Chapter Twenty-One

"Ah, you must be the man responsible for finding this wonderful engine, It's a pleasure to meet you Captain Jor."
"Lieutenant actually, this is Captain Hamaf, my superior officer."
"Oh, my apologies.  Captain?"
The head of the research team was a chubby little man.  Short, large, greasy; all clear signs of nobility.  No one else would be able to eat well enough to gain weight, and they certainly wouldn't be able to do it without working hard enough to lose the weight. 
He found himself wondering whose children were going hungry so that this man could be fed.  Had the nobles been this way all along and he'd simply never been close enough to notice before? 
"My apologies, you probably aren't used to this amount of attention from a noble.  You must be speechless from the honor.  Come, I'll show you my work."

He let the round-gutted man lead them towards the lower laboratory.  Jor glanced at him, seemingly seeking reassurance that they should follow along.
"Get used to it Lieutenant.  Once you and Polly settle down these are the sort of folks you'll be dealing with."
"Hilarious Captain.  Any more wonderful things I should know about my future extended family?"
"Yea, get someone else to drink your tea first.  Don't think before you do things.  And change your routine weekly.  People will try to kill you just because you aren't one of them."
"Fantastic, and if I do become like one of them your daughter's friends will do it instead."
"Pretty much, and don't expect much of a dowry either.  Mummy and Daddy won't approve of you anyways." 

"What are you two waiting around and talking about, this is a poor use of my time as it is."  The researcher laughed.  Presumably at what he perceived as a joke about the lower classes being poor, and their being the ones he was evidently being compelled to spend his time on.  It would have been a bad joke even if they hadn't been the target. 
"The man is quite right Jor, this is a poor use of our time.  Not like us worthless grunts would be any use working on fancy upper space technology anyways."
"That's exactly what I told his majesty.  But he insisted, he said to me 'Grath, I have it on good account that the man who found the thing might be able to help you decipher some of those markings.'  Now I don't normally question his majesty, but I asked him, 'your majesty, what rube would dare advise you to send a peasant to try and read alien writings like these?'  And you know what he told me?"
They shook their heads obediently. 
"He said 'Grath, you great fool,' he was kidding of course, 'Grath you great fool, the best of all the nobles were raised as little more than peasants.  Never underestimate what we are capable of when forced to endure true trials.'  Ah, but the young man is quite the idealist; always thinking the best of his subjects."
"Of course, and we are very grateful for his confidence in us.  We will do everything we can not to fail him."

And he meant it.  Even with men like this running the empire, it was good to know that the Emperor at least had full confidence in the commoners.  It reassured him to know that his faith in the system had not been entirely misplaced.