Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits

by Lyn Gala

  The general said, “The doctor doesn’t want you to imply her patients are weak. Doctors are very protective. I’m a general, and I still can’t count how many times I’ve been kicked out of a hospital room by people three and four ranks below me.” The general laughed.

  To Ondry, that sounded almost chilta-like.

  “How many members of a typical community choose to care for others?” the Grandmother asked.

  The general turned and looked at Diallo. She tried to slip into the room, but there was very little space and far too many individuals. She ended up standing in the doorway. “Statistically? I’m not sure. A number of careers focus on service: teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, counselors. There are quite a few.”

  “At what age does the need to serve others appear in an individual?”

  Diallo looked toward the doctors. The woman said, “That’s a hard question with no answer. Some people make the choice young; others make it late in life. However, these patients need rest. You can’t be in here.” She stood a little straighter.

  The Grandmother rose to her feet and hit a light fixture in the ceiling. “I would not interfere with one who cares for others. It is a sacred duty among my people to do as much.” Liam translated and then moved aside to allow the Grandmother to leave. Ondry backed up so fast he hit a number of humans. Given that they had chosen to press close, he did not feel any guilt as they stumbled and scrambled to get clear.

  The Grandmother came down the corridor and headed back the direction they had come. “Is there a difference in the biology or brain structure of those who take these positions?” she asked. She stopped long enough to look at Diallo.

  Diallo glanced at the general before answering, much as a younger Rownt might check with an elder before providing an injudicious answer. “No. Not at all. A person may choose to go into one of these careers or another depending on their skills, their interests, and their aptitudes.”

  The Grandmother huffed but walked in silence. Grandmothers were famous for keeping their own council, but Ondry could guess the direction of her thoughts from the research he had assisted in translating. The Grandmothers were confused by the contradictory messages regarding chilta-like or parental behavior. Some humans appeared to show the trait, and yet others failed to show any signs of responsible behavior. Liam’s own parent had failed to provide instruction or protection.

  When they all reached the hospital exit, they stood in the grass courtyard for a time.

  “I was hoping we could take Liam for a physical,” one of the lower-ranked humans commented.

  The Grandmother ignored him and directed her question to Diallo. “Do you have no way to identify those who will grow up to participate in this prolonged battle over territory they have no claim to and those who will be in service careers?”

  “The same people are involved in both. We have many doctors and nurses on the front lines, but no—we can’t predict who will choose a particular career.”

  “Grandmother?” Liam asked. He moved to Ondry’s side, and Ondry slipped an arm around him. This Grandmother had some difficult thought in her head, and Liam must have recognized some potential danger because he appeared concerned.

  She gave Liam a reassuring smile. “All is well, youngling. Your people are not what I had expected.”

  “Based off me?” Liam asked. “I’m not representative of my people.”

  Diallo quietly translated for the human contingent, and the gathering of humans shifted again. They were definitely uncomfortable with this conversation, but Ondry had no right to ask a Grandmother to avoid a topic. Not even tuk-ranked individuals would dare as much.

  “We do not judge all your people by watching you, Tuk-Palteia Liam. You proved your people can produce a palteia, and that gave us concern.”

  Diallo mistranslated some of the details, but largely communicated the meaning of the words. Given that the conversation was happening in the open, Ondry could only assume the Grandmother intended for all the humans to hear her.

  “Why would you worry?” Liam asked.

  “We worried humans were ututeh,” the Grandmother answered. Ondry paled. It had never occurred to him that such could be true. He knew chilta were too rare and Liam had been mistreated, but never had he doubted humans had chilta.

  Liam frowned. “Ututeh—those unwelcome in towns?”

  “I don’t know that word,” Diallo said loudly enough to make it clear she wished for clarification rather than just to inform the general.

  “I don’t either,” Liam said. “But when I told Ondry about some floaters who taught me how to surf, he said those who lived outside of society were ututeh. I don’t understand the definition in this context.”

  “To live outside of society is one meaning,” the Grandmother said. “I am not a trader in words, although I trade with other species more than other Grandmothers. Let me ask you, what do you believe motivates the Rownt?”

  Liam went utterly still, and Ondry held him tighter. “I would not think of trying to explain Rownt to a Grandmother who knows far more than I,” Liam said quietly. “I would not wish to offend.”

  “I am too old to take offense from words, especially when those words are spoken by one with a palteia’s soul. Try to answer, young Liam.”

  “I…” Liam looked to Diallo, but her expression remained neutral. Ondry could certainly offer no advice because the Grandmother wished to know human impressions of Rownt, and that was something Ondry could not answer. Liam finally said, “I was taught Rownt valued trade, but I would say many value rank and independence more than profit.”

  The Grandmother nodded. “Most do. Is there anything you’ve seen that would convince a Rownt to turn her back on rank and independence?”

  “Children,” Liam said immediately. “I can’t imagine Rownt protecting rank at the cost of their child going hungry. Or any child going hungry.”

  “I would argue we have the same feeling for palteia. Were the humans to take you, the adults on the ship would fight to the death and kill as many as required rather than allow you to be taken.” The Grandmother looked at the generals and lower-ranked humans. Liam kept his gaze down, but as Diallo translated, Ondry could see the humans were shocked by the words.

