Herdyyyatth bowed and where his six neon yellow arms came together was a star-shaped opening, which smiled. “Hello! I am Herdyyyath! You may call me Herdy as Molly does, everyone! In this future I didn’t get hurt as badly and I learned from my wife Siadiasly how to be polite as she is.” When we stood from our bows, he stood upright and towered above us. Zbbat are about 12 feet tall!
“Hi, Herdy!” I stuck out my hand for a handshake. “I’m Kia, Governess of Biehshah Ye~.”
He shook my hand with a tentacle. Each of his six arms had six fingers, and one of them gave me a firm, but not too firm, handshake. His skin felt a lot tougher than mine, like stiff leather. “Happy to meet you! I helped you in several healings when you needed extra energy.”
Oh, yeah! He came with Molly. But he was very rude and called us stupid in his high-pitched, frenetic babble! This one spoke at our speed and had a deep voice. A very polite tone. Like a different Zbbat!
Another, deep green being hopped from bare spot to bare spot at lightning speed on two giant legs with elephant toes! So fast, I didn’t see him coming. Spotted him out of the corner of my eye and by the time I turned my head, he’s here! “I am Myenhharhh! Hello!”
The voice kind of confused me because he waved his arms around as he spoke. I finally traced it to his hand-mouths, like stereo!”
“Myen, it might help them if you use one hand. Don’t sign to them. They don’t know Esteerrian, my friend.”
“This is harder for me! I got hurt as a slave. I’m better after I saw a healer in Esteerr Ye~, but I was never a diplomat, I was an herb trader.” His left mouth spoke this time, but without facial expressions, it was hard to figure him out. But then I looked at his basketball-sized eyes. They were amber, a very pretty color, and his eyelids scrunched.
Ir beat me to the handshake. “I am Irdaktin, Governor Of Biehshah. Pleased to meet you.” He offered his hand.
Myenhharrh patted it with his chin. “Pleased to meet you, Ir-uh—”
My husband smiled. “You may call me Ir, if that is easier. Or should I talk to you in Esteerrian?”
“Ir. No, English is fine. If we talked in Esteerrian, I might need a nap! My healer is not through with me. This mental fighting is hard! I’m directing ten traders to get things for Pirad, so forgive me if I seem distracted.” He groaned like someone lifting a crate.
I reached for his hand, too, and he froze. “Careful! My teeth are sharp! Herdy didn’t teach me healing yet—”
“And, I won’t! Let her touch you and she won’t need healing.” He sounded a bit impatient.
“Do you have to be rude? Esteerrians are more polite—”
“Who can be polite while fighting a war? All of us are warriors!”
“Well, some Esteerrians are traders, and if you are rude, you lose trade!”
“Elshars are always rude, and I still trade with them. I am very good at insults!”
They did a lot of arm-waving so I think they were talking that way, too. Ir didn’t share any of it with me, but his bronze skin got yellow. “Friends, let us not argue—”
“I didn’t start it, he did! I like talking to Zbbat women better!”
“If you talk to my wife again, I will challenge you!”
“I am not interested in taking your wife away! While waiting nearly a day for you, she offered me a snack and had questions about Esteerrian trades.” His eyes looked up with tight lower eyelids. I almost laughed at the way he threw his arms up! “See? She understands that gesture!” He chuckled with his left hand-mouth.
Herdy gave a loud sigh and a tree above us dropped fruit! He caught six of the head-sized fruits before they could hit us. “Oops! I have to remember those. Who’s hungry?”
That teen girl ran up before her parents could grab her arms. Smiled. “Hi, I’m Lee! Remember me, Herdy? You taught me an Elshar dance for a boy I liked. I wish he was here!”
“Oh, I remember you, Lee! Here you go.” He gave her three. “Your parents might enjoy these, too. You missed ‘em a lot in Rainbow.”
She sighed. “I sure did! You taught me to appreciate them more. Now we talk, and I’m sure glad we do! Thanks, Herdy!” She took the three and went back to her family. Others took the other two.
“If you want some, there are plenty now.” Ir smiled at him.
“Thank you, don’t mind if I do!” He reached up and grabbed some that looked ready to fall, that were pink with brown blotches. Dropped them in the top of him. “Mmm! Thank you!” He gave several that looked bluish, underripe ones, to Myenhharhh.
The Esteerrian ate with his right hand while talking with his left. “Thank you very much! Mmmmm. So sweet and good!” When he finished, he made the left hand-mouth smile. It had very pointed teeth.
We drank sassmilk.
Ryonne~ and Dromie walked to us. Dromie was munching on berries and some leaves. “Are these good for humans? I’d like to send some to Granny’s family.”
Ryonne~ didn’t look happy. “I am most sorry, but Wslarc forbids any trade with your new world.”
“It’s not fair that he exiled them! All they did was be friends with me!” His huge blue eyes filled with tears and he wiped one with the back of his three-fingered hand. Gnarly fingers with long fingernails.
