movement fascinated him. No structure in Lo was massive enough to move this way, creating a temporary corridor to guide them through a thick layer of living tissue. And the flesh must be opening ahead of them. He tried to look past Tiikuchahk and Dichaan and see the movement. He caught sight of it now and then. That was the trouble with being small. He was not weak, but nearly everyone he knew was taller and broader than he was?and always would be. During metamorphosis, Tiikuchahk, if it became female, would almost double its size. But he would be male, and metamorphosis made little difference in the size of males.
He would be small and solitary, Nikanj had said shortly after his birth. He would not want to stay in one place and be a father to his children. He would not want anything to do with other males.
He could not imagine such a life. It was not Human or Oankali. How could he be able to help the resisters if he were so solitary?
Nikanj knew a great deal, but it did not know everything. Its children were always healthy and intelligent. But they did not always do what it wanted or expected them to. It had better luck sometimes predicting what Humans would do under a given set of circumstances. Surely it did not know as much as it thought it did about what Akin would do as an adult.
?This is a bad way to bring Humans in,? Dichaan was saying as they walked. ?Most of them are disturbed at being so closed in. If you ever have to bring any in, have the shuttle take you as close as possible to one of the true corridors and get them into that corridor as quickly as possible. They don?t like the flesh movement either. Try to keep them from seeing it.?
?They see it at home,? Tiikuchahk said.
?Not this massive kind of movement. Lilith says it makes her think of being swallowed alive by some huge animal. At least she can stand it. Some Humans go completely out of control and hurt themselves?or try to hurt us.? He paused. ?Here?s a true corridor. Now we ride.?
Dichaan led them to a tilio feeding station and chose one of the large, flat animals. The three of them climbed onto it, and Dichaan touched several head tentacles to it. The animal was curious and sent up pseudotentacles to investigate them.
?This one?s never carried an Earth-born construct before,? Dichaan said. ?Taste it. Let it taste you. It?s harmless.?
It reminded Akin of an agouti or an otter, although it was brighter than either of those animals. It carried them through other riders and through pedestrians?Oankali, construct, and Human. Dichaan had told it where he wanted to go, and it found its way without trouble. And it enjoyed meeting strange-tasting visitors.
?Will we have these animals on Earth eventually?? Tiikuchahk asked.
?We?ll have them when we need them,? Dichaan said. ?All our ooloi know how to assemble them.?
Assemble was the right word, Akin thought. The tilio had been fashioned from the combined genes of several animals. Humans put animals in cages or tied them to keep them from straying. Oankali simply bred animals who did not want to stray and who enjoyed doing what they were intended to do. They were also pleased to be rewarded with new sensations or pleasurable familiar sensations. This one seemed particularly interested in Akin, and he spent the journey telling it about Earth and about himself?giving it simple sensory impressions. Its delight with these gave him as much pleasure as he gave the tilio. When they reached the end of their journey, Akin hated to leave the animal. Dichaan and Tiikuchahk waited patiently while he detached himself from it and gave it a final touch of farewell.
?I liked it,? he said unnecessarily as he followed Dichaan through a wall and up a slope toward another level.
Without turning, Dichaan focused a cone of head tentacles on him. ?It paid a great deal of attention to you. More than to either of us. Earth animals pay attention to you, too, don?t they??
?They let me touch them sometimes, even let me taste them. But if someone else is with me, they run away.?
?You can train here to look after animals?to understand their bodies and keep them healthy.?
?Ooloi work??
?You can be trained to do it. Everything except controlling their breeding. And ooloi must mix their young.?
Of course. You controlled both animals and people by controlling their reproduction?controlling it absolutely. But perhaps Akin could learn something that would be of use to the resisters. And he liked animals.
?Would I be able to work with shuttles or with Chkahichdahk?? he asked.
?If you choose to, after you change. There will be a need for people to do that kind of work during your generation.?
?You told me once that people who work with the ship had to look different?really different.?
?That change won?t be needed on Earth for several generations.?
?Working with animals won?t affect the way I look at all??
?Not at all.?
?I want to do it then.? After a few steps, he looked back at Tiikuchahk. ?What will you do??
?Find us an ooloi subadult,? it said.
He would have walked faster if he had known the way. He wanted to get away from Tiikuchahk. The thought of it finding an ooloi?even an immature one?to unite the two of them, even briefly, was disturbing, almost disgusting.
?I meant what work will you do??
?Gather knowledge. Collect information on Toaht and Akjai changes that have taken place since Dinso settled on Earth. I don?t think I would be allowed to do much more. You know what your sex will be. It?s as though you were never really eka. But I am.?
?You won?t be prevented from learning work,? Dichaan said. ?You won?t be taken seriously, but no one will stop you
