The Man-Kzin Wars 01 (17 page)

“
T
hat was certainly a worthy feeling," Tregennis admitted
.

Markham made a chopping gesture.
“
M
eanwhile I not only grew more and more aware of the rot in Wunderland, I discovered how much I had been lied to. The kzinti were never monsters, as propaganda had claimed. They were relentless at first and strict afterward, yes. They imposed their will. But it was a dynamic will serving a splendid vision. They were not wantonly cruel, nor extortionate, nor even pettily thievish. Humans who obeyed kzin law enjoyed
its protection, its order, and its justice. Their lives went on peacefully, industriously, with old folkways respected-hy the commoners and the kzinti. Most hardly ever saw a kzin. The Great Houses of Wunderland were the intermediaries, and woe betide the human lord who abused the people in his care. Oh, no matter his rank, he must defer to the lowliest kzin. But he received due honor for what he was, and could look forward to his sons rising higher, his grandsons to actual partnership.
”

“
I
n the conquest of the galaxy," Ryan said
.

“
Well, the kzinti have their faults, but they are not like the Slavers that archeologists have found traces Of, from a billion years ago or however long it was. Men who fought the kzinti and men who served them were more fully
k
n
o
wn than ever before or since. My mother first said this to me, years afterward, my mother whose word had been 'No Surrender.' " Markham glanced at his watch.
“
W
e must leave soon," he reminded.
“
I
didn't mean to go on at such length. I don't expect you to agree with me. I do urge you to think, think hard, and meanwhile cooperate. " Regardless, Tregennis asked in his disarming fashion,
“
D
id you actually decide to work for a kzin restoration? Isn't that the sort of radicalism you oppose?
”

“
M
y decision did not come overnight either," Markham replied, "nor do I want kzin rule again over my people. It would be better than what they have now, but manliness of their own is better still. Earth is the real enemy, rich fat Earth, its bankers and hucksters and political panderers, its vulgarity and whorishness that poison our young everywhere-on your world, too, Professor. A strong planet Kzin will challenge humans to strengthen themselves. Those who do not
purge out the corruption will die. The rest, clean, will make a new peace, a brotherhood, and go on to take possession of the universe.
”

“
T
ogether with the kzinti," Ryan said
.

Markham nodded.
“
A
nd perhaps other worthy races. We shall see.
”

I don't imagine anybody ever promised you this.
”

“
N
ot in so many words. You are shrewd, Quartermaster. But shrewdness is not enough. There is such a thing as intuition, the sense of destiny." Markham waved a hand.
“
N
ot that I had a religious experience. I began by entrusting harmless, perfectly sincere messages to kzinti going home, messages for their authorities. 'Please suggest how our two species can reach mutual understanding. What can I do to help bring a
détente
?' Things like that. A few kzinti do still travel in and out, you know, on human ships, by prearrangement. They generally come to consult or debate about what matters of mutual concern our species have these days, diplomatic, commercial, safety-related. Some do other things, clandestinely. We haven't cut off the traffic on that account. It is slight-and, after all, the exchange helps us plant our spies in their space
.

“
T
he responses I got were encouraging. They led to personal meetings, even occasionally to coded hyperwave communications; we have a few relays in kzin space, you know, by agreement. The first requests I got were legitimate by anyone's measure. The kzinti asked fbr specific information, no state secrets, merely data they could not readily obtain. I felt that by aiding them toward a better knowledge of us I was doing my race a valuable service. But of course I could not reveal it.
”

“
N
o, you had your own little foreign policy," Ryan scoffed.
“
A
nd one thing led to another, also inside
your head, till you were sending stuff on the theory and practice of
hyperdrive which gave them a ten- or twenty-year leg up on their R and D." Markham's tone was patient.
“
T
hey would inevitably have gotten it. Only by taking part in events can we hope to exercise any influence." Again he consulted his watch.
“
W
e had better go," he said.
“
T
hey will bring us to their base. You will be meeting the commandant. Perhaps what I have told will be of help to you.
”

“
H
ow about Rover?" Ryan inquired.
“
I
hope you've explained to them she isn't meant for planetfall.
”

“
T
hat was not necessary," Markham said, irritated.
“
T
hey know space architecture as well as we do
possibly better than you do, Quartermaster. We will go down in a boat from the warship. They will put our ship on the moon.
”

“
W
hat? Why not just in parking orbit?
”

“
I
'll explain later. We must report now for debarkation. Have no fears. The kzinti won't willingly damage Rover. If they can-if we think of some way to prevent future human expeditions here that does not involve returning her-we'll keep her. The hyperdrive makes her precious. Otherwise
Kzarr-Siu
Vengeful Slasher
, the warship-is the only vessel currently in this system which has been so outfitted. They'll put Rover on the moon for safety's sake. Secunda orbits have become too crowded. The moon's gravity is low enough that it won't harm a freight
-
ship like this. Now come." Markham rose and strode forth. Ryan and Tregennis followed. The Hawaiian nudged the Plateaunian and made little circling motions with his forefinger near his temple. Unwontedly bleak of countenance, the astronomer nodded, then whispered,
“
B
e careful. I have read history. All too often, his kind is successful.
”

Kzinti did not use their gravity polarizers to maintain a constant, comfortable weight within spacecraft
unless accelerations got too high even for them to tolerate. The boat left with a roar of power. Humans sagged in their seats. Tregennis whitened. The thin flesh seemed to pull back over the bones of his face, the beaky nose stood out like a crag and blood trickled from it.
“
H
ey, easy, boy," Ryan gasped.
“
D
o you want to lose this man
...
already?
”

Markham spoke to Hraou-Captain, who made a contemptuous noise but then yowled at the pilot. Weightlessness came as an abrupt benediction. For a minute silence prevailed, except for the heavy breathing of the Wunderlander and the Hawaiian, the rattling in and out of the old Plateaunian's
.

