None did. The figure simply jumped straight up into the air. One downward-sweeping arm batted the flying torgk aside. Digging in with his claws, Kiijeem stopped his slide directly beneath the falling human shape. Bengk and tail upraised, he waited for his opponent to simply fall on the point of blade or sheath. His intent was still only to wound and not to kill. Lying on the nearby sandstone, a suddenly concerned Pip raised her head to eye the ongoing combat.
As the figure fell toward him it twisted in midair. Demonstrating un-AAnn-like flexibility at the thigh, one leg swung out and around to hook the upthrust tail and half coil around it, trapping it and rendering it harmless. At the same time an arm snapped downward to knock aside the hand holding the bengk. The fingers of the other hand spread wide.
The air whooshed out of Kiijeem as the heavy body landed on top of him. His tail was hooked and trapped, the hand holding the bengk was pinned to one side, and his adversary"s other hand ...
The other soft but powerful hand was gripping his throat.
Only the fact that those clutching fingers were clawless kept Kiijeem from giving in completely to panic. The blunt keratin at the tips of those five (why five and not the normal four? he wondered) could do him no harm. But the fingers themselves-how strong were they?
He was utterly helpless, Kiijeem realized. His legs were free, but the heavy body lying atop his pinned form prevented him from flexing enough to make contact with his clawed feet. He struggled to kick free, to no avail. What if his opponent chose to tighten further those choking fingers? Kiijeem considered yelping for help, but if this was a test, or a masquerade, it would only magnify the humiliation of his defeat. At the hands of an unarmed opponent, no less.
He waited for his enemy to increase the pressure on his throat. He waited for him to claim the right to inflict a ceremonial injury. He waited for a rush of hissing laughter from hidden, unseen mouths. What happened next unnerved him completely.
The tall, lanky figure released the grip on his throat, carefully straightened the leg that had locked itself around Kiijeem"s tail, rose, and stepped back to look down at him. Lying on the ground, Kiijeem let the fingers clutching the bengk loosen as he stared dazedly up at his opponent.
"I attacked with weaponss. You have the right to claim damage." He waited stoically. As the tailless shape came slowly toward him he closed his eyes and tensed.
A soft, pulpy hand made contact with his own right one. Five digits wrapped around his four. Not to break, not to dislocate, but to pull. The strength in those spongy fingers was as surprising as the figure"s agility. As they helped him upright, Kiijeem could detect nothing of artifice about the gesture. Breathing hard, he stared up at his infuriatingly phlegmatic opponent.
"You inflict no injury." Even an actor, he knew, would leap at the opportunity to acquire that germane bit of status, if only as a bonus in addition to whatever payment he had been promised. Kiijeem looked around. The night was still calm, the exclusive residential neighborhood still quiet. No shapes emerged from the darkness to laugh, to chide, or to admonish him. His lower jaw dropped to reveal sharp teeth, and his tongue lay flat and numb against his palate.
"It"s a human thing," Flinx told him, careful not to show any teeth of his own as he smiled back.
"You...," Kiijeem searched for appropriate words. "You really are are a human." a human."
"Truly," Flinx replied, this time without even a trace of an offworld accent.
"How can thiss be? How can you you be?" Aware that he was still gripping the bengk, Kiijeem realized that the figure standing before him was within easy stabbing range. The tip of his tail twitched, instinctive preparation for whipping around and striking. The appendage seemed oddly heavy. Looking around, he saw that something had attached itself to the very tip. be?" Aware that he was still gripping the bengk, Kiijeem realized that the figure standing before him was within easy stabbing range. The tip of his tail twitched, instinctive preparation for whipping around and striking. The appendage seemed oddly heavy. Looking around, he saw that something had attached itself to the very tip.
The small flying creature had wrapped its coils around the end. Staring at the brightly colored blue and pink creature, Kiijeem took in the slitted eyes, the scaly body, and reflected that it was the one he would have been comfortable conversing with. Alas, while the winged thing was somewhat perceptive it was just as obviously not sentient.
"If I cannot be," Flinx replied gently as he took a seat on the sandstone and crossed his long legs, "then who are you talking to?"
