The Korthane "academic observers" arrived in Year 314 with seventeen pieces of luggage, four letters of introduction from the Hegemony's Cultural Exchange Bureau, and the studied innocence of people whose actual profession was not cultural exchange.
Harven Brightforge read the letters at his desk. The letters were impeccable — elaborate calligraphy on domain-treated parchment, stamped with the Arbiter's trade-seal, requesting permission for three Korthane scholars to "observe and document the cultural and architectural achievements of the Sovereign Dominion for the purpose of academic enrichment and inter-civilizational understanding."
Academic enrichment. Harven had been in politics long enough to know that "academic enrichment" was the polite term for "intelligence gathering," the way "cultural exchange" was the polite term for "we're sending people to look at your military infrastructure."
