Invader by C. J. Cherryh Read Free Book Online Page B

weren't unwilling to have it done — or they hadn't indicated it to him that
he
could remember.
    "I would think so, aiji-ma. I would naturally prefer to consult with the university on —"
    "If the Mospheiran authorities put themselves in association with that ship, tell me, where would your responsibility lie?"
    "I can construe no circumstance under which that would happen."
    "I can. But perhaps my imagination is extravagant."
    "Human associations are more and less hierarchical than atevi." An alarming thought occurred to him. "And they're not biological imperatives. I know it's difficult to construe this, aiji-ma, but on the basis of what I've lately learned, I have to tell you that we feel absolutely nothing about that ship that atevi would feel in our place."
    "You haven't convinced me, nand' paidhi. I assure you, many atevi have already assumed a unitary human authority is unquestionably what we're dealing with. Where human biology enters into it — I confess myself at a loss. But that you say two authorities exist separated by time, and that you say there isn't hostility, does confuse me."
    They were up against one of those walls — imperfect interface. Atevi gut feelings and human. Tabini didn't understand, absolutely didn't understand that there wasn't
man'chi
, loyalty in the atevi definition: a gut-level, emotional compulsion for Mospheira to join the authority represented by that ship, which looked strong, which had historically held authority —
    Mospheira itself could have no comprehension how atevi would read the situation, either. Tabini was at least canny enough in the differences between atevi and human to know that, gut level, he might think he understood — but chances were very good that he wouldn't, couldn't, and never would, unaided by the paidhi, come up with the right forecast of human behavior, because he didn't come with the right hardwiring. Average people didn't analyze what they thought: they thought they thought, and half of it was gut reaction.
    But because lately — very lately — the paidhi-aiji had tumbled across that line and lived far away from experts at making that interface, stayed among ordinary atevi in the hinterlands long enough for the paidhi to meet those gut-level reactions, he at least had awareness how and on what critical points Tabini was coping with him — and in the process changing the interface, unwittingly corrupting what the paidhiin thought they knew about atevi.
    "Aiji-ma, wise and perceptive as you are, I'm reluctant to use the word
man'chi
as a human thought, even when it almost works, but it's very close to what Mospheirans feel toward this world. We think we have that feeling in common with atevi, not with the ship. A
man'chi
to this planet."
    Tabini's pale eyes were unreadable and thoughtful. Interest in the concept was the best a human could guess.
    And after a long moment digesting that idea or another, chin on fist, Tabini said, "Another why, nand' paidhi, when you say you feel no such emotions."
    So, so much riding on the understanding. He felt the shakes coming on, a feverishness that made focus difficult. "Whys lead to whys. I should go to bed, aiji-ma, and let you ask me when I've thought it through. I've been through too much to give answers lightly."
    "This answer, nand' paidhi. Don't toss me a lure of reassurance and then say don't follow."
    "Aiji-ma, it's simply emotional, our attachment to the world. There's no logic. It just is. Like
man'chi
, it just is."
    "You say there's been no preparation for this ship to occupy the station. No — hidden presence up there."
    "
You
don't believe there's a human presence up there, aiji-ma."
    "But there certainly is now, is there not, over our heads at this very moment?"
    "True."
    "So. Let me tell you: this is very serious business, Bren ji. Humans swooping down with death rays used to be bad television. Now it's speculation on the evening news."
    It was slowly sinking in, how far his mission to the mainland