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can't believe it. Where were you while all this was happening? Why the hell
didn't you stop me?"
Breck shrugged. "Well, after all, you are over twenty-one and I didn't really
think it was my place to interfere."
"So help me, Breck, if I had enough energy to make a fist, I'd punch you in
the
mouth," I said weakly.
"All right, I'm sorry," Breck said, with a smile. "But you must admit that
this
situation is not without its comic aspect."
"Notice I'm not laughing."
"Duly noted," Breck said. "In fact, I couldn't have stopped what happened any
more than you could. I've had a rather busy night myself, if not quite as
active." He smirked, then caught himself. "Sorry. Actually your new wife is
extremely concerned about you. Tali is young and apparently very energetic.
She
was afraid she might have killed you. She's with Tyla and Higgins at the
moment,
being instructed in the proper care and treatment of her fragile human
spouse."
"You really find this amusing, don't you, you miserable bastard?" I said.
"Where're my clothes?"
Wordlessly, he held up what was left of my shirt. It was in tatters. His
mouth
started to twitch and he struggled to keep it contained, but it was too much
for
him and he lost it, dissolving into laughter. I wanted to kill him.
A moment later, he got himself back under control. "I'm sorry, O'Toole," he
said, shaking his head. "I truly am. It's just that-" and he started to laugh
once more, but this time he managed to fight it down. He looked away, cleared
his throat, took several deep breaths, and turned back to me again. "We
really
do have much to talk about," he said.
"Damn you," I said. "You should have done something! I simply can't believe
it!
I remember some of what happened, but it's . . . it's as if I was drugged or
something. Breck, I can't be married! You've got to tell Higgins, he's got to
explain it to ... what's her name again?"
"You cad," said Breck.
"Dammit, Breck-"
"Her name is Tali," he said. "And you can explain things to her yourself. She
can speak English, after a fashion."
"She ... she what?"
"Here," said Breck, tossing me some hides. "Put these on while I go get you
some
breakfast. Though she finds the idea quite appalling, Tali has actually
agreed
to burn some meat for you. Even Higgins is impressed. In this culture, that's
akin to a princess agreeing to debase herself before the coachman. She must
really like you. There must be more to you than meets the eye."
I glared at him as he went out to get me something to eat and then I started
dressing in the hides he'd left me. When I was done, I looked absurd, as if I
were on my way to a masquerade party. I was in fairly good shape, but in the
outsize hides, I looked like some sort of undernourished caveman. Or perhaps
a
cyberpunk in drag. A few moments later, Breck came back with some food, which
he
had promised we would eat out of sight of the Nomads. Higgins, it seemed,
ever
the complete xenobiologist, had learned to eat his meat raw with the other
males.
"I've heard from Mondago," Breck said, as he bit into his roast beast. "He's
been absolutely frantic and Coles is in a state, as well. It seems they
couldn't
get in touch with us. Mondago kept trying repeatedly, but he could not
establish
contact."
"I seem to remember Mondago calling to me last night," I said, "during the
tribal meeting or ceremony or whatever it was-"
"Did it sound as if he were calling from a great distance, his voice sort of
muffled?"
"More like a distant echo," I said. "Then it wasn't just my imagination?"
Breck shook his head. "No, I heard it, too. And after a while, it sort of
faded
away. They blocked him out, you see."
I frowned. "What do you mean, they blocked him out?" And then it sank in
suddenly and my jaw dropped as I stared at Breck with disbelief. "They
blocked
him out?"
Breck nodded. "I don't really understand it, but it seems that what the
Nomads
did was to telepathically 'insulate' our minds, effectively jamming the
tachyon
broadcast and reception."
"But . . . but how?" I said, astonished.
"That" said Breck, "is what our friend Coles would give his right arm to
know."
"Did Higgins know about this?"
"How would he know? The Nomads have never been confronted with biochips
before.
He knew about their being telepathic, though." Breck grimaced. "It seems he
neglected to inform us of that little detail."
