The children kept combing while she continued. "Once you have been introduced to the immediate community, you will be introduced to our people in general. Gertat will give a speech, which will be broadcast throughout our space.

"Takor Uurnat of Et'arach'nur, the colonized moon, will also be present, although he is attending as a guest, and will likely not speak publicly. He will be interested in meeting you, however. He is another one you should be watchful of. We will review pictures before hand so you can familiarize yourself with the markings of some of those you'll meet.

"You will also have a chance to address all Rich'ti. What you say will also be broadcast. After Gertat's speech he will show you to the recorders, and it will be your turn. To speak longer than him would be insulting him before everyone, and a very foolish thing."

"Okay, I won't do that," he said, thinking that he would have kept whatever he said shorter than the Takor even without the warning. He did appreciate the warning, however. "Thank you."

"Have your people prepared words for you for this as well?" she asked.

Kevan laughed at that. The children paused in their grooming and looked over at him.

"There are several ...pieces of speeches prepared. If any of them seem better than anything I can come up with on my own, I'll borrow from them. I've always preferred speaking naturally."

"This is good," she nodded approvingly, and the children returned to grooming her. "I know that among your kind are some who spend their time writing speeches that others will say. Rich'ti speak what they mean, we do not try to tell each other what to say."

"It is more how to say it," Kevan explained. "Those who write speeches excel in putting words together to more clearly get a point across. They are also good at helping someone sway opinion in their favor if needed. They don't change the idea of what someone intends to say, merely makes it easier for the crowd to understand, as well as more entertaining to listen to. Have you never heard someone speak and been made tired just from listening to them?"

The children seemed to be chuckling at that, and he saw an amused look on Sarsh'ta's face as she tilted her head at him.

"I have," she acknowledged.

"Some speech writers can weave words together so that they sound more like poetry to the listener," he told her.

"I see," she said. "However, we judge people on their merit and their merit alone. To employ such a person to write your words for you would seem deceptive. If I should borrow someone else's words while speaking, I give them credit for it."

"Generally, our people are aware of who is writing the speeches," he replied. "There is nothing deceptive about it. It is a well-known tool for many politicians, especially during an election. Anyone who wishes to know who is writing a person's speeches can easily find out."

"I do prefer to use my own words unless I've been given instruction to do otherwise by those who employ me," he said, trying to reassure her. "I am not the most eloquent speaker, by far, but I usually manage to get my point across."

He noticed that the children seemed to be taking an extra amount of time on Sarsh'ta than it usually took him to do alone. Sarsh'ta must have noticed it at about the same time for she made a noise in the back of her throat at them and they hastily finished. Afterwards they gathered up the items they had brought with them and headed quickly out of the room.

Once the children had left, Sarsh'ta led him to the data terminal. She called up several pictures, which she lined up on the screen. One by one she enlarged them and explained who each was.

The eldest of this level of the building was one of the ones most favorable to an alliance. That was why Kevan was living on this level. A few had flat out stated they would not allow him to live on their levels.

Another one she made a point of showing him was Artok. "Artok is possibly the most outspoken opponent to your presence here. He will probably try something to slip you up. He will not overtly oppose you tonight, but if you leave an opportunity, he will probably seize it."

"I'll watch myself. What about after? What kind of trouble is he likely to cause?" Kevan asked, wanting to feel better prepared.

"He will not challenge you outright. Elders do not do that. Authority between elders and leaders is sometimes difficult. Elders agree to step down from running things directly when they take their place as elders. So while they'll try to persuade leaders one way or another, they don't contest authority.

"On the other hand, elders are presumed wise, and directly disagreeing with one is an implied slight on that elder's wisdom. So while leaders make decisions and say 'we will do this,' or 'we will do that,' elders give advice, and say 'we should do this,' or 'we should do that.' When a prominent elder speaks out on a controversial topic, leaders listen and think very carefully how they will respond."

"Why is the eldest on this level agreeable?" he asked. "It might help if I know why certain Rich'ti are willing to welcome me while others are not."

"Before he stepped into his role as an elder, he studied other races and the relationships they had with one another. He wrote several highly regarded works on the subject. Although he never spoke outright for it, his writings indicate that he thought we should broaden our understanding of other cultures to eventually develop relationships of our own with them. Rendat is one of the reasons I chose this level to live on. The other being that Pergute also resides on this level. To his credit, Rendat gave the idea of your being here careful consideration. I believe he was concerned about how it might effect the rest of the community here if things went badly."

"What convinced him?"

"Pergute did," she replied. "I'm not sure what all was said, but Pergute took your file with him and spoke with Rendat at length. Since Pergute stepped aside so that I would become Proonk Takor he has taken a place supporting me in my endeavors."

"Stepped aside?"

"He was my professor first and then I worked under his authority for most of my career. Pergute made the initial suggestion that Gertat make contact with your people. When Gertat wanted an advisor with a good understanding of your kind, however, Pergute stepped aside. He recognized that I had more capability as a speaker and that I would fare better with the competition, being younger than he. A few of my colleagues did challenge for the position, but I was able to hold my own. Having Pergute's support has helped me greatly."

"It is my understanding that Rendat approves of having you here," she continued, "but an eldest takes on the responsibility of making decisions for the whole community. He could not put his personal opinion before the needs of the others. Pergute was able to convince him that it would not be a problem to have you here."

"Rendat has never been afraid to take risks. You have to challenge the strong. Overcoming those weaker than yourself doesn't prove much. From that perspective, I think Rendat thought to wonder what would happen if everything worked.

"What would happen if the alliance happen and turns out to be a great thing? What if there are other, unexpected benefits? If that happens, he wants to be the one to lean back and confidently say, "I told you so."

"But he's risking if it doesn't work, right?" he asked.

"Yes, although it may be that the detractors are risking more if they are wrong... We have fought wars with other races before. We've never had to consider so seriously the possibility of losing."

"I do wish it was some other circumstance that had brought us together," Kevan said softly.

"You wonder what will happen if the alliance is not enough?"

"No, not that. No, we have a long history of helping when we're needed. But since we first started meeting other races, most of them have kept us at a distance until it benefited them. Most waited to make trade agreements until it was going to be favorable to them one way or another.

"Look at the Moodra. They showed no interest in trade with us, or cultural exchanges, or anything...until they started having viral problems that their doctors couldn't treat and found that we had cured one very similar. We've both benefited from exchanges since then. It would have been all the better if it had happened sooner."

He made himself stop talking, remembering the possibility of recording devices. For a moment all he could think about was one of many briefings he had attended.

"Remember," one councilman had said, "they don't want to be our friends. They don't want to be our neighbors. They don't want trade or cultural exchanges. They aren't interested in technological exchanges for mutual growth. Instead they've contacted us because they're trying to decide if dealing with us is preferable to defeat at the hands of an enemy."

He sighed, chiding himself for even thinking about it when he should be focusing forward. "But you have invited me here. Opportunity should not be overlooked merely because of circumstances."

"So, there will be a lot of food from the sound of it," he said, deliberately changing the subject. "What happens after eating? And is there anything I should know about table manners for this?"

"Table manners?" she tilted her head to one side, confused.

"In some cultures it is rude to be the first to finish your food, in others it is rude to be the last," he explained. "There are also cultures where washing ones hands at certain points in the meal or using a specific utensil to eat with are important. Bodily noises can also be either very rude or a signal that the meal was enjoyed."

"Oh, I see," Sarsh'ta nodded. "We do generally finish our food before the elders have finished eating, although it's not specifically a rule. The elders tend to take their time with things, they've earned the right to enjoy life's pleasures. We don't use utensils for eating, as you have already seen..." she trailed off, seeming to think about it a moment.

