“First give oji.”
“First give No’shto-shti-stlen.”
“Simul-taneous.”
“All right. You bring No’shto-shti-stlen, I bring the oji.”
“Maybe so you got Atli-lyen-tlas. Maybe you think pull trick. I tell you, we see stsho, that stsho dead before foot touch this deck. Same hani.”
Nowthe masks were off. Now they knew the players. She stared at the mahe as eye to eye a hani could, at a species head and shoulders taller. “I’ve said what we have to have. Simultaneous transfer. Then we start talking—and talking seriously, mahe, no damn tricks on your side either.”
“You got pocket com? You crew follow all this?”
What’s he up to? she wondered; and said aloud: “They’re listening, damned right.”
“Same mine. Same stsho. We stand here, you crew bring oji, stsho bring No’shto-shti-stlen. All fine.”
“Fine.” She folded her arms. “Tiar?”
“Aye, captain,”the answer came back.
“When I see No’shto-shti-stlen on the dock, I’ll advise you. Nothing leaves the ship before then.”
“Aye, captain. “
“Advise the hakkikt we’re in negotiation and we’ll keep him posted.”
“/’// do that, captain. “
She gave a wave of the hand. “Your turn.”
A casual puff of smoke. Haisi rattled off a string of mahendi language she didn’t follow that well. But it contained words like No’shto-shti-stlen, gtst, and stsho.
There was argument.
Haisi said, “Stsho want know no guns.”
“No guns.” She switched to stshoshi, figuring on Haisi’s bug to pick it up. “I wish to establish friendly relations with the most distinguished representatives from Llyene. I should in no wise wish to perform a tasteless act of violence or to endanger them in any way.”
Haisi didn’t understand all of that, either. It was not altogether Trade-tongue.
Haisi looked just a little uneasy. So the stsho weren’t prisoners. And, being stsho, they were probably treating No’shto-shti-stlen tolerably well, so long as events were uncertain, so long as there was the remotest chance, of anything going contrary to their plans.
Probably too, No’shto-shti-stlen, the canny old fellow, had held out hope, so long as he had a throw of the dice left. Haisi had said gtst, and maybe it was the standard, safe term, and maybe it was something else. Some stsho might have Phased under such stress. But she fully expected to see gtst in possession of gtst name, gtst dignity, and gtst claim to the oji.
And the stsho would not be safe from gtst until they had the oji, that seemed likely from the persistence with which Haisi wanted to lay hands on it.
When that went into hostile hands, this emblem of whatever gender it was, evidently No’shto-shti-stlen posed no threat. And she wished she knew she was doing the right thing.
But time passed, and passed, here in the dockside cold with, she was sure, a good many eyes on every breath they took. Haisi smoked one smoke-stick down to a stub, extinguished it with a pinch and put it in the pouch of his kilt, from which he took out another and lit it with a good deal of fuss.
“That can’t be good for you,” she said, and Haisi let out the breath he had been drawing in while lighting it, put the lighter away and laughed.
“Not good,” he said. “Keep want quit. How you? Got no bad habit?”
“Husbands,” she said. “Just got my second.”
Another laugh. “You marry! Heard same. Maybe you cheat on husband, we get together next port. Big party.”
“With you? No thanks. I have some taste.”
Haisi grinned wide. “I bet you good.”
“Number one right I’m good. Ask me again sometime, oh, three, four years. I might be in the mood for a pirate.”
“Honest citizen. I tell you, Hilfy Chanur, you got learn tell difference, quit lie down with kif.”
She’d heard about every nasty comment on that topic there was. She put on a perfect smile. “What is the difference? Hah?”
“Cute hani. Pretty nose. Pretty eyes.”
“You are a bastard, Haisi. A charming bastard. But you are a bastard.” There had been movement just then, across the dock, on the merchant strip, a pale-robed shadow, and another, now. “Looks like stsho.”
Haisi didn’t turn his head to look. He angled his whole body, to watch her and Tarras up by the gate; and to see what was happening.
Page: 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