"That's not what I me an t ," Bruce responded with a poisonous smile . " I meant , we could've prevented anyone like the privateers from finding out
about the Grus. Dr. Li can't help her attitude, Tesa," he added sarcastically,
"she's never known any ambition but to be a good government worker."
"A respectable desire," Szu-yi responded emotionlessly. "I certainly never had your interest in being a profiteer."
"A colonizer!" Bruce snapped. "There's a difference!"
"Enough," Meg held up her hand. "I was hoping by now you both had
learned to get along better."
Tesa had kept track of the conversation by quick glances at her voder.
Looking squarely at Meg, she signed, "Why isn't anyone talking about what
happened with Taller and the skin?"
The others read their voders, then self-consciously exchanged glances
among themselves.
"I should've looked at it first," Meg said disgustedly. "I would've recognized"
Tesa shook her head. "You didn't recognize it when you saw it. Taller did,
and you responded to his reaction. But--"Am I reading this right?"
Bruce interjected. "Tesa, you think Taller knew that skin was Dancer's
before Meg told him?"
Tesa nodded. "It was obvious. He reacted before she did."
"Did it look that way to the rest of you?" Bruce asked the others. No one
responded.
Tesa was visibly annoyed. "None of you realized that? But this is important!
Taller's ability to recognize and grieve for his son can be significant in
proving his intelligence."
"Well, I don't know about that," Bruce drawled. "The Terran elephant does both those things and I don't think we're ready to submit that species to the
CLS for a First Contact."
Meg had been afraid they'd get into this. Neither Bruce nor Lauren believed
the Grus to be the intelligent people she and Scott knew they were.
However, the two technicians had had enough confidence in Scott to believe
he could convince the CLS. They'd given up everything in the hopes they
could establish this First Contact-and it had all been shattered by Scott's
death.
"I see ," Tesa signed simply. "I had thought no one wanted
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to discuss Taller's reaction because it was too painful. But that's not it at all.
You can't recognize what's happening in front of you, or agree on it, so you
won't identify significant cultural responses--and then you won't document
them. Don't you want to prove that the Grus are intelligent enough to
deserve protection from exploitation?"
Everyone quickly nodded their assents, except Bruce. "I don't know about
the exploitation part. My motivation is purely chauvinistic. I want Earth to get
our full-membership CLS status before those damned Simiu shut us out,
maybe forever."
Tesa physically recoiled. "So we can shut out the Simiu?" Bruce nodded
unabashedly. "We've got to teach 'em to respect Terrans. Half of 'em have
been trying to discredit us since the Desiree incident. It's no secret that the Simiu will do everything they can to block any Terran membership bid that'll
come up, but right now our half memberships make us equals. So, we've got
to get full membership before them. Then we can try and block them-and
we'll have more power to do it. If they stop us this time, we might never get
another chance."
"Bruce," Tesa signed, "none of that matters! The only thing that's important is whether or not the Grus are intelligent." The weatherman pointed to
Tesa's Mizari voder. "I'm hoping that thing, l'il darling, will solve that problem.
Since that's the same device the Mizari use to back up their claims of
intelligence for other marginal species, we should do the same."
Tesa looked confused. "What species?"
"Are the Ri intelligent enough," Bruce asked, "or have the Mizari decided they are so they--can control--pardon me, I mean , `protect'--the shisso
seaweed from which they derive that drug that extends the Mizari life span?
How can we know, since the Mizari insist the Ri are so shy that the sight of
any alien-other than themselves, of course-can cause one of those
overgrown squid to die of shock. But the Mizari have their magical voders to
back them up." He was warming to his subject now, his face animated.
"Well, the Grus produce something of great value, too, so let's take the
voder and document what we need to so we can protect them."
He moved closer to Tesa to make his point . "The bottom line is this , l il darlin '. Trinity can get us full membership
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in the CLS . So, the Grus damned well better be intelligent."
Meg rubbed the bri dge of her nose wearily . Welcome to the real World , Tesa, she thought bitterly.
" I'm afraid I must agree with Dr . Carpenter ," Dr. Li said. Eve ry head in the place tu rn ed. "Who can really judge such a nebulous thing as intelligence? We just have to hope that we can prove this claim and
establish Ea rt h's full membership. Tesa must understand the way
things really are."
"So," Peter asked Tesa, "do you know how things really are?"
She hadn' t been looking at him however , and didn ' t realize he'd
spoken to her . Bruce got her attention and pointed to her voder . She read it and faced Peter . " I understand that you would all feel differently if you had bothered to lea rn to sign Grus. Then , you could've picked up the pieces when you lost Scott , and Meg had to leave . You
would've had more documentation for the First Contact claim, and you
wouldn't have been so dependent on that faulty voder program . More
importantly, if you signed , you would all know as Scott did, as Meg doe s, as I do, that there ' s no question that the Grus are intelligent enough."
She looked at Bruce squarely. " At StarB ri dge, I knew people who'd had communications with Rigellians, who'd met the Ri. They had no doubt
about their intelligence. When you communicate with beings in their
own language, you understand them-- you build b ri dges . But you just want to rely on this"--she pulled the voder off Bruce' s w ri st"because it ' s easy."