"It would be rude to leave the table before everyone has finished at any important event such as tonight's. It would be seen as if the Rich'ti leaving was not wanting to be a part of the community they are dining with. Most times, when we eat as a community, we remain together until everyone is finished with the meal. It was different on the ship, although you will have noticed that it is a very rare thing for a Rich'ti to eat alone."

"Anything else?" he asked, nodding.

"Not really. After the meal has finished, there will be music and a short period of mingling. You should be prepared to answer questions that I expect most of the elders will be waiting to ask you. Then there will be a performance by the children. It will be music and dance, reminiscent of our ancient ways when we were just scattered, warring tribes. After that, there will be a performance by some professional musicians and dancers of something more modern. You will find that we prefer live entertainment over viewing it on a screen."

"Most humans do as well," he agreed. "But the screen has proven a useful way to bring performances to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to view them."

Chapter 6

"It's time," Sarsh'ta said, rising to her feet. "This will be the escort."

"Escort?" Kevan echoed questioningly as he got up to follow her.

"Yes, a show of courtesy and respect. They are here for you, so I'll just be following along."

"Okay," he said, pressing the button to open the door. There were six large, rifle-carrying males waiting for him.

They formed into two lines of three, leaving an obvious space in the middle. He moved into it with a nod of acknowledgment. They led him to the elevator. Once inside, he found himself at the center as they formed a ring around him. He supposed that in their tribal past these would be serving as bodyguards for a visiting tribe's dignitary or leader.

That led him to other questions that didn't lead him to obvious answers. Would a rival chieftain need protection? Wouldn't he be the toughest of that tribe? Wouldn't a bodyguard escort imply he needed help defending himself? And if a visiting chieftain needed protection while amongst the tribe, didn't that imply something about the honor of the tribe? He wasn't sure what to make of any of it. For the moment he discarded it as his human mind interpreting alien ways different than they would.

They descended several floors. Kevan wasn't counting but guessed they were going to the ground level. He had that confirmed when his honor guard led him out to the central courtyard.

A large central space had been prepared, ringed with torches and Rich'ti. The path from the door to that central space was lined on both sides with Rich'ti. He had seen similar receiving lines before, and he reminded himself of their gestures and body languages that took the place of handshakes.

He saw that Gertat and the moon Takor, Uurnat, were already moving down the line, exchanging greetings with each Rich'ti in turn. Each had a Rich'ti in tow and Kevan recognized the familiar stance of an aide, whispering certain reminders in their respective Takor's ear. As he began to move towards the line himself, he was suddenly wishing he had Sarsh'ta at his side to give him some insight. Fortunately, he found that each of the Rich'ti stepped forward of their own accord and greeted him with their name. He returned the greeting to each and recognized some of the names and features from the images Sarsh'ta had shown him earlier. The first half of the line appeared to be the eldest Rich'ti from each level of the building. When he reached Rendat, he made a point of thanking him for hosting his stay. The old Rich'ti seemed to give him an amused but wary look.

"Somebody had to," was all he said in reply. The way Rendat said it, however, made Kevan hope he'd get the opportunity to talk to the Eldest further. He had a feeling that Rendat could give him some valuable insight into who he needed to be cautious around and why. Far more so than perhaps Sarsh'ta could.

When he reached Artok, he recognized him from the image he'd been shown. He stood waiting for an uncomfortable couple of moments before the Rich'ti spoke.

"I am Artok," he said in a seemingly angry tone. He leaned forward and Kevan noticed Rich'ti around him tense as if concerned that Artok was about to challenge him right then and there. "I suggest you don't get too comfortable. Your stay here is not likely to be long." He said it slowly and loudly, as if speaking to a child and so all could hear. He finished by stepping back with a low, warning growl deep in his throat. Kevan did his best to keep a wary but relaxed stance, as if he wasn't concerned.

The next Rich'ti in line quickly introduced himself, dissipating the tension. Kevan hoped it was an intentional act of showing up Artok with better behavior. He made a point of returning the greeting enthusiastically, hoping it would be seen as rewarding the more positive introduction.

There were other lukewarm introductions. Kevan could tell which ones were more or less pleased with his presence. There weren't that many obviously displeased about it, but there were several. He ended up estimating about one in five or six. He decided it could have been much worse.

He was led to the center of the ringed space. There were mats set out in concentric circles. He was given a spot on the innermost ring. Torches at that center ring provided lighting for the whole area.

The space sloped gently down toward the center, so while there were quite a few Rich'ti sitting in four rings, all would at least have some view of the central space. It appeared that the higher ranking Rich'ti sat closer to the center, which didn't surprise him.

He found himself seated between Gertat and Uurnat. Sarsh'ta sat to the other side of Gertat. There were twenty-four seated at the same ring, with an empty space about thirty feet across in the center. Most of the others he had seen pictures of before. Artok was about a third of the way around the circle to his left.

Kevan didn't recognize the Rich'ti that was first to step into the center to speak. The male's markings were particularly colorful and he seemed to handle the spotlight comfortably as he spoke. Kevan paid attention to how the Rich'ti positioned himself when he addressed the circles, and saw the he spent the majority of the time directing his gaze towards the two Takor. He made several turns, throughout his brief speech, that encompassed the remainder of the Rich'ti around him. Kevan noticed, however, that the most pertinant parts of what he had to say were spoken when he faced Gertat and Uurnat. He supposed he was also included in those being pointedly spoken to, but the Rich'ti seemed to have difficulty making even brief eye contact with Kevan. By the end of the Rich'ti's speech, Kevan had decided it was likely that he was a high-ranking reporter. He seemed to be introducing the event, and welcoming the Takor and Kevan on behalf of the building's communities. Kevan had noticed some round hovering devices off to one side behind him that were likely to be cameras. He hadn't seen any other members of the press specifically in attendance.

Although Kevan listened to what the Rich'ti said, it wasn't decidedly memorable. The next Rich'ti to make his way down to the center was Pergute. In contrast to the reporter, Pergute looked slightly nervous to be standing at the center of the spotlight. Kevan remembered what Sarsh'ta had told him about her being the better public speaker and wondered how Pergute had ended up with a speaking role tonight. Pergute looked as if he wished he had notes to read from. Kevan noticed the Rich'ti's hands fidgeting as he talked. Pergute's speech entailed giving a short background on the Rich'ti study of Humans, followed by an introduction for Sarsh'ta.

Although Sarsh'ta's speech did not carry some of the flair that the reporter had had when speaking, it was far more eloquently delivered than Pergute's. Her speech worked around introducing Kevan to the assembled Rich'ti. She covered his resume in detail, as well as some of his accomplishments while he'd been in college. He was surprised when she mentioned his father's success as a gravball player too. It was not a detail he would have thought important for his introduction.

Eventually she indicated for him to come forward, and she moved back to her spot. He rose and walked to the center confidently. He made a point of not specifically incorporating Rich'ti gestures while speaking. He addressed them as a human, not as someone trying to assimilate into their culture. But, he knew which gestures and expressions to avoid.

"My people can be long-winded at times like these, but I'll keep this short," he began. "I want to start by thanking you for bringing me here. Your hospitality has been very welcoming. I've been given a good place to stay, and I appreciate that.

"I know that many of you will have questions, and some of you will have doubts. I hope that I will be able to answer the questions and allay the doubts. I hope my visit here can be as a dialogue between two peoples.

"My people have a saying, 'Where there's life, there's hope.' We see the future as full of opportunities and possibilities, and we look forward to sharing it with you." He ended it with a nod. Gertat returned it with a thoughtful nod of his own. It wasn't the same nod, but it seemed approving to Kevan.

Kevan returned to his seat, and Gertat stood. For the most part, Gertat held everyone's attention. But Kevan could still tell that several were paying close attention to him. He made a point of watching Gertat.