  “Rownt have a lot of respect for age,” Liam said, clearly eager to change the subject. “They value the Grandmothers more than profits, but they also fear you.”

  “Feel apprehension toward, perhaps,” the Grandmother corrected him. “Age gives us benefits. The youngest know we would not use those advantages against them. We feel the same need for competition, though, so those who would have status to stand with us are subjected to our instincts. They do not fear us physically. And in what ways does Ondry differ from this description you have given?”

  Liam turned toward Ondry, studying him for a moment before answering. “I would not say, Grandmother. I will say I trust him to care for me.”

  The Grandmother smiled at both Liam and Ondry. “I would say your Ondry is more concerned with status than most. Some Rownt never achieve the status he has already earned in his short life. And he is far more dedicated to protecting those who look to him. When he has another hundred years of experience, women will race to put an eggling on his doorstep because his dedication to you shows the strength of his heart. But certainly not all Rownt have the same feelings as Ondry or as me.”

  “No, Grandmother. Individuals are always”—Liam fell back on a human word—“unique.” The word did not exist in Rownt, and Ondry was not sure what Liam hoped to say by claiming that no Rownt was like any other Rownt in existence. Ondry believed himself among the most successful, but he did not believe that made him different from all others who were equally successful. Somewhere in history, Ondry believed there were other Rownt with the same motivations in the same proportions, and the idea that he might be utterly unique left him disquieted in ways Ondry did not fully understand. He was Rownt, and he had no urge to make himself into something that stood out
from his species.

  “Individuals are quick to serve their own needs,” the Grandmother said. “At least this is true of Rownt, and I will not discuss Anla. They are not reasonable beings by any measure. However, after observing both you and Diallo, it appears humans vary in their motivations.” The Grandmother looked at Diallo.

  She stepped forward, but she had caution in her movements. “Yes, Grandmother. I cannot be sure, but I would tentatively conclude we vary more from one individual to another than the Rownt. During disasters, humans often act in ways that are emotionally homogenous, but short of major catastrophes, we have a wider range of motivations. Forgive my directness, but how does this relate to the definition of ututeh?” Diallo asked.

  “They are Rownt who feel the need for profit and individuality, but they do not feel those motivations that relate to other Rownt. They do not wish to raise an eggling or care for a palteia. They do not care for status and do not contribute to a temple. They are asked to leave towns because they will act in ways other Rownt cannot abide.”

  “In what ways?” Diallo asked.

  The Grandmother did not answer immediately. Ondry could think of a hundred ways a ututeh could offend a town. Simply picking fruit from trees while refusing to carry water or trim branches was offense enough to ask them to leave. They took without contributing and felt no shame from having their status lowered for that offense.

  “If they were to see a statusless eggling in danger, they would walk past without a thought,” the Grandmother finally answered. Ondry paled, but he agreed a ututeh would do as much. In his first century, Ondry had traded with one that lived in the wilds between Janatjanay and Uvt. Ondry had made a nice profit trading for her carvings, but he was always wary of her.

  “You thought humans would do that,” Liam said to the Grandmother. “You thought humans were all psychopaths.” Halfway through his sentence, Liam switched to English.

  Liam’s words created a strong reaction among the humans. Several made noises of surprise, and General Dafaor pulled Diallo back and had a whispered conversation Ondry could not hear, though the angry tones were unmistakable.

  “Enough,” the Grandmother said in English. The word was slurred, but the humans understood. They all fell silent, and General Dafaor stepped in front of Diallo.

  “I think you have gotten a poor impression of us,” the general said to the Grandmother.

  “You have more negative connotations with the term ‘psychopath’ than we have for those who are ututeh. We see them as different. While we may not want them in our towns, we have no objection to trading with them. They tend to have long and productive lives, and few commit crimes that would bring them to the attention of a temple, so I am not sure how well your term applies.” The Grandmother stopped and gave Diallo time to translate and discuss it with the humans.

  Bectl moved to Ondry’s side, his own complexion far too pale for politeness. “Do humans hate ututeh?” he asked Ondry, but clearly the question was for Liam. The Grandmother also looked to Liam.

  “They’re dangerous,” Liam said slowly as though searching for words. “They hurt others and will lie and hide their actions, so they’re hard to stop.”

  Diallo put up a hand, which appeared to silence the general. “You believe Sergeant Kaplan was a psychopath. I saw Liam’s file, so if any story gave you the impression that humans were lacking in emotional responses, it would be his. But no one condones what happened to Liam.”

  Clearly the Grandmother had heard the stories Ondry had shared with the Janatjanay Grandmothers because she didn’t ask for clarification. “His actions would make him ututeh, but no ututeh is allowed near a palteia,” the Grandmother explained. “And Colonel Thackaray who commanded the human base on Prarownt before he offended us had a high status, but he disregarded all common manners and abused those under him. We knew humans were motivated by territory, but we could not understand how the treatment of a palteia fit within this territorial imperative.”

