“Yes,” she said, reminding herself to govern her tongue. She had obligations to her father, if nothing else. It would not do to offend the Governor’s guests for no purpose beyond relieving her own stress. “Is this your first visit to the palace?”
“No,” he said. “I was here in December, the last time Oppuk needed a tame human for display.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Display?”
“You know.” He didn’t smile, exactly. But his lips curved a bit and she caught a glint of steely humor in his eyes. “One that can be expected to converse pleasantly about respect and duty and making oneself of use, who won’t pester the other guests or soil the pool, and who’ll demonstrate how civilized humans are capable of becoming if only someone will take the time to train them properly.”
The corners of her own mouth curved. “Oh, yes,” she said. “I’ve been on display in that sense a few times myself, though my father tries to keep it to a minimum.”
“I thought perhaps you had.”
She caught the word “Pluthrak” again, this time from a trio of Jao who were shedding their uniforms on the grass as they headed for the room’s most elaborate pool. “Do you know the one they’re all talking about, this new Pluthrak?”
“Aille krinnu ava Pluthrak, to use the full name. I don’t think he’s here yet. They’re flying him in from the big military base at Pascagoula, Mississippi. My new boss, as it happens.”
“Have you met him yet?”
“No,” Kralik said, his gray eyes searching the multitude. Voices were growing louder, more boisterous. The pool was becoming more crowded. He stepped closer so he didn’t have to raise his voice. “I’ve been away, recruiting jinau in the Calvada area, down around Stockton, mostly. But I assume meeting him is why I was summoned here tonight.” He rocked back on his heels. “And on very short notice, I might add.”
“If he’s as bad as Oppuk,” she said under her breath, “you won’t enjoy the experience.”
“Miss Stockwell, I never enjoy interaction with the Jao. But he won’t be as bad as Oppuk, I don’t think. Or Commandant Kaul. And I certainly won’t miss Pinb, whom he’s replacing.” He gave her a level look. “The Jao don’t intend for us to enjoy their company, so I’m never disappointed when I don’t.”
He knew, she thought. This Kralik was canny, and had no illusions about the Jao. They weren’t devils, but they didn’t reason like humans and they certainly did not have Earth’s best interests at heart. So many collaborators had convinced themselves that the Jao would uplift humanity, give them advanced technology and take them to the stars, if only they could behave well enough to deserve it.
Well, they might eventually make it to the stars, all right, she thought, but most likely as cannon fodder, servants, or mechanics, certainly not as equals.
Kralik held out his arm. “Would you like to sample some of the ‘treats’ of the evening, Miss Stockwell?” he said with a twinkle in his gray eyes. “I saw some smoked eel over there and that usually isn’t too objectionable.”
Oh, yes, he knew the Jao, she thought, even down to what passed for their cuisine. And it was a relief for once not to be the only human present who wasn’t thrilled with the invitation. She accepted his arm. “On one condition,” she said. “You have to taste it first!”
* * *
Aille had intended to leave Tully safe under Tamt’s watchful eye, but the female never returned from her foray for window coverings. Obviously, they were not as easy to come by as she’d thought. He didn’t want to trust Rafe Aguilera here in the Governor’s palace with the locator. When all was said and done, the two were both human. Deep down, it just might be too much temptation for Aguilera to resist.
“Tully will have to go with us,” he told Yaut, as he adjusted his halfcape.
Tully’s eyes widened and he jerked to his feet, nostrils flaring with what Aille read as alarm.
“Unacceptable!” Yaut favored the human with a glare. “All in your service must behave impeccably at the reception. Your early selections reflect upon your ability to form proper associations. It would be bad enough to take any human, but this one?”