I shook my head. "I don't understand."
"It's simple enough," said Breck. "He's on their side. Not against us,
specifically, but against what's being done on Purgatory. And he realized
that
we could help him."
"So this whole thing about ambimorphs playing gods among the Nomads was a
setup?"
Breck shook his head. "No, he claims that's real enough and Dyla backs him up.
I
spent most of last night talking with them. It was absolutely fascinating, I
wish you could have been there, but you were . . . otherwise engaged."
"Don't start," I said, pointing at him.
He grinned. "Have some meat, you need to keep your strength up."
"Very funny. I'm still waiting for you to explain what this is all about.
What
does Higgins think we can do for him? Where do the ambimorphs fit in? And why
the hell was it necessary for me to marry ..."
'Tali," Breck prompted.
"Yeah," I said, feeling my face flush. "It couldn't have just been my boyish
charm. Compared to the males around here, I'm downright anemic. So why?"
"At the risk of wounding your tender ego," Breck said, "it was not love at
first
sight. It has to do with their customs and traditions, which require sexual
bonding in order to ... well, it's rather complicated. I'll explain it to you
later. For the moment, let's simply say that the reasons for your marriage
were
primarily political, although Tali does seem to have taken to you. But you
need
not concern yourself. It's a serious matter, to be sure, but it isn't quite
the
same as marriage in our society, as Higgins has already pointed out. In fact.
Tali has something like fifteen husbands already."
"Fifteen?"
"I understand that's a conservative number for a female in her position.
She's
being groomed to take her place in the matriarchy, along with Tyla," Breck
explained. "And to accept responsibilities far greater than any matriarch has
ever had to undertake before. Which is why she's been learning English
telepathically from Higgins. Sort of on the principle of know your enemy."
"Meaning us," I said.
"Meaning us. It seems we never learn from our mistakes. We underestimated the
creatures we found on Draconis 9 and now we've done the same thing with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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can't believe it. Where were you while all this was happening? Why the hell
didn't you stop me?"
Breck shrugged. "Well, after all, you are over twenty-one and I didn't really
think it was my place to interfere."
"So help me, Breck, if I had enough energy to make a fist, I'd punch you in
the
mouth," I said weakly.
"All right, I'm sorry," Breck said, with a smile. "But you must admit that
this
situation is not without its comic aspect."
"Notice I'm not laughing."
"Duly noted," Breck said. "In fact, I couldn't have stopped what happened any
more than you could. I've had a rather busy night myself, if not quite as
active." He smirked, then caught himself. "Sorry. Actually your new wife is
extremely concerned about you. Tali is young and apparently very energetic.
She
was afraid she might have killed you. She's with Tyla and Higgins at the
moment,
being instructed in the proper care and treatment of her fragile human
spouse."
"You really find this amusing, don't you, you miserable bastard?" I said.
"Where're my clothes?"
Wordlessly, he held up what was left of my shirt. It was in tatters. His
mouth
started to twitch and he struggled to keep it contained, but it was too much
for
him and he lost it, dissolving into laughter. I wanted to kill him.
A moment later, he got himself back under control. "I'm sorry, O'Toole," he
said, shaking his head. "I truly am. It's just that-" and he started to laugh
once more, but this time he managed to fight it down. He looked away, cleared
his throat, took several deep breaths, and turned back to me again. "We
really
do have much to talk about," he said.
"Damn you," I said. "You should have done something! I simply can't believe
it!
I remember some of what happened, but it's . . . it's as if I was drugged or
something. Breck, I can't be married! You've got to tell Higgins, he's got to
explain it to ... what's her name again?"
"You cad," said Breck.
"Dammit, Breck-"
"Her name is Tali," he said. "And you can explain things to her yourself. She
can speak English, after a fashion."
"She ... she what?"
