“Thank you,” said Khurs. “I’ve been crying, and laughing, and everything between. I’ve received such shocks in the past llor as I never imagined to encounter.”
“John has that effect sometimes,” Ander noted with amusement.
“So it would seem, based on my limited experience… I’ll go and order my appearance.” She slipped through the bedroom door.
After a moment Ander mused, “So we are a complete pa’ol. That’s comforting, to a degree I find a little surprising.”
“Yes,” Alper agreed vigorously. “The arrangement has felt tentative and insecure.”
“Don’t protest, John,” Ander put in. “You’ve made every effort possible, and I for one had begun to realize that we were establishing a stable if unconventional relationship, but satisfying the forms of our own society, even on such a minimal basis, supports my emotions in a way I hadn’t realized I needed.”
Alper nodded in agreement, and Peters said cautiously, “I’m pleased that you feel comforted, but I hope the condition isn’t temporary. I will say again: I do not keep slaves. When Khurs and Dzheenis find an accommodation that will support them they will be leaving us. If you find that distressing I am more sorry than you can imagine, but my decision is inalterable.”
“Hmm… I’ve been talking to the Grallt of Llapaaloapalla,” Alper said speculatively. “I think I begin to understand how their lives go. Couldn’t you offer Khurs and Dzheenis employment? Your affairs are larger and more complex than I might have imagined, and both have skills that would aid in ordering them.”
“Something of the sort had crossed my mind,” Peters admitted. “The subject requires more discussion. On a more immediate note, I was pleased to find you clothed, Alper. I had visualized a scramble, with Khurs and Dzheenis waiting in the corridor, their insecurity heightened by lack of knowledge of their welcome.”
Ander giggled. “If you’d come only a few antle earlier you might’ve been less pleased. Both of us were padding around in the altogether, inspecting one another and hugging. We dressed because we expected the arrival of the food service.”
“Yes,” Alper agreed with a giggle of her own. “We have news, and we hope it pleases you.”
Dzheenis chose that moment to appear. He had washed his face and combed his hair, and stood erect, looking less tentative and apologetic. “Thank you,” he said, and his voice was steadier. “I take it Khurs has departed with similar goals in mind.”
“Yes,” said Peters. “She should be out momentarily. Please seat yourself and take your ease. You will no doubt be pleased to discover that we are expecting food service at any moment.”
The big man grinned as he sat down. “Yes. I’m a large person, as you will have noted, and require a great deal of nourishment to sustain me.”
“So I noted… Ah. Perfect timing.”
Ander responded to the knock on the door. “Hello, De’el,” she told the steward. “We need meals for five; we have visitors.”
The steward’s eyebrows went up. “So I see,” he noted. “It’s no problem; we have ample supply.” Khurs came out of the bedroom, and De’el’s eyebrows sought his hairline. “Hmph! I see Peteris has been collecting more trophies. At this rate the ship will soon be overrun.”
Peters laughed. “Khurs and Dzheenis are not ‘trophies’; they are guests. I believe and hope they are the last such for a time.”
“Hah,” said De’el. He and his assistant began ferrying dinnerware and serving bowls, and he added: “’For a time’, certainly, as Llapaaloapalla is about to depart. Our destination is Kraatna, a long transit during which even Peteris is unlikely to have scope for bringing more waifs aboard. In a way it is a pity.” He glanced at Khurs, showing amusement. “We are a closed society, and know one another far too intimately. A few more good-looking women would make a pleasant change. Peteris is already somewhat renowned in that respect, and I see he has not lost his touch.” He waggled his expressive eyebrows. “Dzheenis and Khurs, I believe you said. Welcome aboard. You have been dependents of the ferassi, or so I assume.”
“Yes, we have,” said Dzheenis. “Our status seems to have changed.”
“Indeed it has,” the steward affirmed. “You are fortunate; you have fallen into the hands of Peteris, and could not have hoped for a more favorable eventuality. As for your former status, we know something of what is going through your minds; if you have doubts or concerns you have only to ask.” He grinned. “Khurs, you in particular will find no difficulty in obtaining comfort. My own door will always be open, at least until you choose to come inside. There.” He stepped back and regarded the set table with satisfaction. “Dzheenis, I suppose you are not unprepossessing in your own right, but I have no personal taste that direction. I’ll pass the word; no doubt you will soon find yourself with a plenitude of opportunity.”
Dzheenis glanced at Khurs. “I will be somewhat tentative, at least at first.”
“Khurs may wish a rest,” Peters put in. “She has been used extensively for the pleasure of the ferassi; cruelly used, to my mind.”
“So I had assumed,” said De’el with a nod. “You have spoiled my dastardly plan before it was fully formed. I had hoped to take advantage before she was cognizant of her own worth.” He touched her shoulder, lightly, and said in a serious tone: “I hope you don’t take my jocularity seriously, Khurs. The custom aboard Llapaaloapalla is simple: If interested, ask. If not interested, say no. Modifications occur, but with courtesy and friendliness we all get by very well… you are remarkably attractive, and exotic as well due to your origins; when you go abroad you will receive many invitations. Refuse or assent as your tastes incline you, and if you feel pressured, express yourself. The affair will soon be ordered; we do not tolerate extortion.”
Khurs looked up at him, smiling tentatively, and De’el grinned and waggled his eyebrows again. She smiled more broadly, and he nodded, came erect, and surveyed the group. “Please eat,” he urged. “We are scheduled to enter High Phase one tle past the turn of the ande, and the serving utensils must be secured before that time. Do you require anything more?”
“Not at the moment,” Peters told the steward when no one else responded. “Thank you, De’el; we will take care that you have sufficient time to order your department.”
“I thank you as well.” De’el nodded firmly and left, his assistant offering a nod of his own before closing the door.
“He left with scant ceremony,” Dzheenis observed. “In addition I note that he did not offer you an honorific, depa’olze Peters. On Trader 1049 he would be chastised for such lack of courtesy.”
“What you observed was the normal courtesy observed aboard Llapaaloapalla,” Peters told him. “As for honorifics, they are used only at the most grave or solemn moments; not at all, in my experience. De’el is a good person, as well as being highly skilled. He is well regarded; you could do much worse than to seek his advice as to conduct.” He surveyed the table. “As he says, please eat. We should finish in time to give him an opportunity to clear away the utensils, and I for one am tired. I want to bathe and go to bed.”
The shutters were closed for transition, making the room fully dark. Ander lay with her head against his chest, seemingly listening to his heartbeat, and Alper lay stretched at full length, pressed against his right side. “You said you had news for me,” Peters said. “In the confusion of dealing with Khurs and Dzheenis you never told me what it was.”
“I’m not really all that sure we should tell you,” Ander remarked in a tone of impish teasing. “You might send us away.”