"Tonight is not a time for worries, or for arguments, or for competing for status," Gertat said. "Tonight is a time for sharing and celebration and feasting. Let there be food!"

At Gertat's words, the Rich'ti around him all started rising from their seats. Conversations sprang up everywhere as Rich'ti stepped aside while children rushed in to collect mats. Kevan saw Uurnat turn towards him with a wary look as if about to speak when Sarsh'ta showed up and touched Kevan's arm to get his attention.

"Please come with me. Gertat wishes to do his public broadcast before the meal, while the tables are being put in place."

Kevan nodded and followed Sarsh'ta through the crowd. She led him off to one side and into a room in the building. Kevan saw that all the rooms on the ground level at the inner side of the building opened directly out into the courtyard. A small crowd of Rich'ti stood just inside and Kevan saw several Rich'ti with rifles, as his escort had been, standing guard to keep them inside. Gertat was waiting off to one side while the reporter who'd spoken earlier was speaking. Kevan saw that most of these Rich'ti were holding more of the recording devices, and determined that this press contingent was not being allowed into the general festivities.

What Kevan heard of the reporter's speech was about twice as long and equally as flamboyant as the speech he had given earlier. He suspected the reporter had been hand-picked as his opinions seemed to be skewed in Gertat's favor when he spoke of the Takor's decision to bring Kevan to meet the Rich'ti. Once the reporter had finished his bit, Gertat took his position in front of the press and their cameras.

"As many of you already know the Brey-hahd have recently began to land on the colony of Shetud," he began, deeply contrasting to the light-hearted words from only moments before. "We are evacuating people on the far side of the planet from where they are landing, although they have already destroyed two of the ships moving people out of that system. Captain Agronet is leaving to lead the force that will hold them off until the remainder of the people have been rescued."

"It is at this time that I want to remind you all of the reasons I have chosen to allow this Human, Kevan, into our midst. The Humans have managed to hold off the Brey-hahd where we have not. There is something they have, a technology or strategy, that we may need if we wish to triumph over the Brey-hahd. We are losing this war, my friends. I refuse to leave any option untried when it comes to turning it back in our favor. I believe this Human, Kevan, understands the grave nature of the situation and will work with us honestly and fairly. Sarsh'ta's report states that he is trying to learn our ways and respect them, not influence or change us as many would have you believe. I know he is the right Human for this task. I hope that you will all..."

He trailed off as the power to the entire building suddenly went down the courtyard was bathed in darkness.

Kevan looked back out through the windows to the courtyard. The torches in the courtyard were even being hurriedly snuffed out. He blinked his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden darkness.

The Rich'ti were calm, but obviously surprised. He could hear muted and half-whispered questions being asked. A ring of guards formed around him and Gertat and a couple others. "This only happens during an attack," one hushed voice said. "We should move, Sire," one of the guards said to Gertat.

A distant boom sounded. It sounded like the cracking of a sonic boom. It was a sound Kevan hadn't heard in some time. Then an explosion came. Other, smaller detonations followed it. Guards started herding them into the building. "This way," a guard instructed. Kevan tried to find Sarsh'ta in the dark crowd, but couldn't see enough to identify any of them except close up. The guards' rifles had lights, and they were giving off just enough light to navigate the otherwise blackened building.

More and more voices started asking what was happening. He could see guards listening to communicators that were either hidden in their ears or fur, or implanted somewhere. But they kept pausing their motions to listen, always the left ear. He suspected there was something under the fur there. It made sense to him.

Gertat looked angry. More than that, he looked frustrated. It didn't appear that he had a communicator, so he wouldn't know what the guards were hearing.

They were led to a stairwell. Most of the journalists were following. The rest of the main crowd must have gone in a different direction.

Kevan decided to stay close to Gertat. He, too, wanted to know what was going on. They made their way down, further into the darkness, the small lights of the rifles seeming to provide less and less illumination as they descended. He momentarily found himself wondering what their night vision was like as he tried not to stumble off the bottom step. To his relief, there were some lights along the edges of the floor on this basement level.

The level itself felt more like a parking garage to Kevan, with thick concrete-like pillars at regular intervals across a vast amount of space. He realized that it spanned across the entire building, including beneath the courtyard. People were piling down into it from all directions. Although there was a dull roar of conversation, he was surpised that most of it seemed unpanicked. He suspected they were accustomed to drills of some kind, so that they knew what to do so quickly.

Once inside the huge room, Gertat's group moved to one side and he saw the Takor grab hold of one of the riflebearers.

"What is happening? Tell me!" the leader insisted.

"It's a small squadron of short-range scouts, sir," the escort told him. "They seem to be testing our defenses. They've destroyed a nearby feuling facility and the adjacent buildings have taken considerable damage. We have defenses in the air, but they aren't having much success. There's very little fleet left in orbit right now, with Agronet on his way to Shetud." The escort seemed frustrated too, as if wishing he could be doing more just then. Gertat said a word that Kevan was sure he hadn't seen in any of his lessons. It sounded distinctly like a Rich'ti swear word to Kevan.

"Where is Eybert? He's ranking fleet here," Gertat demanded.

"No one seems sure, sir. A few people seem to think he's in one of the ships going out to fight, but the tower hasn't confirmed."

"Let me know as soon as someone has a line to him."

The escort nodded an acknoledgement and Gertat turned, obviously frustrated. He looked up and noticed Kevan watching him. For a moment, they looked at one another. Kevan felt as if the leader was measuring him up as the one all his hopes were resting on. It was all he could do to try and keep his own stance calm and confident while his stomach churned. The Takor took a few steps to close the distance between them.

"Short-range scouts means they've got a larger ship nearby. I just sent a large chunk of fleet away. I may have brought you here too late to do us any good."

There was the sound of another explosion, the first they'd heard since coming so far down. That can't be good, Kevan decided.

After that it got quiet. Gertat took a communicator from one of the guards. Radio messages were still coming in, but no one was sharing them with him. Eventually Sarsh'ta found them, but she didn't know any more than he did.

"So why was the power and lighting cut?" he asked Sarsh'ta while they were waiting.

"Standard drill," she explained. It makes it harder for an attacking pilot to know which buildings might be better targets, and also makes it harder to instantly assess any damage. Besides, if an attacker damages a power facility and a whole section of city goes dark, he knows what he hit. This way they don't know as much."

"I suppose cutting power all over makes it harder for them to target energy signatures."

"Precisely."

"They're pulling back," Gertat told them. "One of their ships has crashed, and may be relatively intact. There's a warrior contingent moving to surround it now. I've sent for analysts to meet me there. You should come with and see this, Kevan. It'll be the first opportunity we've had for a close look."

Taken off guard by being asked, Kevan nodded at the Takor. Gertat turned and gestured at Sarsh'ta, and she fell in beside Kevan as they made their way quickly back up the stairs. As they ascended, the power was suddenly restored and Kevan found himself blinking from the contrast to the darkness. One of the round flying vehicles had been brought into the courtyard and Kevan followed Gertat into it. Uurnat also joined them before the vehicle lifted off of the courtyard. They rose far quicker than the last time Kevan had been in this type of vehicle, and he noticed circular scorch marks on the ground where it taken off. The speed at which they flew through the air threatened to make Kevan sick to his stomach. He sat quietly and looked at the others sitting with him, rather than the view zooming by outside.

Uurnat had also managed to acquire a radio at some point, and both he and Gertat were listening intently and making comments back into them. Gertat seemed concerned, but not as worried as Uurnat did. Kevan listened intently, but the hushed tones and quick speech of the two Takor made it difficult to understand either of them. He got the impression, however, that the moon was now coming under attack.