"Here," said Breck, tossing me some hides. "Put these on while I go get you
some
breakfast. Though she finds the idea quite appalling, Tali has actually
agreed
to burn some meat for you. Even Higgins is impressed. In this culture, that's
akin to a princess agreeing to debase herself before the coachman. She must
really like you. There must be more to you than meets the eye."
I glared at him as he went out to get me something to eat and then I started
dressing in the hides he'd left me. When I was done, I looked absurd, as if I
were on my way to a masquerade party. I was in fairly good shape, but in the
outsize hides, I looked like some sort of undernourished caveman. Or perhaps
a
cyberpunk in drag. A few moments later, Breck came back with some food, which
he
had promised we would eat out of sight of the Nomads. Higgins, it seemed,
ever
the complete xenobiologist, had learned to eat his meat raw with the other
males.
"I've heard from Mondago," Breck said, as he bit into his roast beast. "He's
been absolutely frantic and Coles is in a state, as well. It seems they
couldn't
get in touch with us. Mondago kept trying repeatedly, but he could not
establish
contact."
"I seem to remember Mondago calling to me last night," I said, "during the
tribal meeting or ceremony or whatever it was-"
"Did it sound as if he were calling from a great distance, his voice sort of
muffled?"
"More like a distant echo," I said. "Then it wasn't just my imagination?"
Breck shook his head. "No, I heard it, too. And after a while, it sort of
faded
away. They blocked him out, you see."
I frowned. "What do you mean, they blocked him out?" And then it sank in
suddenly and my jaw dropped as I stared at Breck with disbelief. "They
blocked
him out?"
Breck nodded. "I don't really understand it, but it seems that what the
Nomads
did was to telepathically 'insulate' our minds, effectively jamming the
tachyon
broadcast and reception."
"But . . . but how?" I said, astonished.
"That" said Breck, "is what our friend Coles would give his right arm to
know."
"Did Higgins know about this?"
"How would he know? The Nomads have never been confronted with biochips
before.
He knew about their being telepathic, though." Breck grimaced. "It seems he
neglected to inform us of that little detail."
I shook my head. "I don't understand."
"It's simple enough," said Breck. "He's on their side. Not against us,
specifically, but against what's being done on Purgatory. And he realized
that
we could help him."
"So this whole thing about ambimorphs playing gods among the Nomads was a
setup?"
Breck shook his head. "No, he claims that's real enough and Dyla backs him up.
I
spent most of last night talking with them. It was absolutely fascinating, I
wish you could have been there, but you were . . . otherwise engaged."
"Don't start," I said, pointing at him.
He grinned. "Have some meat, you need to keep your strength up."
"Very funny. I'm still waiting for you to explain what this is all about.
What
does Higgins think we can do for him? Where do the ambimorphs fit in? And why
the hell was it necessary for me to marry ..."
'Tali," Breck prompted.
"Yeah," I said, feeling my face flush. "It couldn't have just been my boyish
charm. Compared to the males around here, I'm downright anemic. So why?"
"At the risk of wounding your tender ego," Breck said, "it was not love at
first
sight. It has to do with their customs and traditions, which require sexual
bonding in order to ... well, it's rather complicated. I'll explain it to you
later. For the moment, let's simply say that the reasons for your marriage
were
primarily political, although Tali does seem to have taken to you. But you
need
not concern yourself. It's a serious matter, to be sure, but it isn't quite
the
same as marriage in our society, as Higgins has already pointed out. In fact.
Tali has something like fifteen husbands already."
"Fifteen?"
"I understand that's a conservative number for a female in her position.
She's
being groomed to take her place in the matriarchy, along with Tyla," Breck
explained. "And to accept responsibilities far greater than any matriarch has
ever had to undertake before. Which is why she's been learning English
telepathically from Higgins. Sort of on the principle of know your enemy."
"Meaning us," I said.
"Meaning us. It seems we never learn from our mistakes. We underestimated the
creatures we found on Draconis 9 and now we've done the same thing with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]