As he followed Colonel Ito to the car, he saw how people watched him. They were shocked. Awed. A little scared. They twitched and backed away.
Liam liked being seven-feet-tall.
That wasn’t the healthiest reaction. However, it did give him confidence he had lacked the last time he had negotiated with humans. Of course that time he had been dealing with an entire room full of high-powered generals and politicians. Now he only had Colonel Ito.
Unlike those generals who had spent days arguing the finer points of a deal with the Grandmothers, Ito had a quieter presence. His silences were thoughtful—not predatory. Perhaps he hid his greed better. If Ito lacked ambition, he never would have made it to colonel, after all.
“After you.” Ito gestured to a ground car. A year ago, Liam would have described it as opulent and unnecessarily large, but now he had to hunch down and slide into the seat while Ito walked around to sit behind the driver. Most transport used computer guidance systems, so if Command had sent a chauffeured car, they were concerned, either about ensuring Liam’s safety or about some threat to the Rownt trade relationship. No doubt Command valued the latter far more.
“Sir,” the driver greeted Colonel Ito as he settled in.
“Tsang Gallery, 181st and Jollety Drive.”
“Yes, sir.”
Out of the window, Liam watched the military personnel walking briskly from one building to another. When Liam had first joined Command, he had always felt like everyone had a task and a purpose except him. He wondered how many others had felt the same.
“You signed up at the station near here, didn’t you?” Colonel Ito asked.
“I did,” Liam said, even though the boy who had signed the enlistment paperwork with a shaking hand had been someone else. “So, who is Aizen...?” Liam hesitated to pronounce the second half of the name. It was not an English name, and he didn’t want to offend Ito if this person was someone of historical or religious significance.
“Aizen Myo-o,” Ito said. “He is one of the Wisdom Kings remembered by the Buddhists. His name translates as the Love-stained Wisdom King.”
Liam raised his eyebrows. “Stain is an interesting word.” And one that made Liam wonder if Ito was trying to insult him. Zach had commented that several people in the linguistic program had wondered if Liam and Ondry had a sexual relationship and associating love with stain would suggest corruption of love in some way. If Ito hoped to exchange insults, Liam would happily insult him back. He just needed to be sure first.
“Spoken like a linguist,” Ito said with a laugh. “I am not a master who understands secrets of Buddhism; however, I know that Aizen is the patron of erotic love.”
Rather than continue to dance around the issue, Liam asked directly, “Are you referencing the rumors about my relationship with Ondry?”
Ito did a double take and his eyes widened.
“I can promise you human and Rownt sexuality is highly incompatible,” Liam said. That was technically correct, and Ito could draw his own incorrect conclusions. “I could point you at some disturbing pornography starring Rownt. They tend to have sex in public because it has no function other than reproduction. The vids used to get passed around on the human base on Prarownt.”
Ito cleared his throat. “It is passed around on many bases. However, Aizen is also the being who can help people avoid the pain that comes with unhealthy love. He transforms physical desire into spirituality and pure love as well as helping to ensure a peaceful home and good business fortunes.”
Liam still wasn’t sure if Ito was hoping to trade insults, but he had to admit that would appeal to Ondry. A unique gift that represented the shared values of humans and Rownt would please the Grandmothers. “The Rownt would be interested,” Liam said, using the blandest terms possible.
“I thought so. But I can’t promise you anything. Charles Tsang sees himself as a guardian of the artifacts he’s purchased, and no one can determine any pattern in who he chooses to sell to. He’s a difficult man to buy from.”
Liam kept his gaze on the street as they passed through a business section of town. Several children were playing in a park fountain, and people rode the mechanical sidewalks that lined the edges of the road. Liam wondered what one of them would say if he stopped and asked what sort of life they had. He wondered where his younger siblings fitted in this world.
After a long silence, Colonel Ito asked, “How did you meet the Imshee?”
Liam pulled himself away from his sad thoughts and concentrated on the trade. Ito had offered information, both on the merchant and on the trade goods. Liam would not dishonor Ondry by failing to provide the information he had promised in return. “The Rownt trade with them regularly. After we left Earth, we went to meet an Imshee ship.”
“And what are they like?”
A sharp bark of laughter slipped out before Liam could control it. It was such a human sound, one he had stopped making on the ship. However, in this case, it fit. “Disturbing,” he said as he remembered his time on the ship. “Physically, I mean,” Liam added. He still found Anla psychology far more upsetting, but Imshee were the ugliest of all the aliens.
Ito frowned. “In what way?”
“Imagine a pony-sized insect with ratty, mangy hair.”
Ito shivered. “That is disturbing.”
“They no doubt find each other attractive, but they are unimaginably ugly when judged by a human aesthetic. They have a lot of technology. The Rownt are cautious around them because an Imshee ship once destroyed a Rownt ship with all the children and families on it.” Liam meant that as a warning. Ito’s face lost all expression, so Liam assumed he understood the significance of that fact. Earth tech couldn’t touch Rownt and Rownt tech was equally useless against Imshee.
It took Ito a long time to respond. When he did, he spoke slowly, carefully, and softly. “From what I have read of the Rownt that would cause significant distress.”
“It did.” Liam didn’t elaborate. He watched the city pass as the silence continued. Humans were quicker to fill the world with words, or perhaps Liam’s memory of human interactions cast them in the worst light. That was a possibility.
“And yet they continue to trade?” Ito eventually asked.
Liam smiled at him. “That is related to their inability to grasp the logic of war. The suffering of a great loss does not justify continued loss or retaliation.”
“That makes them sound like saints.” Ito didn’t hide his incredulity.
“Until you realize they will also cheat you out of your last pair of socks and brag about leaving you in poverty.”
“So, not saint like.” Ito smiled. “So what are the Imshee like psychologically?”
Liam wished he could share some great piece of insight, but he and Zach had no firm conclusions. “They don’t use singular pronouns and they seem very concerned about which individuals belong to which group.”
“That’s an important insight. Do you have any others?” Ito took out a pad and recorded the information with a few quick taps.
Liam waited until Ito had finished before he added the one piece of information Command needed. “They are scared of humans.” In Liam’s experience, fear didn’t lead to good decisions.