“GOOD MORNING, GENERAL Tallis,” MacMaine said. “Sit down. How do you feel this morning?”
The general sat again on the hard bunk that, aside from the single chair, was the only furniture in the small cell. “Ass well ass coot pe expectet. I ket ferry little exercisse. I ... how iss it set? ... I pecome soft? Soft? Iss correct?”
“Correct. You’ve learned our language very well for so short a time.”
The general shrugged off the compliment. “Wen it iss a matteh of learrn in orrter to surfife, one learrnss.”
“You think, then, that your survival has depended on your learning our language?”
The general’s orange face contrived a wry smile. “Opfiously. Your people fill not learn Kerothic. If I cannot answerr questionss, I am uff no use. Ass lonk ass I am uff use, I will liff. Not?”
MacMaine dec
