Treaty at Doona Read online

  “And to Hrrubankind as well,” Hrrto added.

  “And from that tape,” Greene added, “it doesn’t look as if it takes more than a single ship to decimate a planet.”

  Mllaba was thoughtful. “Now what we really need is furzzer support for our position of caution. Ze Doonarralans will go on zeir merry way, never suspecting zat zey are set up frrr destruczhon until ze bomb falls on zeir heads. We require prrrsons of influence, who can prevail upon zem to move with greazzer care. What about zis Hayuman Landreau? Can we gain his support to suggest a more cautious approach to ze Rralan administration?”

  Greene shook his head. “No, he’s like a child with a new toy where the Gringg are concerned. In fact, he treats them rather like playmates. He’s frivolous.”

  “Son, never call a Landreau frivolous,” Barnstable warned him darkly. “His family has considerable influence on Earth and elsewhere. I’d prefer to have him with us than against us.”

  Second spoke up. “I shall endeavrrr to inform ze Hrruban High Council zat a wary approach is a wise one. Most of zem are conservative, and I do not zink zere will be protest. Perhaps more pressure can be brought to bear on ze Doonarralans from ze two home governments?”

  “Direct intervention would be better,” Barnstable said. “We need reinforcements, to have a physical presence. Trouble is we can’t get them here quickly enough. It will take weeks for ships to arrive from Earth or any of the colonies where some of our potential allies reside. We must be ready for any eventuality!”

  “In zis I can help,” Second said, “at least with regard to transportation. I will auzorize use of ze grid for ze specific purrpose of supporrt in zis possible crisis. A wise Stripe moves cautiously zrough a strrange forest.”

  “Honored Speaker,” Mllaba began, “it would be wiser still to be sure zat ze grid operazors on duty are ones known to us, and zrrussworzy. Zey must not disclose who auzorized zis movement wizout your specific prrrmission.”

  “Discretion widens a Stripe,” Second replied, nodding acceptance.

  “I’d feel a lot happier if we had some sort of military backup, just in case the Gringg slough off the charm and turn on the heat,” Barnstable said.

  “Sir,” Castleton said, an odd expression on her face, “need I remind you that we have a full marine complement on board the Hamilton? Not to mention the fact that her crew have won every single martial arts competition the fleet has put on over the past five years?”

  The Admiral grimaced and raised a conciliatory hand. “Now, Grace, medals for exhibition affairs are not quite the same thing as military experience . . .”

  “Who’s had that in God knows how many years?” she asked, pursing her lips.

  The Admiral’s face reddened, a sharp contrast to his mane of white hair. “Grace, don’t overstep yourself. I’m in charge of the safety of this sector, and dammit, I’ll protect it any way I can. I allowed Reeve to take those aliens to the surface of a peaceful colony and I’ll make damned certain peace is maintained there.”

  “Yes, sir,” Grace Castleton said. “But may I still counsel moderation?”

  “I’ve taken your counsel, and now hear mine. We’re on yellow alert, and I mean alert! We’re going to be ready for anything—” Barnstable paused, closed his eyes briefly, suddenly remembering that there were Hrrubans right there with him, so he hastily altered what he’d been going to say. “What I mean is, those Gringgs are naturally armored, those fangs, their talons; their forearms have the reach of any among us. Why, that thick furry hide of theirs could probably turn away slugs.”

  Mllaba put in silkily, “Perhaps permeability of zeir skin and skin tension can be one of ze tests performed by your medical technician.”

  “Good suggestion. Maybe. In the meantime, Speaker Hrrto, I’ll take advantage of your offer, to use the Treaty Island grid. And, bear in mind, please, that if those Gringg make a move before we’re ready for them, one of those grid operators must reach Earth alive to let them know what went on here.”

  Hrrto nodded. “I will remain on Rrala,” he said, well aware that the Hayumans might have thought he’d chosen the easy way out by grid. The Gringg terrified him, but he was in acute terror of losing face by fleeing.

  “As you wish,” the Admiral said, rising. “I’ll get in touch with a few people, transfer them up here for a little conference.” He turned to Greene. “Put the connections through yourself, lad. I want a stop put to this chummy foolishness, stat!”

