“No.” Her pink tongue flashed out to lick one eye before recoiling, snake-like, back into her mouth. “Of that he hass no remembrance.”
Yet, Takuuna thought. This was even better than he had hoped. The human still had no memory of the administrator knocking him over the edge of Saudaunn Chasm. If all went well, the softskin might not even recognize Takuuna, in which event he was unlikely to offer any kind of resistance. Furthermore, in the absence of conclusive recollection, he would be hard-pressed to raise objections to the accusations Takuuna was now thinking of leveling against him. By employing sufficient effective sophistry, he might even be persuaded to think himself guilty! The only thing better would be for the softskin to actually admit to inspiring the acts of violence that had taken place against the AAnn. The more he thought about it, the more the administrator inclined toward taking the human back alive instead of simply shooting him while he was in the process of trying to “escape.”
Takuuna could not have found things more to his liking had he programmed them himself.
They paused before a double door fashioned of sculpted sand that had been made permanent by the application of a glossy endurizer. To the touch, it felt like warm sand. But nothing less than a rifle would dent it. Following a brief verbal exchange between his sinuous escort and a wall communicator, they were admitted.
The Ssemilionn of the Ssaiinn were an impressive triune. Doubtless he would have enjoyed conversing with them at length, if he'd had the time. But he was impatient to collect what he had come for and to return to Skokosas. Following a brief and courteous exchange of pleasantries, he made the request. The response shocked him to his core. His request was perfunctory, forthright, and devoid of convolution.
The last thing he expected was for it to be denied.
In the silence that followed the downbeat declamation of the female member of the Ssaiinn, he struggled to collect his thoughts.
“Truly,” he finally stammered in indignation, “you are ssaying that you have the ssoftsskin but that you refusse to turn him over to my recognized authority?”
“Truly,” murmured Naalakot with apparent regret. Standing before the male Elder and his two companions, a quietly fuming Takuuna wondered at the genuineness of the sentiment.
Unable to think of anything else to say, the mystified administrator inquired icily, “May I assk why?”
Viinpou responded. “Firsstly, you have not shown any reasson why we sshould feel the need to do sso.”
Takuuna felt as if the solid surface beneath his sandals had suddenly turned to pottage, and that he was sinking, sinking downward into a vat of suffocating incomprehension. What was going on here? Was this a dream, a nightmare? But the air in his lungs was pungent with room scent, and when he blinked flagrantly, he felt the pressure against his eyes.
“ ‘Reasson’? ‘Need to do sso’? I am not required to do either of thosse thingss—or anything elsse, for that matter. I am Senior Secondary Administrator Takuuna VBXLLW, commander of a sspecial ssecurity unit of the Imperial pressence on Jasst, and in that capacity I am not required to jusstify my actionss to you or to anyone elsse other than my immediate ssuperiorss! Are you really refussing to turn over to my cusstody an alien—a human, no less—who iss ssuspected of helping to foment anti-Imperial ssentiment on thiss world?”
“Truly,” confirmed Xeerelu quietly.
Takuuna suppressed the fury he was feeling. “You ssaid ‘firsstly.’ Am I to infer that you have more than one ‘reasson’ for thiss blatant dissregard of authority?” While his voice stayed steady, his tail whipped back and forth in an uncontrollable display of anger.
“Yess.” In the coda to a crescendo of surprises, it was his guide who stepped forward. “The Tier of Ssaiinn doess not matter-of-factly agree to the arresst of one of itss memberss without proof of wrongdoing.”
“Proof of …” Takuuna gaped at her. Even the two troopers looked disorientated. “Wait. ‘One of itss memberss,’ you ssaid?”
Chraluuc glanced briefly at the Ssemilionn. When Naalakot gestured imperceptibly, it was enough for her. “That iss right. The ssoftsskin iss a member of the Tier. He iss one of uss.”
“But that iss, truly that iss inssane!” Takuuna was beside himself. “The Tier iss of The Kind. Ssince when doess it admit hosstile alienss, and a human at that, into itss membersship?”
