Tally Road Original Story- Chapter 26

"Sorry!" said Dene.

Siertes didn't reply, because she couldn't, her mouth bound tightly and her arms and legs tied. Her eyes spoke volumes, for her head had just gently bounced off the wall again. The Aintar had given Dene a sort of leash to drag the bound Siertes around with. It wasn't very good in zero-gee.

Boodins might have helped, but he was busy feeling gulpy and ill.

"We want to see Ka." explained Dene. "But, um, we've never seen doors like this before?"

The vividly yellow and aqua Aintar eyed her with a shiny black eye, glanced at Siertes in momentary alarm, glanced back, all in a staccato rhythm that had Dene jumpy. "Doors?" it said.

"More the handles, really." said Dene. Siertes rolled her eyes, but could do nothing else.

"You can't bring that with you." said the Aintar.

"She's all tied up. What do you think she's going to do, breathe at you?" complained Boodins, with little patience.

"Actually," said Rairate, "she could probably make an Aintar sick by breathing on it if she had venom in her mouth."

"Can't bring that with you!"

Dene sighed. "We can't leave her here. Would you please just show us how to open the door?"

The writing on the door was plain enough, and it was the right door, but the handle didn't seem to do anything. Rai and Dene had tugged on it to no avail. It was a wooden bar set into the door, heavy and solidly mounted, curiously worn and indented. Above it, the words 'Boss's Place': below it, some sort of lever that resisted motion.

Some other Aintar approached- flaming red, gleaming green, glittering blue. "You can't bring that here!"

"Look, she's tied up, and we can't even figure out how to open the damn door!" yelped Dene, out of patience.

"This is how." said a slightly scruffy black Aintar, which proceeded to grab the bar. Not with its clawed feet, though- it latched onto the bar with its beak, and one foot twisted the lever with apparent effortlessness. "The rest of you can clear off now!"

With a shriek and fluttering, the brightly colored avians fled the area. Rai watched curiously as the black Aintar ducked through the now-opened door. It peeked out, favoring them with a very shrewd and bright eye. "Did you just want to see how it worked, or were you trying to come in?"

"Are you supposed to be in there? Like, cleaning, or something?" said Boodins, still distracted by his nausea.

"That's what it's like most of the time, yes. Your point?" said the Aintar.

"What it's like?"

"Who, exactly, do you think I am?" asked Ka.

Rai blinked, startled. "Oh. Forgive us, 'aons, it can be difficult to tell you apart..."

"No doubt you were confused by the dazzling radiance of my plumage." said Ka. "Mind explaining why I shouldn't be offended and throw you out on your various sorts of ears?"

"You can't do that!" protested Dene weakly.

"Watch me."

"No, I mean..."

Ka tilted her head and regarded Dene quizzically. "I thought that was a very pedestrian thing to mean. You claim to mean something else?"

Dene rallied. "Uh- yes."

"In that case- what?"

The skinny lady Runge indicated her Tompar companion. "Siertes hasn't got ears, so she can't be thrown out on them. Um- not without some weird looking surgery."

Ka blinked, and rustled her slightly unkempt wings, with a curiously dry sound. She said, "Actually, they do have ears, but they see much better than they hear."

Siertes rolled her eyes, and Ka watched, adding, "She looks uncomfortable."

"You would be too if they taped your mouth shut." said Boodins, and Rai chided him. "Boodins, behave!"

"Oh, that's a perfectly reasonable observation." said the Aintar Boss. "Odd, that. I don't hear many perfectly reasonable observations- mostly I hear a lot of fluff and cackle, either I'm expected to fix something or it's the same old scheming. You'd think they'd learn. Who'd want this job? You're a strange bunch, aren't you? I don't see Nerre going around with other species as a rule, Resten aren't big travellers, and you really don't see Resten and Tompar in the same group very often. To their loss, I suspect. What brings you all here?"

"Oh, they're all right. Tompar, I mean." said Boodins.

Ka studied him, glancing briefly at Siertes. "Indeed. I think perhaps I could allow... Siertes, was it? ...her freedom, just while she's in here. She will have to at least look secured when she leaves, or others might panic."

"Oh!" said Dene. "Thank you so much!"

"You thank me? She's the one who should thank me. At any rate I expect the Resten is in more danger from her right now, so I should be fine. At worst I'll get a bit sick if she wipes her mouth on my branch. Release her!"

Ka fluttered over to another wooden bar and latched onto it with a firm claw-hold. Rai looked puzzled at her. "Why would Boodins be in danger? I mean, apart from general principles?"

Ka cocked her head. "When one expresses a validation, it's well to look at who is doing the validating and what makes them think they are entitled to do it. I ought to know that, it's probably three-fifths of the reason I'm Boss. I'd go, oh, very good, you should prevail in this dispute. I'd explain why. It would be accepted. Nobody would ask what made me the one to settle things, after a while, and I'd have to explain less and less. If I'd explained and only then passed judgement, I doubt anyone would have noticed..."

Dene was getting dizzy trying to follow the tangents of the avian Boss's discourse. "Siertes is mad at Boodins because he expressed a validation?" She removed the last tape from Siertes' mouth. The Tompar looked like she was going to spit, then thought better of it. Ka's eyes seemed to follow even Siertes' thoughts, and the Boss said "Thank you."

"He doesn't know better." said Siertes. "You get used to it. He's a good puppy, really."

"That's a generous viewpoint." said Ka. "I was expecting 'is!' from you. It appears each one of you are full of surprises."

"Oh, all right. Is! Thank you for unbinding me, you're right, I was uncomfortable."

"It's a marvel you're here at all. Why are you here?"

Ka didn't get a direct answer. She watched an interplay of complicated glances that somehow didn't produce a prompt reply, and her voice was amused as she suggested, "Let's try that again, a different way. Why aren't you here?"

Rai said, "I'm not going to work for that Voustrets creature."

Ka regarded him interestedly. "Did he want you to? He's a friend of mine, and I'd heard from him that there might be somebody coming..."

"Treat us as if we had just walked in off the street, 'aons."

"That would be difficult. This is an Aintar space settlement, there aren't any streets and you can't walk. How should I treat you?"

Rai paused, making a little trilling noise as he thought, and finally came up with, "As people who have no claim on your help but still wish it, 'aons."

Ka remarked, "I like that. Usually everyone tries to make me believe they have a claim on my help. You're saying it's up to me?"

"How could it be not?"

"Well then," said Ka, "what do you want from me?"

"How would you go about finding someone who was trying to hide on your worlds?"