As the ship sails silently onward to Alharhan I have noticed that many of the Alharhanians here are doing their best to avoid us. I don’t really understand this since I was hoping to make some friends on this lengthy journey, but it seems that everyone has their own agenda, and no one has time to form any friendships. Hey, I’m not asking for anything permanent, but a friendly greeting, or a brief chat now and then would be nice.

When I told Captain Lhuâdel about this he told me that on Deck 15 there is a large room called The Meeting Place where Alharhanians gathered to meet, and talk about different things. He suggested I go there and look around, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. I had a feeling if I were in that room the Alharhanians would be talking about me, not to me. There are many Alharhanians who still think that we Tereskàdians are stupid, that we don’t understand what they’re saying. Just because we look like animals.

When I told Rhalhea about this she suggested that we go. What have we got to lose? she asked. I wanted to tell her we would probably lose our self-respect, but I didn’t. I was trying to think of an excuse not to go, but I couldn’t come up with a good one.

Jhalhemha was in my pouch when we took the elevator up to Deck 15. Jhorhea and Rheža were sleeping soundly in our cabin. I was not worried about them because I had locked the door. There were about three hundred and some Alharhanians aboard this ship, and anyone could harm my daughters, so I wasn’t going to take any chances. Rhalhea told me that I worry too much, but after what happened ten years ago, I wasn’t about to risk my daughters’ lives.

The Meeting Place was the biggest room I had ever seen. In my twenty-six years on Alharhan and Tereskàdhar I had seen some huge rooms, but this dwarfed them all. I think about fifty of the quarters we were staying in could easily have fit into this one room. I noticed there were videophones at strategic locations which probably meant that if someone wanted to talk with someone on the other side of the room he would probably have to use one of those videophones.

Plenty of chairs and tables filled the room, and I noticed that most of the chairs were occupied by mostly middle-aged and elderly Alharhanians. At several of the tables Alharhanians were playing cards, and I recognized one of the games as pent’hăr, Khe’ăr and Lheana’s favorite game. I stopped to watch them play, but I got a look of cold hatred from two of the players, so I moved on.

Just when I thought that we were going to be ignored a female Alharhanian walked up to us. She had a clear drink in her hand, which I guessed to be shelenhar, a popular alcoholic beverage on both planets. The first thing she did was ask us if we had a cub which was nursing. The question didn’t really surprise us because, even though one might not see a cub, all one has to do is look at the parents’ chest area, and if the teats are rather prominent, it isn’t hard to figure that the parents have a nursing cub. So I told her my daughter Jhalhemha was in my pouch and she was sleeping right now.

It wasn’t long before we were sitting at a table where the Alharhanian asked us if we wanted something to eat. I looked at Rhalhea who said she wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t bother to order anything, either. But that didn’t stop the female from ordering a big meal.

My name is Fhelhomha Leskel, she said. The moment she announced her name I knew who she was. The sister of Tevren Leskel, the President of the planet Tereskàdhar. I started to tell her my name, but she knew who I was, and she knew all about me, as if my entire life history was etched on my fur.

I asked her why she was going to Alharhan. I’m going on behalf of my brother, she said. He wants me to open further business negotiations with Alharhan, and specifically the country of Te’hănys. She went on to tell me in more details what those business negotiations would entail, but I wasn’t really listening. At one point I yawned loudly, and she stopped talking. I know I’m boring you to death, she said, but when I’ve finished talking with President Ten Arbhonhal, Te’hănys and Tereskàdhar will become business partners in a highly competitive market.

Through our whistling dragons I told Rhalhea that we should excuse ourselves from Senha Leskel before she really puts us to sleep.

Pešhŏk. 30.489/Day 562