Post by Lorpius Prime on Jun 10, 2009 13:11:51 GMT -5
The Financial Councilor of the Organization of Earth States was one of the most powerful men on the planet. He was entrusted with the critical and delicate responsibility of making sure that all of Humanity's top-level diplomatic and military institutions were kept well-funded and operating. If he couldn't do his job properly and professionally, the very future of Earth and its inhabitants was at risk.
"Woohaa!"
Wilhelm Trautmann was the current OES Financial Councilor, and he just had thrown both of his hands up into the air and was now performing a little dance in his seat. This was drawing stares from the other men at the conference table, including the Chief Executive, Foreign Councilor, Admiral of Earth Fleet, and a Rear Admiral and Captain of Earth Fleet who had been giving a presentation.
"Willy, please don't ever make that noise again."
Willy put his hands back down on the table and emitted a little cough.
"I'm sorry, Chief. I just—I didn't expect this to work out so well."
Admiral Kozlov turned around in his seat to nod pleasantly at his two subordinates, both of whom were staring slack-jawed at the Financial Councilor.
"Gentlemen, this is the man who writes our checks. Without him, we'd be begging on the streets of Durban, so please show some respect."
The two officers got control of their expressions and came to attention. "Yes, sir," the Rear Admiral said after saluting.
Kozlov nodded approvingly and turned back around. He said in a lower voice, "Because God knows, Willy, if we didn't need you, I think we'd smother you in your sleep."
Willy's mouth was half-open, and he looked like he couldn't decide whether he should laugh or run from the room. Eduard snorted a laugh.
"You might as well tell us," the Chief Executive said. "What worked out?"
Willy grinned, "I've been sending emails to contacts about the stuff I'd found out about the colonial company. Well they bit. The American Attorney General announced that they're going to prosecute the corporate governors for securities and tax fraud. They've asked the British to extradite the CFO." Willy picked up his PDA and held it out to the table as if the others could see the tiny screen. "The British judge threw out the lawsuit!"
No one spoke for a moment. Then Bernardo Durante put one hand to the side of his head, "Wait, did all this happen in the last ten minutes?"
"Well, no," Willy said. "I've been writing people since yesterday, and I imagine the Americans have been working on this for a while. So I guess they got pissed off at what I sent them, or they saw as some sort of opportunity. They just made the announcement an hour ago, and the judge had probably figured out how absurd the whole suit was. So this was a good opportunity for him to pull the plug."
"O—okay," Eduard said. "Good work then, Willy."
"Thanks!" the Financial Councilor said, a little too excitedly. He coughed again, "Um, I've just never really pulled off a political scheme on my own before. It's a little bit of a rush!"
Bernardo looked over to Eduard, his expression asking What have we created? Eduard tried to smile, however.
"Next time, Willy, you should really tell us when you're running something like this. That way we can be sure that no one's taking conflicting actions or sending mixed signals."
The Financial Councilor gave a jittery nod, "Yes, Chief. I'm sorry, I just didn't think anything this big would come out of it, or this quickly."
"You make big waves from here, Councilor," Eduard said soberly.
"Yes, Chief!"
Admiral Kozlov leaned his head on a fist and looked at the Chief Executive, "Chief, I think someone ought to buy Councilor Trautmann a beer—or, you know, some valium. Otherwise we're going to hear that he tried to rewrite the entire global financial system overnight from his desk."
"I think we'll buy Willy a beer this afternoon," Eduard chuckled. "But in celebration of his little maneuver's success. Keeping him away from the launch codes will just be a bonus."
Laughter. Eduard worried slightly that they might be teasing Willy a bit too much, but the Financial Councilor was still grinning from ear to ear.
"All right," Eduard said, trying to get things back under control. He waved to the Earth Fleet officers still standing in front of the monitor. "Why don't you gentlemen continue."
