Home Again

18

Home Again

    As it turned out, the painfully slow journey home was uneventful. Well, apart from the fact that the Admiral had a fit of those humanoid things—oh, yes, hysterics—at the thought of Su having to go into stasis to get into collapsed space, so as Trff helpfully pointed out that it wasn’t necessary for beings to go into stasis, he ordered no stasis. With the predictable result of all sentient beings aboard except for the plasmo-blasted Loogher up-chucking painfully. Both times, yes, a mere matter of up-chucking wasn’t gonna deter the Admiral. Beg pardon, Leader Vt R’aam: he’d dropped the Admiral bit. Some time after he’d breezily dismissed the official PBTT pilot and sent the bewildered being home on extended leave and, since they’d bumped into S’zzie at the spaceport, ordered her to pilot the thing. Then, as soon as they were in hyperspace, summarily demoting her from Acting Captain to Co-Pilot and appointing Vt R’aam Thirty-Two as Captain.

    Was this technically Piracy in Federation Space? some beings were wondering at this point.

    “You see,” BrTl explained uneasily, “there’s something up, S’zzie.”

    S’zzie eyed him drily. “Yeah, got that, BrTl.”

    BrTl cleared his throat cautiously. “Uh—well, not sure if it’s Need-To-Know only, at this point, but, uh, better safe than sorry, eh?’

    “Yeah. Just tell me one thing: am I gonna see the two galaxies again?”

    BrTl repressed that strong urge to scratch a shoulder with a hind leg, the PBTT wasn’t as roomy as all that. “Well, uh—” He inadvertently met her eye. Blerrinbrig’s, you could tell she was one of Jhl’s cognates, all right! “No,” he admitted glumly.

    “Right.”

    “Um, New Whtyll’s all right,” he offered weakly. “O-breather. Nice green grass.”

    “Uh-huh.” BrTl was looking at her miserably, emanating glum embarrassment. Relenting, she said: “It’s all right, BrTl. I did pick up some scuttlebutt about the disaster on the Ku Mullan, but you know what Space Fleet scuttlebutt is, didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

    “No,” he said gratefully. “Well, that’s it, you see.”

    “Yeah. Don’t suppose there’ll be anything to do, once I get there, will there?”

    Yes, lots of things!

    S’zzie jumped. “Uh—thanks, Trff,” she said weakly. “Thought you were concentrating on the blobs?”

    It is. So is Vt R’aam Thirty-Two. Oh, it sees. No piloting, S’zzie. No, not even lifters.

    Trff, sent BrTl crossly, just get back to concentrating on your-its plasmo-blasted blobs, will you-it?

    It is. Oh—okay. You-it could ask Su about the humanoid things to do, S’zzie, it sent kindly. Trff out!

    “Trff out?” echoed BrTl feebly, rubbing his head. “Did it actually say that?”

    “Gone all Space Fleet. It’s been known to happen, with a load of sparf aboard,” replied S’zzie, extra-dry.

    BrTl looked at her gratefully. “Yeah, you’re right! Well, uh, time for a snack? Few grqwary legs? Couple of dozen nyr-meat sausages?”

    Smiling, S’zzie agreed cheerfully: “I could go a nyr-meat sausage at this juncture, yeah!”

    “This is it,” BrTl admitted, peering from a port. “It never was very big. Um, were you expecting, um, well, um, that we wouldn’t have to sit out on the tarmac like this, or, um... docking facilities?” he ended weakly.

    S’zzie peered at the unexciting view of the New Z’therabad spaceport. “Eh? No, not really. I have been on a few pioneer worlds. What are that lot? Customs or something?”

    He looked dubiously at the assorted vehicles and personnel that were approaching the ship. “Dunno, I’ve never actually arrived from deep space before. Been over to the other Third Galaxy planets, of course. We just nipped off, far’s I remember.”

    “Right, well, wait and see, I guess!” she said with a smile.

    “Ye-ah...” BrTl peered. “There’s something really odd,” he muttered.

    The hangar, BrTl!

    BrTl jumped. “Sorry!” he gasped, righting S’zzie with a pseudopod. “Oh, yeah, Trff’s hangar. Over there, see?”

    S’zzie peered. It was a hangar, all right, over to the far left. Large, grey—well, standard Service Issue hangar, yep. With some very large white lettering on its side. In Intergalactic—well, yeah, come to think of it, presumably they would use Intergalactic, here. “Alternative Energy Development (New Whtyll) Limited,” she read. “And?”

