Doona Trilogy Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  That sort of racket would be disrespectful to Hrruna.”

  “Ah, but,’ and Hrriss raised a digit, claw half-extended, “Hrruna was a far-sighted progressive.”

  “So you say . . .” Then Todd caught himself as he had been about to embark on the arguments he had initially used to try to stop the project. With a laugh, li put his fingertip on the claw and gently pushed it back iti its sheath. “A triangle is the most stable geometrical figure.” Another thought caught him. “Great snakes!

  We’ll have to enlarge Treaty Island facilities, too, to accommodate the Gringg.”

  “So we will. So we will,’ Hrriss replied equably.

  Besides conscripting one of the local manufactories to turn out the parts, Todd managed to get the local high school and university, as a work-experience for their students, to assemble the voders in their electronics shop classes under the direction of Lieutenant Cardiff.

  Cardiff was a find. If Todd could have weaned him away from his Spacedep pension, he would have been happy to give him a place on Doonarrala. But Cardiff liked travel and he was used to the military life.

  “Maybe I’ll retire here, friend,’ he told Todd. “Meantime, you’ve got a thousand of these growl boxes ready to go.” The crew complement of the orbiting Gringg leviathan numbered one hundred and fifty-four so the remaining devices were split evenly among Hayumans and Hrrubans.

  Over protests from the contentious of both home worlds, Todd insisted that a number be set aside for children.

  Much debate had shrunk his proposed allotment from one hundred to thirty, but he was satisfied. The point had been made to Alreldep that once again, the children of Doonarrala were going to play an important part in the missions of peace. In spite of a cry of “nepotism’, four were assigned to the elder two of Hrriss’s children and to his twins.

  Twenty-seven days after the project began, Todd asked Barrington to bring Jilamey down to the manufactory.

  “But don’t tell him why’ Todd asked, trying to maintain an expression of innocence. The tall, thin manservant regarded him with a calm demeanour, but Todd could perceive a twinkle.

  “Of course not, sir,’ Barrington assured him, and departed in the small aircraft.

  Jilamey was a child when it came to mysteries. In no time, the personal heli was back, scattering dust as it descended next to the factory door. Landreau barely allowed it time to touch down before he sprang out, calling for Todd and Hrriss. With broad grins, they met, one on each side as they guided him into the building.

  Barrington followed at a more sedate pace.

  “What’s the secret?” Jilamey demanded. “Old Silenceis-golden back there wouldn’t give me a word!” Without speaking, Todd escorted him into the quality control room. At his nod, Lieutenant Cardiff came forward, bearing a small device attached to the centre of a soft, flexible strap.

  “In rrrcognition of srrvice above and beyond ze call of duty,’ Hrriss said, formally, “zo wit, keeping ze nuisances out of our furrr, we want you to have ze first wrrrking speech zranslator.

  “Truly?” Jilamey gasped, looking from one friend to the other.

  Todd wore a face-splitting grin as he nodded.

  Enchanted, Jilamey held still while the voder was fastened on, then cleared his throat. “My dear friends, this is ever so super!” The sound echoed, expanded, and dropped several octaves through the speaker. Jilamey jumped. “This will need some time to get used to,’ he said, covering the voder input with his hand but his eyes were glowing. “I sound like a bassoon.” Lieutenant Cardiff took a sonic probe to the side of the voice-box. “Your voice is not as deep as some, sir. I tried to leave a little personality in each one.

  “How’s it work? I warn you,’ Jilamey peered out of the corner of his eye at the technician, “I’m dreadful with machinery.”

  “Well, it transposes the pitch of your voice, compresses your range a little,’ Cardiff said. “Gringg don’t hear as many of the upper tones as we do.

  It has a full language memory, with plenty of bytes left for expansion.

  You’ll notice a bit of a pause - that’ll take time to get used to between the words out of your mouth and the Gringg equivalent from the growl box. It’ll translate Terran into Gringg or Hrruban, whichever you set it for. At least the words that it currently recognizes.

  Otherwise it defaults to Middle Hrruban since Hrriss said you’re fluent in that.”

  “We’d like them to learn one language at a time,’ Todd said.

