Silent Dances by A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley
Authors: A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley
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older woman felt about having her on this project.
Dr. Noisy picked up his own stilts. "I know you will earn much honor on this
assignment ," the Simiu said formally. "And as you humans say, I wish you luck, as do many of my people." Tesa looked at him with a little surprise.
"I wanted you to know, Tesa," the Simiu continued, "that while some of my people have bitter feelings about the past, many more respect your people's
differences and do not judge you by our code. As your teacher, and your
friend, I wanted to wish you well. I'll miss you."
"Your friendship has always been a great honor to me. Dr. Noisy," Tesa
signed, clouding up. "I'll miss you, too."
"You're scheduled to meet with Dr. Xto in an hour," the
Simiu reminded her abruptly. The wasplike Apis was scheduled to teach
Tesa how to handle the diamond-shaped portable flying sleds . "Now, flying
an air scooter is my idea of real fun!" Without another word, the Simiu turned and left the mockup in a typical Simiu wordless departure.
Tesa realized he was trying to give her something else to
36
think about, instead of dwelling on their farewell . Glancing at Meg, she
saw the older wom an reading the Simiu ' s words on her own voder .
Tesa would be glad when she and Meg had enough of a l an guage
base to dispense with the damned things.
At least that was one are a where Tesa knew she'd impressed the
biologist. Her almost - instinctive grasp of the Grus language had
allowed Tesa to meet Meg with the appropriate Grus greeting when she'd
arri ved . That ' d been a g re at icebreaker and, the younger woman hoped, had shown Meg just how much the chance to go to Trinity meant
to her.
"Don't look so forlo rn," Meg said in Russian , while signing in Grus.
Tesa's voder showed the literal translation--"Your feathers are needlessly
fluffed"--plus the English equivalent. The humans on Trinity also found it
necessary to use the English m an ual alphabet to spell words like "Miza ri" that had no literal translation - at le as t until the Grus would c re ate new signs for them.
"This is a good mock- up," Meg continued , " but the gravity's not right.
Maybe it's psychological, but when you're on Trinity you feel ... well,
buoyant. Like you could fly away with the Grus." She brushed wispy, silver-gray curls from her face. " Rob said you used to work with birds, doing
rehabilitation work."
Tesa nodded. "On the plains when I was a kid. There's a big rehab place
near our summer tipi camp - where the powwows are held . We had
raptors , songbirds, and sandhill cranes. One year I helped with some
peregrine falcon studies in the Grand Canyon and got to do some old-
fashioned rappeling." She'd ea rn ed one of her eagle feathers there
when she'd saved a pe re g ri ne chick from becoming a mountain lion snack.
"That experience will certainly help you on Trinity." She gave Tesa a long , appraising look. "I think you' re going to do just fine with Taller's chick."
With that casual statement, Meg confirmed that Tesa was indeed going.
There would be no formal tapping ce re mony, but she didn ' t ca re- the thought of Trinity' s untamed l an d filled her with a deep yea rn ing.
"I checked on our tran spo rt," Meg signed . " We're leaving tomorrow."
Those words hit Tesa hard, an d she felt her emotions go to war, th ri ll
and re g re t all at once. "Tomorrow?"
37
Meg nodded. "You'll have time for that flying lesson, then you'll have to pack.
We'll have two months on the ship ..." The older woman looked drawn. "Two
months to cram three years of research into you. I bargained, but we'll have
to spend the last month in hibernation. It's the best I could do. We'll arrive
about five days before the hatching."
"Meg," Tesa asked curiously, "why didn't you want to raise Taller's chick yourself?"
"A couple of reasons. For one, I'm too old."
Tesa looked shocked. It was the first time Meg had ever referred to her age
as a restrictive handicap.
"Don't look like that,
Dr. Noisy picked up his own stilts. "I know you will earn much honor on this
assignment ," the Simiu said formally. "And as you humans say, I wish you luck, as do many of my people." Tesa looked at him with a little surprise.
"I wanted you to know, Tesa," the Simiu continued, "that while some of my people have bitter feelings about the past, many more respect your people's
differences and do not judge you by our code. As your teacher, and your
friend, I wanted to wish you well. I'll miss you."
"Your friendship has always been a great honor to me. Dr. Noisy," Tesa
signed, clouding up. "I'll miss you, too."
"You're scheduled to meet with Dr. Xto in an hour," the
Simiu reminded her abruptly. The wasplike Apis was scheduled to teach
Tesa how to handle the diamond-shaped portable flying sleds . "Now, flying
an air scooter is my idea of real fun!" Without another word, the Simiu turned and left the mockup in a typical Simiu wordless departure.
Tesa realized he was trying to give her something else to
36
think about, instead of dwelling on their farewell . Glancing at Meg, she
saw the older wom an reading the Simiu ' s words on her own voder .
Tesa would be glad when she and Meg had enough of a l an guage
base to dispense with the damned things.
At least that was one are a where Tesa knew she'd impressed the
biologist. Her almost - instinctive grasp of the Grus language had
allowed Tesa to meet Meg with the appropriate Grus greeting when she'd
arri ved . That ' d been a g re at icebreaker and, the younger woman hoped, had shown Meg just how much the chance to go to Trinity meant
to her.
"Don't look so forlo rn," Meg said in Russian , while signing in Grus.
Tesa's voder showed the literal translation--"Your feathers are needlessly
fluffed"--plus the English equivalent. The humans on Trinity also found it
necessary to use the English m an ual alphabet to spell words like "Miza ri" that had no literal translation - at le as t until the Grus would c re ate new signs for them.
"This is a good mock- up," Meg continued , " but the gravity's not right.
Maybe it's psychological, but when you're on Trinity you feel ... well,
buoyant. Like you could fly away with the Grus." She brushed wispy, silver-gray curls from her face. " Rob said you used to work with birds, doing
rehabilitation work."
Tesa nodded. "On the plains when I was a kid. There's a big rehab place
near our summer tipi camp - where the powwows are held . We had
raptors , songbirds, and sandhill cranes. One year I helped with some
peregrine falcon studies in the Grand Canyon and got to do some old-
fashioned rappeling." She'd ea rn ed one of her eagle feathers there
when she'd saved a pe re g ri ne chick from becoming a mountain lion snack.
"That experience will certainly help you on Trinity." She gave Tesa a long , appraising look. "I think you' re going to do just fine with Taller's chick."
With that casual statement, Meg confirmed that Tesa was indeed going.
There would be no formal tapping ce re mony, but she didn ' t ca re- the thought of Trinity' s untamed l an d filled her with a deep yea rn ing.
"I checked on our tran spo rt," Meg signed . " We're leaving tomorrow."
Those words hit Tesa hard, an d she felt her emotions go to war, th ri ll
and re g re t all at once. "Tomorrow?"
37
Meg nodded. "You'll have time for that flying lesson, then you'll have to pack.
We'll have two months on the ship ..." The older woman looked drawn. "Two
months to cram three years of research into you. I bargained, but we'll have
to spend the last month in hibernation. It's the best I could do. We'll arrive
about five days before the hatching."
"Meg," Tesa asked curiously, "why didn't you want to raise Taller's chick yourself?"
"A couple of reasons. For one, I'm too old."
Tesa looked shocked. It was the first time Meg had ever referred to her age
as a restrictive handicap.
"Don't look like that,
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