We’re still several months away from a pick-up point… and we’ll probably have to wait our turn in the queue, too, but I’ve turned into a real hotdog artefact finder. Better’n a metal detector in a mine field.
But that’s what you are, Rojer said, awake now and delighting in this midnight conference with his brother and father. Hey, you haven’t found any more shards like this … and Rojer envisioned the group that he and Xexo had been so sure would fit: heavy bands of some ten centimetres thick, finely tooled. They look like they should fit together, all of the same pattern.
Yes, we did in fact. I’ll copy through to you.
Going for tine reward, too? And the amusement in Thian’s voice took the sting away. There isn’t a `Dini on board that isn’t trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. Blank your mind now and I’ll send the specs through.
They’d done this often enough with mass, weights and capsule sizes during Tower practice so Rojer thought of nothing and Thian sent him the particulars. Rojer thanked his brother as he swung out of the bunk and to the terminal where he copied down the specs. Then a yawn overcame him and he crawled back into his bunk, fitting his legs between the sleeping `Dinis.
Say, Thian, are Mur and Dip back with you?
Have been for weeks. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss them.
They’re larger, too. Had a good hiber.. Dad, send me a visualization of this Heinlein Base, please? It’s not part of the KLTL’s files and Captain Plr wants to see where the Queen’s being kept.
They sure are nervy about her being anywhere near Earth.
Reassure them. Heinlein Base is built in solid rock.
Nothing could burrow through that. And there’s nowhere to go.
Certainly nowhere with oxygen.
I’ll tell them.
Rojer couldn’t keep awake any longer, falling asleep during the next part of the rapid mental exchanges.
A full week went by before Damia had to agitate for the return of her husband and son. There were big daddies to transport and there was no way she could handle them without the mental muscle Afra and Rojer supplied.
Rojer hadn’t minded. Ensign Bhuto was assigned to show him around the ship.
`Don’t you mean, nursemaid me!’ Rojer asked when the exec officer had completed the introduction and moved away.
Bhuto, with the darkest skin, the whitest teeth and the biggest brown eyes Rojer had ever seen, grinned broadly.
`Mr Lyon, sir, you don’t need a nursemaid, not after what you did yesterday!’ And he rolled his eyes.
`Eat up, Mr Lyon, sir, breakfast’s the best meal of the day! Say, you couldn’t haul in some fresh stuff for us, while you and your daddy are here, could you? I haven’t had any fruit in yanks. I didn’t get any last time your brother brought stuff in, but I figure, if I’m with you as your companion on board this ship, if supplies come in, I’ve a better chance now of getting a share. Wouldn’t you say so?’ Just a little push at Bhuto’s wide open mind and Rojer knew he was genuine.
He soon learned that Bhuto talked all the time, a sort of verbal diarrhoea.
But he knew the Beijing from turret to shuttle bay, and every single one of the access alleys. Literally he gave Rojer and the `Dinis a tour of the ship!
He also practised his `Dini, translating what he to)id Rojer into their language.
`Look, why don’t you just speak `Dini?’ Rojer said when they were midships and descending. `Save your throat.’ “Dini saves no-one’s throat. How do they manage in long speeches? That’s why I speak Basic to you, give my vocal cords a rest now and then. Sure, I could just use the one language `co they certainly understand Basic, too, the way their eyes shine. Not stupid, `Dinis, not like some of the A.B.s think, just because they look like weasels wearing fezes. I’ve never seen a weasel – live that is – but there’s only a general look of a weasel about them, what with the smooth pelt and all. But `Dinis are not the least bit weaselly, if you take the distinction.’ Then he turned to help Mur through a narrow aperture into yet another access alley. KEEP HEAD DOWN SO AS NOT TO POKE OUT POLL EYE.