Gods.
Hilfy raked a hand through her mane, stared at the screen. Final arbiter of the disposition of the object. The representative of the person issuing the contract.
Meaning Tlisi-tlas-tin representing No’shto-shti-stlen. Meaning ask Tlisi-tlas-tin, as the final arbiter.
She keyed out, got up from the desk in lower deck ops, and went to see the representative of gtst excellency … who, one hoped, was capable of assuming responsibility, or at least of discussing the matter in a sane and reasonable fashion.
She should tell gtst about Ana-kehnandian. She had never contemplated working in any close way with a stsho. No one contemplated working closely with a stsho. They were only preferable to the methane-breathers, in reason.
But if she had an ally now who could explain anything it was Tlisi-tlas-tin.
She went to the door and signaled her presence. “Your honor? Ker Hilfy Chanur. A word with you.”
It took a little for a stsho to respond—a little longer to rise and arrange gtstself and walk to the door. In unusually short order the door slid back and gtst honor Tlisi-tlas-tin gave a languorous ripple of gtst fingers in respect.
“Most honorable captain.”
She didn’t even have time to break the news. The lock cycled, and a shrill warbling entered the main corridor. Gtst honor’s eyes went wide and gtst ducked back within the doorframe.
“Who is that?” gtst cried. “Oh, murder, oh, mischief! What distress is that?”
She had not a thing in her hands. It sounded like murder, and something was in the ship that did not belong there.
Something turned out stsho, and disheveled and woefully frightened, a figure hung about incongruously with parcels and strings and tangled pastel garments.
And behind that apparition, cousin Tiar, gun in hand.
“Refuge!” the stsho cried. Tlisi-tlas-tin’s door shut, quickly, and Tiar got between, motioning the panicked stsho to stay still, casting a disturbed and hasty look in Hilfy’s direction.
“What’s going on?” she demanded of Tiar. Guns, for the god’s sake, and a stranger on their deck.
“Kif,” Tiar breathed. “Captain, I’m sorry. I was out on the docks—this … person … wanted help…”
Her heart was thumping doubletime. But seeing a stsho, finally, proved they did exist here, stsho seemed on the receiving end of the trouble in mahen space, and this one was no threat … terrified, rather, distraught, exhausted, at the visible limit of gtst resources.
“Help for what?” Kif was still echoing in her ears, but if the inner hatch had opened, the outer hatch had shut; and no kit’ was getting in here.
“Oh, great hani, kindly hani person … please, refuge from this terrible place, please, violence, terrible violence …”
Four stsho dead, Haisi had said.
And beside her the door opened and Tlisi-tlas-tin put gtst head out. “Oh, woe! Oh, distress! Is this the person? Is this the one?’‘
“Captain,” Tiar tried to say, but there was too much stsho wailing from both sides, and Tiar gestured helplessly with the gun in hand. “Kif, watching the ship!”
And Tarras and Chihin about to open up the hold for the dockers.
“Have we got a docking crew out there? Have we got any station security on the cargo lock?”
“Just the dockers…”
The intruder had edged forward, toward Tlisi-tlas-tin, babbling and bowing … was all but at the door, and that set off old, war-honed instincts. Hilfy put out a warning hand and laid her ears back, by no means eager to let gtst near the oji.
But the intruder-stsho bowed and bobbed and babbled in manic frenzy, gtst moonstone eyes wide and bright, paint streaked on gtst face and arms and onto gtst pastel robes … gtst reached Tlisi-tlas-tin, gtst honor nothing protesting, with the parcels dangling about gtst limbs, but Tlisi-tlas-tin had retreated inside gtst cabin, and the intruder seemed overcome, hanging on the doorway and wailing.
Tlisi-tlas-tin hissed and straightened gtst robes, a hand on the pedestal of the oji. “This is by no means Atli-lyen-tlas!” gtst declared. “This is a juvenile! What unseemliness has turned an unformed individual loose without face-saving escort?” … or something to that effect. It was a barrage of high stshoshi, indignant and outraged, and the intruder covered gtst face and cowered.