"Internal fighting in the holds," Simeon said. "With fists and teeth and soft plastic cups, since they didn't have anything else. Then when they got there, they realized they'd have to interbreed, like it or not."
"What sort of planet is Kolnar?"
"Nickname was 'Hell's Orifice.' They picked it because it was easier on tender consciences. Society could pretend the planet killed the convicts, who deserved it, from the records. One-point-six gees, hot sun, enormous heavy-metal concentrations, thick but low-oxygen air, superactive and largely poisonous biosphere. No ozone layer. Vulcanism, unpredictable climatic shifts… the whole nine yards! Not much visited since. When the Grand Survey went through a few centuries later, they were fired on. Evidently the locals have a nuclear war about once every forty years or so, and the ship got in the way of one. Their descriptions of the physical type match what Amos and the others say. There's been some contact with them since. That incident with the survey seemed to remind them that the rest of the universe was still there, unfortunately."
"Unfortunately?"
"Well, I've got cross-references under piracy, brigandage, police actions, war crimes and aggression. Also entries in the anthro files under genocide, slavery, cultural pathology, xenophobia and societal devolution. There are apparently pockets of the descendants of the original social aberrants scattered through a number of systems in the area nowadays. Little asteroid colonies, freebooter dens, unsurveyed worlds."
"Urk. Characteristics?"
"Apart from not being very nice? Dark skin is a climatic adaptation-all that UV-and the hair and eye color genetic drift you'd expect in a small initial population. They breed like, hmm, rabbits, though. Puberty at eight, all children twins or triplets. Overall, the Kolnari subrace seems to have very efficient immune systems. They're extremely strong and fast. You'd expect good reflexes on a planet like that-those with bad ones didn't survive. They can see in the dark like cats, and they've got an amazing tolerance for ionizing radiation. There's so much fallout and natural background radiation on Kolnar that they've genetically adapted to it. The scientists seem to disagree whether their paranoia is inbred or just cultural."
"Hard to get rid of, I'd expect."
"Like cockroaches," Simeon said, deliberately misunderstanding. "One Space Navy type a few generations back said the only way to solve the Kolnari problem would be to drop antimatter bombs from orbit. Even then, you wouldn't be really sure of destroying them all."
"Very depressing, thank you, and now can I get some rest?"
Later that night, still unable to sleep, Channa called out his name softly.
"You should be sleeping, Channa."
"I know, but I've got to clear my mind first. Will you talk with me?"
A pause hung in the air. She took a breath and went on. "I know I haven't been as good a brawn as-"
"Ancient history," Simeon said. "You've been handling a hellacious emergency better than most anyone could. I can certainly listen. What's on your mind?"
"He is," she said, as if the two words covered the problem adequately.
"Ah. Not what you expected, huh?"
She sighed, "No, the opposite. Too much what I expected. He's… I'm afraid I won't be able to work with him."
Why am I not surprised? Simeon thought. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Aside from his being a smug, pushy, egotist, you mean? Well, he doesn't have any faith in my competence and I expect to have to fight to keep him from trying to usurp my position. He's very much a take-charge kind of person, you were right about that. And he has no respect for women."
"What makes you think that?" Let's hear how you came to that difficult conclusion. Simeon enjoyed the challenge of following the workings of her mind.
"For crying out loud, Simeon, he expected me to cook for him! Oh, yes, he got over that. He's always ready with an apology for 'different customs.' But, deep down, he doesn't really believe it. He thinks 'customs' is whether you sit on the floor or on a chair, stuff like that. He doesn't grasp the difference in fundamental cultural views."
"Channa-my-sweet, back on Bethel, there aren't any fundamental differences. This quarrel he had with the Elders, it's hard to grasp exactly what it was about… but it seems overwhelmingly important to them."
"Oh, I understand why he's that way," Channa said, striking the pillow with a frustrated fist. "And it's not as if he's stupid. He's intelligent and he notices things, but that makes it more irritating, not less. You could ignore what a stupid person does. What's more, suddenly he's living in my pocket. I'm just a little surprised he didn't ask to see the other rooms in order to choose the one he preferred." Her face suddenly flushed a becoming rose.
Simeon noted that. After all, he could see in the dark, too. "And he came on to you like the colony ship he flew in on, didn't he?"
"Damn right he did," she muttered, half under her breath. " 'I like attractive women,' " she said in exaggerated imitation of his manner and accent. "What do you suppose he does when he has to deal with an un-attractive woman? Carry a bag to put over her head? I hate men like that!" She thumped the bed with both fists for emphasis.
"I thought you were attracted to him," Simeon said in a calm and mildly curious tone.
"I am," she said with exasperation. "I hate that part of it the most."
"I'm a little confused here. How can you be attracted to someone you can't stand?"
"I don't know," she said grimly.
"Pheromones?" Simeon asked slyly.
"Maybe. It happens." She sighed.
The mysterious pheromones strike again, he thought. There are times I'm extremely glad I'm a shellperson. At least I can adjust my own hormone feeds. The thought of having his biochemistry unpredictably mucked about by emotional factors was nerve-wracking.
"You mean," he said carefully, "this has happened to you before?"
A look of annoyance crossed her face. "Not just to me. It's happened to a great many people."
He waited expectantly and patiently.
With a resigned sigh, she went on. "He was a professor of economics, of all people! I fell for him like a stone. And the weird thing was, I never liked him. Quite the opposite. He was attractive enough, but he was sarcastic and lazy and snide-ugh! Never to me, but it bothered me to see him doing it to other students. One day I was sitting there and I looked up at him and I said to myself, I'm in love with him." She widened her eyes and held out her hands in a "go figure" gesture and let them flop back onto the bed. "Hmmp."
"So… you're in love… with Simeon-Amos?"
"No! Of course not! I said I was in love with my professor, not Simeon-Amos. They're two different cases." She started to laugh. "I'm older and wiser now, Simeon-Simple."
"As long as you're not sadder, love."
She chuckled. "No, not sadder."
"Naturally you and Simeon-Amos will have to undergo a bit of a period of adjustment," he said seriously, "but he really wants to help. And he's going to be very busy helping. That'll go a long way in curbing any ardent tendencies he may have. Try to cut him a little slack, Channa; he's the victim of an inbred culture. Besides which, we're all under threat of death."
"Mmm. Tell that to the subconscious-it interprets threats of death as a reason to get more interested. I do wish this crisis wasn't so immediate." She sighed again, wearily. "Maybe they're not out there. Maybe they gave up and went back to Saffron, to Bethel. All we'd have to do is file a report, while the fleet floats by us."