Kensho (Claimings) Page 7

  Humans had begun to incorporate more insults into their negotiations, so she was surprised when Ito simply said, “That is most likely accurate.”

  “Are those from Japan more patient and logical?”

  He drew in a quick breath. He had not expected her to reach that conclusion. “Not at all. In fact, sometimes I think the additional logic they employ during the day is made up for at night. My people can be quite raucous and even indecorous. In addition, humans vary greatly, even within particular cultural groups. My parents encouraged me to be patient and quiet because they believe those were virtues. But that does not mean that every child listens to a parent or that every parent would teach the same lesson.”

  “Quite often, they do not.” She had made choices as a young mother she avoided as an elder one. Parenthood must be much more complex for humans where issues of culture complicate those of age. “I have raised six children, and I cannot say that I fully understood any of them.”

  Ito smiled. “I've raised three, and I can say with great confidence that I understand none of them.”

  “Do they have your respect for tea?” She sipped the hot drink. It was pleasant even if the flavor lacked the intensity she preferred.

  “My oldest does. The two younger are frustrated more often than not.”

  “And humans have so few years in which to overcome that youth.” She watched to see if Ito would react. She was unsure how much Liam had told this human, but from his own description of their interactions, Liam had shared much in return for an introduction, no matter how interesting the trader. He must have seen some profit in such openness. She could only follow his lead and hope to see the colonel through his eyes. Liam was better at explaining himself than Zach, but sometimes words failed him. Despite that, experience showed that his instincts were those of a tuk-ranked trader, even if his words sometimes left a Grandmother confused.

  “Yes, but I am not sure I would wish to have as many years as the Rownt,” Ito said. “There is a balance to life, we’re born, we live and we move on in our time.”

  “I had understood that most humans would wish for longer lives.” She feared humans would demand such a trade as soon as they knew it existed, but all the Grandmothers agreed that their current population and the rate at which they reproduced made that an unprofitable trade for anyone.

  “Perhaps they would. Perhaps not,” Ito said with a shrug. “When the world changed faster than their ability to change with it, they might suffer if they lived as long as the Rownt. Perhaps that is why the universe has given Rownt such long lives. Perhaps your inability to change and adapt requires more years for you to accomplish your tasks.”

  The insult was subtle, and the Grandmother found that she appreciated it. She drank the tea and waited to see what this surprising human would offer next. Liam's introduction had been a proper Temple gift.

  After a long silence, Ito continued. “I think perhaps my children do not feel as caught between cultures as I did. Both my parents were Japanese, so tea ceremonies and the idea of wa were instilled in me even as the culture of the States pushed me toward excelling and competing. The two cultures are difficult to merge. But my children had a more States upbringing. My wife is half-Chinese, and she was raised here as well.”

  The Grandmother waited. She found such discussion of far more value than the production and manufacturing numbers the generals preferred. As she had hoped, the silence encouraged him to continue speaking.

  “I find Liam reminds me of my father, which is surprising because Liam is American. That led me to suspect that the parts of him I recognize might be Rownt.”

  “Do you believe the culture of your parents is more similar to my people?” Perhaps she had given too little attention to the concept of culture within human structures.

  “I don’t think Rownt would relate to my parents’ belief in wa—the emphasis on group loyalty and harmony. At times my parents would decide that a less favorable decision was more favorable because it brought harmony within the family.” Ito’s smile suggested that even he did not respect such a belief.

  “However, I do think Rownt would relate to my wife’s family and their concept of guanxi—the network of connections and favors and relationships that an individual maintains. When Tuk-palteia Liam suggested that an introduction was a good trade item, I believe he was suggesting that you could use a human trader of art in your network of personal acquaintances.”

  Ito looked at the Grandmother. His voice was soft, but he had an air of confidence. “The American value on trade and money appears to match Rownt well, but I’m not sure our sense of exceptionalism does. I believe our similarities and differences are too complex to be easily understood. After speaking with Liam, I thought it wise to offer more words and hope we can reach a point where certain information is allowed to move freely so we do not have more confusion between us.”

  She leaned back and studied this surprising human. He had offered a lot of information, and he had put it in a context that made her more confident in her ability to apply it to humans. Sometimes, the Grandmother who studied human psychology texts would bring some knowledge to the rest of them, and they were all confused by the way humans spoke of humans as though they had never met one. They discussed the function of human brains without ever considering the limitations or the benefits of working from within one. It left her uneasy with much of her understanding. But Ito stood firmly within his understanding of himself as he offered it to her.

  “Do the generals agree?”

  Ito smiled. “They respect that Tuk-palteia Liam offered information of great value. It made them willing to offer words in return. I’m not sure if they believe this will stabilize trade or not. I think they assume that if you take offense, they can blame my lack of status and ignorance.”

  She leaned forward. “Do you fear giving offense?”

