Liaden Universe [19] - Alliance of Equals - eARC Read Online Free

father are lifemates, but that doesn’t…among Liadens what that means is that she has come into Clan Korval—our clan—but she’s not my mother . She’s an elder-in-clan…” Because lifemates were understood to have one melant’i , and Father was certainly Padi’s elder-in-clan, as well as Thodelm yos’Galan, which meant that Priscilla, too, held a thodelm’s duty—and none of that, Padi realized, would answer the question that Tech Varoth and Faw Chen, too, needed to have answered—and might even confuse the issue.
    She paused, sorting through necessary and extraneous details. One could not, after all, teach a whole culture in one day! However, if one separated the involved melant’is , one might simplify enough , without simplifying too much .
    “What must be understood is that the melant’i of an elder-in-clan resides within the clan . The ship has its own order of melant’i —of command and discipline. On ship, the captain is captain for all the crew, and administers discipline with an even hand. The captain of the Dutiful Passage does not permit crew— any crew—to be slovenly in their work.”
    Somewhat breathless, she paused. Faw Chen had turned away from her work and was watching Padi closely.
    “Do I explain that well?” she asked tentatively.
    “You explained it very well,” Faw Chen said, and turned back to the tank.
    Padi sighed. She had hoped that she wouldn’t have to ask, but she must know!
    “Did you mean me to understand that Tech Varoth would…not…instruct me as she might Inleen, because of this…misunderstanding of my relationship with the captain?”
    There followed a long silence, during which Faw Chen had several instruments out of the toolbox. There came a definitive pop from inside the tank, and a soft exclamation from the gardener.
    Padi bit her lip and bent back to her own task, trying to recapture the rhythm of the work.
    “I am, I think, a step over a line,” Faw Chen said at last. “Let me try to reassure you while not moving any further in the wrong direction.”
    There came another pause. Faw Chen was replacing items into her toolbox, a frown on her round face.
    Padi looked down, and frowned herself. She had pulled a perfectly healthy seedling, rather than the less-healthy plant beside it. So much for keeping her mind in the garden .
    She placed the culled seedlings into the composting tray, then straightened, not willing to risk another life to her inattention. Across the aisle, Faw Chen also straightened, and turned to face Padi.
    She bowed, gently, in some mode particular to her own people. In depth it was close enough to the Liaden bow between equals, which was…not quite exact, Faw Chen being Padi’s senior in years and in training. Still, it would do as a demonstration of goodwill.
    Padi bowed in return.
    Faw Chen smiled.
    “Yes. I think I may say that Head Tech Varoth and I were discussing the operations here in the garden. The tech is pleased with your work, and your comportment. The mention of your relationship to Captain Mendoza came as a comparison favorable to yourself while being unfavorable to another of the staff here.” She tipped her head. “Have I explained that well?”
    So she had compared well to a co-worker. Almost, she could hear Tech Varoth’s voice, “Gods thanked, at least he’s not the captain’s daughter; and she doesn’t stint her work!”
    “You have explained well,” Padi told Faw Chen. She thought for a moment.
    “Are you in a position to carry my explanation to Tech Varoth?”
    “I am, and I will,” Faw Chen said firmly. “Also, for my own, better, understanding, I will speak with the cultural officer.”
    The cultural officer was the librarian, Lina Faaldom, who had access to Scout tapes, and, if necessary, to Scouts.
    “May I,” Faw Chen asked softly, “ask another question in the same direction?”
    Padi felt her stomach twist a little, foreseeing the question, but it was perfectly reasonable that it be