Beats Butterfly by Vivienne Tam with ControlTalk H

The Skroderiders had arrived in a spherical room perhaps fifty meters across. Apparently they were floating near the center of it. A forest grew inward from all directions, and the Riders seemed to float just a few meters from the tree tops. Here and there between the branches, they could see the ground, a mosaic of flowers. Saint Rihndell's sales creatures were scattered all about the tallest trees. They sat(?) with their ivory limbs twined about the tree tops. Tusk-leg races were a common thing in the galaxy, but these were the first Ravna had known. The body plan was totally unlike anything from home, and even now she didn't have a clear idea of their appearance. Sitting in the trees,复件 (92) air max, their legs had more of the aspect of a skeletal fingers grasping around the trunk. Their chief rep -- who claimed to be Saint Rihndell itself -- had scrimshaw covering two-thirds of its ivory. Two of the windows showed the carving close up; Pham seemed to think that understanding the artwork might be useful. Progress was slow. Triskweline was the common language, but good interpreting devices didn't work this deep in the Beyond, and Saint Rihndell's folk were only marginally familiar with the trade talk. Ravna was used to clean translations. Even the Net messages she dealt with were usually intelligible (though sometimes misleadingly so). They'd been talking for twenty minutes and had only just established that Saint Rihndell might have the ability to repair OOB. It was the usual Riderly driftiness, and something more. The tedium seemed to please Pham Nuwen,Beats Butterfly by Vivienne Tam with ControlTalk High Monster Butterfly, "Rav, this is almost like a Qeng Ho operation,复件 (78) air max, face to face with critters and scarcely a common language." "We sent them a description of our repair problem hours ago. Why should it take so long for a simple yes or no?" "Because they're haggling," said Pham, his grin broadening. "'Honest' Saint Rihndell here --" he waved at the scrimshawed local, "-- wants to convince us just how hard the job is.... Lord I wish I was out there." Even Blueshell and Greenstalk seemed a little strange now. Their Triskweline was stripped down,复件 (52) air max2, barely more complex than Saint Rihndell's. And much of the discussion seemed very round about. Working for Vrinimi, Ravna had had some experience with sales and trading. But haggling? You had your pricing data bases and strategy support,复件 (50) air max, and directions from Grondr's people. You either had a deal or you didn't. What was going on between the Riders and Saint Rihndell was one of the more alien things Ravna had ever seen. "Actually,复件 (62) air max1, things are going pretty well ... I think. You saw when we arrived, the bone legs took away Blueshell's samples. By now they know precisely what we have. There's something in those samples that they want. "Yeah?" "Sure. Saint Rihndell isn't bad-mouthing our stuff for his health." "Damn it, it's possible we don't have anything on board they could want. This was never intended to be a trade expedition." Blueshell and Greenstalk had scavenged "product samples" from the ship's supplies, things that the OOB could survive without. These included sensoria and some Low Beyond computer gear. Some of that would be a serious loss. But one way or another, we need those repairs. Pham chuckled. "No. There's something there Saint Rihndell wants. Otherwise he wouldn't still be jawing.... And see how he keeps needling us about his 'other customers' needs'? Saint Rihndell is a human kind of a guy." Something like human song came over the link to the Riders. Ravna phased Greenstalk's cameras toward the sound. From the forest "floor" on the far side of Blueshell, three new creatures had appeared.