Free Spherical Harmonic by Catherine Asaro Page A

Hajune at my side. I wanted to ask J'chabi what he knew about me, but I didn't want him to see my disorientation. Outside, night had fallen, though it had been noon when Hajune and I entered this unnamed city. Discreet light panels set around the room softened the red light that poured in the windows, giving it a gold cast.
     
     
"Sorry I am," J'chabi finally began, his discomfort obvious. "Very sorry. But I must ask you to take a DNA test."
     
     
That came as no surprise. Mine was no small assertion. Impersonating the Ruby Pharaoh carried penalties, anything from imprisonment to execution, depending on the circumstances. But what would he do with proof of my identity? My genetic records were closely guarded. If a Shay native in the hinterlands had them, then either I or Imperial Space Command had provided the records, or else he had stolen them. I doubted ISC would have released such secured information.
     
     
"How know you my DNA?" I asked.
     
     
In a careful voice, he said, "Before I answer, I must do the test."
     
     
I rubbed my throbbing temples, pressing with my fingertips. Even aided by translation nodes, I struggled with the convoluted Shay grammar. The language had so many declensions, it took an entire mod to keep track of them.
     
     
Hajune glanced from me to J'chabi Na. "Why test?"
     
     
J'chabi didn't answer, he simply waited.
     
     
"How far is the starport from here?" I knew I hadn't said it right, but fatigue weighted my responses. It had been too long since I had eaten food that stayed down. The rapid change of day and night confused the diurnal clocks of my body, leaving me tired all the time.
     
     
"Say again?" J'chabi asked me.
     
     
"The starport. From here, how far is it?"
     
     
"The starport is closed."
     
     
My disquiet grew. I glanced at Hajune and he tilted his head to the right, a Shay gesture that indicated lack of knowledge. Turning back to J'chabi, I said, "Closed why?"
     
     
"The Traders, ****"
     
     
"The Traders destroyed the port?"
     
     
"Yes."
     
     
"Why?"
     
     
He spoke again, but I shook my head. Then, realizing he might not recognize the gesture, I tilted my head as Hajune had done.
     
     
J'chabi Na suddenly switched into Iotic, my native language. "One of our ISC squadrons engaged a pack of Trader ships that came into this star system. The ISC squad stopped the Trader attack on Opalite, but in the battle, the Traders destroyed our starport."
     
     
I stared at him. His fluency stunned me. Although he had a strong accent, his Iotic was otherwise perfect. Yet it took years to master, even with neural augmentation. Almost no one learned Iotic as a first language, only the Ruby Dynasty and the noble Houses. We were anachronisms in modern Skolia. People didn't usually know my language so well unless they were scholars of the classics or expected to interact with my family. His Iotic offered another reason to believe he was my contact, but it didn't tell me whether or not he had a connection to my difficulties. He guarded his mind well, obviously trained to build barriers against telepaths.
     
     
I spoke cautiously. "Did any of the Trader ships land?"
     
     
J'chabi shook his head, a gesture from my culture, not his. "One of their vessels crashed here, but we found no survivors."
     
     
I spoke quietly. "Some may have survived. At least four Razers are hiding in the forest."
     
     
He looked uncomfortable. "The ISC ships had to leave. They were needed elsewhere."
     
     
Hajune was watching us intently. He spoke in Shay. "Talk you what language?"
     
     
"Iotic," J'chabi said.
     
     
Hajune blinked. "I know it not."
     
     
I answered in Shay. "It is my tongue." I suspected Hajune had little or no formal education. Although few schools taught Iotic, it was almost impossible to study the history, cultures, or sociology of Skolia without learning about the language.
     
     
"What say you to J'chabi Na?" Hajune asked.
     
     
"I need a ship to go