Early Byrd Read Online Free PDF

didn't strike as the sort of man who'd take
well to being ordered around. But he merely smiled and bowed. "Of
course, sir. At once."
    Rapput's eyes narrowed again, then rather
reluctantly he nodded. "You're a good man, Li. Thank you. Perhaps
we might make good use of your academic background in the long run
after all." Last of all, he turned to us. "Boys, you've heard the
plan. Now please be so good as to unpack for the night and
cooperate with the domestic staff. Remember always that toying with
servants is ignoble and base—a poor way to repay true loyalty. Do
we understand each other?"
    I gulped, and Tim replied, "Yes, sir!"
    Rapput smiled. "Good! Then, if there's
nothing more to be done here, I have what seems like several
hundred reports to finalize and file before leaving the planet. If
something important comes up, then by all means consult me.
Otherwise, I fear I must work even harder than any of the rest of
you." He reached out and laid his hands on our heads like he'd
already done several times already. "The future lies heaviest on
the most responsible. Good night, and I'll see you in the
morning."

8
     
    My servant was apparently a lot better at his job
than Tim's was, because he had me all set up and unloaded a good
half-hour before his partner. Or perhaps he'd simply packed more
logically. When finished he strode to the door, bowed deeply, and
in a hushed, shy-sounding voice said, "I am Giril, Robertherman
Gonther, eternally at your service. Have you any further need of
this servant today?"
    At first my jaw dropped because I thought
he'd said his name was Girl, which was funny enough in its own
right but triply so for an Artemu. Then I remembered what Rapput
had said about faithful and honest service, and forced back my
smile. It was, after all, the most sensible thing my new uncle had
said all day. "I'm grateful for your help on this special and
difficult day, Giril, and while I don't yet know how to properly
work with you, be assured that I'm very satisfied indeed."
    His face lit up like a child's. "Lord Rapput
explained to us that you can't yet be expected to know civilized
ways," he replied, bowing a second time. "But he never told us your
kind was so . . . pleasant. I am indeed a lucky servant." Then he
turned and left.
    Tim's helper was still busily opening and
closing containers in the next room; the walls were thin, and the
lids made a loud snapping sound whenever the seal was made or
broken. My brother was probably looking for his toothbrush or
something like that; he often mislaid small items. At no point had
anyone told me I was required to remain in my room, so I decided to
do some careful exploring.
    I'd been in big, expensive hotels before
with Mom and Dad. On Inauguration Day we'd stayed at one of the
best places in Maryland, or so Mom claimed, while on another trip
we'd slept in a super-fancy building in New Orleans that’d smelled
bad. Though I wasn't exactly a grown-up, after those experiences
the finest suites in Vancouver still weren't likely to impress me.
And they didn't, though that wasn't the Canadian's fault. After
all, the finest lodgings in my own native Montana were probably
less impressive still. It was just that really fancy hotels sort of
clustered over time around cities that were the focus of one sort
of power or another, Dad had explained one day after a conversation
that'd begun with Tim pointing at a bidet and asking what it was.
Vancouver was relatively new to the center-of-power thing, I
figured. Give them time, and with the help of the Artemu their
lodgings would soon rival those of New York, London, and Paris.
    "Well, hello!" a female voice greeted me as
I jogged along the curved corridor back toward my room; my first
attempt to find the main elevators had taken me directly to the
fire-stairs, in exactly the opposite direction to that which I’d
wished to go. There stood a woman in a hotel uniform. "Who do we
have here, playing among our new masters?"
    I smiled, mostly