Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon Read Free Book Online

And if she insults him, then he has a legal claim against her, and if he has a legal claim against her, then obviously he won’t let me see you. He might even take me out of school.”
    “So…you think he li—he said that in order to find a way to break us up?”
    “Maybe. It’s not always discourteous to lie…it’s wrong, but it’s not against the courtesy code. Not if you’re not under oath.”
    “Wait a minute…you mean, it’s fine to lie, but wrong to complain that you’ve been lied to?”
    “I wouldn’t say fine…it’s just not a discourtesy, whereas calling someone a liar is.”
    “But if they are lying, and you know it, how are you supposed to handle it?”
    “You can ignore it, if it’s not important, or you can report it, if it’s a criminal matter, or you can ask for a formal statement before a legal representative. That can be phrased without discourtesy.”
    “I’d think that would make it worse,” Toby said. “If you ask for that, aren’t you in effect calling someone a liar in front of others?”
    “No…not in our society. But anyway, if your cousin ever needs to challenge my father she needs to do it properly. Get legal counsel.”
    “Mmm. And what do you think?”
    “You’re asking me to indict my own father?”
    “No, I’m asking what you think.”
    “You don’t understand. I can’t answer that. It would be…it would be wrong. Worse than prot.”
    Toby sheared away from that. “Look…can we meet after school? You have a free period last, don’t you?”
    “Yes, but I can’t meet you then. I promised my mother I’d go to some boring women’s meeting with her. I can get out after dinner, though, as long as I’m home by nine. We could meet for ice cream or something.”
    Toby looked into her eyes. Zori was trustworthy; she had to be. She loved him. And it was important to get this translated. “I’m trying to write an adventure story in…whatever it is you’ve been teaching me.”
    “My family’s secret language…why?”
    “Someday it will be our language. The way we’ve been saying things, you know. You’ve been speaking it for years…I’m trying to learn it. You know I’m more visual than you are; it’ll be easier for me if I write it down. And you said you didn’t have any texts.”
    “I don’t think anyone writes in it,” Zori said. “It’s just for chat.”
    “If your father uses it for business, maybe he writes memos in it.”
    “I suppose.” She looked thoughtful. “But you’re writing in it?”
    “Trying to,” Toby said. “I’m not very good at it. I thought it would be easier if I did it as a story. The dialogue so far sounds more like one of those adventure series for children. Well, except for the rude words. And I made up a bunch of words, too, because I don’t know enough.”
    “Can I see it?”
    “I guess.” Toby had put together a mishmash of the words he knew, a few he remembered, a few that he had guessed, and some he made up. “It’s a space battle: all this part is the bad guys. With the rude words you taught me, it’s easier to do their side. And I’m not sure of the spelling in a lot of places…”
    “You’re making excuses. Let’s see…” She looked at his handcomp. “Wow. You’ve learned a lot…I don’t remember teaching you some of this—”
    “It’s mostly made up, where I didn’t know the words,” Toby said. He had inserted a few made-up words into the text Ky had sent; this was only about a page of a transmission, with interpolated plot.
    “But this—” Zori pointed. “—this really is the word for ‘ammunition.’ Lucky guess, Toby!” She grinned, then went back to reading, while Toby’s heart seemed to sink through his shoes. She knew more words. Why would her father teach her the word for ‘ammunition,’ anyway? “‘No profit in this, get out of here now’…I like that. So the pirates are running away from—who are the good guys?”
    “Space rangers, of course. Who