grimace. "We’re gonna wind up doin’ a lot of salutin’ and such. This–" a gesture at his chest, indicating the
kathir
suit "–ain’t exactly regulation, and I ain’t real anxious to get crosswise with anybody right now."
"Safety considerations?" Todd obviously wanted to wear the
kathir
suit.
"Yeah, we could probably bullshit through it," said Peters. "But no. We can get in their faces easy enough without, and like I said, I ain’t ready for the aggravation."
"I guess you’re right," Todd admitted. Something caught his eye. "Hey, look at that."
Peters turned. Dreelig, Dee, and Donollo were making an entrance, and it was worth watching. The older Grallt strode in the lead wearing his gray suit, back straight, looking down his nonexistent nose at the company. Dee had on a tunic in the same gray but cut low in front, and a skirt the same color, wide pleats draped straight and ending just above the knee. She hovered at Donollo’s right elbow, and Dreelig was half a step behind, carrying an ordinary-looking briefcase.
They took a table next to the sailors, staying in character, Donollo handing Dee into the chair with gallantry, leaving Dreelig to find his own seat. Donollo caught Peters’ eye and seated himself pompously; they all held the pose for several heartbeats, then relaxed, and Dee broke out in a long peal of Grallt laughter.
"What do you think?" Dreelig asked, leaning toward the sailors. "Will it be effective?"
Conversation in the mess room had all but stopped during the performance; the low buzz started again, and Peters shrugged. "It works on your folks," he pointed out. "I reckon it’ll be dynamite back home."
Todd was grinning. "President of Mars come to check up on the peons, but real informal, you know? Add a little fast talk, and you could sell ‘em building lots on the Moon."
Donollo said something, and Dreelig translated, "We have played an important one and his assistant before, but this is a little different. Dee’s costume is very effective, don’t you think?"
"Oh, yes," said Todd. Peters kept silent.
"I don’t like it very much," said Dee, looking down at herself. "There’s too much of me outside my clothing. But this is my first downside assignment, and if it works it will do very well."
"You definitely have the basics in place," Todd told her. She stuck out her tongue at him. The tip of it was split into two points.
"For now, if you will excuse us, we should eat," Dreelig said, ignoring the byplay. "We have a great deal of work to do."
"Sure," said Peters. "Let us know when you’re ready to leave, we need to go change."
"Certainly," Dreelig acknowledged. "It won’t be for several
utle
yet. Gell isn’t ready, and there is no sense in our arriving in the night." The noise level in the mess room had come back to normal or a little above, only a few glances from the other diners betraying their interest.
"Then I reckon I could use a nap," Peters said. "We done put in most of a day already, and it’s likely to be a while before we get a chance at the rack again."
"Good idea," Dreelig approved. "Meet us in the operations bay at the sixth
utle
. That will leave ample time for the trip."
Peters had a restless nap, nodding off and waking up, spending a good bit of time in the study chair, staring out the window. The Moon was visible for a while, looking pretty much as it did from the deck of the ship at sea. Then the slow revolutions of the ship brought Earth into view, and he tried to figure out which part of it he was looking at. It was hard. He’d seen the pictures taken from space last century, but none of them had prepared him for the difficulty of seeing past the brilliant white cloud patterns to the relatively faint and irregular land outlines.
Finally a reddish-white splotch resolved itself into the Sahara and north Africa, and he realized another part of the problem. He’d been looking at it as if it were in conventional globe position, North up, but the big white
kathir
suit "–ain’t exactly regulation, and I ain’t real anxious to get crosswise with anybody right now."
"Safety considerations?" Todd obviously wanted to wear the
kathir
suit.
"Yeah, we could probably bullshit through it," said Peters. "But no. We can get in their faces easy enough without, and like I said, I ain’t ready for the aggravation."
"I guess you’re right," Todd admitted. Something caught his eye. "Hey, look at that."
Peters turned. Dreelig, Dee, and Donollo were making an entrance, and it was worth watching. The older Grallt strode in the lead wearing his gray suit, back straight, looking down his nonexistent nose at the company. Dee had on a tunic in the same gray but cut low in front, and a skirt the same color, wide pleats draped straight and ending just above the knee. She hovered at Donollo’s right elbow, and Dreelig was half a step behind, carrying an ordinary-looking briefcase.
They took a table next to the sailors, staying in character, Donollo handing Dee into the chair with gallantry, leaving Dreelig to find his own seat. Donollo caught Peters’ eye and seated himself pompously; they all held the pose for several heartbeats, then relaxed, and Dee broke out in a long peal of Grallt laughter.
"What do you think?" Dreelig asked, leaning toward the sailors. "Will it be effective?"
Conversation in the mess room had all but stopped during the performance; the low buzz started again, and Peters shrugged. "It works on your folks," he pointed out. "I reckon it’ll be dynamite back home."
Todd was grinning. "President of Mars come to check up on the peons, but real informal, you know? Add a little fast talk, and you could sell ‘em building lots on the Moon."
Donollo said something, and Dreelig translated, "We have played an important one and his assistant before, but this is a little different. Dee’s costume is very effective, don’t you think?"
"Oh, yes," said Todd. Peters kept silent.
"I don’t like it very much," said Dee, looking down at herself. "There’s too much of me outside my clothing. But this is my first downside assignment, and if it works it will do very well."
"You definitely have the basics in place," Todd told her. She stuck out her tongue at him. The tip of it was split into two points.
"For now, if you will excuse us, we should eat," Dreelig said, ignoring the byplay. "We have a great deal of work to do."
"Sure," said Peters. "Let us know when you’re ready to leave, we need to go change."
"Certainly," Dreelig acknowledged. "It won’t be for several
utle
yet. Gell isn’t ready, and there is no sense in our arriving in the night." The noise level in the mess room had come back to normal or a little above, only a few glances from the other diners betraying their interest.
"Then I reckon I could use a nap," Peters said. "We done put in most of a day already, and it’s likely to be a while before we get a chance at the rack again."
"Good idea," Dreelig approved. "Meet us in the operations bay at the sixth
utle
. That will leave ample time for the trip."
Peters had a restless nap, nodding off and waking up, spending a good bit of time in the study chair, staring out the window. The Moon was visible for a while, looking pretty much as it did from the deck of the ship at sea. Then the slow revolutions of the ship brought Earth into view, and he tried to figure out which part of it he was looking at. It was hard. He’d seen the pictures taken from space last century, but none of them had prepared him for the difficulty of seeing past the brilliant white cloud patterns to the relatively faint and irregular land outlines.
Finally a reddish-white splotch resolved itself into the Sahara and north Africa, and he realized another part of the problem. He’d been looking at it as if it were in conventional globe position, North up, but the big white
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