The doorfield shimmered and the figure of a Jao began to appear in it.
“Even if,” the Preceptor added, his voice sounding a bit sour, “he rarely acts his age.”
* * *
Wrot came sauntering through the doorfield, carrying a glass in his hand.
“Splendid, my dear professor! I’m so delighted to see we’ll be working together again—even more closely than before!”
He extended the glass. “Here. I brought you one of your human alcoholic concoctions. Nasty stuff, but I knew you’d want it. Need it desperately, in fact. Preceptor Ronz can be unsettling. It’s what you call a ‘martini.’ ”
Kinsey took the glass, shuddering. Not at the contents—he was partial to martinis—but at the words he knew were surely coming.
“Shaken, of course,” said Wrot, his whiskers waggling gleefully, “not stirred.”
Glossary Of Jao Terms
Ata: suffix indicating a group formed for instructional purposes.
Az: Jao measurement, slightly longer than a yard.
Azet: Jao measurement, about three fourths of a mile.
Bau: A short carved baton, usually but not always made of wood, issued by a kochan to those of its members it considers fit for high command. The bau serves as an emblem of military achievement, with carvings added to match the bau-holder accomplishments.
Bauta: An individual who has retired from service honorably and has chosen to relinquish his automatic kochan ties.
Bodyspeech: Postures, used to communicate emotions.
Dehabia: Traditional soft thick blankets used for lounging.
Early-light: The period between dawn and early morning
Formal movement: Codified postures, taught to young Jao.
Fraghta: An older and experienced batman/valet/advisor/bodyguard assigned to young Jao of high kochan status.
Framepoint: A stargate, the means for interstellar transit.
Hai tau: Life-in-motion.
Heartward: Right.
Jinau: Sepoy troops recruited from conquered species.
Kochan: Jao clan. The term is used also to refer to “root clans” or “great kochan.”
Kochanata: Instructional group taught in the kochan.
Kochanau: The leader of the clan, at any given time, chosen by the elders. The office is neither hereditary nor permanent, although some kochanau retain it for long periods of time.
Kroudh: Outlawed, officially severed from one’s clan.
Last-sun: Yesterday.
Late-dark: Midnight or after.
Late-light: Afternoon.
Lurret: A large herbivore found on Hadiru, a Dano world. Specifically, an old rogue male, notorious for its belligerence and unstable temperament.
Mirrat: Small finned swimmers on Jithra’s homeworld.
Natal compound: Where one was born.
Namth camiti: To be of highest ranking in an emergent generation, sometimes referred as “of the clearest water.” Loosely equivalent, in human terms, to graduating first in the class from a military academy.
Next-sun: Tomorrow.
Ollnat: Conceiving of things-that-never-were, or what-might-be, lies, imagination, creativity, etc. It is a quality mostly lacking in Jao, except in a frivolous manner.
Oudh: In charge, having official authority in a situation.
Sant jin: A formal question requiring a formal answer.
Smoothface: An insult, implying no incised bars of rank or experience. Roughly equivalent to such humans expressions as “wet behind the ears” or “greenhorn.”
Tak: Woody substance burned for its aromatic scent.
Taif: A kochan-in-formation, affiliated to and under the protection and guidance of a kochan.
Timeblind: Having no innate sense of time as the Jao do.
Timesense: Innate ability to judge the passage of time and sense when something will happen.
Vai camiti: The characteristic facial pattern by which one may often recognize a Jao’s kochan; faint vai camiti are considered undesirable, a mark of homeliness.
Vaim: Traditional Jao greeting between two who are approximately equal in status. Can also be used as a compliment by a higher status Jao to a lower. The literal translation is “We see each other.”
Vaish: Traditional Jao greeting of inferior to superior. The literal translation is “I see you.”
Vaist: Traditional Jao greeting of superior to inferior. The literal translation is “You see me.”
Vithrik: Duty, what one owes to others, the necessity of making one’s self of use.
What-is: Reality.
What-might-be: Something imagined.
Windward: Left.
Wrem-fa: A technique of instruction through body-learning in which nothing is explained, laid down in the brain too deep for conscious understanding. Also, in a broader sense, used to refer to life experience.
APPENDIX A:
The Ekhat
The Ekhat are an ancient species which began spreading though the galaxy millions of years ago, an expansion which reached its peak before the onset of what human geologists call the Pleistocene Age on Earth. That final period of expansion is called by the Ekhat themselves, depending on which of the factions is speaking, either the Melodious Epoch, the Discordance, or by a phrase which is difficult to translate but might loosely be called the Absent Orchestration of Right Harmony.