Treaty at Doona Page 12

  Ken turned up the gain on his recorder, hoping to get every note. Maybe it wasn’t a Gringg lullaby, just Honey murmuring under his breath, but the tableau the Gringg presented was an effective one as far as a crowd-pleaser went, for soft looks were exchanged, and people definitely relaxed. Against their original intent, the settlers were being persuaded of the Gringg’s pacifism by the gentleness shown a cub. Even the skeptics, with the exception of Hirro, regarded the large Gringg with less obvious apprehension.

  “Music,” Ken murmured to Kelly. “If that’s what we’re hearing now, is one more common language. I wonder what their reaction will be to Terran classics.”

  “Wagner? Mahler? Mtxainah? Hrnatn?” asked Kelly dubiously. “I can’t help but be prejudiced toward a race that genuinely likes our young,” she added, listening while Eonneh and Ghotyakh continued rumbly bass notes in soft harmony. She swept away a red wisp of hair from her sweaty forehead. “Whew! I thought they were mda! Just as furry, but much nicer.”

  Commander Frill seemed equally charmed by Hrrunna, too. He hung over Honey’s arm, admiring the cub.

  “This is the tiniest Hrruban I’ve ever seen. She’s beautiful,” he told Nrrna. “How old is she?”

  “Born within the month,” Nrrna said proudly.

  “The youngest ambassador in the galaxy,” said someone behind Ken. He turned to see Admiral Afroza Sumitral, his gray eyes alight, waiting beside Ben Adjei.

  “You got here quickly,” Ken said, shaking hands with his old friend.

  “Not quickly enough, I see,” Sumitral replied, half chidingly. “Once again the legitimate function of interplanetary diplomats has been usurped by the children of Doona. I wonder that we don’t just induct the whole colony into Alreldep. Will you make me known to your friends here? Everyone else seems to have met them.”

  Laughing, Ken made a sweeping bow, from Sumitral toward the Gringg. “Introduce yourself. That’s what we’ve done.”

  “And now,” Kate Moody said when Sumitral had completed the formality, “if we’ve all finished becoming acquainted, I’d like to take a professional look at these two bruisers here. Ken, can we sort of maneuver them toward the Medical Center?”

  * * *

  “I am puzzled, Ghotyakh,” Eonneh said, following the new Ayoomnnns through the village. “That Rroobvnnn with the small cub was at first very reserved with us. When we gave it back, it made suckling motions toward him as if looking for the source of milk. Could he, in fact, be a she?”

  “A distinct possibility,” Ghotyakh agreed. “We may be in error in our original assumptions. Previously I thought all the ones with tails were the males. Have we erred?”

  “We must not be hasty in this. The appearance of the first Rroobvnnn we met closely matched our generative configuration. Perhaps they change after they have borne young?”

  “Oh, I see!” Ghotyakh exclaimed, his roar of comprehension alarming some of the Ayoomnnns. “Our first visitor must have been a heifer. We must ask Genhh for the truth of this. I would not want to bring back specious data to Grzzeearoghh.”

  CASTLETON ESCORTED Admiral Barnstable and his party back to her ready room. The two Hrrubans were very nervous, and kept looking back at the escort of security guards that followed. She regretted the necessity of upsetting them, but regulations were regulations, and anyone on board who was not Spacedep had to be accompanied at all times. At least the rules allowed for the safe passage of visitors. Thank heavens Admiral Barnstable was more moderate than his predecessor.

  The Admiral waited to speak until they were all seated and had been served refreshments.

  “Good,” he said when the door was quietly shut. “This room has been secured?” and when Castleton nodded, he continued. “We must address the matter of the Gringg. Now that we have some data to analyze, we can consider whether or not we are being rushed into intimacy with a potentially hostile race by overanxious individuals.”

  “I find zem most zrreatening,” Mllaba said firmly. “Zey seemed so complezely unafrraid when zey boarded zis ship for ze first time. I felt as if zey had previous intimazhons of what zey would encounzer here.”

  “Too confident,” Barnstable agreed, nodding. “That suggests a very sophisticated culture. Accustomed to dealing with alien species. You didn’t sense any probes, did you, Grace?”