  He laughed. “I watched Mr. Tsang insult Liam in terms that horrified me, and Liam was confident enough in himself that the insults didn’t bother him. I don’t believe I could insult you. If I knelt here and told you that I find your form aesthetically displeasing, that I am shocked at the way you preclude men from the upper levels of government and that I question the morality of allowing your own people to suffer without offering help, I assume you won’t care.”

  “I would wonder why you feel it is necessary to help adults,” she said. Other than that, he was correct in his assessment. She would not have expected humans to find her physically attractive. She was starting to appreciate how Zach and Liam looked, but they both resembled angry children so much that she sometimes reacted to them illogically.

  “That is my point,” Ito said. “The generals have worked hard to avoid giving offense. They have a staff member who tries to write insults that are less likely to cause real insult.”

  She blinked at him, expecting him to provide some additional information that would make it clear this was a use of human humor using elements of surprise and exaggeration. Instead, he shrugged. “I’m trying to provide you more information so you can understand how different humans are from each other. Do Rownt have different cultures and nations on their home world?” The question was unartful, especially since humans understood that Rownt placed value on information.

  She considered the value of what Liam had already offered against Ito’s words. His insights were valuable, but they did not match the value of Liam’s words. If she gave him more information, she would have to trust that he would act like a nutu trader and seek to balance her profits. She was silent so long that Ito tried to speak, but she interrupted him.

  “We do not have nations as you might define them. Each town acts in its own best interest. The Grandmothers of one town might coordinate with another to better facilitate research, and sometimes those trade relationships grow long enough that they are seen as mutually beneficial without requiring specific items of trade. However, we do not cooperate outside agreements. If a town finds itself destroyed by a flood or storm, t
he assumption is that that town is poorly placed and should be moved. We do not assist each other in the same way we see humans rush to each other's aid.”

  Ito nodded. “So it is not that different than guanxi.”

  “Do not apply human words to Rownt behaviors,” she warned.

  “Wise advice,” Ito said. She did not need his reassurance, but at least he didn’t offer her some insult prepared by someone else. That was insanity. “Do you consider the human tendency towards altruism irrational?” Ito asked.

  “Not at all. Simply different.” Humans were fragile enough that she would expect evolution to favor cooperative behavior. Most prey animals on Prarownt cooperated, and sometimes she did see humans as creatures who had not established themselves as the dominant species on their planet. The fear of insects provided significant evidence to support that assumption.

  “Given how many similarities our two species share, I find those differences reassuring.” She drank her tea and enjoyed the silence. Once her bowl was empty, she rested her elbows on her knees and watched Ito. He was an interesting human. “Liam said he explained the Imshee concerns about humans. How do humans see Imshee?” she asked.

  If Ito or his generals wished for more open communication, they would have to offer more than interesting discussion of culture. She wanted to know how they would react in a dangerous situation, such as if the Imshee were to search for Earth. Rownt were divided on how they would react to a potential war between the two, although most ship Rownt agreed they would seek to take children and unattached palteia from areas of danger. Humans and Imshee were both too aggressive in their pursuit of fighting. Even when Rownt towns destroyed each other, the children were taken in and protected by the winners. No Rownt trusted either species to act reasonably toward the children.

  Ito took a deep breath and put his bowl down in front of him. “I think humans are terrified of dealing with another alien species. It didn’t end well with the Anla, and we thought we were managing that relationship well. Then we thought the Rownt were less developed and saw you as a relatively safe species to engage, and you flew a terrifyingly large space ship into our home system. You can see why my people would like to avoid another alien species right now.”

  “That is wise.”

  “When I asked about Rownt culture, your answer was less than complete, I believe.” Ito studied his tea bowl.

  “It was,” she admitted. She had followed Liam’s lead this far, so to change course would cost her any potential profits. “We do have regional differences. The Rownt who live on islands and sailing ships or who live near the coast form a trading network which intersects with, but is largely isolated from, more inland Rownt. They tend to move more quickly, both figuratively and literally. They are smaller and have longer lives, although their lives are filled with less permanence. Some towns move each season with the floods.”

  “We would call that a nomadic culture.”

  She already knew the word, but she hesitated to apply it to her people because it described human cultures, not Rownt.

  Ito placed his bowl near the round heater and stood. “I will escort you to Mr. Tsang. The generals requested he come here with a few of his pieces, but Mr. Tsang does not listen to anyone. He is a difficult man.”

  The Grandmother stood. Difficult was trying to understand a species that could produce Liam, Colonel Ito and General Dafaor. If a species could produce such different individuals, she was unsure how to decide what was normal for a human. Based on Liam’s descriptions, she expected Mr. Tsang to confuse her far less than the rest of humanity.

  Kensho Part Five

  The Grandmother eyed the entrance and wondered if she could fit through with any of her dignity in place. Liam had warned that the traditional shops would pose some difficulty.