  “Admiral,” Castleton said, also rising, “shouldn’t we inform the planetary administration of our discovery?”

  “Indeed we should not, sir,” Greene said suddenly. He was still smarting from Todd Reeve’s off-hand treatment of him while on board the Gringg vessel, and his flamboyant disregard of safety in embracing the aliens. “I’d recommend against it. For security reasons alone. We certainly don’t want the grids jammed with people insisting that their department has to have representatives here, too. The necessary departments have already been informed and are present. No more information should be broadcast.” And when eventually the Amalgamated Worlds knew, Greene thought with satisfaction, Todd Reeve would be disgraced, even removed from planetary office as a danger to Humanity.

  * * *

  The passengers aboard the Spacedep shuttle were silent on the way down to the surface of Doonarrala. Admiral Barnstable sat making notes on his clipboard, pausing occasionally to call up data from its small memory bank. Second Speaker, unaccustomed to travelling in Hayuman spaceships, stared over the shoulder of the pilot, reading the control panel as if reluctant to trust the Hayuman female’s expertise.

  Mllaba glanced occasionally at the Hayuman who was her opposite number. Greene was attempting to meet her eyes. She wondered what he wanted. It was unusual for a Hayuman to remain silent; normally they chattered away, regardless of the gravity of a situation. Perhaps this male was different.

  * * *

  It was the middle of the night on the Treaty Island Center. The cleaning staff, busy with brooms and a floor polisher, paid no attention to the mixed group on its way to the grid. Mllaba took her place behind the controls.

  “Ze Firrrst Village grid,” Hrrto said to Mllaba, as he walked between the upright pillars and assumed a dignified pose. The female’s claws clattered swiftly on the keyboard. Second Speaker vanished slowly in the rising mists. Barnstable looked uncomfortable and wary as he strode up onto the dais and squared his shoulders.

  “Bring me back in four hours,” the Admiral directed. Mllaba inclined her head.

  “I, too, must return to my homeworld to report to the Council,” Mllaba said to Greene, when the Admiral had been dispatched. “May I assist you to travel somewhere first?”

  The Hayuman seemed in no hurry. “No, thank you. I’ve waited because I wanted to talk to you alone,” Greene said, his warm brown eyes meeting her yellow-green ones directly. She could feel the power of his personality being brought to bear upon her. “You have no reason to trust me, and I don’t trust you,” he continued disarmingly, “but we could help one another to our mutual benefit.”

  “How?” Mllaba asked politely.

  Greene turned and gestured to a bench facing the grid station. Mllaba shook her head, so Greene sat down alone. He drew up one knee and wrapped both hands around it nonchalantly. The arrogance of the pose put Mllaba on guard. She slipped her hands protectively into her robe sleeves and stood stiffly before him, waiting.

  “I know that election for the Speakership is imminent,” Greene said, gazing up at her. “If Speaker Hrrto were to gain that honor, a new Speaker for External Affairs would be appointed.”

  If Mllaba was surprised to learn that a Spacedep officer was conversant with the intricacies of Hrruban government, she did not show it outwardly. Inside, she felt a prickle of excitement. Greene spoke to the carefully tended ember of ambition she bore within her. She concentrated on keeping he
r tail tip from flicking back and forth.

  “And should I display more zan usual competence in zis most difficult and dangerous affair,” Mllaba said, “I should be ze favored candidate. Is zat your idea?”

  Greene nodded, grinning. “I, too, am trying to stay on what we call a ‘fast track.’ I’m a risk-taker. I was sent to these talks partly to get me away from Spacedep HQ, and out of the line of promotion. So far, the Admiral is getting all the glory here, but I’d like a little of it to drop on me. If we work together to save Doonarrala, as well as Earth and Hrruba, from the Gringg menace, both you and I would gain favor in the eyes of our superiors. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “And you in the eyes of ze attractive Hayuman captain?” Mllaba asked, and complimented herself on making a telling stroke. The naked skin of the Hayuman’s face flushed red. Had he thought the signals going back and forth between him and Castleton were invisible to the others in the room?

