Sliding Scales Read Online Free PDF Page B

desirable to maintain that useful anonymity. Meanwhile, each of us will continue to advance the aims of our faction in any way that they can.”
    The circle was re-formed. Tentacles were entwined. Eyestalks withdrew into concave upper bodies until only the glimmer of the eyes themselves were visible. MuaBriiv recited the Kwolal liturgy. That helped to banish any lingering feelings of stress, whereupon they all went their separate ways: friends united behind a common idea as yet devoid of the slightest means of implementing it.
    Tvr-Vheequa and Bno-Cassaul chose to return to their dwellings by means of the latest type of air-repulsion vehicle. Three other members of the circle who had not spoken, who had only listened, utilized other mechanical means of transport. Only Mua-Briiv and, somewhat surprisingly to the others, Lwo-Dvuum chose to ride traditional ouvomum.
    Both were tethered near the very end of the old city wall. As was only courteous and proper, Lwo-Dvuumwaited until Mua-Briiv had slipped into the other riding sling and departed before approaching the remaining mount.
    Five times the length but weighing less than the average Vssey, the ouvomum browsed contentedly at the public feeding trough to which it had been secured. Long and flat, mottled brown and green on top and blue on its underside, the creature chewed cut grass and grain with a wide, flattened protrusion of a mouth. Working against the feed, the grinding plates inside the mouth masticated it to a pulp before swallowing.
    The ouvomum had four limbs that were neither arms nor legs. Instead, the quadruple projections that extended from each corner of its roughly rectangular body curved upward instead of down. Their tips terminated in muscular, cylindrical tubes that expanded into four huge, colorful, membranous balloons. If not for the strong artificial leather tether that kept it secured to the feeding trough, the ouvomum would have rapidly and contentedly drifted off into the evening sky.
    The elegant, embossed harness that encircled its body formed a kind of conical sack beneath the central stomach, with the base of the harness resting on the smooth stone pavement of the old city wall. A single well-practiced high hop landed Lwo-Dvuum's four-sided base perfectly in the center of the harness. Leaning forward, the rider used several tentacles to release the mount's tether and pull it in. As it was secured to one side, four reins dangling from above were gripped confidently in two other sets of tentacles. The ouvomum let out a melancholy moan as it drifted away from the feeding trough. When it started to deflate its two fore gas bladders in an attempt to descend back toward the food, Lwo-Dvuum tugged firmly on the rearward reins.
    Within a couple of moments the well-trained ouvomumresponded to the controlling tugs on the four reins. Alternately deflating and inflating its bladders, it turned back toward the city proper as it rose. As mount and rider soared gracefully over the city's outskirts, Lwo-Dvuum reflected that even if they were neither long nor particularly strong individually, having more than two dozen manipulating limbs had its advantages. It was possible to keep a double grip on each of the four reins while simultaneously steadying oneself in the harness by holding on to several of the enclosing straps.
    In an age of modern conveniences, flying an ouvomum was a stylish and fashionable way to get around. The only drawback was a lack of speed. The ouvomum was anything but swift. But soaring along beneath one gave a rider time to think, something the Vssey had always prized. The AAnn felt that the Vssey already spent too much time thinking. Lwo-Dvuum did not care what the AAnn thought, so long as they did not discover what the circle of friends was thinking.
    Difficult as it was to admit it, there was no question that Tvr-Vheequa's caution was well founded. Weapons alone, even allowing for a sufficiency of those willing to employ them, offered no