    “It never used to have that on it.”

    Presumably some being had decided to spruce it up, make it more Service Issue, or something. What was wrong with that? S’zzie looked at him limply.

    “It was Trff’s hangar,” said BrTl.

    She waited, but the it-being didn't send any mind-message.

    “Think it’s, um, doing post-flight blob checks or something,” he explained on a glum note. “I don’t even know what alternative energy means!”

    “Uh—well, don't think I do, either, but presumably it's what Trff does in there?”

    “No. It just did stuff with blobs.”

    “Oh! Look, BrTl, if I’ve finally got the right end of the ban-ban-ban, no being’ll be wasting its time doing anything much with blobs for the foreseeable future. They’ll have turned the hangar into, uh, something else. Hang on! I get it! Blobs have been our energy source for IG millennia, eh? They’ll be researching other sorts of energy! –Power,” she clarified weakly. “Um, well, to, uh, make things go,” she ended weakly.

    “Yes,” said Su cheerfully, coming up to them with the plasmo-blasted Loogher in tow.—BrTl gave it a jaundiced look: he still hadn’t forgiven the creature for being the only being aboard, with the exception of the po-goose, that hadn't up-chucked.—“Dad says that’s what it means.”

    BrTl cast a hunted look over his shoulder. “Where is he?”

    “In his cabin, sorting out space junk for Mum that she won’t want.”

    “Goddit. Next question: who are that lot out there?”

    Su peered. “Dunno! Customs?”

    That was as good as it was gonna get, apparently. BrTl repressed a sigh. “We might as well go and sit down in the passengers’ lounge. And if the recycler’s still working, a basin of qwlot wouldn’t go amiss at this point.”

    Su looked at him sympathetically. “I was expecting Mum to meet us, too.”

    “Yes. –Were you? –Yes,” he said glumly. She was holding out her paw so he shot out a pseudopod and held it tightly.

    “Ow,” said Su mildly.

    “Ooh, sorry!” BrTl relaxed his grip. “Do we even have Customs?” he said glumly as they headed for the lounge.

    “Um... The PBTTs have been coming for a while now, I suppose we must do.”

    “Yeah.”

    “BrTl, even New Qrbgg’s got Customs! Um, well, Exit Check and Entry Check, but they do check beings getting on and off ships!”

    “It’s mainly for the off-worlders, Su,” he said heavily.

    “Yeah, well, we’ve got off-worlders on board, eh? Friymanoids and so on.”

    “Yep, that’s who they’ll be for!” agreed S’zzie quickly. “Think this maxi-galaxy PBTT-type recycler’ll do a shot of nnru juice?”

    BrTl gulped. The senior cognate had expressly—expressly—forbidden any being to ask for— Oh, to Blerrinbrig’s with it! “Ask it.”

    It would, so they both had a shot and Su had a hot cotty with—defiantly—a double helping of qwlot in it. Still only a quarter of a normal S/IG shot, humanoid-size, but after all, it was the thought that counted, wasn’t it?

    They were New Whtyll Customs, all right. And Agriculture Inspection, and Quarantine Inspection. They went over every being, belonging and piece of space junk on board with their probes at the ready and their shades lowered. And then, just for good measure, they went over them again.

    B’x fever? offered Trff in a muddled way.

    “Blerrinbrig alone knows,” sighed BrTl.

    “I thought it was ‘The devil-dragons of Blerrinbrig’s alone know’?” said Dohra with a smile, coming to sit beside him.

    “Them as well,” he said, heavily. “Oh—hullo!” he said, coming to. “They’ve let you rejoin us, have they?”

    “Yes: apparently I’m not carrying whatever it was that Trff said!” replied Dohra with a laugh.

    “Er—no. You wouldn’t be. B’x fever. It’s getting mixed up. You have to be a b’x or a mok to get it—think it originates on Mklontia, actually. It makes them run round madly: where the expression ‘to run amok’ comes from. Far’s I know, humanoids and other life-forms can’t carry it. If you were carrying it, though, the whole planet’d have to be quarantined.”

     Other bovine quadrupeds as well, BrTl.

    BrTl didn't ask, he just sent: Yeah, yeah. What in the Asteroids of Hhum is you-it up to?

    Decommissioning the blobs.