  “Grandmother, are you able to fit inside?” Ito asked. She found him far more restful than most humans, but he still had the strange human concern for how others functioned within the world. Without answering, she bent over and angled her shoulders to fit within the shop door. Inside the ceiling was mercifully higher than the entrance, but she could not stand fully. She shuffled forward, noting the marks in the floor where tables had been removed. So Tsang had prepared for her arrival. Liam might have described him as almost Rownt in his attitudes, but he too had more human empathy than a Rownt would ever possess. It was as if humans were the opposite of ututeh. Or most were. Certainly a number of them suffered exhaustion of their empathy and humans had their sociopaths.

  “Mr. Tsang?” Ito called. He walked around her and headed for the back room. The Grandmother shuffled forward, careful to avoid the walls where the proprietor had placed the artwork. The pieces showed a wide range of artistic preferences and talents, but each was unique. She did not understand the beauty or value in pieces created in factories, the sort she had found in human ordering markets through the computer.

  A small human came out from the back room. He stopped at the boundary between the two spaces and stared at her.

  “Mr. Tsang,” Ito said as he moved toward the man. “This is the Rownt Grandmother.”

  “Obviously,” the human said with great vehemence before Ito had even finished speaking. Tsang watched her without any of the gestures she had come to expect at first meetings—the upturning of the corners of the mouth or the showing of teeth. “It’s huge.”

  “She is quite old, so she is tall,” Ito said with a touch of desperation in his voice. No doubt huge had a less favorable connotation than tall.

  She removed her computer interface from the carrying pouch and typed her response. “Mr. Tsang, I believe, on Earth, the traditional words of greeting would be that I am pleased to meet you.”

  He narrowed his eyes and pushed Ito to one side. The colonel sighed, but he yielded. Tsang stopped outside her reach. “Please be more interesting than humans and come up with something more honest.”

  “I had not realized honesty was desired. Since I am told by Liam that you remind him of a Rownt, I will say that your shop is almost not forgettable.”

  Tsang did not move, and she wondered if he had taken offense. Human anger was so hard to recognize. However, after a long silence that caused Ito to shift uncomfortably, Tsang said, “Perhaps you don't recognize the value of what I have on the shelves.”

  “Or perhaps you overestimate them.”

  “My client list would contradict that,” Tsang said with confidence. “In fact, your escort has been attempting to buy the very piece you asked to look at.”

  She turned her back and walked closer to the shelves. The containers appeared more decorative than practical and far too small for her hand, just as the ceiling was too low for her height. Earth was a physically uncomfortable planet. “I did not ask to look at anything. Perhaps someone recommended that I consider a piece, but I have yet to see anything that I would invest time or resources to possess.”

  Tsang followed her. “Is that a subtle way of reminding me that you have significant resources?”

  “I do not need to be subtle.” She turned and looked down at him. “I find subtlety is for creatures who are unfortunately small.”

  “Among humans, age does not require growing large enough to crush your own bones.” Tsang crossed his arms. “That seems like a design flaw.”

  “Your inadequate lifespan is a larger one.” She watched him. On the other side of the room, Ito continued to shift from one foot to the other, but he did not interfere. She had believed that humans found silence disconcerting, but no one spoke for many minutes. Unlike Ito, Tsang showed no sign of discomfort. He studied her.

  “You might not bore me,” he said.

  She turned back to the art on the shelves. “Your inability to entertain yourself is of little interest to me.”

  Tsang laughed. The exchange lacked the nuances of tone and expression that a Grandmother might use to insult another Rownt, but at the very least, she enjoyed his efforts.

  “Come and look at Aizen Myo-o.” He walke
d toward the inner room. She continued to pace the perimeter of the room and study the art. She knew the names of most tuk-ranked artists whose pieces were traded among Grandmothers, but here were hundreds or thousands of pieces, each as unfamiliar as the next. And yet she could see the skill in each. She wondered if each piece was from a different artist or if humans varied in their style from one piece to another.

  She reached the opening to the next room. Fewer pieces were displayed here. The closest appeared to be a type of armor. If the piece was functional, it must be very old because the leather did not appear capable of stopping projectile or energy weapons. She moved on to a display of containers before reaching the carved figure that had inspired this trip. The figure had an alarming expression and wore a carved facsimile of the hide of a predator with the head attached.

  The carving was so ornate that the hair of the predator’s fur and each link in the figure’s necklace were clear. The artist had reproduced every wrinkle and fold of the clothing, but more than that, the piece appeared to carry some piece of the artist. She imagined the hand carefully carving this piece. “I do not see art displayed openly in the absence of advertisement. What value do your people place on it?”

  Tsang sat on a stool and appeared uninterested in her perusal. He acted as a proper trader. “I thought you had pet humans to ask for help in matters of human preference.”

  Grandmother showed her predatory fangs. “Do not refer to palteia as pets.” She leaned forward and narrowed her nose at the very audacity of the statement. She understood the function of Zach’s attachments to Duke. She appreciated the dog’s protectiveness, and his physical companionship had positive effects on Zach’s health. Given Zach’s discomfort with touch and her own inability to comfort her palteia, she was protective of the animal. If an accident were to befall him, she would procure another predator to share her nest. However, to compare him to Zach was an insult too great to go unchallenged.