Sliding Scales (25 page)

Chraluuc gestured first-degree acknowledgment. “We of the Tier are artissts. As artissts, we seek to communicate through our work. We have come to view the human who fell to our care as a work in progress. He arrived here not knowing anything of himsself, hiss background, or much elsse. That includess any prejudice he previoussly may have held againsst our kind. He wass, in that ssensse, a blank sscroll. Ssince he hass been here, we have had the opportunity to write on that sscroll.”

Takuuna gestured confusion. “I follow your wordss, but not your conclussion.”

Grateful that the Ssemilionn continued to back her, Chraluuc continued. “In thiss human we ssee a chance to promote greater undersstanding between our resspective sspeciess. We believe that, given enough time, we can mold him into a usseful ambassador between human and AAnn. Nothing can sserve the Empire better than to esstablissh closser linkss with the humanss. The more that undersstanding growss between our two sspeciess, the greater the detriment to the thranx.”

They
were
crazy, these hermetic, isolation-loving artists, Takuuna decided. “You cannot make friendss with the ssoftsskinss. They are ssteadfasstly allied to the thranx, and alwayss will be. Human and thranx are part and parcel of the ssame foe.” He took a step past her, toward the watchful Ssemilionn. “It may be that you are right, that the human hass done nothing wrong. But he
iss
under ssuspicion. He musst be taken to Sskokossass for proper interrogation.”

“Under whosse ssupervission?” Chraluuc asked quietly.

Right then, he ought to have slipped out of his sandals and disemboweled her with a ritual double upward kick, Takuuna knew. The accusation was blatant. Behind him,
he sensed the troopers stirring nervously. Even the heretofore phlegmatic Ssemilionn tensed. Instead, he did the unexpected. He calmly answered the question.

“As head of the unit charged with finding thosse ressponssible for the recent atrocitiess that have been committed againsst our people, it iss part of my job to identify and take into cusstody all thosse who fall under ssusspicion. The sspeciess to which he belongss iss by itsself ssufficient to render the human ssusspect. I am ssorry you cannot ssee that,
vssassp.
But it doess not matter.” He gestured second-degree reassurance coupled with an overt gesture of concession.

“Let me take him to Sskokossass. Nothing will happen to him without good and proven reasson. If he iss as innocent and ignorant of the affairss of which I sspeak, he will be returned to you in good order, at which time you may ressume your romantic, unrealisstic, and may I add, lunatic undertaking. It and itss outcome iss of no interesst to me. But I musst return with him in cusstody.”

“No.” All eyes turned to Naalakot. “The human iss one of uss. He will not go with you.”

“No?” Takuuna made a sharp, short gesture. Reluctantly, the two troopers unlimbered their rifles. “You continue to inssisst on defying my authority?”

Despite her advanced age, Xeerelu advanced on him with surprising speed, stepping between him and the tautly muscled Chraluuc. “What authority, precissely, iss that, Adminisstrator? Becausse of the sspecial nature of the Tier's Imperial charter, you require a certification of second-degree emergency in order to be able to usse force here.” She could not smile like a softskin, but her punctuating hiss accomplished the same thing. “We of the Tier of Ssaiinn are not nearly sso addled as you appear to think. Among other thingss, we are quite knowledgeable
about the rightss that over the yearss we have sstudioussly ssought to compile.”

Takuuna hesitated. The room had become a frozen tableau. Everyone was watching him, including the edgy troopers. Since assuming the mantle of unit leader he always traveled prepared to deal with potential physical resistance. Resistance of the legal variety was another matter entirely. The Elder's words unsettled him, but he did not let it show.

“A moment, truly.”

While everyone waited in silence, it took only a couple of minutes for him to check the truth of the Elder's statement. Gazing at the readout that appeared on his tablet, he was forced to still the trembling in his fingers. It was all there, just as the withered old recluse had insisted, in the official Imperial file relating to the Tier of Ssaiinn and its Imperial charter. Despite the mandate he had been given by the administrative authority on Jast, he could not initiate a forcible search of the Tier's premises without first securing the requisite certification of at least second-degree emergency. Furthermore, the necessary documentation could not be obtained secondhand. Because of its sensitive nature, he had to make the initial application in person.

