“Yes, Mother.” Res managed to get her hand to relax a little.
The port was nothing like where they landed in t'Theria. The landing strip was clean and clear of booths. Humans in clean-suits wandered everywhere, intent on their own errands. The Getesaph, their pinkish grey skins startling after so many days surrounded by blue-grey t'Therian's, gathered on roofed walkways to stare at the huge, elongated shuttles, with their mirrored skins and stubby wings. Their conversations filled the clean, white buildings with a noise louder than the engines on the vans and the cars trundling around the shuttles.
Technically, this port and all its shiny new buildings belonged to the Humans. The Humans all thought Aunt Senejess was Mother, here on Human business, so in Human territory nothing could happen to them. So, she really had nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.
Aunt Senejess shepherded Res into the nearest building. It was a check-in station of some kind, or maybe registry was a more accurate description. Humans in all their shades of brown and beige stood in the middle of round information stations, surrounded by Getesaph five or six deep. Some Getesaph clustered around the automated information stations, pointing, and conferring with their sisters. More sat in the chairs or squatted in family groups on the floor with their bundles and their daughters. Some of them noticed Res and Aunt Senejess and glowered. Res's stomach flipped over. It turned over again as she realized that a father, no, two, no three, wandered between the Getesaph with their vague, empty faces and random gait.
“Don't stare, Daughter.” Aunt Senejess pulled her toward an empty comm station. “Show me how this Human machine works. I believe our quarters will be registered inside here.”
“Yes, Mother.” Res dropped her attention down to the blue screen and the keypad. The basic access instructions were printed in five different languages. A half dozen keystrokes and a retinal scan later, the address for Praeis Shin's quarters appeared in gold on the blue background. In the letter Aunt Senejess had written to Lynn, she'd said Resaime was coming with her, so Res could open all the locks and access the secure terminals. Aunt Senejess could not, however, since it was Praeis's retinal patterns in the database. Res had explained this to her aunt, who had praised her and been extra glad of her decision to bring Resaime along. Res wasn't sure if she really meant it, but it felt good when she said it.
Aunt Senejess read the address and squeezed her shoulder. Res blanked the screen.
“Now, here is a map.” Aunt Senejess led her over to the info board, with the port and its buildings traced out in four different colors.
“We're over here.” Res pointed to the dormitories marked in green.
“So we are,” agreed Aunt Senejess. “And the gathering point for those about to leave is here.” She laid a finger on a courtyard traced in purple. “And the Human administrative offices are here.” A budding drawn in blue. “And their quarters are here.” A dormitory marked in red. “Very clear, very convenient.” She looked the map up and down with great approval.
Res felt her ears twitch. “The Humans seem interested in making things easy for us.”
“I was just thinking the same thing, my Daughter.” Aunt Senejess patted her hand. “Well, let us get where we are supposed to be.”
The port buildings were all connected by long hallways that opened into large, curved gathering areas. Getesaph were everywhere. They walked down the hallways, they sat on the chairs in the lobbies with their bundles at their feet. They even sat on the floors in the hallways with their children on their shoulders or in their laps.
All eyes followed her and Aunt Senejess, but no one made a move. Res glanced overhead and saw the security cameras. Her brain expelled a huge sigh of relief.
Fathers roamed freely between them. Here and there, they knelt or stretched to touch some daughter or sister, or even a mother with children still clinging to her shoulders.
Even the fathers trained their wide, pale gaze on Resaime as she walked past.
“Why aren't they in their rooms?” whispered Res fiercely. “What are they all doing out here? The Humans will take care of their stuff. Why can't they just—”
“Shhh.” Aunt Senejess hooked her arm and picked up the pace just a little. “It is their way, Daughter.” The corridor branched ahead of them, and Aunt Senejess steered her down the right fork. “It does not, however, keep their soldiers from being deadly, nor does it render them deaf.”
Res clamped her mouth shut. I don't like this. I don't want to be here. What am I doing? Her ears started to droop, and she struggled to hold them upright. I didn't think it would be this bad. Her inner parts were ballooning so badly she thought they'd push her stomach up her throat. She smelted funny, or maybe it was just the father-scent clinging so tightly to her that was making it hard to breathe straight. She wanted to go home. She wanted Theia. She wanted …