The Lord of the Plains (51 page)

Mr Geiba was doing it again.

Vann almost expected to see his nose
wrinkle.

Vann gazed back without expression. His grey
eyes showed his anger at this man’s attitude, but the little man
was too busy looking at him like he’d crawled out of a sewer to
notice.

‘What are they wearing?’ the man demanded in
outrage.

‘What are who wearing, sir?’ Vann asked
pleasantly.

‘Those women! Behind you!’

Vann turned to look. ‘Clothes, sir. Do women
in Astar not wear clothes?’

The man sucked in a breath, while Vann
returned his look innocently.

‘What?’ his voice was so weak Vann hardly
heard it.

‘Clothes, sir, the women are wearing
clothes.’

‘Y-yes, but…’

Vann didn’t help the man out.

‘Ladies, you there, ladies!’ the man called.
‘Please, come here!’

The pair of young girls, a brunette and a
blonde, glanced at Mr Geiba. When they saw Vann however they came
over, blushing and giggling.

‘That!’ Mr Geiba pointed at the brunnette’s
chest. ‘That!’

The girl covered her chest with her hands
and glared at Mr Geiba. ‘What’s your problem?!’ she demanded.

Vann, personally, couldn’t see what the man
could be upset about. The girls were dressed normally for a day out
in the warm weather of Coastside. They couldn’t have been more than
twelve or thirteen. The blonde had a knee length skirt and a
sleeveless shirt. The brunette had shorts and a shirt with sleeves
rolled up to her elbows.

‘Mr Geiba.’ Vann snapped. ‘Control
yourself!’

Mr Geiba stared at Vann. ‘What? What? The
thing around her neck! What’s she
wearing
?!’

The girl, confused, lowered her hands and
held out her necklace. It was a small cone shell on a piece of
string. She’d probably found it herself on the beach.

‘It’s a necklace, sir.’ Vann stated, his
voice hard. ‘I’m sorry,’ he turned to the girls. ‘He’s from
Astar.’

‘Oh!’ they said in understanding. The
brunette smiled at him shyly as the blonde pulled her away.

‘What do you mean? Of course I’m from Astar?
Why is she wearing a shell? It’s wasteful!’

Vann glared at Mr Geiba. ‘It takes a while
to teach Astarians manners. Apparently they don’t have any in
Astar.’ He walked off, not waiting for a response.

Vann had been ordered to show Mr Geiba
around Coastside, so he did. Mr Geiba had a list of places he
wanted to see. Where to buy food, clothes. Housing. Records. And so
on. He’d asked for clarification, what sort of clothes shop do you
want to see? Do you want restaurants or do you want to see the
marketplace? Mr Geiba had given him a funny look at that and
finally said he’d better see everything. Vann had already shown him
around the Blocks. At least Mr Geiba hadn’t found too many problems
there.

Vann didn’t allow Mr Geiba to catch up to
him. He only stopped once they reached a dress shop. There were
many in this section of the city. Perhaps Mr Geiba would get his
fill here.

The shop had wide open windows filled with
displays. There was a sign over the door with the name of the shop.
The floor was carpeted in red.

When Mr Geiba entered he looked at the
carpet as if it was trying to eat him.

Not long after they entered an energetic old
man hurried out of a back room.

‘Oh! Welcome, welcome! How can I help you?
Who are we shopping for today?’ He looked from Vann to Mr Geiba
with a beaming smile on his round face.

Mr Geiba looked up at the man in a way that
made it seem as though he was looking down. ‘What,’ he demanded,
‘is on your floor?’

‘It’s a carpet.’ Vann said testily. ‘And
there’s nothing wrong with it. I’m sorry, please ignore Mr Geiba,
he’s from Astar.’

‘Ah.’ The man said knowingly, his smile
vanishing. ‘Well, I should show you around, Mr Geiba. I think
you’ll find we have more options here than what you’re used
to.’

Mr Geiba followed the man around the shop.
He was giving him the same look he had given Vann. At that moment,
Vann hated him. The shopkeeper had done nothing wrong, nothing to
deserve such disrespect and contempt.

‘I can adjust any of the items you see here
to fit you personally, sir. Fitted clothes look much better, you’ll
find. If you would like some extra alterations made, we can do that
too.’

‘Fitted.’ Mr Geiba said. ‘
Why
would
you do that?’

‘You’ll see once you’ve worn clothes that
have been tailored to fit you, sir. You’ll never go back, I can
assure you.’

‘Wasteful.’

‘I think russet would suit you well, sir.
I’ll show you some of our more
simply
cut items.’

They spent the rest of the day walking
around clothing stores. Mr Geiba was no more polite to the people
that worked there than he was to the first man.

