Oh, well, can't have everything, but his ears were large and sharp and pointed straight up.Oh, well, can't have everything, but his ears were large and sharp and pointed straight up. He was wearing nothing but a pair of loose gym shorts imprinted with the Ring-and-Star of the Pendor Fleet, the words 'Engineering / Security' and three gold rings. That's not a bad rank, and to have two official positions like that is impressive. I could do it, but it would run me ragged. He held out his hand and said "Hi. You must be Kennet. My name is Thr'pan." What? I thought. No "Pleased to meet you, Fathers?" I like him already. And his speech pattern was weird... He spoke slowly, as if he had thought about every word before letting it past his teeth. His voice was deep and there was a beautiful growl under it that was apparent with every syllable. I shook his hand and smiled. "Pleased to meet you, as well. Kathy said she had a new friend. Guess you're it." "Aye," he said. "Please, sit down." He gestured wide. "Would you like something to eat?" "What've you got?" I asked, dropping down to the blanket. He handed me a variety of sandwiches, most of which were very typical for picnics: tuna, egg, ham, stuff like that. I settled on roast beef, eating with gusto. I kept stealing glances at Kathy's friend. "Thr'Pan..." I said. "Please, please, call me Pan." "Okay... Pan. You didn't act surprised when I showed up. People usually act a little weird around me." He thought for a few seconds, said "Well I kind of figured you were a little tired of that. One of my parents was a Tleil, but I didn't come here early to discuss that. |