this encounter should prove...stimulating

An envoy, to the palace. A landing party, they called themselves.

Aegaeon hardly had time to contemplate how such a collection of individuals had transported (indeed?) themselves to the slow-baking ground before Hardhaigh when they had approached him, taking due note of his hand at the hilt of his katana.

Two in blue, and one in red. Simple clothing. Too simple even for Gormott or Leftheria. One of those in blue had pointed ears. The one in red had blue skin, but antennae, and rounded ears. Surely not Indoline, then.

What were these individuals hiding?

The leader, that with the pointed ears and angled brows, raised his right hand in a kind of salute: the four fingers spread apart into two groups, and the thumb unaccounted for. Aegaeon could not help mirroring this gesture, becoming so engrossed that he nearly missed the words issuing at a slight delay from his guest's mouth.

"Greetings. I am Spock, an officer of the United Federation of Planets. My companions and I are on a peaceful mission to make contact with those of your planet who will speak with us."

But what on Alrest was a planet?

Aegaeon frowned, and as he did so he saw Spock's face also setting. The mirror was mutual, then. A counterwave for a counterwave. If one was determined not to hold their stance - not that Spock seemed to be acting in such a manner as to display any particular weak points - then cues could wisely be taken from the opponent.

If they were, in fact, so opposed.

Spock's companion in the blue uniform bounced irritably on the balls of his feet. He whispered something conspiratorial to Spock also, but this Aegaeon did not catch.

Diplomacy on Alrest did not usually proceed in such a manner. Aegaeon himself was hardly qualified for it. But Brighid and Hugo were elsewhere, and in some sense he did count it a stroke of luck that it was not Brighid these strangers saw fit first to meet.

"I stand ready to face all comers," he produced at last.

Spock nodded. "Do you lead your people?"

Ah, this. Aegaeon bowed. "I am but a humble servant to His Majesty."

"A monarchy, then?"

"Indeed."

The irritable fellow's next comment, Aegaeon did catch: "Organized little bastards, aren't they?"

Aegaeon's face hardened further - as did Spock's, but whether this was a further symptom of the mirroring or simply a reaction to the same instigation was indecipherable.

"Did your party expect to find Mor Ardain disagreeable or small-minded?"

"Having proceeded to Earth after an encounter with a singularity, and finding it not populated with its former billions of life signs, we were surprised to find any life and society at all that appeared not to be firmly post-apocalyptic," Spock explained. He did not beg clarification on what Mor Ardain was, nor did he offer apology for his friend's faux pas.

Such were the whims of time's spacial ocean, or thereabouts.

"Ah, then you must be mistaken. This is not Earth; this is Alrest."