Of course, he could go ahead, anyway, claiming the need to act on a developing emergency situation on the ground, and attempt to justify his actions later. But these were fellow AAnn he was dealing with, not dawdling natives. There would be many witnesses to dispute the veracity of his claim. Thinking fast, he mulled his options.

If they were so proud of this provocative human's presence among them, and ready to admit to it, that suggested no urgency on their part to hide him. Therefore, the soft-skin was likely to still be here, resting and relaxing among
his fellow “artisans” for the foreseeable future. While the delay was frustrating, it was only that: a delay.

Continuing to repress his fury, he gestured as politely as he could manage to the Ssemilionn. He deliberately ignored the acerbic female Elder. She did not seem especially distressed by the oversight.

“I, of coursse, have no intention of subverting Imperial law, desspite the urgency of thiss matter. I will therefore take my leave of you and not return unless I have with me the appropriate criteria for proceeding with thiss matter.” He glared forcefully at each of the Elders. “Until then, I trusst that no attempt will be made to secretly move the ssoftsskin to another location.”

“He iss one of uss,” Naalakot declared yet again. “He will remain among uss.”

“Deprived of hiss memoriess,” Viinpou added, “where elsse would he go?”

While the response did not satisfy, it was sufficient to mollify Takuuna. With a last severe glance in Chraluuc's direction, he gathered up his abbreviated but heavily armed retinue and retired back the way he had come, disdaining her coolly courteous offer of an escort. As soon as the visitors had exited the building, Xeerelu turned to Chraluuc.

“Will the adminisstrator obtain the necessary order allowing him to remove the human from our cusstody, do you think?”

Chraluuc hissed softly and scratched at a loose scale on her neck. “I do not know. There iss ssomething more at work here, I think. Conssidering that Flinx iss but a ssingle human who iss only under ssusspicion and not openly accussed of direct participation in an actual act of violence, I thought the adminisstrator'ss interesst in him bordered on obssession.”

A somber Naalakot gestured concurrence. “I, too,
thought thiss bureaucrat'ss degree of interesst unhealthily intensse. We can only wonder as to itss causse. Perhapss the human himsself might enlighten uss?”

“If there iss anything there to sshed ssuch light,” Chraluuc replied. “And if he can remember it.” Tail whipping around behind her, she started for the doorway. “I will assk him, and sshare with you anything relevant that I learn.”

“Besst to learn it quickly,” Xeerelu advised her. One clawed hand gestured in the direction the departed administrator had taken. “I ssusspect our sseething vissitor to process eventss as furioussly as hiss sspittle sstained hiss teeth.”

“The name seems somehow familiar, but I'm damned if I can say in what context.”

Sitting on the curving sweep of moglas, Flinx watched while Pip slithered in and out of its folds. The flying snake had made a game of trying to anticipate where new gaps would open and old ones would close within the animated sculpted bench. Alive with the internal synthetic life-forms that were a hallmark of its construction, the constantly shifting bench massaged Flinx's human backside as tenderly as it would that of an AAnn, with the exception that those extrusions designed to caress his tail continually sought in vain for an appendage that was not there. Flinx worried that Pip might get caught in one of the flowing textural folds, but she never did.

Chraluuc sat on a bench across from him. It was identical to his save that its primary warp tint was deep blue instead of a pale pink. “Try harder. Thiss adminisstrator wantss you very badly.”

The human shook his head dolefully. “I can't imagine why. Not only can I not imagine having anything to do
with any kind of local resistance or rebellion, I wasn't even aware one was going on.”

“It hass been kept as quiet as possible—or sso I am told.” They both went silent for several minutes, distracted by the continuous movement of the benches on which they sat and the visually attractive artificial life-forms that dwelled within the vitreous surfaces.

Looking up, Flinx shrugged. “Not much we can do about it, I suppose. If he comes back for me, I'll have to go with him. I don't want to cause the Tier any trouble.”