    Huh? He knew what it meant when a ship was decommissioned, but he’d never heard the phrase applied to blobs, before.

    “It’s kind of putting them to sleep, I think,” said Dohra kindly. “—I get it. You’ve got grpplybeasts on New Whtyll, haven’t you?”

    “We did when I left, a megazillion, megazillion IG millennia ago—yes, Dohra,” he said heavily. “Why?’

   “They’re bovine qu—I mean,” she said quickly, “they can get b’x fever, too.”

    “Right! In that case, good on those Quarantine beings!” he said in horror as a vision of the rest of a xathpyroid lifetime without grpplybeast meat filled his dazed mind.

    “Yes. And the Agriculture beings,” she agreed. “They’re checking out Goosey, too. I know she’s C’T’rean, but she’s lived on Friyria for ages, of course.”

    “Uh-huh. And the pups?”

    Su looked anxiously at Dohra but the she didn’t even blink. “Yes, all the kids have to be checked: they’re friymanoids, you see, and the Quarantine beings are afraid they might be carrying Friyrian diseases.”

    “Yes, of course,” Su agreed in relief. “Um, though we have got quite a few friymanoids here.”

    “I think they’ll have tightened up the regs, Su, since we won’t have any medi-blobs or chemo-blobs to rely on,” put in S’zzie.

    That's right, S’zzie! Or restrainos! But don’t worry, Athlor’s got Jhl’s clones, it means ex-clones, to build some nice fences round the veggie garden!

    Judging by the stunned emanations now filling the passengers’ lounge, everybody had picked that up. “Um, yeah,” said BrTl on a weak note, not failing to look over his shoulder for signs of Leader Lord Y-K-W. “Trff did a bit of mucking around with, um, fence sort of things to keep the plasmo-blasted Looghers and rhoofers out of the vegetables not long before we left.”

    “So—so it is pretty much a pioneer world, then?” said S’zzie on a weak note. “I mean, Trff did say it was Aunty Jhl’s vegetable garden, didn’t it?”

    “Yes, but I wouldn’t say Mum and Dad’s house was pioneer anything, acksherly,” Su admitted. “But it is quite homey!” she added quickly, catching S’zzie’s picture of the Vt R’aam palace. “Just a big house with verandahs. Everybody’s got veggie gardens here. And fruit trees, you’ll see!”

    “Oh, good, the house looks a bit like ours!” cried Dohra in tremendous relief. “That’s a really lovely picture, Su! I do like the verandahs!”

    “Yes, they’re nice. Mum sits out there a lot. Me and Vt R’aam Thirty-Two often used to have breakfast out there when I was little,” she added on a wistful note.

    “That’s right, so we did!” agreed Vt R’aam Thirty-Two, coming in smiling. “Remember those lovely crisp fried flat-breads First Cook used to make for us?”

    “Yes,” said Su on a guilty note. “Well, at least they weren’t white wheat breads.”

    “No!” he agreed with a laugh. “Mn-mn juice,” he ordered the recycler.

    Nothing.

    “Um, perhaps it’s run out,” said Dohra. “It wouldn’t give me a raffleberry shake the other day.”

    Vt R’aam Thirty-Two rubbed his pointed Whtyllian chin. “Mm. –Feverfew tea, hot,” he ordered.

    Nothing.

    Those who had ordered the forbidden nnru juice from the thing were now eyeing it guiltily. Had they blobbed it out?

    No, he sent kindly. Its plasmo-blasted blob’s dying. Aloud he said: “I think its blob’s dying. Thank the Federation it’s no worse.”

    Everybody shuddered and nodded.

    He sat down next to Su on her flop couch, smiling a little. “And to answer the question that several beings are trying not to broadcast, those beings who’ve done Third-School Chemo, or, indeed, Academy Second-Year Chemo, could manage to reconstitute water from space rations, yes! But I’m very glad we didn’t need to.”

    “Yeah,” S’zzie agreed. “More especially since the two of you had to manage the plasmo-blasted blobs, sir.”

    “Absolutely! But not ‘sir’, please, S’zzie! You’re on New Whtyll now!” he said gaily.

    Certain beings present in the passengers’ lounge of the PBTT at this point were pretty nearly almost sure that the ex-clone had picked up the New Qrbggian xathpyroids’ phraseology and was using it deliberately. They eyed BrTl sideways and didn’t dare to comment.

