This had the shape of wrongness, Aille thought. Regretfully, he gave up the thought of swimming, and followed the fraghta.
* * *
Tully heard the shouts before he saw the cars. He and the rest of the conscripted work crew had just poured the last form. His back ached with the effort of keeping the applicator in place so the preprogrammed building slurry poured out at the proper angle.
He straightened, put one hand to his head and squinted over the gleaming black surface, which was already half-set. Much as he detested the Jao, he had to admit that this way of erecting a dwelling was a lot faster and smoother than the human way.
People were shouting and waving . . . something . . . over their heads. He couldn’t tell exactly what. Placards, he supposed, except that something over there seemed to be metal, catching the last of the afternoon sun and reflecting it back into his eyes.
Caitlin Stockwell emerged from the hant just ahead of Governor Narvo, her face pale and pinched. The Governor’s sleek red-gold head surveyed the approaching mob and his movements had that stilted dance-like motion. “What is this?” he said to one of his guards in Jao.
“A group of natives from a nearby population center,” the closest one said. “They seem to be angry. Shall we disperse them?”
Tully sucked in a sharp breath. Whoever these idiots were, they didn’t have any understanding of what they faced. Jao “dispersal” was quite likely to be of the lethal sort. Jao took disrespect very seriously, and made no distinction between police and military tactics. “Disperse” and “put down” were practically synonyms for them.
He dropped the slurry duct, after making sure the flow was cut off. Then, pulled off his protective gloves, wondering if he could get close enough to warn the approaching crowd back before the damned locator brought him up short.
Aille krinnu ava Pluthrak came jogging up, closely followed by Yaut. For once, Tully was glad to see a Jao coming instead of going. The Subcommandant’s ears were pricked as far forward as possible and he looked curious, rather than angry. “What do they want?” he asked Tully in a low voice.
Tully listened. The words were growing clearer with each passing second, and some of the demonstrators carried signs. “It’s the hunt,” he said. “They want us to go home and leave the whales alone.”
Aille’s eyes flickered so green, Tully could see no black in them at all. “Find the leader,” he said. “Ask him to come forward and express his concerns. I will listen to what he has to say in Governor Oppuk’s name.”
“And if I do not wish to listen?” Oppuk said in Jao, his body strangely twisted.
“Of course you do not wish to listen,” Aille said. “This is far too insignificant a matter for your attention. I will listen for you, as a good subordinate should, then either correct them as you would yourself, or dismiss them in your name.”
Oppuk held the Subcommandant’s gaze, then glanced aside at the approaching mob. His whiskers flattened. “They distort the flow. It is ugliness.”
Aguilera hurried up from the supply dump a few meters away, where he and Tamt had been helping to mix the slurry. His salt-and-pepper hair was plastered to his skull by sweat. “They don’t mean any harm, sir,” he said to Aille.
“Then why are they here?” Aille said.
“It does not matter why they are here,” Oppuk said. “I want them dispersed!”
Aguilera looked distressed. “Let me talk to them, sir. I’m sure I can make them understand how misguided this is.”
“Pah!” Oppuk said. “Talking will do no good, young Pluthrak. These creatures understand only force. The sooner you realize that, the more effective you will be.” His ears swiveled. “Or is it Pluthrak policy to shun force, when possible?”
Tully saw Yaut stiffen. That had the ring of an insult, he thought.
“I have brought one of the units newly under my command,” Aille said, “as well as my personal service. I would be honored to handle this, if you will allow me.”
Put that way, from the Jao assigned to command jinau troops, Oppuk could not refuse without making the implied insult an open one. That was Tully’s guess, at any rate. Tully didn’t understand the ins-and-outs of the thing, but he knew the Jao—especially the big shots—were constantly engaged in an intricate dance involving their honor and status, however they saw it.