise, Administrative Assistant Lea Cania headed straight for the door. Entering the room, Tobis noted the expected luxurious finishes on the walls, floors and ceiling. Glancing around, his gaze was drawn to the ancient wooden table sitting in the center of the room. He stared at it, having never seen one before. It took him a fraction to realise that seated behind the desk were both Security Chief Ferni Massett and Senior Assistant Rita Caenett.

Recovering as the ladies behind the desk, now joined by Lea Cania, regarded him with amusement, Tobis apologised. “My apologies, I have never seen such a rare item!”

“Never mind, let us start, please sit.” Rita spoke, “We know who you are and you have been interviewed by the security police. I have one item to begin with, before we start, do you agree that everything said here will be kept completely confidential and will never be revealed to any person or discussed with or by any person in any manner whatsoever, without any limit on time, manner, method or any other entity? In plain words, what is said here, stays here. Forever.”

There was silence while this was digested. “And if I refuse.”

“Then you leave, right now and you will never be invited back.” Ferni answered.

“You’re serious?” Came with an expression of disbelief.

“Quite.” Came in a flat tone from Lea. The same tone he recognised from earlier.

Tobis sat back in his comfortable chair. He thought of something. Pulling out his comm unit he asked a question.

“May I record this interview?”

“You can try.” Came the smiling response from Ferni.

Tobis tapped on the unit, and again. And again. He frowned, it had been working before.

“What have you done to it?” Came angrily.

“Nothing, it will work fine away from here.” Ferni replied calmly.

Tobis stared. An eel of fear slipped into his guts.

“I am a news reporter, I report the news. I have never said anything bad against the palace although I have criticized it for its failure to answer what I felt were legitimate questions and I feel your requirement for complete silence is absurd and possibly illegal.”

“Then leave, no compulsion is being, or will be, put on you to stay.” Ferni’s tone was as uncompromising as Leas.

The internal struggle was clear, but curiosity won out.

“Very well, I accept.”

From somewhere, Lea produced a folder, the same type that was produced at the oath taking. Again Tobis was impressed, both by the thoroughness of the palaces preparations and by the antiquity of the folder.

A sheet of paper was produced and laid in front of Tobis.

“Sign here.” He looked at the paper. It had two columns of printing. One he understood, however the other was completely foreign to him.

“What does this say?” Indicating the second column of printing.

There were some embarrassed looks exchanged. Finally Lea spoke.

“We believe that it is the same agreement, but in the language spoken by the Dark Lord and the Ladies. Other than that, we have no idea.”

“You can’t change it in your computers, surely an enhanced A.I. specialist could do that?”

“No.” Again unexplained strangeness. A pen was passed over. With a little difficulty, Tobis affixed his name. Very little actual hand writing was done in most of the Empire.

“That’s done.” Tobis said as he pushed the agreement across the table, “Now, tell me what is going on here?”

“Just one item left.” Fernis said, as she, Rita and Lea all came to their feet.

A dark brown hand moved into Tobis’s vision. The pen rolled of the paper as it left the table and floated over to the hand.

Coming into view was a tall athletic woman with dark brown skin and tight black curly hair. A woman unlike any Tobis had ever seen before. The light red dress she worn swirled around her toned thighs and complimented the Lady’s skin. Tobis was stunned even as he jumped to his feet. The three behind the desk did not smile although their eyes danced.

Standing he stared at the tall Lady. Her gaze raised from the paper he had signed and her brown eyes bored into his. He was stunned, not only at the striking colour of the Lady’s skin but also that she was almost as tall as he was.

“He speaks the truth.” The Lady held his eyes, then smiled with a flash of white teeth. Her voice was musical and pleasing.

“Thank you Lady Kaylee,” Rita responded. The Lady smiled and left.

“Please sit again, Mr. Nenna and we will continue.”

As the three ladies took their seats Tobis slowly returned to his seat, his mind whirling. Sitting down he looked at the three women sitting opposite him. He wondered at their calm demeanor at the exotic beauty he had just met. He thought of asking them, but quickly dismissed the idea.

“Now Mr. Nenna, we can proceed.” Rita sounded quite calm to Tobis’s ears.

Drawing a deep breath Tobis nodded. The three women smiled then their smiles froze.