    However, he merely said in tones of huge relief: “Yeah! Home at last, thank the Federation!”

    “Thank the Federation!” cried Jhl, hurling herself at her youngest daughter and bursting into tears on her shoulder.

    BrTl watched uneasily as water also immediately streamed from Su’s eyes. Shouldn’t they be jumping for joy or something? He could feel they were happy, so why the water-from-the-eyes thing?

    “Very, very happy, you intergalactic clown!” gasped Jhl, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. “Come here and bend down, or I’ll have to suck your neck-hair!”

    Dubiously BrTl bent down.

    Jhl gave him a smacking kiss on his hairy cheek and threw her arms around his neck.

    “Yeah, we thought we’d never see you again, too,” he allowed.

    She released him and stood back, smiling. “Mm! –Go on!” she beamed. –Look out, everyone!

    Forthwith BrTl emitted a xathpyroid hum. Fortunately they were standing on the tarmac of New Z’therabad’s spaceport, so there was plenty of atmosphere for it to dissipate in.

    When the echoes had stopped quivering and certain beings had cautiously removed their hands from their auditory organs Jhl was able to greet Vt R’aam Thirty-Two. Well, sort of. She held out her hands to him and the being immediately went down on one knee before her. BrTl could feel she was horribly disconcerted.

    “Get up,” she said in a choked voice.

    He didn't get up, he grabbed both her hands and kissed them.

    “Vt R’aam Thirty-Two, get—up!” choked Jhl.

    Federation! Not the water-from-the-eyes thing again? Yes, sure enough, it was pouring down her cheeks again—and, Asteroids of Hhum! Now he was doing it, too!

    Humanoids can’t do a xathpyroid hum, BrTl.

    BrTl jumped ten IG fluh where he stood. “Was that you?” he said feebly to Su.

    She nodded, smiling, and held out her p—hand. Feebly he took it in a pseudopod.

    “I sort of thought male humanoids didn't do that water-from-the-eyes stuff. I suppose I’ve got it wrong, as usual,” he said humbly.

    “Not really. They don’t do it very often, you see. Only when they’re very...” Su hesitated.

    “Very happy! I get it!” he said pleasedly.

    “Um, not exactly. Very... emotional.”

    Huh? He’d sort of thought emotional was a sort of, um, absolute. Okay, maybe not, for humanoids. “Whatever blobs you up.” –Jhl had now got the ex-clone to stand up and had thrown her arms around his neck.

    “Hugging,” murmured Su.

    “Mm? Oh. Yes: hugging. –She’s wondering where in the Asteroids of Hhum the senior cognate’s got to!” he hissed as Jhl ordered the ex-clone to call her Jhl instead of Mistress—which he just had called her—and he replied with a sudden smile: “I'm afraid I couldn’t possibly, my dearest Mistress!” Upon which, on top of the annoyed thought about the senior cognate, she emanated some very strange feelings indeed.

    “You can’t argue with him, Mum!” said Su gaily. “Though he has managed to call me Su! You don’t need to keep on telling him we can never repay him”—she just had been, mentally as well—“’cos he knows that’s how we all feel.”

    “Besides, my dearest Mistress,” said Vt R’aam Thirty-Two gently, “you’re my family, you know.”

    At which Jhl simply threw herself against his Whtyllian chest and cried and cried.

    “She’s all right,” said the ex-clone at last, patting her back. “Had to let it all out, you see.” –She really is all right, Commander BrTl!

    “Yes,” said Jhl, standing back and smiling. “Oh, thank you,” she said weakly as Vt R’aam Thirty-Two handed her a bunch of senso-tissues. She blew her nose hard. “We had to can the senso-tissue project—conserve the blobs.”

    “Yes, I can see that. Now, you must meet S’zzie.”

    Poor S’zzie had been standing by emanating eaves of embarrassment throughout the whole scene. She smiled weakly at her great-aunt. “Sorry, Aunty Jhl. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

    Jhl could see that BrTl had informed the poor being firmly she was a cognate and more or less dragged her off the ship with him, Su, and Vt R’aam Thirty-Two. “Of course you’re not intruding!” she said quickly. “You’re family, too! Come and give me a hug! And welcome to the Third Galaxy!”

    S’zzie came and hugged her. “Thanks,” she said gruffly.

    Jhl pecked her cheek. “And I apologize for plasmo-blasted Shank’yar,” she added grimly.

