The Foundling

Chapter 13: FLITD

A floor above them and a couple units over the tell-tale sounds of an argument could be heard faintly. The only sound at their table, however, was the clanking of dishes and Ta-lei's happy babbling nonsense. Bavmen was still staring at the little creature with a sour expression on his face. Hibei, on the other hand, had her ears pointed foreward quizzically; she seemed to be gathering up the courage to ask about the abnormal behaviour. From the hammock, Ba-nei muttered something to herself crossly.

In the end, it was He-ne who finally broke the silence properly, by asking Bavmen about how things were going at work in a bid to distract him. He dragged his eye away from Ta-lei to his sister and answered.

"Same as always, more busy than normal on account of...that incident." He took another bite of soup, "Ah yes, and of course, I was also recently promoted to general manager of the FLITD."

"The Flid?" asked Mavrek skeptically.

"Foreign Language Integrative Translation Division," responded Bavmen with a hint of annoyance. "Before you ask, we deal primarily with correcting translation errors from mechanized translators in legal documents and records. But there's also in-person interpretation for more sensitive diplomatic talks. In fact, just last month I interpreted for a discussion between Bar Emilionoro, head of the largest Crantian mining conglomerate, and one of our own ambassadors."

Mavrek suppressed a groan. Bavmen could go on like this for ages if you let him. Well, at least he was no longer fixated on Ta-lei.

"Did you find out anything else about the crash?" interjected Meki anxiously.

Bavmen paused, thought for a bit then, continued on as before. "I've mostly been handling the translation of the city's official statements, though the higher-ups can't seem to make up their mind as to what happened. It's a real pain, I'd finish one, and then a few minutes later, someone else would bust into the office with some amendment or other." He scowled, "Then I'd get people like intelligence officer Ne-eni, late this morning, whirling through demanding mechanical translators. She still hasn't given it back, by the way, and my department is low enough on funds as it is!"

"What do you mean they can't seem to make up their mind?" asked He-ne, "Don't they know what happened?"

"The story isn't consistent, whatever they do know." Bavmen shifted, "So yesterday afternoon they said it was an accident, but of course, people were suspicious that it was another Black Claw attack. Then that evening they placed the city under lockdown and released that search order, you know the one.

He-ne shook her head.

"It listed the suspect as small, bipedal, two eyes," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "Though I don't know where they got that description, seeing as there weren't any survivors." He shrugged, "maybe someone on the ship beamed down a holo-recording." He frowned again.

"Anyway, early this afternoon they replaced the initial search order with one for Black Craw members and I, of course, had to redraft all of my reports. Do you know how long it takes to write out complete diplomatic statements in 28 major languages?"

Meki patted Bavmen's arm sympathetically.

He frowned at Ta-lei again, "Actually, that first description sounded an awful lot like the thing you two found, minus strength and speed. You should still notify law enforcement."

"If the City Council knows that it was the Black Claw, then why does it matter if we hand Ta-lei over or not?" demanded Mavrek,

"That thing, Ta-lei as you call it, could still be dangerous and, it is tied to the explosion. At the very least, you need to report the escape pod. It could help them figure out exactly what happened!"

"How?" said Mavrek, with barely concealed irritation, "By interviewing him? In case you haven't noticed he can't talk."

"And how would someone like you know anything about it?" countered Bavmen scornfully.

From the other end of the table, Meki sighed deeply.

"Don't you find it strange that they changed the story up so much?" questioned He-ne.

"Are you suggesting they could be lying?" asked Bavmen, somewhat affronted. "I think it's far more likely that they're just dealing with new information as it comes in." Mavrek raised his brow but let the remark slide.

After dinner, Bavmen settled down to some paperwork, and Mavrek set Ta-lei down on the large round rug in the middle of the apartment. He set out exploring immediately, with Mavrek and Hibei watching closely. There was clearly still something she wanted to ask her uncle but hadn't quite found the nerve. Instead, she settled herself on a faded floral cushion near where Ta-lei was playing. Soon enough, he crawled over to investigate, pulling himself up on Hibei's light pink apprentice robes. Hibei made a cooing sound and picked him up without hesitating. Involuntarily Mavrek tensed and took a small step forward.

"Is it safe?" asked Meki, looking worriedly towards her daughter.

Hibei rolled her eye, "I'm sure its fine, mum, he's so tiny anyway." Meki frowned disapprovingly and turned to Mavrek.

He nodded. Appeased, she retreated back to the dishes, humming quietly.

On the other side of the room sat Bavmen stilll writing furiously at the low table. A sizeable stack of papers now rested near his right elbow. Occasionally, he raised his head to cast a sour glance the strange little alien in Hibei's arms.