Harnessed beside Tregennis, Ryan examined him as well as he could before muttering, I guess he'll be all right in a while, if that snotbrain will take a little care." Raising his eyes, he looked past the other, out the port.
“
W
hat's that?
”

Close by, a kilometer or two, a small
spacecraft
the size and lines indicated a ground-to-orbit shuttle
was docked at a framework which had been assembled around a curiously spheroidal dark mass, a couple of hundred meters in diameter. The framework secured and supported machinery which was carrying out operations under the direction of suited kzinti who flitted about with drive units on their backs. Stars peered through the lattice. In the distance passed a glimpse of Rover, moon-bound, and the warship. The boat glided by. A new approach curve computed, the pilot applied thrust, this time about a single g's worth. Hraou-Captain registered impatience at the added waiting aboard. Markham did not venture to address him again. It must have taken courage to do so at all, when he wasn't supposed to defile the language with his mouth.

Instead the Wunderlander said to Ryan, on a note of awe,
“
T
hat is doubtless one of their iron sources. Recently arrived, I would guess, and cooled down enough for work to commence on it. From what I have heard, a body that size will quickly be reduced.
”

Ryan stared at him, forgetting hostility in surprise.
“
I
ron? I thought there was hardly any in this system. What it has ought to be at the center of the planets. Don't the kzinti import their metals for construction?
”

Markham shook his head.
“
N
o, that would be quite impractical. They have few hyperdrive ships as yet-I told you
Vengeful Slasher
alone is so outfitted here, at present. Once the transports had brought personnel and the basic equipment, they went back for duty closer to home. Currently a warship calls about twice a year to bring fresh workers and needful items. It relieves the one on guard, which carries back kzinti being rotated. A reason for choosing this sun was precisely that humans won't suspect anything important can ever be done at it. " He hesitated.
“
E
xcept pure science. The kzinti did overlook that.
”

“
W
ell, where do they get their metals? Oh, the lightest ones, aluminum, uh, beryllium, magnesium,
...
manganese?-I suppose those exist in ordinary ores. But I don't imagine those ores are anything but scarce and low-grade. And iron-
”

“
T
he asteroid belt. The planet that came too close to the sun. Disruption exposed its core. The metal content is low compared to what it would be in a later-generation world, but when you have a whole planet, you get an abundance. They have had to bring in certain elements from outside, nickel, cobalt, copper, etcetera, but mostly to make alloys. Small quantities suffice."

Tregennis had evidently not fainted. His eyelids fluttered open.
“
H
old," he whispered.
“
T
hose asteroids
...
orbit within
...
less than half a million kilometers
...
of the sun surface." He panted feebly before adding,
“
I
t may be a
...
very late type M
...
but nevertheless, the effective temperature
—
”
His voice trailed off
.

The awe returned to Markham's.
“
T
hey have built a special tug."

“
W
hat sort?" Ryan asked
.

“
I
n principle, like the kind we know. Having found a desirable body, it lays hold with a grapnel field. I think this vessel uses a gravity polarizer system rather than electromagnetics. The kzinti originated that technology, remember. The tug draws the object into the desired orbit and releases it to go to its destination. The tug is immensely powerful. It can handle not simply large rocks like what you saw, but whole asteroids of reasonable size. As they near Secunda
tangential paths, of course-it works them into planetary orbit. That's why local space is too crowded for the kzinti to leave Rover in it unmanned. Besides ferrous masses on hand, two or three new ones are usually en route, and not all the tailings of worked
out old ones get swept away.
”

“
B
ut the heat near the sun," Ryan objected.
“
T
he crew would roast alive. I don't see how they can trust robotics alone. If nothing else, let the circuits get too hot and-
“
T
he tug has a live crew, Markham said.
“
I
t's built double-hulled and mirror-bright, with plenty of radiating
surfaces
. But mainly it's ship size, not boat size, because it loads up with water ice before each mission. There is plenty of that around the big planets, you know, chilled well below minus a hundred degrees. Heated, melted, evaporated, vented, it maintains an endurable interior until it has been spent."

I thought we
...
found traces of water and OH
...
in a ring around the sun," Tregennis breathed.
“
C
ould it actually be-F
“
I
don't know how much ice the project has consumed to date," Markham said, "but you must agree it is grandly conceived. That is a crew of heroes. They suffer, they dare death each time, but their will prevails." Ryan rubbed his chin. I suppose otherwise the only spacecraft are shuttles. And the warcraft and her boats.
”