"Oh, yes."
Luckily she knew enough not to feel like a complete idiot. Sassinak led her along low-ceilinged tunnels with pipes hissing and gurgling on either hand, pointing out access ports to still other plumbing, the squatty cylindrical scrubbers, the gauges and meters and status lights that indicated exactly what was where, and whether it should be.
"All new," Sassinak said, as they headed into the 'ponies section. "We had major trouble last time out, not just the damage, but apparently some sabotage of Environmental. Ended up with stinking sludge growing all along the pipes where it shouldn't, and there's no way to clean that out, once the sulfur bacteria start pitting the pipe linings."
Hydroponics on a Fleet cruiser looked much like hydroponics anywhere else to Lunzie, who recognized the basic configuration of tanks and feeder lines and bleedoff valves, but nothing special. Sassinak finally took her back to the lift and they ascended to Main again.
"How long does it take a newcomer to find everything?"
Sassinak pursed her lips. "Well… if you mean new crew or ensigns, usually a week or so. We start 'em off with errands in every direction, let 'em get good and lost, and they soon figure out how to use a terminal and a shipchip to stay found. You noticed that every deck's a different color, and the striping width indicates bow and stern; there's no reason to stay lost once you've caught on to that." She led the way into her office, where a light blinked on her board. "I've got to go to the bridge. Would you like to stay here, or go back to your cabin?"
Lunzie had hoped to be invited onto the bridge, but nothing in Sassinak's expression made that possible. "Ill stay here, if that's convenient."
"Fine. Let me give you a line out." Sassinak touched her terminal's controls. "There! A list of access codes for you. I won't be long."
Lunzie wondered what that actually meant in terms of hours, and settled down with the terminal. She had hardly decided what to access when she heard heavy steps coming down the passage. Aygar appeared in the opening, scowling.
"Where's Sassinak?"
"On the bridge." Lunzie wondered what had upset him this time. The Weft marine corporal behind him looked more amused than concerned. "Want to wait here for her?"
"I don't want to wait." He came in, nonetheless, and sat down on the white-cushioned chair as if determined to stay forever. "I want to know how much longer it will be." At Lunzie's patient look, he went on. "When we will arrive at… at this Sector Headquarters, whatever that is. When Tanegli's mutiny trial will be. When I can speak for my… my peers." He'd hesitated over that; 'peer' was a new word to him, and Lunzie wondered where he'd found it.
"I don't know," she said mildly. "She hasn't told me, either. I'm not sure she knows." She glanced at the door, where the Weft stood relaxed, projecting no threat but obviously capable. "Does it bother you to be followed?"
Aygar nodded, and leaned closer to her. "I don't understand these Wefts. How can they be something else, and then humans? How does anyone know who is human and who isn't? And they tell me of other aliens, not only Wefts and Thek that I have seen, but Ryri who are like birds, and Bronthin, and…"
"You saw plenty of strange animals on Ireta."
"Yes, but…" His brow furrowed. "I suppose… I grew up with them. But that so many are spacefering races."
" 'Many are the world's wonders,' " Lunzie found herself quoting, " 'But none more wonderful than man…' Or at least, that's the way we humans think of it."
From his expression, he'd never heard the quotation - but she didn't think the heavyworlder rebels had been students of ancient literature. A Kipling rhyme broke into her mind and she wondered if Aygar's East would ever meet civilization's West, or if they were doomed to be enemies. She dragged her wandering mind back to the present (no quotes, she told herself) and found Aygar watching her with a curious expression.
"You're younger than she is," he said. No doubt at all who 'she' was. "But she calls you her great-great-great grandmother… why?"
"Remember we told you about coldsleep? How the lightweight members of the expedition survived? That isn't the only time I've been in coldsleep; my elapsed age is… older than you'd expect." She was not sure why she was reluctant to tell him precisely what it was. "Commander Sassinak is my descendant, just as you're descended from people who were young when I went into coldsleep on Ireta, people who are old now."
He looked more interested than horrified. "And you don't age at all, in coldsleep?"
"No. That's the point of it."
"Can you learn at the same time? I've been reading about the sleep-learning methods… would that work in coldsleep as well?"
"And let us wake up stuffed with knowledge and still young?" Lunzie shook her head. "No, it won't work, though it's a nice idea. If there were a way to feed in information that the person's missing, waking up forty or fifty years later wouldn't be so bad."
"Do you feel old?"
Aygar's question was lowest on Lunzie's list of things to think about. She was sure Sassinak had the same back-and-forth tug faced with someone that many generations removed, an uncertainty about what 'age' really meant.
Lunzie put a touch of Discipline in her voice again. "Not old and feeble, if that's what you mean. Old enough to know my mind, and young enough to…" Now how was she going to finish that? "To… to do what I must," she finished lamely.
But Aygar subsided, asking no more in that difficult area. What he did ask about - and what Lunzie was prepared to answer cheerfully - was the psychological testing procedure that Major Currald, the marine commander, had recommended to him.
"It's a good idea," Lunzie said, nodding. "My field at one time was occupational rehab. With my experience, they felt I understood troubled spaceworkers better than most. And quite often the root of the problem is that someone's stuck in a job for which they're not suited. They feel trapped - and if they're on a spaceship or station, in a way they are trapped - and that makes for trouble when anything else goes wrong."
Aygar frowned thoughtfully. "But we were taught that we should not be too narrow - that we should learn to do many things, have many skills. That part of the trouble between heavyworlders and lightweights came from too much specialization."
"Yes, that can be true. Humans are generalists, and are healthier when they have varied activities. But their primary occupation should draw on innate abilities, should not require them to do what is hardest for them. Some individuals are naturally better at sit-down jobs, or with very definite routines to follow. Others can learn new things easily, but quickly become bored with routines. That's not the person you want running the 'ponies system, which needs the same routine servicing shift after shift."
"But what about me?" Aygar thumped his chest. "Will I fit in, or be a freak? I'm big and strong, but not as strong as Currald. I'm smart enough, you said, but I don't have the educational background, and I don't have any idea what's available."
Lunzie tried to project soothing confidence. "Aygar, with your background, both genetic and experiential, I'm sure you'll find - or make - a good niche for yourself. When we get to Sector Headquarters, you'll have direct access to various library databases, as well as testing and counseling services of FSP. I'll be glad to advise you, if you want…" She paused, assessing his expression.
His slow smile made her wonder if this was her idea or his. "I would like that. I will hope you are right." He stood up, still smiling down at her.
"Are you leaving? I thought you wanted to talk to the captain."
"Another time. If you are my ally, I will not worry about her."
With that he was gone. Lunzie stared after him. Ally? She was not at all sure she wanted Aygar for an ally, in whatever sense he meant it. He might be more trouble that way.