Chraluuc walked around him to stand before and to one side of the silent, assembled Ssemilionn. “Ssince thiss particular one came among uss. Hiss kind may be hosstile to uss. That I do not know much of. I am, and all of uss of the Tier are, artissans, not politicianss. We do know that thiss one hass exhibited toward uss nothing in the way of the hosstility of which you sspeak, and that ssince coming among uss he hass comported himsself with the kind of decency and grace that would bring credit to any Tier or organization, regardless of sspeciess.”
Takuuna's hissing fell so low that it became difficult to understand his words. “I will ssay thiss only once. The human iss an enemy alien. If you choosse to sshelter him, there will be conssequencess. That you will ssuffer.”
From behind Chraluuc, Naalakot spoke up. “We of the Tier are ussed to dealing with adversse ‘conssequencess.’ Unless you can produce hard evidence identifying thiss individual ssoftsskin as a real and pressent danger to uss and to our kind, he will remain here, under our protection.”
Takuuna would have been excused for flying into a rage—but he did not. Uncontrolled fury was the province of the inept. So he contained, barely, his anger within him.
“You have given me your reassons for defying Imperial authority. Now I want to hear what possible, conceivable rationale you could have for wanting to do sso.”
Anticipating the question even before the administrator's arrival, Chraluuc had prepared a response. “The Tier of Ssaiinn iss about art, not about politicss. Above all elsse, we value individual creativity. Thiss ssoftsskin hass demonsstrated that he possessess that quality. He wass deemed desserving of becoming one of uss.
“He hass now dwelt among uss long enough for uss to determine that he posess no threat, either to uss or to anyone elsse. In that time he hass not left the confiness of the Tier or been in communication with anyone on the outsside. Therefore, truly, he cannot in any way be ressponssible for the atrocitiess againsst our kind that have taken place during hiss ssojourn here.”
Takuuna stared at her, all thoughts of possible mating forgotten. It took an effort for him to keep from lashing the furniture, much less this impertinent female. “Humanss are noted for their cleverness. Are you then sso ssure the one you harbor iss as harmless as you inssisst? You admit to your own ignorance. What do you, artisst, know of humanss?”
“What do you know of them, Adminisstrator?” she shot back. “Truly, we of the Tier know little of humanss. But we do know thiss one.” She refused to back down, either verbally or physically. Nearby, the trio that comprised the Ssemilionn backed her up with stares and gestures.
Takuuna calmed himself. “There iss more to thiss than what you have ssaid. I ssensse that you sseek more here than defiance of authority.” Behind him, the armed troopers shifted uneasily. Their heavy weapons rode awkwardly on their backs, ready to be drawn should the unit leader give the order. But shooting tentacular, headless Vssey or pale, soft-bodied humans was one thing. There was nothing appealing about the prospect of having to pull guns on their own kind.
Chraluuc gestured first-degree acknowledgment. “We of the Tier are artissts. As artissts, we seek to communicate through our work. We have come to view the human who fell to our care as a work in progress. He arrived here not knowing anything of himsself, hiss background, or much elsse. That includess any prejudice he previoussly may have held againsst our kind. He wass, in that ssensse, a blank sscroll. Ssince he hass been here, we have had the opportunity to write on that sscroll.”
Takuuna gestured confusion. “I follow your wordss, but not your conclussion.”
Grateful that the Ssemilionn continued to back he
r, Chraluuc continued. “In thiss human we ssee a chance to promote greater undersstanding between our resspective sspeciess. We believe that, given enough time, we can mold him into a usseful ambassador between human and AAnn. Nothing can sserve the Empire better than to esstablissh closser linkss with the humanss. The more that undersstanding growss between our two sspeciess, the greater the detriment to the thranx.”
They were crazy, these hermetic, isolation-loving artists, Takuuna decided. “You cannot make friendss with the ssoftsskinss. They are ssteadfasstly allied to the thranx, and alwayss will be. Human and thranx are part and parcel of the ssame foe.” He took a step past her, toward the watchful Ssemilionn. “It may be that you are right, that the human hass done nothing wrong. But he iss under ssuspicion. He musst be taken to Sskokossass for proper interrogation.”
