Free Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster Page A

keep one's abilities a secret from a potential foe, no matter how unlikely the prospect of conflict might seem at the moment.
    So he did not offer to demonstrate the human ability to swim by going for a dip. Instead, he indicated the lumpy package that hung from a strap over Kiijeem's left shoulder.
    “Food and drink, as I promissed.” Setting the fabric container down, the young nye proceeded to unseal it. Some of the contents he passed to Flinx while keeping the rest for himself.
    The tidily prepared cubes and slabs had the look, smell, consistency, and taste of various kinds of meat. Flinx knew they had been grown in vast protein factories. Only a specialist could have told them from actual animal flesh. Dining on the latter had long since been a privilege reserved for those AAnn who had access to significant income. Kiijeem's family might be rich enough to afford real meat, but not to the point of allowing one of their offspring access to it for a casual midday meal.
    Flinx dug into the alien offering with gusto. AAnn food was better than liquid supplements, which was all that his suit could supply. Having been forced to survive on it many times in the course of the preceding couple of weeks, his system welcomed the change. Small doses of the metabolic supplements he swallowed every morning allowed him to assimilate even the most exotic components of local fare without damage to his stomach or intestines.
    Kiijeem looked on in amazement as the tall human downed cube after cube of local food. “Your teeth are flat and few are pointed. How can they prepare ssomething like
kolipk
for digesstion?”
    In between chews, Flinx pulled back his lips to reveal his teeth to his host. It was a physical feat the stiff-jawed AAnn could not duplicate. Kiijeem flinched at the sight.
    “See?” Flinx told him as he relaxed his mouth. “The front teeth are incisors. Flat, but designed for cutting. All AAnn teeth are like daggers, short and sharp. Those of my kind are more diverse. Some are like slicing blades, a few are like daggers, and most are evolved for grinding. Remember that we are omnivores and consume plant matter as well.” He resumed eating.
    Kiijeem performed a second-degree gesture of amazement. “Fasscinating. It is almosst as if the evolutionary process wass unssure which direction your biology sshould take.”
    “We often wonder about such things ourselves.” He gestured at a dark purple slab of protein. “Pass me another piece of that seared
hilthopk
, will you?” The youth complied.
    “How do you come to know sso much about our wayss, our food, our language?” Kiijeem asked him. “According to my sstudiess, humanss and AAnn rarely encounter one another except in the coursse of formalizing diplomatic or commercial exchangess.” He hesitated before adding, “And in battle.”
    Flinx let it slide. “I suppose you could say that I am a rare kind of human. I have a particular reason for being interested in all species. Including those with whom the Commonwealth government does not always get along. As a consequence I've spent an unusual amount of time in the company of other sentients—including your own kind. Most recently on a world called Jast.”
    “Jasst,” Kiijeem repeated. “I have heard of it. It hass not been prominent in my sstudiess.”
    “It's not an Imperial world,” Flinx informed him. “It's independent, though inclining more to the Imperial orbit than that of the Commonwealth. There are many of your kind working there.” Recent memories came flooding back. “I spent some time there. More than I anticipated. A lot of it was among artists of your species.”
    Kiijeem's reaction was reflexive.
“Pfssaact!
Some artisstss are importantin their way. Indusstrial dessignerss, for example. But mosst are weak and little more than a burden on ssociety. Art sshould be an adjunct to a true life. Thosse who choosse to do nothing but art are little more than parassitess. Humanx ssociety, if I