  “One language I speak better than any other,’ Jilamey laughed, “and that’s trade. I’ve been contacted by a consortium on Terra. I say, there, Todd, there’s a bit of unfair play g6ing on. The Hrruban trading contingent grows with every grid operation and, if it weren’t for the presence of Kiachif, Horstmann and that crowd that got here originally, you and Hrrestan would be in for real trouble from Terra.

  However,’ and he swiftly shifted mood again from the semi-critical to the self-satisfied, “I managed to salve injured feelings and, if I say so myself, managed quite a coup.” He preened a bit which set his shirt to shimmer with a cascade of subtle colour shifts. “I’ve been appointed agent for the biggest and most diverse consortium of AW.” “Congratulations,’ Todc said, grinning. “The Gringg’ll never know what hit them.” Jilamey pretended modesty but was quick to make a demand.

  “When can we get down to the nitty-gritty? I’ve been arguing day and night on your behalf but, since you’ve solved the voder problem, when are we going to get to trade? That financier Hrrouf is like a mamma snake and I hear old Hrrto just grided back in.” Although Jilamey could be discreet, neither Todd nor Hrriss mentioned that Second Speaker was here because he had insisted on a private conference with Grizz. That was the only way they could pacify the Hrruban after he’d received his copy of the initial voder-assisted conference.

  The same concession would not be granted to Barnstable on the grounds that he was only an Admiral and not the temporary head of the Hrruban world.

  “You will be happy to learn that the original space port conference can be re-convened,’ Todd told Jilamey.

  “Wow!” Jilamey rounded his eyes and dropped his jaw in astonishment. “I thought you’d never relent.”

  “The Gringg constitute a new factor,’ Todd said obliquely.

  “Hrriss has been deputized to stand in for me. .

  “I haven’t reneged, Jilamey,’ Todd said with an edge of rancour.

  “But,’ and he waggled his finger in Jilamey’s face, “if we want to trade with the Gringg - and we do - the old Hall and space port are totally inadequate. And letting the Gringg come in and out of Doonarrala obviates the need of their knowing the coordinates of our respective home worlds. I still don’t like to see the Hrrunatan . .

  “Corrupted.” Jilamey finished off one of Todd’s wellknown objections, “but old Hrruna would have approved of consorting with the Gringg. You know that! And by utilizing that rocky eastern coast, your preserve will be sacrosanct.” Todd sighed. “Hrriss made that point, too.” “Humph! At least the Gringg have made you two friends again. Haven’t they?” And Jilamey peered anxiously into Todd’s face.

  “We have never been not friends, Jilamey.”

  “Still and all, you can’t get me to believe that things weren’t pretty strained there, just before the Wander Den put in its serendipitous appearance.”

  “Leave off, Jil,’ Todd said and pushed the carton of voders at him. “These are for your guests. We’re giving every one a day to get accustomed to growlers. Show them how they work, and put them to use tomorrow. When I told Grizz that the voders were ready, she assured me that her delegates would be here directly after lunch. I’m taking hers up to the Wander Den this evening.” He did not say that he’d also be taking the Second Speaker in the scout for his meeting with Captain Grizz.

  Waiting until the old port facility was relatively vacant, Hrriss and Hrrto grided there from First Village and got on board the scout just before Todd made a more
public appearance. He whistled as he loaded the cartons of growl boxes, and waved affably to those who noticed him. The Tower gave him clearance and he made no mention of passengers.

  As usual, Orizz had been cooperative about meeting Second Speaker, styled to her as the “Oldest Elder’ of the Hrrubans. Hrriss also managed to convey that the Elder was. . . nervous about spaceships, which was the nearest he could manage with a limited vocabulary, to offset any dread, terror or lack of Stripe that Hrrto might display when finally faced with the reality of the huge Gringg Captain.

  “Weddeerogh,’ Griiiz told him and, using two fingers, pantomimed her son meeting and escorting the visitor to a private place to talk.

  “Two,’ and she held up two digits and slid her hands sideways, one above the other, making it plain that she and Hrrto would be the only ones.

  Todd could tell by the tense look on Hrriss’ face that his friend was not entirely happy about that. This meeting would be quite a test of old Hrrto’s Stripe! Hrriss had hoped to be an observer. Still, Hrrto had insisted! Todd hid a grin and indicated that he would have the voders to help the conversation.