  “I’ll tell you why Admiral Barnstable has really gone back to Earth,” Greene said, changing the subject. “He is ordering the Human defense fleet to Doonarrala. Only he has the authority to do so. From its current position, it’ll take thirty days for the fleet to get here. Then, if the situation warrants, the Admiral could declare martial law.”

  Mllaba nodded. “Hrruba should prepare a similar defense fleet,” she said. Second Speaker is not acting as decisively in this matter as he should be, she thought. Hrruba ought to have been the first to take such steps, not Earth. He should have issued such an order. She resolved to bring it up to the Council in his name. “And so you and I will cooperrrate and share knowledge?” she asked. “Only because zis is a crrrisis, and zat is what is best for our own species, you understand.”

  “Of course,” Greene agreed gravely. He stood up and put out his right hand to her, thumb upward. Mllaba stared at it for a moment before offering her own in the same position. He clasped her hand strongly, then released it. Hayuman customs were so strange! She tucked her hands primly back into her sleeves, and Greene stepped away. He respected her; that was good. She intended to maintain the upper hand in this relationship. He needed her cooperation far more than she needed his.

  Mllaba set the grid controls for a thirty-second delay, and stepped onto the dais between the pillars. “I will return in four hours,” she said. As the mists rose around her, she watched the Hayuman turn and stride away toward the landing pad.

  * * *

  The procession into the Human First Village had taken on the aspect of a parade. Hordes of children, led by Kelly’s and Nrrna’s youngsters, danced around and around the cluster of adults walking with the Gringg. When they reached the doors of the Doonarralan Medical Center, Dr. Kate herded the Gringg, Ken, Lauder, Frill, Sumitral, and Hrrestan inside. Almost as an afterthought, she pointed at Jilamey Landreau.

  “You, mind the children! I need Nrrna and Kelly as lab assistants. Okay with you?”

  “Anything to help,” Jilamey agreed cheerfully, and was promptly dragged away by Alec and Alison, demanding to hear all about the Gringg ship.

  To the adults outside, Kate said, “Go on with you. We’ll give you the news when we have any.” She smiled, scattering them with a wave of her hands as if they were chickens. When the door had closed, she turned around and let out a deep sigh. “Well! Welcome to you folks,” she said, inclining her head to the Gringg. “And welcome to you,” she said to the naval officers. “Who’s my lab partner today?”

  Lauder raised a timid hand. “I am, ma’am. Ensign Mauro Lauder.”

  “Just Kate, all right?” She smiled at the young officer. “I’ll call you Mauro. Everyone this way, please?” She led them to her office and pointed toward the waiting room. “The rest of you stay here. I’m going to take this bruiser first.” She laid a hand on Ghotyakh’s furry arm. “Be good and you get a lollipop.”

  The door to the examining room shut behind them. Ken looked around at the wooden-walled waiting area, remembering how many times he’d sat here with a sick child or a farm-related injury his wife, Pat, hadn’t been able to mend.

  “Now, Reeve,” Sumitral said, beaming, “tell me all about the confrontation.”

  Ken recounted their adventure without benefit of the tapes he and the others had made, but he didn’t think he left out any important details or observations. Sumitral, who believed that the mark of a good diplomat was to be a good listener, nodded occasionally as Ken talked, only interrupting once in a while to clarify a point.

  “Very interesting,” Sumitral said. “Very, very interesting. I want to see those tapes as soon as we’re through here. Thanks to Hrruban technology, I got here a lot faster this time.”

  “I think we need you more this time than we ever did with the Hrrubans,” Ken said.

  Sumitral’s eyes twinkled. “I’m good for show and to wrap things up nicely.”

  “Much more than that, sir,” Ken said, protesting such modesty.

  “I don’t have your fine honesty and instinct, Ken, which incidentally I respect immensely. Anyway, you’ve more experience in first contact than anyone else here. And, with creatures as large as the Gringg, I’d really feel easier when we establish a communication medium! I don’t want misunderstandings of any kind with folks that big.” He grinned.

  But the Gringg were not without ways of making themselves understood.

  “Genhh?” Eonneh asked, then paused, as if puzzled how to make his question clear.

  Ken sat up straighter, “Go ahead, Honey. What?”

  “Rrss. Rroobvnnn?”

