excursion, Sutty had waited for him to show some attention to her or evidence of keeping an eye on her. She saw nothing of the kind. If he knew who she was, nothing in his demeanor showed it. He had been entirely silent and aloof, ate at the captain's table at meals, communicated only with his noter, and avoided the groups of talkers that she always joined.
Now he came to stand at the rail not far from her. She nodded and ignored him, which was what he had always appeared to want.
But he spoke, breaking the intense silence of the vast dusk landscape, where only the water murmured its resistance quietly and fiercely to the boat's prow and sides. "A dreary country," the Monitor said.
His voice roused a young eberdin tied to a stanchion nearby. It bleated softly, Ma-ma! and shook its head.
"Barren," the man said. "Backward. Are you interested in lovers' eyes?"
Ma-ma! said the little eberdin.
"Excuse me?" said Sutty.
"Lovers' eyes. Gems, jewels."
"Why are they called that?"
"Primitive fancy. Imagined resemblance." The man's glance crossed hers for a moment. In so far as she had thought anything about him at all, she had thought him stiff and dull, a little ego-crat. The cold keenness of his look surprised her.
"They're found along stream banks, in the high country. Only there," he said, pointing upstream, "and only on this planet. I take it some other interest brought you here."
He did know who she was, then. And from his manner, he wished her to know that he disapproved of her being on the loose, on her own.
"In the short time I've been on Aka, I've seen only Dovza City. I received permission to do some sightseeing."
"To go upriver," the man said with a tight pseudo-smile. He waited for more. She felt a pressure from him, an expectancy, as if he considered her accountable to him. She resisted.
He gazed at the purplish plains fading into night and then down at the water that seemed still to hold some transparency of light within it. He said, "Dovza is a land of beautiful scenery. Rich farmlands, prosperous industries, delightful resorts in the South Headwaters Range. Having seen nothing of that, why did you choose to visit this desert?"
"I come from a desert," Sutty said.
That shut him up for a bit.
"We know that Terra is a rich, progressive world." His voice was dark with disapproval.
"Some of my world is fertile. Much of it is still barren. We have misused it badly.... It's a whole world, Monitor. With room enough for a lot of variety. Just as here."
She heard the note of challenge in her voice.
"Yet you prefer barren places and backward methods of travel?"
This was not the exaggerated respect shown her by people in Dovza City, who had treated her as a fragile exotic that must be sheltered from reality. This was suspicion, distrust. He was telling her that aliens should not be allowed to wander about alone. The first xenophobia she'd met on Aka.
"I like boats," she said, with care, pleasantly. "And I find this country beautiful. Austere but beautiful. Don't you?"
"No," he said, an order. No disagreement allowed. The corporate, official voice.
"So what brings you up the river? Are you looking for lovers' eyes?" She spoke lightly, even a bit flirtily, allowing him to change tone and get out of the challenge-response mode if he wanted to.
He didn't. "Business," he said.
Vizdiat,
the ultimate Akan justification, the inarguable aim, the bottom line. "There are pockets of cultural fossilisation and recalcitrant reactionary activity in this area. I hope you have no intention of traveling out of town into the high country. Where education has not yet reached, the natives are brutal and dangerous. In so far as I have jurisdiction in this area, I must ask you to remain in touch with my office at all times, to report any evidence of illegal practices, and to inform us if you plan to travel."
"I appreciate your concern and shall endeavor to comply with your request," Sutty said, straight out of
Advanced Exercises
Now he came to stand at the rail not far from her. She nodded and ignored him, which was what he had always appeared to want.
But he spoke, breaking the intense silence of the vast dusk landscape, where only the water murmured its resistance quietly and fiercely to the boat's prow and sides. "A dreary country," the Monitor said.
His voice roused a young eberdin tied to a stanchion nearby. It bleated softly, Ma-ma! and shook its head.
"Barren," the man said. "Backward. Are you interested in lovers' eyes?"
Ma-ma! said the little eberdin.
"Excuse me?" said Sutty.
"Lovers' eyes. Gems, jewels."
"Why are they called that?"
"Primitive fancy. Imagined resemblance." The man's glance crossed hers for a moment. In so far as she had thought anything about him at all, she had thought him stiff and dull, a little ego-crat. The cold keenness of his look surprised her.
"They're found along stream banks, in the high country. Only there," he said, pointing upstream, "and only on this planet. I take it some other interest brought you here."
He did know who she was, then. And from his manner, he wished her to know that he disapproved of her being on the loose, on her own.
"In the short time I've been on Aka, I've seen only Dovza City. I received permission to do some sightseeing."
"To go upriver," the man said with a tight pseudo-smile. He waited for more. She felt a pressure from him, an expectancy, as if he considered her accountable to him. She resisted.
He gazed at the purplish plains fading into night and then down at the water that seemed still to hold some transparency of light within it. He said, "Dovza is a land of beautiful scenery. Rich farmlands, prosperous industries, delightful resorts in the South Headwaters Range. Having seen nothing of that, why did you choose to visit this desert?"
"I come from a desert," Sutty said.
That shut him up for a bit.
"We know that Terra is a rich, progressive world." His voice was dark with disapproval.
"Some of my world is fertile. Much of it is still barren. We have misused it badly.... It's a whole world, Monitor. With room enough for a lot of variety. Just as here."
She heard the note of challenge in her voice.
"Yet you prefer barren places and backward methods of travel?"
This was not the exaggerated respect shown her by people in Dovza City, who had treated her as a fragile exotic that must be sheltered from reality. This was suspicion, distrust. He was telling her that aliens should not be allowed to wander about alone. The first xenophobia she'd met on Aka.
"I like boats," she said, with care, pleasantly. "And I find this country beautiful. Austere but beautiful. Don't you?"
"No," he said, an order. No disagreement allowed. The corporate, official voice.
"So what brings you up the river? Are you looking for lovers' eyes?" She spoke lightly, even a bit flirtily, allowing him to change tone and get out of the challenge-response mode if he wanted to.
He didn't. "Business," he said.
Vizdiat,
the ultimate Akan justification, the inarguable aim, the bottom line. "There are pockets of cultural fossilisation and recalcitrant reactionary activity in this area. I hope you have no intention of traveling out of town into the high country. Where education has not yet reached, the natives are brutal and dangerous. In so far as I have jurisdiction in this area, I must ask you to remain in touch with my office at all times, to report any evidence of illegal practices, and to inform us if you plan to travel."
"I appreciate your concern and shall endeavor to comply with your request," Sutty said, straight out of
Advanced Exercises
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