The Man-Kzin Wars 01 (10 page)

Between laughter and tears she said in his ear,
“
C
ome, let's go, Kam's spread a feast for the two of us in my cabin."

Set beside that, the cosmos was trivial
.

Saxtorph's voice crackled from the intercom:
“
N
ow hear this. Now hear this. We've just received a message from what claims to be a kzin warship. They're demanding we make rendezvous with them. Keep calm but think hard. We'll meet in the gym in an hour, 1530, and consider this together.
”

Standing with back to bulkhead, the captain let
silence stretch, beneath the pulsebeat and whispers
of the ship, while he sea -
need
the faces of those
seated before him. Dorcas, her Athene countenance
frozen into expressionlessness; Kam Ryan's full lips
quirked a bit upward, defiantly chee"; Carita Fenger
a-scowl; Juan Yoshii and Laurinda Brozik unable to
keep from glancing at each other, hand gripping
hand; Arthur Tregennis, who seemed almost as concerned about the girl; Ulf Markham, well apart from
the rest, masked in haughtiness-Ulf Reichstein Mark
ham, if you please.... The air renewal cycle was at
its daily point of ozone injection. That tang smelled
like fear.

Which must not be let out of its cage. Saxtorph cleared his throat.
“
O
kay, let's get straight to business," he said.
“
Y
ou
must've noticed a quiver in the interior g-field and
change in engine sound. You're right, we altered
acceleration. Rover will meet the foreign vessel, with
velocities matched, in about 35 hours. it could be
sooner, but Dorcas told them we weren't sure our
hull could take that much * stress. What we wanted,
naturally, was as much time beforehand as possible.
”

“
W
hy
don’t
we cut and run?" Carita asked
.

Saxtorph shrugged.
“
W
hether or not we can outrun them, we for sure can't
escape the stuff they can throw, now that they've locked onto us. If they
really are kzinti navy, they'll never let us get out where we can go
hyperspatial. They may be lying, but Dorcas and I don't propose to take
the chance.
”

“
I
presu
m
e evasion tactics are unfeasible," said Tregennis in his most
academic voice
.

“
C
orrect. We could stop the engine, switch off the
generator, and orbit free, with batteries supplying the life support systems, but they'd have no trouble computing our path. As soon as they came halfway close, they'd catch us with a radar sweep
.

“
F
rom what data we have on them, I believe they were searching for some
time before they acquired us, probably with amplified optics. That's
assuming they were in orbit around Secunda when they first learned of our
arrival. The assumption is consistent with what would be a reasonable
search curve for them and with the fact that there are modulated radio
bursts out of that planet-transmissions to and from their base.
”

Nobody before had seen Yoshii snarl.
“
A
nd how did they learn about us?
”
he demanded
.

Looks went to Markham. He gave them back.
“
Y
es, undoubtedly through me,
”
he said.

Strength rang in the words.
“
Y
ou all know I took it upon myself
to beam a signal at Secunda-in my capacity as this expedition's officer
of the government. The result has surprised me, too, but I acknowledge
no need to apologize. If we, approaching a kzin base unbeknownst, had
suddenly become manifest to their detectors, they would most likely have
blown us out of existence.
”

Ryan nodded.
“
W
ithout stopping to ask questions," he supplied.
“
Y
eah,
that'd be kzin style. If they are. How're you so sure?
”

I think we can take it for granted," Dorcas said.
“
W
ho else would have
reason to call themselves kzinti?
”

“
W
ho else would want to?" Carita growled
.

“
S
ave the cuss words for later,"
Saxtorph
counseled
.
“
W
e're in too much
of a pickle for luxuries. I might add that although the vocal
transmission was through a translator, the phrasing, the responses to us, everything was pure kzin. They are here
–
on the far side of human space from their own. You realize what this means, don't you, folks? The kzinti have gotten the hyperdrive.
”

That conclusion had indeed become clear to everyone, but Laurinda asked,
“
H
ow could they?" as if in pain
.

Yoshii grimaced.
“
O
nce you know something can be done, you're halfway to
doing it yourself, "-he told her
.

“
I
know," she answered.
“
B
ut I had the, the impression they aren't quite as
clever at engineering as humans, even if they did invent the gravity polarizer. And, and wouldn't we have known?
”

“
C
ollecting intelligence in kzin space isn't exactly easy," Saxtorph
explained.
“
A
nyhow, they may have done the R and D on some planet we aren't
aware of I'll grant you, I'm surprised myself that they've been this quick
.