  Griiiz did the Gringg equivalent of relieved smiling and much snapping of her claws in and out of their sheaths.

  Todd just hoped she would refrain from doing that in Hrrto’s presence.

  However, when they arrived at the Gringg bay, Weddeerogh stood there by himself, looking comparatively small and harmless. He was also wearing a voder and someone had tied a reef in the cord that had been designed to encircle adult Gringg necks. The knot stuck out behind one ear and made him quite appealing. Hrrto reacted appropriately, by dropping his jaw in a half smile, though he was clearly stunned by the size of the bay and the immense boxy shuttle craft parked there.

  On the short trip from the planet’s surface, Hrrto had practised with the voder, getting accustomed to the growling guttural reaction to his spoken words.

  “Good evening,’ he now said, inclining his head to the cub. “You are my escort?” Weddeerogh began to growl and then his voder started off with “I am “there was no equivalent for his name, “male child of captain. Come with me!” With that the cub did an about-face that Greene couldn’t have faulted and strode towards the interior.

  “You will wait for me,’ Hrrto said to the two friends with great dignity and turned to follow his guide.

  They were about the same height, though the Hrruban was longer in the leg. As they disappeared through the iris of the lock, Todd wondered if he ought to have warned Hrrto once rnore about the size of adult female Gringg. He felt Hrriss touch his arm and the laughter in the catman’s eyes suggested that he entertained similar thoughts.

  “Well, he demanded a private audience,’ Todd said and then began to unload the cartons. As soon as Hrrto and his guide had reached their destination, Eonneh and Koala - and probably half the crew would arrive to receive their voders and practise before tomorrow’s talks.

  Hrrto had been much encouraged by the size and dignity of his escort. The creatures at least understood the basics of courtesy. The stumpy legs of the Gringg made its hind end waggle as they moved down the corridor - rather like an young cub, not quite leg-long. Still, the creature wore a harness that even Hrrto could see was beautifully crafted.

  So he had been accorded a senior official as his guide. That was as it should be.

  With these thoughts, he tried not to notice the dimensions of the hall they traversed. Door panels slid aside at their approach and they went down another, larger hall. Then his guide paused, used partially extended claws to scratch at a door. This slid aside and, bowing from his waist, he made a sweeping gesture for Hrrto to enter.

  He began to growl which translated to “Captain . .

  and then some incomprehensible syllables of which all Hrrto understood was “grizz -“ Well, captain would do well enough so Hrrto swept his robes deftly up and stepped over the threshold. There he stopped and didn’t even hear the panel slide shut behind him.

  The room was twice the size of the Hrruban Grand Council Chamber and looked even larger because it was painted a light shade of yellow and was virtually empty: except for a pile of cushions, a magnificently ornamented chair and footstool which his stunned mind told him must be for him, and two small side tables, each crowded with exquisite dishes piled high with titbits.

  But the room was otherwise filled with the most immense living shape Hrrto had ever seen. Its colouring was a sinister dark brown, nearly black, against which the icy shards of its teeth gleamed dangerously. Its head seemed almost to brush the high ceiling and the frightening roar it opened its mouth to produce - before the voder took over - resounded in the chamber.

  Blinking and rocking back on his heels, Hrrto nevertheless heard Middle Hrruban words that made sense to him.

  “Welcome, honoured Second Speaker Hrrto,’ and it managed to speak his name with a proper roll of the “r’, a feat few Hayumans properly accomplished. “I am Captain of the Wander Den. You may call me Grizz as your friends - -, No friends of mine, Hrrto thought, trying to find some mental balance. Why hadn’t Hrriss had the couflesy to warn me of its size?

  “Be seated. Be comfortable. We talk,’ the words rolled out of the voder, reverberating. As if puzzled by a lack of response, the creature held up the voder, and with the tip of a very sharp claw, made a minute adjustment - which Hrrto doubted even as he saw such a delicate movement performed - to one of the voder dials. “Too loud.

