She glanced at Dr. Kinsey who was radiating pleasure. Without thinking, she curved her arms and let her fingers fall into amused-acceptance. “It was kind of you to invite us,” she said, knowing full well no Jao in Oppuk’s position would ever wish to appear “kind.” The Jao understood kindness, in their own way—they had several terms for it, in fact—but it was closely associated with their complicated clan relations and bound up with their notions of proper relations between individuals of different status. Applied to subject people, the closest equivalent in their language connoted “weak” or “foolish.”
It was a stupidly imprudent thing to say, of course, but she was finding it harder than she’d expected to contain her hatred for the creature who had murdered her brother. Her remark was a petty way to strike back, but she felt better for it. And, in any event, she’d spoken in English, where the same insult was not implied.
He blinked at her posture, then shifted into a rather stiff version of standard welcome, apparently startled into an uncustomarily coarse singleness of expression. “My castellan will see you to your quarters,” he continued in English. “You should find them adequate.”
Dr. Kinsey turned and threw his arms wide. His face beamed. “I am certain we will find them nothing less than splendid!”
The burly Narvo canted his head, his ears hovering on the edge of insult.
Caitlin sighed. The Governor, it seemed, was not a subtle individual, and Kinsey had so little experience with Jao, he was confounding him with his exuberance. Humans were not supposed to be happy in the presence of Jao; impressed, yes, perhaps even awed, but not wild with delight. It was not the business of Jao to please humans.
“Jao taste in design is noted across the world as being eminently preferable,” she said, her bearing now shaped to quiet-reverence. “My father has sought to emulate it in our own residence, though never so perfectly as it deserved.”
“As well he might,” Kinsey said. “I hope to see the President’s official residence at some point too.”
At that moment, mercifully, a human woman dressed in black palace livery padded forward out of the shadows. “Shall you go to your rooms now, Miss Stockwell, Dr. Kinsey?”
“Yes,” Caitlin said hastily before Kinsey could speak again and worsen the situation. “Please.”
Governor Narvo held his ground and watched as they were forced to detour around him as though he were a pillar. Caitlin could feel the weight of his green gaze even after he was out of sight.
* * *
Aille piloted his own Pluthrak courier to the Governor’s private field at his residence, having been assured that berthing facilities capable of servicing it were available. Tamt krinnu Kannu vau Hij, his newly acknowledged bodyguard, went along in the second seat. Though there was room for all of them, Yaut remained behind to shepherd the rest of his party via less elegant transport. Let Oppuk meet him accompanied by only his Jao bodyguard, rather than a fraghta or several humans, he had counseled. It would make a better impression.
It was the first time the two had been separated, since his current assignment, and Aille was understandably nervous about being without Yaut’s sage advice.
The green and tan landscape, as the ship descended, was startling in its aridity. A few small ponds shimmered in the metropolitan area below, along with some thready rivers, more sand than water in this season, it seemed. But there was no ocean and only a few insignificant lakes, not even good-sized by Jao standards. Why was the Governor’s residence located here, of all places, when this continent possessed so much inviting seacoast?
As in Mississippi, evidence of past devastation still lay everywhere, even after twenty orbital cycles. Collapsed buildings sprawled like decaying bodies, rusted girders exposed and shattered glass bright beneath the sky. Smashed vehicles were scattered like broken toys and few of the bridges had been restored. Aille was surprised that so few repairs seemed to have been done since the conquest.
When he and Tamt popped the hatch and emerged from the ship, the air that met them was hot, though not nearly as moist as that of Mississippi. His ears waggled as a small vehicle rushed toward them and stopped just short of the ramp.