Greene ran after them and interposed himself, on guard, between the alien and the Human. The largest of the Gringg tensed, watching carefully.
“Be careful, Landreau,” Greene cautioned the younger man, who lay gasping and breathless with laughter on the deck. With one arm, he pulled Landreau to his feet. “You have no idea what your actions may mean to these aliens.”
“Aw, he’s playing, Commander,” Landreau said. The cub’s tail swished from side to side like that of a large dog, and Jilamey ruffled the fur between its ears.
“It’ll think you’re a child, too.”
Jilamey pouted. “Oh, don’t ascribe Hayuman assumptions to him, Commander. We’re learning a lot about each other, aren’t we?” he said to Weddeerogh, who blinked shyly at Greene.
“I’d like to bring some of these fellows home with us,” Ken said to the navy medic, “but I’m afraid they might not survive on Doona. We don’t know anything about their physiognomy, nor they ours. What are your impressions?”
“I wish I could get some samples of skin, blood, and hair,” Lauder replied. “I could tell you a lot more if I could do microscopic analyses.”
“When we can speak a little more of their language, we’ll ask,” Ken said. “It’s presumptuous to try before they can understand just exactly what we want. And why.” He turned to Frill, whose attention seemed to be wandering. “How about you? Any ideas?”
“Sorry, sir,” Frill said, reddening slightly. “My stomach’s rumbling. I, uh, couldn’t eat before we left. Hope they don’t misconstrue the sound.”
Ken smacked him on the back. “Good idea. Food! We’ll offer them some of our rations, let them analyze them, see if our food’s safe for their insides. There’s got to be emergency packs in the shuttle.”
“There should be, Dad,” Todd said, “if it was stocked according to regulations.”
“Naturally the shuttle was prepared according to regulations,” Frill said, regarding father and son with horror. “You’re not proposing to give them our food, are you?”
“Why not?” Ken asked reasonably. “It will give them an idea if our biosphere is compatible with theirs. They appear to be carnivorous, with those teeth—maybe even omnivorous. Be interesting to see if their comestibles are at all similar to ours.”
During this discussion the Gringg withdrew to have a conference of their own.
“Our visitors seem willing both to teach and learn,” Grizz said thoughtfully. “I feel it is safe to risk the second step. Move slowly and give them no cause for suspicion.”
“As you wish, Captain,” Eonneh replied, watching Genhh Rhev expostulating with the rest of her party. “I’ll go get what is required.” Grizz shouldered him companionably as he left the room.
“Go quickly, my mate. If this works out as we hope, you’ll have plenty of material for an epic poem, with yourself as the hero!”
Todd, Hrriss, and Commander Frill went back to the shuttle. According to Spacedep regs, emergency gear, including “rations ready to eat,” or RRE’s, were always kept in a locker beneath the co-pilot’s couch. The ring latches securing the cubby door were frequently stiff, but a quick twist and tug by the powerful Frill opened the door without trouble.
“Don’t give it all to them,” Frill asked, eyeing the RRE’s as Todd stacked them into a heap. “Leave me one, won’t you?”
“You won’t faint dead away on us, will you, Frail?” Todd grinned, and got an answering smile from the Spacedep officer.
“Not now,” Frill answered, a little sheepishly. “Not as long as I get something to eat.”
“Don’t worry,” Todd said with complete understanding. “I’m a big feeder myself. You can be the one to taste it in front of them so they can see that we warrant this food as safe.” Willingly, Frill picked out his favorite from the sealed packs, and split up the rest to carry between himself and Hrriss.
“Todd,” Ken called as they emerged from the shuttle. “Our friends here had the same idea.”
Todd grinned. Piled high between Ken and Grizz was a quantity of wrapped and unwrapped goods. Eonneh and another medium-sized bear, whose coat was colored a dark, dusty cocoa, had Ensign Lauder by the console, showing him a program that displayed changing views of complex designs that Todd couldn’t distinguish from where he stood. As he closed the distance, he imagined that he recognized the designs.
“You know, if those were on our computers,” he suggested, “I’d think they were molecular diagrams. But of what?”