"I wa.s.s being literal, not solipssisstic." Kiijeem squatted down into a resting crouch. After a moment"s indecision he laid the bengk aside. But not out of reach. That would have been foolish. And un-AAnn-like. "What I meant wa.s.s that you, a human, should not be on Blasussarr." Double eyelids blinked in succession. "You are not an operative attached to the Commonwealth diplomatic corpss?"
"No." Flinx chuckled. "They would be as upset to learn that I"m here as would your own officials."
"Then what are are you doing here?" a genuinely curious Kiijeem inquired. "To my knowledge, no human ha.s.s ever managed ssuch a thing." you doing here?" a genuinely curious Kiijeem inquired. "To my knowledge, no human ha.s.s ever managed ssuch a thing."
"I"m here because," Flinx explained thoughtfully, "to my knowledge, "no human has ever managed such a thing."" He looked away from the now intensely interested young nye, toward the night sky. "I seem to have a propensity for doing things none of my kind have done before. My own ship thinks I"m crazy."
Two revelations to ponder in one short phrase, Kiijeem decided. "I"m crazy" and "My own ship thinks." He determined now was not the time or place to probe more deeply into either claim.
"You are lying. There cannot be a human sship near Blasussarr. Any incoming vessel not intercepted in the outer reachess of the home ssysstem would be obliterated long before it could enter into orbit."
Flinx did not smile. "Technological advances exist that the Empire knows nothing about. Or for that matter, the Commonwealth. My ship is not your typical voyager through s.p.a.ce-plus. And I am not your usual human."
"I would not know. I have never encountered a ssoftsskin before. Only in sstudiess. Never in the flessh." Aware that the weight had left his tail, he looked on as the colorful flying creature buzzed over to land on its master"s shoulder.
"Disappointed?" Flinx asked him. "Afraid?" He already sensed that the young nye was afraid of him, but he was curious to see how the youth would respond to a direct query.
"A little, truly," Kiijeem replied with admirable honesty. "You are not going to kill me." It was not a question. Had the human intended murder, he would already have carried it out.
"No. You are not my enemy." Drawing his knees up to his chest, Flinx clasped his arms around them. As dawn began to threaten, the coldest part of the night probed harder at his exposed flesh.
"The Empire and the Commonwealth have been enemiess for a long time." As he spoke, Kiijeem tried to note all the details of the softskin"s alien anatomy. In many ways the sight was laughable; in others, fascinating.
"I am not the Commonwealth," Flinx told him somberly. "And you, I hope, are not the Empire. I know your name, and you know mine. By the sand that shelters life, I would beg your friendship."
None of this was proceeding as Kiijeem had expected. First the human had physically upended him and now it was unsettling him mentally as well. As the victor in their combat the softskin was in a position to demand demand friendship. There was no need for him to beseech it. But that was just what he was doing. Gratuitously and without being asked, he had given back to Kiijeem the share of status that the nye had lost in the course of the fight. It was a generous gift. friendship. There was no need for him to beseech it. But that was just what he was doing. Gratuitously and without being asked, he had given back to Kiijeem the share of status that the nye had lost in the course of the fight. It was a generous gift.
But-could he respond? Whoever heard of an AAnn granting friendship to a human? One might as well offer it to a rabid thranx. Yet given the circ.u.mstances of their meeting, how could he refuse? More beguilingly, Kiijeem was not sure he wanted wanted to refuse. to refuse.
Though he sensed the ambivalence in the young AAnn"s emotions, Flinx did not try to intervene, either verbally or with his Talent. It was important that, whatever decision this youth came to, he reach it on his own. Only in that way would it last. Flinx was optimistic. Given his youth, Kiijeem might not yet have acquired the visceral hatred of humans that was prevalent among his kind. Noninterference in the young nye"s decision was, on Flinx"s part, something of a gamble. He smiled inwardly. He had gambled similarly on one or two occasions in the past, and he was still here.
His a.s.sessment paid off. Turning his head to one side, Kiijeem exposed his throat. At the same time, he reached out toward the human, the claws on his hand fully retracted. Across the distance that separated them, Flinx mimicked the clutching gesture flawlessly.
