?Nothing, little one. Why do you want us to buy you??
Akin hesitated, said finally, ?Iriarte likes me and so does Kaliq. But Galt hates me because I look more Human than I am. And Damek killed Tino.? He looked at her blond hair, knowing she was no relative of Tino?s. But perhaps she had known him, liked him. It would be hard to know him and not like him. ?Tino used to live here,? he said. ?His whole name is Augustino Leal. Did you know him??
?Oh, yes.? She had become very still, totally focused on Akin. If she had been Oankali, all her head tentacles would have been elongated toward him in a cone of living flesh. ?His parents are here,? she said. ?He
couldn?t have been your father. You look like him, though.?
?My Human father is dead. Tino took his place. Damek called him a traitor and killed him.?
She closed her eyes, turned her face away from Akin. ?Are you sure he?s dead??
?He was alive when they took me away, but the bones of his head had been broken with the wooden part of Damek?s gun. There was no one around to help him. He must have died.?
She took Akin down from the counter and hugged him. ?Did you like him, Akin??
?Yes.?
?We loved him here. He was the son most of us never had. I knew he was going, though. What was there for him in a place like this? I gave him a packet of food to take with him and aimed him toward Lo. Did he reach it??
?Yes.?
She smiled again with only half her mouth. ?So you?re from Lo. Who?s your mother??
?Lilith Iyapo.? Akin did not think she would have liked hearing Lilith?s long Oankali name.
?Son of a bitch!? Tate whispered. ?Listen, Akin, don?t say that name to anyone else. It may not matter anymore, but don?t say it.?
?Why??
?Because there are people here who don?t like your mother. There are people here who might hurt you because they can?t get at her. Do you understand??
Akin looked into her sun-browned face. She had very blue eyes?not like Wray Ordway?s pale eyes, but a deep, intense color. ?I don?t understand,? he said, ?but I believe you.?
?Good. If you do that, we?ll buy you. I?ll see to it.?
?At Siwatu, the raiders took me away because they were afraid the men were going to try to steal me.?
?Don?t you worry. Once I drop this tray and you in the living room, I?ll see to it that they don?t go anywhere until our business with them is done.?
She carried the tray of drinks and let Akin walk back to her husband and the resisters. Then she left them.
Akin climbed onto Iriarte?s lap, knowing he was about to lose the man, missing him already.
?We?ll have to have our doctor look at him,? Gabriel Rinaldi was saying. He paused. ?Let me see your tongue, kid.?
Obligingly, Akin opened his mouth. He did not stick his tongue out to its full extent, but he did nothing to conceal it.
The man got up and looked for a moment, then shook his head. ?Ugly. And he?s probably venomous. The constructs usually are.?
?I saw him bite an agouti and kill it,? Galt put in.
?But he?s never made any effort to bite any of us,? Iriarte said with obvious irritation. ?He?s done what he?s been told to do. He?s taken care of his own toilet needs. And he knows better than we do what?s edible and what isn?t. Don?t worry about his picking up things and eating them. He?s been doing that since we took him?seeds, nuts, flowers, leaves, fungi
and he?s never been sick. He won?t eat fish or meat. I wouldn?t force him to if I were you. The Oankali don?t eat it. Maybe it would make him sick.?
?What I want to know,? Rinaldi said, ?is just how un-Human he is
mentally. Come here, kid.?
Akin did not want to go. Showing his tongue was one thing. Deliberately putting himself in hands that might be unfriendly was another. He looked up at Iriarte, hoping the man would not let him go. Instead Iriarte put him down and gave him a shove toward Rinaldi. Reluctantly, he edged toward the man.
Rinaldi got up impatiently and lifted Akin into his arms. He sat down, turned Akin about on his lap looking at him, then held Akin facing him. ?Okay, they say you can talk. So talk.?
Again Akin turned to look at Iriarte. He did not want to begin talking in a room full of men when talking had already made one of those men hate him.
Iriarte nodded. ?Talk, niNo. Do as he says.?
?Tell us your name,? Rinaldi said.
Akin caught himself smiling. Twice now, he had been asked his name. These people seemed to care who he was, not just what he was. ?Akin,? he said softly.
?Ah-keen?? Rinaldi frowned down at him. ?Is that a Human name??
?Yes.?
