cadet . . ."
Sassinak met his green gaze, and discovered a glint of mischief in them. "Sir—" she began, but he interrupted.
"Never mind, Ensign. I've seen your record, and I know you can be polite in all circumstances, and probably work quads in your head at the same time. The captain wanted you in Engineering first, because we've installed a new environmental homeostasis system and it's still being tested. You'll be in charge of that, once you've had time to look over the system documentation." He grinned at her expression. "Don't look surprised, Ensign: you're not a cadet in school any more. You're a Fleet officer. We don't have room for deadweights; we have to know right away if you can perform for us. Now. It's probably going to take you all your off-watch time for several days to work your way through the manuals. Feel free to ask the Engineering Chief anything you need to know, or give me a holler. On watch, you'll have the usual standing duties, but you can spend part of most watches with the engineering crew."
"Yes, sir." Sass's mind whirled. She was going to be in charge of testing the new system? A system which could kill them all if she made a serious mistake? This time the flash of memory that brought Abe to mind had no pain. He'd told her Fleet would test her limits.
"Your record says you get along with allies?"
Allies was the Fleet term for allied aliens; Sassinak had never heard it used so openly. "Yes, sir."
"Good. We have a Weft Jig, and several Weft battle crew, and that Weft Ensign: I suppose you knew him at the Academy?" Sassinak nodded. "Oh, and have you ever seen an adult Ssli?"
"No, sir."
"We're Ssli-equipped, of course: all medium and heavy cruisers have been for the past two years." He glanced at the timer. "Come along; we've time enough to show you."
The Ssli habitat was a narrow oval in cross-section: ten meters on the long axis, aligned with the ship's long axis, and only two meters wide. It extended "upward" from the heavily braced keel through five levels: almost twenty meters. The plumbing that maintained its marine environment took up almost the same cubage.
At the moment, the Ssli had grown only some three meters in diameter from its holdfast, and its fan was still almost circular. Two viewing ports allowed visual inspection of the Ssli's environment. The Executive Officer's stubby fingers danced on the keyboard of the terminal outside one viewing port.
"Basic courtesy—always ask before turning on the lights in there."
Sassinak peered over his shoulder. The screen came up, and displayed both question and answer, the latter affirmative. Dass flipped a toggle, and light glowed in the water inside, illuminating a stunning magenta fan flecked with yellow and white. Sassinak stared. It seemed incredible that this huge, motionless, intricate object could be not only alive, but sentient. . . sentient enough to pass the FSP entry levels. She could hardly believe that the larval forms she'd seen in the Academy tanks had anything to do with this . . . this thing.
Somehow the reality was much stranger than just seeing tapes on it. I wonder what it feels like, she thought. How it thinks, and—
"How did they ever figure out . . . ?" she said, before she thought.
"I don't know, really. Thek discovered them, of course, and maybe they're more likely to suspect intelligence in something that looks mineral than we are." Dass looked at her closely. "It bothers some people a lot—how about you?"
"No." Sassinak shook her head, still staring through the viewing port. "It's beautiful, but hard to realize it's sentient. But why not, after all? How do you communicate with it?"
"The usual. Biocomp interface . . . look, there's the leads." He pointed, and Sassinak could see the carefully shielded wires that linked the Ssli to the computer terminal. "Want an introduction?"
When she nodded, he tapped in her ID code, asked her favorite name-form, and then officer
Sassinak met his green gaze, and discovered a glint of mischief in them. "Sir—" she began, but he interrupted.
"Never mind, Ensign. I've seen your record, and I know you can be polite in all circumstances, and probably work quads in your head at the same time. The captain wanted you in Engineering first, because we've installed a new environmental homeostasis system and it's still being tested. You'll be in charge of that, once you've had time to look over the system documentation." He grinned at her expression. "Don't look surprised, Ensign: you're not a cadet in school any more. You're a Fleet officer. We don't have room for deadweights; we have to know right away if you can perform for us. Now. It's probably going to take you all your off-watch time for several days to work your way through the manuals. Feel free to ask the Engineering Chief anything you need to know, or give me a holler. On watch, you'll have the usual standing duties, but you can spend part of most watches with the engineering crew."
"Yes, sir." Sass's mind whirled. She was going to be in charge of testing the new system? A system which could kill them all if she made a serious mistake? This time the flash of memory that brought Abe to mind had no pain. He'd told her Fleet would test her limits.
"Your record says you get along with allies?"
Allies was the Fleet term for allied aliens; Sassinak had never heard it used so openly. "Yes, sir."
"Good. We have a Weft Jig, and several Weft battle crew, and that Weft Ensign: I suppose you knew him at the Academy?" Sassinak nodded. "Oh, and have you ever seen an adult Ssli?"
"No, sir."
"We're Ssli-equipped, of course: all medium and heavy cruisers have been for the past two years." He glanced at the timer. "Come along; we've time enough to show you."
The Ssli habitat was a narrow oval in cross-section: ten meters on the long axis, aligned with the ship's long axis, and only two meters wide. It extended "upward" from the heavily braced keel through five levels: almost twenty meters. The plumbing that maintained its marine environment took up almost the same cubage.
At the moment, the Ssli had grown only some three meters in diameter from its holdfast, and its fan was still almost circular. Two viewing ports allowed visual inspection of the Ssli's environment. The Executive Officer's stubby fingers danced on the keyboard of the terminal outside one viewing port.
"Basic courtesy—always ask before turning on the lights in there."
Sassinak peered over his shoulder. The screen came up, and displayed both question and answer, the latter affirmative. Dass flipped a toggle, and light glowed in the water inside, illuminating a stunning magenta fan flecked with yellow and white. Sassinak stared. It seemed incredible that this huge, motionless, intricate object could be not only alive, but sentient. . . sentient enough to pass the FSP entry levels. She could hardly believe that the larval forms she'd seen in the Academy tanks had anything to do with this . . . this thing.
Somehow the reality was much stranger than just seeing tapes on it. I wonder what it feels like, she thought. How it thinks, and—
"How did they ever figure out . . . ?" she said, before she thought.
"I don't know, really. Thek discovered them, of course, and maybe they're more likely to suspect intelligence in something that looks mineral than we are." Dass looked at her closely. "It bothers some people a lot—how about you?"
"No." Sassinak shook her head, still staring through the viewing port. "It's beautiful, but hard to realize it's sentient. But why not, after all? How do you communicate with it?"
"The usual. Biocomp interface . . . look, there's the leads." He pointed, and Sassinak could see the carefully shielded wires that linked the Ssli to the computer terminal. "Want an introduction?"
When she nodded, he tapped in her ID code, asked her favorite name-form, and then officer
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