They nodded. "Yes Chief," the Captain said. "As we were saying, the new estimate for rebuilding the New Delhi's secondary engines pushes back our completion date another month to…"
"Lieutenant Commander Donaldson is here," Lieutenant Muyskens said from the doorway to the briefing room.
"Send him in," Xi Feng said. She set her PDA aside, the paperwork she'd been doing could keep.
Mitchell Donaldson drifted through the doorway and saluted. Xi Feng returned the salute, and then peered behind her Intelligence officer.
"Close the door, please, Lieutenant," she said to her adjutant.
Muyskens nodded silently and shut the hatch behind Donaldson.
Xi Feng waited for Donaldson to settle into a seat, then asked, "What have you got, Commander?"
"Sleep deprivation, sir. With your permission, I'd like to start passing off some more of my shipboard duties to Lieutenant Ellis."
"Do you think he can handle it?" Jason Ellis had only just joined the Uruguay's crew as Donaldson's deputy. This was his second cruise since graduating from the Academy.
Donaldson's smile was also a shrug, "I wish I could say for certain. Chief Hamad and I will keep an eye on him for a while to be sure. But I'm overstretching myself right now."
"You've reached this conclusion after one day?"
"Yes, sir," Donaldson nodded. "Task Force Intelligence is easy enough, but managing our Operations is already a full time job, and it's only going to get worse. I can do that work, but I can't do it and perform my previous duties as Uruguay's Chief Intelligence Officer up to the same standard."
Xi Feng frowned. She wasn't happy to learn that Donaldson was getting in over his head. But she was glad that he told her rather than let his own performance slip. Maybe Donaldson wasn't quite as capable as Xi Feng had hoped, but he was still a good officer.
"All right, find out what Lieutenant Ellis can do. But, Commander," she gave him a stern gaze for a moment, "I want to see performance reviews from you and Chief Hamad. I'll be making my own assessment as well. If the Lieutenant isn't up to this task, you'll resume your old job and we'll find a different solution. Earth Fleet picked us for this job because they needed officers who could crew a tight ship and direct a fleet. We will do both, and we'll do them both well. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good," Xi Feng allowed him a faint smile. "Anything else?"
Donaldson nodded. He fished his PDA out of his pocket, "We're, uh, just about ready for that tactical exercise you and Commander Wade dreamed up."
"When do they think we're going?"
"Uh, well I've told them once we're a few hours from Mars so that we'll have better sensor data. I don't think all of them bought that story, though. I know Commander Salazar doesn't, he was giving me a funny look the whole time."
Xi Feng chuckled, she had been surprised to find Tony Salazar in her roster for the Task Force. "He was in my year at the Academy, and we fought each other in the simulators quite a bit. He wasn't the cleverest tactician in Earth Fleet, but even I had trouble fooling him by the end. The Cyprus should manage just fine."
"Yes, sir. Well that's all I have for you other than regular status updates. Everything's been sent to you, of course."
"Anything of particular interest?"
"Uh, the Lithuania's Chief Engineer had an idea about breaking up the Zhukov and splicing it into a cargo shuttle. She and Colonel Borzakov are going to talk it over with the Archimedes' people. Sounds pretty ghoulish, I don't know what the chances are that it'll work out."
"Well let's hope it does." The assault shuttle Zhukov had been partially disassembled so that it could be towed in one of the Uruguay's shuttle ports. Its hatch still couldn't properly dock, however, and a few hours' work would be required to restore the shuttle to useful service if it was ever needed. "Nothing else?"
"No, sir, that's all for now. I should have an updated assessment on the Tadpoles for you by Sunday."
"Very well, then, Commander. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir." Donaldson stood and exchanged another salute with Xi Feng. He opened the hatch and climbed through before bouncing away.
"Lieutenant Muyskens," Xi Feng called through the open doorway.
Her adjutant appeared. "Yes, Commodore?"
"Anything develop that needs my attention?"
"No, sir."
"Then I think we're done for the day. Go get some rest before the next one."
…I've attached a sketch of the map, which I think gives a little clearer impression than the pictures.
