“Fala,” she said, “advise station we’re inbound for dock and take the feed from Hallan.”
It popped over from Fala’s number one: matrix-com, raw transcript.
Chanur advise Paehisna-ma-to mistake No ‘shto-shti-stlen
Hilfy you kill violent right all wrong not-low bring choice stations death ambassador now change listen kif stsho on Meetpoint kif now is all governor tc’a know guilty party. . .
Chanur advises Paehisna-ma-to ((she is) mistaken (about?)) (of the error of?) No’shto-shti-stlen. Hilfy, kitting a violent (person) will be right. All unlawful wrong (deeds) bring choice/change. Stations (because of) death of the ambassador now are changing. Listen, Idf, to the stsho on Meetpoint. Kif, now the governor is falling. The tc’a know the guilty party (incomplete statement.)
Killing a violent person will be right? Aunt Pyanfar?
“What is it?” Tiar asked. “What’s she talkingabout?”
“Gods-be thing’s in kifish records too. They sleepwalk, most of them. —Give me the hakkikt!”
“Aye,” Fala said, and the click and hiss of kifish communications came through strongly in her earpiece.
“Nakgoth na sti!” she said. “Hilfy Chanur nak, nakgoth na sti, hakkikt-tak skkhta.”
‘ ‘The ic ‘a are most difficult to persuade to lie,” thevoice came back, cultured and fluent. “In fact, they can’t.”
“Hakkikt,with profoundest regard to your wisdom, this isn’t Pyanfar. This isn’t right!”
“ Right?” Vikktakkht asked. “What is ‘right?’ Tell us ‘right,’ Chanur captain. We are Pyanfar’s allies. Has there been cause for her to change sides in this ?”
Kif would. On a puff of contrary wind. Intellectually Vikktakkht knew that hani were otherwise. In his gut, in a chancy situation, he might not. “Give me a moment,” she said, looked desperately at the screen, and made a reach and unbelted, dizzy as she was. She snagged the nutrient pack beside her chair, bit a hole in it and got a swallow down as she was getting up.
“Captain?” Fala said. “We’ve got a station message. “
“You can’t have a station message. We’re time-lagged.” Another swallow.
“It says—“
“It’s a gods-be lie-in-wait. Transmitted to our call number from the buoy. They know who we are.
They’ve prepped the buoy with a false system schema. What do they say?”
“It’s—“ Fala half turned, as she hand-over-handed her way to Fala’s station, where the translator main keys were. “They’re saying … in the name of the stsho government …”
… and the han and the hani you are required to dock immediately and open to inspection. You are in violation of Compact Treaty and will be subject to severe criminal penalties if you do not obey instructions. We will accept a single ship in approach with weapons deactivated.
The ship is cleared for lane 1280. Acknowledge.
“We’re getting the system detail,” Tiar said. “What now, captain?”
“We’re getting their word what’s in this system, that’s what we’re getting. Chihin, look alive, Hallan, we’re on live-scan only, don’t believe a thing station images tell you. Fala, give me the raw data on the tc’a.”
“It matches—“
“I don’t care what it matches, I want to see it, now!”
The kid was rattled. She shouldn’t have yelled. Fala made a false start on the order and a second one and got it.
Chanur 998 Paehisna-ma-to 86- 786 No ‘shto-shti-stlen
586 8 798-897-22 46 567
6 57 868-897-22 1872 98
9-9 786 7 6-75 299-786t
96 76 10-69 7657 40y8
786 8=999 8/659 6-976 6-7/0
5/8 98 768-./768/86S 6868/5 .
“It’s not tc’a.”
“How isn’t it tc’a?” Fala protested, and Hilfy reached past her, punched up the rough again.
“It’s not tc’a, I’ve just seen too many of them. You don’t get that many unknowns in the transcript. It’s driving the translator crazy. —Tiar, course change to that lane and transmit compliance.”
“Captain,” Tarras said, and Chihin nearly on top of that.
“I know. Did I say we were going? —Where did this gods-be thing come from? Na Hallan? Did you capture this transmission?”
“I—heard them. I think it’s what I heard. They were with us … I could hear them. But I couldn’t see them, captain.”
“Couldn’t see them. ‘Couldn’t see them’ doesn’t explain this output. Something odd’s going on with it. You can’t get a capture this clear out of hyperspace.”