[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
louse up their business. Now, get going! This is costing!"
She went.
The Valiakean came back and looked around. "There was a third? You?"
"No, a Fraskan. Had to keep him in the lifeboat because he couldn't survive
here."
The Valiakean nodded. "Very well. We shall open a lock and a tube for
Fraskan norms. I'll get him."
Gayal entered a chamber glowing with a greenish light. A stool stood, in the
center, with a notch for the tail so that she could sit down, something
uncommon to her race, which even slept standing up.
"Sit on the stool," instructed a Valiakean voice, that sounded like the other
Valiakean voices she had heard. "We will need some pictures." She sat, feeling
very uncomfortable, and heard a series of whining noises, then nothing. A
Valiakean entered, holding some photographic plates. It looked enough like the
other to have been the same creature.
As it started to examine her, much like any doctor, Gayal noticed some strange
phenomena. Tracking a muscular series with the aid of the photos, its right
hand grew long enough to go around her left shoulder while the left one stayed
short. She glanced at the photos and didn't see much of anything. She'd
expected at least X-rays. Then she looked at the creature's eyes. They no
longer looked like hers, but were more prismatic, multifaceted. She had the
opinion that the creature could see right through her.
Finally, the Valiakean went over to the wall, a pulsating bright green plane
that seemed to have no outlet, and pressed a part of it. A chamber, something
like a coffin, materialized from the wall and slid into the larger room.
"Get in, please, on your side," the Valiakean instructed.
It was almost a perfect fit, she saw as she climbed inside.
"You will be unconscious for a short period while the alterations are made,"
the Valiakean told her, sounding like a tailor. "Do not be alarmed...
This will start now!"
Everything went blank for Gayal.
Elsewhere in the Valiakean ship the other two experienced the same thing.
Koldon was the first back, having needed the least work.
While they were out, Bumgartner had readjusted the entire ship to Earth norms.
Koldon, now adapted to the changes, felt no real differences, but did feel a
bit more comfortable and at home.
"That's much better," he said aloud.
The Terran jumped. "You spoke!" Bumgartner almost accused the other.
"Sure. Easier for radios, intercoms, and the like, where mostly nontelepathic
Page 48
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
people are. I thought of it after I was in, but I assumed the expense account
would stand it."
Bumgartner shook his head in dismay. "All these changes . . . I mean, I'll
have to justify the whole batch!"
Koldon shrugged. "Got the food locker sorted out?" he asked. "Those bastards
really did clean out my stomach!"
In about fifteen-minutes Koldon was gorging himself once again, his
appetite unaffected by the changes, when Gayal reappeared in the ship. The
bear-creature stopped his eating and Bumgartner rose out of his seat.
"I don't believe it!" they both said in unison.
"Is there something wrong?" Gayal asked, concerned.
"No, no, no, nothing at all. A perfect compromise," Bumgartner assured her.
"Perfect."
The cyborg had been presented with a problem and had solved it. Simply stated,
it was to retain as much of the Delialian as was possible to remain
comfortable and normal-seeming, while making her more acceptable to the far
more Earth-human types she would be around.
Long black hair tumbled over very Earth-human shoulders. Her face looked
Oriental, somewhat Mongoloid, and was a beauty by Earth standards. Her breasts
had been Earth-humanized and perfectly proportioned. Yet a very slight bluish
cast remained in the skin. It gave an exotic, almost erotic effect. From the
waist down, starting just below the navel, her more equine features remained,
although trimmer and more proportioned, giving her more the appearance of a
faun. They saw that the tail had been trimmed back, softened, and reshaped, so
that she could sit on it.
"Put a long dress on, down to the floor, and she could walk in New York
City -- even though that complexion would drive everybody nuts," Bumgartner
said at last. "Perfect," he muttered, and shook his head in wonderment.
"I -- I look more like your people, don't I?" she asked him.
"Well, yes, I guess -- and no, too. Good enough to drive some guys wild, from
the waist up," he acknowledged.
Koldon said nothing but was generally satisfied, even though he knew the
apprehension in Gayal's mind. It would fade. It was different for most of the
races: they had families, or compatriots, or the like similar to themselves
back in Haven. Gayal didn't, and the more human, or human-mythological [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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louse up their business. Now, get going! This is costing!"