“I would like to put a question to you, the same question I posed to Lieutenant Commander Caenett. It is regarding the employment of a person who is competent in dealing with news organisations. What say you?”

Tobis sat open mouthed, the Dark Lord was standing just an arm’s length away from him, hands in pockets. The news front man was struck dumb, unable to reply. The Dark Lord smiled.

“You may answer honestly. The oath taken only applies to discussions with others, not people of the palace.” The Dark Lord sounded amused.

Tobis shut, opened and shut his mouth again. He stared at the Dark Lord, still unwilling to believe that the Supreme Lord of the Empire was present.

Gathering himself, he sought to remember what the question asked was. A glance at the three women now standing behind the desk showed that he could expect no help there.

“My Lord.” Tobis came belatedly to his feet. He took another breath.

“My Lord.” He repeated, “There are risks. As a news professional, I would love to have you on the program I face every night. But I am also aware of the risks anyone who appears on my program faces. I ask difficult questions, and these can trip even the most seasoned performer up.” He took another breath. “On the other hand. Using the Ladies of the Circle in a targeted manner could be beneficial to you.”

“In what way?” The Dark Lord seemed to be genuinely interested.

“I don’t know if you are interested in this but it could help you to be more popular.”

The Dark Lord laughed. “You are correct. I don’t care how popular I am. I rule, and none can rule in place of me.” A nimbus briefly glowed around his head. Tobis shivered, even this slight display of power was frightening.

“Continue.” The Dark Lord commanded, dropping into a convenient chair and waving Tobis back into his. He took it slowly.

“My Lord, I am to a great extent, controlled by the number of people who watch my show. This is how the business of news media, indeed the media in total works. When your staff addressed the heads of the media and drenched them, destroying their equipment in the process, well, that was a nasty warning to them. They became very angry at you.”

“Well I was angry with them. I was angry at their usage of false, to my way of thinking, news stories.”

“Oh. I thought that you just wanted to scare them. That is what most of them, including me, thought.”

“Did you actually listen to the message I sent?” The Dark Lord continued with his calm voice, yet Tobis noted that the three women behind the ancient desk were now sitting quietly, faces expressionless.

“Yes, I did and I repeated your message as accurately as possible, which you would know if my report was passed onto you. I also did express my anger for what I felt was an unnecessary display of your power.”

The Dark Lord smiled. “Unnecessary display of my power!” He laughed. “It always seems unnecessary to whoever is on the receiving end of my rebuke.” Tobis smiled an acknowledgement of the truth of that statement.

“Do you think that it is possible that the media stories will actually improve and stay improved?” The Dark Lord continued.

“My Lord, I believe that any improvement will be temporary.”

“I see, so I will need a watchdog to keep an eye on the news outlets. Warn them that I am watching.”

Having no idea wat a watchdog, or a dog in general was, but making an accurate guess, Tobis frowned and replied, “That would be in order here on Tihab. But what about other planets, other clusters?”

“Those I am not so concerned about although some there do have their problems, both now and in the past. It is the news organizations here that watch the palace the closest and need the most watching in return. They set the tone for the rest. Also the news organs on other, distant planets will be watched by governors and they will send reports to the council. Finally, the good Lieutenant Commander will not be here for long, and needs a deputy that she can train.” Rita appeared pleased at that comment by the Dark Lord.

Tobis began to get an uncomfortable feeling as to why he was here. He watched the Dark Lords smile as the thought peculated into his brain. He shook his head.

“I am not the person you need for that position. Sire. I am a reporter or fronts man first and last.” He thought, then slowly. “But I think that I know someone who might be that person.”

The Dark Lord nodded soberly, “I agree, but you are also an honourable man. I know that you will keep your word that you gave today.” As He stood, the three women stood as well, Tobis following their lead. “Give the information you have to these three good members of the palace, they will take it from here.” With a smile and a nod He left.

Tobis looked with admiration at Ferni, Lea and Rita, smiled and bowed. “I have to hand it to you, you did everything brilliantly. I doubt the Legion could have done it better.”

“Our Master insists on a high standard.” Ferni answered with a return smile. “Now if you could give us your suggestions. Actually, if there is more than one possibility, let us have them all.”

Tilting back his comfortable chair, Tobis began to reel off names.