Honor Harrington: Talking To Nimitz

Another very short one, just for fun.

The Harrington Household, Sphinx

AD 1872 (a few weeks after Honor's 13th birthday)

Honor looked up as her mother sighed. "Honor," she scolded, "aren't you ever going to put that 'cat down? Unlike his ancestor Lionheart, he has six legs of his own! He doesn't need you to carry him!"

She had long since learned that whining "But Mo-om..." just didn't work with Allison Chou Harrington. Reasoned, logical argument was far more productive (usually). "It's not a question of need, Mom. He likes it, and so do I."

"He's lazy, you mean," Mom kidded. "Yes, I mean you, you furry freeloader hedonist!"

Nimitz only bleeked, knowing the ways of his Person's dam.

"You should bear in mind your developing skeletal structure," Dad pointed out from his armchair, where he was reading a newspaper - in a retro touch (influenced by Uncle Jacques, maybe?), it was real paper (well, flimsiplast - when he disposed of it, the 'paper' would be recycled). "Carrying a weight all the time might cause scoliosis, and treecats aren't exactly light as a feather." He looked stern, but she knew he too was kidding. "Especially not in 1.35g. It'll be easier when you start on your growth spurt."

"Can't come soon enough," Honor groused. Her third-gen prolong was prolonging not only her life, but her adolescence. She was despairing of ever getting what Julie March, her best friend, described in ribald Old Earth terms as 'tits' or 'knockers'. As it was, she went straight up and down...unlike Andrea Franchetti, supposedly a distant ancestor of Trudy, Stephanie's antagonist, who had inherited curves that were...generous.

It wasn't right that a girl nearly one full T-year younger could be sporting C-cups already!

("Then again," Julie had quipped, "with those tracts of land, if she tried running she'd knock herself out!")

"To all things there is a season," Alfred smiled.

His wife glanced at him askance. "Were you quoting?"

He chuckled. "Jacques' influence again. He's always quoting some Old Earth wisdom or other."

"As long as he doesn't quote the old Chinese saying," Allison remarked tartly, "about living in 'interesting times'."

Honor smiled, and Nimitz bleeked. Most anthropologists who'd studied treecats didn't believe they understood human humour.

As an adoptee, Honor knew differently.


Honor's room

To her surprise, Julie came in and hugged her. "Hey, bestie!"

"What?" Honor puzzled. "I'm sure 'bestie' dates back to Old Earth."

Julie chuckled. "You're not the only one whose uncle has a passion for the pre-Diaspora days, Honor; my eldest sister is mad for Old Twentieth Century stuff, especially what they used to call 'movies'. With great power comes great responsibility. So Say We All. Do Ya Feel Lucky? And so on. Hey, Nimitz," she greeted the treecat, and held out a sprig of fresh celery. He bleeked, accepted it with a nod of thanks - and devoured it.

"Oh, you're spoiling him Julie," Honor chided.

"Me and every other two-leg he meets," she grinned. "I'm in the mood, anyway. Got something to show you."

"Oh?"

The slightly older girl (Julie was two months shy of 14 T-years old) stripped off her sweater, her blouse - and her bra. "Look," she said proudly.

Honor smiled gently. She knew there were such people as lesbians; Miss Croft, at her school, was one, and no-one had a problem with that. In this day and age, it simply didn't matter who slept with whom (besides, Miss Croft was from Beowulf, and would've been honestly baffled at the notion of lesbianism being a problem). But she had never felt the slightest attraction towards girls, so at first she didn't see the point of Julie stripping off - as best friends they'd been naked in front of each other lots of times. "What am I looking at?"

"You're not looking at me," Julie retorted a tad sternly. "Haven't you noticed? Honor, I've grown tits! I have a bosom!" She pointed to her chest, and indeed her rosy pink nipples were showing on what Uncle Jacques had once called 'bee sting' breasts. Clearly she had some way to go before matching Andrea, but equally clearly she was on her way there.