I'm not yet entirely sure what to make of it. This is the second time that Yaheek has given us information which the other Bats have been reluctant to share, and I can't help but feel suspicious. He claims to be working in his government's interests, but still openly acknowledges that he's breaking policy. I'm starting to feel a little like a spy managing a foreign agent, which is not something that I have any training or experience with. I strongly suspect that Yaheek is trying to manipulate us, but I can't see how or why. Nothing he's told me seems to paint his people in a particularly rosy light, especially not the lecture on the political geography of our corner of the galaxy. I don't know what he's trying to accomplish.
I'll keep thinking about it and keep trying to pry out more information. If he reveals anything else, or if anything new occurs to me, I'll keep you updated. Going back to work for now, though.
Pascual finished typing the brief report, and then selected the header to send it to both Bernardo Durante, his boss, and Chief Molinas, his uncle. He wasn't going over the Foreign Councilor's head, just keeping in touch with his uncle. Bernardo had been a friend of the Molinas family for decades and would have almost certainly forwarded the letter straight on to Eduard anyway. Pascual was just saving him the work.
Before Pascual could send the letter, the computer beeped, and a little red icon flashed in the bottom right corner of the screen to announce a call. Pascual sent the letter, and then clicked on the icon. It expanded into a window that filled the screen. Inside was the face of the Barn Swallow's captain, David Sykes.
"Good morning, Captain," Pascual said.
Sykes was looking off to one side of the camera, but he turned back as soon as Pascual spoke and held up a finger to silence whatever crewmember had been talking to him.
"Good morning, Ambassador Molinas. I thought you'd like to know that Ambassador Rokden and his delegation are returning. Their shuttle should be docking in about fifteen minutes."
"I see. Thank you, Captain."
"Would you like a crewmember to show you the way back to the shuttle bay, or would you prefer to meet the Tadpoles in the guest quarters?"
"I'd better meet them at the bays. If you could send someone, Captain, I'd appreciate it."
"Of course, Ambassador. Someone will be there shortly."
"Thank you."
Sykes nodded, and killed the connection. Pascual rubbed the back of his head. Time to get dressed.
Twenty minutes later with the help of one of the Barn Swallow's cargo handlers, Pascual waited in front of the entrance to the personnel shuttle bays. He straightened his tie just as the hatch clanked and opened.
"Hello, Ambassador," Spacer Apprentice Mohammed said. Pascual nodded to the shuttle's copilot, who finished sliding open the hatch, and then stepped out to one side.
Pascual blinked. He had been expecting Rokden to return to the Barn Swallow with his same pair of assistants, but there were four Tadpoles in the shuttle behind Spacer Apprentice Mohammed. And as they squeezed through the hatch, Pascual realized that he only recognized two of them. The first two Tadpoles that entered the hall in front of Pascual were unfamiliar to him. They were each carrying a large green satchel slung over one shoulder, and were also wearing the kilts that Rokden and his assistants had worn. Rokden's group, of course, had worn only the kilts, making these Tadpoles the most dressed that Pascual had encountered.
Pascual didn't have much time to wonder what might be inside the satchels. One of Rokden's assistants from earlier stepped through the hatch, followed by Rokden himself. Chief Engels brought up the rear and closed the hatch behind him.
"Morning, Ambassador," he said after turning around.
"Chief," Pascual nodded, "thanks for bringing them back."
"No problem, Ambassador," Engels grinned, and then gestured to Mohammed. "We'll get out of your way."
They slipped away. Pascual looked up at Rokden and smiled.
"Ambassador Rokden, welcome back," he held out a hand.
The Tadpole reached out his own hand, but did not close his large fingers around Pascual's. Pascual was grateful; he could do without having his hand crushed today.
"Thank you, Ambassador," Rokden said. "You have already met my assistant, Gorthdel." He gestured at the Tadpole on his right.
Pascual had seen the assistant before, but had not known that was the alien's name. They had never spoken.
