Homeward Bound Part 40

"It would be nice if they didn't order the colonists to sucker-punch the United States even if we do know about it," Tom de la Rosa said. Karen had a devil of a time disagreeing with that.

Melanie Blanchard said, "I don't see how we can stop them from sending the order secretly. All they have to do is transmit from a ship that's gone outside this solar system. They'd have the angle on any detectors we could put out."

That held the unpleasant ring of truth. Jonathan said, "All things considered, we're probably lucky they didn't think of this sooner. They haven't had to worry about these kinds of problems for a long, long time. They're a little slow on the uptake."

"So what do we do?" Sam Yeager asked. "We let them know we know what they've got in mind?"

"That would show them our electronics are better than theirs," Coffey said. "It might make them think twice about taking us on. Who knows how far we've come since the Admiral Peary Admiral Peary left, and how far we will have come by the time their signal gets to Earth?" left, and how far we will have come by the time their signal gets to Earth?"

"We might make them more eager to jump us, though, to make sure they don't fall further behind," Tom said. "From what you told us, the Emperor and Atvar were talking about that."

"And what are these experiments they were talking about?" Karen asked. "It sounds like they're trying to catch up with some sort of discovery that got made on Earth a while ago. Do we know anything about that?"

n.o.body answered, not right away. At last, Major Coffey said, "People back on Earth may not have transmitted anything about it to us, just to make sure the Lizards didn't intercept . . . whatever it is."

That made a fair amount of sense. It also argued that the discovery, whatever it was, was important. Jonathan said, "The Lizards must have spotted it on their own, then. Has the Admiral Peary Admiral Peary picked up anything that would give us a clue?" picked up anything that would give us a clue?"

"There's a lot of electronic traffic coming from Earth to Home-an awful lot," Coffey said. "We're the Race's number-one interest right now. There's more than our starship can keep up with. This bit might have slipped through without even being noticed-or it might have been encrypted. We haven't broken all the Lizards' algorithms, not by a long shot."

"What kind of search can we run?" Sam Yeager held up a hand. "Never mind. I don't need to know right now. But whatever they can do on the ship, they ought to start doing it. The more we know, the better off we'll be."

"Maybe we can shame the Lizards into behaving," Linda said. Then she laughed. "I know-don't hold my breath."

"I'll try. It's one more weapon. What's that line? Conscience is the still, small voice that tells you someone may be watching," Sam said. "The other thing the ship has to do is send a warning back to the States that there might be a surprise attack. After Pearl Harbor and the strike against the colonization fleet, Earth has seen too much of that kind of thing."

Major Coffey stirred, but didn't say anything. More than a few people in the military still felt the strike against the colonization fleet had been legitimate because the United States carried it out. Frank Coffey had never shown any signs of being one of those officers-never till now. He probably still deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"Are we agreed, then?" Sam Yeager asked. "I will protest to Atvar and the Emperor and anyone else who'll listen. I'll let them know we're sending back a warning, so they won't catch us napping."

"They'll deny everything," Jonathan predicted.

"We would," Tom de la Rosa said. "They may not even bother- they haven't had as much practice at being hypocrites as we have. Any which way, though, the more complicated we make their lives, the better."

"Amen," Karen said. Several other people nodded.

"All right, then. We'll try it like that." Sam Yeager shook his head. "I wish I were talking about getting my car to start, not rolling the dice for everybody on the planet-for everybody on four planets."

"You're the one the Lizards wanted when the Doctor didn't wake up," Karen said. "If they won't listen to you, they won't listen to anybody."

Her father-in-law nodded, not altogether cheerfully. "That's what I'm afraid of-that they won't listen to anybody. Well, we'll find out." On that note, the meeting broke up.

"Happy day," Jonathan said as the Americans filed out of Frank Coffey's room.

"Uh-huh." Karen felt numb, drained. "I wonder just how much trouble there's going to be." She looked around, as if expecting the hotel corridors to go up in a radioactive cloud any minute now. That had always been possible, though they'd all done their best not to think about it. Now it felt appallingly probable.

"If anybody can get us out of it, Dad's the one," Jonathan said. "You were right about that." He plainly meant it. At a moment like this, he didn't waste time on jealousy of his father, the way he often did. Even when jealous, though, he didn't try to tear down his father's abilities; he only wished his own measured up to them.

"We'll see." Karen did her best to look on the bright side of things, if there was one. "It sounds like a lot's been going on back on Earth that we don't know much about. I do wonder what those experiments the Lizards were talking about mean."

