The Eye of the Llama

by Gary D. Snyder

Part 10:

In the hovercraft the girls decided to first shop and then have something to eat. The shopping for clothes was nothing that Cindy or Libby was used to. Instead of walking through aisles of merchandise in numerous stores they stopped instead in front of a single large building in the business district where they and the princess were ushered into a separate room by a fawning salesperson. Inside these private rooms the salesperson would present models in designs of every conceivable color, pattern, cut, and design while the girls would sip chilled fruit-flavored beverages, sample delicately flavored pastries, and offer their opinions of the designs. Eventually three outfits were judged to be suitable and the girls stood on a platform that analyzed their contours and measurements for the necessary modifications. The obsequious salesperson assured them that everything would be ready on time and to their complete satisfaction.

As he took his leave of them Cindy and Libby thought their visit was over, but to their surprise several new but equally deferential salepersons with large cases arrived to replace the previous salesperson. The models wearing the selected fashions came in and the new salespeople opened their cases to select several candidate jewelry pieces that, in their opinion, best complemented the outfits. Once these had been selected Libby, Cindy, and the princess tried on the pieces to make their personal choices for earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. Once the final selections were made the salepeople bowed their way out, assuring them that the jewelry would be delivered on the desired date with their new outfits.

Libby sighed. "I could get used to this type of shopping. I think I may never go to the mall again."

Cindy nodded. "Tell me about it."

Libby suddenly scowled. "But I'll bet you the boys won't even notice when we dress up."

Cindy shook her head. "No bet. You might as well bet me that Carl likes llamas."

Princess Leama had finished with her final instructions to the salespeople and turned to them. "Are you ready for lunch?" she asked.

Although they had snacked for the past couple hours both Cindy and Libby discovered that they were still hungry. That may have been one of the virtues of the delicacies they had nibbled on, or it may have been the effect of the heavier gravity on their appetites. In either case they eagerly agreed to lunch and were soon in a restaurant with which the princess seemed very familiar. It was not as alien an experience to the humans as the shopping had been because they had both been to fancy restaurants with their parents before. They were cordially greeted by the maitre d' and personally escorted by him to a private table. Once there three lesser waiters appeared like genies to seat them, properly set the table, and then disappear as quickly as they had come once this was accomplished. They had scarcely departed when the head waiter himself appeared to recite the specialties of the day, extolling the ingredients, virtues, and superlative qualities of each in great and almost bewildering detail. As only Princess Leama knew what each dish actually was she ordered for all three of them, allowing the head waiter to retire amidst a flurry of bows and flourishes.

The meal was served in courses, much as on Earth, with enough delay between the installments to allow the three to converse. Princess Leama had been instructed well in the social art of conversation and it was not long before all three were chatting together as though they had known each other all their lives.

"This outing has certainly been a treat," offered Cindy during one lull. "I suppose that as a princess you do this sort of thing all the time."

The princess smiled. "No, not really. You'd be surprised how often my duties keep me from even having a proper lunch. It's usually only on special occasions that I can officially schedule a trip or meal like this in without my private secretary frowning at me. I suppose all those missed meals are what help me keep my girlish figure."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we showed up," Libby joked. "Otherwise you might have wasted away to nothing before too long."

"Yes, quite," Princess Leama replied somberly. "Sometimes I think all the duties will wear me away to nothing, what with the new programs I'm trying to start and the opposition that Mi – my opponents are offering. Ever since I was a larva I felt that changes should be made."

Libby looked up sharply. "Excuse me?"

"Did you say 'larva'?" Cindy asked.

"Yes." The princess looked curiously at them. "Doesn't your species go through metamorphosis?"

"Actually, no," Cindy replied. "We pretty much look the same our whole lives. We just get bigger and change shape a little as we get older."

"Ahh, I see. On our planet we progress through several stages. Soon I will pass through my chrysallis stage be ready to assume the throne." She looked thoughtful. "I suppose that it must be dull to already know what your intended mate will look like before he matures."

"Not really," answered Libby. "We don't know who our intended mate will be until we get older and find them. And a lot of that depends on what's inside rather than just what's outside. There's definitely mystery there to keep things interesting because you can never know ahead of time who someone will end up being."

"How odd!" Princess Leama exclaimed. "On our planet we are hatched into castes that already determine who we will be – royalty, intellectual, warrior, laborer, artist, and the like. The outside changes, but the inside is constant. It is as though the patterns of our two species are the…are the…"

"…converses of each other," Cindy concluded.

"Yes," agreed the princess. "Alike, and yet unalike." She sighed. "I do not believe, though, that our caste system is the best way. I believe that the opportunity for change is necessary for our people to prosper. We readily accept that we can change on the outside. I wish for all to be able to change on the inside if it pleases them and am trying to promote that idea."

"A good plan," agreed Libby.

"Hear, hear," added Cindy.

"But it will not be easy," Princess Leama went on. "Many reject my ideas. Some believe that because I am young my ideas have no value, and that because I am a female what I think has no merit."

"Tell me about it," muttered Cindy.

"I hear what you're saying," agreed Libby.

The princess did not seem to hear them. "And others, like Minister Khormak wish things to remain as they are because he does not wish to relinquish his power. But that will change. It must change if our planet is to grow."

At this point the next course arrived and they were all silent as they sampled the various fruit concoctions on their plates. "Yes, that might explain it," the princess mused, as though to herself, when she had finished. "I had wondered about that."

"Explain what? Wondered about what?" Libby asked.

"About your friend, Carl. He did not seem to me to be of the warrior caste."

Cindy and Libby stared at each other and then burst into prolonged laughter. "A warrior? You mean a fighter?" Cindy asked when she at last caught her breath.

"Yes. But from what you say it would appear that humans need not act according to a caste. I found it puzzling that Minister Khormak would promote a competition between Vermax and Carl. I found it even more puzzling that Carl would agree if he were not a warrior." She nodded slowly. "Now I think I understand. He has chosen to battle, even though I do not know why."

"Well, I think I know why Carl agreed to fight," Cindy replied, remembering Carl's garbled plea for help to Jimmy. "But I'm not sure how your Minister Khormak even knew about Carl, much less pick him for a fight considering all the other human choices he could have made."

"You mean Carl is not a planetary champion?"

"Well, no," replied Libby. "Not as a fighter. But he's been to other planets and not many people from Earth have. Maybe that's why Khormak picked him. We don't exactly advertise on galactic cable so he may have picked the only human he knew about."

Cindy was not convinced. "Maybe," she said doubtfully. "But I think I smell a rat."

"Yes," the princess replied. "I believe that is the next course." Seeing the others' faces she said, "I am sorry. You are herbivorous in nature? What some races call 'vegetarians'?"

Cindy and Libby looked at each other for a moment without speaking. "Yeah, let's go with that," Cindy finally answered as Libby nodded, smiling weakly. "Got to watch those girlish figures, you know."

End of Part 10.