"I don't mind; no, I haven't." Of course, Tarlac thought. With that sex ratio, parenthood could easily be a sensitive subject for males. "I'm not married, and even if I were, I don't think I'd… Well, anyway, having children when I'm on Terra so little wouldn't be fair to them. Being a Ranger's child wouldn't make up for having a father—or mother—who's gone all the time. That's partly why none of us has a family."
There was a soft murmur, this time sounding sympathetic, and the next question was on an entirely different subject. "The furred four-footers with two tongues—what purpose serve they?"
"Cloudcats? You must have captured some, yeah." Ondrian hadn't been involved in any of the fighting, but cloudcats roamed all through the Empire. "They don't serve a purpose. Part of their bargain for certain human rights on their planet, Ondrian, was their right to travel on Imperial Navy ships any time. I suppose you could call them observers."
"They intelligent are?"
Tarlac could hear astonishment even in the original questioner's voice. "Of course. Didn't anyone tell you?" Then he realized they probably hadn't asked. The first Ondrian colonists had thought the cloudcats unintelligent predators; why shouldn't the Traiti have assumed the same thing, or maybe decided they were pets? "Yes, they're intelligent. They can't talk; they use their tongues for gestural communication, and to handle things. They're outstanding artists, too." If some of his speculations were correct, that might mean more to the Traiti than to many humans.
Hovan translated, then turned to the human. "We some as captives took and caged. We hurt them not, yet have them as animals treated. We must that change, or dishonor suffer. Can we with them communicate?"
"Most English understand—" Tarlac broke off. "Oh, hell, I'm starting to adapt to your speech patterns. I'm not trying to make fun of you. If I've offended, I'm sorry."
"There no offense is," Hovan said calmly. "Go on."
"Okay. Most of them understand English, and can indicate yes and no. That's about all you can expect unless one of your human or Irschchan prisoners is familiar with tongue-talk." Tarlac grinned. "We made that mistake too. We lost some time by it, but it wasn't a disaster. They may even have picked up some of your language by now. They're fast learners."
After a few quick words from Hovan, one of his men rose, dressed, and left. Tarlac gathered he was going to tell someone with more authority about the cloudcats immediately, and Hovan confirmed it.