    “No!” she said with a startled laugh. “It’s okay! I mean,” she added awkwardly, “there wasn't anybody, really.”

    Jhl could see there had been: a New Rthfrdian businessman. Older than S’zzie, and bond-partnered to someone else, but nevertheless—

    “It was never gonna go anywhere, anyway,” S’zzie added gruffly.

    “That doesn’t excuse Shank’yar for ordering you rather than asking. Though I can see the fact that you’re a cognate was a factor!”

    “Yes,” agreed BrTl. “He had a mind-picture of her back when we first met her, when she had to wear the handy humanoid excreta-moppers and R’shn had to carry her.”

    Jhl smiled a little. “Mm. Getting sentimental in his old age. Well, I’m Vvlvanian-cursed sorry about the career, S’zzie, but it would’ve been down the moogletube in any case.”

    “Yes, I know. –Only what am I gonna do, Aunty Jhl?” she burst out. “Piloting a ship’s all I know!”

    Jhl made a face. “You and a few more of us. Don’t worry, we’ll look after you. There’ll be piles of admin stuff—well, there is already. Or you could always take up farming—help G’gg, if you like!” She smiled at her.

    “Um, yes. I don’t remember him,” she said awkwardly.

    “No, but he remembers you!” said Jhl with a laugh. “Well, remembers the conjunction of you and BrTl, to be exact!”

    They were getting a vivid picture of BrTl holding a very small S’zzie at arms’ length, meanwhile emanating disgust at the dampness of the handy humanoid excreta-moppers swathing the little girl’s bottom. In the lee of BrTl’s bulk an immature, gangly humanoid figure that was nevertheless recognisable as G’gg Smt Wong was laughing itself sick.

    “Mum, that’s not fair!” cried Su quickly. “She couldn’t help it if she was only little at the time; and BrTl wasn’t used to little kids, back then! –You can stay with us, S’zzie, there’s no hurry about deciding what you want to do. You need to get used to things, first.”

    “Yes, exactly,” agreed Vt R’aam Thirty-Two. “Don’t worry: the house has got plenty of spare rooms, if not strictly speaking Guest Rooms in the Federation sense! It’ll easily accommodate all of the passengers who came with us.”

    “Yes, ’course,” agreed Su. “—Dad’s down in the drive-chamber, Mum, sending poor Trff to Mullgon’ya, but we decided it wasn't worth the effort of trying to stop him.”

    “Quite!” Vt R’aam Thirty-Two agreed gaily. “But of course we can hoik him out of it, my dear Mistress, if you like.”

    “Um, yes,” said Jhl weakly. He’d taken her arm and she found she was leaning rather heavily on him. “Vt R’aam Thirty-Two, has he lost it?” she asked fearfully.

    “No, but he’s in what could fairly be called a tizz, so we left him to it, eh, Su?”

    “Yeah. He's been fussing over space-junk for ya, too, ever since we reached New Whtyll space. –See, Trff’s decommissioning the blobs, and it’s never done it before, and he reckons it needs his mind-powers as well. –It doesn’t,” she added quickly, “and it’s nothing like that do that you all had back in the two galaxies, when he lost all his mind-powers, so you can stop panicking!”

    Jhl smiled weakly. “I wasn't panicking, dear.”

    “You were starting to, I felt you,” replied her little daughter severely. “—Yeah, you did, too, eh, BrTl? It’s just what Vt R’aam Thirty-Two said, see? He's gone into a tizz.”

    “Right, well,” said Jhl with a mad laugh, “I can almost guarantee to hoik him out of it! Lead me to it!”

    The drive-chamber was empty, so the two of them must be down the drive. BrTl didn’t go into the chamber—there was room for him, but he wouldn't have been able to turn round with Jhl, Su and Vt R’aam Thirty-Two in there. –S’zzie had deputed herself to get the pets unloaded and gone off to their hold. As well as Phyoowella and the po-goose there was a pair of singing fish picked up by his Admiralness at the spaceport because, or such had been his claim, they had special long tails and were quite a different colour from the ones Jhl already had. It hadn't been worth the effort of arguing with him, the more so since the mass of the singing fish, even with their water, was virtually negligible in comparison to the mass of a PBTT. True, Brtelli had politely asked his Admiralness if he could bring a Kernarvian balloon aboard, in that case, but no-one but his Friyrian senior cognate had managed to work up a reproof. In fact BrTl had mentally awarded the being the Two Galaxies Star on the spot.

