The Man-Kzin Wars 01 (4 page)

“
O
h, dear," Laurinda Brozik whispered.
“
H
e's all right, isn't he?" The English of Tregennis' graduate student was harder for Dorcas to follow than his. It was from We Made It
.

The young woman was not a typical Crashlander-is there any such thing as a typical anything?-but she could not have been mistaken for a person from anywhere else. Likewise tall and finely sculptured, she seemed attenuated, arachnodactylic, somehow both awkward and eerily graceful, as if about to go into a contortion such as her race was capable of She belonged to the large albino minority on the planet, with snowy skin, big red eyes, white hair combed straight down to the shoulders. In contrast to Tregennis' quiet tunic and trousers, she wore a gown of golden-hued fabric
–
an expert would have identified it as Terrestrial silk-and an arrowhead pendant of topaz; but somehow she wore them shyly.
“
W
ell, he survived, not too upset." Glancing at the waiter, Dorcas ordered a dry martini, "-and I mean dry." She turned to the others.
“
H
e was on his way to talk with Markham," she explained.
“
L
ate hour, but the commissioner said he was too busy to receive him earlier. In fact, the meeting was to be at an auxiliary office. The equipment at the regular place is all tied up with-I'm not sure what. Well, Bob was passing through a deserted section when a
kzin came out of nowhere and attacked him. He kept himself alive, without any serious damage, till the noise drew the police. The kzin fled."
“
O
h, dear!" Laurinda repeated. She looked appalled,

Tregennis had a way of attacking problems from unexpected angles.
“
W
hy was Robert on foot?" he asked
.

“
W
hat?" said Dorcas, surprised. She considered.
“
T
he tubeway wasn't convenient for his destination, and it's not much of a walk. What of it?"
“
T
here have been ample incidents, I hear. Kzinti with their hair-trigger tempers; and many humans bear an unreasoning hatred of them. I should think Robert would take care." Tregennis chuckled.
“
H
e's too seasoned a warrior to want any trouble.
”

“
H
e had no reason to expect any, I tell you." Dorcas curbed her irritation.
“
N
ever mind. It was doubtless just one of those things. He has a ruined tunic and four superficial cuts, but he gave as good as he got. The point is, the police are in an uproar. They were nervous enough, now they're afraid of more fights. They've kept him at the station, questioning him over and over, showing him stereograms of this or that kzin-you can imagine. When last he called, he didn't expect to be free for another couple Of hours, and then, on top of having nearly gotten killed, he'll be wrung out. So he told me to meet you on behalf of us both."

“
Horrible," Laurinda said.
“
B
ut at least he is safe.
”

“
W
e regret his absence, naturally," Tregennis added, "and twice so when we had invited you two to dinner here in celebration of good news." Dorcas smiled.
“
W
ell, I'll be your courier. What is the message?"
“
I
t is for you to tell, Laurinda," the astrophysicist said gently. The girl swallowed, leaned forward, and blurted,
“
T
his mornwatch I got the word I'd hoped for. On the hyperwave. My father, he, he'd been away, and afterward I suppose he needed to think about it, because that is a lot of money, but-but if necessary, he'll give us a grant. We won't have to depend on the Commission. We can take off on our own!"

“
W
ow
!!
", Dorcas breathed
.

Though it made no sense, for a tumbling few seconds her mind was on Stefan Brozik, whom she had never met. He had been among those on We Made It quickest to seize the chance when the Outsiders came by with their offer to sell the hyperdrive technology. For a while he was an officer in one of the fleets that drove the kzin sublight ships back and back into defeat. Returning, he made his fortune in the production of hyperdrives for both government and private use-, and Laurinda was his adored only daughter-
“
I
t
will
take a time," came Tregennis' parched voice.
“
F
irst the draft must clear the banks, then we must order what we need and wait for delivery. The demand exceeds the supply, after all. However, in due course we will be able to go.
”

His white head lifted. Dorcas remembered what he had said to Markham, when the commissioner declared:
“
P
rofessor, this star of yours does appear to be an interesting object. I do not doubt an expedition to it would have scientific value. But space is full of urgent work to do, human work to do. Your project can wait another ten or fifteen years."

Iron had been in Tregennis' answer: I cannot.
”

“
W
onderful!" exclaimed Dorcas. Her jubilation was moderate merely because she had expected this outcome. The only question had been how long it would take. Stefan Brozik wouldn't likely deny his little girl a chance to go visit the foreign sun which she, peering from orbit around Plateau, had discovered, and which could make her reputation in her chosen field.

Nonetheless, Dorcas' gaze left the table and went off down the well of stars. Alpha Centauri B, dazzling bright, had drifted from it. She had a clear view toward the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. In yonder direction lay Beta Hydri, and around it swung Silvereyes, the most remote colony that humankind had yet planted. Beyond Silvereyes-But glory filled vision. Laurinda's sun was a dim red dwarf, invisible to her. Strange thought, that such a thing might be a key to mysteries
.

Anger awoke.
“
M
aybe we won't need your father's money," Dorcas said.
“
M
aybe the prospect will make that slime-bugger see reason."

“
I
beg your pardon?" asked Tregennis, shocked
.

“
M
arkham." Dorcas grinned.
“
S
orry. You haven't been toe-to-toe with him, over and over, the way Bob and I have. Never mind. Don't let him or a quantum-beaded kzin spoil our evening. Let's enjoy. We're going!"

