The Man-Kzin Wars 01 (11 page)

Markham gnawed his lip a moment, then straightened in his chair and rapped,
“
V
ery well. I do not approve, and I ask the crew to refrain from this
foolishness of yours, but I cannot stop you. Therefore I must factor your
action into my calculations. What terms shall I try to get for us?
”

“
F
reedom to leave, of course," Dorcas responded.
“
L
et Rover retreat to
hyperspacing distance and wait, while the kzinti withdraw too far to
intercept our boats. We can verify that on instruments before we come near
.

We'll convey any message they want, or even a delegate.
”

“
T
here could be a delegation on board, waiting," Ryan warned. Tregennis stirred. I will remain behind," he said
.

Tears sprang into Laurinda's eyes.
“
O
h, no!" she pleaded
.

He smiled again, at her. I am too old to go blatting around space like
that. I would merely be a burden, and quite likely die on your hands. Not
only will I be more comfortable here, I will be an extra witness to the
bona fides of the kzinti. Landholder Markham alone could not keep track of
everything they might stealthily do.
”

“
I
t will show them there are two reasonable human beings in this outfit,
”
the Wunderlander said
.

“
T
hat might be marginally helpful to me. Anyone else?
”

“
S
peaking," Ryan answered
.

“
H
uh?" broke from Saxtorph.
“
H
ey, Kam, no. Whatever for?
”

“
F
or this," the quartermaster said calmly.
“
H
aven't you thought of it
yourself? The boats will be on the move, or holed up someplace unknown to
the kzinti. They can only be reached by broadcast. Planar broadcast, maybe,
but still the signal's bound to be down in the milliwatts or microwatts
when it reaches your receivers-with the sun's radio background to buck
.

Nothing but voice transmission will carry worth diddly. Given a little time
to record how the humans talk who were left behind, the kzinti can write a
computer program to fake it. 'Sure, come on back, fellows, all is forgiven
and they've left a case of champagne for us to celebrate with.' How're you
going to know that's for real?
”

Dorcas frowned.
“
W
e did consider it," she told him.
“
W
e'll use a secret
password.
”

“
W
hich a telepath of theirs can fish right out of a human skull, maybe
given a spot of torture to unsettle the brain first. Nope, I know a trick
worth two of that. How well do you remember your Hawaiian, Bob? You picked
up a fair amount while we were in the village. " Ryan laughed.
“
T
hat worked
on the girls lik
e butter on a toboggan slope.
”
Saxtorph was a long while silent before he answered:
“
I
think, if I
pr
acticed for a few days, I think
... enough of it... would come back to
me.
”

Ryan nodded.
“
T
he kzinti have programs for the important human languages in
their translators, but I doubt Hawaiian is included. Or Danish.
”

Yoshii swallowed.
“
Y
ou'd certify everything is kosher?" he mumbled.
“
B
ut
what if-well-
”

“
I
f the kzinti aren't stupid, they won't try threatening or torturing me into feeding you a lie," Ryan responded.
“
H
ow'd they savvy what I was
saying? I assure you, it wouldn't be complimentary to them."
“
A
telepath would know.
”

Ryan shrugged.
“
H
e'd know I was not going to be their Judas goat, no
matter what they did. Therefore they won't do it.
”

Saxtorph's right hand half reached out.
“
K
am, old son-" he croaked. The
hand dropped
.

Dorcas rose and confronted the rest, side by side with her husband.
“
I
'm
sorry, but time is rationed for us and you must decide at once," she
said.
“
I
f you think you'd better stay, then do. We won't consider you a
coward or anything. You may be right. We can't be sure at this stage. All
we are certain of is that we don't have time for debate. Who's going?
”

Hands went up, Carita's, Yoshii's, and after an instant Laurinda's
.

“
O
kay," Dorcas continued.
“
N
ow we're not about to put our bets on a
single number. The boats will go separate ways. Which ways, we'll decide
by tight beam once we're alone in space. You understand, Kam, Arthur,
Landholder Markham. What you don't know, a telepath or a torturer can't
get out of you. Bob and I have already considered the distribution
.

Carita and Juan will take Fido. We thought Kam would ride with them, but
evidently not. Laurinda, you'll be with Bob and me in Shep.
”

“
W
ait a minute!" Yoshii protested. The girl brought fingertips to open
mouth
.