“The proteins, or whatever’s in these goods?” Ken asked. He pantomimed to Grizz, pointing to the items on the floor and back again at the screen. “Is that the substance of this?” The big ursine roared softly, a triumphant sound. “I guess that’s what he said.”
“Reh!” Grizz acknowledged, crossing huge paws across his chest once more.
“How about it?” Todd asked Lauder. “Would a molecule like that be safe for Hayumans and Hrrubans to eat?”
“No doubt about it,” Lauder replied, showing him his pad screen. “It’s a common protein chain. The others are complex carbohydrates, pretty similar to stuff we eat. It’s strange, because their digestive systems are very different from either of our two races.”
Greene frowned. “In what way?”
“More efficient, I’d say. My scans, though I can’t absolutely warrant the accuracy on alien biosystems, pick up a kind of ‘afterburner’ below the stomach, just after the pyloric valve. Well, that’s what it’d be on one of us. For their size, I bet one of them doesn’t eat much more than one of us does.”
“Speak for yourself,” muttered Frill, disconcerted.
Todd slapped him on the back and escorted him to the Gringg leader. “Now, Commander, you want to demonstrate the purity and deliciousness of one of our RRE’s for our hosts here?” he asked. Collecting a nod from Frill, he and Hrriss placed their armloads of packages in front of Grizz, next to the heaps of Gringg offerings. “These are examples of our food. We’re giving them to you for your examination. First, we’ll eat a sample.” He accompanied his speech with pantomime, which he hoped was comprehensible to the aliens.
As the Gringg watched with interest, Frill eagerly tore open the pressed-plastic packet, then looked dismayed as the difficulty became obvious.
“The helmet,” he said, glancing at Todd for help. “How’m I going to eat wearing a helmet?”
Todd and Hrriss looked at each other and then at Ken.
“Well, one of us is going to unseal sooner or later,” Todd said. He attacked the grommets around the base of his helmet, twisting the fastenings loose.
Greene sprang forward and grabbed his wrist. “What do you think you’re doing, Reeve? Attempting suicide? If you choose to take foolish risks, I can recommend to Lauder here that we have you brought back to the cruiser in restraints to wait until a psychiatrist sees you.”
“I never take foolish risks,” Todd said. He shook off the man’s hand. “The ensign here has already told us that if he encountered an atmosphere like this one planetside, he’d consider it safe. Isn’t that right, Ensign?”
Lauder, not eager to get into the middle of a battle between a renowned planetary leader and a formidable ranking officer, quickly nodded his head. Encouraged by Todd’s friendly smile, he added very timidly, “I’d think we were lucky, too, if the air on the Hamilton was this fresh, Commander.” The medic swallowed hard as Greene turned his stare upon him, but he didn’t recant.
“Therefore I consider the odds very much in my favor.” Todd unfastened the plastic bubble and took it off. In the same instant, Hrriss removed his own headgear, and both took a deep breath. There was a murmur of approval from the Gringg. Todd almost choked with nervousness as the warm air hit his lungs. The two of them waited, watching each other for signs of anoxia, wondering if they had made a mistake, each ready to slap the helmets back on.
One minute, two minutes, passed. There was no sound in the landing bay except for a mechanized hum deep in the heart of the giant ship. Todd could almost hear the sweat trickling down his back. It was hard to believe that only a couple of hours ago he had been sitting at the head of a tableful of voracious and self-seeking delegates who intended to ruin a special part of his planet to satisfy trade requirements. If he guessed wrong, if the data that the young medic had been carefully monitoring was incorrect, he could be about to die. Todd felt with every nerve-ending the touch of moving air on his skin. It was pleasantly warm. His lungs dragged it in and pushed it out. It took more of an effort than breathing usually did, but he was in a slightly heavier gravity than what he was used to. He was consciously tasting each breath for poisons, but there was only the cloying smell of recycled air and a musky, not unpleasant aroma, probably exuded by the Gringg.
He felt lightheaded. What was it they said? That after five minutes without oxygen one became irreversibly brain dead? Everyone was looking at them, expecting a reaction of some kind. Hrriss’s nostrils twitched, and his ears swivelled forward expectantly. Todd suddenly realized that he was holding his breath. If there’d been enough oxygen to sustain him for the last five minutes, the next breath should be fine, too. With a halfhearted laugh, he let go and sucked in a deep lungful of air. Nothing adverse had happened. He was alive. Hrriss was alive. They and the Gringg breathed the same sort of air.