"I have," he said, and held out his hand again. Gorthdel touched his palm in the same way Rokden had, but still did not say anything.
The Tadpole Ambassador turned to the other pair on his left, the ones carrying the bags.
"And these," he said, "are Dr. Onadunwe and Dr. Vurk." The Tadpoles nodded in turn as Rokden said their names. Pascual could already tell that he was going to have trouble telling them apart. They were both slightly smaller than Rokden, but otherwise had no obviously distinguishing features.
"Doctors?" Pascual asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Rokden said. "Dr. Vurk is an engineer. He will examine your colony vessels so that they can be properly used once we reach our colony. Dr. Onadunwe will also study the habitats to make sure they are compatible with our biology. We are not sure if it is more appropriate to call her a physician or a biochemist.
"Uh," Pascual blinked. Her? He looked at the Tadpole Rokden had called Dr. Onadunwe. If she was a female, the Tadpoles weren't quite as similar to Humans as Pascual had thought.
Pascual shook his head, attempting to recover. "I'm sorry. Do you treat patients, Doctor? I mean to heal sick or injured individuals?"
"Yes," the Tadpole said. Her voice was not quite as deep as Rokden's, but still sounded very male to Pascual's ears.
"Then physician is probably the more appropriate title, a medical doctor."
"I understand," Rokden said, and Pascual looked back towards him. "Vurk and Onadunwe are a mating pair," he explained, "so we thought they could use a single room of those provided."
"Of course," Pascual said a little quickly as he tried to cover his surprise. He'd wondered what they were going to do about the rooms. He turned back to the Tadpole couple. "I'm pleased to meet you. Welcome aboard the Barn Swallow."
Both Tadpoles nodded.
"Thank you, Ambassador," Onadunwe said, still not sounding the least bit like a woman.
The other Tadpole, Dr. Vurk, tilted his head. "Yes, thank you. We are honored to be here," he said. His voice was croaking and high-pitched. Pascual was beginning to wonder just how accurate a model Rokden was for his species.
Pascual sighed. He could re-evaluate his assumptions once they were out of this hallway.
"All right," he said, clasping his hands together. "Let me show you back to the guest quarters."
"Woohaa!"
Wilhelm Trautmann was the current OES Financial Councilor, and he just had thrown both of his hands up into the air and was now performing a little dance in his seat. This was drawing stares from the other men at the conference table, including the Chief Executive, Foreign Councilor, Admiral of Earth Fleet, and a Rear Admiral and Captain of Earth Fleet who had been giving a presentation.
"Willy, please don't ever make that noise again."
Willy put his hands back down on the table and emitted a little cough.
"I'm sorry, Chief. I just—I didn't expect this to work out so well."
Admiral Kozlov turned around in his seat to nod pleasantly at his two subordinates, both of whom were staring slack-jawed at the Financial Councilor.
"Gentlemen, this is the man who writes our checks. Without him, we'd be begging on the streets of Durban, so please show some respect."
The two officers got control of their expressions and came to attention. "Yes, sir," the Rear Admiral said after saluting.
Kozlov nodded approvingly and turned back around. He said in a lower voice, "Because God knows, Willy, if we didn't need you, I think we'd smother you in your sleep."
Willy's mouth was half-open, and he looked like he couldn't decide whether he should laugh or run from the room. Eduard snorted a laugh.
"You might as well tell us," the Chief Executive said. "What worked out?"
Willy grinned, "I've been sending emails to contacts about the stuff I'd found out about the colonial company. Well they bit. The American Attorney General announced that they're going to prosecute the corporate governors for securities and tax fraud. They've asked the British to extradite the CFO." Willy picked up his PDA and held it out to the table as if the others could see the tiny screen. "The British judge threw out the lawsuit!"
No one spoke for a moment. Then Bernardo Durante put one hand to the side of his head, "Wait, did all this happen in the last ten minutes?"
