by James White
"Your offspring," said Gurronsevas softly, "is speaking very well. I am impressed."
Remrath dismissed the compliment with an untranslatable sound, but it sounded pleased as it said, "As a youth Creethar was a teacher and a debater long before he became an adult hunter, and he will not allow anyone to forget the new wisdom you have given us. Of that you and your off-worlder friends can be sure."
"When I was telling Creethar about these matters," Gurronsevas went on, "my intention was only to take its mind off some deep worry that was troubling it. It was only early this morning that I discovered that it was worried about what it thought was its imminent death. Now it seems to understand the true meaning of what it heard better than I did. But then, I am only a cook."
"A First Cook who will change the eating habits of a world," said Remrath. It allowed time for Gurronsevas to make his own untranslatable Tralthan reaction to a compliment before going on. "Everyone assembled here, from the youngest to the oldest, came to mourn and celebrate Creethar's return to us, and to share and eat the meat of his body. Instead they are digesting the words of the off-worlders and Creethar the Hunter and Teacher."
Prilicla's voice sounded in his earpiece. It said, "This is going very well, friend Gurronsevas, as I felt it would. Even the contactors on Tremaar are pleased with you. Captain Williamson sends its compliments and says that it was a stroke of genius on the hospital's part to send its Chief Dietitian on the Wemar mission, and the report that it is sending to Sector General on what must be the first known instance of culinary first contact will make them very pleased with you as well. I felt I should give you the news without delay, since you may still be feeling uneasy about Colonel Skempton's reaction to your return. There is no need to worry. The Wemar success will ensure that your past misdemeanors will be forgiven and forgotten. Good, I feel your pleasure and relief."
"...Very soon Gurronsevas and the preservers of the ship must leave," Creethar was saying. "They are fearsome beings, especially their master of cooks, who is a creature out of the most terrifying dreams of children. But even the youngest have met it and come to call it friend. The off-worlders cannot stay long with us because there will be much work awaiting them on other worlds or amid the wreckage of the great ships which travel the dark spaces between the stars, where they will be needed to heal and repair sick or damaged beings so that their lives will be preserved as was mine. They told me that the other off-worlders who follow them will not stay long among us either, because they know that the Wem are a proud and able species. They will help us gladly, but they will not allow us to become too dependent upon that help, for that could give us a sickness of the mind that would be permanently crippling. Instead they will help us to help ourselves.
"If we do this, they say, then the time taken for us to replenish our planet, rebuild our civilization and technology, and finally to visit our off-world friends among the stars, will be short indeed..."
"My friend," said Remrath very seriously, "we will not eat meat tonight, and I and Druuth and all of us are glad. Thank you."
Gurronsevas was uncomfortable with displays of emotion, especially his own. He looked around at the cheering crowd, and finally said, "A last-minute change of menu like that can be a real problem for the kitchen staff. Can you use another cook?"