Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Un Bel Di

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Un Bel Di

by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

As his terrifying smile widened, the Janif Undersecretary watched the procession of Papi wind its way up

the far side of the valley. "They're like fine children, perfect children, every one of them." The

Undersecretary licked his outer lips; it was a furtive darting movement. "So sad they aren't truly

intelligent. If they were …" He broke off. If they were …

His companion almost put a hasty hand on the Undersecretary's auxiliary arm. "We are still in doubt

about that here. We have not run many tests yet. They might have greater potential than we know." The

Ambassador made a weak gesture of apology.

Undersecretary Navbe waved him away in an offended manner. "Certainly, certainly. Keep your

ambassadorial pride. I myself look for signs of genius in my pets. You are free to do the same."

Instead of the accepted answer, the Ambassador raised a primary arm slowly and remained rigidly silent.

He then bowed with maddening propriety to the lengthening shadows.

The Undersecretary closed the screen, stepping back with a gesture of regret. It was a great pity that he

had to be so very isolated. And the Ambassador was just as bad as the others of his status. He would be

tolerant to absurdity of the locals, then become unyielding and moralistic with the others of his kind.

Navbe had seen it often in his post and bitterly rued having to deal with such perversity.

But the Ambassador was speaking. "… for the Papi, in this instance. You will want to observe them

while you are here, Undersecretary."

Privately the Janif Undersecretary thought this a lamentable state of affairs. "Of course. I look forward to

it," he said.

"This is quite a unique place," continued the Ambassador, warming to his subject.

They all are, thought Navbe.

"We've found not only that the Papi have a highly developed social order, but that they surgically alter

their young to fulfill specific cultural functions." Here the Ambassador hesitated.

"Oh?" Navbe managed the illusion of polite interest.

"Yes. They can make truly amazing changes. Each of the modifications has a definite place in the culture,

although a couple are odd, dependent creatures."

"They can actually do this?" Navbe asked lazily.

"It appears so," answered the Ambassador cautiously.

"Before or after birth. How?" Under his meticulous exterior, Navbe felt a deep elation. Perhaps his

temporary exile would not be as terrible as he had feared it might be. There could be great solace here

after a few special arrangements.

"I am sorry to say that we have not yet discovered their reproductive mechanism. They are probably

ovoviviparous." He moved uncomfortably, knowing how far he had stepped beyond the bounds of

allowable ceremony. It was also a blot to his record that he knew so little about the people he lived with.

At this Klin Navbe all but laughed. So there was a mystery, was there? That made for a challenge. And

this sniveling diplomat had not found it out. "Probably?" He was scornful, but not so much as to

discourage the Ambassador from talking. As all others of his status, Navbe despised the Representative

status. Yet there was a chance that his host knew the reason for his temporary exile, and he dared not

put himself in a compromising position with such a person.

"As I have told you, we cannot do the tests. We lack the full authorization to do so. I do not know how

we shall function if we are not properly authorized."

"Precisely." What was this fool's familial name? Lesh? Yes, Ambassador Lesh. He wanted the authority

to proceed with tests, and Navbe could give him that authorization. Plans blossomed in his mind.

It was perhaps fortunate that the Meditation Bell rang the summons to the Third Cycle just then; it

provided cover for the awkwardness between the two officials. Their Janif formality asserted itself, and

they strode silently down the hall together.

When they had completed their ritual exercises, Navbe put Ambassador Lesh at his ease with that

age-old question beloved of off-planet Janif officialdom: "How did you come to serve on Papill,

Ambassador?" And he masked his boredom at the too-familiar tale of a diplomat's career.

· · · · ·

In the long twilight the two Janif sat together on the terrace listening to the distant Night Song of the Papi.

In the valley below Ambassador Lesh's estates the waning light shifted, slid, and was gone, and the soft

white fogs followed the shadows to wrap the valley in sleep. On the ridges the tasseled, angular trees

sighed in the wind, their hard thin leaves clicking endlessly above the fog.

"A beautiful place, Lesh, even with just the two stars. It is like a children's story." Navbe watched the

valley's soft change, dreaming absently of violated children and the strange Papi, intense pleasure hidden

in the formal set of his face. He had picked a flower and was stroking it with the extending sensors of his

thumbs. "You are to be envied, Ambassador—to be surrounded by all this loveliness."

"I have thought so myself," said the Ambassador in an unbecoming burst of familiarity.

Navbe ignored the solecism. "And the Papi are such pretty people. So delicate. Not like those creatures

on Tlala or Isnine. You have beauty here, and tractable natives."

The Ambassador, lulled by the Undersecretary's flow of remarkable condescensions and innocuous

questions, was betrayed into elaborating on the Papi. "They are a gentle people. It is of great importance

to them that they bring delight to their neighbors. It is unfortunate that they do not recognize the laxness of

their social order, but their errors are charming. They have made almost a religion of their kindness. Over

the years I have observed their spirit of self-sacrifice." He became aware of his blunder. "But it is nearly

impossible to take advantage of them. They know their own order." His confusion led him to a further

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