"Sso you are telling me," a now far more at ease Kiijeem began as he lowered his arm, "that you have ssomehow penetrated all Imperial planetary and ssysstem defenssess ssolely in the sservice of a perssonal interesst?"
Flinx nodded, then thought to add the appropriate AAnn gesture of third-degree rea.s.surance. "That"s one reason. There is another." Turning slightly to his left, he glanced at the eastern sky. It was starting to lighten. "Not enough time for complete explanations now, I"m afraid. You and I have struck concordance. I"m not sure others of your kind would be so accommodating if they were aware of my presence here." He turned back to his young host. "Also, the city authorities are looking for me."
Kiijeem looked startled. "They know there iss a ssoftsskin in Krra.s.sin?"
Flinx smiled. "No. They"re looking for a nye who has made use of illicit exchange." He indicated his neatly laid-out simsuit. "Not only have I pa.s.sed illegally among your kind, I"ve pa.s.sed illegal funds."
"Sso that iss what you are doing here, on the property of my family." Kiijeem"s emotions had run the gamut all the way from fear to delight. "You are a fugitive twice over: as a ssoftsskin without portfolio and as a common criminal."
Flinx shrugged. "Anymore it seems like I"m always doing things in multiples." He indicated an artificial rock overhang, the area it sheltered hidden from both the low-lying main residence and the street. "Can I stay awhile, and if I do will you keep my presence here a secret?"
"Are we not now friendss in combat, ssoftsskin?" Straightening out of his crouch, Kiijeem approached as Flinx rose to his feet. Turning his head to one side, the young AAnn exposed his throat. Flinx gripped it lightly, withdrew his hand, and turned his own head. Had he not been able to perceive the nye"s emotions, he would never have taken such a chance. Young as he was, Kiijeem still had claws sharp enough to rip out a human throat.
The AAnn touched him appropriately and then stepped back. "You may sstay. Can you eat normal food?" Flinx gestured a.s.sent, though without the typical tail embellishment. Even in the absence of the accompanying gesture, Kiijeem understood. "You musst hide during the day. Tonight I will bring you ssomething to eat. Thiss area of the compound iss maintained and groomed by automatics. They are unssophissticated and ea.s.sily avoided." He studied the tall human. "Tonight you will ansswer my quesstionss. I have many."
"I have a few of my own," Flinx replied. The possibilities presented by this unexpected new relationship were unspooling in his mind. In seeking a quiet place to hide for the night, he might have found a good deal more.
If Flinx handled it right, young Kiijeem AVMd might just be his way safely out of the capital city of Krra.s.sin and off the homeworld of the predatory AAnn.
Hidden away within an artificial landscape on private property deep in the capital city on the homeworld of humanxkind"s most implacable enemies, Flinx took pleasure in a surprisingly relaxing sleep. While the sandstone crevice in which he had sequestered himself for the night was hard and unyielding, the simsuit on which he was lying provided some padding. As for Pip, she obtained all the heat she needed for a good night"s rest by simply coiling up next to her rec.u.mbent master.
The sun woke Flinx with enough force to remind him that he needed the simsuit as much to prevent sunstroke and sunburn as to fool the AAnn. Following a long draught of suit-treated water suctioned from the pool complemented by a measured sip from his liquid food supplies, he emerged from the crevice to examine his surroundings in daylight.
Not more than two meters high, the section of the main residence that protruded above ground level was clearly visible across the sculpted terrain. From a distance it was impossible to estimate the true size of the low-lying habitation. Given the extent of the surrounding fenced property and its location within the capital"s boundaries, Flinx speculated that it would be considerable. Kiijeem"s extended family was clearly very well off and the brevity of the young AAnn"s surname further confirmed its status.
He crouched back under cover when a private transport rose from an underground garage. Humming softly, it accelerated parallel to his location. The vehicle paused at the fence line only long enough to satisfy Security before exiting onto the nearest pa.s.sway and rising toward the distant domes and squat edifices that marked the center of the city. Half an hour later an entirely different transport appeared and entered the property. It did not head for the subterranean garage. Instead, it disgorged its trio of pa.s.sengers outside and aboveground. The visitors then entered the underground complex by means of a down-sloping rampway Friends or workers, Flinx theorized, having no means of determining the newcomers" status. Reaching out toward them, he found that their emotions were flat and uninformative.
