"And be spoiled rotten."
"Are you suggesting that I was spoiled? Don't bother to tell me." She leaned past him to stare at the status displays. "We'll be through the final Bose Transition in five minutes. Come to the forward observation port after that. We'll do some practical planning." She stroked the short hair at the back of his neck, sending tingles through him, and was gone.
Hans stared at the controls as another message appeared over the superluminal communications network. Was that
it
, the confrontation that he had so been dreading? Darya was an exceptional woman. And a super-smart one. Because there it was, another artifact vanishing exactly as she had predicted. Every last one of them was going, according to the bulletins.
The
Salvation
was about to clear its final Bose Transition. Only when that last jump had been taken would he feel free to join Darya. The Bose Network was not a Builder creation, as he had once feared, but its nodes were certainly affected by the presence or absence of nearby Builder artifacts. He would be far easier in his mind as soon as he was sure that the ship could fly the rest of the way subluminal.
One minute more to the Bose Transition. Hans's expression changed to a scowl as he checked the screen displays for the rear section of the ship.
That damned Zardalu!
He'd feel easier when the jump was over, and easier still when that midnight-blue nightmare was gone from the
Salvation
. Louis Nenda claimed that the beast was safe, but it had managed to work a tentacle loose while the ship was first going superluminal. If it had quietly used that tentacle to free itself, instead of flailing at every fixture within reach, it might now control the whole ship.
Maybe the Fourth Alliance did need a mature Zardalu for study, Hans thought, as the Bose indicator blinked in with a transition accurate to the microsecond. Maybe they would pay a huge reward for it, as Nenda and Atvar H'sial claimed. But did the two of them have to choose the biggest and meanest Zardalu that Rebka had ever seen?
They were feeding the brute now, with great chunks of synthetic meat. Were they trying to grow it even bigger? Well, good luck to them. Hans checked the control settings one more time and stood up. He had more productive—and pleasant—ways to pass the remaining days of subluminal flight.
Nenda and Atvar H'sial were feeding the Zardalu. They were also talking to it. And it was just as well that no one else on board could follow the conversation.
"Don't give me that." Nenda was using the extreme form of the master-slave language. "I saw what you did with just one tentacle free. You smashed bits of the ship all to hell, so me and At got blamed for bringing you aboard. We should have let you rot in Labyrinth. Taking over control of the
Salvation
is one thing, but unstrapping you so you can help do it is another."
"Master." The land-cephalopod, floating in front of Nenda, could scarcely move in its double-strapped harness. But the long purple tongue reached out, inviting him to step on it with his boot.
"You can put that thing away. It's disgusting."
"Yes, Master." Four feet of tongue slid back into the narrow vertical mouth. "Master, I can help you to conquer this ship. I lost control of myself earlier. That is why I broke things. I thought that I was about to die."
"Maybe you are—or worse. The people on Miranda say they want to examine an adult Zardalu. That's you. But when they say 'examine,' they really mean 'dissect.' See, it all depends what I tell 'em. If I say you belong to me, and I need you back, that's one thing. You stay in one piece, no cutting. But if I say you don't belong to me, an' I don't care what happens to you . . ."
"I do belong to you. Completely. I will be your willing slave. Master, do not leave me in the hands of strange humans. My brood-mates and I learned our lesson on Serenity and on Genizee. We know that compared with your Master Race, all other species of the spiral arm are weak, pitiful, sentimental imbeciles. Humans are the most resourceful, intelligent, terrifying, and
cruel
beings in the whole spiral arm." The saucer-sized cerulean eyes saw a scowl appear on Nenda's face. "And also, of course, the most
merciful
."
"Better believe it.
All
of it. Hold on a minute, though. Gotta talk to my partner." Louis turned to Atvar H'sial. The Cecropian had been monitoring the exchange through Nenda's pheromonal translation. She had been given a censored version of the Zardalu's final comments. Delivery of the "weak, pitiful, sentimental imbeciles" comment had been postponed. Nenda would like to see Cecropian and Zardalu go fifteen rounds with the gloves off, but this was not the day for it.