The meteorologist' s eyes followed his voder as Tesa pulled it away:
"What ' s she saying , Meg, damn it ? I can't ..." Tesa dem an ded through gestures that he maintain eye contact with her. She signed as
Meg translated , " This is how you communicate , B ru ce. Talk to me, not to this stupid machine." Bru ce looked intently into Tesa ' s golden eyes , then remarked , " There ' s a lot in those eyes, darlin'."
Without glancing at the voders, Tesa signed , " If you could sign G ru s, you'd see a lot more in their eyes, too."
Bru ce seemed shocked that Tesa had understood him. "And if you
signed G ru s," she continued , " you would know that Taller recognized his dead son." Tesa handed him his voder.
" Signing is not my job ," B ru ce said with a g ru dging smile.
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" It wasn 't Scott's job either, was it?" Tesa asked.
He read the voder now with obvious reluctance. "I'll make a deal with you?"
Tesa looked at him, uncertain. He repeated the sentence and she nodded
that she understood.
"I'll study Grus signs ... if Dr. Li will."
Tesa held up a hand and turned to Meg. "Did he say he'd study Grus if the
doctor would also?"
"That's right," Meg signed wearily.
Tesa looked at the doctor, who was sitting, wooden-faced. "I'll have to have
someone to pra
ctice with," Bruce drawled. "No, thank you," the doctor stated flatly.
"Come on, Uncle Bruce," Lauren interjected quietly. She only used that
endearment when she was determined to have her way. "I'll be your practice
partner."
Bruce started to argue, but Lauren gave him a look that made him grin and
back down. "Okay, honey, I never could refuse you anything. We'll learn to
sign Grus. That should be something."
Yes, thought Meg, that certainly should.
Through it all Thorn had said nothing, Meg noted, but had watched with
quiet interest.
"Well, now that intergalactic relations have taken a giant leap forward," Peter said, "can the starving immigrants eat?"
Peter carried a precarious pile of dishes into the kitchen area. "You really
wash these?" he asked Thorn, incredulously.
"Doesn't make any sense to make the recycler sterilize and reformulate
dishes for such a small job. Life's simpler here."
"Is that so?" the black man wondered. "I caught that look in your eye over the hearts-of-reed soup. Isn't there something you want to tell me?"
Thorn quickly glanced over his shoulder. "And I thought you offered to help
out of graciousness."
Peter snorted. "I wanted to keep you from making a fool of yourself when you
tried to get Tesa's assistance."
"I can't figure her out. She was a lot warmer yesterday."
"Maybe you're coming on too strong," Peter suggested. "Or maybe she's
afraid Lauren might slit her throat."
Both men laughed quietly. "Still, it pisses me off when she puts on that deaf
routine," Thorn said.
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SILENT DANCES 93 Peter raised his eyebrows. "Routine?"
"You know, I say something and halfway through she looks away and tunes
me out . She can follow what I ' m saying."
" Why don't you sign to her?"
"Ahh, I feel so uncomfortable doing that. I'd like to be a Terran when I talk to Tesa, you know? Use a human language."
Peter nodded. "Yeah, but your language isn't hers." Thorn stopped scraping dishes, then reluctantly nodded. "When did you get so smart in matters of the
heart?"
"I wasn ' t aware it was matters of that pa rt icular organ we were discussing. Actually, it's just too painful for me to watch you bumble your
way through another star-crossed affair. It's bad for business, friend." Peter
pushed the pile of plasticware into the basin of thin suds an d tu rn ed on the sonics. "And speaking of business, something's on your mind,
something you couldn't tell me when we were unloading the shuttle."
Thorn turned so that he could keep one eye on the dining area. Meg had
gone back outside with Dr . Li to load pl an t samples into the shuttle .
Bruce, Lauren , and Tesa were huddled over a new computer work
station, correlating some kind of programming using Tesa ' s Mizari
voder . Thorn didn't want that pa rt icular instrument picking up this conversation, since none of them knew its range or limitations . Finally , deciding that the voder and its operator were well occupied, Thorn
continued.
"We had a visitor yesterday," he said. "An Aquila. Dropped a calling card , but didn ' t fly low enough to excite the Grus."
"Well," Peter began, "you've got to expect that now and..."
"Tesa saw it," Thorn interrupted. "Then, when we asked her, she lied to us." The whole thing with this new "interrelator " got under his skin . If they could 've just maintained the status quo for two more months they
might ' ve been able to finish up and get out of here. Who could have
expected Meg to come back at all, never mind so soon an d with
someone else?
"Is that why you're coming on to her, to gain her trust?" Peter gave him a cockeyed , better -try-another- tactic look.
94
"No," Thorn said. "But I'm not happy about her lying to me."
"So, brush up your technique, try to win her over," Peter said, carefully
keeping his expression casual. "She worked with raptors, maybe she was
just captivated by the big eagle. Things'll go better if she trusts you. We can't
afford to have her get in our way, not when things are so close to breaking. I
just hope you do better this time than you did with Lauren."
