asking--if I can take her place, aren't you?"
Rob nodded. "Exactly that. Wait." He held up a hand as she set her cup aside, the steaming beverage untasted. "Let me give you the pros and cons, then you get a turn. Fair? Number one: You're very qualified." He turned down a finger. "You are good friends with a ranked Prince who has some influence. And this would not need to be a permanent placement, if you found yourself uncomfortable: Ladessa won't be in regen that long, and she could replace you, if necessary."
He paused. She nodded, her face suddenly rather pale. "On the other hand,"
he went on, "you'd be half of the CLS team; the Heeyoons have had a small trading company on the space station for some time, and there have been Heeyoons on the
38
royal island--but so far no off-worlders have gotten any farther than the island, and that was just for one brief reception. So all we know is what we've seen in vid, and what we've been told." He shrugged. Magdalena licked her lips.
"You don't suspect there's anything--"
"Anything wrong? There's no hint of it. We wouldn't be sending two of our brightest and best there if we thought there was any chance of trouble. My gut feeling is the Arekkhi government is simply doing what it says: protecting its simpler and less sophisticated populations from contact with alien races."
But Khyriz says lying is a political art form, Magdalena thought suddenly.
And that few things are what they seem. She took a sip of hot tea, letting the warmth loosen her throat. If Rob thought she was afraid, he might not let her go. And I'm not afraid--just a little nervous. Surprised, because he just sprang this on me. Anyone would be. Besides, if there was anything wrong on Arekkhi, Khyriz would have said so, a long time ago. Shiksara would have.
Rob was probably right. And probably the Emperor and his Council didn't want the outsiders to see how low-tech the farming communities were; Khyriz said hardly any labor-saving inventions made it outside the major cities, and that most villages had one communication center for everyone--
phone, vid screen, and news channel. Aldwin Cho said his China of three hundred years ago had been similar, and that government had had very tight rules about what outsiders got into the country at all, let alone where they went.
The Council might believe the CLS would consider such unequal tech a bar to membership. Maybe if you stay calm, or at least look it, you'll get the chance to find out, she told herself and eased back in the chair. Suddenly, with the opportunity within her grasp, she wanted it more than she would have thought possible.
"If you go as translator," Rob went on, "you'll undoubtedly have to be able to work with members of the Council, talk to the Prelate or other high-ranking religious leaders. Think you could do that?"
"I..." she considered this briefly, then nodded. "I don't 39
think it would remind me of New Am. I'm older, after all, and the language is different. I'm not--I wouldn't be one of them, or under their thumbs. That ought to make a big difference."
"Mmmm." He was gazing at her thoughtfully, over steepled fingers once more, a finger tapping at the opposite thumb. Nervous energy: Magdalena could feel her nerves buzzing with the same stuff, but she wasn't going to show it if she could help it. Bless all those weeks and months of dance, I can keep absolutely stil without thinking about it. "Of course," he said, "Alexis will be the one primarily involved with the governing bodies, but often the translator winds up assuming any duties the interrelator doesn't have time for."
"I know. As long as someone tells me what I'm supposed to be doing, I should be okay," she replied with a faint smile.
"You'd be a long way from the School," Rob added.
"Well, but we all expect that," she said, and took another sip of tea.
"True. And, of course, there's the construction and tech crew out working on the jump-point station; they're only a couple of days'
Rob nodded. "Exactly that. Wait." He held up a hand as she set her cup aside, the steaming beverage untasted. "Let me give you the pros and cons, then you get a turn. Fair? Number one: You're very qualified." He turned down a finger. "You are good friends with a ranked Prince who has some influence. And this would not need to be a permanent placement, if you found yourself uncomfortable: Ladessa won't be in regen that long, and she could replace you, if necessary."
He paused. She nodded, her face suddenly rather pale. "On the other hand,"
he went on, "you'd be half of the CLS team; the Heeyoons have had a small trading company on the space station for some time, and there have been Heeyoons on the
38
royal island--but so far no off-worlders have gotten any farther than the island, and that was just for one brief reception. So all we know is what we've seen in vid, and what we've been told." He shrugged. Magdalena licked her lips.
"You don't suspect there's anything--"
"Anything wrong? There's no hint of it. We wouldn't be sending two of our brightest and best there if we thought there was any chance of trouble. My gut feeling is the Arekkhi government is simply doing what it says: protecting its simpler and less sophisticated populations from contact with alien races."
But Khyriz says lying is a political art form, Magdalena thought suddenly.
And that few things are what they seem. She took a sip of hot tea, letting the warmth loosen her throat. If Rob thought she was afraid, he might not let her go. And I'm not afraid--just a little nervous. Surprised, because he just sprang this on me. Anyone would be. Besides, if there was anything wrong on Arekkhi, Khyriz would have said so, a long time ago. Shiksara would have.
Rob was probably right. And probably the Emperor and his Council didn't want the outsiders to see how low-tech the farming communities were; Khyriz said hardly any labor-saving inventions made it outside the major cities, and that most villages had one communication center for everyone--
phone, vid screen, and news channel. Aldwin Cho said his China of three hundred years ago had been similar, and that government had had very tight rules about what outsiders got into the country at all, let alone where they went.
The Council might believe the CLS would consider such unequal tech a bar to membership. Maybe if you stay calm, or at least look it, you'll get the chance to find out, she told herself and eased back in the chair. Suddenly, with the opportunity within her grasp, she wanted it more than she would have thought possible.
"If you go as translator," Rob went on, "you'll undoubtedly have to be able to work with members of the Council, talk to the Prelate or other high-ranking religious leaders. Think you could do that?"
"I..." she considered this briefly, then nodded. "I don't 39
think it would remind me of New Am. I'm older, after all, and the language is different. I'm not--I wouldn't be one of them, or under their thumbs. That ought to make a big difference."
"Mmmm." He was gazing at her thoughtfully, over steepled fingers once more, a finger tapping at the opposite thumb. Nervous energy: Magdalena could feel her nerves buzzing with the same stuff, but she wasn't going to show it if she could help it. Bless all those weeks and months of dance, I can keep absolutely stil without thinking about it. "Of course," he said, "Alexis will be the one primarily involved with the governing bodies, but often the translator winds up assuming any duties the interrelator doesn't have time for."
"I know. As long as someone tells me what I'm supposed to be doing, I should be okay," she replied with a faint smile.
"You'd be a long way from the School," Rob added.
"Well, but we all expect that," she said, and took another sip of tea.
"True. And, of course, there's the construction and tech crew out working on the jump-point station; they're only a couple of days'
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