    “Down the drive, Jhl,” he prompted, peering in at them.

    “Yeah.” The drive’s hatch was closed. “I’m just feeling it. –Right!” She opened the hatch and bellowed, not bothering to send: “SHANK’YAR! Come out of there, ASAP!”

    Gee, guess what happened next? He came out of there. The drive wasn’t particularly large—well, PBTTs weren't very big—and it wasn’t designed to hold humanoids, so in fact he had to crawl out. To a xathpyroid this posture wouldn't have been embarrassing or indicated humility or submission or anything like that, but BrTl could feel quite plainly from the three humanoids in front of him that to humanoids it did. Hah, hah, hah. Oh, reduced him to the status of S’zzie back in the days of the handy humanoid excreta-moppers, did it? Jolly good!

    He-it’s aware of it too! Jolly good in quintupled 5-D triangles!

    Yeah! –How’s it going, Trff? he asked cautiously.

    Good. It’s nearly finished. It’ll be much quicker with that being hoiked out of it!

    BrTl wasn’t altogether surprised, but nevertheless he gulped.

    “Exactly,” agreed Jhl grimly. “Shank’yar, you’re an intergalactic nuisance!”

    He stood up unsteadily and the ex-clone hurriedly took his elbow.

    “Er—yes,” he said feebly. “—Thank you, dear boy. –Er, sorry, darling.”

    “SORRY?” she shouted. “When I haven't laid eyes on you for a megazillion light-years and I thought the vacuum-frozen PBTT was gonna reduce you to slime or the vacuum-frozen blobs ’ud all die and you’d never get back from the Vvlvanian-cursed two galaxies AT ALL?”

    “Yes, um—”

    “You are the ultimate end of the Universe, Shank’yar!” she screamed, bursting into a violent storm of sobs.

    “Oh, Federation,” he muttered. “Jhl— Now, stop it, darling, we’re all okay, and you sensed that we were when we were still a megazillion IG glps out, didn't you? Come along, no need to make a fuss in front of the children.”

    “FUSS?” screamed Jhl through her tears. “FUSS? I’ll give you fuss, in quintupled 5-D triangles, you mok-lover!” With this she took a swing at him.

    Unfortunately the being’s reflexes were still pretty good and he grabbed her arm neatly before her fist could connect with his face.

    “Hush,” he said, pulling her forcibly against him. “I’m okay—we’re all okay.”

    BrTl waited hopefully but she didn’t tell him where to put his okays, she just said “Slime,” and put her face against his shoulder.

    “Mm,” said Shank’yar in an odd voice.—Was it? Yes, both Su and the ex-clone had registered it was.—“Slime.”

    Great splintered shards of quog! The water was coming out of his eyes now!

    Yes, agreed Vt R’aam Thirty-Two, wiping the back of his hand across his own mammalian eyes. The being does truly love her, BrTl.

    Um, yeah, he agreed uncertainly. Very emotional?

    Very emotional, Vt R’aam Thirty-Two agreed, smiling.

    Yes! Su chimed in, holding out her paw. Very emotional, that’s it!

    All right, that was it. He shot out a longish pseudopod and let her hold it. He was just picking up the ex-clone’s suggestion that maybe they ought to leave the two bond-partners alone when Leader Vt R’aam looked up and said: “No, don’t go, BrTl.”

    Jhl looked round, smiling. “No, stay.” She held out her hand to Vt R’aam Thirty-Two. “You, too. We’re all family, aren't we?”

    Yes, all family! Like a cognate group, agreed Trff, suddenly popping out of the drive. Figuratively speaking, BrTl.

    He had actually got that, thanks!

    “Yes, hullo again, Jhl,” it was agreeing.

    Jhl smiled shakily. “Hullo, Trff.

    “It sees, different from a mind-greeting for humanoids.”

    “Yes, very different.” Shank’yar now had both arms round her waist. She held out her free hand to Trff. “Trff,” she said unsteadily, “you know I can never thank you enough for rescuing Su and—and bringing everyone home safe from the two galaxies.”

    “Yes,” it agreed, obligingly putting a tentacle in her hand. “Oh. It sees. You-it needs to say it. That’s all right, Jhl, it would have done it anyway, even without the senior cognate ordering it. –No, it’s all right, BrTl, he-it knows that,” it added quickly.