“
S
orry, my dears," Dorcas said.
“
I
t's a matter of practicality, as nearly
as we could estimate on short notice. Not that we imagine you two would
play Romeo and Juliet to the neglect of your duties. However, Juan and
Carita are our professional pilots,
rockjacks, planetside prospectors. Together they make our strongest possible team. They can pull stunts Bob and I never could. We need that potential, don't we? Bob and I are no slouches, but we do our best work in tandem. To supply some of what we lack as compared to Juan and Carita, Laurinda has knowledge, including knowledge of how to use instruments we plan to pack along, Don't forget, more is involved than us. The whole human race needs to know what the kzinti are up to. We must maximize our chances of getting the news home. Agreed?
”

Yoshii clenched his free hand into a fist, stared at it, raised his head,
and answered,
“
A
ye. And you can take better care of her.
”

The Crashlander flushed.
“
I
'm no piece of porcelain!" immediately
contrite, she stroked the Belter's cheek while she asked unevenly,
“
H
ow
soon do we leave?
”

Dorcas smiled and made a gesture of blessing.
“
L
et's say an hour. We'll
need that much to stow gear. You two can have most of it to yourselves."

The kzin warship was comparatively small, Prowling Hunter class,
but not the less terrifying a sight. Weapon pods, boat bays, sensor booms, control domes studded a spheroid whose red hue, in the light of this sun, became like that of clotted blood. Out of it and across the kilometers between darted small fierce gleams that swelled into space-combat armor enclosing creatures larger than men. They numbered a dozen, and each bore at least two firearms
.

Obedient to orders, Ryan operated the main personnel airlock and cycled four of them through. The
first grabbed him and slammed him against the bulkhead so hard that it rang. Stunned, he would have slumped to the deck were it not for the bruising grip on his shoulders. The next two crouched with weapons ready. The last one took over the controls and admitted the remaining eight.

At once, ten went off in pairs to ransack the ship. It was incredible how fast they carried the mass of metal upon them. Their footfalls cast booming echoes down the passageways
.

Markham and Tregennis, waiting in the saloon, were frisked and put under guard. Presently Ryan was brought to them.
“
M
y maiden aunt has better manners than they do," he muttered, and lurched toward the bar. The kzin used his rifle butt to push him into a chair and gestured for silence. Time passed
.

Within an hour, which felt longer to the humans, the boarding party was satisfied that there were no traps. Somebody radioed a report from the airlock; the rest shed their armor and stood at ease outside the saloon. Its air grew full of their wild odor
.

A new huge and ruddy-gold form entered. The guard saluted, sweeping claws before his face. Markham jumped up.
“
F
or God's sake, stand," he whispered.
“
T
hat's the captain.
”

Tregennis and, painfully, Ryan rose. The kzin's gaze flickered over them and came back to dwell on Markham, recognizing leadership. The Wunderlander opened his mouth. Noises as of a tiger fight poured forth. Did the captain register surprise that a man knew his language? He heard it out and spat a reply. Markham tried to continue. The captain interrupted, and Markham went mute. The captain told him something.

Markham turned to his companions.
“
H
e forbids
me to mangle the Hero's Tongue
anymore
," he related wryly.
“
H
e grants my request for a private talk-in the communications shack, where our translator is, since I explained that we do have one and it includes the right program. Meanwhile you may talk with each other and move freely about this cabin. If you must relieve yourselves, you may use the sink behind the bar."
“
H
ow gracious of him," Ryan snorted.

Markham raised brows.
“
C
onsider yourselves fortunate. He is being indulgent. Don't risk provoking him. High-ranking kzinti are even more sensitive about their honor than the average, and he has earned a partial name, Hraou-Captain.
”

“
W
e will be careful," Tregennis promised. I am sure you will do your best for us.
”

The commander went majestically out. Markham trailed. Ryan gusted a sigh, sought the bar, tapped a liter of beer, and drained it in a few gulps. The guard watched enviously but then also left. Discipline had prevented him from shoving the human aside and helping himself He and a couple of his fellows remained in the passage. They conversed a bit, rumbling and hissing
.

“
W
e'll be here a while," Ryan sighed.
“
C
are for a round of gin?" "it would be unwise of us to drink," Tregennis cautioned.
“
B
est you be content with that mug
ful
l
you had."

“
I
mean gin rummy.
”

“
W
hat is that, if not a, ah, cocktail?
”

“
A
card game. They don't play it on Plateau? I can teach you."
“
N
o, thank you. Perhaps I am too narrow in my interests, but cards bore me." Tregennis brightened.
“
H
owever, do you play chess?
”

Ryan threw up his hands.
“
Y
ou expect me to concentrate on woodpushing now? Hell, let's screen a show. Something light and trashy, with plenty of girls in it. Or would
you
rather seize the chance to at last read War and Peace?
”

Tregennis smiled.
“
B
elieve it or not, Kamehameha, I have my memories. By all means, girls.
”

The comedy was not quite finished when a kzin appeared and jerked an unmistakable gesture. The men followed him. He didn't bother with a companion or with ever glancing rearward. At the flight deck he proceeded to Saxtorph's operations cabin, waved them through, and closed the door on them
.