“It’s all right.” Todd nodded at his friend, and they fell into one another’s arms. “Go ahead, Frill,” Todd said, as he and Hrriss pounded each other on the back in relief. Ken Reeve was smiling. “Lauder is right. Our atmospheres are at least compatible.”
“So they could live on our worlds, if they disposed of us,” Greene said, his eyes cold.
“Enough of that, Greene!” Todd said firmly. “There are no indications whatsoever that these creatures are aggressive. On the contrary, in fact! May Commander Frill assist me now with a food demonstration?”
Grudgingly, Greene gave the order. Frill saluted and began to undo the helmet fastenings.
Watching Todd and Hrriss all the while, the big Spacedep officer lifted off his helmet and put it on the floor beside him. He, too, took a few tentative breaths before relaxing.
“It’s real air!” he said simply, a grin spreading over his big face.
“This’ll cause speculation among the scientists,” Ken said. “Are all spacefaring races oxygen-breathers? Or do oxy-breathers tend to be pacific? There’s a theory in there someplace.” He took off his helmet, then peeled off his gloves. The baby Gringg toddled toward him again, this time chortling joyfully to itself that Genhh now exuded a totally different, and much more preferable scent—one compounded of many subtle smells. Ken was sniffed over from toe to crotch to pate.
With no hesitation, Jilamey removed his helmet. Timidly, with a glance at Greene for permission, Lauder opened his a crack, testing the air against what was in his rebreathers. Only Greene remained sealed in his protective gear, like a disapproving robot glaring at the others.
The Gringg, too, seemed to be happy with the removals, grunting low, pleased sounds to themselves, though only the littlest one made tactile, and nasal, contact.
As the Gringg watched with considerable interest, Frill consumed an RRE. He tore mouthfuls away from the bar of compressed protein, chewed, and swallowed them. The carbohydrate wafer crunched loudly in the metal-walled room, and the packet of fruit conserve went down with a slurp or two.
“Uh, see?” the officer said, twisting the packets into a little ball and tucking them into the empty box, a little uncomfortable to have his greed witnessed by such a crowd. “That’s good food. Not as good as fresh, but okay.”
“O-kaayy.” Grizz echoed the word.
Todd thought that the big alien understood. It signalled to Eonneh, who undid one of the sausage-shaped packets and ate the contents, patting his chest to indicate satisfaction when he had finished. Todd caught a whiff of his scent. Not too bad, he thought. It smelled a little like smoked snake.
“Here, try this one,” Todd said, pushing aside containers of tuna fish, Doona snake, bean curd, turkey, and cheese, to open one of his favorites. It was popcorn, in a self-heating hemispherical container. Cautioning the Gringg not to touch, he pulled the seal. The disk-shaped base started to glow. In a few seconds, the whole unit began to shake. Weddeerogh jumped, letting out a squeal of surprise, then hunkering down, getting as close as it dared to the twitching and bulging package. Todd grinned. Popcorn was not only food, but entertainment. Grizz watched more calmly while the silver dome unit expanded one pop at a time, until it had reached four times its original size. A small red spot appeared on the top of the dome, signalling that it was through cooking. Todd burst open the thin covering and took a handful of popcorn.
“See? This is really good.” He ate it piece by piece, crunching each between his teeth with obvious satisfaction.
“Goo-ood.” Using its long claws, the Gringg picked up a single puffed kernel and looked at it, a giant examining a grain of sand. Then it indicated to Ken that he should take the other Gringg rations, and sat, continuing to study the fluffy morsel of com.
“Great,” Ken exclaimed, collecting the bundles and putting some of them in his equipment pouch. Lauder, his hands shaking slightly, picked up an armload of the supplies and stowed them in his equipment carryall. “Thank you, Grizz. We’ll be happy to take these. Soon as we have a good close look, we’ll know if it’s safe for you to come back with us.” He bowed to Grizz and nodded to the others. “Thank you for letting us visit. We’d better get back, boys. The Admiral and the others will be going spare wondering what happened to keep us so long.”
