A welcoming committee of five Gyonnese ringed the exit from the airlock doors. Yu knew he’d seen all five of these Gyonnese before. In fact, before he had met them, he recognized them from the air vids the Gyonnese used to distribute news. These five Gyonnese weren’t leaders of the Gyonnese, but they were the leaders’ assistants, famous in their own right among the Gyonnese people.
But Yu didn’t know their honorifics and didn’t want to guess.
“Where is the woman?” the nearest Gyonnese asked.
“Here,” Yu said, putting his hand on the glass coffin.
“You have killed her,” the Gyonnese in the center said. “She is worth nothing to us dead.”
Yu expected the comment, but hated it anyway. The Gyonnese were quick-tempered and violent. He’d been grabbed by one once: it was like being held by a braided rope made of gooey flesh.
“She’s not dead,” he said. “She’s unconscious. This was the easiest way to move her. I have to warn you. She’s very, very difficult.”
“We know that,” the center Gyonnese said. “If she was not, she would not have killed our children.”
Yu sighed, hoping that the visor caught the sound. “I mean hard to handle. You’ll need to restrain her from the first. And don’t expect her to give in to anything. She’s a fighter.”
He lowered the coffin so that they could see her face.
“That’s a bruise.” He ran his hand over her face. “I broke her nose trying to keep her from killing me.”
“Will she live with that injury?” asked another Gyonnese.
“I had the injury repaired,” Yu said. “Even if I hadn’t, she could have lived with it. Humans are resilient.”
“Then what has disfigured her face, if not an injury?” asked yet another Gyonnese.
“The injury disfigured it, and the technique I used to heal it hasn’t gotten to that part yet. Also, she was exposed to some contaminants around the time she boarded my ship, so she has some medication to prevent an illness from them.”
“I thought humans could remove contaminants,” said the center Gyonnese. “Or is that a lie from the Aleyd corporation as well?”
“It’s no lie,” Yu said, hating discussions with the Gyonnese. They were always circular, but somehow they never ended up where they started. It was as if the discussions did move forward, but in a way he didn’t quite understand. “I used the standard method to remove 95 percent of her contamination. The remaining part is slower and requires the pills. Make sure she takes them if you want her to remain healthy.”
“We do not understand human physiology,” the center Gyonnese said. “We cannot be responsible for her care.”
“If you like,” Yu said, “I can download a medical program that will take care of things for you. I’d have to transfer it from my ship to the original computer in this science facility.”
“Do so,” the first Gyonnese said.
“However,” said the center Gyonnese, “do not expect payment for this program. We would not need it without your negligence.”
“I could have kept her from you until she healed,” Yu said. “I thought you wanted her quickly.”
“We do,” the first Gyonnese said.
The center Gyonnese said to the first Gyonnese, loudly enough for Yu to hear, “This human is cheating us. We can’t even quiz this person to see if she is indeed Rhonda Shindo.”
Yu had forgotten that humans looked the same to the Gyonnese, just as Gyonnese looked the same to most humans.
“She is,” he said. “She has identification chips in her hands.”
“Which we cannot access,” the center Gyonnese said.
Then Yu understood. They weren’t sure they could open the coffin. So he pressed the side and the lid slid back. The Gyonnese scuttled backward, swaying as they moved.
Yu grabbed her hand and hung it off the side of the coffin. “Check now.”
The Gyonnese stared at her. Their arms flailed behind their backs, fingers touching, obviously communicating in a way he did not understand.
Finally the first Gyonnese scuttled forward. With clear trepidation, he took her hand in his fingers and touched the nearest chip.
He started, then his whiskers spread out wide, and then he dropped her hand as if it had burned him.
“It is she,” he said to the others.
A visible shudder ran through him. He excused himself and scuttled into the darkness. A liquid sound, like water filling a bowl, echoed from that spot.
The other Gyonnese bent in the middle, their arms going up.
“Is he all right?” Yu asked.
The Gyonnese rose slowly, as if they were underwater.
Yu’s heart pounded. He was afraid he had violated some kind of protocol.
Finally, the Gyonnese who hadn’t spoken said, “Touching her has made him ill. He will recover, but he will never forget the shame of it.”
Yu wasn’t sure what his reaction should be. “I didn’t know. I could have found another way to verify.”
“There is no other way,” said the same Gyonnese.
Then the remaining four stared at him as if they expected something.
“Look,” Yu said, “I can download the medical program from my ship. She’s going to wake up on her own in about four Earth hours. She’ll be ready to fight. As I said, make sure she’s restrained before that.”
“You are certain she is not dead?” the center Gyonnese asked.
“Positive,” Yu said, “and if you want, double check with the guy who touched her. Living humans are warm to the touch. She should have been warm. She still is, if someone else wants to verify.”
They all scuttled backward. He was glad they couldn’t see inside his visor because he smiled at their reaction.
“She is warm.” The first Gyonnese came out of the darkness. His skin had turned an orange-yellow.
“See?” Yu said. “All I need is my payment. Then I’ll send the download and leave you to do whatever you’re going to do.”
“No,” the center Gyonnese said.
Yu froze. He’d expected some argument, but not an outright no.
“I delivered her,” Yu said. “You promised payment upon receipt. I trusted you. I didn’t even take a deposit, and this woman cost me. She murdered my partner. See why I’m warning you?”
“We have no proof that your partner is dead,” the center Gyonnese said.
“I can give you his body,” Yu snapped. “You want it? I don’t know what to do with it.”
Four of them scuttled even farther back, but the center one stayed in position.
“We shall pay half.”
“Half?” Yu asked. He hadn’t expected this. The Gyonnese had always been fair until now.
“She is damaged. We know nothing of your kind. She might live until you are far from here and then die. We need her alive for court.”
“She’s fine,” Yu said.
“You have told us she’s ill.”
“I also told you it was nothing major.” But had he? Bruised meant that she was fine to humans, but what did it mean to Gyonnese? And the contamination. He’d explained the 95 percent but not how severe the 5 percent was.
“We have no external verification for that.”
“You’ll have the medical program,” Yu said.
“Which you will give us,” the center Gyonnese said. “We cannot trust it.”
They had a point, but he wasn’t going to concede it. “I want full payment.”
“You will get the second half when she appears in court,” the center Gyonnese said.
“Pay me three-quarters,” Yu said. “I’ve lost my assistant.”
“Half,” the center Gyonnese said.
“I’ll take her away,” Yu said.
“Half.” The center Gyonnese took his long arms and folded them across his body. He had clearly negotiated
