Then Zainal put his bread first in Bazil's cup and then Peran's before he ate it as if to prove it was not only edible, but harmless.
"Eat. You need food. This is good."
Peran, being the younger, could not contain his hunger at that invitation and nearly burned his tongue to get the bread into his mouth. Bazil gave him an almost contemptuous sneer, but he was no less quick to take his first bite.
When they had finished their meal, although their eyes darted back to the heater unit, which they knew still had soup in it, they waited. Peran's lids wearily descended over his eyes, but he shot bolt upright again as soon as Bazil pinched him.
"No more now, Bazil," Zainal said in a neutral tone. "You need sleep, too. There will be more soup when you awaken. That I promise!" Zainal rose and, still not offering them his hands as he would certainly have of-feted one to Zane, he pointed the way for them to go.
Coo leaned across the table and patted Kris' hands; Pess offered a square of fabric when she started to sniff and then to cry.
"Being Emassi not easy;' Coo said.
When Pess' thin arm came about her shoulders, Kris just leaned into the female's embrace and let the tears flow. She didn't even care if one of the other Catteni came in and saw her weeping.
So, by the time Zainal returned, she was over the worst of it. He knew she had been crying because her eyes always turned red.
"They have suffered much," Zainal said. "That shall be considered when this is ended." He reached for the Hooch bottle and poured himself a large tumbler full, taking a big gulp of it.
"Tubelm is a good Emassi but even he did not like what he saw when he visited the farm where they had been made to work like Rassi:'
"Is that why they were so dirty?" Kris heard herself asking with great indignation. "But why were they beaten? They're seven and nine? They've been starved, too:'
Zainal took the hand she was waving about in consternation and clasped it firmly.
"I had not thought Perizec capable but it may have been the idea of my brother's mate. She is such a good Catteni mate;' and his emphasis on "good" was sarcastic. "It will take longer than it should but they will learn much on Botany and want to know more:'
THEY FOLLOWED THE TORTUOUS COURSE into the maze of their infamous and rich asteroid belt and once again, while Nitin, Kasturi, Tube lin, and Zainal's two sons watched with varying degrees of consternation during the twisting route, made contact with Kamiton at his hollowed-out asteroid.
Then Zainal poured on all the power at the KDL'S disposal on the way back to Botany.
The two boys did not speak unless spoken to, and Tubelin, whom they knew almost better than their father, would tell them stories in a decidedly avuncular and uncharacteristic manner. Zainal put them on a feeding schedule of every two and a half hours, each time little meals until their cheeks began to fill out and flesh appeared over their ribs. He also taught them how to print their names in Catteni glyphs and then in English letters. What astonished Kris was their absolute obedience.
"It's been beaten into them to obey without questions, Kris," Ninety said when she voiced her distress to the Humans. "We'll just be sure they never hear another discouraging word on Botany, that's all."
Chuck tilted his head sideways. "I've seen whipped puppies a time or two. It's going to take a lot of patience to make that a happy pair again."
"If they ever were," Kris said glumly. "I don't think Catteni have happy childhoods. Or expect to."
"Now, Bjornsen," and Chuck Milford patted her shoulder, "we'll all help."
And so he contrived to make a checkerboard from a bit of stiff packing casing, coloring it in, and then neatly scissoring out the counters from another piece.
"What makes you think Catteni kids play games?" Gino asked when he saw the finished product.
"Ah, a zemgo board," Kamiton exclaimed in surprise as he entered the mess room.
"What makes you think there wouldn't be something similar in such a warlike culture, Gino?" Chuck demanded, grinning at Kamiton. "Will Bazil and Peran know how to play… zemgo?" he asked in Catteni.
"Hmm. I shall soon find out. Or will you teach them since you made the board?"
"It might be good if I teach, and you tell them the moves at first," Chuck said. "I wouldn't know the right words and they should learn the proper words."
"I will return with them. A good idea, Sshuk," Kamiton said and went to find the boys.
"They were on the bridge, standing watch with their father," Kamiton said when he returned with them. He pointed at Bazil to sit at one side of the table next to Chuck and Peran to sit on the other. Then he sat beside Peran and asked if the boys knew the game.
Bazil managed the barest of negative head shakes. Peran just stared at the bright colors of the board and the round white counters on his side.
"This is a good game for Catteni to know," Kamiton explained. "It teaches how to form your troops for battle and how to win against an equally matched opponent. You are white, Peran, you must start first."
Peran kept his hands in his lap, his little body stiff with indecision.
"Why don't we play, Kamiton?" Chuck suggested.
"He is Emassi," muttered Bazil, glaring up at Chuck.
"So he is;' Chuck said, amiably. "And so am I."
Bazil darted a surprised look at Kamiton and received a confirmatory nod. Bazil sank in on himself in dismay.
"All on this ship are Emassi," Kamiton said.
"Even the little one?" Bazil asked, his dull yellow eyes flickering with doubt. But his tone was more courteous.
"All," Kamiton said.
"So we shall play, Emassi Kamiton?" Chuck asked as demurely as only a sergeant of marines could.
"Yes, let us show Bazil and Peran how this ancient game is played, Emassi Sshuk:'
THE TWO BOYS WATCHED Chuck and Kamiton play four games (ending in two wins each), every time explaining the moves and discussing the game so the boys would know why. Then Gino played Chuck and won, but when he played Kamiton, the Catteni won. The boys showed the first spark of interest. It wasn't until Zainal entered the room and saw that the boys only watched, making no move to play at all, that he pointed to the board and said in a hard voice: "Play! Need to know!"
He left the room and Kris followed, furious with his so-Catteni manner that she almost couldn't speak as she dragged him into the captain's quarters. She slid the panel shut and told him off, madder than she had ever thought she could be with him.
"Those boys have been so mistreated," she railed at him, "could you not show a little give?
He listened, with his Catteni face.
"I've never seen such bruises, nor such constant brutality on boys so young. What were your folk doing to them? Systemically brutalizing them as punishment for what you did?"
"Yes." And his quiet reply, and the sad look in his eyes, silenced her.
"Then why aren't you, their father, from whom they can expect some affection…"
He held up one hand. "Catteni fathers are not affectionate:'
"But you are with Zane!" She was flabbergasted. "How can you differentiate like that? All three are children and need love and kindness and care…" And when he opened his mouth to speak, she advanced on him so infuriated that he recoiled slightly, not trying to evade the hard finger she poked into his chest as emphasis to her words. "And don't tell me Catteni children cannot expect such treatment, too."
"From their mothers, not from their fathers."
"And, I suppose, now you'll tell me that Bazil and Peran are too old to be with their mothers." When he nodded, she made a sound of total disgust and frustration. She was so mad she couldn't think of what to say next. "If you ever… ever… take a Catteni line with Zane, I'll… I'll kill you!"