They spent weeks exploring and learning from Tance and Skepre. At their request, Skepre had provided molded chairs that matched the human form and other convenient furnishings. They also got foods that were more to their liking, so that supplies wouldn’t have to be sent down from the space station quite as often.
The Emperor was ready to see them again, but first he requested that they accompany them to a special event. Tance confirmed Jake’s theory that their existence had not been revealed to the public. They were to be transported secretly in a vehicle, which to Jake’s relief was provided with human form seats.
Jake had requested that Jang and Riojme join them, but they agreed with Tance that it would be better if they came after the Emperor’s special event.
The building they arrived in for the special event was huge and they were taken by Tance and Skepre in by a back entrance accompanied by half a dozen Replini guards and, of course, their own robotic Attendants. The guards seemed somewhat nervous about the Attendants since robots were neither common nor sophisticated on Replin. Jake even overheard the guards talking, when they thought that Jake and Ming couldn’t hear, about the odd shape of the robots and thought it was much more proper for a robot to be in the shape of a Replini rather than a human.
After they had passed through endless corridors, they were taken into a room with tinted windows through which they could see out. It was a huge indoor stadium; large enough to comfortably fit at least a quarter of a million Replini; about half of the seats were filled and attendees were streaming in. Apparently, the room they were in was the Emperor’s own private box seats. The front of the room had a glass door that emptied right into the arena floor. The Emperor, Zdane’i, and Pamoi joined them shortly thereafter and the stadium was quickly filled. A large screen directly across the arena from them flashed to life and dozens of Replini began to file out of doors onto the arena floor. In most cases, they looked older since their skin had lost its glossiness and the color was somewhat faded.
All the Replini on the arena floor stood at attention as the Emperor got up and walked out to join them. The large screen showed the Emperor close up as he walked out and stood at a podium and began his address.
“My beloved subjects: standing before you today is one of my greatest joys.” The Emperor then turned bright red and the audience imitated him and began to smack their tail horns against their seats making a thunderous noise. When they settled down, the Emperor continued. “These subjects you see before you are our greatest heroes. They have served you and me and they are a testimony to the greatness of our nation. The glory of our nation is its people and these are the best of the best. It is my honor to present them with their awards.”
Their awards were special bonus pensions paid before they were retired, equal to ten times the average annual salary on top of whatever they were already getting from their employment. One by one, the Emperor brought them up to the podium and gave a brief summary of their accomplishments. They were scientists, engineers, business people, military officers, and especially notable to Jake, one was a computer software designer, but none were artists or entertainers. This didn’t surprise Jake because their TV programs demonstrated they had a different focus from earth people or the Aye. After each presentation the audience provided a thunderous applause of tail-smacking.
One thing that Jake learned from the Emperor’s speech, and from clarifications in a later conversation with Tance, was a way Black Kingdom culture differed from his own. He had come from a place where bad behavior was punished by the government, but good behavior was not especially rewarded. Even in 23rd century earth, there was nothing like it. Each pensioner had been subjected to several secret, hidden-camera-style tests of entrapment and had passed them all. In addition each pensioner had never had a single violation of Imperial Edict recorded in the judicial system, not even a parking ticket. This was a critical component of the bonus pension awards: that the government was a punisher of evil and a rewarder of good.
