Chanur’s Homecoming by CJ Cherryh

Does he see? Does he suspect why I ask? He’s no fool, was never a fool, O gods, this is one of half a dozen minds that rules the whole godshelpus Compact, he always was, he’s one of those the mahendo’sat just turn loose to do things on the borders, things that echo years across civilized space. He still is. Even with a Personage here.

“We do fine.” An unlooked-for voice.’ Jik had pulled out one of his abominable smokes and was in the process of lighting it, as if those dark eyes of his were not alert to every twitch from hani and kif. “Ana tell me he get there number one fine, three, four day fight. Chew up Sikkukkut good. Fine for us here. Our friend Sikkukkut-” He capped the lighter and drew in a second lungful of smoke. “He know then damn sure he got trouble. We owe damn lot to Banny Ayhar. Same you, friend. Same all hani come spread alarm.”

“The stsho-”

“Little damage. Lot confuse. Methane-folk take care real good.” A gesture with the back of the hand with the smokestick, vaguely outward. “Same knnn. Offi-cial, a? With tc’a interpreter. Same be tc’a been long time with.”

“The same from Mkks?”

“A. Same all way from Kshshti. Tt’om’m’mu been real co-operative.”

“Then it is your agent.”

A wave of the fingers, amid a hani and a kifish murmuring. “Same talk lot people, a? I tell you, Ana-shoshi na hamuru-ta ma shosu-shinai musai hasan shanar shismenanpri ghashanuru-ma shesheh men chephettri nanursai sopri sai.”

Dialect, thick and impenetrable. It had as well be coded. But Goldtooth’s face went guarded, his eyes darker, with the least small shift toward the left.

Toward Tully. Just that little twitch.

It was a guess what Jik had said. Or how much. A second shift of the eyes, that little degree that showed a white edge around the brown. Back to her this time. “Nao’sheshen?”

“Meshi-meshan.” Jik tilted his head back, a gesture behind him. “Meshi nai sohhephrasi Chanuru-sfik, a?”

It did not please Goldtooth, whatever it was. “Shemasu. We talk. We talk plenty. We tell Personage. You tell these kif go. Now. We deal with methane-folk. You fix stuff here.

“Fix stuff!” She caught her breath and her wits in the same gulp after air, saw backs stiffen left and right and lowered her voice instantly. The han was back there. The Llun. There was a deafening silence.

“Kkkt,” Skkukuk said. “Kk-kkt. This mahe does not dictate here. There will be no escort. There will be no mahen ships in our territory. Do not be deceived.”

“We talk later,” Goldtooth said, and got one step.

Weapons came up. In one move. So did mahen weapons.

“Hold it!” Pyanfar yelled, and shoved a rifle barrel. A kif’s. It was momentarily safer.

“Chanur,” a hani voice began.

“Shut up,” Tirun said.

“Let us begin it here,” Skkukuk said. While Jik put himself between the kif and Goldtooth. Carefully.

“Let’s not.” Out of the peripheries of her vision she saw a human movement, a quiet melting away of certain of that group toward cover. “Tully! Stop them.”

Tully shouted out, instant and shockingly alien and fluent. With an uplifted hand. And that motion stopped.

“Cease this!” the Voice snapped, and said something else in mahensi, too fast and too accented to follow.

“Withdraw them,” a hani said. Downworlder, graynosed. Elderly and overweight. My gods, Rhynan Naur. That gray, that old. The voice rang with something of its old authority in the han. “We will not have our space violated. We will not countenance-”

Skkukuk’s rifle swung that way. “Don’t,” Pyanfar said sharply. “Gods rot it-shut up, Naur. Everybody. Don’t anybody move.”

“You Personage,” Jik said at her left, at Skkukuk’s. “You want stop, you got stop. Shemtisi hani manara-to hefar ma nefuraishe’ha me kif.”

“Trust that we will do that,” Skkukuk said, all hard and with jaw lifted ominously. “We do not intend to take any voyage in your company.”

“We got solution.” Jik winced and pinched out the smokestick that had burned down to his fingers. “Pasuru nasur. Kephri na shshemura, Ana-he. Meshi.”

“Meshi ne’asur?”

“Lot better. Same I say.” Jik looked her way. “We got spacer hani, same. Sikkukkut be damn fool doublecross you, a? Damn fool. All time I say you lot smart. Got whole lot sfik, whole lot stuff, Pyanfar Chanur-same like I say. Same Ana here find you, same Sikkukkut want you-damn good. Now you got say like Personage, you got make decide.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *