The Inheritors - A. Bertram Chandler [17]
"Then what shall I call you," asked Grimes, "if 'Your Majesty' is not correct?"
"Maya," she told him. "And I shall call you . . .
"Commander Grimes," he said firmly. It was not that he would at all object to being on given name terms with this rather gorgeous creature—but not in front of his subordinates."Have you a second name, Maya?" he asked.
"Yes, Commander Grimes. It is Smith."
Maya Smith, thought Grimes, a little wildly. Maya Smith, the Queen of Cambridge . . . And not a rag to cover her, not even any Crown Jewels . . . And escorted by henchmen and henchwomen armed to the teeth with spears and bows and arrows . . .
Spears and bows and arrows . . . they could be just as lethal as more sophisticated weaponry. Grimes looked away hastily from the Queen of Cambridge to her people, saw, with relief, that there was no immediate cause for worry. The Morrowvians were not using the time-honored technique of enthusiastic fraternization, of close, ostensibly friendly contact that would make the snatching of guns from their owners' hands all too easy when the time came. There was a certain stand-offishness about them, in fact, an avoidance of too close physical proximity. Some of the Marines, to judge by the way that they were looking at the native women, would have wished it otherwise—but Philby and his sergeant were keeping a watchful eye both on their men and on the visitors.
Grimes felt free to continue his conversation with Maya. He gestured toward Southerly Buster, where the people from the other village were still clustered about Kane and his officers."And your friend . . . what is she called?"
"She is no friend of mine. That cat!"
"But who is she?"
"Her name is Sabrina. She is the Queen of Oxford ." The woman turned away from Grimes, stared toward Kane's vessel and the activity around her boarding ramp. She said, in a rather hurt voice, "The other ship has brought gifts for the people. Did you bring no gifts?"
"Mphm," Grimes grunted. He thought, There must be something in my storerooms that she'd fancy . . . .He said, "We did not know what you would like. Perhaps you would care to come on board, to take refreshments with us. Then we shall be able to discuss matters."
Maggie Lazenby snorted delicately.
"Thank you, Commander Grimes," said Maya Smith. "And my people?"
"They may come aboard too. But I must request that they leave their weapons outside."
She looked at him in some amazement. "But we never bring weapons into another person's home. They are for hunting, and for defense. There will be nothing to hunt in your ship—and surely we shall not need to defend ourselves against anything!"
You have been away from the mainstream of civilization a long time! thought Grimes.
He called the first lieutenant on his wrist transceiver to warn him to prepare to receive guests, then led the way up the ramp, into the ship.
9
The Survey Service has procedures laid down for practically everything, and as long as you stick to them you will not go far wrong. Grimes didn't need to consult the handbook titled Procedures For Entertaining Alien Potentates. He had entertained Alien Potentates before. Insofar as the milking of such beings of useful information was concerned he had conformed to the good old principle—candy is dandy, but licker is quicker. Of course, it was at times rather hard to decide what constituted either candy or liquor for some of the more exotic life forms . . . .
The majority of the natives had been shown into the wardroom, there to be entertained by the first lieutenant and—with the exception of Maggie Lazenby—the senior scientific officers. In his own day cabin Grimes had Maya Smith, the two men who constituted her bodyguard, and Maggie. He knew that it was foolish of him to feel ill at ease sitting there, making polite conversation with a naked woman and two naked men. Maggie took the situation for granted, of course—but her upbringing had been different from his. On Arcadia, the planet of her birth and upbringing,