Cooperative, courteous… and remarkably fluent for a man raised by aliens. Cynara made a personal note on her wristcom to download the latest Voishaaur-Standard dictionary from the ship’s databanks.
“Your offer is noted, Ser… Ronan, but most of the crew is on watch. It is necessary for you to eat. If you have no objection, I’ll join you in your quarters and ask a few more questions before leaving you to rest.”
His unreadable eyes cut through her like a razorback in a fisherman’s net. “It is my honor, Aho’Va.”
But you haven’t dropped your guard, my friend—not for a moment. “If you’re ready,” she said, “I’ll escort you to your quarters. You and I have a great deal to learn about each other.”
* * *
Chapter 3
« ^ »
Ronan stepped forward, and Cynara half expected him to offer his arm in the manner of a Dharman gentleman. But he paused a meter away, obviously waiting for her to take the lead.
She did so, gesturing Zheng back to her work. Ronan fell in behind her, padding as silently as Archimedes when he was given free rein of the ship.
That should be an interesting introduction. Archimedes was something of a ship’s mascot, but no one presumed to own him. Ronan was certainly as much a curiosity as a domestic cat on a blockade runner. A pet he would never be. His calm demeanor was a mask. Underneath it he walked on the edge of violence, as unpredictable as a feline… or shaaurin.
Ronan seemed quite content to hold his tongue as they followed the corridor into crew quarters, but his eyes were never at rest. When he and Cynara encountered other crew members, he stood aside and let them pass with obliging constraint.
The crew was not so mannerly. If not for Cynara’s presence, one or two of them might have confronted Ronan the same way Janek had done. Among those who hated the shaauri, no creature was more despised than a human loyal to the stripes. Even an unwilling prisoner might fare little better in their eyes.
All the more reason for her to determine the truth.
She led Ronan past her own quarters and to the guest cabins at the end of the corridor. She stopped at the first, where the lock awaited imprinting by a new occupant.
“Place your palm here,” she said, indicating the lock, “and the door will open only to you and those who have override codes for this section—myself, Scholar-Commander Adumbe, and O’Deira. Your privacy will not be violated except in an emergency.”
Ronan hesitated, studying the ID grid carefully before following Cynara’s instructions. The door opened onto the small, spare cabin with its Spartan furnishings. Ronan’s nostrils flared like an animal scenting the air for danger. He stepped inside and placed his back to the nearest bulkhead.
“The Pegasus was not designed as a passenger vessel,” Cynara said. “I trust you will find these accommodations adequate for the time being.”
“More than adequate, Aho’Va.”
She sat on the edge of the bunk. “You’ve called me that several times. What does it mean?”
He blinked slowly, just like Archimedes, and frowned. “I did not realize I had lapsed from your language. Aho’Va means First of Will.”
“First, as in captain—that much I understand. But ‘Will’…”
“You called the way of Paths a ‘caste system,'” he said. “It is the foundation of shaauri culture. ‘Will,’ vali, is the Path of leaders and administrators—va’laik’i.”
She mouthed the word silently, testing the slight guttural break between each syllable of the alien term. “Then any captain would, by definition, be this… va’laik’i.”
“Va’laik’in, yes. Though sometimes ve’laik’i, those of the Blood Path, become Firsts of warships, and often Seconds or Thirds of Houses or even Lines. Aho’Va is a title of respect given in general to all va’laik’i Firsts.” He gave the words “House,” “Line,” and “First” the kind of emphasis that suggested capitalization. “Each Path and vocational residence within a House-holding has its own First, Second, and Third as well. Crew of shaauri vessels are always of one Line, but—”
Cynara laughed and held up her hands. “Wait, my friend. I think cultural instruction will take more time than I have at the moment. Please, sit.”