“It might be seen as a sign of aggression. We really don’t know that much about them, Vee.” Josh was trying to be reasonable. He was even succeeding, but Vee wasn’t in the mood for reason right now.
“We know a little. We know they’re ready to talk.” She pressed her fingertips against the tabletop. “We know they have a hierarchical social infrastructure, and we know they really want to settle this planet because their own is in trouble.” She met his gaze. “Personally, I think it’d be a bad idea for all concerned to let them talk too much about that in private.”
Josh watched her thoughtfully for a long moment. “Plus, you’re bored, right?”
She smiled her patented number-fourteen vapid smile. “You know me so well.”
“Mmmph,” snorted Josh, exaggeratedly unimpressed. “Unfortunately, I’m not the one you have to convince. Adrian!” he called up the corridor to the pilot’s compartment. “You hearing any of this?”
“I’m trying not to,” Adrian called back.
“All I’m suggesting”—Vee stepped into the aisle where she could see Josh at the table and Adrian crouched in front of the pilot’s chair, checking the inventory in one of the storage cupboards—“is that we fly in, showing that we are in fact still here, and come back. It’s just to start things up again.” God knew they weren’t having any luck appealing to Venera. Supposedly Helen was talking to the C.A.C. today, but no one upstairs seemed to be willing to tell them how that was going, if it had happened yet. That, even more than the empty perches outside, was making Vee nervous.
“Look,” Adrian straightened up. “I’m not sure I want things to start up again, all right? I’m even less sure I want to have to explain to the governing board that I helped start them.”
“Dr. Failia’s last orders to us were keep them talking,” Vee pointed out. “We’re currently failing in that assignment.”
From his face, Vee could tell she’d scored a hit. “I don’t think going into their camp was part of what she had in mind,” said Adrian.
“Keep them talking,” repeated Vee. “Which we currently are not doing.” She folded her arms. “If the U.N. wants to know what our current status is, what are we going to tell them?”
Adrian’s shoulders sagged. He looked past Vee to Josh. Josh shrugged. “I almost hate to say this, but she’s right. If we have to give an update, it’s going to be lean.”
Adrian turned away and carefully slotted his inventory roll into its rack. When he faced them again, his expression was grim. He was remembering the crash, Vee was sure. He was remembering the aliens carrying away the body of copilot Bailey Heathe. They still didn’t know why. Vee had been reluctant to ask the question. Okay, Vee had been afraid to ask the question. She wanted the aliens to be…good people, understandable people. She’d been unwilling to compromise the image she was building in her mind.
Going to have to get over that and fast, Vee, she told herself. Or you are going to be no good to anybody.
“If we do this,” Adrian said, laying the emphasis heavily on the first word, “we do this quickly. We go in, we fly a couple of circles to let them know we’re still around, and we come back. That’s it. Okay?”
Vee nodded soberly, covering her private triumph. Finally! Something to do besides sitting around and watching the world blow by.
“I’ll go inform Sheila of our new assignment.” Adrian slid past Vee, heading for the rear of the scarab. Sheila had probably heard every word and decided to keep out of it, something she was very good at. Vee hadn’t been able to get more than two words out of the woman since they’d dropped down. Vee suspected she was withdrawing from the utter strangeness of what was happening around her, which Vee could understand intellectually but not emotionally. How could you not want to know everything there was about the People? How could you not want to find a way to make friends?
Especially since it sounded like they were determined to be neighbors.
Had anybody else thought about that? Everyone had seen the transcripts of all the conversations, but had they really thought about it? The People were coming. No, they were here, and they were here to stay. They planned to transform Venus. Had anybody really thought about what that meant?
Adrian came back up the aisle followed by Sheila, her mouth pressed into a thin, straight line. Another thing she wasn’t happy about. Vee turned to Josh, who just shrugged again, as if to say, “It was your idea.”
I’ll buy her a coffee when we get back. It seemed to be the official beverage of Venera.