Decision at Doona

Chapter IX. ARRIVAL

SINCE ITS COMPLETION three days ago, the bridge had had heavy traffic. The mornings visiting Hrrubans were already crossing it. Solinari and McKee passed them midway, pausing to say hello, then hurrying on to meet their own guides. They were off to the groves the Hrrubans cultivated for a rich nut which they ground for meal. Solinari and McKee had an idea about importing seed pods, speculating that the trees might be grown hydroponically. They hoped to get a Food Resources Grant and thus avoid a reduced status when they returned to Earth.

Reeve pulled on his coverall, aware that his private ruminations would make him late for his own appointment.

Hrrestan and two unfamiliar Hrrubans were expecting him at the mess hall. He had got used to distinguishing the natives by the variations and shadings of their velvety fur and eye markings. Gaynor might grumble that he couldn't tell one cat from another, but there were differences in the color of the backbone stripe and eye markings almost as distinct as the onetime differences in Terran skin shades. Lawrence suggested that this might be due to dietary differences rather than tribal or ethnic variations.

Ken hurried out of his cabin, down the trail to the mess hall, where the Hrrubans were awaiting him on the porch. He managed to growl out a respectable Hrruban apology to which Hrrestan replied with courteous denials. Reeve was delighted to be able to understand every word Hrrestan spoke. Progress in one direction, at least.

Hrrestan introduced the older of the two men as Hrral and the other Hrrto. Hrral was older than Hrrestan, his body fur so deep a brown it blended with the backbone stripe. His face fur was flecked with white, yet there was no other indication of approaching debility in the straight, strong body.

Hrral returned Reeve's carefully enunciated greeting with grave courtesy.

“Hrral is the elder of our largest settlement,” Hrrestan explained. “I sent messages requesting him to visit us at his earliest convenience. Hrrto lives not far from Hrral and accompanied him.”

Reeve felt his expression of welcome must be frozen on his face from the shock of Hrrestan's words. Why had it not occurred to anyone before that there would be more such settlements on Doona? It should have been obvious that Hrrestan's village could not be an isolated instance of humanoid life. A trained alienist would have undoubtedly checked that out immediately. Hell, his training had been in planetary exploitation, not diplomatic relations. Codep was damned lucky he'd taken up linguistics at all. At least some attempt had been made at establishing communication. He was a settler, damn it, up against a situation nowhere mentioned in fifteen years of extensive training.

“It is our way,” Hrrestan continued smoothly, “to live in small groups so that our numbers are not a burden on game and other resources.”

The horror of his home Sector's warren-like levels was superimposed for an instant over the Hrruban village and sent an additional internal shock through Reeve. He mumbled something about their wisdom.

“There has been mention made within my hearing of your sky-traveling ships,” Hrrestan continued. “The young Hrrula says your mates and young will soon be joined with you. Hrral,” and here Hrrestan made a curious bow to the elder, “great as is his learning and long as is his life has never seen such a wonder as a ship that travels in the sky.”

Hrral seemed afflicted with a cough and his tail tip twitched.

“This is truly said to you by Hrrestan, Hrral,” Reeve replied earnestly but slowly. “For how else could men travel from one world to another? This is how we have come here.”

Reeve caught a glimpse of Hrrula's jaw dropped in silent amusement and wondered frantically what word he had mispronounced.

“It would be our great pleasure,” Reeve began to see what Hrrestan was leading up to, “if the noble Hrral would remain as our guest until the sky ship comes?”

Hrral and Hrrestan exchanged glances and Reeve wondered if he had exceeded his authority in making the invitation. He looked around for Hu Shih. The courtesy and self-effacing manners of the Hrrubans were considerably more in the metropologist's manner than Reeve's. Sometimes Ken felt that he compared unfavorably with an untrained Hrruban cub with his habit of blurting out what he thought instead of couching it in the properly elegant phrases.

How the hell did anyone find out anything from Hrrubans, he'd like to know, when you had to lead up to what you wanted to say from the opposite direction? Sure, they should be finding out all kinds of facts about burial techniques ,child education, status symbols, tribal government, so that Alreldep would have what it needed. But the formal Hrruban language did not adapt itself to blunt inquiries. The inquirer – and Reeve was not alone in this frustration – was likely to find himself involved in a pronunciation lesson. So often in his dealings with Hrrula, Reeve would arrive at the opening he needed to insert a leading question, only to find himself involved in a grammar lesson. By the time he had been lectured on the exceptions to that particular rule, he had forgotten his question. It never seemed intentional at that time but, in retrospect, Reeve wasn't so sure that the Hrrubans hadn't discovered an exceptionally deft evasive trick.

Expressing surprised pleasure at the invitation, Hrral argued amiably with Hrrestan about the great inconvenience to which he would put his host. By the time he had reassured Hrral, Reeve found that he was also committed to conducting Hrral around the colonists' installation.

They were about to step into the mess hall when both Hrrubans stopped suddenly, throwing their heads up to the sky, their ears twitching rapidly. Confused, Reeve scanned the sky to see what could have attracted their attention. Hrrula was also standing stock-still, head skyward.

“The eyes of the Hrruban are farseeing,” Ken remarked politely. “May I know what they see in the sky?”

Hrrestan, his ears still working, his pupils adjusting his vision to normal range, widened his mouth in the Hrruban version of a smile.

“The sky ship is descending. Observe the sparkling.”

Ken peered over the velvety shoulder, glanced along the angle indicated and, sure enough, a metallic flash appeared in the sky at the tip of the pointing claw. Faintly now, Ken could hear the boom of retroblasts as the ship braked.

It took all Reeve's self-control to keep from reacting in the idiot way of the others. Someone had sense enough to set the air whistle blowing in report-in sequence. Hu Shih emerged excitedly from the mess hall, nearly treading on Hrral's tail in his haste. Reeve managed to make the proper introductions as the metropologist bowed his apologies. By the time Hu Shih realized that Hrral came from a distant village, the glint of sun on metal was constant. The speck that was the ship enlarged noticeably with each passing second.

“We will not intrude on the reunion of families so long separated,” Hrral demurred, politely, edging away.

He seemed in an all-fired hurry to get away suddenly, Reeve thought, when a moment ago he was so anxious to stay. Maybe Hrruban ears couldn't take the noise of descent. Every Hrruban ear was flat against the skull.

“It is a joyous occasion we would share with our new friends,” Hu Shih replied graciously.

“Stay. There is no need to leave,” Hrrestan remarked quickly to Hrral. “A great feast has been planned by our women to welcome their women.”

“Such thoughtfulness will be treasured memory,” Hu Shih answered.

Ramasan came tearing around the corner of the building.

«Shih, there are – oh pardon,» he added in stumbling Hrruban. He plucked at the metropologist's sleeve to draw him to one side. «Those females are digging a pit and there are I don't know how many deer carcasses in my kitchen – and I can't understand . . .»

“Evidently their women wish to help prepare the welcoming feast,” Reeve told him.

"Oh – oh," Ramasan murmured, "there'll be so much to be done – and I simply don't know enough Hrruban – " but he dashed off before Hu Shih or Ken could reassure him.

Omigod, thought Ken with a sudden panic. All these cats and no one on board that ship knows about it!