  “They thought we were all psychopaths because someone raped a sergeant?” one of the generals demanded with anger in his voice. Diallo moved in front of him and began to whisper. The general started to retort in an angry voice, clearly unwilling to be corrected by one of lesser rank, but General Dafaor ordered him to return to his office. The general had even more white hair than Dafaor, but he did not have more age or rank because after the two men stared at each other for a time, the general who had spoken turned and left.

  “I apologize,” Dafaor offered. “We all know things happen on the front lines that should not. Soldiers grow tired, and fear rarely leads to good decisions. I don’t know what this Kaplan did or if he was mentally damaged. I can only say humans would not walk past a child in danger.”

  “I never tried to give Rownt that impression,” Liam said, and the fact that he had fallen back into speaking English showed how upset he was. He trembled, and Ondry rested his hand against Liam’s neck.

  “We should return to the ship,” Ondry said. He would have left then, but when he tried to pull Liam away, Liam strained against Ondry’s touch. Given the choice between forcing Liam or waiting, Ondry chose to wait.

  “I never suspected you of that, Lieutenant Munson. You have done more to advance this relationship than anyone else,” Darfaor said. That did not calm the tremors going through Liam’s body.

  The Grandmother glurbled, and Ondry appreciated the silent vow of protection, even if Liam was too upset to understand it. “We have long traded with Imshee and Ko-tekteta, but they are older species who are less volatile. In our relationship with those races, the Rownt are the young ones, and we are happy to admit to our lack of equal status. We have found a basketful of species still too young to reach into space, but of those developed species we had met, only humans and Anla were younger. The Rownt will never trade with Anla, not unless their psychology undergoes a significant change. However, those of Earth appeared rational, even if the motivation for territory is outside our experience.”

  “That’s why you’re here?” General Dafaor asked. “And the trade agreements? Are they real?”

  “They are,” the Grandmother said, apparently unoffended although Ondry was offended for her. The Grandmothers would not lie about a trade. “We welcome trade with humans, but we did not know if your people were logical. If humans did not have enough thoughtful adults to care for the children and palteia, we were unsure how to handle the situation.”

  Liam went utterly still. “What possibilities did you consider?” he asked.

  The Grandmother smiled at him. “All of them. We would not allow children and palteia to suffer.”

  “Christ,” the one female general whispered. She had gone as white as her uniform.

  “Rownt and humans are too similar for us to ignore the fear that palteia were in need,” the Grandmother said. “And logically, a species that can produce one palteia must be able to produce others, which placed us in a difficult situation. We do not walk past a suffering palteia.”

  Dafaor spoke up. “Are you saying you came here to kidnap our people?”

  “I came to see if any of your people needed rescue, but I have a different impression of humans. We will conclude trade tomorrow.” The Grandmother headed in the direction of the transport they’d used, and Ondry kept his arms around Liam as they followed.

  “How did I not see this? What the hell have I done?” Liam asked in a whisper, but he did not give Ondry time to answer. “I’m the worst translator in history. I just about started a war. That would have gone down well.”

  “You have not caused harm,” Ondry reassured Liam. The look Liam gave him was full of disbelief.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liam had passed through shock and fear and anger and had reached mental exhaustion by the time the doors closed behind them in their private quarters. He’d nearly sent his adopted people to war against his birth people, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

  Liam sat on the couch and closed his eyes.
“I’m a horrible person.”

  There was a long pause, and when Ondry spoke, he sounded confused. “You are not.” Ondry sat next to Liam and caught him up in a hug that was nearly painful in its strength. Liam grunted, and Ondry gentled his touch.

  “You’re my chilta. You’re required to say nice things about me,” Liam pointed out.

  “If you were wrong, I would tell you so you could work to avoid being wrong again. Here you have not committed any errors.”

  “I don’t know; almost causing a war seems slightly not good,” Liam said, not even caring how badly he was mangling the syntax of his sentence.

  “These Grandmothers are different than the ones I have known, but violence is always a last resort. It is more likely that they hoped to trade for any palteia.”

  “Great. So they wanted to buy people.” Liam rubbed his eyes.

  “If you are this distrusting of the Grandmothers, we can find another home.”

  Liam forced himself to stop and think about the words coming out of his mouth. He didn’t want Ondry making choices based on his emotional breakdown. “I trust these Grandmothers as much as any leaders I have known. But do you believe they know enough to make good decisions? I mean, they’re assuming all humans are psychopaths because I’m good at falling for the wrong kind of asshole.”

  “Falling?” Ondry’s eyes widened in confusion, and Liam took a deep breath before he mistranslated more gibberish.

  “Human metaphor for giving your trust to someone. And boy, isn’t that appropriate? I did fall for those guys, and I nearly broke my neck doing it.” It was amusing in a dark and twisted sort of way. “That doesn’t make all humans evil.”

  “No one says humans are evil.”

  “No, they’re only psychopaths who don’t care about anyone other than themselves.” Liam tried to stand, but Ondry held on tightly. They struggled for a few minutes, but in the end, Liam would never win out against Ondry’s strength. Liam sank into Ondry’s embrace, and the moment he did, Ondry began to trace soothing circles against Liam’s neck.