Nimisha's Ship
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Nimisha's Ship». Краткое содержание книги:
When Nimisha takes an experimental ship on a solo test flight, something goes horribly awry, marooning her light-years from home on a planet as deadly as it is beautiful. Now the ruthless members of a rival branch of the Rondymense family are given the chance they've been waiting for: to reclaim the Ship Yards by any means necessary.
Only Nimisha's ingenious child, Cuiva, stands in their way. But for how long? For just when her daughter needs her most, Nimisha is in a precarious situation herself--and unable to help. But Nimisha has never given up in her life--and she's not about to start now . . .
"He's good at this," Nimisha said in a low voice to Syrona.
"We used to do play acting at nights or during long storms," Casper said. "Passed time, and it was amazing how much dialogue we could remember from plays we'd seen a long time ago."
"In bits and pieces," Jon added, also keeping his voice low.
Slowly, and with Timmy encouraging them every step, the aliens made their way to the table, clutching their glasses against their squarish torsos. Timmy pointed at the glasses, patted the table, and picked up the pitcher.
"You put 'em down and I'll pour. We might spill otherwise. Ever used a pitcher before? Yes, that's right, put the glass down, Ay. You're Ay, and you're Bee. I'm Tee." And Timmy started to giggle at his wit. Both aliens reacted, taking two quick backward steps before they realized Jimmy's unusual noise was not harmful. "I'm pouring, I'm pouring you water," he said, hastily putting action to words. Then he stepped back and glanced over at the adults watching him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't've laughed like that, should I?"
As the aliens were far more needful of water than concerned about his odd noises, they were quick to take possession of and drain both glasses quickly. They replaced the glasses on the table and turned meaningfully toward him.
"I get the message," he said, cutting off another giggle as he refilled. "What about some more of this nice bread?" he asked, passing the plate from one to the other.
As daintily as if they were at a proper tea in Lady Rezalla's salon, they used one finger and the opposing thumb to lift a slice from the plate.
"We got some fish, too," Timmy said. Then regarded his mother. "I can eat it with my fingers this time?" When she nodded, he pinched a portion of the cooked white flesh and, tipping his head, dropped the morsel down his throat.
Ay and Bee watched, their jaws dropping slightly open. Their eyes glittered. Then they relaxed and continued eating bread. Ay approached the fish, and its sniffing was quite audible, the vents of the vertical slit visibly fluttering. So quick was its pincer-like motion that the piece of fish was in its mouth before the humans caught the transfer. Then it turned slightly toward Bee and pointed to the fish. They both set about snatching pieces, alternating bites of fish, bread, and greens until they cleared all that had been set out for them.
"You were hungry and thirsty, weren't you?" Timmy said.
Syrona covered her mouth, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
"You've said that a time or two, I guess," Nimisha commented to Syrona.
"A time or two."
Having fed themselves, Ay and Bee now regarded Timmy. The observers could see that they were no longer as tense as they had been. They were, she thought, seeing the almost imperceptible movements of their head, and the flick of their digits, assessing their current surroundings and the inhabitants.
"Now what do we do?" Timmy asked the adults, raising his hands, palms upward in query.
Immediately the aliens assumed a similar position.
"Good question, Timmy. Why don't you sit down on the floor and see what happens?" Jon suggested quietly.
The aliens' heads moved slightly, indicating they knew where the voice came from.
"So." Timmy crossed his legs and sat down.
The aliens leaned slightly forward and turned to each other; Ay made a sound and Bee lifted one shoulder, but both settled down cross-legged, too.
"Their knees are funny," Timmy said, but he kept his expression bland.
"Now, Tim, point to yourself and say your name."
"Timmy or Tee?"
"I told you that boy's a born comedian," Casper murmured.
"He's the best one at charades, certainly," Syrona replied in the same careful tone.
"Timmy! Tee!" said the boy and then, without a cue from Jon, he pointed to Ay and cocked his head, eyebrows set at an inquiring level. When there was no immediate response, he leaned toward them, cupping a hand behind his ear.
"They don't seem to have ears, Timmy. That gesture may not be understood."
"Tee! Timmy," he repeated, pointing to himself and then at each of the aliens in turn.
Ay said a sound.
Bee said a sound.
Timmy shook his head.
"Any ideas, Helm?" Nimisha asked softly.
"A liquid noise, neither vowel nor diphthong," Helm replied. "I have not heard sufficient of their sounds to replicate them."
"Tee. Timmy!"
"TTT," Ay said, stuttering out the consonant but unable to complete the "ee" sound.
"Hey, that's great!" Timmy said, clapping his hands. This startled the two, who reared back away from him. "Ooops!" he said in dismay, hunching his shoulders and clapping fingers to his mouth.
"Oooo!" repeated both aliens at once, turning to each other as if both pleased with his word and their repetition.
"Try more vowels, Timmy."
"Vowels?" Timmy turned for an explanation.
"A, e, i, o, u," his mother replied.
"Ay is what we named him."
"AAAA," Ay echoed politely.
"Bee?" Timmy said, pointing to Bee.
"EEEE," Bee said.
"We're going to have to change their names," Timmy suggested.
"Try T…"
The vowels were easier for the aliens to manage and they went through the five.
"Open your mouth enough, Timrny," Jon suggested, "so they can see how you make the Tee sound."
Timmy did so, grimacing and showing his teeth, his lips peeled back as far as possible. The boy kept on, and the aliens seemed to be trying to enunciate what they heard.
"I have turned to a wider frequency band, ma'am," Helm said in a quiet voice. "Human aural equipment is not adequate to hear all the sounds they do make. I have tracked their voices up to fifty kilohertz, far beyond what humans are capable of, and nearly the limit of my receptors. Also, there are some glottal stops, fricatives, and labials that do not register properly. In their own voices, they are approximating the sounds Tim makes."
At just that point, Timmy threw both arms up in the air in total frustration and exasperation. "I give up. Can't we do something else?" he asked, turning toward the adults.
"Yes, why don't you show them around the ship, Tim?" Nimisha suggested.
"Great!" Timmy leaped so quickly to his feet that the aliens, surprised, slid backward from him with great agility and speed. "Aw, sorry. I keep forgetting. It's all right. Get up-" He made appropriate gestures."-and I'll show you the ship."
"Ooo uuu t eep," Ay said, peeling its lips back in an effort to emulate Tim's exaggerated pronunciation.
"Let's give that alien a high score for trying," Jon said in a whimsical tone.
"Helm," Nimisha said in a low voice, speaking over her shoulder toward the bridge, "keep on recording at the necessary frequencies and see if they speak to each other while Timmy's showing them around."
Timmy was leading the way now, chatting all the time. The aliens were a good head taller than he was. They walked with a very smooth gait though they were slightly knock-kneed.
"So what do we do now?" Syrona asked when the trio was out of earshot. "We've doctored, watered, and fed them and-"
"I'd say we take them back where we got them." Jon said, looking at Nimisha, who nodded agreement as did Casper and Syrona. "Showing good faith…"
"As well as giving Helm time to parse their language," Nimisha added. She peered out the front screen. "We've enough daylight left, I think, to bring them back before any of the nocturnal predators you told me about emerge from their lairs."
"Let's see if we can arrange another meeting with them in… say, two days' time?" Jon went on, checking with each of the others.
"Sounds good to me."
"Tim'll need the break," Syrona said, but she was obviously delighted at her son's performance. "I didn't think he'd be able to do so well."
"He did a great job," Casper said.