Once again, Ama was surprised. She had expected him to correct her language. “I find it interesting that you would send a request via a species that has already proved itself antagonistic to my ship,” she said. John and Tyce had both argued against coming because the message had come from Imshee.
The largest Rownt touched her computer, her fingers moving with surprising speed. Then again, Tyce told her that the ship remembered the Rownt as dangerous predators—fast and vicious fighters. The Rownt’s computer spoke. “Imshee track the location of every Cy ship, particularly those without Cy in them.”
Ama found it interesting that the Rownt didn't feign ignorance or ask for clarification. It was such a small difference from what a human might’ve said, but significant enough that Ama felt almost unbalanced. Sometimes her people assumed that her position as a spiritual leader meant that she was wiser, but most days she felt as though she was simply more aware of her own ignorance.
“Why are they concerned about ships without Cy? Given that the Cy enslaved others, I would expect them to worry more about them.”
The younger man jerked. He hadn’t known the Cy were slavers, although Liam Munson did not appear surprised.
The largest Rownt again entered her answer on her computer. “The ships lose all reason if they are empty long enough. They become like diseased kawt, willing to attack any ship in the area.” She looked at Liam Munson.
He then spoke, taking a step forward in either a calculated or unconscious effort to command the attention in the room. “We do need your assistance in an area that is uniquely human in nature, but many of the Grandmothers wonder if you are safe to trade with.”
“Many of my crew question the intelligence of Grandmothers who choose to trade with Earth,” Ama countered. Technically, her people questioned the morality of that choice, but she doubted that term would translate well.
The Grandmother and her computer answered. “I had thought your extended period of battling with Earth was at an end.”
“From Earth's perspective, I'm sure it is.” Ama offered the Grandmother the same smile that generally sent Yoss and Tyce running for cover. “However, Earth tends to plan in terms of decades. My people prefer to plan for centuries.”
The Grandmother widened her eyes. “Are you not the same people?”
That was a loaded question. “In many ways we are not. My people believe we will be born again and again, and that if we wish to obtain happiness and enlightenment, we must ensure that the world we return to five hundred years from now is the sort of world that will support our quest. But I see you already display the Aizen Myo o. So perhaps I am a fool who is telling an elder that which she already knows.”
The Grandmother stood straighter and looked toward the wisdom king’s statue. “I understand the art is related to a belief system on Earth. Is your belief system the same?”
“No,” Ama said slowly. Some of her people would disagree, but they were wrong. “However, my belief system was born from the one on Earth. There are many similarities just as a child may look like a parent.”
The two humans exchanged glances, and the younger shifted from foot to foot, as though he had too much energy and no place to direct it. So they had some concern centered on parents and children. Tyce was from Earth, so it was possible that one of his family members had contacted the Rownt. However, she could not imagine why they would. Tyce’s people dismissed him as a traitor. She pressed her fingertips unobtrusively to her solar plexus and tried to settle her thoughts before she could fidget. Around the room, Rownt watched her. Silent. Still. Even Munson had the same quiet energy as the aliens around him.
She studied, and after a second, he said, “The Rownt value children.”
“In that we are agreed, even if I question their tactics in other areas.”
Munson glanced toward the Grandmother before focusing on Ama again. “They value them enough that they are unwilling to send human children to an orphanage.”
Shock hit Ama like a blow to her chest. “Are you saying there are children on the ship?”
“No.” Munson was unflustered, but the younger man shifted.
She narrowed her eyes.” There are human children on the other ship,” she said, sure of her statement. “Where are the parents?”
“Dead,” the Grandmother said bluntly.
“Did you kill them?”
This time the younger man responded. “Of course they didn't. Rownt aren’t monsters. The humans were traveling in an old ship that had no business being in space, and they had a massive mechanical failure. They shoved the kids into a shielded nursery, but the adults all died trying to get the engines back online.”
None of the Rownt had responded to the man's anger, but they had remained calm in the face of Ama’s accusation, which implied they did not find it as monstrous as their human companion did. Perhaps it was because Ama lived in a living Cy ship that had its own morality that rarely matched that of its human crew, but she did not think it so impossible that a Rownt ship would kill a human crew and then save the human children.
“Why did you send a message asking for a meeting?” She pressed harder on her solar plexus. This was the danger point. Either these Rownt would trust her to assist, or she would learn that they had been lured here because the Rownt hoped to take their ship. Ama wasn't sure which was more likely, but if the Rownt killed her, she hoped she would have another lifetime to come back and make them regret their precipitous choices.
Munson spoke up. “The Rownt don't have the ability to emotionally care for the children. Some of the older ones saw their friends and family die horribly. But at the same time, the Rownt can't send the children to earth knowing that many might end up in orphanages.”
“You want us to take them,” Ama said. Again, the Rownt shocked her.
Munson shook his head. “They hope they can hire you to find any family members and protect the children until either you can reunite them or until they are adults.”
That was a more complex issue. “You assume we can do the sort of genetic scanning that would require.”