“Under whosse ssupervission?” Chraluuc asked quietly.
Right then, he ought to have slipped out of his sandals and disemboweled her with a ritual double upward kick, Takuuna knew. The accusation was blatant. Behind him, he sensed the troopers stirring nervously. Even the heretofore phlegmatic Ssemilionn tensed. Instead, he did the unexpected. He calmly answered the question.
“As head of the unit charged with finding thosse ressponssible for the recent atrocitiess that have been committed againsst our people, it iss part of my job to identify and take into cusstody all thosse who fall under ssusspicion. The sspeciess to which he belongss iss by itsself ssufficient to render the human ssusspect. I am ssorry you cannot ssee that, vssassp. But it doess not matter.” He gestured second-degree reassurance coupled with an overt gesture of concession.
“Let me take him to Sskokossass. Nothing will happen to him without good and proven reasson. If he iss as innocent and ignorant of the affairss of which I sspeak, he will be returned to you in good order, at which time you may ressume your romantic, unrealisstic, and may I add, lunatic undertaking. It and itss outcome iss of no interesst to me. But I musst return with him in cusstody.”
“No.” All eyes turned to Naalakot. “The human iss one of uss. He will not go with you.”
“No?” Takuuna made a sharp, short gesture. Reluctantly, the two troopers unlimbered their rifles. “You continue to inssisst on defying my authority?”
Despite her advanced age, Xeerelu advanced on him with surprising speed, stepping between him and the tautly muscled Chraluuc. “What authority, precissely, iss that, Adminisstrator? Becausse of the sspecial nature of the Tier's Imperial charter, you require a certification of second-degree emergency in order to be able to usse force here.” She could not smile like a softskin, but her punctuating hiss accomplished the same thing. “We of the Tier of Ssaiinn are not nearly sso addled as you appear to think. Among other thingss, we are quite knowledgeable about the rightss that over the yearss we have sstudioussly ssought to compile.”
Takuuna hesitated. The room had become a frozen tableau. Everyone was watching him, including the edgy troopers. Since assuming the mantle of unit leader he always traveled prepared to deal with potential physical resistance. Resistance of the legal variety was another matter entirely. The Elder's words unsettled him, but he did not let it show.
“A moment, truly.”
While everyone waited in silence, it took only a couple of minutes for him to check the truth of the Elder's statement. Gazing at the readout that appeared on his tablet, he was forced to still the trembling in his fingers. It was all there, just as the withered old recluse had insisted, in the official Imperial file relating to the Tier of Ssaiinn and its Imperial charter. Despite the mandate he had been given by the administrative authority on Jast, he could not initiate a forcible search of the Tier's premises without first securing the requisite certification of at least second-degree emergency. Furthermore, the necessary documentation could not be obtained secondhand. Because of its sensitive nature, he had to make the initial application in person.
Of course, he could go ahead, anyway, claiming the need to act on a developing emergency situation on the ground, and attempt to justify his actions later. But these were fellow AAnn he was dealing with, not dawdling natives. There would be many witnesses to dispute the veracity of his claim. Thinking fast, he mulled his options.
If they were so proud of this provocative human's presence among them, and ready to admit to it, that suggested no urgency on their part to hide him. Therefore, the soft-skin was likely to still be here, resting and relaxing among his fellow “artisans” for the foreseeable future. While the delay was frustrating, it was only that: a delay.
Continuing to repress his fury, he gestured as politely as he could manage to the Ssemilionn. He deliberately ignored the acerbic female Elder. She did not seem especially distressed by the oversight.
“I, of coursse, have no intention of subverting Imperial law, desspite the urgency of thiss matter. I will therefore take my leave of you and not return unless I have with me the appropriate criteria for proceeding with thiss matter.” He glared forcefully at each of the Elders. “Until then, I trusst that no attempt will be made to secretly move the ssoftsskin to another location.”
“He iss one of uss,” Naalakot declared yet again. “He will remain among uss.”
“Deprived of hiss memoriess,” Viinpou added, “where elsse would he go?”
