"Right again. The Mopelling diplomats are coming to meet the Terran diplomats."
"The hotel has diplomats?"
"Just temporarily. The two species swap delegations here and then go on to their respective destinations, each with a lo- cal escort." Gemmy gave a pointed look at the toy rabbits.
"We haven"t much time."
FACE TIME.
159.
"Oh, I"m sorry. I was appreciating how very ... purple .
the whole thing is."
"Purple?"
"Wavelength," the Terran explained. "I see it as a specific color: purple. Very purple. Remarkably purple."
"Not pleasantly purple, by your standards?"
"No, I"m afraid not. Overwhelming."
"Apparently, the Mopellings see the wavelength differently.
They asked, in fact, for that specific wavelength."
"Whooosh," said the Terran.
If he"d had eyestalks, they"d probably be twisted, Gemmy thought. "Try the rabbits," Gemmy said. "They"re not pur- ple."
The Terran made a croaking noise that Gemmy recognized as an expression of pleasure. "I like the way you think," he said.
Then, to Gemmy"s surprise, he strode to the end of the room and set the toy rabbit with its tail right up against the wall.
"Okay," he announced. "Let"s see if this lives up to its billing."
The toy rabbit hopped. The Terran gave another croak of pleasure and followed behind it, the entire length of the room.
Gemmy was so startled and pleased by the sight that he sat back on his haunches and clucked to himself. The rabbit hopped exactly like the ones in the cartoons.
But the way the Terran followed after was indescribable.
The Terran was all angles and looked for all the world like he was being led along ... as if his smeller were somehow hooked to the rabbit"s fluffy white tail by an invisible string.
Why the Terran didn"t get pulled over-right onto that smeller of his-Gemmy would never know, but he was aw- fully glad he was here to see it.
Suddenly, Gemmy felt very guilty. Here he was, goggling at the Terran the same way the first-timers had. He ought to know better!
The rabbit"s nose touched the far wall, and the Terran scooped it up, tucked it under his arm, and strode back.
Gemmy tried to get his clucking under control and failed and felt even guiltier.
The Terran showed teeth. "That noise you"re making. That means you find it funny, right?"
Abashed, Gemmy said, "Yes."
160 Janet Kagan "Good. So do I. I think my nephew will have a grand time with his rabbit." He set the other one with its tail against the door they"d come through and sent it off toward the purplest of the purple draperies. This time he didn"t follow but stood there croaking as he watched it.
"Funnier from this end. Watching the little white tail bob up and down, I mean." The Terran looked him in the eye but Gemmy couldn"t bring himself to cluck this time. "Ah!" said the Terran. "The rabbit"s not as funny as I am."
"I apologize ...," Gemmy began.
"Not necessary. I imagine two legs look pretty d.a.m.n pre- carious to you."
He went to retrieve the rabbit. When he"d caught the toy up again, he came back across the room at a gait that Gemmy would not have believed possible. If the walk had looked pre- carious, this was positively dangerous!
"Be careful!" Gemmy called out, in spite of himself.
More teeth-lots more teeth. "That, my fine four-legged friend, is "skipping" and my nephew is an expert skipper. Of course, he"s had some five years" practice...."
"You mean, he"s a child? And he can do that?"
The Terran nodded. "So you see, it"s not all that dangerous.
I only meant to make you laugh, I didn"t mean to frighten you to death."
"Not quite "to death," " Gemmy said. He took a deep breath and urged color back into his fringes.
The Terran closed l.a.b.i.a over his teeth. Very serious, that was, if Gemmy remembered correctly.
"Come," said the Terran. "Let"s get away from all this pur- ple. I"ll buy you a drink. I owe you that much for having scared the bejesus out of you." He gestured Gemmy back through the shortcut and into the bar. "Take my advice, my friend, don"t ever watch a jump-rope contest. You"d go posi- tively black around the fringe!"
Until the bar got busy, the Terran regaled him with the most horrifying descriptions of Jump-rope imaginable.
Gemmy couldn"t decide whether he was making the whole thing up or not. Maybe Milly could tell him if they ever got a moment"s break again. Just before the Terran reception committee was due to arrive, the Terran with the familiar smeller glanced at his watch and said, "Ooops, gotta date."
FACE TIME 161.
Gemmy brought him the bill and he anteed up. Then he threw a nice-sized tip onto Gemmy"s tray and, beside it, he set one of the rabbits. "For you," he said. "My nephew only needs one."
"Then why did you get two?" This was one of those things about Terrans that continued to mystify him.
"Cheaper that way," the Terran said. "You keep it to re- mind you of the funny bit."
"Thank you," said Gemmy, amazed at the thought of a Terran who understood how odd he looked to Gemmy. and who didn"t seem to mind it. "Thank you!"
"Aha!" said the Terran. "You clucked! I knew I"d get it right if I worked on it."
"I hope we"ll see you again," said Gemmy. meaning it for once.
"I guarantee it," said the Terran with the still-familiar smeller.
The Terran reception committee"s module had arrived.
Gemmy accessed the neural network and watched for a mo- ment as Terrans spilled into the corridor and fanned out into the At-Three section of the hotel. Within minutes, the Bul- bous Beet was full. Gemmy had expected the first-timers, be- cause by now they"d have settled their luggage in their rooms and come looking for refreshment. He hadn"t expected some few Terrans from the delegation, but here they were. and they"d brought a Hotel Security robot with them.
"Gemmy, this is Carmela Antonini. She"s head of special security for the Mopelling delegation. Chief Antonini, mis is Gemmy, No First Name."