  “None at all, Admiral,” Castleton replied. “I would have said they made no attempt whatsoever to scan us. I find them interested and curious, but not overtly hostile.”

  “I am not so surrre,” Hrrto said. He was torn. On the one hand, it was important to establish good relations with an obviously sophisticated new sentient race. On the other, he realized that it was foolhardy to rush into such relationships, without having a firm understanding of mutual intentions. So far, the Gringg had made the Hrrubans and Hayumans come to them, thereby giving them what the Hayumans called “home court advantage.” It would not look well to the Hrruban High Council to appear in a subordinate position. Such loss of face could be fatal to Second’s hopes in an election year.

  There were many candidates standing to take over the now-vacant First Speakership which Hrrto felt he had to win. In his opinion, very few of the nominees had either the experience or acumen for the office. The prime Speakership should not be allowed to fall into the hands of some dilettante or partisan who might involve the Council in irrelevancies to please his supporters: someone with no standards or appreciation of true Hrrubanism. He felt himself to be the best possible choice. Having been Speaker for External Affairs for more than forty years, he understood what could happen to their carefully maintained civilization if Hrruba was badly led, and he was determined not to allow that to happen. If he was seen to be in the wrong in such a sensitive matter as dealing with the Gringg, his popularity, and his reputation, would plummet. Public opinion was fickle.

  “In my opinion,” he went on when he realized that a polite silence prevailed in expectation of his next words, “caution is indicated. I would like more data as soon as possible. Should we not be hearing from ze medical examiner on Rrala about now?”

  “I doubt there could be any comprehensive results so soon,” the captain said. “Laboratory work takes time.”

  “Yes, of course,” Hrrto replied, fingering his robes.

  Across the room from the Second Speaker, Jon Greene was busy over a hooded monitor, his fingers flicking swiftly over the controls. Grace Castleton eyed him, wondering what he was seeing that gave him such a worried expression. Mllaba flexed and stretched the claws of one hand along the tabletop.

  “Well?” she said at last and with some impatience in her tone. “Do we go? Or stay? You must not waste more of the Speaker’s most valuable time.”

  “Sirs, ma’am, Captain, the wait is worth it, I assure you,” Greene said, straightening up, “for I have finally found what I’ve been searching for. Now, this is the tape made while we were aboard the Gringg ship.” He manipulated the controls, and the holoscreen displayed a still frame of the Gringg landing bay. One by one, the landing party entered the frame. Castleton drew in a sharp breath as she realized the scale of the big chamber. At its far end, the Gringg entered the room and began to interact with Ken Reeve.

  Second Speaker’s tail lashed in surprise as the largest Gringg spoke, its roar rattling the tympanum in the speaker unit. Greene allowed the tape to run for a short time, then sped it up so the action was telescoped into a few minutes. The Hrrubans watched in silence, then turned questioningly to Greene.

  “Zo, we zee the firrst meeting of these creatures. Zey show intelligence and caution in zeir approach. No less did we,” Hrrto said, as impatient as Mllaba. “What of it?”

  “That it was only Ken Reeve’s impression that they have never met sentient beings before. Just wait, sir,” Greene said. The commander froze the last frame of the three Gringg waving to the team as the shuttle lifted off, then blanked the screen.
>
  “Now, this is a tape sent to Spacedep by an exploration team less than a month ago. It is coded classified, but Admiral Barnstable has given permission to allow you to see it. I feel it is vital to our understanding of the current situation.”

  Everyone drew shocked breaths when the new tape showed an uncompromising picture of a planetary landscape brutally torn and burned by conflict. Wrecked hulks of buildings of an unfamiliar architecture had been sliced in two with some potent destructive weapon. Battered shafts that did resemble known weaponry littered broad open spaces that must once have been graceful avenues. Castleton peered at the screen, looking desperately for signs of living creatures. A series of scenes of stark, dead forests and the stumps of shattered cities flashed past without relief. Nothing living interrupted the bleak landscape. Of the residents, only a few skeletal remains could be found, and those were darkened and twisted: by radiation, the captain thought, somewhat familiar with the look of such deaths. Nothing moved except ashy debris swept around by the wind that howled eerily. The statistics overlaying the image showed readings of heavy radiation. The changing symbols also showed that biological and chemical weapons, and an unknown energy weapon of great force had been deployed.

