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if piped in. "The ientcio overruled them, Tom. On the grounds that it was important to see how accurate Joshua's interpretation of the event was, not because of your arguments. He said he was confident that Joshua's version was the correct one, and that it would only be polite to fulfill your request, as you are our friend and partner."
"He did this as a favor?" I was suddenly and uncontrollably outraged. "Hey, fuck him. And fuck you for going along with it, Gwedif. I'm not interested in favors for the sake of appearances. I'm trying to offer your fucking people what you said you want."
"Tom, please," Gwedif said. He voice sounded strained; I wondered how much of it was actual strain he was allowing me to hear, and how much was play acting, since the voice was an artificial way for him to communicate. "You don't know what's been going on around here."
"Enlighten me," I said.
"The senior officers aren't the only ones who are opposed to the idea of allowing Joshua to take control of your friend's body. Nearly everyone on the ship is. The taboo against inhabiting a thinking being against its will is extremely strong for Yherajk. It's entrenched in our culture in ways you can't appreciate."
"It's worth about five or six of the Ten Commandments," Joshua said.
"That's a flip way of putting, but yes," Gwedif agreed. "And now you come and want us to throw aside all that entrenched thought, Tom. Frankly, there's a large group of Yherajk on this ship who think your request may be proof that humans aren't ethically developed enough for us to be involved with at all. They want to call this all off."
"But it's not as if Michelle is alive," I said. "She's brain dead. Dead."
"We don't have brains, Tom," Gwedif said. "'Brain dead' is not a concept that has a direct translation. It doesn't come across to us. For Yherajk, there is body death, which doesn't necessarily mean the death of the personality. And there's soul death, which doesn't necessarily mean the death of the bo