"At, we got to make a few decisions real soon. We're gonna drop Jelly-bones here off on Miranda, but what next? Do we try to steal this ship? Do we go to Sentinel Gate with the others? And do we make a pick-up at Miranda later, when they're all done with Zardie?"
"No, we do not steal this ship. No, we do not go to Sentinel Gate." The emphatic pheromones became charged with suspicion. "Will the Lang female be there? I feel sure of it. We will not go there. But yes, we do collect the Zardalu after it has been examined. That all fits the grand design."
"It does?"
"Certainly. Why steal this ship, which is of indifferent performance? We will have plenty of money when the Zardalu has been delivered to Miranda."
"But no ship."
"Miranda Spaceport offers the largest selection of vessels in the whole spiral arm. We will acquire one. We will then claim our Zardalu. If you like, we will visit the Mandel system and determine if your own ship, the
Have-It-All,
has reappeared there. And then—we return to Genizee."
"Genizee! At, no offense, but you're out of your mind. I spent months tryin' to get out of that place."
"In very different circumstances. First, the Anfract is no longer to be feared. Any dangerous aspects were a consequence of its being a Builder artifact. The same is true of any problem we had in escaping from Genizee itself. Finally, let me remind you of Quintus Bloom and Darya Lang's assertion: the Zardalu will play an important part, along with the other clades, in the future of the spiral arm. And we, Atvar H'sial and Louis Nenda, will control the Zardalu! Already, they think of themselves as our slaves. Let me ask you a question: Do you know of any other planet in the spiral arm that we can make completely ours?"
"No place that I'd want to go. We could probably buy Mucus for next-to-nothin', but you can have my share. All right, I'll go for the deal as you've pitched it. But I don't know why you keep goin' on about me and Darya Lang, that's old history." Nenda turned back to the waiting Zardalu. "My partner has pleaded with me on your behalf. We will make sure you don't get damaged too much on Miranda."
"Thank you, Master." The purple tongue came slithering out.
"Put that away. I don't ever want to see it again."
"Yes, Master."
"And after we get you back from the people on Miranda, we're going to take you home. To Genizee. Then you'll help us make plans for all the Zardalu to come back to space.
Under our control
. You understand?"
"Yes, Master. I will serve you faithfully. If necessary, I personally will kill any Zardalu who seeks to do otherwise, or who disobeys you in any way."
"Attagirl. That's what I like to hear. If you're really good till we get to Miranda, I'll let you glide down the gangway on your own tentacles and wow the locals. That's a promise." Louis turned to Atvar H'sial. "Okay. Done deal. Only thing left is to collect the money."
"That, and one thing more." The Cecropian followed Nenda as he started out of the cargo hold. The pheromones were oddly hesitant. Nenda wondered. Atvar H'sial was not noted for diffidence.
"What's up, At?"
"I wish to request a great favor of you. These past weeks have been most frustrating for me. I have lacked communication ability with anyone but you. And yet the future of the spiral arm, we hear, must involve increased interclade activity. Therefore, I have reached a decision. I must perfect an ability to interface directly with humans."
"No problem. We'll get a ship with plenty of computer capacity."
"That will not teach me the human outlook, as it is reflected in your curious speech. I will need a computer as the interface, true. But I must also converse with a human."
"What the hell do you think I am? A peanut?"
"A patient human. One willing to devote substantial time to the effort."
"Forget it."
"Precisely. Which brings me to my request. Would you consider asking Glenna Omar on my behalf to travel with us, to assist me in perfecting my human speech skills? She already taught me to employ beat frequencies within my echolocation system, and so offer the longer wavelength sounds accessible to humans. Thus, a greeting." Atvar H'sial produced a grating low-pitched groan. With a lot of imagination Nenda decided that it could be interpreted as "Hello."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"Improbable as it seems, I think she admires you more than me. The request would be received better from you. Also, you are able to frame it with more precision in human terms."
Nenda swung round and stared up at the Cecropian's blind head. "Let's get this straight. You want me to try an' talk Glenna Omar into signing on with us? Long term."
"Precisely. If you are successful, I will acknowledge a major debt to you."