Thorn looked annoyed. "Do I have to hear about that forever? It didn't cause
you any hardship to pick up the pieces." Peter gave him a toothy grin and
glanced at Tesa. "Hey, and I wouldn't mind helping you out again, old pal."
Thorn gave him a sour look. "So, what about the Aquila?"
"Bruce is coming," Peter whispered, then smiled warmly at the weatherman.
"Well, Ùncle Bruce,' did you get that program squared away?"
"You can stow that uncle stuff," Bruce said, "only Lauren gets away with that.
Yeah, the program's running. That Mizari voder's one clever piece of
equipment, but its operator is a little closemouthed about showing it off."
Peter and Thorn exchanged a glance. Then, they both looked at Tesa, with
Lauren at the work station. Turning the sonics off, Thorn let the dish water
drain, then activated the quickdri.
"Meg said something to me about an Aquila leaving its lunch hereabouts,"
Bruce said to the other men, guardedly.
"We were just talking about that," Peter said. "I don't know that it's anything to worry about."
"You don't think we should reconsider using sonic perimeters?" Bruce
asked. "I'm not burying another friend on this poor excuse of an Eden. I won't
risk Meg."
"Calm down," Peter said. "One Aquila isn't necessarily the advance guard for an invasion."
"But we're not doing anything," Bruce insisted. "If we can't use the sonic perimeters, then how about an early warning system, or some kind of
investigative work?"
"You know the problem, Bruce," Thorn reminded him, stacking the cleaned,
dry dishes. "If we get caught messing around with `Death,' we're out of here."
"Scott wasn't afraid to violate the taboo," Bruce insisted. "I looked through his paperwork-he'd planted cameras at scatte re d nest sites , to study their behavior. We could reactivate
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SILENT DANCES 95 those cameras through the satellites. We might find
out why they're flocking and working cooperatively, when they were only
independent predators before."
"I thought of that," Thorn assured him. "I spent weeks trying to reactivate those things when Meg was gone."
"You never mentioned it before," Bruce said warily.
"I was afraid you'd object. I figured if it worked out, fine, and if it didn't, no one needed to know. Well, it didn't." He could see Lauren signing something
tentatively to Tesa.
"The cameras were trained on active nests," Thorn continued. "There were six of them. Three were destroyed when the trees they were in were felled in
electrical storms. One of them developed a hardware problem and burned
out. Another one won't function because something's built a nest on top of it,
and the last one just plain disappeared. Something may have carried it into a
burrow."
"The one under the nest," Bruce said. "Can't we clean it?"
"They don't exactly have àself-cleaning' cycle. Bruce, that thing isn't three
meters from an active Aquila nest. Scott must've planted it during an inactive
period but now it can't be approached safely. All our other cameras are in
use for active research projects, so we can't remove any of them without
damaging that res
earch. I tried to figure out some way to substitute one, but
Dr. Li would raise too many questions."
Bruce looked disgusted. "If she'd ever done any exploration work, she'd
know not everything can be done by the book."
"She knows more about the research approval system than anyone on
Earth," Peter reminded him. "Without her, this project hasn't got a prayer."
"Maybe," Bruce grumbled.
"Maybe, if you were nicer to her, Bruce ..." Peter trailed off suggestively.
Bruce's venomous look and Peter's cynical grin indicated a joke well worn.
"I'm serious," the meteorologist said. "I'm not burying anybody else--not even Dr. Li. If we can't do approved research on the Aquila, we'll just have to rely
on the oldest Terran technique for coping with nuisance wildlife."
Peter and Thorn looked puzzled.
"Eradication," he said coolly. "How much do you think someone would pay
for one of those damned buzzards' skins?" Thorn and Peter studiously
ignored each other.
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"Here comes Tesa," Bruce announced, barely moving his lips.
Thorn sighed. Things had been a lot simpler when he was down here alone.
He glanced at Tesa's wrist and saw that her voder appeared to be off. Its
small screen was blank. "Now you come to help with the dishes?" he asked, speaking and signing.
Tesa raised an eyebrow and smiled tentatively, handing him two glasses.
"No, you forgot these. I thought you'd forgotten how to sign , as well, but now I see you've remembered." Her smile grew warmer.
Thorn felt Peter giving him one of those I-told-you-so looks.
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CHAPTER 9
The Egg
As she watched the shuttle take off later that afternoon, Tesa felt as though
she was seeing off summer guests. It was nice to see them come, but nicer
to see them go.
The air was cool, and there was no breeze. Inside the shelter, Thorn was
opening the sound shutters. He'll make a good husband someday, she
thought, smiling.
Meg touched her arm and she turned to see the older woman holding the
dreaded stilts. "Taller wants you to see the egg. We can't disappoint him."
Tesa's face fell as she gingerly handled the collapsed contraptions. She'd
forgotten all about them. Sighing, Tesa stepped into footpads that felt alien
and clumsy. Meg had already strapped in and was moving around with such
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