The office of Ulf Reichstein Markham was as austere as the man himself. Apart from a couple of chairs, a reference shelf, and a desk with little upon it except the usual electronics, its largeness held mostly empty space. Personal items amounted to a pair of framed documents and a pair of pictures. On the left hung his certificate of appointment to the Interworld Space Commission and a photograph of his wife with their eight-year-old son. On the right were his citation for extraordinary heroism during
the war and a portrait painting of his mother. Both women showed the pure bloodlines of Wunderland aristocracy, the older one also in her expression; the younger looked subdued.

Markham strove to maintain the same physical appearance. His father had been a Belter of means, whom his mother married after the family got in trouble with the kzinti during the occupation and fled to the Swarm. At age 50 he stood a slender, swordblade-straight 195 centimeters. Stiff gray-blond hair grew over a narrow skull, above pale eyes, long nose, outthrust chin that sported the asymmetric beard, a point on the right side. Gray and closefitting, his garb suggested a military uniform. I trust you have recovered from your experience, Captain Saxtorph," he said in his clipped manner
.

“
Y
ah, I'm okay, aside from puzzlement. " The spaceman settled back in his chair, crossed shank over thigh.
“
M
ind if I smoke?" He didn't wait for an answer before reaching after pipe and tobacco pouch
.

Markham's lips twitched the least bit in disdain of the uncouthness, but he replied merely,
“
W
e will doubtless never know what caused the incident. You should not allow it to prey on your mind. The resident kzinti are under enormous psychological stress, still more so than humans would be in comparable circumstances. Besides uprootedness and culture shock, they must daily live with the fact of defeat. Acceptance runs counter to an instinct as powerful in them as sexuality is in humans. This individual, whoever he is, must have lashed out blindly. Let us hope he doesn't repeat. Perhaps his friends can prevail on him.
“

Saxtorph scowled. I thought that way, too, at first. Afterward I got to wondering. I hadn't been near any kzinti my whole time here, this trip. They don't min
gle with humans unless business requires, and then they handle it by phone if at all possible. This fellow was way off the reservation. He lurked till I arrived, in that empty place. He was wearing a phone. Somebody else, shadowing me, could have called to tell him I was coming and the coast was clear."

“
F
rankly, you are being paranoid. Why in creation should he, or anyone, wish you harm? You specifically, I mean. Furthermore, conspiracy like that is not kzin behavior. It would violate the sense of honor that the meanest among them cherishes. No, this poor creature went wandering about, trying to walk off his anger and despair. When you chanced by, like a game animal on the ancestral planet passing a hunter's blind, it triggered a reflex that he lost control of
“

“
H
ow can you be sure? How much do we really know about that breed?"

“
I
know more than most humans.
”

“
Y
ah," drawled Saxtorph,
“
I
reckon you do.
”

Markham stiffened. His glance across the desk was like a
leveled
gun. For a moment there was silence
.

Saxtorph got his pipe lit, blew a cloud of smoke, and through it peered back in more relaxed wise. He could afford to; somatic presence does make a difference. Barely shorter than the Wunderlander, he was hugely broader of shoulders and thicker of chest. His face was wide, craggy-nosed, shaggy-browed, with downward-slanted blue eyes and reddish hair that, at age 45, was getting thin. Whatever clothes he put on, they soon looked rumpled, but this gave the impression less of carelessness than of activity
.

“
W
hat are you implying, Captain?" Markham asked low
.

Saxtorph shrugged.
“
N
othing in particular, Commissioner. it's common knowledge that
you have quite a lot to do with
'em."
“
Y
es. Certain among the rabble have called me 'kzin-lover.' I did not believe you shared their sewer mentality.
“

"whoa, there." Saxtorph lifted a palm.
“
E
asy, please. Of course you'd take a special interest. After all, the kzin empire, if that's what we should call it, it's still out yonder, and we still know precious little about it. Besides handling matters related to kzin comings and goings, you have to think about the future in space. Getting a better handle on their psychology is a real service.
”

Markham eased a bit.
“
L
earning some compassion does no
harm
either," he said unexpectedly
.

“
H
m? Pardon me, but I should think that'd be extra bard for you." Markham's history flitted through Saxtorph's mind. His mother had apparently married his commoner father out of necessity. Her husband died early, and she raised their son in the strictest aristocratic and martial tradition possible. By age 18 Markham was in the resistance forces. As captain of a commando ship, he led any number of raids and gained a reputation for kzin-like ruthlessness. He was 30 when the hyperdrive armada from Sol liberated Alpha Centauri. Thereafter he was active in restoring order and building up a Wunderland navy. Finally leaving the service, he settled on the planet, on a restored Reichstein estate granted him, and attempted a political career; but he lacked the needful affability and willingness to compromise. It was rumored that his appointment to the Space Commission had been a way of buying him off-he bad been an often annoying gadfly-but he was in fact well qualified and worked conscientiously
.

The trouble was, he had his own views on policy
.

With his prestige and connections, he had managed in case after case to win
agreement from a voting majority of his colleagues
.

Saxtorph smiled and added,
“
W
ell, Christian charity is all the more valuable for being so rare.
”

Markham pricked up his ears. The pale countenance flushed.
“
C
hristian!" he snapped.
“
A
religion for slaves. No, I learned to respect the kzinti while I fought them. They were valiant, loyal, disciplined
and in spite of the propaganda and horror stories, their rule was by no means the worst thing that ever happened to Wunderland.
”