Rifters 4 - Blindsight by Peter Watts Page B

elbows in hieroglyphics before you know it. And what's more, you'll decode 'em in record time."
    "You're sweet, but I wonder. Half the time I can't even decode Jukka ." Michelle fell silent a moment. "He actually kind of throws me sometimes."
    "You and seven billion others."
    "Yeah. I know it's silly, but when he's not around there's a part of me that can't stop wondering where he's hiding. And when he's right there in front of me, I feel like I should be hiding."
    "Not his fault he creeps us out."
    "I know. But it's hardly a big morale booster. What genius came up with the idea of putting a vampire in charge?"
    "Where else you going to put them, eh? You want to be the one giving orders to him ?"
    "And it's not just the way he moves. It's the way he talks . It's just wrong ."
    "You know he—"
    "I'm not talking about the present-tense thing, or all the glottals. He—well, you know how he talks. He's terse ."
    "It's efficient."
    "It's artificial , Isaac. He's smarter than all of us put together, but sometimes he talks like he's got a fifty-word vocabulary." A soft snort. "It's not like it'd kill him to use an adverb once in a while."
    "Ah. But you say that because you're a linguist, and you can't see why anyone wouldn't want to wallow in the sheer beauty of language ." Szpindel harrumphed with mock pomposity. "Now me, I'm a biologist, so it makes perfect sense."
    "Really. Then explain it to me, oh wise and powerful mutilator of frogs."
    "Simple. Bloodsucker's a transient, not a resident."
    "What are—oh, those are killer whales, right? Whistle dialects."
    "I said forget the language . Think about the lifestyle. Residents are fish-eaters, eh? They hang out in big groups, don't move around much, talk all the time." I heard a whisper of motion, imagined Szpindel leaning in and laying a hand on Michelle's arm. I imagined the sensors in his gloves telling him what she felt like. "Transients, now—they eat mammals . Seals, sea lions, smart prey. Smart enough to take cover when they hear a fluke slap or a click train. So transients are sneaky , eh? Hunt in small groups, range all over the place, keep their mouths shut so nobody hears 'em coming."
    "And Jukka's a transient."
    "Man's instincts tell him to keep quiet around prey. Every time he opens his mouth, every time he lets us see him, he's fighting his own brain stem. Maybe we shouldn't be too harsh on the ol' guy just because he's not the world's best motivational speaker, eh?"
    "He's fighting the urge to eat us every time we have a briefing? That's reassuring."
    Szpindel chuckled. "It's probably not that bad. I guess even killer whales let their guard down after making a kill. Why sneak around on a full stomach, eh?"
    "So he's not fighting his brain stem. He just isn't hungry."
    "Probably a little of both. Brain stem never really goes away , you know. But I'll tell you one thing." Some of the playfulness ebbed from Szpindel's voice. "I've got no problem if Sarasti wants to run the occasional briefing from his quarters. But the moment we stop seeing him altogether? That's when you start watching your back."
     
    *
     
    Looking back, I can finally admit it: I envied Szpindel his way with the ladies. Spliced and diced, a gangly mass of tics and jitters that could barely feel his own skin, somehow he managed to be—
    Charming. That's the word. Charming.
    As a social necessity it was all but obsolete, fading into irrelevance along with two-party nonvirtual sex pairing. But even I'd tried one of those; and it would have been nice to have had Szpindel's self-deprecating skill set to call on.
    Especially when everything with Chelsea started falling apart.
    I had my own style, of course. I tried to be charming in my own peculiar way. Once, after one too many fights about honesty and emotional manipulation , I'd started to think maybe a touch of whimsy might smooth things over. I had come to suspect that Chelsea just didn't understand sexual politics. Sure she'd edited brains for a