Homeward Bound Part 55

"I do not know anything about that, Inspector, so you may claim whatever you please," Johnson answered. Oh, my, would I have been set up with that one. Oh, my, would I have been set up with that one. "If you check your records, you will see I did not bring this ship's scooter back here." "If you check your records, you will see I did not bring this ship's scooter back here."

"That is also a truth," Henrep said. "It is unusual, in that this Tosevite does most of their scooter flying, but it is a truth."

"Why did you not fly the scooter that time?" Garanpo asked.

"Because my commandant ordered someone else to do it," Johnson answered. Garanpo was welcome to make what he wanted of that.

"Would your commandant-Healey is the name, is it not?-speak to me about this business?" Garanpo asked. He might act like a clumsy buffoon, but that didn't mean he was one. Oh, no-it didn't mean that at all.

"I cannot say, Inspector," Johnson replied. "How can I speak for my superior? You would have to ask him."

"I have seen that you Tosevites are good at hiding behind one another," Garanpo observed.

"Lieutenant General Healey could not hide behind me," Johnson said, which was literally true-Healey was twice as wide as he was.

"Most unsatisfactory. Most Most unsatisfactory. I unsatisfactory. I will will get to the root of this." Inspector Garanpo used an emphatic cough. get to the root of this." Inspector Garanpo used an emphatic cough.

"I wish you luck. Whatever your problems with ginger are, I had nothing to do with them." The first part of that was truth. The second part should have been. As far as Johnson was concerned, that made it effectively true, too. Somehow, he suspected Inspector Garanpo would have a different opinion.

The imperial laver scrubbed off Ttomalss' old body paint. The imperial limner painted on the new. The psychologist absentmindedly made the correct responses to what the two old females said, and to the guards who made as if to bar his path as he approached the Emperor's throne. He hadn't expected this summons to an audience, which made it all the more welcome.

He bent into the special posture of respect before the 37th Emperor Risson, whose gold body paint gleamed in the spotlights that shone on the throne. "Arise, Senior Researcher Ttomalss," the Emperor said.

Ttomalss stayed hunched over. "I thank your Majesty for his kindness and generosity in summoning me into his presence when I am unworthy of the honor." He probably sounded more sincere than most males and females who came before the Emperor, if only because he'd given up hope of ever gaining an audience until the order to come to Preffilo dashed out from behind a sand dune.

"Arise, I say again," Risson told him. This time, Ttomalss did. The Emperor said, "The Race owes you a debt of grat.i.tude for bringing Senior Researcher Felless' alert to the attention of our physicists. We would be much further behind the Big Uglies than we are-and we would not know where to begin to catch up-if you had not. I thank you."

"Your Majesty, I thought Felless had come upon something important. I turned out to be right, when it might have been better for the Empire had I turned out to be wrong. Felless deserves more credit than I do. She was the one who noticed what the Tosevites were saying-and then, suddenly, what they were not." He didn't much like Felless. He never had, even before her ginger habit made her a whole different sort of nuisance. But he couldn't try to rob her of credit here, not when anyone with an eye turret half turned toward things could tell she deserved it.

"She will have what she deserves," the Emperor said. "Unfortunately, the speed of light still imposes delays for us, so she will not have it right away. I hope she is still living when our signal of congratulations reaches Tosev 3. You being here on Home, I can congratulate you on the spot."

"I thank you for the kindness, your Majesty," Ttomalss said.

"Why thank me for what you have earned and richly deserve?" Risson straightened on the throne, signaling the end of the audience. Ttomalss made a retreat as formal as his advance had been.

Herrep, the protocol master, waited for him in the bend in the corridor just outside the audience chamber proper. "You did pretty well, Senior Researcher, especially on such short notice," Herrep said.

"I thank you, superior sir," Ttomalss said. "This was my first audience with an Emperor. I have long hoped for the honor, and now it is here."

"His Majesty spoke highly of your work, and of what it means for the Race," Herrep said. "You will, of course, be lodged at his expense this evening, and our budget naturally covers the shuttlecraft fare back to Sitneff."

"Everyone at the palace has shown me great kindness," Ttomalss said. That was polite if not altogether true; he doubted whether the imperial laver and limner had ever shown anyone great kindness, or even a little. The two horrid old females got their fingerclaws on him again after he turned away from the protocol master. The laver cleaned off the special body paint suppliants wore before the Emperor; the limner replaced Ttomalss' usual paint. She did it perfectly, without checking any reference books. Ttomalss wondered how many different occupations and ranks she knew. Had she not intimidated him so much, he might have asked.