While the response did not satisfy, it was sufficient to mollify Takuuna. With a last severe glance in Chraluuc's direction, he gathered up his abbreviated but heavily armed retinue and retired back the way he had come, disdaining her coolly courteous offer of an escort. As soon as the visitors had exited the building, Xeerelu turned to Chraluuc.
“Will the adminisstrator obtain the necessary order allowing him to remove the human from our cusstody, do you think?”
Chraluuc hissed softly and scratched at a loose scale on her neck. “I do not know. There iss ssomething more at work here, I think. Conssidering that Flinx iss but a ssingle human who iss only under ssusspicion and not openly accussed of direct participation in an actual act of violence, I thought the adminisstrator'ss interesst in him bordered on obssession.”
A somber Naalakot gestured concurrence. “I, too, thought thiss bureaucrat'ss degree of interesst unhealthily intensse. We can only wonder as to itss causse. Perhapss the human himsself might enlighten uss?”
“If there iss anything there to sshed ssuch light,” Chraluuc replied. “And if he can remember it.” Tail whipping around behind her, she started for the doorway. “I will assk him, and sshare with you anything relevant that I learn.”
“Besst to learn it quickly,” Xeerelu advised her. One clawed hand gestured in the direction the departed administrator had taken. “I ssusspect our sseething vissitor to process eventss as furioussly as hiss sspittle sstained hiss teeth.”
“The name seems somehow familiar, but I'm damned if I can say in what context.”
Sitting on the curving sweep of moglas, Flinx watched while Pip slithered in and out of its folds. The flying snake had made a game of trying to anticipate where new gaps would open and old ones would close within the animated sculpted bench. Alive with the internal synthetic life-forms that were a hallmark of its construction, the constantly shifting bench massaged Flinx's human backside as tenderly as it would that of an AAnn, with the exception that those extrusions designed to caress his tail continually sought in vain for an appendage that was not there. Flinx worried that Pip might get caught in one of the flowing textural folds, but she never did.
Chraluuc sat on a bench across from him. It was identical to his save that its primary warp tint was deep blue instead of a pale pink. “Try harder. Thiss adminisstrator wantss you very badly.”
The human shook his head dolefully. “I can't imagine why. Not only can I not imagine having anything to do with any kind of local resistance or rebellion, I wasn't even aware one was going on.”
“It hass been kept as quiet as possible—or sso I am told.” They both went silent for several minutes, distracted by the continuous movement of the benches
on which they sat and the visually attractive artificial life-forms that dwelled within the vitreous surfaces.
Looking up, Flinx shrugged. “Not much we can do about it, I suppose. If he comes back for me, I'll have to go with him. I don't want to cause the Tier any trouble.”
“Truly.” She made a third-degree gesture of accord. “You will have to go with him. We cannot defy proper documentation. I would jusst like to know the tailbasse of thiss individual'ss obsession with you. And it iss an obssession. The Ssemilionn agree with me.” She leaned toward him, her sharp teeth gnashing gently close to his face. “Think, Flinx! If you are not a party to what he iss accussing you of, then why the firsst-degree interesst on hiss part?”
Fingers interlocked, Flinx repeatedly tapped his hands against his forehead. “I don't know, cherished Chraluuc. I just don't know.” When he looked up again, she thought him as helpless as a cub. His gaze was as vacant as his memory. “I don't remember anything. …”
13
Lwo-Dvuum was hopping toward the moving walkway that skimmed the exterior of the faculty lounge at the far end of the school. Work for the day having been concluded, it was time to relax and converse with colleagues. The questions that had been posed in today's several edification sessions by young, maturing Vssey whose frills had not yet changed color had been unusually draining, and the educator was looking forward to the customary late-day respite.
As a last hop placed Lwo-Dvuum on the walkway and a farther jump effected the necessary transfer to its faster adjunct, the communicator attached to the service strap that encircled the teacher's mid-trunk vibrated silently for attention. Bending forward brought it within reach of the tentacles that lined the educator's upper body. A simple curl of several proximate appendages lifted it close to the hearing frill that ran between upper dome and limbs.
“Lwo-Dvuum standing.” Who would be calling at this time of the workday, the educator wondered?
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