Flinx Transcendent_ A Pip & Flinx Adventure - Alan Dean Foster [47]
“May I,” she began hesitantly, “may I—touch you, Flinx-guesst?”
“Go ahead,” he told her without wavering.
Her left hand rose and reached toward him. The claws retracted and the tips of her fingers made contact with his right shoulder. They drew slowly down his chest as far as his stomach before withdrawing. Gesturing gratitude mixed with muted delight, she stepped backward, her tail swaying slowly from side to side. It took him a moment to identify the meaning of the unusual hissing that accompanied her retreat.
She was giggling. It was, to the best of his knowledge, not a common mode of expression among the AAnn.
“They are ssoft.” She settled back down alongside her uneasy brother. “Like a blood pudding.” Her attention shifted back to the improbable visitor. “I am ssurprissed you do not ssimply collapsse and ssplassh out all over the floor, like a big greassy puddle.”
In his life Flinx had been compared to many things, but never before to a big greasy puddle. He was not offended; he had been called far worse.
Her brother had recovered the emblematic AAnn bravado that had been momentarily wiped away by the revelation of Flinx's true appearance. “Friendsship extendss only sso far.” He glanced pointedly in Kiijeem's direction before turning back to the human. Had the situation been reversed, Flinx knew, Kiijeem would have said and done exactly the same as his friend. “Why sshould we not report your pressence here to the appropriate authoritiess, much less put at rissk our possition both within and without the family in order to assisst you in leaving our world ssecretly?”
“I assure you that I have found mysself wondering the ssame.” Kiijeem turned to his guest. “You musst explain to them, Flinx-friend. You musst tell them everything that you told me.”
“I know,” Flinx murmured ruefully.
Despite his disinclination to do so, he proceeded to do just that.
The exquisite commons room could be solemn or joyous according to the desires of its occupants. After Flinx had finished it was dead silent for long minutes. Having already heard the tale in its entirety, Kiijeem was quiet and composed. In contrast, the emotions of the twins reflected confusion and uncertainty. That was to be expected, Flinx knew. He awaited the inevitable questions.
The first query came from Eiipul IXc and was a compliment to her maturity. “If we had appeared before you on your homeworld, emerged from ssynthetic human sskinss, and told ssuch a sstory, how would you react?”
Flinx had to smile. “I'd be suspicious and skeptical. I'd also think that if I needed to fabricate a falsehood in order to get me safely off the planet, I would invent something a lot less grandiose. No need to claim the fate of the galaxy is at stake, much less that I'm the key to maybe saving it. I would look at anyone telling such a tale and think that he was either the biggest liar in the history of interspecies relations, completely insane—or that if there was even a nub of truth to what he was saying, he might deserve to be taken seriously.”
Eiipul IXb's response was swift. “Truly, I find mysself tending to credit the firsst ssuppossition.”
“I am ssimilarly inclined,” his sister added, albeit not quite as quickly.
Kiijeem stepped forward. “Flinx ssayss that he can impart a sshared experience that will confirm everything he hass claimed.”
“Sso then.” The disbelieving brother studied his friend. “You have sshared thiss ‘experience’?”
Lowering his eyes, Kiijeem gestured second-degree self-effacement. “I regret to ssay that I have not. I have repeatedly requessted to do sso, but Flinx inssisstss that I am not ssufficiently developed mentally and that to partake of it could be sserioussly damaging to me.”
The sister scrutinized the tall human. “How convenient. You claim evidence but declare that itss revelation would be injuriouss to thosse dessirouss of it. You pressent our