It was the sister who first connected the appearance of hairless, scaleless human flesh with something she had previously seen only in studies.
“By the Pregnant Pouch of Passhawntt—a ssoftsskin! A live ssoftsskin!” Simultaneously fascinated and repelled, she favored the disrobing Flinx with a stare not unlike that a human might employ while eyeing the emergence of a botfly larva from the meat of his thigh. Her brother was no less revoltingly captivated—until it occurred to him that he and his sister were crouching there witness to this revelation while wholly weaponless. Rising abruptly, he moved quickly toward a cabinet built into the blue wall. Divining his intent, Kiijeem hurried to intercept him.
“There iss no need to panic.” Kiijeem indicated the now unashamedly unsuited Flinx. “He iss a friend.”
“That?” One clawed hand paused halfway to the weapons locker, Eiipul IXb stood awestruck and appalled. “Kijeem-friend, it iss a ssoftsskin. A human. A citizen of the desspissed Commonwealth! It iss friend to thranx.”
“Thiss one iss different,” Kiijeem reassured him. “Hiss reassonss for coming here among uss make little ssensse to me.” He looked over at the silently standing Flinx. “They would make even less ssensse, I think, to hiss own kind.”
“Then why iss he here?” Eiipul IXc gaped at the amazing apparition that had appeared in the hub of her home. “How iss he here? And what iss that more normal-looking ssmall coiled thing that hass wrapped itsself around hiss neck and arm?”
“I'm going to tell you everything.” Squatting down, Flinx settled into a close approximation of an AAnn resting crouch. Without the aid of the simsuit he could not maintain the posture for very long: his leg muscles were differently arranged. But he thought the familiar stance would help to reassure his edgy hosts.
“You sspeak naturally,” the female observed in wonderment. “Though your voice iss even more sslippery than mine.”
“I told you he wass different.” Kiijeem was thoroughly enjoying the unsettling effect Flinx's unmasking had had on his friends. AAnn loved surprise and shock, even when it was coupled with fear. “Truly, the sstory he hass to tell iss beyond remarkable. I am not ssure I believe all of it mysself. But I believe enough of it to have brought him here, to sseek the help of the Family Eiipul.”
Cautiously, the brother settled himself into a crouch on the other side of the circle, as far away from the intrusive human as could be considered polite. His civility was instinctive and not prompted by a sudden acceptance of anything the softskin or Kiijeem had said. The weapons cabinet remained close at hand. The young female started to join him, then impulsively started across the sand.
“Ssisster,” he began, alarmed, “conssider your possition!”
“That iss jusst what I am doing,” she replied as she approached to within an arm's length of the crouching Flinx. She extended a clawed hand. Though at ease, he tracked her movements intently. One flick of her clawed hands could shred his face or tear out his throat. On his shoulder, Pip tensed slightly.
“May I,” she began hesitantly, “may I—touch you, Flinx-guesst?”
“Go ahead,” he told her without wavering.
Her left hand rose and reached toward him. The claws retracted and the tips of her fingers made contact with his right shoulder. They drew slowly down his chest as far as his stomach before withdrawing. Gesturing gratitude mixed with muted delight, she stepped backward, her tail swaying slowly from side to side. It took him a moment to identify the meaning of the unusual hissing that accompanied her retreat.
She was giggling. It was, to the best of his knowledge, not a common mode of expression among the AAnn.
“They are ssoft.” She settled back down alongside her uneasy brother. “Like a blood pudding.” Her attention shifted back to the improbable visitor. “I am ssurprissed you do not ssimply collapsse and ssplassh out all over the floor, like a big greassy puddle.”
In his life Flinx had been compared to many things, but never before to a big greasy puddle. He was not offended; he had been called far worse.
