Beholder's Eye
Beholder's Eye
“Perhaps arguably out-of-place in a warship’s bridge, but to each culture its own symbols, I’d been taught.
Not that any others of the present company appeared to find anything unusual in a setting that lacked only a small orchestra to turn itself into a ballroom for royalty. Trium Set’s officers and crew sat at their stations with nary a look our way, while the five of us were embraced by armchairs which took their profession far too seriously for me. I knew from the moment I sat down—and sank ...down—I’d likely need help to get out again. Disappointingly, the chairs were all made from some cured animal hide. Soft enough, but with hardly any texture left for my pleasure.
The chairs, set on a dais overlooking the business area of the bridge, formed a semicircle around a low table at definite risk of collapse under the mass of wines, ices, and what the Kraal called “essentials,” ornate finger foods having in common a deliberate attempt to disguise their components.
We’d been here for only a few minutes and, to the Kraal, that meant no serious discussion could occur for a while yet, although Skalet had quaffed her second ceremonial glass of serpitay with quite unceremonial haste.MoreLess
Not that any others of the present company appeared to find anything unusual in a setting that lacked only a small orchestra to turn itself into a ballroom for royalty. Trium Set’s officers and crew sat at their stations with nary a look our way, while the five of us were embraced by armchairs which took their profession far too seriously for me. I knew from the moment I sat down—and sank ...down—I’d likely need help to get out again. Disappointingly, the chairs were all made from some cured animal hide. Soft enough, but with hardly any texture left for my pleasure.
The chairs, set on a dais overlooking the business area of the bridge, formed a semicircle around a low table at definite risk of collapse under the mass of wines, ices, and what the Kraal called “essentials,” ornate finger foods having in common a deliberate attempt to disguise their components.
We’d been here for only a few minutes and, to the Kraal, that meant no serious discussion could occur for a while yet, although Skalet had quaffed her second ceremonial glass of serpitay with quite unceremonial haste.MoreLess
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