If Ito or his generals wished for more open communication, they would have to offer more than interesting discussion of culture. She wanted to know how they would react in a dangerous situation, such as if the Imshee were to search for Earth. Rownt were divided on how they would react to a potential war between the two, although most ship Rownt agreed they would seek to take children and unattached palteia from areas of danger. Humans and Imshee were both too aggressive in their pursuit of fighting. Even when Rownt towns destroyed each other, the children were taken in and protected by the winners. No Rownt trusted either species to act reasonably toward the children.
Ito took a deep breath and put his bowl down in front of him. “I think humans are terrified of dealing with another alien species. It didn’t end well with the Anla, and we thought we were managing that relationship well. Then we thought the Rownt were less developed and saw you as a relatively safe species to engage, and you flew a terrifyingly large space ship into our home system. You can see why my people would like to avoid another alien species right now.”
“That is wise.”
“When I asked about Rownt culture, your answer was less than complete, I believe.” Ito studied his tea bowl.
“It was,” she admitted. She had followed Liam’s lead this far, so to change course would cost her any potential profits. “We do have regional differences. The Rownt who live on islands and sailing ships or who live near the coast form a trading network which intersects with, but is largely isolated from, more inland Rownt. They tend to move more quickly, both figuratively and literally. They are smaller and have longer lives, although their lives are filled with less permanence. Some towns move each season with the floods.”
“We would call that a nomadic culture.”
She already knew the word, but she hesitated to apply it to her people because it described human cultures, not Rownt.
Ito placed his bowl near the round heater and stood. “I will escort you to Mr. Tsang. The generals requested he come here with a few of his pieces, but Mr. Tsang does not listen to anyone. He is a difficult man.”
The Grandmother stood. Difficult was trying to understand a species that could produce Liam, Colonel Ito and General Dafaor. If a species could produce such different individuals, she was unsure how to decide what was normal for a human. Based on Liam’s descriptions, she expected Mr. Tsang to confuse her far less than the rest of humanity.
Kensho Part Five
The Grandmother eyedthe entrance and wondered if she could fit through with any of her dignity in place. Liam had warned that the traditional shops would pose some difficulty.
“Grandmother, are you able to fit inside?” Ito asked. She found him far more restful than most humans, but he still had the strange human concern for how others functioned within the world. Without answering, she bent over and angled her shoulders to fit within the shop door. Inside the ceiling was mercifully higher than the entrance, but she could not stand fully. She shuffled forward, noting the marks in the floor where tables had been removed. So Tsang had prepared for her arrival. Liam might have described him as almost Rownt in his attitudes, but he too had more human empathy than a Rownt would ever possess. It was as if humans were the opposite of ututeh. Or most were. Certainly a number of them suffered exhaustion of their empathy and humans had their sociopaths.
“Mr. Tsang?” Ito called. He walked around her and headed for the back room. The Grandmother shuffled forward, careful to avoid the walls where the proprietor had placed the artwork. The pieces showed a wide range of artistic preferences and talents, but each was unique. She did not understand the beauty or value in pieces created in factories, the sort she had found in human ordering markets through the computer.
A small human came out from the back room. He stopped at the boundary between the two spaces and stared at her.
“Mr. Tsang,” Ito said as he moved toward the man. “This is the Rownt Grandmother.”
“Obviously,” the human said with great vehemence before Ito had even finished speaking. Tsang watched her without any of the gestures she had come to expect at first meetings—the upturning of the corners of the mouth or the showing of teeth. “It’s huge.”
“She is quite old, so she is tall,” Ito said with a touch of desperation in his voice. No doubt huge had a less favorable connotation than tall.
She removed her computer interface from the carrying pouch and typed her response. “Mr. Tsang, I believe, on Earth, the traditional words of greeting would be that I am pleased to meet you.”
He narrowed his eyes and pushed Ito to one side. The colonel sighed, but he yielded. Tsang stopped outside her reach. “Please be more interesting than humans and come up with something more honest.”