Her brother had recovered the emblematic AAnn bravado that had been momentarily wiped away by the revelation of Flinx's true appearance. “Friendsship extendss only sso far.” He glanced pointedly in Kiijeem's direction before turning back to the human. Had the situation been reversed, Flinx knew, Kiijeem would have said and done exactly the same as his friend. “Why sshould we not report your pressence here to the appropriate authoritiess, much less put at rissk our possition both within and without the family in order to assisst you in leaving our world ssecretly?”
“I assure you that I have found mysself wondering the ssame.” Kiijeem turned to his guest. “You musst explain to them, Flinx-friend. You musst tell them everything that you told me.”
“I know,” Flinx murmured ruefully.
Despite his disinclination to do so, he proceeded to do just that.
The exquisite commons room could be solemn or joyous according to the desires of its occupants. After Flinx had finished it was dead silent for long minutes. Having already heard the tale in its entirety, Kiijeem was quiet and composed. In contrast, the emotions of the twins reflected confusion and uncertainty. That was to be expected, Flinx knew. He awaited the inevitable questions.
The first query came from Eiipul IXc and was a compliment to her maturity. “If we had appeared before you on your homeworld, emerged from ssynthetic human sskinss, and told ssuch a sstory, how would you react?”
Flinx had to smile. “I'd be suspicious and skeptical. I'd also think that if I needed to fabricate a falsehood in order to get me safely off the planet, I would invent something a lot less grandiose. No need to claim the fate of the galaxy is at stake, much less that I'm the key to maybe saving it. I would look at anyone telling such a tale and think that he was either the biggest liar in the history of interspecies relations, completely insane—or that if there was even a nub of truth to what he was saying, he might deserve to be taken seriously.”
Eiipul IXb's response was swift. “Truly, I find mysself tending to credit the firsst ssuppossition.”
“I am ssimilarly inclined,” his sister added, albeit not quite as quickly.
Kiijeem stepped forward. “Flinx ssayss that he can impart a sshared experience that will confirm everything he hass claimed.”
“Sso then.” The disbelieving brother studied his friend. “You have sshared thiss ‘experience’?”
Lowering his eyes, Kiijeem gestured second-degree self-effacement. “I regret to ssay that I have not. I have repeatedly requessted to do sso, but Flinx inssisstss that I am not ssufficiently developed mentally and that to partake of it could be sserioussly damaging to me.”
The sister scrutinized the tall human. “How convenient. You claim evidence but declare that itss revelation would be injuriouss to thosse dessirouss of it. You pressent our friend with a possible lie the ssize of the ssouthern continent and then proceed to inssult him when he requesstss proof. I sshould sshoot you mysself.”
Pip's head came up to focus on the young AAnn and Flinx hastened to calm the minidrag. “No insult was meant or intended. If I did not value Kiijeem as a friend, I would not be so hesitant to share this experience with him. I've had occasion to do so with another who was close to me, a very mature human whose affection I value more highly than you do Kiijeem's friendship, and it was a near thing that no lasting damage resulted.” He stared hard at her. “I don't want anything bad to happen to Kiijeem—nor do I want anything bad to happen to either of you. The kind of conclusive confirmation I have to offer will be hazardous enough for a mature member of your kind to experience. That is if, as Kiijeem believes, you can recommend one you think resilient enough to deal with it.”
“I sstill think you are a sspy desserving of interrogation and possible execution,” the brother stated straightforwardly. Flinx stiffened. If necessary, he was prepared to make his escape and flee the residence. The twin youths knew even less of his fighting abilities than did Kiijeem. Flinx was co
nfident that if necessary he and Pip could deal with all three of them. It was the last thing he wanted to do—but as always, he was prepared to do it.
“But,” the brother continued, “the ressolution to this puzzle iss truly quite ssimple. We will introduce you to precissely the kind of mature, powerful nye whosse assisstance you require and leave the decission concerning what to do with you up to him.” He glanced at his sister, who gestured first-degree concurrence. “Tonight, when thiss individual will have time and you can be pressented to him, we will learn truly how much veracity there iss to the bizarrely extraordinary tale you have related. If you are telling truth, then it will be up to him to decide how to resspond. If you are nothing more than the clever fabricator of an elaborate falssehood, then we three here will acquire sstatuss for having identified you and turned you in.” Brother and sister turned their attention to the watchful Kiijeem.
