A Murder of Clones: A Retrieval Artist Universe Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

you understand the governmental rankings within the Eaufasse?” she asked.
    “Not entirely, no,” Uzven said. “If you are asking me if you are conducting an inquiry above your pay grade, then I cannot answer that. For all I know, all Eaufasse who deal with non-Eaufasse in minor matters are called ‘ambassador.’ Remember that we are filtering through two languages here, one imperfectly known.”
    Two?
    It took her a moment to understand what Uzven meant. It meant that it was translating into Peytin first before translating into Standard. Just great. Yet another way to add in misunderstandings.
    “I want to double-check the number,” she said. “Sixteen years? Not six?”
    “Sixteen,” Uzven said in a tone that definitely showed it was insulted that she checked.
    “Because Epriccom had just applied for Earth Alliance membership sixteen years ago. We hadn’t had much contact with any of the species here before that,” she said.
    She knew this because she had investigated it before she had gotten here. It took a minimum of twenty-five years from application to approval to become a full Earth Alliance member. And that was if everything ran smoothly.
    “Sixteen,” Uzven said again.
    “Damn,” Gomez muttered. This group of humans was even more private than she imagined.
    Uzven did not move, and neither did the Eaufasse on her screen. The ambassador. If it was a real, high-ranking ambassador, then she was screwing up by holding it up—at least under Earth Alliance protocol.
    “All right,” she said softly to Uzven. “Let’s continue.”
    Uzven bowed a little, then turned slightly.
    “Forgive me, Mr. Ambassador,” she said. “Mister” and “Sir” in Standard had become gender-neutral. She hoped Uzven translated them that way. “I still need clarifications of some of what you’ve told me. Did the enclave predate your application to the Earth Alliance?”
    Uzven dutifully translated. The Eaufasse’s arms came down to the position they had been in before. Its eyes shone whitely for a moment. Gomez had no idea what that meant.
    “Why is that important?” The Eaufasse asked. The question sounded defensive, but she wasn’t sure if that was the Eaufasse’s defensiveness or Uzven’s.
    She was going to act as if every emotion belonged to the Eaufasse. “Sir, I am trying to understand the enclave from a human-to-human perspective. If the enclave’s arrival predates our contact with you, this tells me that the enclave was looking for some place not affiliated with the Alliance to form its community.”
    That whiteness flared, then disappeared. The ambassador’s arms flopped over its shoulders again, elbows—if that’s what they were—pointing at her. She wasn’t even going to try to understand the body language. It unsettled her, and she didn’t want to be unsettled.
    “Their arrival predates the application by six months,” Uzven said. “And before you ask me, the ambassador is referring to months as the Earth Alliance calculates them.”
    “Thank you,” Gomez said, and before she could ask her next question, the ambassador continued.
    “It was their arrival that made the Eaufasse and the others on Epriccom aware of the Earth Alliance. It was in the researching of the humans that Epriccom decided that joining the Alliance would be a good idea.”
    That was interesting.
    “Why?” she asked.
    “The Earth Alliance is a trade and protection organization, facilitating business throughout several sectors. It would bring much-needed revenue to Epriccom while providing many opportunities to the various local groups here.”
    Gomez almost laughed in surprise and relief. The ambassador was selling her on Epriccom’s final entry into the Earth Alliance. As she realized that, she relaxed slightly.
    “So,” she said, “the enclave have been good neighbors until they—as you said—started attacking themselves.”
    “Slang,” Uzven muttered loud enough for her to hear. Then it tilted its head