"How do you fit in?" he asked Loong bluntly.
"As an officer in the Space Fleet I am under the orders of the Emperor, the Empress and the High Commissioner," he answered evasively. "I have arranged for a car. The driver has his instructions."
"No, but I'll be here when you return. In the meantime I've ordered supper."
The brilliantly lighted Palace was thronged with splendid uniforms and lavish gowns and the main hall was a babble of sound. It stilled abruptly when the name of Commodore Choon was announced. All eyes were on him as a servant guided him across the floor; the women gazing at him with frank speculation and the assembled officers and statesmen with envy or thinly veiled hatred. Loong was right, he had few friends.
He was led up the long, curving flight of stairs and the babble burst out anew behind him. At the end of a long hall they stopped before a plain door and the servant rapped lightly. Without waiting for an answer he opened the door and motioned Savage inside.
The Empress was regally beautiful, tall and slim in a sweeping, brilliantly hued gown. Although she was more than twice Savage's age neither her face or figure showed it. She extended her hand as Savage crossed the room and knelt before her. He kissed her hand and she said:
"Rise, Commodore Choon, son of Admiral Choon. Come, sit beside me."
"A long time ago I knew your father very well," she said. She smiled reminiscently and murmured, "Very well. And we too shall know each other well. You are fully as handsome as he was." And so, one question was answered.
He remained with her a long time, and when he retraced his steps to the main hall he found it more crowded than before. Again all conversation ceased as he entered the main hall and he could feel countless hostile eyes on him. He felt decidedly uncomfortable as he crossed the seemingly endless room and he felt himself walking too stiffly. He tried to relax, but instead he found himself pressing the needle gun against his side to make sure it was still there.
Finally he reached the great double doors and he heard speculative murmurs behind him as the footmen opened them. This was the heart of a powerful interplanetary empire and yet it was no different than the courts of Europe during the heyday of the ancient kings.