"Here now, what's the problem? What's wrong with you, Shoshisha?" the woman asked. "Who said anything about your dying?"
"This person is in my room, and she brought a tiger with her. It tried to eat me!"
"You are mistaken," Khorii told her. "Khiindi did not attack you. He was expressing how much he liked you and he probably expected you to feed him. He expects everyone to feed him."
Khiindi sat over to the side, washing his right front paw unconcernedly. He paused only to look up at her, squeezing his eyes shut and opening them again, his mouth hanging open as if he were laughing. The little wretch had known exactly what he was doing when he tripped Shoshisha.
"Oh, my goodness!" the lady said. "You're Lady Acorna Harakamian-Li's daughter, aren't you? I was on my way to greet you, but I didn't realize you were staying here. Naturally I assumed you'd stay at the chancellor's quarters, where Mr. Giloglie and Mr. Baird and their families live."
"Yes, ma'am, I'm Khorii, and this is Khiindi. My brother Elviiz was taken to the boys' quarters by that nice boy who met us, Hap."
"Him!" Shoshisha said, tossing her glossy black hair so it rippled and settled back down around her shoulders. "That explains it. He put you here so he'd have an excuse to see me. He likes me, and he thinks if he spends enough time around me, I'll get used to him, I suppose."
"He seemed very friendly and kind to me," Khorii said. "And since my grandfathers Calum and Gill are not at home, he probably thought I would rather stay with students closer to my own stage of development. It was a thoughtful gesture, but since we are not welcome here, perhaps it would be better if we did stay in grandfathers' quarters until they or my parents return."
Shoshisha's brown eyes, which had been squinched in temper, widened suddenly as she smiled. "Oh, no, that won't be necessary. I didn't realize you were related to our beloved chancellors, and of course I see now that you have the horn and look just like the holo of Lady Acorna gracing our assembly hall. I am sorry I overreacted. You startled me and, well, I am quite allergic to most animals."
"I'm sorry to hear that. It's kind of you to say that I may stay, but Khiindi is my friend, and he must be with me," Khorii said. She turned her attention to the woman who had greeted her before. A teacher, surely, the woman was comfortably built, had feathery fair hair and very shrewd blue eyes. "Actually, it would probably be better at the grandfathers' because Elviiz could come, too. You know my name. May I ask yours?" she asked the lady.
"I'm Calla Kaczmarek. I'm the psychologist and psychology/ sociology instructor. I also act as the school's guidance counselor. Dr. Al y Cassidro, our headmaster and dean of the mining engineering school, has classes all day long and couldn't make it to greet you himself, so he asked me to do it. Your grandpas are old friends of mine, but I only met your mother after she began working with Mr. Li. I'm really pleased to meet you. Things have been a little strange around here since the plague scare began, which was unfortunately right after Gill and Calum and the Kendoro sisters landed on Kezdet. But we'll all be fine, and so will you. Come on, I'll show you where to go."
As they were leaving over Shoshisha's protestations, they were nearly knocked down by Hap and Elviiz. Most people thought droids didn't get excited or any other strong emotion, but Elviiz was an exception. Maak had programmed him to behave pretty much like a Linyaari boy and now he acted like a very excited one.
"Where are you going, Khorii?" Elviiz asked. "Are you on your way to our classes? Hap says both he and I are far too advanced for the programming the younglings receive in them, but that we are expected to acquire something called 'socialization' by attending them anyway. I wonder why my father did not program socialization into me on our journey, so that I could in turn impart it to you? As a part of this aspect of our programming, we are to compete in contests of physical athletic skill called sports and attend gatherings where some aspects of mating are performed in a vertical position. This is known as dancing."
Khorii smiled. "We have dances on Vhiliinyar, too, you know, Elviiz."
"We do? But I have never seen one. Is that because I cannot mate with totally organic females?"
"No. I think it's because you are with me most of the time, and since we've been old enough to attend them, we have been elsewhere when dances occurred."
"Who's this?" Shoshisha asked, coming out into the hall and widening her eyes at Elviiz. Elviiz, always ready to assimilate, had removed the horn attachment from his forehead. Khorii wondered if she would wish to do the same as time went on. Without the horn, Elviiz's brow was smooth, and he could have passed for Haps brother instead of hers. Map's hair was straight and Elviiz's Linyaari-like mane, although as pale as Hap's, curled over his forehead and down in front of his ears, extending slightly onto his jawline. He was now slightly taller than Khorii, as a Linyaari boy her age would be. Except for his hands and feet, he looked quite human and apparently, from the expression on Shoshisha's face, at least one human female found his appearance appealing.
"I am Elviiz," he said, extending a three-fingered single-knuckled hand made to resemble Khorii's own.
"Oh?" Shoshisha touched his hand experimentally. "Are you a mutant of some sort? I thought you were human, but-"
"I would not advise taking his hand, Shoshisha," Khorii said. "Uncle Joh and Mother have tried to teach him to shake hands, but he does not realize how strong he is. He would never intentionally crush your fingers but …"
"That only happened once, Khorii, and I was able to adjust my pressure gauges immediately to compensate," Elviiz protested. "Shoshisha is perfectly safe engaging in ritual greeting gestures with me, as you very well know."
"Pressure gauges?" Shoshisha asked with a frown.
"Elviiz is an android, Shoshisha," Hap said. "You should see all the cool attachments he has."
"Thanks, but I'll pass this time." She turned to Khorii and smiled sweetly. "You know, I really am allergic to most animals, but apparently your space cat is different enough that he doesn't bother me. So I wish you two would stay and room with me. I would be so interested to learn all about your planet and your people and what it's like to have a mother like Acorna."
Khorii did not need to be psychic to know that Shoshisha's reasons for wishing her to remain as a roommate were not as innocent as the human girl said. However, there seemed to be no diplomatic way to decline, and Khorii had been trained from earliest childhood to be tactful in dealing with other beings. Especially when adults were watching. She looked at Calla Kaczmarek, whose mouth twitched with amusement.
"Because I was thinking," Shoshisha said, "that if you want to make friends here, it wouldn't be good to look as though you think you're above staying in the dorms with us just because your relatives run this place."
Khorii suspected that Shoshisha was also thinking that if Khorii chose to stay in her grandparents' quarters, Shoshisha would make sure everyone did believe that Khorii thought herself superior to them.
Calla Kaczmarek coughed. "Staying in the dorms would help with the socialization programming your friend just mentioned."
"Very well, then, we accept," Khorii said. "Only, could you show us now to the hydroponics gardens. I am hungry, and Khiindi will require soil of some sort for his excretory functions."
"No litter boxes in the room, puh-leeze!" Shoshisha said. "Can't he use the lavatory like everybody else?"
"I don't know. Aboard the Condor part of the garden was reserved for his use." She did not mention that Khiindi had not always-or even usually-been scrupulous about sticking to his assigned area.