They arrived at the site of the crash, located between a couple of buildings at the outskirts of a city. He wasn't sure how far they had travelled, so he didn't know if it was the same city or a different one. The Brey-hahd scout ship had come up roughly against the side of one of the buildings, leaving a long gash down and across it before the ship had finally slammed to a halt. The ship itself was made of a reddish metal, and had apparently held up well in the crash. There was some darker areas along the hull that Kevan thought consistent with weapons hits, but they didn't seem to have done much actual damage. The nose was imbedded in the ground, so it was difficult to tell if there had been damage from the impact, although the wing that had torn into the building seemed reasonably intact. He wondered if the Brey-hahd pilot had survived. There were no windows to see into the ship with.

The ship itself was bigger than a fighter, about the size of a cargo shuttle. Depending on how much nose was embedded in the ground, he judged it as about a hundred feet long. A human scout ship would have a crew of three to six, but these had been called short-range scouts. He wondered how many were in it.

There were quite a few armed Rich'ti around it, forty or fifty. Their air car--he called it that for lack of a better term--set down a short distance away. A pair of the soldiers came running over immediately.

"There hasn't been any activity since it landed," one of them informed Gertat.

"I've been listening on the communicators. Thank you. Let's have a closer look."

Kevan followed. There were few angled surfaces on the ship. Every surface was a curve. The only angles to be found were the leading edges of fairly stubby wing surfaces. It didn't look like enough of a wing to be specifically useful in an atmosphere. He supposed it was more a matter of streamlining for smoother re-entry.

"We've located what we think are hatches," another soldier explained, indicating a couple of outlined parts of the hull. There were what looked like hatch controls near the rectangular spots. The odd angle of the ship made reaching them awkward. "We've sent for ladders."

"Have the Rich'ti been evacuated from the nearby buildings?" the Takor inquired.

"Yes sir."

As Kevan followed them down closer to the wreckage, he saw that Uurnat remained in the air car, which lifted off and was quickly replaced with a different one. He suspected the Takor wanted to get back to the moon as quickly as possible to see what damage had occurred there.

"Were there any injuries here?" Gertat asked the soldier.

"Yes sir," the soldier nodded. "There were fourteen wounded and two dead. They were taken to the nearest medical facility. Everyone else has been accounted for."

Without warning, one of the hatchways on the ship opened with a loud rumble and a metal clang. Smoke billowed out from within the ship. A few Rich'ti jumped at the noise and began to fire upon the ship until one of the soldiers standing near Gertat called out a command for them to stop firing and hold position. Kevan and Gertat remained a safe distance away while soldiers ran forward with several ladders and set them in position. He cast a glance over at Sarsh'ta, who had stayed a few paces behind Gertat. He was surprised to see a look he didn't recognize on the female Rich'ti's face. It wasn't one they had covered, but he was certain that she was afraid just then. He expected she was trying to hide it, but doubted she was doing a very good job if Kevan had been able to recognize it. He had to admit that his own stomach was churning, and it had nothing to do with missing the feast.

Once the ladders were in place, there seemed to be a small squabble about who got to climb them before someone seemed to take charge and direct specific Rich'ti up. There was one Rich'ti moving up each ladder, keeping their rifle at the ready as they made their way into the smoke. Then, suddenly, the Rich'ti who had ascended upwards were flung back screaming, their fur in flames as some sort of flamethrowers were used on them from within the smoky cloud above the hatch. The ladders caught fire and Kevan saw that the Brey-hahd were spraying something wet down before casting the flames down onto it. It looked as if there were two Brey-hahd standing with their torsos out of the hatchway now, one spraying some sort of liquid around in long arcs while the other fired the flamethrower in bursts. To Kevan's horror, the flames traveled quickly down and he saw soldiers writhing on the ground, flailing, as they burned alive.

There wasn't much he could see of the Brey-hahd through the smoke. They had green-gray skin that looked scaley. They had rough-textured foreheads that looked covered with stubby horns. They looked to be wearing some kind of hard-looking black body armor.

Several of the Rich'ti opened fire, but the Brey-hahd just ducked back into the hatchway. The ladders fell to the ground. The fire was hot enough that it had partly melted the metal ladders. The Rich'ti that had been hit by it were pretty clearly beyond help.

"We can't hit them from here," one Rich'ti complained. Gertat looked around and pointed to a building. "Get some rifles up there, the windows should give you clear shots into that hatchway."

More fire came from the hatchway. Rich'ti ran to avoid it. The fire's range wasn't very long, so it didn't take long to determine the safe distance. The amount of smoke coming out of the hatch was beginning to decrease. More armed Rich'ti arrived with two new ladders.

Kevan looked at the building some of the Rich'ti were running to. He wondered what the range on their rifles was. Then he remembered a report he'd read about concerning a Brey-hahd ship that had been disabled. It had self-destructed rather than be captured. He cursed.

"Gertat, we have to take that ship right now. We almost captured one like this, and it blew itself up. This thing could probably level everything within..." he didn't have a grasp on their measurements yet, and wasn't about to waste time trying to translate it through the palmpad. "It could be very bad."

"We can't get to that hatch, and it'll take time to get troops in position on the building," one of the soldiers barked at him.

Kevan looked around, and his eyes landed on the air car. "Does that thing have windows that open?"

"No," the nearest soldier said. Kevan looked at him, his mouth falling open, not understanding why they weren't seeing what seemed so obvious to him. He snatched the rifle out of the soldier's hands. The soldier was caught off guard and lost his grip on the weapon.

It only took Kevan a moment to figure out the basic operation of the rifle. The soldier was stunned just enough for him to have that moment. Kevan opened fire on the upper half of the air car. About a quarter of the upper dome of it collapsed.

"It does now. Sarsh'ta, come with me and drive."

Now if only I had a grenade or two this would be easy, he couldn't help thinking as he jumped up into the vehicle. It occurred to him that he didn't even know a Rich'ti word for grenade. Sarsh'ta took the seat at the controls and then looked back at him, confused.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked. Her voice shook as she said it.

"Take us over the ship," he pointed. "Try to keep us out of range of those flame weapons, but close enough that I can get a shot. I'll lay down cover fire until those soldiers can get up into the ship with the ladders." He positioned himself at the 'window', smashing some of the jagged and loose edges out of his way with the butt end of the rifle. Trying to pretend he knew what the hell he was doing, he double-checked the mechanics of the rifle, grateful that the Rich'ti weapon was similar enough to a human one. He'd spent a short while in college interested in guns and learned to shoot hunting rifles and pistols on a shooting range, but knew his accuracy had never been at all impressive. He'd always had problems with the recoil throwing him off - something that he hadn't been able to adjust for the way he could with gravity shifts in gravball. He set the weapon to keep shooting in bursts, as it had when he'd shot the window, and tried to situate himself with some stability against the seats. Sarsh'ta moved the airship up and towards the ship, into the dissipating smoke that still billowed out of the hatchway. The two Brey-hahd were still laying down fire and the soldiers below were either watching the airship or waiting for their chance to place the ladders.

Sarsh'ta brought them in too quickly and too close at first, and the Brey-hahd turned the flamethrower upward while the other ducked back inside. Kevan realized, with some satisfaction, that they couldn't spray the flammable liquid upwards or it would spray back at them. While the flames licked at the glass and metal bottom of the airship, it didn't seem to be as hot without the liquid agent's help, and the airship seemed to be holding. He leaned forward and held the trigger down on the rifle, waving it around in small circles in hopes of hitting his mark. He saw the shots bounce easily off the hard armor the Brey-hahd wore, but did penetrate when he hit the exposed skin. The one with the flamethrower fell howling back into the ship, clutching his face. He dropped the flamethrower itself and it bounced down the side of the ship, landing with a clang on the ground. Kevan continued to rain shots down into the hatchway.

