Stardust Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

Cherry and led her to the Captain's chair. "Please try to
relax," she said after Cherry was seated. "I will try not to invade
your privacy any more than absolutely necessary. I need you to help me by
concentrating on the moment when the Weebort spoke to you." Gently she
pressed the first two fingers of each of her hands against Cherry's temples. "Now,
close your eyes and picture the Weebort in front of you. His mouth opens and he
says…"
    Cherry recalled the narrow
forked tongue flicking in and out like that of a snake, but she was still quite
certain she had heard no words.
    Without removing her
fingers, Dot said, "Computer, record and translate the following sounds
from the Weebort language." Dot did her best to imitate the garbled noises
stored in Cherry's memory, but without a forked tongue, the pronunciation could
not be duplicated precisely. After she analyzed the problem, Dot said,
"Apparently, there was too much external noise for her universal
translator to pick up the Weebort's speech, so she was never given a
translation. Thus, she has no memory of such."
    She tried again and this
time the computer of-fered an interpretation for one of the sounds:
counterfeit.
    "Counterfeit?"
Gallant asked, to be certain he'd heard correctly. "What the
drek
is counterfeit?" When neither the computer nor Mar-Dot answered him, he
ordered, "Try it again. There has to be more than one word out of all that
babble."
    Mar-Dot made two more
attempts to obtain a further translation, to no avail. "Sorry,
Captain," Mar said with a grimace. "That is the best we can do. Perhaps
he was referring to—"
    A slight movement of
Gallants hand instantly silenced Mar. "Why don't you show Cherry the
facilities? I'm sure she'd like to freshen up."
    "It would be my
pleasure," Mar said, offering his arm to escort her.
    Cherry thought she noted a
decided male gleam in his eyes a second before he whipped around. Dot's eyes
held an entirely different message. 'I will take her." She waved Cherry
back into the narrow corridor. "This is a small craft, built for speed and
maneuverability, rather than luxury or carrying large shipments of cargo."
    As they passed the first
door on the left, Dot noted, "The exterior door operates only when we are
on the ground. There are three rooms—Gallant's"— she pointed to the door
on the right where Cherry had awakened. "Ours"—she motioned to the
left— "and the facility chamber."
    She touched the door at the
end of the hallway, and it slid open to reveal a gray-carpeted lounge about twice
the size of Gallant's, furnished with a royal blue sofa, two stuffed chairs,
and a low table.
    On one wall of the room
were two square metal panels and a computer monitor, which Cherry recognized as
a supply station, but it was much smaller than the one she had in her
residence.
    Dot explained, "The
computer will supply your verbal requests for food or clothing if at all
possible, but I must warn you, this compact version undoubtedly has a more
limited capacity than the supply station you are accustomed to. I would suggest
you keep your orders fairly simple."
    Cherry shrugged.
"Since I'm only going to be on board for another twenty-four hours, it
really doesn't matter. However, I have one need that isn't going to wait that
long."
    Dot smiled and directed her
to the partition in the corner. "The commode functions in the normal way,
but, because of the minimal storage space on board, there is no water for
showers." Cherry investigated the cubicle as Dot continued. 'The red
button on the wall activates the sanitizing beam in the ceiling. You just
remove your clothes and stand beneath it for one minute. You will be as clean
afterward as if you had taken a hot shower; you just will not feel as
refreshed."
    "Nonsense," Mar
countered, turning toward Cherry. "It is only a matter of getting used to
it. Perhaps you would like to try it now. I will be glad to assist you."
    Though the words were
spoken sincerely, the look on his face was downright