  “This planet is in the Fingal system,” Greene said, narrating. “Spacedep interdicted it as soon as they received the exploration team’s initial report. No life forms higher than deep-sea algae remain on a world that, to judge by the artifacts left behind, had an advanced civilization. Estimates are that it would take over two thousand years for radiation levels to drop sufficiently to allow Humans to live there.”

  The image faded, to be replaced by that of an orbiting spaceship. Hrrto caught his breath as he realized it was identical to the one currently circling Rraladoona. It seemed subtly different, and as the exploration team’s camera drew closer, he could see that this ship was derelict, its hull riddled with jagged rents caused by explosive charges and the neater, milled holes of laser bolts. The image, now recorded by a handheld unit, moved through darkened corridors, the white glare of its lights resting momentarily on the occasional floating corpse. Hrrto’s tail twitched in surprise. There was no doubt about the identity of the dead. They were Gringg.

  “It would seem that Ken Reeve’s assumption was wrong. The Gringg have met other sentient species before,” Greene said. His eyes met Castleton’s. “And they destroyed them. The population of an entire planet, wiped out.”

  The captain felt a cold finger trace down her spine. She shuddered. Greene moved his gaze from Castleton to Barnstable.

  “In the light of that”—he gestured toward the screen—“this hail-fellow-well-met attitude toward the Gringg has gotten a trifle out of control. Hasn’t it, Admiral?”

  The Admiral shifted in his seat. “Damned straight. It’s turning into a regular circus animal act already.”

  “Perrhaps too much openessss was ssshown,” Second agreed, edgily, “but zince it iss shown, what is to be done about ze steps Rrev hass already taken?” And he gestured toward Rraladoona.

  Barnstable brought his big fist down emphatically on the tabletop. “Get in touch with him immediately and require him to show some restraint, that’s what. Don’t show so much damned much hayseed cordiality until we’ve got a tap on what they’re really here for. This dumb show of theirs, so polite and open, could mask invasion procedures,” and he waved his hand at the screen and the devastation it still portrayed. “They could be softening us up so that our defenses are down when their main fleet comes powering in.”

  “With all due respect, sir, the Gringg have done nothing—here—to arouse suspicions of their intent,” Captain Castleton said with some restraint. Even a ship’s captain practiced tact in dealing with an admiral. Greene’s evidence was upsetting but incitement made her twice as cautious. “Their ship sent no probes. They waited until we made contact. To me that shows peaceful intent. Envoys have been exchanged—which I feel is a mark of amazing trust on their part, considering we’re two species to their one. So far all those envoys have seen are the insides of a shuttle and the reception area of this ship. Right now, they’re on an agriculturally based colony world, not one of our homeworlds which are not in the least bit endangered.” She grinned to relieve the tension, for the Admiral was scowling even if he was listening to what she said. “Not that we know where the other’s homeworld is,” and she inclined her head in a courteous bow to Hrrto. “How can their mere presence on Doonarrala constitute a serious threat? Surely they are more vulnerable than we. Their vessel’s not armed.”

  Greene cut in. “We don’t know that they’re completely without armament, sir. When you consider the devastation of the Fingal planet, they might have some new weapon we can’t identify.”

  “Zat is true enough,” Captain Hrrrv said thoughtfully. “All we know iss zat zey have no nuclear weapons or what we consider usssual orrrdnance.”

  Finding an ally, Greene continued forcefully. “Other weapons with less sophisticated delivery systems might be concealed aboard: powerful incendiaries composed of unknown substances and not easily detectable. I suspect whatever that ship used on Fingal Three could be easily hidden in that mass of water in the central globe of the ship. They are a new race. We don’t know what they are capable of. All we do know is that they can destroy a planet. Since we have no direct verbal contact, I feel it is necessary to limit what they are allowed to see, and establish verbal communications as quickly as possible.”