Jonathan waved her to silence. She bit down on the inside of her lower lip, hard enough to hurt. She'd let her mouth run away with her. The Race was bound to be bugging the corridors. The Americans didn't even try trolling for eavesdropping devices there; the job was too big.

"They'll know we know soon enough," she said.

"Oh, yeah." Jonathan didn't argue with that. "And we'll never get a nickel's worth of useful intelligence by tapping the phones again." He shrugged. "What can you do? Sometimes that stuff is useless if you don't cash it in."

Lunch in the refectory was . . . interesting. Ka.s.squit knew the Americans had gathered, and wanted to know why. n.o.body wanted to tell her. Her face never showed anything much. Even so, Karen had no trouble telling she was getting angry. "Why will you not let me know what you talked about?" she demanded of all of them-and of Frank Coffey in particular.

Like so many lovers through the eons, she a.s.sumed her beloved would tell her everything because they were lovers. Karen had wondered about that herself. But Coffey said what he had to say: "I am sorry, but this was private business for us. When we decide to talk about it with the Race, we will."

"But I am not a member of the Race. You of all males ought to know that," Ka.s.squit said pointedly.

"You are a citizen of the Empire," Coffey said. "That is what I meant. We Americans often think of the Empire as belonging only to the Race. I realize that is wrong, but it is our first approximation."

"I am also a member of the Empire's team of negotiators," Ka.s.squit pointed out. "If anyone on Home is ent.i.tled to know, I am."

Sam Yeager made the negative gesture. "This is a matter for the fleetlord, and perhaps for the Emperor himself."

Karen wondered if that said too much. It was enough to make Ka.s.squit's eyes widen in surprise: one expression she did have. "What could be so important? Our talks are not going perfectly, but they have not suffered any great crisis."

That only proved she was out of the loop for some of the things going on around her. Karen eyed her with an almost malicious satisfaction. You're not as smart as you think you are. We know things you don't. You're not as smart as you think you are. We know things you don't. She stopped herself just before she tacked on a couple of mental She stopped herself just before she tacked on a couple of mental Nyah-nyah Nyah-nyahs.

"You will hear soon enough," Sam said.

"Why will you not tell me now?" Ka.s.squit asked.

"Because high officials in the Empire need to know first, as I said before," Sam Yeager answered, more patiently than Karen would have. "They will tell you what you need to know. If they do not tell you enough, ask me. I will speak freely then. Until I have followed protocol, though . . ." He made the negative gesture.

Karen thought Ka.s.squit would get angry at that, but she didn't. She was was reasonable, sometimes even when being reasonable was unreasonable. Not letting her emotions run wild probably helped her in dealing with the Race. Lizards operated differently from people; Ka.s.squit would have been banging her head against a stone wall if she'd tried getting them to respond on her terms. But her chilly rationality was one of the things that made her seem not quite human. reasonable, sometimes even when being reasonable was unreasonable. Not letting her emotions run wild probably helped her in dealing with the Race. Lizards operated differently from people; Ka.s.squit would have been banging her head against a stone wall if she'd tried getting them to respond on her terms. But her chilly rationality was one of the things that made her seem not quite human.

Now she said, "Very well, Amba.s.sador. I understand the point, even if I do not like it. I shall be most interested to learn what your concerns are."

"I thank you for your patience," Karen's father-in-law said, letting her down easy.

In English, Tom de la Rosa said, "She's not going to wait for Atvar and Ttomalss. She's going to try to wheedle it out of you, Frank." He grinned to show Coffey he didn't mean that seriously.

"She can try," Coffey said, also in English. "I know what I can tell her, and I know what I can't."

Karen eyed Ka.s.squit. Even if she didn't wear clothes, she probably wasn't cut out to be a spy. Karen sighed. Life was different from the movies. Here was a naked woman on the other side, and she didn't didn't seem to be using her charms for purposes of espionage. What was the world-what were the worlds-coming to? seem to be using her charms for purposes of espionage. What was the world-what were the worlds-coming to?

Ka.s.squit stared at Ttomalss in something approaching horror. "The Big Uglies dared spy on the conversations of the Emperor himself?" She cast down her eyes at mentioning her sovereign.

Ttomalss also looked down at the floor for a moment as he made the affirmative gesture. "I am afraid that is a truth, yes. What is even more disturbing is that they were able able to eavesdrop on the Emperor's conversation with Fleetlord Atvar. We have had no luck listening to their private conversations." to eavesdrop on the Emperor's conversation with Fleetlord Atvar. We have had no luck listening to their private conversations."

"That is not a matter of luck. It is a matter of technology," Ka.s.squit pointed out.