“Truly.” She made a third-degree gesture of accord. “You will have to go with him. We cannot defy proper documentation. I would jusst like to know the tailbasse of thiss individual'ss obsession with you. And it
iss
an obssession. The Ssemilionn agree with me.” She leaned toward him, her sharp teeth gnashing gently close to his face. “Think, Flinx! If you are not a party to what he iss accussing you of, then why the firsst-degree interesst on hiss part?”

Fingers interlocked, Flinx repeatedly tapped his hands against his forehead. “I don't know, cherished Chraluuc. I just don't know.” When he looked up again, she thought him as helpless as a cub. His gaze was as vacant as his memory. “I don't remember
anything.
…”

L
wo-Dvuum was hopping toward the moving walkway that skimmed the exterior of the faculty lounge at the far end of the school. Work for the day having been concluded, it was time to relax and converse with colleagues. The questions that had been posed in today's several edification sessions by young, maturing Vssey whose frills had not yet changed color had been unusually draining, and the educator was looking forward to the customary late-day respite.

As a last hop placed Lwo-Dvuum on the walkway and a farther jump effected the necessary transfer to its faster adjunct, the communicator attached to the service strap that encircled the teacher's mid-trunk vibrated silently for attention. Bending forward brought it within reach of the tentacles that lined the educator's upper body. A simple curl of several proximate appendages lifted it close to the hearing frill that ran between upper dome and limbs.

“Lwo-Dvuum standing.” Who would be calling at this time of the workday, the educator wondered?

“Svi-Ormoth talking. Is it quiet around you, mentor?”

Lwo-Dvuum tensed, his frill contracting reflexively. SviOrmoth was a member of one of the several subordinate sympathetic circles of objection that impacted on the larger philosophical circle comprised of the teacher, BnoCassaul, and numerous others. What made Lwo-Dvuum
sensitive to the calling was that Svi-Ormoth occupied a particularly delicate position: the service specialist often did work within and for the resident AAnn Administration. It put the specialist in the unique position of being able to report from personal experience on the activities of the scaled ones. Doing so exposed Svi-Ormoth to considerable danger. It was a risk the specialist had been willing to take for some time now, for the benefit of all.

The educator checked the communicator's privacy signifier. It blushed a bright, reassuring orange. “Insofar as I can tell, it is quiet, yes. And I am in motion. You have news of mutual interest, praiseworthy frien'?”

“I have a story,” the burbling replied. “It involves something your circle passed along to mine, among others. Concerning the unreasonable interrogation you and your companions suffered under the direction of a particular AAnn official name of Takuuna.”

Lwo-Dvuum's eyes rotated atop their stalks. There was no one close by on the walkway, not even a preoccupied student. “Speak safely into the quiet, my frien'.”

“There was talk and discussion here recently that I overhear'. Very lou' talk, even louder than the scaled ones usually deploy among themselves. Part of it reminde' me immediately of some things of which your circle spoke— of one thing in particular.”

“Woul' I recall this one thing?” Lwo-Dvuum lowered his voice and repressed any bubbling as a pair of student-educators passed him on the parallel walkway that ran in the other direction.

“I am certain of it. Your circle spoke of this AAnn accusing you of consorting with a representative of a species calle' human, to the detriment of the AAnn.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“That self-same AAnn administrator recently clomped through here raging alou' about the defiance of a group of
his own kin' who were holding a human, an' refusing to surrender the creature to his custody.”

Lwo-Dvuum's puzzlement must have shown in the twisting of many tentacles, but there were none close by to comment or question the display. “What does that matter to us? Of what use is it, practically or philosophically?”

“I wondere' much the same.” Lwo-Dvuum could almost hear Svi-Ormoth bubbling merrily on the other end of the connection. “I almost set it aside. Then I found myself thinking: this AAnn official who arreste' you and the others of your circle seems to have become a law unto himself. Now, in addition to harassing innocent Vssey, he chooses to persecute an innocent representative of an entirely different species. In so doing, it develops that his action is opposed even by others of his own kin'.”

“We don't know that this human creature is innocent.”

“The AAnn who shelter him think so. I know: I managed to fin' and rea' the report. It must say that the creature who is the cause of so much upset does not look very threatening.”

Lwo-Dvuum sucked in enough air to make the domed upper third of the squat body temporarily swell upward. “That was very brave of you.”