Free Silent Dances by A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley Page B

, something happened , the data hiccuped or eroded somehow and old orders
    came through instead ." He shook his head . " You know the gove rn ment . Penny - wise , pound foolish."
    "What are we supposed to do without those new voders?" Meg fumed. " It took months to get them."
    "We'll contact StarBri dge ," Lau re n assured her. "We'll get new ones , don't wor ry. I'll tell Captain Stepp she c an go." Meg w an ted to scream.
    Tesa tapped her lightly again, distracting her. "The voders are gone ?"
    she asked.
    " Yes," Meg signed , and explained what had happened. Tesa frowned , then began rummaging around in her belt pouch.
    "Forget the voders," Bruce suggested. " Let's start this meeting over . This young lady ' s gonna think she got dumped into a crowd of rude
    techno-types. Nobody ' s even said hello." The gray - haired m an stepped forward , holding out his h an d.
    Tesa hesitated, then took it as he said softly , " How do you do, my
    darling ? I'm Bruce Carpenter , resident meteorologist an d
    xenoichthyologist . Hope you'll enjoy working with us."
    "Bruce," Lauren complained, rolling her eyes. "She's deaf! How much of that do you expect her to understand?"
    "I'll bet she's a champeon lip- re ader ," Bruce said. He gave the Indian woman a conspiratori al smile , which Tesa retu rn ed.
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    "Got a nice firm handshake , too. You ' re gonna be all ri ght."
    "I'd like to see anyone lip-read ` xenoichthyologist'! Hon estly, Bruce!"
    Tesa return ed Bruce ' s greeting in Grus, but then her face clouded . " I said , ` Hello, good flight,'" she asked Meg, "should it have been , ` Hello, good fishing'?"
    Meg nodded reassuringly as Bruce said, "Peter, come greet our new part
    ner."
    The tall black man stuck out his hand, smiling. "HOW ARE YOU, TESA?"
    Peter shouted.
    Embarrassed for him, Meg had a vivid memo ry of the hospital on
    Shassiszss and the human attendant who kept hollering at her , though
    she could hear nothing . Bruce murmured to the programmer.
    Peter lowered his voice, but still overenunciated every syl lable. "I am Pe-
    ter Woe-drang - o. How are you?"
    Tesa turn ed to Meg. "Please , tell them I ' ve studied with you, that I sign G ru s well. I'd rather they sign than speak." Meg realized with a sta rt how little she'd told Tesa about the crew. She'd been so busy briefing
    her on the project, the G ru s, the planet , she'd hardly mentioned the crew. Tell the truth , Margaritka . It made you think of Scott , so you avoided the subject . Meg hesitated before admitting , "They don't know how to sign G ru s ... Rob told me that you read lips , and that you spoke English and Miza ri. We all know English."
    Peter asked Meg, " Can she read lips?"
    "I read that even expert lip - readers can understand only twenty percent of what's said," Lauren told him, pushing back a stray curl. "You guys
    are just confusing her. You might as well give up." B ru ce gave her an
    offhanded glance.
    The doctor shook her head. " Meg, what were you thinking of? This place
    won't be ready for a StarB ri dge student for ten years! If then. We don ' t have time to baby-sit."
    Meg started to respond hotly but Tesa began signing. "I'm not comfort able
    speaking . After all the time they've been here, I thought they'd all sign Gru s."
    " What ' d she say?" B ru ce asked.
    Meg translated and the crew glanced uneasily at one another, except for Bru
    ce. "Looks like you caught us on that one," he said , his brown , friendly eyes never leaving Tesa ' s face.
    " Lea rn Grus ?" the doctor sno rt ed , glancing at Lauren. " That ' s what voders are for." Lauren nodded quick agreement.
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    "Tesa ," Meg said , signing at the same time , " they can get their Terran voders, or I can translate."
    The younger woman was clearly unhappy. "Can't we just go to Trinity?" she
    signed. Meg translated her signs to the crew . " It's been years since I've seen woods , or running water, or clouds. And I want to see the Grus.
    Please."
    "Ms. Sacajawea ' s in quite a rush ,