Construction

The first and only time the Inquisitor General went to Frint, she was amazed by both the planet, it's inhabitants, and those of the Diplomatic Service that could take the place for a full term of service. Of course, she had been given all the usual training and sims that every visitor to Frint was given, and she'd passed the psych evaluation, but still it didn't prepare her for the reality.

The moment she stepped off the shuttle onto Frint's surface, the cacophony of smells and the pure speed of the place hit her. Even here, in the openness of the field designated as a spaceport by consent of the current ruling faction, Frints were diving and wheeling, filling the air with olfactory noise. As she had been warned, within seconds of her appearing in the doorway, she was surrounded by several thousand of them, and it took all of her will to avoid swatting them away from her face.

After several seconds of eternity, trying not to flinch as they buzzed her and filled her nose with greetings, the scent of authority cleared the space in front of her face ( the more knowledgeable Frint now knew better than to treat the most olfactory places on a human body as the seat of reason ), and she heard an official greeting as an important looking Frint (if a two-inch, bird-like insect could be said to look important) hovered and spoke into it's translator.

"Welcome, Inquisitor Averil. It is a shame your visit could not be under more pleasant circumstances"

Averil's comp was feeding her "'Dave', leader of the 'Friendly Co-operation' faction".

"Dave?" she subvoked.

"Current context. Dave = Assigned name of leader of the 'Friendly Co-operation' faction. Assigned by Second Lieutenant Kingsley due to difficulty translating unique olfactory signatures to English equivalents" her comp responded

"I thank you, Dave. The United Nations of Earth are grateful that you have chosen to apply full process in this case."

"Considering the, er, gravity of the situation, we felt it was appropriate"

"Comp, did he actually hesitate?"

"No, hesitation inserted to cover translation difficulty"

"Then, I must ask that I be allowed to speak to my client. In private."

"You realise that we cannot guarantee what you call "privacy", the most we can do is promise that we won't listen on purpose?"

"Obviously, but most of our conversation will be audio, so unless you're in the habit of using our translators with no purpose ..?

"(humour) Of course not , Inquisitor. I will lead you to your client. You may wish to use a conveyance."

"Thank you, er, 'Dave'"

"Should I translate the hesitation?" "No" she snapped. Damn smart arse computer.

Averil signalled her car, and it emerged from the shuttle, emitting the required ultrasonic warning. I could do with one of those, she thought as she watched the Frints carefully avoid the car as it floated toward her. The car's bubble clam-shelled and she closed her eyes before somersaulting into a seat. That way, she didn't have to see the Frint bodies she collided with as she flew through the air, though she still felt the buzz of their wings and a furry sensation as they brushed her skin.

As Averil landed in her car, she subvoked "Car, follow Dave". The car beeped an acknowledgement, and she began to sink into her seat, before jerking back up as she recalled one of the warnings she'd been given in training. Sure enough, a couple of Frints were relaxing on her seat. She waved at them and startled, they buzzed off, hitting the bubble just like an earth insect would.