“If he would allow, I send foods quickly! Have they enough?”
“I don’t know! I think I gave them enough to last this long, but how much do Earthans eat?”
He frowned, but his orange eyes went huge! “You ne knew when you provided for them?”
He looked down and scraped at the lavender sand with a three-toed foot. “I made a street with houses and fixed up Granny’s house like she wanted. I put food in her refrigerator from her memories. But I thought your people would send food if she needed it! You’re Ry’nao’s helper. You can try to contact her, right?” His eager eyes watched the taller man, who bent to speak with him.
“I can ne contact them because they are exiled by Wslarc. Can you speak with Wslarc?”
Dromie trembled. “If he knows I am here, he will be angry. I’m supposed to be on Lisbaar, but it blew up! He thinks I died. He won’t let Granny’s people starve, will he?”
“I can ne know, my friend. If you are ne to be here, you must leave!”
“I can’t leave now! We are fighting Rentappenen and my people are on all of his worlds. He said not to bring my people back, but if I hadn’t, I couldn’t fight and win. I needed my people, Ryee.
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“They found all your missing people and hid them. If you think I should call them back and kill them, I will, but we will lose. Should I bring them here?”
He looked sad. “Dromie, I can ne keep them here if Wslarc says you are exiled from Alb!”
“But, this is your world! You are king!” Dromie spread his arms out wide.
“Ea, but I am loyal to Ry’nao, who ne trusts you. And, to Wslarc, who is our Councillor. But, I have ne contact with him, so I can ne know his wishes concerning your help. If he ne approves of your presence here, I must ask that you leave us.”
Dromie cried. “Nobody wants us! The world Pirad gave us is a barren rock! If we can’t import food, we will all starve! Granny’s old, and her whole family had to move from place to place on Earth because people hated them, because they have brown skin. But, she loves me. I’m fighting this war again, for her and my new family, and when I brought my father back, he forgave me for killing him. Granny told me love is important. Isn’t love important to you and your people? Won’t you love Granny and her family enough to send her food?” He brought both hands over his heart. “I love Granny and I don’t want my family to starve!”
Ryonne~ held out his arms and wept as he hugged him. “Eja fe ne! I wish I could talk to Wslarc. I would ask him to have mercy on all of you. But I am bound by the rules of the Alliance and the Unified. Ry’nao can ne advise me for he fights. I have ne power to help you, Dromie. All of my comfort, I give to you, for I do have love for your people, your Earthan family, and for you. Please, be calm. You grow cold!” He waved and held a white cloth, which he used to wipe Dromie’s eyes and nose. “Do you know of Father Of All and how he loves us?”
Dromie shook his head. “Who is he?”
“He is father to all who live. To us, He appears Zheien. I think, to you, He would appear your size and shape. His son Melchizedek walked with us and taught us when he created us. Do you have memory of He Who Created your species?”
The goblin frowned. “We were created by the Guaspesi as weapons. We had no thoughts, emotions, or bodies like this. Whomever held us used us to kill.
“But, a scientist transformed us into a new species. He told us to go and kill. Gave us war skills so no one had to control us. At first, we killed his targets.
“Rentappenen told us to kill the Guaspesi or he would enslave us. Kaswpas, who made us people, told us to fight him. But we saw that he was stronger than Guaspesi, a lot stronger. So we fought for Rentappenen.
“After we defeated the galaxies of Guaspesi and their friends, Rentappenen made us slaves. Father led a revolt. He learned revolt from a friend who died. But father wanted to enslave people who wanted to enslave us. I was defective when I was born. My own father threw me in a waste rock heap.
“Rentappenen told me he would make me powerful if I killed my father and became king. But I didn’t feel powerful. Rentappenen still controlled me and my rank wasn’t higher. I and my people were still slaves. We didn’t think much. Someone always had to control us. My father told me to kill the rest of us as he died, so Rentappenen wouldn’t use us any more. I made a leak in the chemicals they process Tessite with. People in the mine knew about that and hated me. No one there talked to me.” He sighed and laid his head on Ryonne~’s broad chest.
“So I traveled with Rentappenen and he sent me to Earth with Serenappenen, his brother. He told me, ‘My brother is a fool. I made a copy of his Cube Of Many Colors. Our genetics are similar enough, I can use his Cube when he sleeps. Help me destroy his friends.’ I was angry. But, when I destroyed his friends, I also killed people in his Collective, and Serenappenen’s, without them knowing about it. I planned to kill him.”
Dromie looked up at the stars. “Earth was pretty. Working for Serenappenen, I walked on the street and watched people. I never visited a world before I destroyed it and I just directed weapons to collect resources. I had never spoken with anyone but Rentappenen, just briefly.
“Serenappenen talked about how he hated his brother, how jealous he was of him, and how he wanted to see him suffer. But he also talked about Greg Wenh Cet and how he led a revolt with slaves. He analyzed what Greg did to the servers on Ctral and how he directed slaves to load ships, then take them over and fly to Alliance worlds. What to do there. He couldn’t figure out how Greg knew these things. He wanted me to do that for him.
