whatever I hear."
"Uh, is that desirable? I didn't want to change them."
"I think that was unavoidable. Whenever species meet and interact, change is inevitable. And changes in their speech was a natural evolution once they could audibly compare it to the way we speak. Perhaps when they speak to each other, their speech patterns will remain the same. Maybe it's only the way they speak to us that will change, since before now there was no way to even speak to us."
"Then you believe that when speaking to us their speech will continue to evolve somewhat?"
"Yes, and of course I'll be tweaking the translator as we progress, so some of the change will be produced by the electronics as the program learns to better interpret what they're saying, just as it did originally with aliens."
"Mr. Wilkerson, would it be possible to have the signal sent directly to my CT from the collar?"
"You mean the tiny chip that SC planted in your head when you entered the academy?"
"Yes."
"No, not directly. As I understand it, CTs and IDs have complex filtering circuits so they won't receive anything other than official transmissions. But there might be another way. When you're away from a ship with its central computer for telecommunications, don't you use some kind of range extender that communicates with your CT?"
"Yes, it's a tiny unit we wear on our belts when we're on a planet with no SC communications base units or when we're visiting a non-SC ship in space."
"If you can get me one of those range-extender units, I'll see if I can modify the translator to send the signal directly to it, and the extender can then send it to your CT."
"I have one in the palace. I'll bring it down to you later. Do you mind if I talk with Cayla, Tayna, Thor, and Nicky now?"
"Not at all, Your Grace. I have some planned tweaking to do with the translation program."
Jenetta spent the next couple of hours talking to the Jumakas. She had a million questions to ask about their personal histories, and while she only made a small dent in the pent-up question list, she learned an incredible amount about their lives before they became part of her family. The most starling news was that Cayla and Tayna were not sisters. They had been paired as cubs because the gemstones merchant who purchased them wanted a matched pair and they looked so much alike that the trader had passed them off as sisters from the same litter. Both agreed they had long ago begun to feel like sisters and would have been heartbroken if they had been split up when Jenetta rescued them from the cargo ship. All of the Jumakas agreed that the time they had spent with Jenetta was the most pleasurable time in their lives, and they were so happy they had chosen her as their human.
~ ~ ~
Over the following days, the Jumakas were more often available for playtime with the children, and the boys delighted in running around the garden chasing the big cats or being chased by them in a sort of tag game they had devised. Nicky was a little hesitant to join in at first, but he came around and was soon racing around the gardens with the others. The Jumakas, as with most animals, instinctively understood that the children were immature humans who had to be protected at all times and tolerated when they got a little too rough. Their mothers were very vigilant and loudly corrected the behavior of the boys when they did things like biting the ears of one of the Jumakas. The big cats never lost their composure with the children.
Since the Jumakas had the full run of the palace and the grounds inside the walls, they knew every square inch of the property. The staff had ceased being frightened by the sudden appearance of one of the big cats, or all four of them, but that didn't mean they were immune to a little shock when they turned around and suddenly saw one of the big cats staring at them. It was simply because the Jumakas made not the slightest noise when moving about the palace.
Jenetta had always
"Uh, is that desirable? I didn't want to change them."
"I think that was unavoidable. Whenever species meet and interact, change is inevitable. And changes in their speech was a natural evolution once they could audibly compare it to the way we speak. Perhaps when they speak to each other, their speech patterns will remain the same. Maybe it's only the way they speak to us that will change, since before now there was no way to even speak to us."
"Then you believe that when speaking to us their speech will continue to evolve somewhat?"
"Yes, and of course I'll be tweaking the translator as we progress, so some of the change will be produced by the electronics as the program learns to better interpret what they're saying, just as it did originally with aliens."
"Mr. Wilkerson, would it be possible to have the signal sent directly to my CT from the collar?"
"You mean the tiny chip that SC planted in your head when you entered the academy?"
"Yes."
"No, not directly. As I understand it, CTs and IDs have complex filtering circuits so they won't receive anything other than official transmissions. But there might be another way. When you're away from a ship with its central computer for telecommunications, don't you use some kind of range extender that communicates with your CT?"
"Yes, it's a tiny unit we wear on our belts when we're on a planet with no SC communications base units or when we're visiting a non-SC ship in space."
"If you can get me one of those range-extender units, I'll see if I can modify the translator to send the signal directly to it, and the extender can then send it to your CT."
"I have one in the palace. I'll bring it down to you later. Do you mind if I talk with Cayla, Tayna, Thor, and Nicky now?"
"Not at all, Your Grace. I have some planned tweaking to do with the translation program."
Jenetta spent the next couple of hours talking to the Jumakas. She had a million questions to ask about their personal histories, and while she only made a small dent in the pent-up question list, she learned an incredible amount about their lives before they became part of her family. The most starling news was that Cayla and Tayna were not sisters. They had been paired as cubs because the gemstones merchant who purchased them wanted a matched pair and they looked so much alike that the trader had passed them off as sisters from the same litter. Both agreed they had long ago begun to feel like sisters and would have been heartbroken if they had been split up when Jenetta rescued them from the cargo ship. All of the Jumakas agreed that the time they had spent with Jenetta was the most pleasurable time in their lives, and they were so happy they had chosen her as their human.
~ ~ ~
Over the following days, the Jumakas were more often available for playtime with the children, and the boys delighted in running around the garden chasing the big cats or being chased by them in a sort of tag game they had devised. Nicky was a little hesitant to join in at first, but he came around and was soon racing around the gardens with the others. The Jumakas, as with most animals, instinctively understood that the children were immature humans who had to be protected at all times and tolerated when they got a little too rough. Their mothers were very vigilant and loudly corrected the behavior of the boys when they did things like biting the ears of one of the Jumakas. The big cats never lost their composure with the children.
Since the Jumakas had the full run of the palace and the grounds inside the walls, they knew every square inch of the property. The staff had ceased being frightened by the sudden appearance of one of the big cats, or all four of them, but that didn't mean they were immune to a little shock when they turned around and suddenly saw one of the big cats staring at them. It was simply because the Jumakas made not the slightest noise when moving about the palace.
Jenetta had always
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