That left two people I hadn't met yet, one girl, one boy, and neither seemed inclined to step forward.
"Hi." I tried to break the ice.
"Look, kid, let's not beat around the bush." It was the boy. "I don't want to be here."
I frowned at him my best frown. "Then don't. I didn't ask you to come."
"I have to. It's my ticket back Earthside." He pointed at me. "So this is how we're doing it. You're going to listen, do what I say, and play nice. Then I'll get my ticket and blow this..."
"Marlon," said the girl quickly. Marlon shut up but kept glaring at me. "I'm Lynette. I'll be your cultural liaison."
I knew what that meant. That's basically what Dad did. It suddenly struck me as funny, and I couldn't help but laugh. Lynette quirked her eyebrow and Marlon rolled his eyes. "Sorry," I said. "I've just never been on this side of it before."
Lynette's eyes went wide and Marlon said something rude and sat in one of the poofy chairs. Lynette clucked her tongue and waved a hand at him. "Forget him. He's just mad that he had to leave the banks."
"Banks?"
"Yeah, computer banks. It's why he's up here, a techie. Do you mean it?" She switched gears a lot and without warning. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with her. It was almost like inspeaking. Almost.
"Do I mean what?"
"What you said. That you've never been on this side of it before. Have you really...I mean...they said you had but I thought they were blowing smoke. Have you really met...aliens?"
Here we go again. I tried not to get angry, but by the look on her face I knew I failed. "They are not aliens. They are people. Alien implies that they are strange, or weird, or less than humans. They are not. They are people, just from a different place."
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just the word we use."
"It's not the word I use."
She gave me a wry smile. "And that's exactly why I'm here. You have to learn how to be one of us."
"What if I don't want to be one of you?"
She flicked her hand, completely dismissing that idea. "It's not up to you. StarTech says and I does. And that's the first thing you should learn. You wear the uniform, you walk the walk. Now, back to the aliens."
I ground my teeth together. "I said they are not aliens."
"And like I said, it's just the words we use, it's what people know. Jeez, Jake. You can't get so worked up over a word."
"But it's not just a word," I protested. "It brings up a whole image, a whole package."
"So? What's wrong with that?"
"It's wrong thinking, that's what!"
She held her hands up. "Oh boy. Calm down. I didn't mean to tick you off, not so early into things anyway. Fine. You're hung up on this alien thing. What word do you want me to use?"
"They prefer the word 'shuntah'."
"Shoetie?"
She wasn't trying very hard, but something about it made me want to laugh. Who was the alien now, hm? "Close. Shuntah. It means tribe or sect, roughly. Most Qitani words don't directly translate."
She just stood and looked at me for awhile without speaking, long enough to start making me self conscious. Finally she did speak. "All right. Tribe. I'll give on this one. Seems important to you."
"It'll sell the package," said Marlon. I hadn't realized he'd been listening.
"That's what I'm thinking," Lynette agreed.
"Add a couple of 'golly gees' and 'yes'm's' and I think we got ourselves a wholesome farm boy."
I didn't like the tone of his voice. Hostile. Pitying. Debasing. I turned and was about to ask him just what his problem was when Lynette shocked me by agreeing with him. I had no friends there. None. The rest of the day proved that. Not even Ralph, since all he'd tell me was to "play nice" and do as they said.
I was taken to our home gym and put through Dr. Karl's medical paces. The testing was annoying, some of it was painful, but overall I could handle it. Not that different actually than anything I'd done for most of my life. It never occurred to me before just how carefully Mother did watch over me. I always thought she was studying for her own science. But as Dr. Karl administered the tests, I began to ask what they were for.
"Have to watch that heart. We want to build it up, not make it quit."
"Your oxygen levels fluctuate more than they should. I'm not worried yet, but we'll watch."
"Stop moving. I can't read the blood if you wiggle."
Everything he did was recorded. Sometimes he frowned. Sometimes he didn't, which I later learned was as close as he gets to smiling. And sometimes he'd explain why I should be doing something different or better or not at all. It took hours that first day, but he said the more routine it became, the faster we'd get through it.
"And you are not the doctor. It would speed things up significantly if you stopped hammering me with questions." He didn't really want me to stop asking, though. None of those science types ever really want that. They pretend to be annoyed and burdened by them, but they're secretly thrilled someone else shows some kind of interest.
I should have done that more with Mother. I think she probably wanted me to.
After Dr. Karl was done, I was shuffled to Jillian. Christophe was gone, and the whole suite felt lighter. I said as much to Jillian as she measured me.
"Are you always rude?"
That brought me up. I didn't think it was rude. It was never seen as rude by my parents, or the other crew members, when I made an observation. "I was just making an observation on the change of atmosphere..."
She sighed. "Yes. I know. But don't. First off, he's so far above your rank it's not even funny. If you didn't just come from a tin can in space you wouldn't ever be in the same room as him. He worked his way up, kid, and he's earned respect. Hold still." She measured uncomfortable areas, typed it into her holo, then stood and looked at me. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap." She straightened the collar of my suit. "You sounded just like my own kid when he starts mouthing off."
I felt my face turn hot. "I wasn't trying to mouth off."
"Well, you did."
"Honestly, I was just making an observation."
She gave a small laugh. "Oh boy you really were raised by scientists, weren't you? Kid, lesson one. You can't always say what's on your mind. It's not an observation, it's a jab at Chris." She put her hand up. "No, no arguing. I've been around enough of these sciency types to know what you're trying to say. But I've also been around the majority of humanity, and they aren't scientists. Let me give you an example. If I was wearing an ugly sweater, I mean, god awful makes you gag to look at...would you walk in here and say 'Why Jillian, that is the most unflattering, horrid, puke colored piece of clothing I've ever seen?' No. You wouldn't. And why? Because it would hurt my feelings."
Of course I wouldn't call her sweater ugly. I learned that lesson years ago when Little Blob's mother was trying something new with her hair. It hurt her feelings, and when you inspeak, that's a pain you feel echo through you until you feel small as dirt. But I didn't see the connection. I walked into the room, the atmosphere felt different. The only thing that changed was the removal of Christophe, ergo, Christophe is oppressive. He wasn't even in the room to hear, at any rate.
"Trust me, okay? At the very least, it's a crappy way to try and make friends."
"I have friends." I sounded defensive. I felt defensive.
She sighed again, and gave my cheek a pat. "No one can have too many. And right now, you could use some by your side. Now scoot. Go play a game with Lynette."
I never felt so much like a child before. There was absolutely no room in her tone for argument. As much as I would have loved to defy her, I knew she wouldn't have it. My face was still crimson when I went to my room to find Lynette and Marlon flipping through my holocom. My own mother didn't even cross that line! I snatched it from them before they even realized I was in there. They were looking at Little Blob. The pic on the screen was one Dad took of me and Little Blob before we shoved off for Laak'sa. They were in my personal room looking through my personal files. The holocom was the only thing I ever owned that was truly mine, and they flipped through it like it was nothing.