"Well, no," Willy said. "I've been writing people since yesterday, and I imagine the Americans have been working on this for a while. So I guess they got pissed off at what I sent them, or they saw as some sort of opportunity. They just made the announcement an hour ago, and the judge had probably figured out how absurd the whole suit was. So this was a good opportunity for him to pull the plug."
"O—okay," Eduard said. "Good work then, Willy."
"Thanks!" the Financial Councilor said, a little too excitedly. He coughed again, "Um, I've just never really pulled off a political scheme on my own before. It's a little bit of a rush!"
Bernardo looked over to Eduard, his expression asking What have we created? Eduard tried to smile, however.
"Next time, Willy, you should really tell us when you're running something like this. That way we can be sure that no one's taking conflicting actions or sending mixed signals."
The Financial Councilor gave a jittery nod, "Yes, Chief. I'm sorry, I just didn't think anything this big would come out of it, or this quickly."
"You make big waves from here, Councilor," Eduard said soberly.
"Yes, Chief!"
Admiral Kozlov leaned his head on a fist and looked at the Chief Executive, "Chief, I think someone ought to buy Councilor Trautmann a beer—or, you know, some valium. Otherwise we're going to hear that he tried to rewrite the entire global financial system overnight from his desk."
"I think we'll buy Willy a beer this afternoon," Eduard chuckled. "But in celebration of his little maneuver's success. Keeping him away from the launch codes will just be a bonus."
Laughter. Eduard worried slightly that they might be teasing Willy a bit too much, but the Financial Councilor was still grinning from ear to ear.
"All right," Eduard said, trying to get things back under control. He waved to the Earth Fleet officers still standing in front of the monitor. "Why don't you gentlemen continue."
They nodded. "Yes Chief," the Captain said. "As we were saying, the new estimate for rebuilding the New Delhi's secondary engines pushes back our completion date another month to…"
* * *
"Lieutenant Commander Donaldson is here," Lieutenant Muyskens said from the doorway to the briefing room.
"Send him in," Xi Feng said. She set her PDA aside, the paperwork she'd been doing could keep.
Mitchell Donaldson drifted through the doorway and saluted. Xi Feng returned the salute, and then peered behind her Intelligence officer.
"Close the door, please, Lieutenant," she said to her adjutant.
Muyskens nodded silently and shut the hatch behind Donaldson.
Xi Feng waited for Donaldson to settle into a seat, then asked, "What have you got, Commander?"
"Sleep deprivation, sir. With your permission, I'd like to start passing off some more of my shipboard duties to Lieutenant Ellis."
"Do you think he can handle it?" Jason Ellis had only just joined the Uruguay's crew as Donaldson's deputy. This was his second cruise since graduating from the Academy.
Donaldson's smile was also a shrug, "I wish I could say for certain. Chief Hamad and I will keep an eye on him for a while to be sure. But I'm overstretching myself right now."
"You've reached this conclusion after one day?"
"Yes, sir," Donaldson nodded. "Task Force Intelligence is easy enough, but managing our Operations is already a full time job, and it's only going to get worse. I can do that work, but I can't do it and perform my previous duties as Uruguay's Chief Intelligence Officer up to the same standard."
Xi Feng frowned. She wasn't happy to learn that Donaldson was getting in over his head. But she was glad that he told her rather than let his own performance slip. Maybe Donaldson wasn't quite as capable as Xi Feng had hoped, but he was still a good officer.
"All right, find out what Lieutenant Ellis can do. But, Commander," she gave him a stern gaze for a moment, "I want to see performance reviews from you and Chief Hamad. I'll be making my own assessment as well. If the Lieutenant isn't up to this task, you'll resume your old job and we'll find a different solution. Earth Fleet picked us for this job because they needed officers who could crew a tight ship and direct a fleet. We will do both, and we'll do them both well. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good," Xi Feng allowed him a faint smile. "Anything else?"
Donaldson nodded. He fished his PDA out of his pocket, "We're, uh, just about ready for that tactical exercise you and Commander Wade dreamed up."
