Read The End of the Matter for Free Online

dignity.
    The crowd started to disperse. Apparently the alien act was the last for the afternoon at this location. Flinx sauntered casually backstage, where he found the trainer counting his money and inspecting his few props. Almost at once, the man grew aware of Flinx’s attention and looked up sharply. On seeing that it was only a youth, he relaxed.
    “What do you want, youngling?” he inquired brusquely.
    “We have something in common, sir.”
    “I can’t imagine what.”
    ‘We both train aliens.” Pip moved suddenly on Flinx’s shoulder, showing bright colors in the cloud-filtered light. The man frowned, and squinted as he peered close.
    “I don’t recognize your pet, boy.”
    Whoever this fellow was, Flinx thought, he wasn’t well traveled or informed. Minidrags were not common, but their reputation far exceeded their numbers. Yet this man obviously didn’t know one when he saw one.
    Flinx found his attention shifting to the alien, which stood patiently to one side, muttering rhythmically to itself in some unknown language. “In any case,” he explained, “I’m curious about
your
pet. I’ve never seen anything like him.” To make conversation, he went on, “Where did you get its name from?”
    Flinx’s politeness disarmed the man a little. “It came with the poor dumb monster,” he explained, exhibiting more sympathy than Flinx would have suspected of him. “I bought it from an animal dealer who thought it no more than that. But the creature has some kind of intelligence. It can speak as well as you or I, and in many languages. But in none of ‘em does it make sense. Oh, Ab’s quite mad, it is, but he can learn. Slowly, but enough to serve in the act.” He smiled, now filled with pride. “I was smart enough to recognize his uniqueness. No one else has ever been able to identify Ab’s species either, boy. I hope it’s a long-lived one, though, since this one’s irreplaceable.
    “Far as the name goes, that’s kind of a funny tale. Only time he’s ever made sense.” He frowned. “I was trying to decide what to call ‘im when he gave out with one of his crazy ramblings.” He turned and eyed the alien. One egg-yolk eye watched him while the other three operated independently. Flinx considered that a creature capable of looking in four directions at once must have a mind of considerable complexity, simply to monitor such a flood of neural responses.
    “What’s your name, idiot,” the trainer asked, pronouncing the words slow and careful. “Name!”
    “Mana, Orix, Gelmp nor Panda,” the liquid tones ventured promptly, “my name is Abalamahalamatandra.”
    While the creature continued to mumble on in verse, the man looked back at Flinx. “Easy to see why I call ‘im Ab, hey?” he bent over and wiped at his muddy boots. “Dealer I bought him from had no clue to his species. Just assured me he was docile and friendly, which he is.”
    “It’s remarkable,” Flinx observed, flattering the man as he studied the blue-and-green lump, “that as mad as Ab is, you’ve managed to teach him so much.”
    “Told you, boy, all I’ve taught Ab are the rules of the act. He’s a mind of his own, of sorts. I said he can talk in many tongues, didn’t I?” Flinx nodded. “Terranglo and symbospeech are just two of ‘em. Every once in a while Ab gives me a start when I think he’s said something almost sensible.” He shrugged. “Then when I try to follow it up he goes on blabbin’ about the taste of the sky or the color of air or stuff I can’t make any sense of whatsoever. You’re curious about ‘im, are you? Go over and say hello, then.”
    “You’re sure it’s all right?”
    “I said he was friendly, boy. In any case, he’s got no teeth.”
    Flinx approached the alien tentatively. The creature observed his approach with two eyes, which crossed as he neared. Flinx smiled in spite of himself. Experimentally, he extended a hand as if to shake the alien’s.
    Two eyes dipped