Universal Language by Robert T. Jeschonek Page B

unite the Vox and Mazeesh. She'd been hoping her good work might wipe away some of her disgrace and allow her to retire honorably. Now, it seemed, she was getting exactly what she'd wanted.
    But as it turned out, al-Aziz had something different in mind.
    "Actually," he said, "you won't be receiving a discharge at all."
    Jalila's mouth fell open. She couldn't believe what she'd heard.
    "I'd like you to continue serving on the Ibn Battuta ," said al-Aziz. "What do you say to that, Corporal?"
    It was more than Jalila had dared imagine. It was all she could have hoped for, short of turning back the clock and changing what had happened on Pyrrhus VII. All she'd ever wanted was to travel the stars and build bridges of language and understanding with alien species. She'd almost lost all that forever...but now she'd regained it.
    Jalila stiffened and saluted briskly. "I would be honored, sir."
    al-Aziz straightened his black jumpsuit and smiled wryly. "You probably deserve a commendation," he said, "but let's take it one step at a time for now, all right?"
    "Yes, sir," said Jalila.
    "Your work on the communications system alone merits a promotion," said al-Aziz. "Speaking of which, how's it coming along?"
    "Just one more day to work out a few bugs," said Jalila. In the three and a half months since the resolution of the crisis, she and Farouk had worked tirelessly on devising an interface to allow the Vox and Mazeesh to communicate directly. The system was similar in conception to the makeshift interface al-Aziz and Farouk had set up in the Ministry building; video pickups would scan Mazeesh written language, which would then be converted by Voicebox into audible Vox speech. Though the system would only be needed until the Vox learned to read and write, its performance would be vital to the success of the Vox-Mazeesh agreement.
    Not that it would take long for the Vox to master the intricacies of written language. In addition to setting up the communication interface, Jalila had overseen the initiation of a literacy education program on the planet, with startling results. The multi-lingual Vox gained command of the Mazeesh written language in no time at all. Learning and teaching it had become a worldwide craze, especially among the young.
    One of the best students, in fact, approached Jalila now.
    "Yama!" Jalila said with a huge grin. "It's great to see you!"
    "It is great to see you, too, Jalila," Yama said in perfect Arabic, whiskers twitching. It was hard to believe she'd been gagged and silent for so long; now that she could speak and had fully recovered from her injuries, she turned out to be the most talkative Vox Jalila had met...and the best linguist. In less than a week, she'd mastered spoken Arabic as well as the Mazeesh written language.
    "Thank you again for everything," said Jalila. "I don't know what we would have done without you."
    "I say the same to you, Jalila," said Yama. "We will never forget what you have done for us, as you will see when you read this."
    Yama handed over a scroll of reddish parchment, tied with a silver cord. When Jalila untied the cord and rolled out the scroll, she was surprised to see lines of recognizable text... Arabic text, neatly printed in scarlet ink.
    "Who did this?" Jalila ran a finger over the parchment.
    "I did," Yama said brightly. "I have been working on it in my spare time."
    "It's beautiful," said Jalila. Once, she might have said it was mazeesh .
    "Are you going to read it?" said Yama.
    "Yes." Jalila read the lines of text. She started to say something about the neatness of the printing, then stopped as the meaning of the words in front of her took shape.
    By the time she got to the end, she felt a lump in her throat.
    "Well?" al-Aziz nodded at the parchment. "What's it say?"
    Tears welling in her eyes, Jalila looked at Yama, then back at the scroll. As she read it a second time, she felt so overcome with emotion that she thought she might burst.
    Jalila bit her lip and dabbed