“But –”
” ‘But’ what?”
“Nothing, sir. Yes, sir.”
Krausa sighed. “Son, I have obligations toward you; I’m carrying them out as best I can.” Krausa thought over what he could tell the lad. Mother had pointed out that if Baslim had wanted the boy to know the message he had carried, Baslim would have put it in Interlingua. On the other hand, since the boy now knew the Family language perhaps he had translated it himself. No, more likely he had forgotten it. “Thorby, do you know who your family is?”
Thorby was startled. “Sir? My family is Sisu”
“Certainly! I mean your family before that.”
“You mean Pop? Baslim the Cripple?”
“No, no! He was your foster father, just as I am now. Do you know what family you were born in?”
Thorby said bleakly, “I don’t think I had one.”
Krausa realized that he had poked a scar, said hastily, “Now, Son, you don’t have to copy all the attitudes of your messmates. Why, if it weren’t for fraki, with whom would we trade? How would the People live? A man is fortunate to be born People, but there is nothing to be ashamed of in being born fraki. Every atom has its purpose.”
“I’m not ashamed!”
“Take it easy!”
“Sorry sir. I’m not ashamed of my ancestors. I simply don’t know who they were. Why, for all I know, they may have been People.”
Krausa was startled. “Why, so they could have been,” he said slowly. Most slaves were purchased on planets that respectable traders never visited, or were born on estates of their owners . . . but a tragic percentage were People, stolen by raiders. This lad — Had any ship of the People been lost around the necessary time? He wondered if, at the next Gathering, he might dig up identification from the Commodore’s files?
But even that would not exhaust the possibilities; some chief officers were sloppy about sending in identifications at birth, some waited until a Gathering. Mother, now, never grudged the expense of a long n-space message; she wanted her children on record at once — Sisu was never slack.
Suppose the boy were born People and his record had never reached the Commodore? How unfair to lose his birthright!
A thought tip-toed through his brain: a slip could be corrected in more ways than one. If any Free Ship had been lost — He could not remember.
Nor could he talk about it. But what a wonderful thing to give the lad an ancestry! If he could . . .
He changed the subject “In a way, lad, you were always of the People.”
“Huh? Excuse me, Father?”
Son, Baslim the Cripple was an honorary member of the People.”
“What? How, Father? What ship?”
“All ships. He was elected at a Gathering. Son, a long time ago a shameful thing happened. Baslim corrected it. It put all the People in debt to him. I have said enough. Tell me, have you thought of getting married?”
Marriage was the last thing on Thorby’s mind; he was blazing anxious to hear more about what Pop had done that had made him incredibly one of the People. But he recognized the warning with which an elder closed a taboo subject.
“Why, no. Father.”
“Your Grandmother thinks that you have begun to notice girls seriously.”
“Well, sir. Grandmother is never wrong . . . but I hadn’t been aware of it.”
“A man isn’t complete without a wife. But I don’t think you’re old enough. Laugh with all the girls and cry with none — and remember our customs.” Krausa was thinking that he was bound by Baslim’s injunction to seek aid of the Hegemony in finding where the lad had come from. It would be awkward if Thorby married before the opportunity arose. Yet the boy had grown taller in the months he had been in Sisu. Adding to Krausa’s fret was an uneasy feeling that his half-conceived notion of finding (or faking) an ancestry for Thorby conflicted with his unbreakable obligations to Baslim.
Then he had a cheerful idea. “Tell you what. Son! It’s possible that the girl for you isn’t aboard. After all, there are only a few in port side purdah — and picking a wife is a serious matter. She can gain you status or ruin you. So why not take it easy? At the Great Gathering you will meet hundreds of eligible girls. If you find one you like and who likes you, I’ll discuss it with your Grandmother and if she approves, well dicker for her exchange. We won’t be stingy either. How does that sound?”