She went.
The Valiakean came back and looked around. "There was a third? You?"
"No, a Fraskan. Had to keep him in the lifeboat because he couldn't survive
here."
The Valiakean nodded. "Very well. We shall open a lock and a tube for
Fraskan norms. I'll get him."
Gayal entered a chamber glowing with a greenish light. A stool stood, in the
center, with a notch for the tail so that she could sit down, something
uncommon to her race, which even slept standing up.
"Sit on the stool," instructed a Valiakean voice, that sounded like the other
Valiakean voices she had heard. "We will need some pictures." She sat, feeling
very uncomfortable, and heard a series of whining noises, then nothing. A
Valiakean entered, holding some photographic plates. It looked enough like the
other to have been the same creature.
As it started to examine her, much like any doctor, Gayal noticed some strange
phenomena. Tracking a muscular series with the aid of the photos, its right
hand grew long enough to go around her left shoulder while the left one stayed
short. She glanced at the photos and didn't see much of anything. She'd
expected at least X-rays. Then she looked at the creature's eyes. They no
longer looked like hers, but were more prismatic, multifaceted. She had the
opinion that the creature could see right through her.
Finally, the Valiakean went over to the wall, a pulsating bright green plane
that seemed to have no outlet, and pressed a part of it. A chamber, something
like a coffin, materialized from the wall and slid into the larger room.
"Get in, please, on your side," the Valiakean instructed.
It was almost a perfect fit, she saw as she climbed inside.
"You will be unconscious for a short period while the alterations are made,"
the Valiakean told her, sounding like a tailor. "Do not be alarmed...
This will start now!"
Everything went blank for Gayal.
Elsewhere in the Valiakean ship the other two experienced the same thing.
Koldon was the first back, having needed the least work.
While they were out, Bumgartner had readjusted the entire ship to Earth norms.
Koldon, now adapted to the changes, felt no real differences, but did feel a
bit more comfortable and at home.
"That's much better," he said aloud.
The Terran jumped. "You spoke!" Bumgartner almost accused the other.
"Sure. Easier for radios, intercoms, and the like, where mostly nontelepathic
Page 48
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
people are. I thought of it after I was in, but I assumed the expense account
would stand it."
Bumgartner shook his head in dismay. "All these changes . . . I mean, I'll
have to justify the whole batch!"
Koldon shrugged. "Got the food locker sorted out?" he asked. "Those bastards
really did clean out my stomach!"
In about fifteen-minutes Koldon was gorging himself once again, his
appetite unaffected by the changes, when Gayal reappeared in the ship. The
bear-creature stopped his eating and Bumgartner rose out of his seat.
"I don't believe it!" they both said in unison.
"Is there something wrong?" Gayal asked, concerned.
"No, no, no, nothing at all. A perfect compromise," Bumgartner assured her.
"Perfect."
The cyborg had been presented with a problem and had solved it. Simply stated,
it was to retain as much of the Delialian as was possible to remain
comfortable and normal-seeming, while making her more acceptable to the far
more Earth-human types she would be around.
Long black hair tumbled over very Earth-human shoulders. Her face looked
Oriental, somewhat Mongoloid, and was a beauty by Earth standards. Her breasts
had been Earth-humanized and perfectly proportioned. Yet a very slight bluish
cast remained in the skin. It gave an exotic, almost erotic effect. From the
waist down, starting just below the navel, her more equine features remained,
although trimmer and more proportioned, giving her more the appearance of a
faun. They saw that the tail had been trimmed back, softened, and reshaped, so
that she could sit on it.
"Put a long dress on, down to the floor, and she could walk in New York
City -- even though that complexion would drive everybody nuts," Bumgartner
said at last. "Perfect," he muttered, and shook his head in wonderment.
"I -- I look more like your people, don't I?" she asked him.
"Well, yes, I guess -- and no, too. Good enough to drive some guys wild, from
the waist up," he acknowledged.
Koldon said nothing but was generally satisfied, even though he knew the
apprehension in Gayal's mind. It would fade. It was different for most of the
races: they had families, or compatriots, or the like similar to themselves
back in Haven. Gayal didn't, and the more human, or human-mythological [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]