  “Sure is,” Ken said. “Er, yes.” Eonneh cupped his forepaws together, the way he had while holding the Hrruban cub, then drew them to his breast.

  “Nrrna. Rroobvnnn?”

  “Yep. I mean, reh,” Ken replied.

  “This is fascinating,” Sumitral said, studying Eonneh closely. “What’s he trying to ask?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Ken said. “Vocabulary’s very limited.”

  “Rroobvnnn, Rrss? Genhh, Ayoomnnn?”

  “Reh,” said Ken.

  “Gelli, Rroobvnnn?”

  “Ah . . . ah . . . morra. No. Ayoomnnn.”

  “Morra,” said Eonneh, disbelievingly. He made the sign for baby again. “Gelli. Morra Ayoomnnn?”

  “Reh, Ayoomnnn, Kelly,” Ken said. “She’s my daughter-in-law.”

  “Nrrna morra Rroobvnnn.”

  “Reh, Rroobvnnn.” Ken nodded firmly.

  “What’s the problem?” demanded Sumitral, exasperated to be on the fringe of understanding.

  “I’m not positive, but I’m beginning to get the drift,” Ken said with a wry smile.

  They went through the pantomime several times, with Hrrestan and Frill attempting to guess what explanation Eonneh was trying to elicit. Eonneh took hold of his own tail and held up the end.

  “Rroobvnnn, shrra. Nrrna, shrra. Nrrna,” and he made the baby sign again. “Morra?”

  Ken fell back in his chair and burst into loud hoots of laughter.

  “Oh, I get you now! Oh, no!” He clutched his sides and beat his feet on the floor.

  The noise brought Kate Moody running out into the waiting room. “What’s the matter?” she demanded. Lauder, Nrrna, and Kelly were right behind her.

  “It’s hilarious,” Ken gasped, coming up for air. “They think ‘Hrruban’ is the word for male, and ‘Hayuman’ is the word for female. Or maybe the other way around.” When the others looked puzzled, he sprang the other half of the joke. “They think we’re one species!”

  “How could they think that?” Lauder asked, appalled as well as slightly indignant.

  “Why shouldn’t they? We arrive together on their ship, so we are together. They see us living together here on the surface. Why shouldn’t they think we’re the same species? They thought the Hrrubans were males and Hayumans females. The sight of Nrrna with a baby who’s o
bviously hers knocked their assumption into a tailspin!”

  Sumitral grinned at Ken’s inadvertent witticism, his gray eyes alight. “So we are a species more than usually dimorphic?”

  “They thought I was a girl?” Lauder demanded huffily. “I don’t think that’s funny.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t take it to heart, lad. You’d be a good-looking girl—if you were one, which you’re not,” Kate suggested mildly. “But, under the circumstances, I think the Gringg copped on to the error of their assumption pretty quick.”

  Noticing how politely Eonneh and Ghotyakh waited for some explanation of his unusual behavior, Ken shook his head. “I haven’t got the words to explain laughter yet. Much less how to explain that we’re two species, male and female each, from two different worlds.”

  “Watch it, Reeve,” Frill said. “That’s strategic information.”

  “It might be if either of us knew exactly where the other’s homeworld is,” Ken said in mild disgust. “Lighten up, Frill. A basic explanation won’t give away any more than our kids get in primary school.”

  “We can’t base a solid future relationship on deceptions,” Sumitral said more mildly. “Can you help us with the gender explanation, Dr. Moody?”

  Kate grinned. “Sure can. Take the bull by the horns, so to speak. While Lauder and I are taking samples, we’ll show them tapes on Hayuman and Hrruban reproduction and birth. They’ll get the idea.”

  Kate ran the tapes used for sex education in the Middle School, all the while taking blood, skin, and hair samples from her unprotesting subjects. Honey and Kodiak watched the tapes with every indication of understanding what they were seeing. They muttered—“A little like embarrassed twelve year olds,” Kate said later—and growled furiously between themselves.

  “I’m running a CAT scan on each of them. They seemed very interested in everything, the equipment and procedures. They’re both very intelligent. By the way,” Kate said with a grin, “they’re male. What we’d classify as male. Both of them.”