  Roars are not good for friendly talk.” Hrrto appreciated the adjustment just as he realized that he could not hesitate any further or be a disgrace to his Stripe. He bowed as deeply as he felt he should and dropped his jaw, remembering that Hrriss said the Gringg understood that as a positive action. He thanked the ancient gods that he had not permitted any witness to accompany him: especially Milaba who had been quite incensed at being left behind.

  Steeling himself for the next action in this ordeal, Hrrto managed a creditable and stately progress to the seat which a massive furred paw indicated. It was only then that he realized the creature had been standing. It now squatted down, with its own peculiar grace, to the pile of cushions and gestured again for him to be seated.

  Still in a state of shock, Hrrto realized he would have to step up on the stool to seat himself. He was wondering about the dignity of that as he did so but when he turned toward this Captain Grizz, he found himself at eye level to her. Yes, Hrriss and zOdd had said that the captain was a female. He’d forgotten that detail. Out of nowhere he was reminded of an absurd joke that zOdd Rrev had told in his presence: about citrus fruits that grew so large that eight of them were bigger than a Hayuman dozen. One of these Gringg was certainly a full dozen.

  With an effort of will, Hrrto slowed his heartbeat and his quickened breath and looked her straight in her odd red eyes, pupilless but glistening with intelligence. He couldn’t deny that!

  “You are . . . (gracious? kind?) very good to receive me, Captain,’ he said, wishing that the voder would not hesitate in its translation. Would that be considered a sign of weakness? No, her device did the same thing.

  Now she gestured to the bowls on the side table.

  Growling then the voder explained, “All Hrruban foods.

  Enjoy!” She reached for her own table and took a gobbet of something, conveying it neatly to her mouth. Grateful for the diversion and the courtesy thus shown, Hrrto selected a tiny crisp fleshed fruit and became more relaxed, for clearly these Gringg had taken the time to discover his preferences. They both chewed companionably.

  “You were long on your way here?” Hrrto asked, abruptly deciding to be social in manner. His previously rehearsed speech was totaly inappropriate.

  The Gringg nodded her great head, dropping her jaw as a Hrruban would but he wished her black lips did not retreat over her very white fangs. He reached down for a handful of refried meat cubes, another of his favorite titbits. “Grrrr. . . two cubs born to me and a long time between them. I am captain.”

>   “I see,’ Hrrto said, nodding at such information. “Will you return to your home world or a colony?” He hoped the voder translated “colony’ “Grrruuph. . . We are on peaceful mission for long as possible,’ she replied. “We wish to trade. With Hrruban.

  With Hayuman.” Subtle, too, Hrrto thought, putting his species before the Hayuman. But that was as it should be.

  “Grrrummmm glad to find two for one trip, and she dropped her jaw again.

  Hrrto paused a moment, decided she intended to be humorous and dropped his jaw. Then, deliberately over his next words, he scooped up more of the cubes, nibbling delicately. He had long ago learned the way to eat without exposing his own dental equipment.

  “You have seen many other worlds, planets, systems All Three nouns came out in assorted groans and growls. “Have you?” he added, making that a question rather than a statement.

  The captain nodded, running her tongue over her teeth, fortunately with her mouth closed. Evidently they had several courtesies in common.

  “Many. Not enough water for Gringg. Too much land is not needed.

  But land has certain minerals, earths, no smart peoples. We are a water people. Hrrubans like water worlds?” Clever as well, Hrrto thought, considering this a deft ploy to gain knowledge of his home world.

  “We are land creatures,’ Hrrto said, finally settling back in the chair and finding it comfortable. His back muscles had started jumping from inner tensions. “We are hunters.

  Are you?” Another nod. “Eating is necessary.” One answer led to another question and Hrrto found himself able to ask, and receive answers, to many queries.

  What he so desperately wanted to ask - about the Gringg ship drifting derelict off a shattered world - did not come to his lips.

  Such a query would have been inappropriate, he told himself; certainly not consonant with the social nature of this meeting; probably would be deftly parried by the captain. Far better for him to think of trade, and most particularly of the need for purralinium, though he had to be most adroit in his questions concerning that desperately needed commodity. The captain readily admitted how many planets they had surveyed, but not what the surveys had discovered: she discoursed on many matters - some of which were marred by the insertion of growls, snarls and woofs where the voder could not accommodate a translation.