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take this job.)
(Maybe?) said Maggy.
Tocohl smiled. (You re getting awfully good at holding up your end of the
conversation!)
(Thank you,) said Maggy, primly.
(Maybe,) Tocohl repeated. (Swift-Kalat is the survey team s ethologist. That,
and his  swift status, give him a lot of credence, but I d be happier if the
polyglot had asked for a glossi.)
(I have forty-three files that quote swift-Kalat as the highest authority on
ethology. Would you like a random sampling?)
(No, I concede his expertise. Let me find out more.) Tocohl said aloud,
 Stepping into that kind of situation is asking for trouble, whatever the
outcome.
Tinling Alfvaen said, earnestly,  Tocohl, swift-Kalat is Jenji. The
Jenji don t lie. That was conventional wisdom on many worlds, but to
Alfvaen the belief seemed to go beyond convention to a personal conviction.
 I ve known Jaef for a long time 
Tocohl raised an eyebrow and said,  That you re entitled to use his soft-name
is proof of that. (And proof of a strong bond between the two,) she added for
Maggy s benefit.
  And if he says the species is sentient, I believe him, Alfvaen finished,
 but you must help him prove it. She reached into a pocket of her kilt and
drew out a folded piece of gold paper. Without a further word, she offered it
to Tocohl.
Tocohl took the paper, unfolded it. The startling boldness of Jenji script
seemed to leap from the page: three lines and the signature, swift-Kalat twis
Jalakat of Jenje
.
 Geremy, Tocohl said quietly as she refolded the paper and returned it,  are
you free to take a cargo of winterspice and tapes to dOrnano for me?
Geremy turned.  What do you say, Nevelen can you spare me for a few weeks?
So Geremy was acting as the judge s aide, Tocohl thought. That explained much.
She would have withdrawn her request, but Darragh spoke first:  I haven t been
to dOrnano for years, Geremy. I ll go with you.
Geremy turned again to Tocohl.  After festival? he said.
 Of course, Tocohl replied, and because it was Geremy, their dickering was
pro forma. In only a few moments they had snapped fingers to close the deal.
Alfvaen s face lit as she realized the import of this exchange.  You ll go!
she said and looked down at the paper in her hand.  He told me this
would convince the kind of person he needed. I don t understand why,
but I m glad.
Tocohl said,  To say  I know in Jenji, you must specify how you know. You
have a choice of degree firsthand experience, inference, hearsay, to name
just a few of the options and each tells your listener how reliable you think
your information and why. That, in turn, reflects on your reliability. The
language is also backed up by strong cultural penalties for using the wrong
degree, and a religious belief that you may, by lying, inadvertently create a
truth that would do no one any good.
Tocohl touched the edge of the paper in Alfvaen s hand and went on,  He tells
me here that he has in his hands an artifact, and from this artifact he
deduces the presence of sentient life anyone might have written that in any
language. In Jenji what swift-Kalat wrote is very complex and very
precise. The degree of his surety is so high that if I were MGE, I d pack up
the survey team and go home.
 In three sentences? Alfvaen unfolded the paper and stared at it in wonder.
 Four, Tocohl said.  He signed his name and that puts his status on the line.
If he s wrong about this, he ll be forced to drop his  swift status. And
that s the social equivalent of your going into your hometown and admitting to
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la ista
.
Alfvaen s eyes widened still farther.  He s that sure?
 He s that sure, Tocohl said, but before she could say anything further, a
group of Sheveschkemen passed and their cheerful singing momentarily brought
conversation to a halt. The song was a lengthy and awe-inspiring detailing of
Ste. Veschke s sexual adventures.
One gorgeously drunken woman in the green leather baldric of a trading captain
leaned down, her slim hand on Geremy s shoulder.  You look too solemn, she
told him,  Veschke made a merry blaze even when she burned! She pointed to
the flagon in his lap;  Drink to Veschke! she commanded over the singing.
Geremy raised the flagon, clinked it against the captain s. She said, grinning
hugely,  Veschke was a
Hellspark!
Geremy shouted his laughter.  To Veschke, then! he said, and took
a long drink. Then the
Sheveschkemen passed on, still singing as they went.
Tocohl turned back.
Alfvaen had drawn up her knee and wrapped herself disconsolately about it. Her
green eyes were dark and sad.
 Alfvaen, said Tocohl,  is something wrong?
The Siveyn answered slowly.  I didn t know how strongly he felt about the
situation. I should have. I
should have! Tocohl, you ve never even met him and you know more about him
than I do! [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]