The hotel put to shame the one in Sitneff in which Ttomalss and the American Big Uglies were staying. The refectory was as fine as any in which Ttomalss had ever eaten. The sleeping mat in his room was almost as soft as a squashy Tosevite bed; it stopped just this side of being too too soft. The psychologist wouldn't have minded spending much more time there. soft. The psychologist wouldn't have minded spending much more time there.

He had an excellent breakfast the next morning. The ippa-fruit juice was as tangy as any he'd ever tasted. A car from the palace waited outside the lobby to whisk him to the shuttlecraft port. As he got out, he remarked to the driver, "I could get used to feeling important."

She laughed. "You are not the first who has had an audience to tell me that."

"No, I do not suppose I would be." Had Ttomalss come to Preffilo just a little earlier, he likely would have mated with her. But the season was over, and he could think clearly again.

Flying back to Sitneff was routine. He wondered how many shuttlecraft he'd flown in over the years. He couldn't begin to guess. A lot-he knew that.

He wondered why he bothered going back to the hotel. Nothing of substance was happening there these days. The wild Big Uglies were just waiting for the Commodore Perry Commodore Perry to get back so they could finish rubbing the Race's snout in its inferiority. To them, he was just another male. to get back so they could finish rubbing the Race's snout in its inferiority. To them, he was just another male. Just another Lizard, Just another Lizard, he thought; the Tosevites had an insulting nickname for his folk, as the Race did for them. he thought; the Tosevites had an insulting nickname for his folk, as the Race did for them.

But sitting in the lobby was the shuttlecraft pilot the Americans had brought back to Home from Tosev 3. She got up and came over to him. "I greet you, Senior Researcher," she said.

"And I greet you," Ttomalss answered. "Can I do something for you?"

Nesseref started to make the negative gesture, but checked herself. "Maybe you can," she said. "Can we talk for a while?"

"I am at your service," Ttomalss said. "Shall we go to the refectory and eat while we talk? I had a snack in the shuttlecraft port, but I could do with a little more."

What he ordered here wouldn't be as good as what he'd had in the hotel in Preffilo. He sighed. He wasn't rich enough to eat there very often. He and Nesseref both chose zisuili cutlets-hard to go wrong with those. The shuttlecraft pilot said, "The American Tosevites do at least try to act civilized. What will become of us if the Deutsche learn to travel faster than light before we do?"

"You are not the only one to whom this unpleasant thought has occurred," Ttomalss said. "I do not believe anyone has a good answer for it."

"This is also my impression," Nesseref said. "And it worries me. The Americans, as I say, do make an effort. When the Deutsche find a group they do not care for, they set about exterminating it. I have seen this at first hand, living as I did in the part of the main continental ma.s.s called Poland."

"My memory of Tosevite geography is not all it might be," Ttomalss said.

"The point is that Poland borders the Reich, Reich," Nesseref said. "It also has a large number of Jews living in it. You are familiar with the Tosevite superst.i.tion called Judaism, and with how the Deutsche react to it?"

"Oh, yes." Ttomalss used the affirmative gesture. "That was one of the first great horrors the conquest fleet found on Tosev 3."

"If the Deutsche had it in their power, they would do the same to us," Nesseref insisted. "And if they can travel faster than light, they gain that power. They could appear out of nowhere, bombard one of our worlds, and flee faster than we could follow."

"Our defenses are ready here," Ttomalss said. "We have sent messages to Rabotev 2 and Halless 1, ordering them to prepare themselves. I suppose we could also send ships to help them, though they would take twice as long as the messages to arrive. What we have the technology to do, we are doing."

"I can only hope it will be enough, and done soon enough," Nesseref said, and then paused while the server set cutlets in front of Ttomalss and her. After the male left, she continued, "I had a friend who was a Jew-a Tosevite male named Mordechai Anielewicz. He had been a guerrilla leader when the conquest fleet came, sometimes opposing the Deutsche, sometimes opposing the Race. He eventually decided he could trust us. He never trusted them. Now his grandchildren are fully mature, but they like the Deutsche no better, and I cannot blame them."

"The Jews are unlikely to be objective," Ttomalss pointed out after swallowing a bite of zisuili meat. It was . . . all right. "They have no reason to be."

"Truth-but the behavior of the Deutsche leads me to mistrust them, too." Nesseref also took a bite. She ate with more enthusiasm than Ttomalss felt. "Do you recall the Deutsch pilot who attacked your ship during the war between the Reich Reich and the Race? I flew him back down to Tosev 3. His name was Drucker." and the Race? I flew him back down to Tosev 3. His name was Drucker."