“One more thing,” Greene said quickly, planting a hand on Ken’s shoulder. “Tell them they’ve got to keep their ship in this orbit. If they move, we’ll consider that an act of hostility, and we will attack.”
“Now, how do you expect me to explain that to them?” Ken demanded, fed up with the Spacedep commander acting the eternal wet blanket. “I don’t even know how to say ‘how are you?’ much less ‘stay put.’ ”
“Oh, draw them a picture,” Jilamey said impatiently. He knelt down beside Eonneh and held out a hand toward the Gringg’s two-finger stylus. “Can I borrow that?”
Surprised, the honey-colored alien put the drawing implement in his hand and pushed the tablet toward him. Jilamey whistled at the weight of the instrument, then fitted his fingers into the twinned loops. He drew a little circle on his hand with the point, and smiled up at Greene.
“Now, what kind of orbit do you want them to stay in?”
Glancing at the Admiral’s aide for permission, Commander Frill slumped down beside Jilamey, and looked up at the Gringg captain. “Draw Doona there,” he said to Jilamey, indicating the center of a blank tablet page. “Now, draw a big circle around it, far out, beyond the moons—better draw in the moons—and put their ship on the big circle. Boy, this is undignified,” he complained, looking up at Ken.
“Go on,” Ken encouraged him. “You’re doing fine.”
“Well,” Frill said, showing the tablet to Grizz. “This,” he said, following the circle around the planet, “is good. Uh—This”—he took the stylus from Jilamey and drew a tangential line leading away from the circle with an arrow—“er, is bad.” He crossed out the line. “This is bad, too.” Red to the ears, he drew in another tangent, this one leading inward toward Doonarrala, and crossed it out. “Do you understand? Stay on this orbit.” His finger traced the circle around and around.
“Reh!’ Grizz said, following his gesture. “Orrrbitttt. Nggh yaahrr mmmmonnya.” The Gringg showed a mouthful of long white teeth and black gums to indicate comprehension.
“Well done, Frill. Satisfied?” Ken asked Greene. “Again, Captain Grizz, our compliments. Until we meet again?” He bowed and turned away. Together, the party walked back toward th
e Spacedep shuttle.
For big creatures, the Gringg could move surprisingly fast. Eonneh and the strange bear who had brought in the Gringg rations waddled swiftly past them, and stood by the shuttle. The party stared at them, their initial fears returning.
“Now what is this?” Greene demanded, stopping at a distance from the ship. He felt again for his side arm and cursed Todd Reeve’s insistence on coming unarmed. “Are they preventing us from leaving? Are we prisoners?”
“Eonneh gerrvah,” the light-brown Gringg said, and indicated its companion. “Ghotyakh gerrvah aui’d.” The other, its rubbery mouth drawn back in the imitation of a human smile, waved at them and set a gentle paw down on the top of the shuttle.
“Quite the opposite,” Ken suggested, eyeing this gesture with amusement. Ghotyakh must be an engineer, if he pats spaceships like ponies. “I think they want to come with us as emissaries.”
“Impossible!” Greene was alarmed at the thought of Gringg loose on a Spacedep ship, or amuck in the colony itself.
“Not at all.” Ken glanced back at Grizz, who raised a giant snout in their direction. The intelligent, red-brown eyes were calm. “They’re showing that they trust us.”
“They could die from exposure to toxins or bacteria on Doona.”
Ken shook his head. “Obviously, Commander, they’re willing to take that chance. That’s something they need to learn from us, too: if both species can exist in the same biosphere. And I get the impression that if we don’t take them, we don’t leave.”
Jilamey blinked. “Who do we leave behind as volunteers? As our ambassadors?”
Ken grinned pointedly at his son. “Any volunteers?”
“Hrriss and I will stay,” Todd said quickly, barely beating out Hrriss’ call to remain.
“We are the logical choices,” the Hrruban agreed. “We already serve the diplomatic arm for both Hrruba and Earrth, as well as Doonarrala.”
“Wish I had your background in languages, Dad,” Todd said, “but I think we’ll get along.”
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