"When do they think we're going?"
"Uh, well I've told them once we're a few hours from Mars so that we'll have better sensor data. I don't think all of them bought that story, though. I know Commander Salazar doesn't, he was giving me a funny look the whole time."
Xi Feng chuckled, she had been surprised to find Tony Salazar in her roster for the Task Force. "He was in my year at the Academy, and we fought each other in the simulators quite a bit. He wasn't the cleverest tactician in Earth Fleet, but even I had trouble fooling him by the end. The Cyprus should manage just fine."
"Yes, sir. Well that's all I have for you other than regular status updates. Everything's been sent to you, of course."
"Anything of particular interest?"
"Uh, the Lithuania's Chief Engineer had an idea about breaking up the Zhukov and splicing it into a cargo shuttle. She and Colonel Borzakov are going to talk it over with the Archimedes' people. Sounds pretty ghoulish, I don't know what the chances are that it'll work out."
"Well let's hope it does." The assault shuttle Zhukov had been partially disassembled so that it could be towed in one of the Uruguay's shuttle ports. Its hatch still couldn't properly dock, however, and a few hours' work would be required to restore the shuttle to useful service if it was ever needed. "Nothing else?"
"No, sir, that's all for now. I should have an updated assessment on the Tadpoles for you by Sunday."
"Very well, then, Commander. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir." Donaldson stood and exchanged another salute with Xi Feng. He opened the hatch and climbed through before bouncing away.
"Lieutenant Muyskens," Xi Feng called through the open doorway.
Her adjutant appeared. "Yes, Commodore?"
"Anything develop that needs my attention?"
"No, sir."
"Then I think we're done for the day. Go get some rest before the next one."
* * *
…I've attached a sketch of the map, which I think gives a little clearer impression than the pictures.
I'm not yet entirely sure what to make of it. This is the second time that Yaheek has given us information which the other Bats have been reluctant to share, and I can't help but feel suspicious. He claims to be working in his government's interests, but still openly acknowledges that he's breaking policy. I'm starting to feel a little like a spy managing a foreign agent, which is not something that I have any training or experience with. I strongly suspect that Yaheek is trying to manipulate us, but I can't see how or why. Nothing he's told me seems to paint his people in a particularly rosy light, especially not the lecture on the political geography of our corner of the galaxy. I don't know what he's trying to accomplish.
I'll keep thinking about it and keep trying to pry out more information. If he reveals anything else, or if anything new occurs to me, I'll keep you updated. Going back to work for now, though.
Pascual finished typing the brief report, and then selected the header to send it to both Bernardo Durante, his boss, and Chief Molinas, his uncle. He wasn't going over the Foreign Councilor's head, just keeping in touch with his uncle. Bernardo had been a friend of the Molinas family for decades and would have almost certainly forwarded the letter straight on to Eduard anyway. Pascual was just saving him the work.
Before Pascual could send the letter, the computer beeped, and a little red icon flashed in the bottom right corner of the screen to announce a call. Pascual sent the letter, and then clicked on the icon. It expanded into a window that filled the screen. Inside was the face of the Barn Swallow's captain, David Sykes.
"Good morning, Captain," Pascual said.
Sykes was looking off to one side of the camera, but he turned back as soon as Pascual spoke and held up a finger to silence whatever crewmember had been talking to him.
"Good morning, Ambassador Molinas. I thought you'd like to know that Ambassador Rokden and his delegation are returning. Their shuttle should be docking in about fifteen minutes."
"I see. Thank you, Captain."
"Would you like a crewmember to show you the way back to the shuttle bay, or would you prefer to meet the Tadpoles in the guest quarters?"
"I'd better meet them at the bays. If you could send someone, Captain, I'd appreciate it."
"Of course, Ambassador. Someone will be there shortly."
"Thank you."
Sykes nodded, and killed the connection. Pascual rubbed the back of his head. Time to get dressed.
