tomcat.
"Good morning," Peters said. "Are you Znereda?"
"Oh, yes," said the Grallt. "And you must be Mr. Peters and Mr. Todd. Come in, come in, I’ve been waiting for you." He backed away from the door and waved them through into a room with more of the maroon padding on the floor. Comfortable chairs faced a desk and a blank wall, painted dark green, with scrawls across it.
Graffiti? Here?
Peters thought, before he realized that here was a genuine antique. He’d had chalkboards in the country school he’d gone to as a kid, but hadn’t seen one since.
"Not ‘mister,’ Todd corrected. "Just ‘Peters’ and ‘Todd’. Only officers are ‘mister,’ and that’s only until they make commander."
Znereda chuckled, human style instead of Grallt choking; it sounded artificial. "We’ll discuss that at another time," he declared. "Today I’m the teacher, and you are students." He gestured at the chairs. "If you’ll please sit down, we’ll begin."
By the time Znereda let them go it was almost time for the second meal, and they knew that that was the beginning of the second
ande
. They knew that there were six
ande
per
llor
or watch cycle, eight
utle
per
ande
, sixty-four
tle
per
utle
, and sixty-four
antle
per
tle
. They could count to "ten"–actually eight–in the Grallt numbering system, and say the number-names to a "hundred," actually sixty-four. They knew the names of a few common foods, and how to say "yes," "no," "please," and "thank you." They were also exhausted from the mental effort.
Dee wasn’t in the mess hall when they got there. Peters looked at the watch; it was still half an
utle
before the second
ande
, and people would be drifting in over the next half hour–
utle!
–or so. The waiter came up; they struggled through the food names they thought they knew, and earned a deeper nod than before when they got it out comprehensibly. What they got was what they’d expected, which was quite a little triumph when they thought about it, and they fell to.
When Dee came in a little while later they were almost finished. "I see you have learned a little of the Trade language," she commented. "That will be a great relief for me."
"Gettin’ tired of dealin’ with sailors already, are you?" Peters asked.
"No, not at all." She moved her lips in her "wrinkled nose" gesture, a sort of three-cornered pout, the points where her facial cleft met her mouth protruding more than her lower lip. "It is just that I am not anticipating the next
ande
with pleasure."
"Why’s that?" Peters asked. He noted that Todd had looked away, and realized with a start that he felt no aversion. Sometime in the past few hours Dee had changed from "funny looking creature" to "person, a little odd" verging on "pretty girl, but different." Her eyes were light brown with a distinct pinkish cast.
She made the expression again. "Cleaning," she said. "The quarters the officers will be using must be cleaned and stocked. It will not be pleasurable work, I think."
Peters decided the expression meant "distaste." "Well, I reckon it won’t get no better for waitin’," he commented. "You eat already?"
"Yes, I ate with friends before I came here." She stood and breathed out, a humanlike sigh. "And you are correct, of course. Shall we go?"
She led them back to the entry to the officers’ quarters, where they met three more Grallt, all male. Dee gave the newcomers a short pep talk, with gestures at the two sailors, and they turned to, beginning on the third level and separating into a division of labor. Two of the Grallt went ahead, dusting, while the third cleaned the fixtures in the heads, and Peters and Todd followed behind, Peters with a broom and Todd with a swab. Dee vanished, and the three Grallt spoke no English, so they communicated by handwaving.
It was a lot of space, and was going to take a while, even with the lick-and-promise approach the Grallt seemed happy with. "No white gloves here," Todd remarked somewhere on the second
"Good morning," Peters said. "Are you Znereda?"
"Oh, yes," said the Grallt. "And you must be Mr. Peters and Mr. Todd. Come in, come in, I’ve been waiting for you." He backed away from the door and waved them through into a room with more of the maroon padding on the floor. Comfortable chairs faced a desk and a blank wall, painted dark green, with scrawls across it.
Graffiti? Here?
Peters thought, before he realized that here was a genuine antique. He’d had chalkboards in the country school he’d gone to as a kid, but hadn’t seen one since.
"Not ‘mister,’ Todd corrected. "Just ‘Peters’ and ‘Todd’. Only officers are ‘mister,’ and that’s only until they make commander."
Znereda chuckled, human style instead of Grallt choking; it sounded artificial. "We’ll discuss that at another time," he declared. "Today I’m the teacher, and you are students." He gestured at the chairs. "If you’ll please sit down, we’ll begin."
By the time Znereda let them go it was almost time for the second meal, and they knew that that was the beginning of the second
ande
. They knew that there were six
ande
per
llor
or watch cycle, eight
utle
per
ande
, sixty-four
tle
per
utle
, and sixty-four
antle
per
tle
. They could count to "ten"–actually eight–in the Grallt numbering system, and say the number-names to a "hundred," actually sixty-four. They knew the names of a few common foods, and how to say "yes," "no," "please," and "thank you." They were also exhausted from the mental effort.
Dee wasn’t in the mess hall when they got there. Peters looked at the watch; it was still half an
utle
before the second
ande
, and people would be drifting in over the next half hour–
utle!
–or so. The waiter came up; they struggled through the food names they thought they knew, and earned a deeper nod than before when they got it out comprehensibly. What they got was what they’d expected, which was quite a little triumph when they thought about it, and they fell to.
When Dee came in a little while later they were almost finished. "I see you have learned a little of the Trade language," she commented. "That will be a great relief for me."
"Gettin’ tired of dealin’ with sailors already, are you?" Peters asked.
"No, not at all." She moved her lips in her "wrinkled nose" gesture, a sort of three-cornered pout, the points where her facial cleft met her mouth protruding more than her lower lip. "It is just that I am not anticipating the next
ande
with pleasure."
"Why’s that?" Peters asked. He noted that Todd had looked away, and realized with a start that he felt no aversion. Sometime in the past few hours Dee had changed from "funny looking creature" to "person, a little odd" verging on "pretty girl, but different." Her eyes were light brown with a distinct pinkish cast.
She made the expression again. "Cleaning," she said. "The quarters the officers will be using must be cleaned and stocked. It will not be pleasurable work, I think."
Peters decided the expression meant "distaste." "Well, I reckon it won’t get no better for waitin’," he commented. "You eat already?"
"Yes, I ate with friends before I came here." She stood and breathed out, a humanlike sigh. "And you are correct, of course. Shall we go?"
She led them back to the entry to the officers’ quarters, where they met three more Grallt, all male. Dee gave the newcomers a short pep talk, with gestures at the two sailors, and they turned to, beginning on the third level and separating into a division of labor. Two of the Grallt went ahead, dusting, while the third cleaned the fixtures in the heads, and Peters and Todd followed behind, Peters with a broom and Todd with a swab. Dee vanished, and the three Grallt spoke no English, so they communicated by handwaving.
It was a lot of space, and was going to take a while, even with the lick-and-promise approach the Grallt seemed happy with. "No white gloves here," Todd remarked somewhere on the second
Similar Books