Not so those of the single figure that drew near his hiding place an hour later. Alien feelings rose and dipped in a combustible mix of antic.i.p.ation, exhilaration, and uncertainty. Flinx sensed Kiijeem"s approach well before he actually saw the young nye. All sentients, he had long ago discovered, broadcast their own distinctive emotive signature. He could recognize these as easily as a dog could identify animals by smell. At least, he could when his always unpredictable, irritatingly erratic Talent was functioning, as it was now.
He considered donning the simsuit in preparation for the impending meeting, then decided against it. There was no reason for him to do so as long as he was careful to keep out of the direct glare of Blasusarr"s star. True, he would be more comfortable inside the self-regulating, temperature-controlled suit, but why waste the power when he could cool off just as easily with a simple dip in the pool? So he stayed in the shadows and waited for Kiijeem to find him.
The youthful AAnn did so eagerly, greeting him with a far more casual gesture than he had employed in the course of their previous encounter. "You are ressted for hunting?" he inquired energetically.
"Rested to kill," Flinx replied politely and in kind. They were neither going to hunt nor kill anything except time, he knew, but many revered AAnn traditions dated to a time when Kiijeem"s ancestors had stalked prey in packs across the wide hot stretches of Blasusarr"s unforgiving deserts and plateaus. As man and AAnn looked on, Pip decided to pursue one of the nearby pool"s many aquatic life-forms.
"Your companion takess well to water," Kiijeem commented. "I have read that it iss much the ssame with your sspeciess."
Unlike the thranx, who had a disconcerting tendency to sink instead of float and as a consequence possessed (with a few daredevil exceptions) a visceral fear of water, the AAnn could swim. Not as efficiently as humans, but with the aid of their tails they could manage reasonably well. Flinx decided to postpone any demonstration. While the emotions the young AAnn was disseminating confirmed that his current amity was genuine, he was still no boon teenage acquaintance. The relationship between them could change at any moment, Flinx knew. The same instinctive wariness that had sustained him and kept him alive since childhood had taught him that when and where possible it was always best to keep one"s abilities a secret from a potential foe, no matter how unlikely the prospect of conflict might seem at the moment.
So he did not offer to demonstrate the human ability to swim by going for a dip. Instead, he indicated the lumpy package that hung from a strap over Kiijeem"s left shoulder.
"Food and drink, as I promissed." Setting the fabric container down, the young nye proceeded to unseal it. Some of the contents he pa.s.sed to Flinx while keeping the rest for himself.
The tidily prepared cubes and slabs had the look, smell, consistency, and taste of various kinds of meat. Flinx knew they had been grown in vast protein factories. Only a specialist could have told them from actual animal flesh. Dining on the latter had long since been a privilege reserved for those AAnn who had access to significant income. Kiijeem"s family might be rich enough to afford real meat, but not to the point of allowing one of their offspring access to it for a casual midday meal.
Flinx dug into the alien offering with gusto. AAnn food was better than liquid supplements, which was all that his suit could supply. Having been forced to survive on it many times in the course of the preceding couple of weeks, his system welcomed the change. Small doses of the metabolic supplements he swallowed every morning allowed him to a.s.similate even the most exotic components of local fare without damage to his stomach or intestines.
Kiijeem looked on in amazement as the tall human downed cube after cube of local food. "Your teeth are flat and few are pointed. How can they prepare ssomething like kolipk kolipk for digesstion?" for digesstion?"
In between chews, Flinx pulled back his lips to reveal his teeth to his host. It was a physical feat the stiff-jawed AAnn could not duplicate. Kiijeem flinched at the sight.
"See?" Flinx told him as he relaxed his mouth. "The front teeth are incisors. Flat, but designed for cutting. All AAnn teeth are like daggers, short and sharp. Those of my kind are more diverse. Some are like slicing blades, a few are like daggers, and most are evolved for grinding. Remember that we are omnivores and consume plant matter as well." He resumed eating.
Kiijeem performed a second-degree gesture of amazement. "Fa.s.scinating. It is almosst as if the evolutionary process wa.s.s unssure which direction your biology sshould take."