Once it began getting dark Mr Geiba decided
it was time to head back. The route back to the Blocks led them
along the bay. Bureaucrats usually stayed in the Square though Mr
Geiba had insisted, for whatever reason. Maybe he wanted to be
close to the submariners?

‘What’s that?’ he demanded, pointing at the
lights shining across the bay.

‘Dr Ralis’ house.’ Vann said stiffly, his
gaze focussed on the water. It helped.

‘Why does he live all the way over there?’
Mr Geiba demanded.

‘I don’t know. The beach?’

‘The beach?’ Mr Geiba repeated. ‘Submariner
Vann, you aren’t being very enlightening.’

Vann suppressed a sigh. ‘Dr Ralis lives in
his villa over there with his daughter. They have a private beach
which he pays submariners to patrol. His daughter likes blue and
running people over. I’m told Dr Ralis prefers light beer. I’m
afraid if you want to know more you’ll have to go over there and
talk to Dr Ralis yourself.’

‘P-p-private beach?!’

The next day Mr Geiba insisted on continuing
their inspection of clothing stores in Coastside. It seemed he
wanted to go to every store in the city.

Altogether, it took them two days to visit
every store.

Not all the stores offered tailoring
services, still, the variety and colours found in those stores
reduced Mr Geiba to an apoplectic rage.

The Commander looked over at Mr Geiba in
amusement.

He was practically frothing at the
mouth.

The Commander could only pick out a few
words but he heard, ‘depraved’, ‘wasteful’, ‘rude’, ‘ignorant’ and
lots of inarticulate screaming.

‘Are you having problems with Submariner
Vann?’ The Commander asked pleasantly.

For a blissful moment Mr Geiba fell quiet.
‘He’s a depraved, benighted lout, an embarrassment to Coastside. He
has no respect for anything. Why did you call me here, Commander,
he’s supposed to be showing me around the market.’

‘I’m afraid Vann Hilyard has been
reassigned.’

Mr Geiba was momentarily surprised.
‘Why?’

‘Oh, I’m afraid he was needed elsewhere.’
Mostly, the Commander thought Vann was going to take a lightning
rod to Mr Geiba and throw him in the bay if he spent another second
with him. Lart Reista had spent most of his life with the
submariners, and knew many of them very well, particularly the
orphans like Vann. Vann hadn’t said anything about Mr Geiba, but
one look at his face was enough.

‘I hope you find Submariner Jeris more to
your liking.’

‘Well, does he walk as fast as Officer
Vann?’ Mr Geiba demanded. ‘Does he know his way around the
city?’

‘Oh, I thought you didn’t like him.’

Mr Geiba gave the Commander a level look. ‘I
can still appreciate competence, even if he has no other redeeming
qualities.’

‘I was unaware Coastside had so many fish.’
Mr Geiba said, his mouth set in a thin line as he eyed the silvery
mass on display at the market stall.

The fish markets were located near the
docks. They were open stalls, with colourful banners erected above
announcing wares and prices. Further back from the bay as you
walked away from the fish stalls were other stalls. This was where
many of the hobbyists sold their wares. You could find many of the
items sold at the open air markets at regular, permanent shops,
though the prices and quality were different.

‘Oh, yes, sir.’ Jeris said, his eyes wide.
‘We have lots of fish. Would you like some, sir?
The Net
is
very good, sir, very affordable. If you’re feeling a bit more
spendy then
The Sea Captain
or
Leili
are other
options.’

‘No. Tell me, how are they priced?’

‘Oh, quite reasonably sir.’

Mr Geiba turned his stony gaze on Jeris. ‘I
want numbers, Submariner. I want to know how the prices are
staggered. I want to know how much fish come into Coastside.’

‘Oh.’ Jeris thought about that for a few
moments. ‘I don’t know the numbers, sir. And the fish prices aren’t
staggered.’

‘Aren’t staggered?!’ Mr Geiba’s voice
started getting higher. ‘Aren’t
staggered?!
’

‘No, sir. Same price, however many you buy.
Though I think you can get a discount if you buy lots, hmm… I guess
they are staggered then!’

Mr Geiba started making choking sounds.

‘Is something wrong, sir?’

‘Oh, very wrong.’ he screeched. ‘I can’t
tell you how wrong it is!’

‘Oh! Well, follow me sir!’ Jeris set off at
a good clip, leading Mr Geiba through the labyrinth of stalls as
easily as if he was following a map. ‘Is it a headache sir?’ he
called back. ‘Or your stomach? Something else?’

As he followed the fishy stink faded.

They entered a different section of the
market. Herbs were tied from stall roofs while jars and bottles and
packets of
stuff
were arrayed on tables.

‘Stop!’ Mr Geiba commanded. ‘Submariner
Jeris, get back here!’ He needed to know what all this merchandise
was!