Unmindful of what Flinx might think or how the human might react, the remaining young AAnn responded without hesitation. “That iss a ssumming-up with which I can willingly concur.”
The three of them waited for the softskin's response. While not wholly reassuring, they found it surprisingly worthy.
“If I were one of you,” Flinx told them simply, “I would do no less.”
It was not the first time Flinx had been inside an AAnn structure, but it was the first time he had been inside a private residence. That it was not a typical dwelling complex he knew from what Kiijeem had already told him of the wealth and standing of the Eiipul extended family. In point of fact, his young friend's predescription was unnecessary. Even someone utterly unfamiliar with AAnn culture would have been able to recognize the family's affluence from a casual stroll through the rooms.
The design of the central commons was followed throughout the complex: walls and ceilings soared in curves and waves that employed a minimum of straight lines. Light poured in from above instead of through side windows. Technological enhancements were artfully concealed within walls, floors, and ceilings. Poured floors were fashioned of welded sand, pebbled glass, and other natural desert materials. The hallways and portals that separated individual chambers tended to be high and narrow.
The cumulative effect was akin to walking through a series of small slot canyons of the kind common to water-eroded desert terrain on Earth—or Moth. As he trailed his young hosts through the complex, Flinx was reminded of the time he had found himself relying on the guidance of an elderly prospector named Knigta Yakus to help him survive an entirely different kind of journey on his own homeworld.
As they showed off their residence (and by inference the lofty status of their extended family), with the typical AAnn pride that an unknowing human would have considered excessive braggadocio, Flinx felt that his new hosts were growing more and more comfortable with his simsuited presence. That changed when a muted musical squawking echoed through the recreation room where they were currently relaxing.
From where he was lying in a pool of heated sand, Eiipul IXb whipped around to stand bolt upright. Both ocular membranes fully retracted, he stared wide-eyed at an image that had appeared off to one side. Flinx needed no special visual equipment to grasp the meaning of the three-dimensional projection. It showed a trio of adults entering the complex via the main entrance.
“Quickly!” the brother hissed, gesturing toward Flinx and Kiijeem with one clawed hand. “The matriarch and companion coussinss have returned home early. We musst hide you until tonight.”
“Why?” wondered Kiijeem even as he hurried along in his friends' wake. “Flinx-friend'ss fanciful facade fooled all of uss. Why sshould it not deceive your matriarch as well?”
“Well it might—but that iss not a chance my brother and I dessire to take,” the sister retorted as they rushed hurriedly down a corridor. “A rissk not taken iss one whosse conssequencess need not be contemplated.”
Flinx was not happy when the corridor became a steep ramp that descended one and possibly two levels underground. While neither claustrophobic nor fearful of subterranean realms, he didn't like it when he found himself confined to a place with no apparent escape route. Sealed with his thoughts in the dimly-lit storage room where his hosts left him, he felt trapped. It hardly improved his mood or his confidence when Kiijeem chose to depart along with the Eiipul siblings.
He was left with only Pip for companionship. Unlike her master she had no compunction about exploring the multitude of storage containers that surrounded them. The one advantage to his enforced isolation was that it gave him the opportunity to unseal the simsuit's headpiece. The touch of dry, fresh air on his face, the chance to respirate without having to suck air in through filters, was invigorating. He felt he was relatively safe in exposing himself. Kiijeem's friends would not have chosen the storage room for a softskin's hiding place if they felt it was likely to see any traffic.
Imprecisely, he could sense alien emotions overhead. They were mixed now. More aggressive, more challenging, than those that would have been generated by a comparable gathering of humans. Though he did not know the young Eiipuls well enough yet to unequivocally differentiate their feelings from the group of recently arrived adult females, he was able to easily pick Kiijeem's out of the considerable emotional haze. As always, it was strange to be able to perceive the emotions of other sentients while at the same time being unable to hear or understand a single word of what they were saying.
