I have come to believe that the greater a culture's control of the
environment in which it finds itself, the greater its dedication to
matters of ceremony and protocol and I steeled myself for a
prolonged ritual involving marching bands, tutued till checkers, baton
wielding Olympians and footballers' wives on skates, not to mention
hostile dwarves and uniformed pipers. We would still be reviewing
passing battalions and gazing skywards for fly-bys long after Planet
Zemlia had been bržlŽed beyond recognition. And so I was agreeably
surprised that we were to be treated to a type of neo-Byzantine
mechanical display, at least that is how I interpreted the sudden
opening of the superstructure directly above the MarkVI and the
lowering of a crown that looked to be sculpted or cast, rather than cut,
from a single massive emerald, that was economical of both time and
space.
'The greatest blessing of modern technology is,' announced the
MarkVI , 'that one is never more than a hiro or two from a crown!' And
as the emerald headgear settled neatly into the crisp white waves on
her head, there emerged from the vertical structure of the billiard
room walls a sumptuous gold and red velvet throne thematically
referenced to marine life. No rampant elephants here! Very possibly
the concept was intended to skate around any suggestions of
territorial possession, and the elegantly curved blue whale in the act
of raising its tail so that the flukes formed a canopy that was
consistent with both the furnitural and ceremonial aspects of the
piece and the anatomical credibility of the creature, allowed the crown
wearer to be seated with the full dignity of aesthetic support. But an
armless throne! Surely such a stunning essay in egalitarianism has
never existed! And even as the notion arose in my mind, it was
dispersed by the sight of the pectoral fins most beautifully and
naturally raised as brachial supports!
'Please note,' whispered the Engineer, as much to Pestit as to me,
'that she is enthroned on a plankton and non-chordate nekton eater,
symbolic of her wish to be at one with the environment. The protocol
is that, in the case of her gaze from the throne alighting on any one
of us, and that includes myself, the recipient sinks to his or her knees
until such time as she turns her gaze on another object.'
I raised my hand, as I had a number of objections. 'Yes, I know this
game, it was first instituted by Richard II, and surely it needs more
players?' I was proud of myself for having this factoid so ready to
