Marooned - Christie Golden [4]
He sighed. "Will you walk with me, and at least see what Oasis has to offer? Everyone here has heard tales of our visitors from a far distant part of the galaxy.
Your patronage would heighten station morale beyond price, I assure you."
A quick glance at her crew showed her that they were as curious as their captain, so Janeway nodded and indicated that Aren should proceed. "Ah, I am grateful, Captain. Now, where was I?"
"The Ja'in," prompted Torres. "What happened?
Was there a war?"
"Of a sort," replied Aren. He clasped his hands behind him and began to lead his visitors along the rows of shops. For the first time, Janeway got a brief glimpse of his back. Two large lumps below the shoulder blades marred the otherwise sleek, long back of the Rhulani administrator. Almost immediately, Aren gracefully maneuvered himself so that the unsightly protuberances were no longer visible.
It was a subtle gesture, but Janeway was used to picking up on subtleties from alien races. Aren was uncomfortable with her seeing the malformations.
A deformity? Janeway wondered. A trait of his race not meant to be shared with outsiders? Whichever it was, it piqued her curiosity and she made a point of not discomfiting her host further by staring.
"But you cannot have a -var without an opponent, and the shopkeepers, patrons, crew, and staff of Oasis could hardly be called that. Oasis is neutral in any conflicts between the five planets of the Oryma system, and has been that way ever since it was established. We were certainly attacked, but it was a very one-sided war. "The Ja'in, you see, are pirates."
There came a decidedly inappropriate snort of laughter from the direction of Tom Paris. Aren frowned, and Janeway caught a glimpse of something hard beneath the friendly surface. Janeway couldn't blame him, and shot Paris a warning glance. The young lieutenant composed himself at once, but Janeway wasn't going to let him get off so easily.
"Something amuse you, Mr. Paris?" she asked in a deceptively conversational tone.
"No, Captain, nothing at all. I apologize. Please continue, Administrator." A blush warmed his cheeks.
Taking pity on him, Janeway turned to Aren, who still looked angry. "Where we come from, we are fortunate that piracy is very rare indeed. Most of us think of pirates as something from antiquityquaint, rather than formidable. Lieutenant Paris was no doubt thinking of ribald tales rather than something very real and very dangerous."
"Ah, a cultural difference," said Aren, calming visibly. "It has been so long since anyone truly alien to us has visited Oasis, I forgot how one can occasionally brush up against such things. I quite understand."
He granted Paris a sj,-le and had just opened his mouth to continue when a woman's angry voice cracked like a whip.
"I don't care!"
Despite herself, Janeway turned her head to discover the source of the outburst. Two young Rhulani leaned up against one of the white, curving metal walls. The female had her arms fojded across her chest in a posture that, in humans, signaled both defense and defiance.
The male ran his hands through his long hair in exasperation. "Dear one, I swear to you, that relationship was over a long time ago."
The girl pouted. "Not the way she was touching you, it wasn't!"
"Now, that's not my fault."
"Oh, really?"
"If I wanted to be with someone else, would I be giving you this?" The youth produced something that glittered, that caused the young woman to squeal happily and embrace him.
Janeway felt a smile curve her lips, and caught Aren smiling as well. They exchanged a knowing look. "Cultural similarities, " said Aren.
Janeway's smile