Two of the shapes in the distance oriented on the Jao ship and moved toward it. “Stop at the bottom of the ramp,” Aille said from behind. “There is no need to go farther. They will probably come and speak to us, though there is the possibility they will not.”
“And if they don’t?” asked Kralik.
“Then protocol suggests we wait,” Aille said. “Communication has still been known to occur when flow was slower than expected, though sometimes it does not happen at all. There has been conjecture in those instances that the envoy was unable to properly judge the flow of that particular moment.”
On Tully’s other side, Caitlin was performing calm-assurance again. It was an alien ritual, but . . . Tully shrugged, and did his best to copy her. Curve the fingers, he told himself, distribute weight between the front and back feet, arch the neck.
The creatures continued to approach and he began to appreciate how very large they were and how truly immense this landing bay was, too. If an aircraft carrier could have fit through the aperture, a destroyer escort on either side would fit in this central chamber. It must have taken up a good portion of the entire ship. Floating spheres hovered overhead, flashing brighter and more intense with every passing moment. Tully’s head was reeling.
Calm-assurance. He concentrated on the stance, holding to it, letting his eyes unfocus, choosing not to see, or at least, not to lose himself in, the visual fireworks. Sweat drenched his blue jinau uniform, plastering the fabric to his back.
“Are those the Ekhat?” Caitlin asked, her voice almost lost in the escalating noise.
“Yes,” Aille said.
“But there’s only two,” she said. “On such a large ship, I thought there would be more.”
“No doubt there are,” Aille said, “but these are the only two they have chosen to debase through contact with us. Perhaps they would sacrifice only one, except their minds function in pairs. It has never been possible to speak to only one Ekhat, as you would a Jao or human.”
“The Interdict seemed to regard all other species as ‘unclean,’ as nearly as I could tell from the records,” Kralik said, “though I admit my knowledge of Jao script is only so-so.”
“Very perceptive,” Yaut said. ” ‘Unclean’ would be a reasonable translation, or perhaps ‘tainting.’ ”
“How long has it been since the Jao escaped Ekhat enslavement?” Tully asked.
The two Jao shifted uneasily, but did not answer.
Caitlin sighed. Sweat was pouring down her face. Grime was rapidly accumulating on what had once been an expensive frilly white shirt, and she did not look like anyone’s cherished daughter. “Jao do not perceive time in the same way we do,” she said. “They were enslaved until the flow of that particular situation was complete and no longer, as nearly as I understand it, and I admit that I really don’t. I doubt any human ever can.”
The bursts of light from the hovering globes intensified into a strobelike effect. Inside the pulsating flashes, two immense creatures loomed, their bodies striding toward them on many legs, all of which appeared too fragile to hold their weight. Tully blinked hard, trying to focus.
“I think I count six legs,” Kralik shouted over the noise, which was growing louder, “but it’s hard to tell with all these special effects.”
“Six is common for Ekhat,” Aille said, “although many variations on the type have been observed. They are not really a species. More in the way of what your human biologists would call a ‘genus,’ or even a ‘family.’ ”
The two aliens stopped about a hundred feet away. They had segmented torsos somewhat rectangular in shape. Tully could now make out a row of lidless white eyes circling the immense heads, spaced about a hand’s breadth apart. They seemed to shimmer red and blue, which might just be a reflection of the light show. A fringe of what looked to be moss covered their pates and necks. One pair of limbs positioned on the sides of the torso evidently doubled as arms. “Is this display supposed to impress us?” he asked.
“Ekhat do not concern themselves with other species’ opinions,” Yaut said. “They simply are impressive. They do not need to make us believe so.”