gotten one
thing; they hadn't thought to salvage pajamas from the Terran supplies.

"You need them not. The air warm is, and you a blanket have."

Uh-oh, Tarlac thought. That must mean the Traiti slept nude, which was
definitely not a Terran custom. He was by no means certain he could
adjust that far that quickly.

Hovan sensed the man's unease, remembering stories of human prisoners'
behavior. "If you more comfortable that way are, those wear." But he
was disappointed. Until now, Steve had been doing quite well.

Tarlac hesitated, thinking, then returned the small bundle of clothing
to his locker. "I don't think so. Since it seems I'll be living with
you people for quite a while, I might as well get used to it as soon as
I can."

He walked hurriedly through the bathing room door, feeling himself
blush. This wouldn't be quite so easy. He'd never been nude in public;
it was indecent. Then he hesitated, realizing that he wasn't being
completely accurate: it was indecent only by current standards, and
even at that, not everywhere. Although he'd never visited any, he knew
the Empire held worlds where nudity was unremarkable. That was
obviously the case here, and he didn't have any choice, so he'd have to
make the best of it.

He located the cleaner and undressed, putting his uniform and
underclothes in, and turned the unit on. Then he picked one of the
translucent shower stalls, experimented with the unfamiliar controls,
and began soaping himself.

By the time he was clean and, he hoped, no longer blushing, there were
Traiti in the stalls to either side of him, gray bodies seen dimly
through the shower walls and an occasional bit of melodic speech
sounding over the noise of running water. Bracing himself, he left the
scanty concealment of the stall and picked up a towel off the stack
he'd spotted earlier. Drying himself didn't take nearly long enough,
but he forced himself to stop when he was done, and walked into the
sleeproom.

To his relief, no one was there, though another dozen mats unrolled on
the floor were evidence there soon would be. Hovan joined him seconds
later, still damp, and gave Tarlac a quick, searching glance. "Be
easy, Steve," he said. "You will none offend, you so little body hair
have. There nothing wrong with you seems."

Tarlac stared at him in disbeief, then couldn't keep from grinning.
"None offend . . . Body hair!" Embarrassment dissolved into helpless
laughter, s