Regarding an unrelated manner, in one of the classier eating establishments aboard...
Diplomatic Officer Kurt Honnête is on duty. Scolopendrans have an only slightly undeserved reputation for being unusually rigid while working, but Kurt is so intent on whiling away the time nonchalantly that he can't be doing anything but professionally waiting just as a well-trained member of the International Relations Section should be. He sits at the table in full Class As, charcoal sleeves and sides of his short double-breasted coat cut by sky-blue shoulderboards and pauldrons, silver crossed olive-branches on his collar denoting rank, silver S-shaped centipede insignia on his right breast announcing who he is, silver--see the trend?-- nameplate underneath the centipede announcing his family name to the world. It's a good name for a diplomatic officer and, by the fact it is currently visible, it is a good indication by regulations that he is on duty. The right lapel of the plastron hooks under the right shoulderboard; when that hook is released, the plastron folds over into a white flap--the duty flap. A quick, efficient, and thus inherently 'Pendran way to indicate 'out-of-uniform' status and thus being off duty.
The duty flap is up, though, and therefore Kurt is on duty. He's much too couth to check his watch; after all, scheduling is not really an issue and he was early to begin with. As much importance as the Segments puts on punctuality and timing, it's not quite as important in the Diplomatic Corps. His opposite number will arrive when he arrives; that's the only thing that matters that is still open. The rest has been taken care of.
A nice, friendly, neutral-enough place. They even let in people from nations they don't like, although they watch those people extra-closely... that's fine. That's preferable, even. It's in the open, and quite public, and that's part of the show: this meeting surely isn't for the Segments' benefit, not really. It's just the right thing to do; should it work, that's great; should it not, well, at least the attempt was made and nothing of value was lost in the attempt. This particular mission isn't critical, and hence, there's a negligible amount of risk associated with it and should be no pressure.
Still, Kurt is a very dutiful officer, and if there's no external pressure, well, he'll pressure himself without showing it, keeping his keen brown eyes busy on reading the menu a third time over; or keeping his lean hands folded, fingers covering for his thumbs dueling behind the shield thus created; or tapping his toes inside of the toeboxes of his highly polished standard issue Scolopendran 'combat' boots.
