“I don't think Kowri gods fix anything. I think they cause problems by shoving their followers toward whatever problem they see. I feel a bit like Divashi’s favorite sheepdog, kept on a leash and sent out to guard the flock when the coyotes get too close. But I think the Kowri might have the same opinion.”
“None of that translated.” Ter stared at him with wide eyes.
“It's probably for the best,” Dante admitted. He had revealed too much of himself with that analogy. “However, you know that the gods exist; the Kowri can scan for them. Kowri will avoid offending them, and we need to keep ourselves safe until Divashi can show us an escape or Regi can catch up. That might mean that you need to give up one or two of your cultural traditions the way I had to give up mine when I was captured by slavers. Are we agreed?”
Ter shivered. “I will not stop speaking truth, but I will temper it with the understanding that some species are so weak or damaged that exposure to my truth could harm them.” Ter gave a jerky nod as though he were quite satisfied with this conclusion.
Dante assumed he wouldn’t get a better compromise. “Come on, let's go see if this ship has a temple and if we can figure out who's in charge and start making them miserable.”
That cheered Ter. “That is an excellent plan.” He headed for the exit.
Maybe Ter was resolved to be friendlier, but Dante needed to run interference between Ter and the Kowri empire because he wasn’t sure which of them would take more damage if they kept fighting. Lifting Peaches to his shoulder, he hurried after him.
Chapter Twenty
“Thank you for showing us to the temple Alana,” Dante said. While the temple was not as impressive as the ones on the planet with their pyramid structures and polished stone, it shared a lot of the same architecture.
Sacred animals were carved into the burnished metal walls and multicolor lighting strips cast a rainbow of shadows across the wide floor, interrupting the bluish light from fixtures so high up in the ceiling Dante couldn’t see them. The ceiling had to be ten or twenty stories in the air, and the walls tilted in so the space felt like the inside of an oblong pyramid with a ceiling only a third as wide as the floor. Tiny, irregular windows dotted the long walls in a chaotic scattering.
But what surprised him the most was that floor. Every vid Dante had ever seen about space travel suggested that dirt was the enemy of equipment. On the slavers’ ship, Dante had scrubbed every surface of traces of shed skin flakes or minute bits of dop bedding that escaped the cages. A single dusty corner would earn him torture by alien cattle prod.
However, in the temple, the floor was covered with dirt and moss and low grasses growing in clumps. Pebafri wandered under the artificial sunlight, and the air had the slight tang Dante had come to associate with their scat. Birds sang from squat, bushy trees, and Dante felt as if he were standing on a planet, which was an impressive piece of engineering. Even Ter looked impressed.
“Of course, Exalted Dante,” Alana said. “I would not want to disrespect either you or your goddess.”
“Divashi is dangerous enough that I will admit it's probably best to keep on her good side. Even though I know she likes me, I’m still scared of her.”
“You are a wise being,” Alana said with a smile. “If you have need of anything, please contact me.”
“I shall, and thank you.” Dante poked Ter with his elbow, but the engineer ignored him in favor of studying the blue lines stretching from one wall to another. “What are those? How does the ship maintain integrity with such a large void? Wouldn’t this allow too much warpage during take-off and landing?”
Rather than answering, Alana touched his thumbs to his temples and left.
Ter turned toward the wide arch with its hinged doors chained open to the enormous corridor leading to the main exit. “He didn't answer my questions.” Ter sounded offended.
“If you treat others rudely, they are likely to ignore your questions,” Dante said. This seemed like a rather obvious truth to him, but for all of his admiration for truth, Ter did not seem to understand that.
“It is more likely he lacked the knowledge, which is reasonable given he is a healer. However, I was not rude. I did not contradict his beliefs,” Ter said.
“Is that your only definition of rude?”
Ter's elbows jutted out in offense. “Of course not,” Ter snapped. “However, I have never used physical size to intimidate another. I have never refused to acknowledge exceptional performance on the rare occasion I saw it, and I have never ignored a person who is seeking attention or given attention to someone who is seeking anonymity.”
For a second, Dante could only gape at the man. “Does it occur to you that other people might have a broader definition of rude?”
“Does it occur to you that the Coalition was specifically founded on the belief that each species has a right to maintain their own cultural traditions and norms, and that no one can require me to uphold any cultural expectation other than my own?”
Ter’s anger suggested he was not interested in compromise, and normally Dante would be in favor of people living their own lives, but they had been kidnapped by individuals who had their own concept of right and wrong and very little compunction against killing outsiders.
“The outsider has come to our temple,” a loud voice said.
Dante turned to see Bekdi walking toward him, flanked by two smaller Kowri, one graying with age. Dante thought the Kowri respected age, so he was surprised to see an older Kowri yielding to Bekdi.
Bekdi’s obvious anger made Dante want to curl into a small ball and hide from the potential danger. He might have except for Ter. Ter was an impressive engineer and a semi-competent adult in general, but he had no idea how to handle Kowri, which meant that Dante had to postpone any mental breakdowns until after their rescue.
And that meant he needed to make it clear he had the status to challenge Bekdi and he wouldn't be disrespected or walked over. He squared off against Bekdi and touched his two fingers to his forehead in a mockery of a Texas salute.
“If it isn’t my least favorite exalted. I have not missed debating you in the temple, but is there any reason why you would be surprised to find me here? It seems that the temple would be the most logical place for an exalted of Divashi.”
