Plrgtgl has been very efficient. I hear its name mentioned more and more. Suggest that the carrier is impeding the full use of the area available to you and is there not somewhere else that it can be placed for even more effect?
Out of sigh4 out of mind, huh, Dad?
Well, out of your sight at least ri it is distressing you to the extent that it has It’s not just the corner Ah yes, the matter of ClarisA? If she’s not working out, my dear, request her transfer.
But Granddad’s going to be furious with me, and there was a quaver of uncertainty in Laria’s voice. I couldn’t get on any sort of terms with Stiedman and now Clarissia – – I never had any trouble with Yoshuk and Nesmn! I’ve excellent relations with Vanteer and Lionasha.
Laria’s tone rose to the level of guilty confusion and doubt.
Laria, dear, and Afra couldn’t resist chuckling, the tales that are told of your grandmother’s search for suitable Tower personnel are not exaggerated!
Until you came along, Laria said smartly and then descended into disillusionment again, but you’re you and she’s the Rowan and You have exactly the same right to – – – ah – dismiss unsuitable personnel though I hope you won `t need to go through as many as she did to get a comfortable fit’ in your Tower. Furthermore, your situation on Cia is Jar more sensitive than Callisto or Altair ever were, so it’s even more important that you are totally comfortable with and can rely on each member of your staff -A tone of hopefulness entered the conversation Do you really think so, Dad?
I know so. As Prime to Prime, informm Jeff Raven of Earth FT&T that T-2 Clarissia is unable to integrate or accept the special requirements of Cia Tower and you must I can’t say `must’ to Grandfather Possibly not to `Grandfather’, dear, but certainly to Earth Prime Raven! Make the distinction and request a replacement.
And keep in mind, too, that you haven’t had a vacation from your duties at Cia Tower in over a year. You might benefit from a respite.
Not right now and not if I have only Clarissia to mind the shop while I’m away, Laria said brusquely. And when did you and Mother last have a break from Aungae?
Ours is a slightly different situation, my dear child. We’re not dealing with an alien culture `Dinis are not alien. I’ve known them all my life!
Nor living on a planet where such a brilliant primary produces stress you may not realize until you are away from it. A little distance might help you resolve some of the ambiguities that bother you. You are not the only one – of us or in the human-settled worlds to have them.
Oh, Dad, I don’t consider me unique. Her tone held the quaver of a laugh but immediately altered. Sometimes – – sometimes I don’t know what to believe. Then I do, and then something shakes me up again. I really ought to know my own mind by now.
Your mind you know, laria, dear, Afra said with an affectionate chuckle. It’s your emotions and changing perceptions that cause problems. I’d hate to think your ideas were graven in granite at not quite twenty-three. Briefly Afra remembered instances of his Damia’s captiousness which her eldest daughter certainly had not inherited.
And change is a constant we must all bear with. At least, and he let a grin colour his mental tone, we are not locked immutably into a cultural pattern as the Hivers are.
Gee, thanks for that, Dad!
You’re welcome, he said with equal mockery. But he also caught the steadier quality of her mental tone. She’d talked out some of what bothered her. If he and Damia had trouble rationalizing the matter, how hard it was on Laria, a Prime who had not yet found a personal companion to sustain her in arduous and, so often, deeply troubling times. Now inform Earth Prime of the fact that Clarissia’s not working out and why. Either inadequacy is ample cause for replacement.
Actually, Laria was as strong a T-1 as the Rowan had ever been: a T-3 or even a good T-4 would be adequate support if they were compatible. One never knew until one tried different combinations.