Babel-17; Empire star by Samuel R. Delany

Author:Samuel R. Delany [Delany, Samuel R.]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science fiction, General, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Life on other planets, Language Arts & Disciplines, Linguistics, Women poets, Upside-down books, Women linguists, Language and languages
ISBN: 9780375706691
Publisher: New York : Vintage Books, 2001.
Published: 2001-03-14T19:30:00+00:00

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Jo pried his canines out of his lower lip.

“You’re not playing chess,” the voice went on. “If you occupy my square, I will not be removed from the board. Look out, next time.”

“Gnnnnnnng,” Jo said, rubbing his mouth.

“Same to you and many more.”

Jo shook his head and put on his sensory helmet. It smelled like old jhup. It sounded like scrap metal being crushed under a hydrolic press. But it looked beautiful. Ramps curved away into structures that blossomed like flowers. Thin spires erupted at their tips in shapes of metal, and fragile observation domes were supported on slender pylons.

“You might come out of there and see if you’ve done any damage to us.”

“Oh,” Jo said. “Yeah. Sure.”

He started to the lock and was about to release it when he realized the warning light was still on. “Hey,” he called back toward the intercom, “there’s no air out there.”

“I thought you were going to take care of that,” the voice answered. “Just a second.” The light went off.

“Thanks,” Jo said. He pulled the release. “What are you, anyway?”

Outside the lock a balding man in a white smock was coming down one of the ramps. “This is the Geodetic Survey Station that you almost ran down, youngster.” His voice was much diminished, in person. “You better get on inside the force field, before this atmosphere escapes. What did you think you were doing, anyway?”

“I was finishing up a stasis jump, on my way to Tantamount. Simplex of me, wasn’t it?” Jo started back up the ramp with the man, who shrugged.

“I never pass judgments like that,” the man said. “Now tell me your specialty.”

“I don’t have one, I don’t think.”

The man frowned. “I don’t think we need a synthesizer right now. They tend to be extremely long lived.”

“I know just about everything there is to know about raising and storing plyasil,” Jo said. The man smiled. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t do much good. We’re only up to volume one hundred and sixty-seven: Bba to Bbaab.”

“It’s common term is jhup,” Jo said.

The man smiled benignly at him. “Jh is still a long way away. But if you’re alive in five or six hundred years, we’ll take your application.”

“Thanks,” Jo said. “But I’ll just forget it.”

“Very well,” the man said, turning to him. “Goodbye.”

“Well, what about the damage to my ship? Aren’t you going to check me over? You’re not supposed to be here, in the first place. I’ve got through clearance on this path.”

“Young man,” the gentleman said, “first of all, we have priority. Second of all, if you don’t want a job, you are abusing our hospitality by using up our air. Third of all, there is advance work being done in biology, human—and if you bother me any more, I’ll ship you off for a specimen and have you cut up in little pieces. And don’t think I won’t.”

“What about my message?” Jo demanded. “I’ve got to get a message through concerning the Lll, to Empire Star. And it’s important. That’s why I rammed into you in the first place.

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