By 1200 hours, he grabbed a quick lunch with Mur and Dip and performed any `portation duties.
Sometimes he was awakened by an urgent request to `catch’ a supply drone for the Vadim: usually a medium-sized affair. He didn’t mind such awakenings for he had a chance to exchange greetings with the sender, often his grandfather or grandmother, and sometimes – when he `caught’ for the `Dini ships – Laria.
To her alone could he mention Malice.
Poor Th ian, and on your first assignment, too, Laria had said with full sympathy. And you can’t identify him, her? It may just be sour grapes, you know, since the person is projecting. Sometimes Talents are too nebulous to be directed or refined and the person is naturally resentful. But aren’t you meeting with the listed Talents on the ship?
Yes, but it’s slow, what with all the other duties I seem to have acquired. Thian didn’t exactly feel abused but he also didn’t seem to have time for anything but his duties, eating and sleeping.
Don’t worry, Thi, his sister said encouragingly, it does seem that way at first. You’ll have more time once everything’s settled down to mere boredom.
They’ve a barque-cat, Lar, and she had kittens, he told her the morning after Queen Tabitha Many Coats produced six: three of them tri-coloured females. The entire crew had rejoiced! She likes me, he added rather smugly, adding glimpses of the several times Tab had sought his company Don’t antagonize the crew over their cat, Thian, she warned him urgently in a fashion that would have irritated him from his sister if he hadn’t also `seen’ her genuine concern. They’re not Coonies, you know, who are notoriously fickle! Be careful not to let one of the kittens decide you’re his, or hers.
Thian sent her a patronizing grin. Yeah, sis, I know!
Thian, about the other problem. Trap Malice into revealing himself. Remember the way you got Roddie into trouble?
Thian chuckled out loud. Thanks, Lar. Surprised I didn’t think of it myself.
It’s not as if you haven’t had a lot to think about, Thi! Love ya! She sent a mental hug that was almost as palpable as a physical one.
Trap my Malice, huh? he thought, still reclining in the couch and becoming aware of the normal bridge activity around him. The way I did Roddie!
He’d have to go about it cleverly: his antagonist was an adult, not a petulant boy.
And Laria might be right about a sour-Talent.
None of his suspects were on the list Captain Ashiant had handed him. So far, none of those he had interviewed privately – and that had taken time and effort – were more than minimally Talented.
He’d three 12s, the lowest weight, two lOs and a 9. He was saving Alison-Anne Greevy – whose appearance on the list wasn’t that big a surprise since she was a T-5 Empath – until the last as he’d already had enough contact with her to access her mind in an emergency. The 10s and the 9 were mechanically inclined which could be helpful in special emergencies and one was a chief petty officer.
The three 12s, ratings all, would be make weights, none of them having any other special aptitudes. The captain’s name was not on the list either, although Ashiant’s ability to shield his thoughts indicated some latent gift: maybe just to shield. Some people had that and no other aptitude.
He was also assembling a thesaurus of specifically technical terms, using the Rondomanski technique.
Over his lifetime, since the `Dinis approached his mother and father on Deneb, drafters and scientists had been correlating technical data, drawings, equations, theories for translation. `Dini and Terran science had been exchanged on all levels in every aspect of space travel and exploration: the `Dinis and Terrans alike using conflicting terms to describe the apparatus used in the same manner or the same end. One had to be careful not to confuse terminology. Having been raised on a mining planet, Thian was already familiar with technological terms – and the technological mentalities – but he also needed specific naval applications and asked Commander Tikele to suggest personnel to assist him.