"Damn right you will. It sounds impossible."
"But you will make the attempt?"
"I don't know. When?"
"As soon as possible."
"Hell."
"I hope not. You will do it?"
"All right. I'll talk to her." Louis glared up at his towering partner. "But I don't want you watching. You'll mess up my style."
"I will not move from this spot until you return."
"Might take a while no matter what she says."
"I will wait. And I will steel myself for the possibility that you will return with bad news."
"You do that. I'd better get it over with."
The passenger quarters were in the bow, far from the cargo hold. Louis started the trek forward, wondering how he was going to handle this. There wasn't a chance in a million that Glenna would agree, but he had to make Atvar H'sial believe that he had done his best.
In the mid-section of the ship he came across Kallik and J'merlia sitting cross-legged on the floor. He stopped as he came up to them, struck by another thought.
"What are you two planning to do, now the trouble's all over?"
Lemon-yellow eyes on their short eyestalks and doublet rings of black eyes gazed back at him in shared amazement. "Why," said Kallik, "we are coming with you."
"And with my dominatrix, Atvar H'sial," J'merlia added. "What else?"
Which made the presence of Glenna Omar unnecessary. J'merlia was the perfect interpreter. It would be no good telling that to At, though. Louis knew from experience, the Cecropian was nothing if not stubborn. If she insisted that she wanted to learn human speech from a human . . .
"Atvar H'sial is back there." Nenda nodded aft. "Go tell her that the two of you will be staying with us, and say that's fine with me. Tell her I'm on my way to talk to Glenna Omar."
Which just about wrapped it up. A quick and indignant refusal from Glenna, and Louis could break the bad news to the Cecropian. He started out again along the corridor.
Glenna was alone in her bedroom, staring into the mirror. Even now, with the emergency long past, she was not wearing makeup. Her blond hair was piled high, showing the long and graceful neck, and her skin was as clear and smooth as a young girl's. She was wearing a scanty pink slip with a plunging neckline, long gold earrings, and nothing else. Her reflection beamed at Louis as he came in.
"Just the man I wanted to see." She did not turn around.
"Yeah?" A bad start.
"You know that after Miranda, the
Salvation
is heading for Sentinel Gate?"
"I hear that's the plan. Darya Lang and E.C. Tally want to go there."
"But Hans Rebka says you won't be going on. You'll stay for a while on Miranda, then take off for some other place."
"Sounds more than likely. Miranda's not the place for me and At, any more than Sentinel Gate."
"Or for me." Glenna spun around in her chair to face him. She stood up and grabbed his hands. "Louis—take me with you. Wherever you're going, I want to go."
"What!" Nenda's defenses came up automatically. "Sorry. Can't do that."
"You like me, I know you do. Why don't you want me with you?"
"I do like you." Nenda hadn't intended to say that. He was baffled by his own surge of feelings. "I like you, sure I do. But it's—well, it's—I dunno. It's not that simple. I have to say no."
"Is it that you are ashamed that you come from a crude, barbaric part of the spiral arm, and you know that educated people from any decent place will look down on you?"
"No, it's not that."
"Is it because you have a funny accent, so that civilized persons laugh when they hear you?"
"Never occurred to me. I think I sound fine."
"Is it because you know you're little and dark and ugly, and I'm tall and blond and beautiful?"
"Naw. But don't stop. You're doin' wonders for my self-esteem."
"Because, you see, if it's any of those things I don't care about them at all."
"It's none of them."
"So what is it?" Glenna struck a pose, hand set on rounded hip. "Don't you find me attractive?"
"I think you're the sexiest thing on two legs. Or four." Louis saw her eyes widen, and added hastily, "Not that I've tried that, of course. But you don't know what
I'm
like, Glenna."
"So tell me."
"I've led a hard life."
"And you haven't let it break your spirit. I admire you for that."
"Not an honest life."
"Who is honest? We all tell lies."
"Mebbe. But Glenna, I'm a
crook
, for God's sake."
"And I'm a tramp. Ask anyone on Sentinel Gate, male or female, they'll tell you. We make a fine pair, Louis."