"I did not recall the name. I recall the Big Ugly." Ttomalss used an emphatic cough. "What about him?"

"His hatchling belonged to one of the bandit groups the Deutsche set up after their defeat to resist the Race covertly," Nesseref said. hatchling belonged to one of the bandit groups the Deutsche set up after their defeat to resist the Race covertly," Nesseref said.

"Wait." Ttomalss let out a sharp hiss. "There was a Big Ugly called Drucker who served as the Reich Reich's minister for air and s.p.a.ce when the Deutsche began to admit they had such a position again."

"That is the same male," Nesseref said. "He was good at what he did, and cautious about putting his fingerclaws where they did not belong. His hatchling later rose to a high rank in the military of the Reich. Reich."

"A pity the Deutsche never quite gave us the excuse to suppress them altogether," Ttomalss said.

"A great pity," Nesseref agreed. "But then, one could say the same about the rest of the Tosevites. They were trouble enough when they managed to come to Home by any means at all. Now that their technology has got ahead of ours . . ." She didn't go on. She didn't have to, either.

Ttomalss made the affirmative gesture. He said, "We are doing what we can to catch up with them." He didn't go on, either. The wild Big Uglies were too likely to monitor what went on in the refectory.

Nesseref might not have realized that. But she did grasp the problem facing the Race, for she asked, "Can we endure until we do?"

"I hope so," Ttomalss answered. "As you say, the Americans do approach civilization, at any rate." He didn't think the Big Uglies would be offended to hear that. They already knew what he and most members of the Race thought of them. But, as Nesseref had pointed out, the Americans were not the only Big Uglies. "As for the Deutsche . . . well, if they attack us here on Tosev 3, our colony can strike back at them as soon as it learns of what they have done-and either the Deutsche themselves or the Americans would bring word to Tosev 3 before our signals got there. The Reich Reich is not large. It is vulnerable. Its not-emperor must realize this." is not large. It is vulnerable. Its not-emperor must realize this."

"'Must' is a large word to use when speaking of big Uglies," Nesseref said. "But I dare hope you are right."

"So do I," Ttomalss said. "So do I."

When the Big Uglies decided it was time for Atvar to return to his own solar system, they didn't fly him back on the Commodore Perry. Commodore Perry. The starship setting out for Home this time was called the The starship setting out for Home this time was called the Tom Edison. Tom Edison. That the United States had built more than one ship that traveled faster than light worried him. The Race would have refined the first one till it was exactly the way they wanted it before making more. Tosevites didn't worry about refinement. They just went ahead and did things. That the United States had built more than one ship that traveled faster than light worried him. The Race would have refined the first one till it was exactly the way they wanted it before making more. Tosevites didn't worry about refinement. They just went ahead and did things.

And . . . it worked.

He did ask who Tom Edison was. Learning that the Big Ugly had been an inventor came as a small relief. At least they weren't naming all these ships for warriors. He didn't know how much that said about their intentions, but it did say something. something.

Sam Yeager came to the hotel room where he'd been politely and comfortably imprisoned to say good-bye. "I am surprised they let you in to see me," Atvar said. "Do they not fear you will relay the secret orders I do not have to Reffet and Kirel, and so touch off our colony's attack on your not-empire?"

"Some of them were afraid of that, yes," the white-haired Big Ugly answered. "I managed to persuade them otherwise. It was not easy, but I managed. We have known each other a long time, you and I. We are not on the same side, but we are not enemies, either. Or I hope we are not."

"Not through my eye turrets," Atvar said. "And who knows? Maybe we shall see each other again. Now that cold sleep is no longer necessary-for your folk, anyhow-it could happen."

"Well, so it could," Yeager said. "If not for cold sleep, though, I would have died a long time ago. Even with it, who knows how much time I have?" He followed the interrogative cough with a shrug. "However long it is, I aim to try to make the most of it. Will you do me a favor when you get back to Home?"

"If it is anything I can do, I will," Atvar replied.

"I thank you. I think you can. Send Ka.s.squit my best, and my hatchling's."

"It shall be done," Atvar said. "Shall I also add a greeting from your hatchling's mate?"

Sam Yeager laughed in the noisy Tosevite way. "If you like," he answered. "But she would not send it, and Ka.s.squit would not believe it if she got it. The two females did not get along as well as they might have."

"This is unfortunate," Atvar said. "Well, I think I will send it. Perhaps being light-years apart can bring peace between them."

"Perhaps it can," Yeager said. "I cannot think of anything else that would."