"You are correct. I wish you were not," Ttomalss told her. "And the technology the wild Big Uglies brought here is bound to be years out of date on Tosev 3. Just how far out of date it may be is a matter of considerable concern to us."

"I understand that, yes," Ka.s.squit agreed. "Can you tell me what the Emperor and the fleetlord were talking about, or are you going to be as obscure as the wild Tosevites?" She added the last bit as artlessly as she could. With luck, it would get Ttomalss to talk where he might otherwise have kept quiet.

And it did. He said, "In fact, their conversation does relate to advancing Tosevite technology. They were discussing whether that advancing technology made a preventive war necessary."

"Oh," Ka.s.squit said, and then, "Oh, dear." She tried to gather herself. "The Race has talked about this for many years, but always abandoned the idea. Why is it back on the agenda now?"

Ttomalss hesitated. Then he shrugged. "The wild Big Uglies already know this, so there is no longer any reason why you should not. Do you remember my colleague back on Tosev 3, Senior Researcher Felless?"

"Yes," Ka.s.squit said. "I must tell you I did not like her much."

"Felless is difficult for members of the Race to like, too-except when she has been tasting ginger, of course." Ttomalss qualified that with a fine, sarcastic, eye-turret-waggling leer. But he continued, "However difficult she may be, no one doubts her ability-when she is not tasting ginger. She noticed some unusual Tosevite technological development and sent word of it here."

"What sort of development?" Ka.s.squit asked.

"We are not yet completely sure of that," Ttomalss answered. "But the physicists are convinced it will have important results at some point in the future."

"What sort of important results? How far in the future?"

"Again, we are not completely certain," Ttomalss said.

Ka.s.squit eyed him. "Precisely what are you certain of, superior sir?"

Ttomalss shifted uneasily in his chair. "What do you mean? Do you intend that for sarcasm?"

"Oh, no, superior sir. How could I possibly be sarcastic because you are evading my questions? What do you suppose might provoke me into doing something of that sort?"

"This is not helpful." Ttomalss' voice was thick with disapproval.

"No, it is not," Ka.s.squit agreed. "Your evasions are not helpful, either. The Tosevites evade my questions, too. I can understand that. They are not citizens of the Empire, and do not trouble their livers over its concerns. But I thought you and I were on the same side."

"Until the experiments progress further, I cannot offer you a report on them," Ttomalss said, which sounded like another evasion to Ka.s.squit. Then he asked, "What questions are the Big Uglies evading?"

"The ones you would expect: the ones that have to do with dealings between the United States and the Empire. As I say, those evasions make sense. The ones you put forward strike me as absurd."

"You do not understand the full situation," Ttomalss said.

"That is a truth. I do not. And the reason I do not is that you will not tell me enough to let me understand it," Ka.s.squit said angrily.

"When I am authorized to give you all the details, you may be a.s.sured that I will," Ttomalss said.

"Oh? And why may I be a.s.sured of that?" Ka.s.squit snapped, even more angrily than before.

Ttomalss' tailstump quivered, so she'd succeeded in angering him, too. "If you do not care for my choices in this matter, I suggest that you take it up with Fleetlord Atvar, or with the Emperor himself."

"I thank you, superior sir. I thank you so very much." The way Ka.s.squit bent into the posture of respect had no respect whatsoever in it. The way Ttomalss' tailstump quivered more than ever said he knew it, too. Ka.s.squit went on, "It shall be done. Perhaps one of them has a certain minimal respect for the truth." She straightened, turned her back, and stalked out of his chamber.

She started to go to Atvar's room. Then she stopped in the hallway and made the negative gesture. She would do that if all else failed. The 37th Emperor Risson had granted her an audience. Perhaps he would speak to her as well. And if he did, she intended to hurl that right into Ttomalss' snout.

Telephoning the Emperor, of course, was not so simple as putting a call in to the palace and expecting him to pick it up on the other end of the line. But it was easier for her than it might have been for a female of the Race. The sight of her Tosevite features in the monitor got her quickly transferred from a low-level functionary to a mid-level functionary to Herrep himself, for the males and females who served the Emperor remembered he had received two Big Uglies not long before.

The protocol master was made of sterner stuff. "What is the purpose of this call?" Herrep asked. His interrogative cough was the chilliest Ka.s.squit had ever heard.

"To discuss with his Majesty relations between the Empire and the wild Big Uglies," Ka.s.squit answered. "You will agree, superior sir, that this matter is of relevance-I should say, of unique relevance-to me."

Herrep could hardly deny that. She was a citizen of the Empire and a Big Ugly. No one else on Home could say both those things. She knew she wasn't wild. She wondered if Herrep would remember. To him, wouldn't one Big Ugly be the same as another?