"We often wonder about such things ourselves." He gestured at a dark purple slab of protein. "Pa.s.s me another piece of that seared hilthopk hilthopk, will you?" The youth complied.
"How do you come to know sso much about our wayss, our food, our language?" Kiijeem asked him. "According to my sstudiess, humanss and AAnn rarely encounter one another except in the coursse of formalizing diplomatic or commercial exchangess." He hesitated before adding, "And in battle."
Flinx let it slide. "I suppose you could say that I am a rare kind of human. I have a particular reason for being interested in all species. Including those with whom the Commonwealth government does not always get along. As a consequence I"ve spent an unusual amount of time in the company of other sentients-including your own kind. Most recently on a world called Jast."
"Ja.s.st," Kiijeem repeated. "I have heard of it. It ha.s.s not been prominent in my sstudiess."
"It"s not an Imperial world," Flinx informed him. "It"s independent, though inclining more to the Imperial orbit than that of the Commonwealth. There are many of your kind working there." Recent memories came flooding back. "I spent some time there. More than I antic.i.p.ated. A lot of it was among artists of your species."
Kiijeem"s reaction was reflexive. "Pfssaact! "Pfssaact! Some artisstss are important in their way. Indusstrial dessignerss, for example. But mosst are weak and little more than a burden on ssociety. Art sshould be an adjunct to a true life. Thosse who choosse to do nothing but art are little more than para.s.sitess. Humanx ssociety, if I remember correctly, viewss thiss differently." Reinforced by gesture and emotion, the implication in the youth"s tone was that humans and thranx were both debased species because they chose to honor full-time artists and viewed creative endeavors as an acceptable way of spending one"s entire existence. Some artisstss are important in their way. Indusstrial dessignerss, for example. But mosst are weak and little more than a burden on ssociety. Art sshould be an adjunct to a true life. Thosse who choosse to do nothing but art are little more than para.s.sitess. Humanx ssociety, if I remember correctly, viewss thiss differently." Reinforced by gesture and emotion, the implication in the youth"s tone was that humans and thranx were both debased species because they chose to honor full-time artists and viewed creative endeavors as an acceptable way of spending one"s entire existence.
Sidestepping a characteristic AAnn invitation to argument, Flinx elaborated. "I think you might feel differently about this particular group of artists. For one thing, they chose to live apart from the rest of AAnn society. Your kind are especially gregarious, and such self-enforced isolation on an alien world represents a considerable sacrifice for them."
"Fleeing and hiding by any other name ..." Unpersuaded, Kiijeem blew dismissively through the nostrils located at the end of his short snout.
"I was badly injured and they took me in," Flinx continued. "My own kind did not; the dominant Jastian sentients, the Vssey, did not. Only this group of AAnn artisans freely offered me shelter and succor. They could just as easily have finished me off and made a meal of my remains." He met the youth"s slitted gaze without blinking. "Most members of your species would have done exactly that. At least one of them tried. But not the members of this Tier." He leaned back against a stone slab that was being warmed by the heat of day.
"I"d lost my memory. My time among the members of this Tier helped me regain it. They treated me as one of their own. One in particular ..." His voice trailed away.
Though what little he knew of the remarkably flexible and expressive human face had been learned only in the past day or so, Kiijeem thought he detected suggestions of emotions not formerly encountered. The sudden fall-off of the human"s voice and deliberate noncompletion of a whole thought also seemed to point to previously unencountered ambiguity. Curious as to the cause, he pressed his visitor for further explanation.
"You did not finissh the narrative. You were sspeaking, I believe, of an individual nye."
Flinx eyed his young host sharply. "You"re a perceptive one, Kiijeem."
The AAnn responded with a gesture indicting first-degree concurrence. "In ssocial groupss I am often ssingled out for approbation of my sskillss at obsservation."
"Truly," Flinx conceded. "The female"s name was Chraluuc. Like all of the Tier to which she belonged, she was an artist. She was charged, I suspect originally against her will, with looking after my amnesiac self. We became friends. Good friends. More than most, she wished me to be a bridge between human and AAnn."
"What happened to her?" Kiijeem was much intrigued. In all his studies he had never encountered an instance of a personal, as opposed to the occasional professional, closeness between a human and one of his own kind.
