The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell [175]
He paused for a sip of water, handling the glass with remarkably improved dexterity, although he had to stop speaking and concentrate on the task. He lifted the glass toward John, as though toasting him. "New friction pads," he pointed out. John nodded appreciatively and Emilio continued. "Parents use thunderstorms as mild threats to teach children not to argue or make fusses to get their way. ’Make your heart quiet, or we’ll have a thunderstorm soon.’ The storms are frequent. It is easy for children to believe there is some connection between their noise and bad weather."
"What if there’s a storm when no one’s been arguing?" John asked.
Emilio shrugged and made a face that said, This is obvious, surely. "Someone in a nearby village has made a fierno." And they smiled at the neatness of the thing.
"Prior to the appearance of Supaari VaGayjur, did you have any idea that there existed a second sentient species on Rakhat?" Johannes Voelker asked.
It seemed like an abrupt change in topic and the Spaniard turned to him, clearly expecting and prepared to meet an attack. "No." But then he admitted, "There were indications that we failed to recognize. The Runa have ten fingers, but the numbering system was based on six, for example. Which made sense to us once we found out that the Jana’ata hand has only three digits. And from the beginning, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Quinn noted a mismatch between the Runa culture we observed in Kashan and the culture that produced the radio signals that led us to Rakhat."
The Austrian was surprisingly conciliatory. "Yes. As I recall, Father Robichaux attributed the anomaly to cultural differences in economic and technical development," Voelker said. "It occurs to me—this peculiarity of the Runa language, by which things unseen at the moment are grammatically the same as those which are nonvisual at all times? This must have contributed to the surprise. Even if the Runa had told you about Jana’ata, you couldn’t have known they were real, not mythical."
Sandoz looked at him for a long time, as if deciding how to take this change in tone. "Yes," he agreed finally. "In fact, we were told to beware of djanada. Obviously, a related word. We considered djanada to be a sort of bogeyman, used to keep children from wandering off. We took it as further evidence that, except for Mr. Quinn, we were not considered adults by the Runa for quite some time."
"Father Yarbrough reported that when you first saw Supaari VaGayjur, you assumed he was a Runao. Are the two species so similar as that? Or was it only because you were not expecting a second species?" Voelker asked.
"Initially, it was because we were unprepared to imagine that the Jana’ata existed. There were many subtle differences, once we knew what to look for. However, male Jana’ata do resemble female Runa in overall appearance and in size."
"How odd! Only the males?" Felipe asked.
"Female Jana’ata are sequestered and guarded. I cannot say how closely they resemble the Runa, male or female. The Runa sexes," Sandoz reminded them, "are quite alike, but the males are on average a good deal smaller. For a long time, we were confused about their gender because of that and because their sex roles did not match our expectations. Robichaux’s Madonna and Child, by the way, should perhaps be renamed Saint Joseph and Child. Manuzhai was a male." There was a small burst of laughter and comment as the others admitted how surprised they’d been when they’d read this in the mission reports. "Manuzhai raised Askama and was smaller than his wife," Sandoz continued, "so we believed him female. Chaypas traveled extensively and carried on all the trade, which led us to assume that she was a male. The Runa were equally confused by us."
"If the Runa don’t wear much besides ribbons," John said, clearing his throat, "couldn’t you, um, see—?"
"Runa sexual organs are inconspicuous unless mating is imminent," Sandoz said and continued