"Wait," he said. "I will see if his Majesty wishes to speak to you." A pleasant, almost hypnotic moving pattern replaced his image on the monitor. Soft music began to play. Ka.s.squit drummed her fingers on the desk in her room. They did not make sharp clicks, as those of a member of the Race would have done. Her fingerclaws were short and broad and blunt; she wore artificial ones to work the Race's switches and operate its keyboards.

She was beginning to wonder how patient she ought to be when the pattern vanished and the music fell silent. A male's face looked out at her. It wasn't Herrep's; it belonged to the 37th Emperor Risson. Ka.s.squit scrambled to a.s.sume the special posture of respect. "I greet you, your Majesty. I thank you for taking the time to speak with me."

"You are welcome, Researcher," Risson replied. "We need not stand on much ceremony on the telephone. Am I correct in believing you have learned discussions with the wild Tosevites have gone less well than we might have wished?"

"Yes, your Majesty," Ka.s.squit said. "I have learned that. It dismays me. What dismays me even more is that I have been unable to learn why these talks have taken this unfortunate turn."

"There are two main reasons," the Emperor told her. "The first is Tosevite arrogance over issues of sovereignty and equality. Under other circ.u.mstances, this might be solved with patience and good will on both sides. I believe such patience does exist."

"What are these other circ.u.mstances, if I may ask?" Ka.s.squit said.

"The wild Big Uglies are pulling ahead of us technologically," Risson said. "They rubbed our snouts in this recently, when they showed they could monitor our voice communications and could keep us from monitoring theirs."

"A shocking breach of privacy," Ka.s.squit said sympathetically.

"Shocking because they were able to do it," Risson said. "After all, we have been trying to spy on them, too. But they succeeded and we failed. And their technology changes so much faster than ours. What do they currently have on Tosev 3? If we do not stop them now, will we be able to later?"

Ka.s.squit knew those were all good questions. She also knew the Race had been debating them for years. "Why worry so much now?" she asked. "How has the situation changed for the worse?"

"In two ways," the Emperor said. "First, the wild Big Uglies can now reach us on our own planets. Any war against them would be Empirewide rather than confined to the system of Tosev 3. The longer we delay, the more harm they can do us, too." Ka.s.squit used the affirmative gesture; that was an obvious truth. Risson went on, "The second factor has grown more important as time pa.s.ses. It is the growing fear that soon they will be able to hurt us and we will not be able to hurt them, as they can tap our telephones undetected till they admit it while we cannot monitor their conversations."

"Does this have to do with certain experiments that have been conducted on Tosev 3?"

Risson's eye turrets both swung sharply toward Ka.s.squit. Yes, that had been the right question to ask. "You heard of this from . . . ?" he asked.

"I heard of their existence from Senior Researcher Ttomalss, your Majesty. I heard no more than that," Ka.s.squit answered.

"Ah. Very well." Risson seemed to relax, which doubtless meant Ttomalss did have orders from on high not to say much about such things to Ka.s.squit. The Emperor went on, "Yes, important experiments have taken place on Tosev 3. Just how important they are, our physicists are now trying to determine. We do not know how far or how fast the wild Tosevites have advanced from what we know they were doing some years ago. We do know we will have to try to catch up, and that will not be easy, since the Tosevites generally run faster than we do."

"What are the consequences if the Empire fails to catch up?" Ka.s.squit asked.

"Bad. Very bad," Risson said.

That wasn't what Ka.s.squit had expected to hear, but it told her how seriously the Emperor took the situation. She tried again: "In what way are these consequences bad, your Majesty?"

"In every way we can imagine, and probably also in ways we have yet to imagine," Risson replied. "It is because of these experiments that we view the current situation with such concern."

"Can you please tell me why why you view them with such alarm?" Ka.s.squit persisted. "The better I understand the situation, the more help I will be able to give the Empire." you view them with such alarm?" Ka.s.squit persisted. "The better I understand the situation, the more help I will be able to give the Empire."

"For the time being, I am afraid that this information is secret," Risson said. "We are still evaluating it ourselves. Also, the American Tosevites appear to be ignorant of what has taken place on their home planet. It would be to our advantage to have them remain ignorant. If they knew the full situation, their demands would become even more intolerable than they already are. And now, Researcher, if you will excuse me . . ." He broke the connection.

Ka.s.squit stared at the monitor. Risson hadn't told her everything she wanted to know. But he had, perhaps, told her more than he thought he had. Whatever the wild Big Uglies back on Tosev 3 had discovered, it was even more important than she'd imagined.