"Bring us down!" he yelled to Sarsh'ta, his heart pounding. He saw that the Rich'ti were placing the ladders, but it would still take them too much time to get up into the ship. "And open the door!" The doorway had automatically slid shut when they'd started lifting off.

"I can't!" she yelled back. "It won't open while in flight. There's a manual lever for it in a panel on the floor."

He looked down and realized he wouldn't have time for that either, and fired on the door instead. Shards of glass rained down onto the Brey-hahd ship as the glass doorway shattered where the shots hit. He made a large oval shape and then kicked it out, holding onto one of the seat backs for support.

"Get me close to the ship!" he yelled to Sarsh'ta.

She got close enough and he jumped. Landing in the hatchway was easy. The ship's odd angle turned the hallway inside into a sloped ramp. He landed in a roll and came up on his feet. He almost dropped the rifle in the process, but he fixed his grip on it.

There was a vibration to the ship, and he looked at the reddish metal inside and fully realized that he had just lept into a Brey-hahd ship with a rifle he hardly knew how to use against an unknown number of enemy soldiers. Self-destruct, he reminded himself.

He had at one point seen some of the schematics that had been put together from what they knew about Brey-hahd ships. The wreckage of a couple of ships had been collected and partly reassembled. The information on that wasn't exactly public knowledge, but he had been able to skim through some of it as part of his briefing for this assignment.

Based on the ship's size he guessed it was probably three levels tall. The lower level would be cargo and machinery. The middle level he was on now would be housing and crew areas, with the control areas above.

He moved in, looking cautiously for Brey-hahd. He could only hope they didn't expect anyone in their ship so quickly. He moved to the first corner, a t-intersection, and checked both sides with a quick sweep. Come one, you've seen this in movies all the time, he tried to reassure himself.

A short ways down he found the body of one of the Brey-hahd he'd shot, lying on the floor. He didn't stop to check if it was really dead, but skirted around it instead. He tried to keep some distance in case it suddenly woke up and tried to grab him. It was leaking a dark purple-reddish blood in a thick puddle on the floor. Kevan kept moving, realizing that the Brey-hahd stank horribly. The air in the ship held the pungent stench of Brey-hahd mixed with something burning. Smoke still filled the hallways, but it had thinned considerably from what had been billowing out the hatchway. He could see, with some limitation. However, he found his eyes starting to water some from the smoke.

How the hell did you get yourself into this fix, Kevan? he asked himself. His stomach was in knots as he turned yet another corner, trying not to get lost in the maze of passages. He found one of the spots that he remembered ought to lead up somehow. The schematic he had seen had shown a hole between the two levels but no indication as to how the Brey-hahd moved between them. He saw the hole and stepped below it, keeping the gun upwards and ready.

He nearly lost his balance when a panel of the floor beneath him moved upwards with relative speed, carrying him to the upper level. He stepped off of it, taking a moment to catch his breath as he looked around. Passages led off in several directions and he chose the one he thought led to the area that the schematic had said held more critical controls. He moved quickly. Let's try not to be in this thing if it's going to blow up, his thoughts reminded him.

He found the other Brey-hahd he'd shot lying a few steps in. It looked to Kevan as if the Brey-hahd had been shot by some other weapon as well, directly in the face. Kevan felt confident that it was dead and didn't take as much time skirting around it although he did move quickly away.

There were doorways off of both sides of the hall, and he stopped quickly at each one, scanning it briefly. He kept going, however, thinking he remembered something on the schematic that had suggested more vital equipment in the room at the end of the hall. The hallway curved, and he came into the room from one end of it. Two Brey-hahd were in the room. One was pressing buttons and flipping switches on a control panel near the center of the room. The other was in a webbed seat, eyes closed, with two thick metal pieces that seemed imbedded into its head and connected to a huge number of wires that led up to the ceiling of the ship. As Kevan entered the room, he saw the seated Brey-hahd open his eyes and say something in a thick, gruff voice. The other Brey-hahd turned in response and saw Kevan standing there.

Oh shit, he thought as he opened fire. Oh shit oh shit oh shit! He followed that up with a few other expletives that would have made some of his college gravball teammates blush. The standing Brey-hahd dodged out of the way and Kevan poured shots into the panel he'd been standing at as well as the Brey-hahd seated in the webbing. His finger pulled at the trigger over and over again, sending bright flashing bursts of shots across the room from the rifle.

Then, as the Brey-hahd rose back to his feet and pulled out a weapon of its own, Kevan's finger pulled back and all he heard was a clicking sound.

Click. Click-click. Click.

There was a surreal moment as Kevan realized that the Rich'ti rifle had run out of ammunition. I didn't think of that. I'm so screwed. he thought to himself with odd calm. His eyes met the Brey-hahd's and the Brey-hahd's face shifted in a self-satisfied grin. Oh look, the Brey-hahd smile! the scholar in him commented.

Then the reality of the situation came crashing down on him and he turned and fled, hucking the rifle at the Brey-hahd spear-like, with all the strength he could muster. The Brey-hahd brought one arm up to bash the rifle off to the side and Kevan took the oppportunity to bolt for the doorway, back to the hall. The Brey-hahd wasn't far behind him, he could hear the loud thumping of its footsteps as it gave chase. Kevan made his way back to the area where the panel had taken him downward and stood on it.

Nothing happened.

Panicked, he looked around and started pressing and flipping every control he could find until he found one that dropped the panel down to the next level. He dove headfirst through the hole, hoping he could catch himself. He wasn't prepared for the searing pain that tore through his leg as the Brey-hahd fired on him. He hit the ground with a cry and clutched at his leg. The Brey-hahd dropped easily to the ground through the hole, one of his feet landing on Kevan's ankle. Kevan both heard and felt bone snap underneath the weight of the large Brey-hahd.

For a blinding moment all he could do was cry out in pain. Then he saw the Brey-hahd looming above him. The Brey-hahd brought his rifle into Kevan's face, and then it was the only thing he was aware of.

Just try to be a diplomat. The parting words at the end of the final briefing echoed through his head. They no longer sounded as comforting as they did then.

A single gun blast thundered through the hallway. The Brey-hahd fell, slumping to one side and narrowly missing landing on Kevan. Gertat looked down upon him, with the wry expression that was the Rich'ti grin.

Gertat stopped and listened to his earpiece communicator a moment before replying to something Kevan had no way to hear. "Thank you. Spread out and sweep the ship. No more surprises. Prisoners would be useful."

"Sensors had been detecting an energy build-up, but it stopped just a moment ago. I can only assume you had something to do with that. Can you walk? There are a lot of recorders outside right now. They do not know what has happened in here yet."

Kevan understood what the alien leader meant. It would not look good for anyone for images of him being carried out on a litter to be what got broadcast throughout space. "Not without help," he admitted.

"Then you will have to lean on me," Gertat suggested, reaching down to offer a hand.

Kevan took it gratefully, but still tried to lean on the Rich'ti as little as possible in getting himself up. His broken ankle left his foot at a slightly odd angle, and the pain of it outshone the shot he'd taken in the leg. He counted himself lucky that they were both in his left leg, leaving his right one available to put weight on.

"I can't put any weight on this leg," he told the Takor, pointing. "The ankle is broken."

"We will go slowly," Gertat nodded. "I will try to compensate for you."

Kevan hopped his way forward, swinging the other leg in step but keeping it off the ground. To his relief, there was a rising floor panel at the hatchway to lift them up and out of the ship. Gertat went down one of the ladders just below Kevan, keeping a hand up to help steady him. He was very glad he kept himself in shape as he used his arms in leiu of the damaged leg on the way down. Even so, his muscles were aching by the time he reached the ground.

