Twin-Bred by Karen A. Wyle

Author:Karen A. Wyle [Wyle, Karen A.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2011-10-12T04:00:00+00:00

“You’re shaking, sis. Tell me what happened.”

“It’s just low blood sugar. I forgot to eat. . . . They seemed surprised to see the twins. They weren’t sure whether to talk to them or to the human adults. La-ren pre-empted. He’s a cool customer, that one. He welcomed them in the name of all the Twin-Bred. He asked whether they were just paying their respects, or whether they had a request of some kind.”

“In Tofar, I presume. Grab a snack and keep talking.”

Mara obeyed. “His initial greeting was first in Tofar and then in Terran. That got them buzzing a bit. The rest was all Tofar. The tallest one did most of the talking. You know, even the Tofa Twin-Bred have trouble sometimes in understanding the normal Tofa. But they’re certainly better at it than we are.”

“I should hope so. Cut to the chase already.”

“They did demand the Tofa twins. They didn’t say why. La-ren asked them. They just stood there. La-ren said something to the effect that the Twin-Bred were children and children did not decide where to go, or with whom. He told them the Twin-Bred were important to the humans, and important humans would have to decide what happened to them. That’s based on La-ren’s report. Judy says he also told them the Tofa Twin-Bred would not want to leave their twins behind.”

“How did she seem to feel about all this?”

“Well, you know the human Twin-Bred are harder to read than other children. I wouldn’t say she was very upset. I think she has confidence in us, that we’ll keep the Twin-Bred together and keep them from harm.”

“Dear innocent babe. Do we know if the Tofa have made this demand through governmental channels as well?”

“It appears not. I got both the Science and Tofa Relations Sub-Chairs on the line and told them, and I’d say they were surprised. To put it mildly.”

“And if you were putting it less mildly, they were apoplectic, panicky, ineffectual, and sure it was all your fault.”

“Indeed. They called in the new Chairman. He was gloating. His moment had come. He thought. I asked to speak to him privately.”

“Oh frabjous day! Are we glad that you kept up on your opposition research?”

“I am very grateful to my wise and ruthless consultant. The gentleman is now awaiting our recommendations. The Science Sub-Chair is waiting for fresh underwear.”

“What will you be kind enough to recommend?”

“We’re not going to self-destruct. If that’s even what the Tofa intended. We’re trying to come up with a way to give them something. Of course, since we don’t know why they wanted the children, we don’t know what a compromise should look like. The tricky thing is being sure we get them back.”

“So don’t send them. Make the Tofa come to you. You can set aside facilities for them to use. If they don’t want you watching, you can tell them you won’t.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.