This Terran was unfamiliar to Gemmy, but under the cir- c.u.mstances he did his best to pick out such features as would allow him to recognize her when next he saw her. The patch of fur on her head was striped red and gold. Her smeller was small and turned up slightly at the tip. Gemmy knew he couldn"t count on the hair color of any Terran staying the same from day to day, but he hoped the general shape would remain. The smeller was easier, though. It was the first of that particular shape he"d seen.
"I"m pleased to meet you. Chief Antonini. May I get you a drink?"
162 Janet Kagan The comers of her mouth turned up to express pleasure, but she showed no teeth. Careful, this one. She wasn"t about to risk offending him. "Thank you, no, Genuny. I"m here to make a few inquiries about security." To the robot, she said, "That will be all for now. Gemmy and I can handle this on our own."
Unoffended, the security robot simply turned and left.
"Come sit with me, Gemmy. I need to ask you a few ques- tions."
The bar was hopping. Still, Gemmy knew enough to know that from a chief of security that was an order. "Let me take care of that table over there and then I"ll come join you. I can"t leave my customers completely in the lurch."
"I understand," she said. "When you have a spare moment, then."
More understanding than a lot of private security he"d dealt with, Gemmy thought. He served a round of drinks to the first-timers; they gawked appallingly. The youngster in the group wanted to touch Gemmy"s scales. Gemmy let it: kids of any species are naturally curious and to stifle that curiosity was harmful. Then he explained the situation to Milly.
"Sure," she said. "Just stick close enough that I can scream if I need you."
He pointed out the table where Chief Antonini sat. He had the odd thought that she was memorizing everyone in the bar.
Milly whistled. "Hot stuff!"
"I don"t get you, Milly."
"Very attractive to another Terran," Milly said. "Utterly wasted on you." Milly showed lots of teeth and Gemmy clucked because now he got it. "Here," said Milly. "She prob- ably doesn"t drink-alcohol, I mean-on duty. But take her this from me. On the house."
Gemmy did as he was told. And he thought he"d pa.s.s along the compliment, as well. Terrans appreciated compliments just as much as anybody. "Milly says you"re hot stuff, and she sends you a non-alcoholic drink, on the house."
That was some sort of mistake, for the chief made a kind of choking sound. Then she said, "Thank Milly for me." Her voice was a t.i.ttle odd, but he supposed he hadn"t committed a major gaffe. She wasn"t angry. He"d ask Milly about it later.
Chief Antonini took a sip of her drink and waved a thank FACE TIME 163 you to Milly at the bar. Then she said, "Ferrus tells me you"re a very good observer of Terrans."
"Not quite good enough. I think I offended you just now and I"m not sure how."
"That would require a complicated explanation. Suffice it for now that you didn"t offend me but telling another Terran the same thing might offend him or her." She turned up her mouth again.
"You can show your teeth," Gemmy said. "I don"t take it for belligerence."
She did. Many of them. Then she said, "Let me get my business done first, then I"ll explain as best I can."
"Thank you. I"d appreciate that." Gemmy sat back on his haunches and waited for her to speak.
"You know the Mopelling delegation is coining in tomor- row. They stay for two days, until the Belva Ann Lockwood arrives. We"ll be escorting the delegation to Terra, while their equivalent of Security escorts our Terran delegation back to Mopell."
She seemed to expect him to say something. "Yes." he said.
"You also know that there are any number of Terrans, Glaucuscans-perhaps even Mopellings, for all I know-who would prefer to disrupt relations between Terra and Mopell."
"I know. I don"t understand that, but I know."
Her mouth turned down. "I don"t understand it either, Gemmy. But my job is to protect against such disruptions."
"What can I do to help?"
"You can keep your eye open. Tell me if you see anything suspicious."
"I don"t know what that means: suspicious." He added hastily, "I know the dictionary definition. But-to me-so much of what another species does is so mysterious I could easily misread it."
"Let me give you some categories I"d consider suspicious in these circ.u.mstances.... Has anyone been asking a lot of questions about the Mopelling delegation, for instance? Have you caught tourists in rooms that are usually off limits to any- body but the staff? Aha!" She leaned forward so abruptly that Gemmy, startled, rose to his feet and took a full step back.
"Sony," she said. She leaned back, slowly so as not to startle 164 Janet Kagan him a second time, and said, "But you have seen something that fits the criteria, haven"t you!"
Gemmy sat down again. "I"m not sure."
"Tell me," she said. "Let me decide.*"
Reluctantly, he told her about the Terran with the familiar smeller and the toy rabbits. She listened intently, only inter- rupting him once. To his surprise, she croaked-in a higher, more melodious register than the male Terran had-when he described the "skipping" and how it had made him feel.
"I understand," she said. "The first time my son pulled himself to his feet to take his first staggering steps, I was ter- rified. That first walk was beyond precarious and well into hair-raising." She gave him a long look. "You had to get to your feet moments after you were bom, did you not?"
"Yes, a child who doesn"t, who can"t, will starve to death.
Well, not anymore," he added quickly, seeing her eyes widen.
"Now there are ways to help a gillanter-an "unable to stand"-but for a long time gillanteyir simply died."
She saddened at that. Gemmy could feel it. Then she showed him how newbom Terrans were cradled to be fed, and she said again, "To watch a baby Terran team to walk is one of the most frightening experiences any parent could go through." Her shoulders made a strange motion-a quick shiver that Gemmy had seen a.s.sociated with bad memories- then she took another sip of her drink.
"So that"s it," she said. "Then he took his rabbits and went away."
"Only one rabbit. He gave me one of them to remember the funny bit by."
"That was very nice of him."
From her expression, Gemmy got the idea she didn"t think it was nice at all. He said as much.
"I"m sorry. I do find that suspicious behavior. I"d like to see that rabbit, if I might?"
"I really can"t leave the bar when it"s this busy," Gemmy said.