Well, they were." His grin was lopsided.
“
O
nce I heard about an epitaph on
an old New England tombstone. 'I expected this, but not so soon
.

“
W
hy have they established themselves here?" Tregennis wondered.
“
A
s you
observed, it is a long journey for them, especially if they went around
human space in order to avoid any chance that their possession of the
hyperdrive would be discovered. True, this system is uniquely interesting,
but I didn't think kzin civilization gave scientific research as high a
value as ours does.
”

“
T
hat's a good question," Saxtorph said
.

His gallows humor drew a chuckle from none but Ryan. Dorcas uttered the
thought in every mind:
“
T
hey won't let us go home to tell about them if
they can help it.
”

“
W
hich is why we are being nice and meeting
them as they request," Saxtorph added.
“
I
t gives them an alternative to putting a nuke on our track.
”

Markham folded his arms and stated,
“
I
hope you people have the wit to
be glad, at last, that I came along. They will understand that I am
authorized to negotiate with them. They will likewise understand that my
disappearance would in due course cause a second expedition to come, with
armed escort, as the loss of an entirely private group might not.
”

“
C
ould be, Saxtorph said.
“
H
owever, I can think of several ways to fake
a natural disaster for us.
”

“
S
uch as?
”

“
W
ell, for instance, giving us a lethal dose of radiation, then sending
the corpses back with the ship gimmicked to seem this was an accident
.

The kzi
n
pilot could return on an accompanying vessel after ours left
hyperspace.
”

“
W
hat would the log show?
”

“
W
hat the 'last survivor' was tortured into entering.
”

“
N
onsense. You have been watching too many spy dramas.
“

“
I
disagree. Besides, that was just one of the notions that occurred to
Dorcas and me. The kzinti might be more inventive yet.
”

“
W
e have decided not to rely exclusively on their sweet nature," the mate
declared.
“
L
isten carefully
.

“
W
e can launch the boats without them detecting it, if we act soon
.

They'll float free while Rover proceeds to rendezvous. When she's a
suitable distance off, nobody looking for any action in this volume of
space, they'll scramble.
”

Carita smacked fist in palm.
“
H
ey, terrific!" she cried
.

Markham sounded appalled:
“
H
ave you gone crazy? How will you survive, let
alone return, in two little interplanetary flitters?
”

“
T
hey're more than that," Saxtorph reminded.
“
T
hey're rugged and maneuverable and full to the scuppers with delta v. In either of
th
e
m
I'd undertake to outrace or dodge a tracking missile, and make it tough or impossible to hold a laser beam on her long enough to do much damage. Air and water recycler are in full working order and rations for one man
year are stowed aboard.
”

“
I
ate some," Yoshii stammered.
“
C
arita must have, too.
”

“
I
've already replaced it," Ryan informed them
.

“
G
ood thinking!" Saxtorph exclaimed.
“
D
id you expect this tactic?
”

'Oh, general principles. Take care of your belly and your belly will take
care of you.
”

“
S
top that schoolboy chatter," Markham snapped.
“
W
hat in the cosmos can you
hope to do but antagonize the kzinti?
”

“
H
ow do you tell an antagonized kzin from an un
-
antagonized one?" Saxtorph
retorted. I am dead serious. Nobody has to follow me who doesn't want to
.
”

“
I
certainly do not. Someone has to stay and
...
try to repair the harm
your lunacy will have done.
”

“
I
figured you would. But I supposed you, of all people, would have a
better hold on kzin psychology than you're showing. You ought to know they
don't resent an opponent giving them a proper fight. Fighting's their
nature. Whoever surrenders becomes no more than a captured animal in their
eyes. Dorcas and I aim to put some high cards in your hand before you sit
down at their poker table. A spacecraft on the loose is a weapon. The
drive, or the sheer kinetic energy, can wreck things quite as thoroughly as
the average nuke. Come worst to worst, we might smash a boat into their
base at several thousand
kp
h. The other boat might take out their ship and leave them stranded; I've a hunch they've kept just a single hyperdrive vessel, as scarce as those must still be among them. Yah, going out like that would be a sight better than going into the stewpot. Kzinti like long pig.
”

Yoshii brightened. He and Laurinda exchanged a wonder-smitten look. Carita
whooped. Tregennis smiled faintly. Ryan went oddly, abruptly thoughtful
.