And far worse for Dip.
Maybe the seizure was only passing: the shock of transport, the dehydration of a long passage through space!
He arrived on the bridge to the startlement of all on duty, the security guards reaching for their weapons.
`I’m Thian Lyon,’ he said, both vocally and telepathically, reinforcing the thought with an inhibition on them to draw. `Captain, I do apologize,’ he said, rapidly striding to Ashiant’s command chair, `for busting every rule of naval protocol my first hour on the Vadim `Direct action is sometimes the only course,’ Ashiant said, an odd smile tugging at his mouth. He pointed towards an unoccupied chair to the left of the main stations. `When we were apprised of your joining the Vadim, we installed a chair for you in the engineering section.
You should have everything you need there. Commander Tikele is standing by.’ Nodding his thanks, Thian strode to the position, smiling with quick gratitude to the wiry little man standing beside the chair.
The engineering officer had a slightly supercilious expression to mouth and eyes. Afra had warned his son that he might expect some resistance from mechanically minded naval personnel who trusted their engines more than alternative forms of transportation. Thian managed a respectful bow to the commander as he sat down.
`Generators are already on line?’ he asked, though he could see by the gauges on the board in front of him that they were.
`Ready when you are,’ Tikele said in the blandest possible tone.
`May I have a view of the `Dini ship’s shuttle bay?’ `Patch it through, Captain Ashiant said and the right-hand screen immediately gave Thian the picture he needed.
He reached out with just his mind, sensing the presence of many `Dinis, and the smooth cylinder that would transport the medics. If he hadn’t been rushing around like a Slither after stonelice, he’d have been able to reach across that minimal spatial distance without assistance. But despite the adrenalin coursing through his blood, he leaned `00 I0I into the generators, just as he would have back on Aurigae. At that, his catch didn’t place more than a second’s strain on the generators.
`There,’ Thian said, rising. `Thank you very much for your cooperation, gentlemen. Captain, with your permission?’ he added, belatedly remembering lessons in naval courtesy.
`You haven’t needed it yet, have you, Lyon?’ But the captain’s tone was wry with amusement.
Even as Thian nodded in rueful acknowledgement, he `ported himself to the shuttle deck where three `Dinis were debarking from their capsule. They carried considerable equipment. The bay crew were rushing forward, not sure what action to take.
`They are expected. I will lead them,’ Thian said quickly before there could be a security incident.
He took the necessary steps to the three `Dinis.
They were the biggest he had seen, even larger than the eldest in the Aurigaean village. One `Dini was nearly his height which was tall enough for a human.
WHO IS SENIOR, 0 LARGE AND VENERABLE oNES?
he asked as deferentially as he could. He knew that some `Dinis took their size as seriously as some humans took their status.
ESCORT THIS ONE IMMEDIATELY TO THE SICK, the big one said, moving gracefully forward to meet Thian.
`Will one of you escort the rest of them to sickbay?’ Thian said, glancing about the humans to see who was in command.
`G’wan, said one, waving him urgently onward.
HUMBLE APOLOGY FOR INTIMACY, Thian said and, taking a deep breath, put his arms firmly about the middle body of the `Dini. And `ported them both to the sickbay corridor outside the cubicle.
They both staggered for balance as they landed in the midst of a group. Thian blamed himself for not checking on a clear corridor but no-one was hurt and the `Dini, seeing Mur in the tub, ploughed forward to its patient. Dip, bowing nearly double, stepped aside, remembering to keep the breather unit in place as it did so.
While the medical officer and his staff watched with fascination, the `Dini made an examination: a blur of moving digits and prods and pokings of the mutely coloured Mur who was weakly hiccuping in an irregular pattern.