"Oh," Honor understood. "So now you need a bra."

Fondly exasperated, Julie swatted her. "Trust you to think of the practical aspects first! What with this, and my periods starting, and I'm sure I'm a centimetre or two taller...Honor, I'm a woman now. Aren't you happy for me?"

Hugging her best friend, Honor answered, smiling, "Of course I am. Good for you!" She looked rueful. "I wish my 'tits' were developing. Damn prolong."

"Honor," Julie said gently, "the benefits of prolong far outweigh the drawbacks, you know that. Sure, it stretches adolescence out. But you'll get 'em, trust me." She stroked her friend's cheek. "Just give it time."

"Thanks, Julie," Honor hugged her again. "I know you're right, but that's a long way from feeling it. But to quote Uncle Jacques, They also serve who only stand and wait."

Julie frowned. "Who's serving? Or standing? Waiting for what?"

Giggling in the little-girl way she often wished she wouldn't, Honor swatted her, knowing Julie was kidding. "Oh, you!"


After bedtime

Before she fell asleep, Honor stroked Nimitz and said sleepily, "I think 'Nimitz' suits you." She yawned. "I wish I knew what your real name is, though."

Unknown to her, Laughs Brightly was thinking fondly, That is my real name. My two-leg name, anyway. You, Dances On Clouds, have much to learn of the People...and I have a feeling, somehow, that you will, one day. One can but hope.


Several years later

After Honor has learned to sign with the treecats

Sipping her cocoa, Honor cuddled Nimitz and said fondly, "You know, Stinker, all these years we've suspected that treecats were smarter than they let on. Now we know that you are - too smart, in fact, to let on how smart you are. You've always understood what I was talking about, haven't you?"

Nimitz signed, Didn't understand everything. But enough. We never let you see our cleverness out of caution.

"Because we could've hurt you without meaning to," she understood.

Correct. Long, long ago, Speaks Falsely 'got to know us'...but in truth he was trying to capture People and deliver them to evil ones. Death Fang's Bane got the better of him, though.

"Bolgeo," Honor nodded darkly. "There's mention of him in Stephanie Harrington's journals. 'Death Fang's Bane'? Was that her treecat name?"

It was, and well-earned it was. While still only a kitten herself, she defended Climbs Quickly - 'Lionheart', in your speech - with only a knife, and struck the death fang trying to kill them. Even had it killed them both, it would have died in due course - the blow was mortal. He looked amused. Though the two-legs only realised this later. The People will never, ever forget her.

"And you remember, don't you?" Honor asked softly. "Through the memory singers such as Samantha - Golden Voice - the treecats preserve the first-hand memories." She shook her head. "No wonder you never developed a written language. You didn't need one."

Would've been useful, even through his signing Nimitz's rueful air was clear, in talking with the two-legs. Then again, he reconsidered, it would've told you how clever we were.

"Just as well, then," she nodded. She chuckled. "'The People'? You couldn't come up with, I don't know, a more exotic name?"

Laughs Brightly knew Dances On Clouds was jesting, so he bleeked and flicked her cheek. It is enough for us. It says what we are.

"Fair enough," Honor smiled. "And the whole celery thing, which brought humans and treecats together with you little devils mounting commando raids on greenhouses, until Stephanie figured out you could see IR burglar beams but couldn't see ultra-violet. What's that about? I mean, your teeth aren't adapted to chew it, and it clogs you up...so why is every treecat ever born mad keen on it?"

We like the taste, Nimitz signed. To us, it is delicious.

"It's not my favourite vegetable, I can tell you that," Honor groused.

But there is a better reason.

"Oh?" she asked curiously.

We have spoken to you of the 'mind-voice' and the 'mind-glow', Nimitz told her, and she nodded. The first scouts to discover cluster stalk - 'celery' in your speech - reported its marvellous taste...and a boosting of the 'mind-glow' sense. That of Climbs Quickly was already unusually powerful for a male. But after eating cluster stalk it was almost to the level of Sings Truly. Perhaps this was why he and Death Fang's Bane bonded. Even 'kittens such as Tiny Choir benefited.

