The Legend of Corinair by Ryk Brown

you are considering using this facility?”
    “Yes. I gotta tell you, though. It makes me a little nervous.”
    “Why? Because you have to fly into a cave?”
    “No, because it could be a trap.”
    “You are being paranoid, Nathan.”
    “You trust them?”
    “Of course not. But if they wanted to capture the ship, they could’ve done so long ago. This ship is not as secure as everyone seems to think it is.”
    “Well, that’s comforting.”
    “My point is, I do not believe their intention is a hostile takeover.”
    “I hope you’re right. I sure wouldn’t mind fixing the hole in the bow. Flying around with a hole in our hull just doesn’t sit well with me.”
    Nathan noticed Tug and Jalea entering the mess hall, along with both of Tug’s daughters. “It’s got to be hard for them,” Nathan commented, gesturing toward Tug and his girls. “Losing their mother and their home all in one day.”
    “Deliza seems to be handling it pretty well,” Vladimir said.
    “Really?”
    “She was following me around engineering, asking me questions for more than an hour. She said she was bored sitting in her cabin. She’s a very smart young lady. And she is much easier to understand than Allet.”
    “Maybe you should put her to work.” Nathan said, only half joking.
    “I just might,” Vladimir said in between spoonfuls of molo stew. “I can use all the help I can get down there. And who knows, she might teach me some new tricks, yes?”
    Nathan had to smile at the image of his larger-than-life Russian friend taking lessons from a demure sixteen year-old girl on how to fix the ship’s systems.
    “You know, this molo stew, it is not too bad,” Vladimir commented as he finished the last of his serving, sponging up the remaining broth with his roll.
    “That’s good, because we may be eating a lot of it for awhile.”
    “More stew, sir?”
    “Yes, please,” Vladimir exclaimed, his mouth still full of bread as he leaned back to make room for the Volonese woman. She filled her ladle and deposited its contents into his bowl. Vladimir admired the woman’s ample bosom as she deposited a second scoop into his bowl, then looked at Nathan, his eyebrows bouncing up and down twice in rapid succession as a grin formed on his face. Nathan just shook his head slightly, smiling back. Despite all that had happened to them over the last week, Vladimir hadn’t changed a bit.
    “My compliments to the chef,” Vladimir exclaimed. The stew, it is Ochen vkusna. ”
    “Spaseeba ,” the woman answered.
    Vladimir’s mouth dropped, as did his spoon. “You’re Russian?” He was as excited as a little boy on his birthday.
    “ Nyet ,” she told him.
    “But you speak Russian?”
    “I speak many languages,” she stated proudly. “Sadly, though, my Russian is not very good.”
    “I will teach you, then,” Vladimir promised. He quickly brushed off his hands on his pants before offering it to her. “I am Vladimir. What is your name?”
    “Naralena. My friends call me Nara.”
    “Then I may call you Nara?”
    “We shall see,” she answered coyly.
    “Ah, there is hope,” Vladimir exclaimed victoriously.
    “You have an interesting accent, Naralena. Where are you from?”
    “Volon, Captain. The same place you pretend your ship is from.” She suddenly dropped her accent and started speaking in what Nathan recognized as perfect Angla. “The accent was more for the benefit of your friend. I can use many accents.”
    “That’s an unusual skill.”
    “I was a translator before I was sent to Haven.”
    “Really? How many languages do you speak?”
    “At last count, I believe it was eight.”
    Nathan almost choked on his stew. “You speak eight languages?”
    “Fluently, yes. But I can also communicate in several others, only not as well.”
    “That’s quite impressive.”
    “Thank you, Captain. But it is not as impressive as you might think. I was genetically skewed to have a talent for languages.”
    “I see.