more than just another Stenos.
“Forgive the interruption, Dr. Metsss, but the chimp scientist Charlesss Dart-t has asked to speak with you. I think the little ape wantsss to bitch to somebody again.”
Metz frowned. K’tha-Jon was only a bosun, and not expected to be as refined as Takkata-Jim. Still, there were limits, even considering the giant’s hidden background.
I will have to talk to this fellow, he reminded himself. This kind of attitude will never do.
“Please inform Dr. Dart that I’m on my way,” he told the fin. “I’m finished here for now.”
11
Creideiki & Orley
“So we’re armed again,” Creideiki sighed. “After a fashion.”
Thomas Orley looked up from the newly repaired missile tubes and nodded. “It’s about as good as we’re going to get, Creideiki. We weren’t expecting trouble when we popped into a battle at Morgran transfer point. We were lucky to get away with as little damage as we took.”
Creideiki agreed. “Just ssso. If only I had reacted faster.”
Orley noticed his friend’s mood. He pursed his lips and whistled. His breather mask amplified a faint sound-shadow picture. The little echo danced and hopped like a mad elf from corner to corner in the oxywater-filled chamber. Workers in the weapons pod lifted their narrow, sound-sensitive jaws to follow the skipping sonar image as it scampered unseen, chittering in mock sympathy.
* When one commands,
One is envied by people—
But, oh! the demands! *
The sound-wraith vanished, but laughter remained. The crew of the weapons pod spluttered and squawled.
Creideiki let the mirth settle. Then, from his brow came a pattern of chamber-filling clicks that merged to mimic the sounds of thunderclouds gathering. In the closed room those present heard raindrops blown before the wind. Tom closed his eyes to let the sound-image of a sea squall close over him.
* They stand in my road,
The mad, ancient, nasty things
Tell them “move, or else!” *
Orley bowed his head, acknowledging defeat. No one had ever beaten Creideiki at Trinary haiku. The admiring sighs of the fen only confirmed this.
Nothing had changed, of course. As Orley and Creideiki turned to leave the weapons pod, they knew that defiance alone would not get this crew through the crisis. There must be hope, as well.
Hope was scarce. Tom knew that Creideiki was desperately worried about Hikahi, though he hid it well.
When they were out of earshot, the captain asked, “Has Gillian made any progresss studying that thing we found … the cause of all this trouble?”
Tom shook his head. “I haven’t spent more than an hour with her in two days.”
Creideiki sighed. “It would have been nice to know what the Galacticsss think we found. Ah, well …”
They were stopped by a sudden whistle. Tsh’t, the ship’s fourth officer, flew into the hallway in a cloud of bubbles.
“Creideiki! Tom! Sonar reports a dolphin at long range, to the eassst, swimming this way at high speed!”
Creideiki and Orley looked at each other. Then Tom nodded at the captain’s unspoken command.
“Can I take Tsh’t and twenty fen?”
“Yesss. Get a team ready. But don’t leave till we find out more. You may want to take more than twenty. Or it may be hopeless to go at all.”
Tom saw pain in the captain’s eye. He motioned for Lieutenant Tsh’t to follow and swam rapidly down the flooded corridor toward the outlock.
12
Galactics
Feeling the combined joys of patronhood and command, the Soro, Krat, watched the Gello, the Paha, the Pila, her creatures, as they guided the Soro fleet toward battle once more.
“Mistress,” the Gello detection officer announced. “We are approaching the water world at one-quarter light-speed, per your instructions.”
Krat acknowledged with a bare flick of her tongue, but secretly she was happy. Her egg was healthy. When they won here she would be due to go home and mate once more. And the crew of her flagship was working together like a finely tuned machine.
“The fleet is one paktaar ahead of timetable, mistress,” the detection officer announced.
Of all the client species owing allegiance to the Soro, the Gello were special to Krat. They were her own species’s first clients, uplifted by the Soro long ago. The Gello had in their turn become patrons as well, and brought two more client races into the clan. They had made the Soro proud. The chain of uplift went on.
Deep in the past had been the Progenitors, who began Galactic Law. Since then, race had aided race to sentience, taking indentured service as payment.
Many millions of years ago, the ancient Luber had uplifted the Puber, or so the Library said. The Luber