"The same thing that happens to all of us." Flinx spoke softly, remembering. "She died. Too soon." He eyed the young AAnn. Round eyes peered deeply into slitted pupils. "I"ve spent much of my life not doing that."
Kiijeem was momentarily confused. "Not doing what?"
"Dying." Straining to see past the landscaping off to his right, Flinx peered in the direction of the main residence. "I wouldn"t want that to happen to you."
"Not to worry on that sscore." To emphasize his confidence, the crouching AAnn smacked the ground twice with his tail. "Sshould sserious conflict arisse between uss, I can alwayss turn you in to the authoritiess."
It was a characteristic AAnn trait, Flinx knew well, to be direct to the point of tactlessness.
"Truly you could," he admitted dryly. "But it is my hope that you and I might foster a friendship similar to the one I formed on Jast."
"Time will reveal," Kiijeem told his guest, as straightforward as ever. "For the moment I sstill find you far too interessting to ssacrifice." Underlying his enthusiasm, the tip of his tail kept flicking from side to side. And according to his emotions, Flinx sensed a suggestion of thrill. No doubt from the danger inherent in being so intimate with one of his species" traditional adversaries.
Fine, Flinx decided. Keep the youngster interested, keep him involved, and he will be far less inclined to reveal his visitor"s presence.
Kiijeem"s inquisitiveness was as unbounded as his boldness. Adjusting his stance and settling into an ever-lower crouch while utilizing his tail for balance, he used his long, narrow, flexible tongue to clean the outer membrane of first one eye and then the other.
"Tell me about humankind. I know more of the thranx becausse my people have had longer contact with them. But where humanss are concerned, the information available iss less extenssive. I have sseen how you eat. How can you chew with your jawss insside your sskull? As you walk, don"t thosse protruding external earss catch on thingss? You sstand perfectly sstraight: how do your kneess handle the consstant pressure?" Leaning to one side, he tried to see behind his guest. "And by the Great Egg, I cannot fathom how your kind can sstand upright, much less run, in the abssence of a tail to provide sstability."
"Well, to a large extent that has to do with how our internal ears are made," Flinx began.
In the days that followed he educated his young host not only in the particulars of human physiology, but in the art, music, theater, science, and sociology of his species, as well as the history of the Commonwealth. Hailing from a culture in which aggressive behavior was prized, expected, and rewarded, Kiijeem took a special interest in Flinx"s description of pre-Amalgamation intra-human wars.
"Thesse taless of your once planet-bound sspeciess are very different from thosse of the dissgusstingly placid thranx, and do not ssound sso very different from what I have learned of my own kind and itss drive to make the leap out into intersstellar ss.p.a.ce. Though I am sstill young and have no experience of ssuch thingss, it sseemss to me that your kind and mine may have more in common than you do with the repellent hardssh.e.l.lss. Yet you are alliess with them and not with uss."
Flinx had to smile. "Are you sure you"re not preparing for a career in the Imperial diplomatic corps?"
"I have not yet chossen a life pace," Kiijeem confessed. A slight pressure on the end of his spine caused him to look down and back. Having coiled around his tail, Pip was playing with the twitching tip.
"She likes you," Flinx told his host. "You should be flattered. She usually doesn"t take quickly to strangers."
Kiijeem turned back to the human. While the absence of a tail had many disadvantages, there was one clear benefit. The softskin could sit on any surface, in any position, without the risk of damage to the smallest of his vertebrae.
"Her epidermiss iss very ssimilar to that of my kind. I feel that sshe ssenssess a kinsship."
"I"m sure that she does," Flinx agreed. But if you try to hurt me, superficial similarities notwithstanding, she"ll kill you without a second"s hesitation But if you try to hurt me, superficial similarities notwithstanding, she"ll kill you without a second"s hesitation. He did not voice the caution. Despite his deepening camaraderie with the young AAnn, there was nothing to be gained by filling him in on every little detail.
It was getting late. Or rather, early. Soon the sun would be up. Kiijeem straightened his body, rising up out of his resting crouch, his tail stiffening behind him. "Thesse pa.s.st dayss and the captivating time I have sspent in your company have enabled me to come to a decission."