Twenty minutes later with the help of one of the Barn Swallow's cargo handlers, Pascual waited in front of the entrance to the personnel shuttle bays. He straightened his tie just as the hatch clanked and opened.
"Hello, Ambassador," Spacer Apprentice Mohammed said. Pascual nodded to the shuttle's copilot, who finished sliding open the hatch, and then stepped out to one side.
Pascual blinked. He had been expecting Rokden to return to the Barn Swallow with his same pair of assistants, but there were four Tadpoles in the shuttle behind Spacer Apprentice Mohammed. And as they squeezed through the hatch, Pascual realized that he only recognized two of them. The first two Tadpoles that entered the hall in front of Pascual were unfamiliar to him. They were each carrying a large green satchel slung over one shoulder, and were also wearing the kilts that Rokden and his assistants had worn. Rokden's group, of course, had worn only the kilts, making these Tadpoles the most dressed that Pascual had encountered.
Pascual didn't have much time to wonder what might be inside the satchels. One of Rokden's assistants from earlier stepped through the hatch, followed by Rokden himself. Chief Engels brought up the rear and closed the hatch behind him.
"Morning, Ambassador," he said after turning around.
"Chief," Pascual nodded, "thanks for bringing them back."
"No problem, Ambassador," Engels grinned, and then gestured to Mohammed. "We'll get out of your way."
They slipped away. Pascual looked up at Rokden and smiled.
"Ambassador Rokden, welcome back," he held out a hand.
The Tadpole reached out his own hand, but did not close his large fingers around Pascual's. Pascual was grateful; he could do without having his hand crushed today.
"Thank you, Ambassador," Rokden said. "You have already met my assistant, Gorthdel." He gestured at the Tadpole on his right.
Pascual had seen the assistant before, but had not known that was the alien's name. They had never spoken.
"I have," he said, and held out his hand again. Gorthdel touched his palm in the same way Rokden had, but still did not say anything.
The Tadpole Ambassador turned to the other pair on his left, the ones carrying the bags.
"And these," he said, "are Dr. Onadunwe and Dr. Vurk." The Tadpoles nodded in turn as Rokden said their names. Pascual could already tell that he was going to have trouble telling them apart. They were both slightly smaller than Rokden, but otherwise had no obviously distinguishing features.
"Doctors?" Pascual asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Rokden said. "Dr. Vurk is an engineer. He will examine your colony vessels so that they can be properly used once we reach our colony. Dr. Onadunwe will also study the habitats to make sure they are compatible with our biology. We are not sure if it is more appropriate to call her a physician or a biochemist.
"Uh," Pascual blinked. Her? He looked at the Tadpole Rokden had called Dr. Onadunwe. If she was a female, the Tadpoles weren't quite as similar to Humans as Pascual had thought.
Pascual shook his head, attempting to recover. "I'm sorry. Do you treat patients, Doctor? I mean to heal sick or injured individuals?"
"Yes," the Tadpole said. Her voice was not quite as deep as Rokden's, but still sounded very male to Pascual's ears.
"Then physician is probably the more appropriate title, a medical doctor."
"I understand," Rokden said, and Pascual looked back towards him. "Vurk and Onadunwe are a mating pair," he explained, "so we thought they could use a single room of those provided."
"Of course," Pascual said a little quickly as he tried to cover his surprise. He'd wondered what they were going to do about the rooms. He turned back to the Tadpole couple. "I'm pleased to meet you. Welcome aboard the Barn Swallow."
Both Tadpoles nodded.
"Thank you, Ambassador," Onadunwe said, still not sounding the least bit like a woman.
The other Tadpole, Dr. Vurk, tilted his head. "Yes, thank you. We are honored to be here," he said. His voice was croaking and high-pitched. Pascual was beginning to wonder just how accurate a model Rokden was for his species.
Pascual sighed. He could re-evaluate his assumptions once they were out of this hallway.
"All right," he said, clasping his hands together. "Let me show you back to the guest quarters."