All five of the delegates took notes as quickly as they could while the firstracer spoke. Tycho made a note to himself to ask what sorts of things they tended to learn when passing close to a star, as well as a note to ask Tycho#Emissary to bring up similar on Artemis, focusing instead on the history of their course.
“Leader Turun Ka,” True Name said with a hint of a bow. “Would you be amenable to a short break?”
The firstracer lifted its chin in assent and the table stood, exchanging bows before making their way each to their own rest area.
-Once they’d made it around the corner into the common area, the skunk grinned toothily at Tycho. “Good catch, Mr. Brahe.”
+Once they’d made it around the corner into the common area, the skunk grinned toothily at Tycho. “Good catch, Dr. Brahe.”
“I was a little surprised, myself. That gives us a good idea of their speed and perhaps their traj–“
“Shut up, Tycho,” Why Ask Questions said, laughing. “We will get to all the delicious science you could ask for soon enough. Your question went more than a little beyond that.”
He frowned. “What? How?”
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@“Even that could be them trying to figure out how best to tell us what they did, though,” he retorted, though even he could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
“All of these facts are interesting,” Why Ask Questions said. “Even if that is all they did, even if they do only turn off skew for slingshots. We are sold on it no matter what. When you take the facts together as a whole, however, those of us with a sense for it can catch the scent of politics in there.”
“Sneaky pieces of shit, you mean?”
-True Name laughed. “Yes, those. You lack the sense, Mr. Brahe. Codrin has seen it, Ms. Genet can sense it second-hand. We need someone like you to play the role of earnest seeker-after-knowledge.”
+True Name laughed. “Yes, those. You lack the sense, Dr. Brahe. Codrin has seen it, Ms. Genet can sense it second-hand. We need someone like you to play the role of earnest seeker-after-knowledge.”
He rolled his eyes. “Or gullible dupe.”
“A very smart gullible dupe,” Why Ask Questions said. “It is no shame to be a gullible dupe, Tycho. You ask the things we never think to because we are too busy being sneaky pieces of shit.”
“Well, I’ll leave the politics to you all,” he said, grinning and shaking his head. “I’m going to write my own note while we have a bit of time.”