27.1.1034
Lorrd City, Lorrd, Kanz Sector

Veea and I are on Lorrd now, and I can't even say how glad I am to be back. I think it's been just about two years since I came here last, when I was still my sister Roshind's co-pilot. Lorrd is one of the coolest places in the galaxy. Of course, it's plain old cold, not just cool. The whole planet is covered in ice, but a thin crust with an active core not far beneath the surface makes it livable. At least, that's what all the tourist brochures say. Hot springs and geothermal power and all that make it happen. Though, there aren't many settlements on the planet, just moderate sized cities like the capital here. It's hard to sustain anything smaller on an ice planet like this, I guess.

What makes Lorrd so amazing is how the cities really are like a part of the natural landscape. They make their homes out of stone, mostly, but then they coat the outsides with ice and carve amazing designs into it. With ice as a decorative coating, people are always dousing it with water and re-carving whenever they feel like their neighbor has a nicer ice facade than they do. I swear whole neighborhoods are trying to one-up each other. The outcome is spectacular. Every street you go down is lined with amazing ice sculptures, impossibly arching doorways, and spires like up-side-down icicles. There isn't a whole lot of color, but the way the ice reflects the blue sky above more than makes up for it. The most anyone does is a bright colored door or canvass overhang. I'm glad we got to take an above-ground speeder to the Premiere Palace today while the sun was up, now that we're on the mag rail subway on the way back to the suburbs. I didn't want to miss all the beauty of Lorrd City.

We got here early enough this morning that our hosts were just making their breakfast. Dad insisted that we take the invitation of the Relems and stay at their estate while we were here. Rinnh hasn't been dealing with Lorrd as much as the locals would like, lately, and he says it's important to make our major clients feel important. Especially since our trips to Lorrd aren't for trade, they're purely for sales. Lorrd is an import economy, as far as food is concerned, because they don't really have the capability to farm even enough food for their own economy. I came here with a full hold, and Veea and me are going to do our very best to sell it all.

The Premiere of Lorrd wanted to see us as soon as we got here. He is one of our biggest clients. There was already an order manifest waiting for us at the Relems' estate when we got here, so, after breakfast, we loaded up everything we could into a speeder and went into the center of the city to the Premiere's Palace. Some of the Premiere's people unloaded our crates while we were practically carried off on a tour of the palace, its grounds, and their iced-roof greenhouse.

If the one-up-manship in the city created spectacular works of art on the front of people's houses, the palace was incredible. Even as we toured, a group of sculptors were at work in one of the wings, making it even more beautiful. Somehow, they manage to heat the floors without melting the ice on the walls and ceilings. All the same, you have to wear a coat and hat indoors, and there are little space heaters under all of the furniture to keep you warm when you are sitting still. I'm not sure I could live here, as fashionable as their coats and winter wear are, but I sure do like to visit.

Just how they keep their gardens going in the courtyards is a wonder too. Our guide said something about hot spring water being constantly circulated through the soil just below the surface to keep the frost off, but it still baffles my own sense of how things should be seeing beautiful, delicate flowers in the ground when I can see my own breath in the air. The greenhouse is less of a mystery, but I am amazed at the variety of things the Premiere has managed to grow here. I saw some trees that I thought only grew in tropical climates. Just when we were in there, I saw at least twenty gardening staff keeping the plants happy, and that can't be all of them. That kind of indoor garden must be an incredibly expensive luxury on this planet.

By the time our tour was done, it was time for lunch, and the Premiere and his wife themselves had us at their table. We were introduced to all sorts of ministers of this and that, and they made sure that we were seated near the Minister of External Trade and the Minister of Agriculture and Husbandry. The meal was mostly meats and grains. (I'm sure the grains were imported. They don't have the land for that kind of thing here, even if they had hundreds of greenhouses.) Though they did also include a small salad of their own local and hybrid greens. It looks like there are some green things that can grow here on this frigid planet.

I really need to get Veea to stop trying to chat with me in Rodian when we're with our clients. I know she hates using Basic except for when she has to for business, and it's not because she can't speak it. She is as good at it as any other alien, but she's a proud Rodian and doesn't like to admit to the culture that Humans dictate what language the galaxy uses for trade. It's bad form to talk in front of your hosts in a language they don't understand. I keep telling her that. We save Rodian only for when we need to have a few private words in the middle of a business deal. Even then, it's not really even polite. MT-412 has drilled me well. I should have him give Veea a good etiquette lecture one of these days when we're stuck in hyperspace for a few days at a time.

After lunch was a meeting with the Minister of External Trade and a bunch of his people. Veea was back to her manners and polite as she ever is. They had already looked over just what we had to offer them and proposed a deal for it. Veea drove a hard bargain and got us far more than they initially wanted to spend. I really wish I had her skill at that. Though, sometimes, I think she charges people far more than what our produce is worth. Of course, they pressured us to send more shipments in. I expected that, but I couldn't make any promises. That is Dad's department. I just fly the fruit in where he tells me to. By the time that was over, the sun was already going down and the Relems were expecting us for dinner, so we made our exit. Veea insisted that it would be much more cost-effective for us if we took the subway back, and that it would be too dark to see the city even if we did take a speeder, so here we are on the mag rail in a tube underground, taking the long journey back out to the suburbs.

There's not a whole lot of people on the train with us, and they're all human, except for Veea. Lorridians all have really fashionable coats this year. It makes me want to go out and get one for myself before we leave here. They are all these nice wool coats in bright jewel tones, with contrasting lining, sometimes in fun patterns. The women's coats are almost skirted at the waist, with all sorts of tucks, pleats, and gathers. Over all their bulky, warm clothes, they almost look like winter dresses. I really do want one. I should take a look at my account when we get back to the ship to see if I have the credits to spare for a nice coat. MT-412 always tells me that being well dressed is half the battle in getting new business partners to respect you. I say the other half is the fact that my dad owns the company, but I really do try to earn my way without having to play that card. It doesn't seem fair otherwise.

Something has just happened. I don't know what yet, but I think we lost power. All of a sudden the lights dimmed really low and the train stopped humming. I think it's just coasting now, to a stop. The only lights in here are the glow strips along the floor and some dim glow bulbs near all of the exits. Someone is saying that it's emergency power. No one seems to think that this is normal and some folks are already getting really worried. The lady in the seat across from me just started complaining that her comm can't get any reception, and no one else seems to be able to reach anyone on the surface.

One man mentioned that it might have something to do with the recent problems with Arguzdan terrorists on Lorrd. That sure isn't helping the mood here.

That was just the train driver announcing that we should all stay calm and stay where we are while they figure out how to get us going again. Veea says that telling us to stay calm is all the more reason to believe that there really is a crisis and it's out of even the driver's hands. I am going to go see what I can find out.