“Not even that,” she said. “I took a degree in history, then continued in that area for my doctorate because Jao can hardly object to or concern themselves with any views I have on what took place before they brought us the, ah, benefit of their rule.”
She glanced at her watch. Seven o’clock, probably time to go, though Jao did not assign meaning to bits of time and hold themselves hostage to them. They understood “now” and “immediately,” “soon” and “later,” and even “in a little while.” Anything beyond that could be interpreted as the individual felt or needed. Their legendary timesense allowed them to feel when to do things in some fashion humans were never going to understand, a sort of internal clock that far out-rivaled her kind’s rudimentary sense of time.
Banle appeared as they exited the room and then fell in behind, another of her on-going subtle insults. Caitlin made small talk with Kinsey, affecting not to notice the snub until they reached the reception.
“Oh,” she said, dropping to one knee. “It’s my shoe. Go on and I’ll be along in a minute.”
As Banle was already halfway through the door, the Jao could hardly retreat without looking indecisive. Caitlin lingered, adjusting her shoe strap for another few seconds, then followed the two inside. Banle’s shoulders were clearly set into angry-frustration. Caitlin turned away, determined not to notice. Kinsey charged into the crowd, glowing face surveying the Jao.
They might well have been outdoors in some vast park. The floor had been planted in soft green grass with trees in tubs scattered throughout. A huge pool in the shape of a natural lake dominated a room as spacious as an exhibition hall, though there were several others as well. The air was redolent of the sea, but subtly alien.
Her gaze swept upward to a startling series of skylights set into the ceiling. Jao eyes were more sensitive than humans’ so they normally preferred rooms without extraneous light sources, especially windows. Since the month was August, days were currently long at this latitude and, outside, the summer sun, though slowly setting in the west, was still vigorous even at this hour.
She saw several Jao clad in ornate halfcapes glance up at the skylights, then move away, ears and whiskers expressing discomfort briefly before they tamed them into more tactful postures. What was Governor Oppuk trying to say with this oddly human display, she wondered.
Locating his palace here in the center of war-torn North America was a carefully calculated insult—meant to remind Americans that those among Earth’s nations who had submitted to the inevitable had survived with their infrastructure intact, and others had not. Twenty years later, most of the destruction had still not been repaired. This glowering palace was Narvo’s metaphorical boot-heel in America’s face.
Banle moved off into the crowd, eyeing the luxurious pool in this vast echoing space. The Jao were mad for water, whenever they could indulge themselves. Her guard was no exception, having to make do with the river next to her campus most of the time. Caitlin drifted in the opposite direction, hoping to lose herself in the crowd for at least a short time and so gain some measure of privacy.
A number of humans were in attendance, though none made any attempt to speak to her as she passed. Several, she noted with distaste, had actually gone so far as to paint false vai camiti across their faces, giving them all the charm of oversized raccoons. She wondered if they realized vai camiti were hereditary patterns that denoted bloodline affiliations. It was possible they were insulting some of the Jao here tonight.
“Has the young Pluthrak arrived?” she heard one Jao ask another on her right. She hesitated, catching a flash of pale-gold nap and turned her head just enough to get a look at the pair. Most Jao spoke freely around humans, never expecting them to speak enough of their language to comprehend.
“I have not yet seen him,” another replied. “If he were here, I think we would know. It is said he is extremely well marked.”
“All Pluthrak are well marked,” the other said dryly. “It is their fortune, as being plain is ours.”