  “They ought to be allowed the benefit of the doubt,” Castleton said, appealing to Barnstable. “How long ago was the war in the Fingal system? Have the usual tests been done to discover how long that ship has been floating in space? How do we know that isn’t a Gringg world and those were the defenders and not the aggressors?”

  Greene shot her a dire look which she ignored. “The point is, Captain, that ship was armed, and Ordnance is still trying to puzzle out their weapons systems.”

  “Has Admiral Sumitral been briefed on the Fingal Three discovery?” Castleton asked.

  “How could he be when the matter’s been classified? He’s Alreldep anyhow, not naval, for all his title,” Barnstable said, then waved his hand to dismiss that consideration. “The fact remains that a ship of indisputable Gringg design was discovered in orbit around Fingal Three—call it circumstantial evidence, if you wish, Grace—which has been absolutely wasted. That’s enough to give me pause to consider very carefully how to proceed with the Gringg. I trust”—he looked around the table, nodding politely to Hrrto and Captain Hrrrv—“that you all realize that this meeting is not to be discussed at all? Good. You’ll remain on Yellow Alert, Captain Castleton. Second Speaker, I’d appreciate your giving the same orders to your ships. Forewarned is forearmed!”

  Castleton could not fault those orders as she sat staring at the frozen frame on the screen. Her initial impulse was to trust the Gringg, but intellectually she understood very well the need to remain on guard until both sides were satisfied of the other’s peaceful intent. The Amalgamated Worlds had been at peace for centuries. The very thought of an interstellar war chilled her. She felt a warm touch at the back of her hand, and looked up to find Jon Greene watching her with his brows drawn upward, asking a silent question. His molded lips curved at the corner in a small smile of confidence. She nodded at him, returning the smile in spite of her worry. The expression in his eyes became warmer. Despite their obvious differences of opinion, she was inexplicably attracted to this man. But she was now on Alert status and there was no time for any private life.

  “Of coursse, all waits upon being able to speak to each otherrr,” Hrrto said.

  “At least the most experienced man we’ve got is in charge of that,” Grace Castleton said, finding relief in the fact.

  “Sumitral?” Barnstable asked. “Has he arrived?”

  “Not that we’ve been informed, Admiral,” Grace said, “but I meant Reeve.”

 
Barnstable gave a little grunt. “I heard that he learned Hrruban first.” Then he remembered the presence of Hrrubans in the room, and smoothly went on. “Which was only logical at the time, of course.”

  “I hope he’s the right man to do the initial work,” Greene said, looking concerned. “Some people get so wound up in their own specialty that they fail to see the broader view.”

  “Rrev has proved his competence on several levels,” Hrrto said, surprising himself as well as Mllaba. “He prrotects, as alwayss, Rraladoona.” He dropped his jaw in a slight smile.

  “Of course, Second Speaker,” Greene said quickly, “but I found his manner of taking charge of the first contact a shade officious.”

  “He was asked to do so,” Castleton reminded him. “After all, he expedited them to the planet, which protected the technology on the Hamilton from their scrutiny.”

  “Aye,” Hrrrv agreed. “It waz wise to rrremove zem from zis vessel at once.”

  “Zo, Admirral,” Second said, folding his arms across his chest. “We wait?”

  “I’ll instruct Sumitral,” Barnstable said decisively, “to find out as soon as possible—using whatever methods, signs, sketches, are needed—what part of the galaxy they come from, and how they found their way here.”

  “Zat, surely, can wait, Admirrrral,” Mllaba said smoothly. “Ze threat is here, now, not wherever ze Gringg home system iss.”

  “But the Gringg fleet?” Barnstable held on to his concern.

  “No evidence zat zere is any. Nothing is detectable in ze near reaches of space,” Captain Hrrrv said.

  Castleton confirmed it. “I’ve checked with my telemetry officer. He agrees. They came in alone.”

  “Each one of them is an eight-hundred-pound warrior!” Barnstable barked. “They’re a potential danger to Humanity!”