Power Play - Anne McCaffrey [117]
He did spend a few minutes congratulating the Shongilis on their officially acknowledged status and expressing his hope that the planet would prosper. (How warm air could be blown up pant legs securely tucked into his boots, Segilla-Dove did not know, but when it reached his crotch, he was surprised and . . . relieved.)
The fact that his aides also had experienced unusual physical pleasures did not impinge on his feeling that he had been specially singled out for the attentions.
The admiral-general and his aides were the only members of CIS who did leave. But then they wouldn’t have understood how important today’s songs would be. The Hepatode and the Deglatite might not have been able to eat or drink, but they each found a corner from which to watch the curious antics of the Petaybeans.
Marmion had arrived sometime during the investiture and had much to regale her friends about certain “loose ends” she had seen were tied in appropriate knots prior to her return.
“Macci was all but skint, despite his excellent salary with Rothschild’s,” she told Yana, Diego, and Bunny. “Actually, it was Charmion, of all people, who found out that he’s a gambling addict. He gambles for and on anything that anyone will take book on. And you know how some species regard betting as the only honorable form of entertainment. He was so deeply in debt that when—oh dear, it was Dinah again who made the contact. How is she?”
“Much better. Remarkably so, in fact. Except for her hair, which she calls her new platinum-blond look, she looks as good as she did before the cave—better, in fact. Happier, certainly. Anyplace else, people would resent her, but apparently in Tanana Bay she’s a bit of a celebrity, and thoroughly enjoying it. Chumia says she is writing a great song about her pirating days and how Petaybee got the best of her. And men who want to replace Namid are turning up on the doorstep from as far away as Kathmandu, but Dinah doesn’t seem too eager to go rushing off. I think she enjoys having family near too much and having the chance to find out who she is without always having to scramble for something. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my word on the safe passage I guaranteed her and her crew, but I did tell her all along I couldn’t speak for the planet.”
“What happened to all of them was no fault of yours, Yana. It was a direct result of being who and what they were. In spite of everything, it was the good part of Dinah’s nature that preserved her.”
“The planet as the ultimate character-building experience, eh? I suppose so. Still, a bit rough at times,” Yana said. It wasn’t so much that she felt any remorse toward the pirates as that her own honor was important to her. Dinah seemed to bear no ill will, however, and Yana had quite forgiven her now that she was so changed. “Muktuk and Chumia are even letting her hunt on her own these days. So Macci was the victim of his own excesses?”
“And willing to clear a few debts by leading us into danger.” The set of Marmion’s lips suggested that she wasn’t quite as forgiving as Yana. “Ples, I’m relieved to say, was totally innocent. Her only sin was wanting to show him off without investigating his background thoroughly. Though how he managed to delude the Rothschild Personnel Bureau is a matter under the strictest scrutiny, I can assure you. Asian Esoteric and Exotic Company is having all their activities investigated to see if there have been other ecologically unsound ‘harvests.’ It’s been quite exciting, really. But I’m so glad to be back here!” She tightened her hand on Namid’s arm. “If you simply have to stay and talk every day to Petaybee, I guess I’ll just have to ask permission to immigrate.”
“Oh, we’ll have to inquire if that’s possible,” Sean said with a very serious expression.
“Sean!” his wife chided him. And then