Sarsh'ta came running over as he and Gertat made their way towards the aircar. Kevan could see the recorders and did his best to make his injury seem as trivial to him as possible despite the fact that his vision was blurry around the edges from the effort. He waved her away, attempting to adopt a Rich'ti mannerism of offense and at the same time hoping she'd understand. He concentrated his energies on getting into the aircar without stumbling, and keeping his facial expressions calm and unconcerned. Inwardly he was very grateful that the Rich'ti were so physically strong as Gertat gave him a hand getting up into a seat in the vehicle. He forced himself to sit up normally and give a confident look towards the recorders as he surveyed the Brey-hahd ship. Rich'ti were heading into it in droves and more ladders had already been leaned up. Unarmed Rich'ti with bags and boxes stood anxiously waiting at the fringes, and Kevan suspected they were technicians and scientists waiting to get inside and start taking things apart.

The Rich'ti that Kevan had identified earlier as Gertat's aide hopped into the aircar and took the helm, lifting the four of them away. He heard Gertat give the man instructions but could hardly pay attention to the words. He noticed that they left the scene of the crash at a leisurely pace, unlike the breakneck speed they had used to get there.

"What the Resh'tal were you thinking?!" Sarsh'ta demanded, smacking him in the shoulder. He looked behind them. There were still moving casually. It was getting windy in the broken-open air car as it was, preventing high speeds. There were five or six buildings between them and the crash site.

"I was thinking that the blast radius would be at least this far, maybe farther. We've seen them blow up their own ships to prevent them being captured. We've seen it happen in space. I don't know how much damage it might have done in a city."

He leaned forward, grabbing the back of Gertat's seat for support. "Consider the ship my gift to your people," he joked. "Amongst my people it's considered very thoughtful for a guest to bring a small gift for a host. I do hope you'll share what you learn from it. We've never had an intact one to study."

"You did a very honorable thing, Kevan of the Humans. Do not think it will go unappreciated. I will make sure you receive a copy of everything to forward to your government."

Kevan thought about that for a moment. It did give him the small point of being the one providing the information. Him acquiring it and passing it on did have different significance than them sending it directly.

"This will give both your supporters and detractors something to talk about," Sarsh'ta added. "Some opponents may change their views as word of what happened gets out. Others, of course, will insist it was all done as a maneuver to gain you popularity."

"There was a measured power spike building on that ship," Gertat mentioned. "You realized the possibility, and took direct action to stop it, which you did. You saved many Rich'ti lives, including mine. Thank you. "

Kevan leaned back into the seat again, his mind replaying the events in his head. A part of him would have already disbelieved that he had heedlessly jumped into the Brey-hahd ship if it hadn't been for the pain in his leg. The whole leg was throbbing at this point, and he was having a more difficult time distinguishing one wound from the other while sitting still in the seat. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a bit. He must have dozed off a little, as it didn't seem long before the aircar came to a halt on a building.

Gertat helped Kevan out of the aircar and down onto the rooftop where they made their way to an elevator similar to the one at Kevan's residence. They descended only a couple of levels before moving out into a large room filled with beds and the occasional privacy bubble like Kevan had seen in the ship's medical bay. Two Rich'ti were waiting to take over from Gertat and they helped him up onto one of the beds. He heard Gertat and Sarsh'ta start talking as the privacy screen went up, blocking all view and sound from the rest of the room.

"So. You are the human," the female Rich'ti who had remained in the bubble with him commented. "I am Tag'nata. I will need to remove your lower coverings in order to examine these injuries."

Kevan nodded and undid the fastenings and helped get his pants most of the way off. She deftly removed them from around his ankles without jostling the ankle itself too much. Then she injected a small needle once near each of the wounded areas and a cool numbness spread throughout the leg. Kevan couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Thank you," he told her gratefully.

"Urish'tal sent me an extensive report from your time on the ship. It seems that you not only respond well to our treatments, but in some ways better than we do. She mentioned that you healed quickly from a shoulder wound and some damaged ribs from a fall during an attack. I hope these will heal quickly for you as well." She set about putting the ankle back into place the way it ought to be. Kevan noticed she frequently referred to a datapad which she compared to a screen on a scanner above as she worked. Once she had the ankle the way she wanted it, she wrapped it in some tape that looked similar to what Urish'tal had put across his ribs. She sprayed it with something once she was done, however, and he felt it shrink slightly and harden around the ankle itself.

"Do not try to walk on this for at least a couple of days or you will just prevent it from healing properly," she told him. "We are having a pragal shortened for your use." He grabbed his palmtop out of his pocket and was relieved to find it unharmed. Pragal translated, as he suspected, to the word 'crutch'. In the meantime, the doctor was cleaning out the wound he'd taken from the Brey-hahd's weapon. When she was done, she poured some sort of liquid over it before covering it with more of the tape.

"So, will the feast be rescheduled?" Kevan asked after a while to break the silence.

"I don't know," Gertat replied, "perhaps, but it would be ...anticlimactic to hold it tomorrow night." Kevan wasn't sure that Gertat's word translated perfectly to anticlimactic, but understood the point well enough.

"If nothing else," Gertat added after a moment's hesitation, "I have a meeting with all my advisors. I would like you to join us. Sarsh'ta, please arrange transportation for him."

"Of course," she said.

"I'm honored to be invited."

"Don't be," Gertat said with a low, rolling laugh, "it will not be that interesting. For right now, however, I'm going to have to go make arrangements involving that crashed ship."

"Of course," Kevan said, mimicking Sarsh'ta's matter-of-factness.

The crutch was delivered not long after Gertat left. It was made of black metal and a grayish material resembling plastic. It was light but sturdy, and fit him almost perfectly. He thanked the doctor. The doctor also handed him a small vial of pain relief pills, and asked Sarsh'ta to bring him around again in a few days to see how the healing was going.

He was able to put his pants back on easily over the taping and felt better once he was fully dressed and standing with the help of the new crutch.

"The meeting will be in the morning," Sarsh'ta told him as they made their way back to the elevator and up to the roof. "I will have someone scheduled to drive you. I will need to be there earlier for some other business so I won't be traveling with you."

Kevan nodded, wondering how the other advisors would feel about his presence at the meeting. As they moved off the elevator pad and headed to yet another aircar that was waiting for them, he suddenly realized how tired and hungry he was. They had never gotten to the food segment of the feast and his stomach was reminding him of it. He generally knew better than to sleep right after eating, but all he wanted just then was a meal and a bed.

As they traveled, Sarsh'ta gave him information on the advisors and their positions. She warned him of which ones were most against his presence, and which ones had leant her some measure of support during her time as an advisor. He did his best to absorb as much of the information as he could, but something in the medication they'd given him was adding to his tiredness and it was all he could do to keep from yawning.

When they reached the building, he nearly stumbled getting out of the aircar. Once they had descended to the level his room was on, he couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Where do I get some food?" he asked her. "We didn't get to the feasting..."

"I'll take care of it," she told him. "You look tired. I'll bring something to your room for you. Later tomorrow I'll give you a tour of the level so you know where to find everything."

He thanked her and stepped into the doorway she'd opened. Lights slowly brightened, revealing Kevan's room. Sarsh'ta closed the door behind her, heading off to get him something to eat, while Kevan allowed himself to collapse onto the large, soft fur of the bed. He never heard her come back with the food. Instead, he fell fast asleep.

Chapter 7

Sarsh'ta had in fact returned with food. The chunky stew was cold; he felt safer not eating it. He didn't know at what point it would spoil sitting out. There was some bread, however, and he snatched that up.

