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Orne thought of a Chargonian curse: May you grow like a wild root with your
head in the ground!
Tanub said: "This is far enough, Orne. Stop your vehicle."
Orne brought the sled to a jolting stop. He could see armed Gienahns all
around in the moonlight -- Mark XX's, hand blasters. The glass-buttressed
pedestal of a columnar building lifted into the moonlight directly ahead. It
appeared taller than had the scout cruiser in the jungle landing circle.
Tanub leaned over Orne's shoulder. "We have not deceived you, Orne, have we?"
Orne felt his stomach contract. "What do you mean?" The furry odor of the
Gienahn was oppressive in the cab.
"You have recognized that we cannot be mutated members of your race," Tanub
said.
Orne tried to swallow in a dry throat. Stetson's voice came into his ears:
"Better admit it."
"That's true," Orne said.
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"I like you, Orne," Tanub said. "You shall be one of my slaves. I will give
you fine females from the Delphinus and you will teach me many things."
"How did you capture the Delphinus?" Orne asked.
"How do you know of this?" Tanub drew back and Orne saw the rifle muzzle come
up.
"You have one of their rifles," Orne said. "We don't pass around weapons.
Our aim is to reduce the numbers of weapons throughout the . . ."
"Weak ground crawlers!" Tanub said. "You are no match for us, Orne. We take
the high path. Our prowess is great. We surpass all other creatures in
cunning. We shall subjugate you."
"How'd you take the Delphinus?" Orne asked.
"Ha! They brought their ship into our reach because it had inferior tubes.
We told them truthfully that we could improve their tubes. Very inferior
ceramics your kind makes."
Orne studied Tanub in the dim glow of the cab light. "Tanub, have you heard
of the I-A?"
"I-A! They investigate and adjust when others make mistakes. Their existence
is an admission of your inferiority. You make mistakes!"
"Many people make mistakes," Orne said.
A wary tenseness came over the Gienahn. His mouth opened to reveal the long
canines.
"You took the Delphinus by treachery?" Orne asked.
Stetson's voice came hissing on the carrier wave into Orne's hearing: "Don't
goad him!"
Tanub said: "They were simple fools on the Delphinus. We are smaller than
your kind; they thought us weaker." The Mark XX's muzzle came around to
center on Orne's stomach. "You will answer a question. Why do you speak of
this I-A?"
"I am of the I-A," Orne said. "I came here to find out where you'd hidden the
Delphinus,"
"You came to die," Tanub said. "We have hidden your ship in the place that
suits us best. In all of our history there has never been a better place for
us to crouch and await the moment of attack."
"You see no alternative to attack?" Orne asked.
"In the jungle, the strong slay the weak until only the strong remain," Tanub
said.
"Then the strong prey upon each other," Orne said.
"That is a quibble for weaklings!"
"Or for those who have seen this kind of thinking make entire worlds
uninhabitable for any form of life -- nothing left for the strong or the
weak."
"Within one of your years, Orne, we will be ready. Then we shall see which of
us is correct."
"It's too bad you feel that way," Orne said. "When two cultures meet as ours
are meeting they tend to help each other. Each gains. What have you done
with the crew from the Delphinus?"
"They are slaves," Tanub said. "Those of them who still live. Some resisted.
Others objected to teaching us what it is we must know." He pointed the Mark
XX at Orne's head. "You will not be foolish enough to object, will you,
Orne?"
"No need for me to be foolish," Orne said. "We of the I-A are also teachers.
We teach lessons to people who make mistakes. You have made a mistake, Tanub.
You have told me where you have hidden the Delphinus."
"Go, boy!" Stetson shouted on the hissing carrier wave. "Where is it?"
"Impossible!" Tanub snarled. The gun muzzle remained centered on Orne's head.
"It's on your moon," Orne said. "Dark side. It's on a mountain on the dark
side of your moon."
Tanub's eyes dilated, contracted. "You read minds?"
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"No need for the I-A to read minds," Orne said. "We rely on superior mental
prowess and the mistakes of others."
"Two attack monitors are on their way" Stetson's voice hissed. "We're coming
in to get you. I'll want to know how you figured this one out."
"You are a weak fool like the others," Tanub gritted.
"It's too bad you formed your opinion of us by observing the low grades of
R&R," Orne said.
"Easy, easy," Stetson cautioned. "Don't pick a fight now. Remember he's
arboreal, probably as strong as an ape."
"You ground-crawling slave," Tanub grated. "I could kill you where you sit."
"You kill your entire planet if you do," Orne said. "I'm not alone, Tanub.
Others listen to every word we say. There's a ship above us that could split
open your planet with one bomb -- wash everything with molten rock. Your
planet would run like the glass of your buildings. Your entire planet would
be one big piece of ceramic."
"You lie!"
"I'll make you an offer," Orne said. "We don't want to exterminate you. We
won't unless you force our hand. Well give you limited membership in the
Galactic Federation until you've proven you're no menace to other . . ."
"You dare insult me," Tanub growled.
"You'd better believe me," Orne said. "We --"
Stetson's voice interrupted: "Got it, Orne! They caught the Delphinus in a
tight little mountain valley right where you said it'd be! Blew the tubes off
it. We're mopping up now."
"It's like this, Tanub," Orne said. "We've already recaptured the Delphinus."
Tanub's gaze darted skyward. He returned his attention to Orne. "Impossible.
We have your communications equipment and there has been no signal. The
lights of our city still glow and you will not . . ."
"You've only the inferior R&R equipment," Orne said, "not what we use in the
I-A. Your people kept silent up there until it was too late. It's their way,
not that . . ."
Stetson demanded: "How'd you know that?"
Orne ignored Stetson, said: "Except for the captured armament you still hold,
you obviously don't have the weapons to meet us, Tanub. Otherwise you
wouldn't be carrying that rifle off the Delphinus."
"If this is truth, then we shall die bravely," Tanub said.
"No need," Orne said. "We don't . . ."
"I cannot take the chance that you lie," Tanub said. "I must kill you."
Orne's foot on the air sled control pedal kicked downward. The sled shot
upward, heavy G's pressing its occupants into their seats. The gun was
slammed into Tanub's lap. He struggled to raise it.
For Orne, the weight still remained only about twice that of his native
Chargon. He reached over, removed the rifle from Tanub's grasp, found safety
belts, bound the Gienahn with them. Then Orne eased off on the acceleration.
Tanub stared at him in teeth-bared fear.
"We don't need slaves," Orne said. "We have machines to do most of our work.
We'll send experts in here, teach you how to get into better balance with your
planet, how to build good transportation, how to mine your minerals, how to .
. ."
"And what do we do in return?" Tanub whispered. He appeared cowed by Orne's
strength.
"You could start by teaching us to make superior ceramics," Orne said. As he
spoke, a series of formative thoughts fled through his awareness -- the peace-
keeping function of the marketplace, the deliberate despecialization of
manufacture with one village making the head of the hoe and the next village
making the handle, the psychological security of guilds and castes . . .
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