Your dam - 'mother' - might explain it better, but there is something in cluster stalk we People need. Before we discovered it, purple thorn had to suffice, but cluster stalk, and now he licked his lips in a very human gesture, tastes much better.

"So that's it," Honor breathed. "I thought there would be a practical reason as well as the aesthetic," she nodded. "It fits with what we know about you. Which still isn't everything," she pointed out. Then her face softened. "But we know you're not holding out on us. We know you're not doing it for nefarious reasons. That brings up a point: Samantha and the other 'cats and 'kittens on Grayson - they're not just keeping her company, are they? They're...colonising, aren't they?"

Nimitz nodded gravely. We know of the dangers two-legs pose to us, even accidentally. We might become caught up in your 'war' - and we would be vulnerable if we took no action. So Golden Voice met with the elders of Bright Water Clan and proposed a plan for our long-term survival.

"Belying the notion we once held that your people weren't capable of making long-term plans," Honor nodded again. "Proving you're smarter than even Stephanie thought."

It was even more essential in those early days to conceal our cleverness, Nimitz agreed soberly. Had we become known as 'clever animals', there might have been more like Speaks Falsely...and with worse intentions.

"Whereas now," Honor smiled, "we know you're sentient, and that makes us all the more determined not to mistreat or underestimate you. We had the bad example of Barstool to learn from," she added bleakly. "We never knew if the Amphors were intelligent or not. Now we never will."

But even a 'kitten must grow, Nimitz signed gently. Yes, mistakes were made, and terrible they were. But lessons were learned, just as a 'kitten learns from her mistakes. Now, we know you pose little danger to us, and so we feel the time of our 'kittenhood is long past, and we have achieved what Sings Truly saw all those turnings ago. He hugged Honor as best he could given the size differential. We are your friends, and you are ours.

"Always," Honor smiled, holding her friend close.


Over more cocoa, and roast rabbit, Nimitz asked, Where did my two-leg name come from?

"I named you after an Old Earth Navy admiral - wet-navy, that is; Chester W. Nimitz. He fought in two of Earth's World Wars, a very honourable tour of duty. Mind you," she reflected, "a single LAC could do more damage than the entire U.S. Navy if it went back in time, but by the standards of the day his warships were pretty heavy hitters.

"He rose through the ranks, all the way to Chief of Naval Operations, though his greatest achievement was making peace in WWII. I suppose the First Space Lord would be the nearest modern equivalent. I named you after him as a good-luck charm - I hoped my naval career would be as illustrious as his was."

It has been, Nimitz pointed out with a bleek. You're a distinguished elder on two of your worlds. Not so shabby.

"Flatterer," she chuckled. She sobered. "Nimitz...that's the name I gave you. But what's your real name?"

Nimitz bleeked. 'Nimitz', of course.

She swatted him. "I mean your treecat name, you rascal! Have all your family been as devilish as you are?"

I come by it honestly, he defended, with an innocent air she did not for one attosecond believe. My ancestor was Climbs Quickly, or Lionheart. He was fond of...low humour, too. Seeker of Dreams, who bonded with the ancestor of Soul of Steel, had a very low sense of humour. His Person named him 'Jackanapes'. He bleeked. It fitted him. He was a fun-seeker even by our standards.

"So, what's your treecat name?" Honor asked softly. "And mine?"

I am Laughs Brightly, he told her, and looked at her with only the deepest love in his grass-green eyes as he finished, and you are Dances On Clouds, for that is what you do.

"'Dances On Clouds'," Honor repeated softly. "Oh, that's beautiful."

By the standards of your people, so are you, Laughs Brightly signed, then quipped, if only you would realise it!

She laughed, and Nimitz - Laughs Brightly - bleeked.

THE END