Silent Dances Read Online Free PDF Page B

said I'd think about it," she signed. "Tesa, I didn ' t call them to complicate things, but because
    I knew you' d have to talk to them about it." Rob r an a h an d through his dark , curly hair dis tr actedly.
    "When I told you about that new surgery," he signed, "I expected you to jump at the ch an ce . However, when you didn't, it set something else in motion. Now you tell me you' re not su re. .
    " I c an 't make an y decision without mo re facts ," she signed. He nodded, took a casse tt e from his pocket , an d plugged it into the holovid . "Sorry this had an error on it yesterday," Rob signed . The living -
    room scene-seven sac re d Mao ri canoes c re sting the waves-
    dissolved, re-forming as T ri nity. "I had it patched . I'm su re you recognized the Grus , even without narrative . These shots were taken
    by the colonizing company's scientists . They' d been making obse rv
    ations for months when one of the biologists , Scott Hedford, was
    approached by the Grus." Rob fast - forwarded the footage . " He re 's that scene."
    A sophisticated hologramic blind blended invisibly into the re eds as an avi
    an walked up to it an d patiently waited. After a moment, the occupant of
    the blind tu rn ed it off. It
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    disappeared , an d the hum an an d Grus stood a few feet apart, face-to-face.
    The ruddy- skinned , s an dy-haired m an with a moustache watched as the improbably tall Grus held out a folded cloth. Tesa inst an tly liked
    Scott for his open delight in receiving a gift that would ch an ge his life
    forever.
    "Scott w as a good re searcher ," Rob signed. "He believed that the Grus we re t ru ly intelligent . His partner , Meg T re tiak, ag re ed . Voder tr an slations backed them up. However , this decision did not please their
    employers , Jamestown Founders." I bet , thought Tesa.
    It had only been fifteen years since the Desiree had met the Simiu, the
    powerful , four-legged baboonlike aliens , the first extraterrestrials the hum an s had found . That First Contact had nearly ended disast ro usly when a young Simiu , Kh re kk', had violated the complicated Simiu
    honor code by committing suicide , shaming himself an d his family .
    But then , hum an s had also shamed themselves by using weapons-
    the Simiu's most se ri ous taboo . As the conflict escalated , Mah re e Burroughs, Rob Gable , an d their Simiu f ri end , Dhurrrkk', stole away to plead for help fr om the Cooperative League of Systems-a union of
    the Known Worlds.
    The CLS interv ened an d the situation almost ended perfectly. Because of the travelers' accidental discovery of the telepathic Averni an s, the Terrans an d the Simiu we re each granted half membership in the CLS .
    For the hum an s , this w as an unexpected re ward . But for the Simiu , who had lost their bid for full membership because of their mish an
    dling of their a tt empt at First Contact with the hum an s , this was a shameful disappointment . Even now , m an y Simiu held the humans re sponsible for their perceived dishonor in the entire affair.
    As for the human s , they had to get used to the idea that the universe w
    as n't theirs alone . At that time , Earth had already profitably colonized three pl an ets. Columbus was still venerated on Terra , and colonizing was big business . However, Terra's new half membership made some
    politici an s realize that the re might be other p ro fitable things to do in space. The oldest an d founding members of the CLS, the snakelike , m an y-tentacled Mizari , were much more adv an ced scientifically th an the Terr an s. Mutual trade could be ve ry beneficial . Many hum an s felt that full membership in the CLS would help Ea rt h immeasurably.
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    One of the most crucial requirements to be granted full membership in the
    Cooperative League of Systems-something the Simiu still coveted-was to
    meet and establish nonexploitative, peaceful relations with another
    intelligent species. But, what might happen if the Simiu were to gain