    “Yes,” said Shank’yar, smiling a little. “He-it does.”

    “Nevertheless, Trff,” said Jhl, squeezing its tentacle very gently, “thank you very, very much.”

    “That’s all right, Jhl. It’s got used to you-it and BrTl and Su.”

    There was a short silence and then Shank’yar Vt R’aam ventured: “I think it means—”

    “We know what it means, you intergalactic blob-head!” said his bond-partner with a mad laugh.

    “Yeah,” agreed Su sturdily. “We love you-it, too, Trff!”

    “Love,” it echoed vaguely. “Oh—yes. In yours-its terms, certainly, Su.”

    While she was still beaming happily at it, it added vaguely: “Blrtlberry shakes?”

    “Um—sorry!” gasped Su, turning puce. “It bought me one once, on Booj’lly, you see, Mum, and, um, I did say it was the best shake I’d ever had and I loved it, but—”

    “Figure of speech, Trff,” said Jhl briskly. “She was speaking figuratively. Goddit?”

    “Goddit, Captain!” it agreed, with a wobbly salute.

    BrTl swallowed. “I think it’s a bit tired, after all that decommissioning mok shit. Not to mention— No, Federation, it made us all promise not to mention it. Go on, Trff, tell her.” He emanated impressions of now-ishness, as best he could.

    “All right, it will. You-it only thinks it’s wearing its FW pack, Jhl, see?”

    She gasped as its FW pack disappeared. “Trff—!”

    “It doesn’t need it, because it’s o-breather now!” it assured her proudly.

    “We dunno how it did it, but apparently it had time on its appendages once we were in collapsed space,” BrTl elaborated. “—Federation, don’t do the water-from-the-eyes thing again, Jhl, it’s breathing good!”

    “Yes,” agreed Shank’yar. “Hush, darling. It wanted to surprise you.”

    “I—was—sure—” sobbed Jhl.

    “We know,” he said, hugging her. “Asteroids of Hhum,” he muttered, as she continued to sob. “Er—can’t you stop her, my boy?” he said desperately to his former clone.

    Vt R’aam Thirty-Two’s mobile mouth twitched just a little. “Not within my powers, sir, but I do have some senso-tissues, here.” A bunch floated out of his pocket as he spoke, and he released Su’s hand and held them out to Jhl.

    “Very emotional,” said Trff uncertainly. “You-it can stop saving up blobs for it, Jhl, it won’t need them, now! And its nest doesn’t need blobs, you-it does know that, remember? –She-it does remember,” it assured them anxiously.

    “I’m all right,” said Jhl blearily, mopping her eyes. “Sorry. It was the plasmo-blasted Guest Room: I cuh-couldn’t get it to—”

    “Yes. Hush,” said her bond-partner firmly, hugging her. “We can all see that.”

    “Yes,” agreed Su. “But it’s all right, now, Mum: cheer up! Trff can just have an ordinary bedroom.”

    Jhl blew her nose hard. “Mm. Good.”

    Su beamed reassuringly at her. “Yeah! And ya needn’t worry so much about the blobs—like, in general, I mean; ’cos acksherly, it won’t make all that much difference, will it? I mean,” she said, as her mother goggled at her, “not to ordinary beings like me that never did much with blobs anyway. I s’pose First Cook Kadry’ll miss her culture-pans, but she likes using her grill and her big pot over the fire, doesn’t she? And her grilled flat-breads are much nicer than the culture-pan bread, anyway. –No, Trff, it won’t make much difference to the shakes—not blrtlberries here, ’member? Kinkerberries! Yeah, and we do grow raffleberries, that’s it, you goddit!” she said happily as a vivid mental picture of the solid First Cook Kadry vigorously shaking a lidded tube and then pouring a foaming shake from same appeared before all the humanoid and xathpyroid minds present. “Are you feeling okay, now, Mum? Good! Come on, you gotta meet Dohra and her family, and then let’s go home, eh? –That’s right, Trff, you hold Mum’s hand and she can hold Dad’s. –Don’t walk too fast for it, Dad, ’member it’s only a small being, not to be anything-ist. –Go on, BrTl, lead the way: we’re coming!”

    And with that she competently shepherded them all off.

Next chapter:

https://theadmirableclone-sf.blogspot.com/2023/11/settling-in.html