He took the bread and hobbled out onto his balcony. He leaned on the railing while he ate the bread looking up at the round patch of sky overhead. The stars looked different, of course. He didn't see many patterns in the stars, and wondered if they had named constellations.

He ended up deciding he wanted to see more of their night sky, and worked his way over to the elevator. He cursed at their numbering system while trying to figure out the elevator controls, but he did end up figuring out which button brought him to the roof. He had already noted which level he was on.

The view on the roof was much better. He had the whole dome of night sky now. One moon had only just recently risen, the other was going to be setting before too much longer. The sky was just starting to lighten to the east. There was almost no air car traffic yet. Most Rich'ti were still sleeping.

The inhabited moon was the one to the east. He could see some areas of light on the shaded side of it, but they were dim and he wasn't able to see them long before the lightening sky overpowered it. He sat and watched the alien sun rise on the first day of his life here.

Once the sun had risen enough that the reddish hues had faded to gold and the courtyard had brightened considerably, he went back into the apartment to investigate the facilities. The toilet worked the same as a Human one would, as far as he could tell, although it looked as if the height and size of the seat had been made with a Rich'ti in mind. The shower was a bit of a shock when he turned on the water and it came out icy cold. With a yelp of surprise, he fumbled at the wall and knob, but found no way to make the water a different temperature. He quickly rinsed off and got out, shivering as he grabbed a towel from a nearby drawer and dried off. He made a mental note to mention that to Sarsh'ta as he hopped his way around, picking out clothes to wear that day. He also reminded himself to ask her about his laundry.

He used water from the spigot to brush his teeth and shave before heading out into the hallway to explore a bit on his own. He took the dishes with him, hoping to find the communal kitchen area Sarsh'ta had mentioned to him. He wondered what the proper ettiquette was for cooking food for himself.

The halls were quiet and still only dimly lit this time of day. In their discussions, Sarsh'ta had given him the impression that everything a community needed on a daily basis was contained within the communal living space. He'd gotten the impression that each community within the building had its own level and hoped it meant that each had a kitchen too. He made his way around the circle, dishes in one hand, crutch in the other, wondering if all the areas were hidden behind the doors he saw. To his relief, he finally saw an area that opened up. It looked as if about three-quarters of the circle was apartments like his own and one-quarter was communal living space. The communal area was a big open section, and he saw mats around a large holographic projector in one area. There was also an area of exercise equipment and mats as well as a large section of cooking equipment, much of which he recognized as smaller versions of what he'd seen on the ship.

He found everything he needed to wash the bowl out, so he did that, leaving it in a rack to dry. It felt odd being alone in so much space. He wondered when it was that Rich'ti would start waking up and being out and about for the day. Obviously they tended to sleep in.

It was only a short while later that a pair of females came in. They moved directly to the cooking area. One looked somewhat uncomfortable with his presence. He took the opportunity to introduce himself.

"We know who you are," the uncomfortable one said, "we were told you'd be here."

"Of course," Kevan replied. "As long as I'm the only human on the planet there shouldn't be too much confusion. Still, among my kind it's polite to introduce ourselves."

"I am Rish'tir," the other one said, "and this is Kir'esht. We are often the first ones awake, so we usually prepare the morning meals."

"Can I help?" Kevan asked.

"There isn't so much work to do that we need your help," Kir'esht said flatly.

"--There is always cutting and chopping to do, and cleaning after," Rish'tir said, gesturing to a cutting area on the other side of the work surface. "We don't typically feed the whole community, but we'll prepare for the first thirty or so."

Kevan moved quickly over to the cutting area before Kir'esht could protest. He saw her give him a glare as the two women gathered ingredients from a couple of different drawers in the wall. He saw the knives in slots that recessed into the wall and wondered briefly about the fact that they made so many things set into the walls or ceiling in their building designs. He selected a knife that was closest to fitting his hand properly and noticed Kir'esht giving him a suspicious glare as she set items down on the counter.

For the first few minutes they chopped in silence. Kevan chose up some vegetables he recognized from his time with Rosh'tur on the ship, cutting them similarly to how they had been for the dishesh they had prepared. After she had cut up a couple of specific items, Kir'esht moved over to start cooking them.

"What do you think of the Rich'ti so far, Kevan?" Rish'tir asked him, breaking the silence.

"I have been finding the experience most pleasant," Kevan replied, giving a small smile-like nod. "I am glad to have this opportunity."

Some of the adults started coming in, mostly singly and in pairs. Food was prepared for about the first twenty or so. They left more set out on the counter before Rish'tir handed him a bowl. "That's enough from us," she said. "Sit and eat."

She led him to a small group, and introduced him to some of the other community elders. More moved to join them, and it was all he could do to try to eat small mouthfuls between their questions.

There were predictable questions about his clothes. Some said that they'd heard he had done something heroic at the site of the crashed ship. No one asked him what had happened to him, or how badly hurt he was. Several expressed reassurances that he'd heal quickly enough. On the other hand, none of them extended any offers of help that would be the norm back home.

There were a lot of questions about ethics and morality and behavior. It felt to Kevan a little bit like they were grilling him or interviewing him. Not all of the elders present showed an interest in him, but the male elders seemed better behaved to Kevan than the males aboard the ship had.

Children showed up, and some of the adults herded them away from him. He heard them explaining to the children that they had to wait their turn, and that they could talk to the human after the elders had finished.

The children had to prepare their own food, and then did all the cleaning. They finished that before the elders had run out of questions for him. The children sat in a circle around the gathered elders. He was impressed at how they sat quietly and patiently. He couldn't really gauge how old they were, but they seemed well behaved. One or two he though he recognized from when he arrived.

"What is it you think your people will want from us?" one elder asked. Kevan thought he recognized the voice and looked over to see that Rendat had joined the group and was picking through a bowl of food as if he was unconcerned on what the answer would be.

"Trade, for one," he replied. "Both goods and information. Technology as well, if possible. I am sure they will want to persue an alliance too, which would mean that we would each send forces to assist in fighting against the Brey-hahd and any other common enemies. During peacetime, it also usually means that we have access to each other's space to reach further out areas of the universe for exploration."

"What if we don't want Human ships in our space?" Rendat asked, giving Kevan a calculated look. If it hadn't been for the Rich'ti's light tone of voice, Kevan would have been sure he was being challenged. As it was, he tried to choose his words carefully.

"We would respect your decision, although it is likely we would then expect the same consideration of your ships. Personally, however, I wouldn't expect an alliance like that to last very long. We cannot expect to enter into an alliance until some measure of trust has been established."

"Trust must be earned," Rendat stated.

"You know," Kevan said, "we have that very saying amongst my kind. But we've also come to see that trust must be given. The offer of trust is just as important as keeping it. Is love earned? Is love some calculated decision? No. It shouldn't be entirely different with trust."

"You have an interesting way of looking at things."

"We try to look at things from more than one perspective. We've found there are few absolutes in life. In between black and white are many shades of gray."

He pulled out his palmpad and set it, screen side down, on his knee. "Seen from only one perspective, this is just a block, maybe good for setting things on. From this side--a block. Rotated, a block. Rotated some more, a block." He turned it over and tapped the ON button. "But when I turn it over you see that there is a screen, and I can enter and display data on it. From this side, from this perspective, it is an object with purpose."

One of the females laughed. "You speak like an elder, like one who teaches others."

"Among humans, education continues well past childhood," he explained. "I have had a little more than the average amount of it."

"For us there is general education for the young, and then they are taught a set of skills to use as adults. Then we enter the world, perform the roles that are needed, and learn by doing."

"But a younger engineer will work with an older, more experienced one for a while, right? One continues training the other. The same thing applies whether it's one student and one teacher repairing an engine, or cooking, as does with one teacher and a group of students in a room being taught. Your elders teach your young. It's all about valuing wisdom, isn't it?"