“What if the ssoftsskin iss lying?” While the family matriarch held domestic court at the far end of the eating chamber, Eiipul IXc challenged her brother and her friend with an anxious whisper.
Kiijeem looked up from his drink, confident that the newly arrived adult nye were too far away to overhear. “I believe he iss telling the truth.”
“We know what you believe,” Eiipul IXb responded with becoming curtness. “Your 'belief iss insufficient to abrogate the prosspect.”
His friend set his drink aside, which was the proper reaction when challenged. “Are you thinking of divulging his pressence to the authoritiess?”
“I do not know what to think to do, Kiijeem.” With a slightly dulled claw the brother picked nervously at the lower edge of his chin. “My insstinctive inclination iss to think all hiss talk of some vasst myssteriouss threat to the entire galaxy iss nothing but the ravingss of an adverssary who hass ssuccumbed to madness. Hiss inssisstence that he iss ssomehow essential to confronting ssuch a colossal danger makess even less ssensse.”
“Yet in hiss actionss and hiss wordss he appearss entirely rational and normal. For a human,” his sister added hastily. “Which leadss to the inevitable corollary: what if he iss not mad? What if he sspeakss truth truly, as Kiijeem apparently believess?”
“I do not know, I do not know.” Pried loose by the constantly probing claw, a dislodged snout scale now hung loose and unflattering from Eiipul IXb's chin.
“Well, fssankk—we will learn the truth tonight.” His sister tried to reassure her sibling while at the same time maintaining a superior argumentative position. “If a loss of sstatuss, or worsse, iss to follow, it will not be uss who ssufferss firsst, hardesst, or longesst from an error in judgment.”
She did not have to look in Kiijeem's direction for him to know who she meant.
Seated in the farthest corner of the dark storeroom, his knees drawn up to his chest, Flinx looked on in silence as Pip happily slithered over and around one container after the other, staring, sniffing, sampling. Though she employed all her senses in the course of her exploration, the minidrag was having a hard time divining the contents of the securely sealed shapes. Her indifferent master did no better. The sundry AAnn containers and complex labels held no meaning for him and little interest.
He had of his own free will placed himself in a difficult, dangerous position. By now the Teacher was likely safely outsystem, speeding through space-plus in a fixed arc that would bring her reconfigured profile back to Blasusarr on a different angle of approach. His ship could not help him even in a dire e
mergency. He still had Pip, of course. And his own singular Talent, which had the disconcerting habit of deserting him when he most needed to make use of it.
He sighed. He would manage. Hadn't he always? But it felt strange. He was used to taking care of himself and not having to rely on the goodwill of others—much less the goodwill of a trio of unpredictable young aliens whose government was dedicated to everlasting Imperial expansion at the expense of the Commonwealth and of his kind.
Looking to his left, he imagined that Clarity Held was sitting there next to him. And was glad that she was not. At least she was safe, back on New Riviera and under the protection of Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex. In the absence of any friend save a small, empathetic flying snake he found himself drifting into depression. He did his best to displace it with anticipation.
Time passed slowly in the underground storage chamber. The interminable hours spent isolated in the gloom and silence would have driven the average human to distraction. Flinx was not average. And not, he reminded himself, strictly human. Not according to the disquieting discoveries he had only just made on Gestalt. Reflecting on that did nothing to lighten his mood.
His melancholy was interrupted, if not exactly relieved, by a change in the emotional atmosphere high above him. The tide of alien sensations that had ebbed back and forth all late afternoon and long into what he assumed must be evening began to fade until only the emotive signatures of the three youths remained. Yet despite their apparent return to isolation, none of them came down the rampway to escort him back upstairs or even to check in on him. Unable to take the risk of ascending on his own, he was reduced to helpless waiting and silent speculation.
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