Ring Around the Sky - Allyn Gibson [8]
She turned, startled by both the sound of footfalls on the marble stairs at the end of the hall and the snort of derision Tev made. She looked to Tev, and saw him scowl for the briefest of moments, then turn his attention away from the stairs and back to her. Descending the stairs was the oddest Tellarite she had ever seen—lanky, but not thin; stretched out, but full on his frame. She thought Tev short even by Tellarite standards, but by this newcomer’s measure Tev was a veritable dwarf. Evolution adapted organisms for their environments, and at two hundred years Kharzh’ulla was old for a colony world. Each successive generation born on Kharzh’ulla would no doubt be taller than the generation that preceded it as bodies designed for a much higher gravity could grow taller than the Tellarite norm in a vastly different environment.
Gomez and Tev crossed the hall to meet him at the base of the stairs. “You must be Commander Gomez,” he said. His voice was pitched higher than Tev’s, an alto tenor to Tev’s bass, and his enunciation was drawn out, his s’s sibilant, his pronunciation precise in the manner of a speaker whose native language wasn’t Federation Standard.
“I am,” she said, and she held out her right hand in greeting.
The Kharzh’ullan took her hand and clasped it with both paws, then brought his forehead down to touch the joined hands. The traditional Kharzh’ullan greeting, she remembered from Abramowitz’s cultural briefing.
He straightened, and his hands fell away. “I am Eevraith, the minister of transportation. We’ve been expecting you.”
Gomez smiled. “We’re glad to help.”
Eevraith bowed slightly. “Thank you. We haven’t the resources or the technological expertise for such a massive undertaking, and any assistance your crew can provide in repairing the Ring and the damaged elevator will be greatly appreciated.”
“After our last few missions, Minister, this one should be a walk in the park.”
“I have no doubt, Commander.” He turned and gestured up the stairs. “Come. The first minister awaits.”
Gomez nodded, and she and Tev followed Eevraith up the staircase. But upon reflection two things bothered her—Tev had been unnaturally silent during the greetings, and Eevraith hadn’t looked in Tev’s direction even once, even though he had been standing just off to her side the entire time.
By any standards, First Minister Grevesh was old. Tellarite fur colored from brown to yellow, with Tev tending toward the ruddy and Eevraith toward the blond, but Grevesh’s fur was uniformly near-white, and his face was nearly hairless and deeply lined with wrinkles. He sat in an antigrav wheelchair, and Gomez decided that by the lengths of his arms and legs that if he stood he would be no taller than she was and certainly nowhere near Eevraith’s height, yet still taller than Tev.
“First Minister,” said Eevraith as they entered his office, “I would like to present to you Commander Gomez of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, here to look into our…problem.” He gestured toward Gomez. She bowed slightly, and wondered why Tev hadn’t been introduced as well.
“Follow me, Commander,” said Grevesh. He turned his chair toward the French doors at the far end of his office, and began moving in that direction. Gomez, Eevraith, and Tev followed “Eevraith, the doors, please.”
“Of course, First Minister.” He pushed forward, and threw open the wide doors. Grevesh motored out onto the balcony, and Tev and Gomez stepped out into the sunlight.
The city of Prelv stretched out before them.
Much of the city was modern. Off to the south a complex of modern skyscrapers, thirty and forty stories tall, shiny and gleaming in the mid-morning sun, rose in a cluster perhaps a few blocks wide. Past those skyscrapers and to the east Gomez could see the ocean beyond—Prelv was a coastal city and a major port, with cargo ships running routes from the city to the elevator