Flinx Transcendent_ A Pip & Flinx Adventure - Alan Dean Foster [42]
“Crssagg—amazing,” Kiijeem murmured as he looked on. When Flinx finally straightened, the youth was holding his visitor's AAnn garb out to him—along with the ijkk. “Dress yoursself. Do not put on the ijkk until we are well outsside the ressidence. We do not want to attract attention from the housse.”
Flinx indicated his understanding as he slipped back into the unprepossessing AAnn vest, kilt, and sandals he had worn since he had first donned the simsuit. Deftly manipulating the suit's clawed fingers, he secured the ubiquitous AAnn travel pouch around his waist. Clutching the lightweight head covering in one taloned hand, he followed Kiijeem as his host led the way out of the desert landscaping that had served as Flinx's sanctuary for the last several days.
Off to their left the main residence lay baking under the glare of Blasusarr's relentless star. As they made progress Flinx could see the rooflines of other expensive sunken residences; dull, natural, or gleaming according to their owners' tastes. Avoiding the main gate through which non-aircar vehicles entered, Kiijeem led him to a small, older side portal in the artificial stone barrier. The youth activated an interrupt in the photonic alarm system, the two of them stepped through, and for the first time in many days Flinx found himself once more striding along a pedestrian pathway.
Hardly any nye were out in the middle of the morning in the exclusive quarter, but crowds increased as they loped easily toward the nearest commercial area. From there Kiijeem led the way onto a public transport and proceeded to enter the necessary individualized programming. A private vehicle, they both knew, might draw personal attention. Public transport was slower, but it was safer to take the extra time in a vehicle filled with other passengers and thereby limit the opportunities for detection.
While the ijkk Flinx wore loosely over his head drew the occasional curious, even kindhearted glance, the only real danger arose from Kiijeem's irrepressible nervousness. While Flinx had no difficulty relaxing in his resting crouch near the rear of the transport, Kiijeem exhibited the air of one who at any moment was expecting a formal challenge from one of Krrassin's grand champion fighters. Only after the back of the vehicle had emptied out a little did Flinx lean toward his young companion.
“No one suspects us, no one senses me.” The simsuit's voice box added an appropriate artificial rasp to his otherwise fluent command of the language. “Will you relax? You're attracting far more attention than I am.” Coiled in her pouch against his left side, Pip squirmed slightly as she sensed her master's tension. “Do I have to pin your tail against a wall to keep it from snapping?”
“Truly, you are right.” Kiijeem made an effort to calm down. His tail tip stopped banging against the transport's inner wall, though it did not stop twitching entirely. “I ssupposse we could even sspeak loud enough to be overheard without raissing any undue alarm.”
“Of coursse we can.” Flinx was at his reassuring best. “I conversed with many nye before I met you. None ever suspected my identity. You can even call me by my real name.”
Kiijeem considered. “Yess—Fflinxx could be an AAnn name. An unussual one, but it hass the right ssoundingss.”
“Anybody asks, just tell 'em I'm from the sticks.” Flinx was enjoying the view out the sweeping transparent wall of the transport as it soared eastward several meters above the manicured sands below.
“The what?” Kiijeem was confused by a term that did not translate well.
Flinx elaborated. “I'm from offworld. Some small, out-of-the-way Imperial planet with a reputation for backwardness.”
“Ahpessx,” his friend responded