“Because Greg lived as an Earthan, I changed my form to Earthan and posed as a student. Someone was reading a fantasy novel when they were supposed to be studying, so I copied it and read it. Of course, it didn’t make sense. But the goblins in the book looked like me.
“I noticed children and thought I’d take the form of a toy in my real form. Children speak simply. They can help me learn what this people wants so I can promise them things. I made noises like the book described when people picked me up at times. It made them laugh, like the goblin in the book. Then I got messy like the goblins in the book and put myself in a store for used things.
“A man picked me up and bought me for his daughter. ‘Oh, I’d love to see Gwen’s face when I give Luna you! But Luna will love you. She’s like a dog you kick and she always comes back.’
Soon, we went to an apartment and people were there. I heard them through the brown paper he put around me.
I stood on something a long time. But I felt small hands and they tore the paper. “Oh, hi! My name’s Luna. I’m named for the Moon!”
Luna carried me around. Showed me to people. “This is Granny. Say hi to my new friend, Granny!”
“Ewee, dat thing’s ugly! I can say hi from over there!” Granny pointed and Luna took me off her lap. It was soft. She had a big body and wrinkles. Silver hair. Like others in the mine, she didn’t like me.
“This is Mama! Say hi, Mama!”
“Get that thing away from me! How old is that, anyway? Looks like it’s been in someone’s yard for ages!”
“He’s old ‘an wise, like that short fella in the movie!”
“Uh huh. You just take it away from me!”
But Luna talked to me like Serenappenen did. Except she smiled. She kept me in her arms or put me on a pillow and covered me with a blanket. “I love you. What’s your name?”
I made my scary noise. She didn’t like that. “Oh, that’s not a name! You don’t have to be scary ‘round me. Just be my friend, okay?”
“Okay.”
She hugged me and kept a blanket around me. Showed me things and named them. I guess that’s how she was taught.
“Mama, can we get the telescope out tonight? I wanna show my new friend what stars look like.”
The lady sighed. “Since it’s your birthday, all right. Granny’ll have to show me how, though. Let’s see if she feels like it.”
Granny looked happy. She told the lady how to put it together, then the lady took it on the porch. Granny had trouble walking and used a metal thing.
“That’s Granny’s walker. It gives her something to lean on as she walks. Her legs don’t work too good.”
She laughed and smiled at Luna. I wanted her to smile at me like that, so I didn’t make my goblin noise. “At least I can still move. Glad your daddy had to work tonight.”
“He didn’t go to work. He’s having something to drink with his buddies. I want some!”
Her mother frowned. “You don’t want any of that! It’s not ice cream sodas or milk shakes. It smells like your cough medicine when you got sick last month.”
“Ewww, I don’t want that! Why would anybody drink something that tastes that bad?”
“Oh, he likes the way it tastes because he got used to it. You wouldn’t like it. He used to like takin’ me out. He says I got fat.” Her bottom lip quivered.
“You’re not fat, Mama! Daddy’s just in one o’ his moods.”
“It’s a permanent mood. I swear—”
“Let’s hurry, Gwen. How about Andromeda, Luna? I can find that in a jiffy!”
“‘Dromeda! Yay! I love lookin’ at galaxies far away! That’s it! I’m gonna call ya Dromie! Wanna see somethin’ purty? Andromeda’s purty. Look at all those stars up there. I wanna see ‘em someday.” She held me so my face pointed up. I never saw what stars looked like. I knew some of them had planets with people. But, for the first time in my life, I stood on a planet and looked at a dark sky with points of light. I knew every one. Some were empty star systems and I piloted ships to the worlds, to divide their resources and carry them to other worlds. Others were inhabited, but I didn’t act differently.
The beauty of it through Granny’s telescope touched me. Here’s a galaxy of star systems, like ours and not like ours, in a spiral galaxy very like ours. Dromie sighed.
“I saw things differently that day. Granny and her people talked, and I learned. But when Luna gave me to Granny, and Gwen left me with her to go work, I saw that even helpless people have worth. When I revealed myself, at first, she was scared. But when I told her about myself and what my people did, she told me I should fight, even if I died doing that.”
He hugged himself. “She had love for all those galaxies of people she never met. Now, I love them, too. Granny taught me to love. I taught my father and my people to love. My father forgave me for killing him, but he apologized to me for throwing me away, because Granny said I should love him.
“Now, I know what love is. Do you believe me?” His blue eyes got wide as he looked at Ryonne~.
He told Dromie about the Zheien Religion and how he prays for guidance and talks with the Yeff Prophet, Peri. “We believe that all can repent and be good. Do you regret all the bad things you did while you served Rentappenen?”
Dromie looked down. “Yes, and I brought them all back and apologized to them. I’m sorry I killed people. But, Granny said in war, sometimes you have to kill people and God forgives you. Will he?”