"We attempt to share our wisdom with the young, but often the young are not ready to see it," one of the elders answered. "We teach them values and give them the fundamentals to build upon so they may choose their career path. As elders, we have a lifetime of experiences to draw upon. If I am correct in understanding, you are still in the first half of your life."

"That would depend on how long I live," Kevan replied. "I'm sure you have plenty of Rich'ti that do not live long enough to retire and become elders. That doesn't mean they did not learn values and have some wisdom of their own to impart."

"True," the elder conceded, "but that does not mean they were ready to share that wisdom with children. They might be ready to share the knowledge from their career with another entering into the same career, but they have not lived a long enough life to have discovered all the wisdom that elders hold."

"You may speak like an elder," another one of them said, "but do not think that it makes you one."

"I would not even begin to think that," Kevan said quickly. "Even amongst my kind it is expected for us to respect our elders. We may not have the same approach to teaching our young, but that does not mean we are unaware of the amount of wisdom one can gain over the course of a lifetime." He used one of the more respectful nods that Sarsh'ta had taught him, trying to take all of the elders in while he did it.

"And how long do humans live?" one of them asked.

"Well, our days are shorter than yours, and our year is longer, so eighty of our years is something like ...one hundred ten of yours or so." He needed his palmpad to translate numbers above one hundred, since they didn't have a base-ten numbering system.

"And eighty of your years is typical?"

"As an average, probably. The oldest run about a hundred and twenty, which is about... one hundred and fifty or sixty?"

"Your average is slightly higher, then," one of them said, "but our eldest are older than your eldest."

"In the end it's probably comparable, though," Kevan suggested. There was a moment's pause before he got several nods of agreement.

"Ah, there you are, Kevan," Sarsh'ta said when she came in. She strode forward and a couple of the children rose to greet her. "I wonder who is lecturing whom," she said, clearly joking.

"I think it has been an interesting discussion for both sides," Rendat said, seeming amused. "Perhaps we have taken up enough of Kevan's time for the moment, however."

As if on cue, all of the elders were nodding and and standing up. The children stood up too, the smallest ones bouncing hopefully around Kevan. Sarsh'ta came over, laughing.

"I think, perhaps, they want your attention next," she said indicating the small crowd of Rich'ti children gathering around him. "I just came in for some breakfast and then I need to leave. I'll see you later at the meeting. The driver will find you. Also, Kreckan has informed me that he is certain he can make your computer connect to our networks so that you could access information directly through it. There is some information that will still be restricted from you, as you will be able to save things directly to your computer and transmit it back to your government. But he felt you would be more comfortable with your own controls. He has been working with one of our linguists on translating your alphabet and computer commands so that they work correctly for our system. I was given the impression his program will be ready sometime today. He will be contacting you to arrange a time to come and make some hardware adjustments and upload the program."

"Alright," he said, with some surprise. "That would be wonderful. I hadn't expected to be able to do that. Certainly not so soon after my arrival."

"Kreckan is excited to tinker with different technology," she told him as she headed towards the kitchen area. "I often wonder if he ever sleeps."

While Kevan wanted to follow her and ask some questions, he found his potential progress hampered by the children, some of whom were all but tugging on his clothes with impatience. He laughed and directed them over to one side where he settled in on one of the mats to let them ask more questions.

Some of the more skeptical elders stayed around, listening to his answers. There were some of the expected questions about his clothes. Some of the children who'd been around for the unpacking knew some of the answers and answered for him.

"Are you a warrior for your people?" one little Rich'ti asked.

"Hardly," he answered with a laugh. "No, not all humans are warriors. In fact, most aren't. Most humans try to avoid it. Those who are warriors get a lot of special training. They do it so we don't all have to. The rest of us can make things, or do whatever we're going to do."

"What do you do?"

"Well, I do a lot of things. Mostly I help people who can't agree on something find an answer that makes both of them happy. That's part of why I'm here, because Humans and Rich'ti are very different, and we--humans--want to learn more about you and your culture. We hope that both sides will gain from it.

"Often we've learned that one race might already know a cure to a disease that another race needs help with, or maybe we have technology that help your ships go faster, or make them safer. We might have ways of responding to emergencies that you can use, or we might know ways to make buildings stronger. In exchange I know there are a lot of things you can teach us."

"Like what?" another of the smaller ones asked. One of the elders stepped forward at that point and interrupted. "That's enough for now, young ones. I'm sure out human friend has things he needs to do. He's meeting with the Takor and his council later today. You will have the chance to talk to him more another time.

The children looked disappointed, but not a single one of them complained. They stood and gave assorted waves and good-byes, and thanked him for answering their questions. Another elder herded them together, "Come young ones, I'll take you to the park and we'll learn about the animals there."

Kevan found himself standing alone in the lounge area for a moment, after all the elders and children left the room. A few people were standing in the kitchen area, cooking and eating food while they talked, but Kevan had the impression he would be intruding if he tried to join them. He quietly headed back to his room, wondering how much time it would be until he'd be going to the meeting.

As he made his way down the hall, he was startled by hearing his name. He turned and saw Pergute coming after him at a slight jog to catch up. He stopped and leaned on his crutch a little as Pergute caught his breath. Kevan suddenly had the realization that Pergute had likely stepped down for Sarsh'ta more due to his physical stature than anything else. He had yet to meet any other Rich'ti who he'd qualify as overweight. It was clear to Kevan that if a challenge involving Pergute were to become physical, the scholar would likely lose.

"I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you, if you have some time? I know you have that meeting today, but your transport won't be here for at least an hour yet..." he looked at Kevan so hopefully that he almost wanted to laugh.

"Of course, please," Kevan replied, gesturing towards the door to his room. "I'd be happy to answer any questions you have."

"Wonderful!" Pergute seemed to bob excitedly up and down as they made their way into the room. Kevan set the crutch off to the side as he took a seat on his bed. Pergute settled in on the other mat facing Kevan.

Pergute put one hand under his arm and held it there for a second. He pulled out a small device on an elastic cord around his arm. The long fur had concealed it. There was a small blinking light on it.

"This device interferes with the recording devices in your room. There are several. You must not let on that you know about them, or they will only put in new ones that will be harder to interfere with. We can only block them for a short time before it appears suspicious. Their signals are not hard to block, and are blocked by natural events now and then.

"You must know that there is a movement here trying to prevent any relations with your kind. We do not know just how far they will go. Gertat is not as popular a ruler as he might seem. Sarsh'ta does now know of my involvement with a secret group working for Gertat's government. I will tell you more tonight, but for now I needed to make you aware of it. You may be in danger here. I'm sorry there is not time for questions."

Pergute concealed the device in his arm fur again, smoothing it all out. He removed his hand, holding it up in a questioning gesture.

"Really?" Pergute said as if continuing a natural conversation. "Is it true that your prisoners are sometimes made to do dangerous labor?"

Kevan blinked, adjusting to the change in topic. His mind raced with questions he suddenly couldn't ask. "It depends on what the crime was, really."

He repeated the question to himself quickly in his mind, trying to focus on one topic at a time before continuing.

"It also depends on the colony," he said. "Each colony has it's own legal system. There are only certain laws that apply to all the colonies. Most are relating to trade between them and where one colony's territory begins and ends. Murder, however, is a crime in all colonies. The punishment varies though."

"I have often wondered how you can be a united people when you are also divided into so many groups," Pergute mused. "But back to the point, I understand you do not allow slavery as some races do, yet you can put your convicted criminals to work instead?"

"In all cases they are compensated for their labors," Kevan replied. "We have an organization that works to make sure that what we consider to be basic human rights aren't violated. Some colonies put their criminals to work, often th