The fleetlord endured another ride in a Tosevite-made shuttlecraft with a Big Ugly at the controls. The hop up to the orbiting Tom Edison Tom Edison was as smooth as it would have been going up to a ship orbiting Home. The pilot seemed perfectly capable. Atvar was nervous even so. Tosevites just didn't take proper care in the things they made. was as smooth as it would have been going up to a ship orbiting Home. The pilot seemed perfectly capable. Atvar was nervous even so. Tosevites just didn't take proper care in the things they made.

But they made things the Race couldn't. The looming bulk of the Tom Edison Tom Edison as the shuttlecraft approached rubbed Atvar's snout in that. "I greet you, Exalted Fleetlord," a uniformed American Big Ugly said when Atvar came through the air lock. "Let me take you to your room." as the shuttlecraft approached rubbed Atvar's snout in that. "I greet you, Exalted Fleetlord," a uniformed American Big Ugly said when Atvar came through the air lock. "Let me take you to your room."

"I thank you," Atvar replied.

"It is my pleasure, Exalted Fleetlord," the Tosevite male said. Atvar didn't care for the way his t.i.tle sounded in the Big Ugly's mouth. Like Nicole Nichols back on Home, the male didn't take it seriously.

Atvar stared as he followed the guide. Not being under acceleration, the ship had no gravity, and they both pulled themselves along by the handholds in the corridors. The Tom Edison Tom Edison struck Atvar as being better finished than the struck Atvar as being better finished than the Commodore Perry. Commodore Perry. If the Race hadn't been satisfied with the If the Race hadn't been satisfied with the Commodore Perry, Commodore Perry, the ship never would have flown. The Big Uglies let it go out, hoped for the best, and improved the next one. Their way produced more progress-and, every now and then, disasters the Race would not have tolerated. the ship never would have flown. The Big Uglies let it go out, hoped for the best, and improved the next one. Their way produced more progress-and, every now and then, disasters the Race would not have tolerated.

"Here we are," the Tosevite said. "This room will be yours. Please stay here until we are under acceleration. You can access entertainment in your language through the computer. Food will be brought to you. If you want any special refreshments, you may request them."

"But in the meanwhile, I am a prisoner," Atvar said.

The Big Ugly used the negative gesture. "A guest."

Atvar used it, too. "If I were a guest, I would be able to move freely."

With a shrug, the American Tosevite said, "I am sorry, Exalted Fleetlord, but I have my orders." He sounded not the least bit sorry.

When Atvar tried the door after going inside, he discovered it would open, which surprised him. He wasn't quite a prisoner, then. That made him decide to stay where he was. He would have caused more trouble-as much as he could-if he had been locked up. Not till later did he wonder whether the Big Uglies would antic.i.p.ate that.

A day and a half later, it stopped mattering. With a deep rumble he felt in his bones, the Tom Edison Tom Edison left its place in orbit and began the journey out to where it could leap the gap between Tosev 3's solar system and the one of which Home was a part. Full acceleration took a while to build up. Atvar thought he was a trifle heavier than he had been aboard the left its place in orbit and began the journey out to where it could leap the gap between Tosev 3's solar system and the one of which Home was a part. Full acceleration took a while to build up. Atvar thought he was a trifle heavier than he had been aboard the Commodore Perry, Commodore Perry, but he could not be sure. but he could not be sure.

One of the first Big Uglies he saw on emerging from his chamber was Frank Coffey. His dark skin made him easy to recognize. His leaf emblem had changed color, which meant he was a lieutenant colonel now. "So you are returning to Home?" Atvar said.

"That is a truth, Exalted Fleetlord. I am," Coffey said. "I managed to talk my government into sending me back. I would like to be with Ka.s.squit when my hatchling comes forth-and I have more experience on Home than anyone there now."

While the second reason would have influenced the Race, the first was exclusive to the Big Uglies. Atvar did not know who had sired him or who had laid his egg. Except for the Emperor's line and the possibility of inherited diseases, such things mattered little to the Race.

"It will be good, I think, for the American Tosevites on Home to have someone from your generation there with them," Atvar said. "I mean no offense-or not much, anyhow-when I say they make too much of themselves."

"I have no idea whether they will pay any attention to me once I get there." Coffey sounded wryly amused. Atvar thought so, anyhow, though Big Uglies could still confuse him. The American officer went on, "My government says they are supposed to, but even with these new ships my government is a long way away." He shrugged. "Well, we shall see what we shall see. However that works out, I am going back to Home, and I will be there when the hatchling comes forth."

We shall see what we shall see. Atvar thought about that after he went back to his room. It was a truth, but not, for him, a comfortable one. What he feared he would see, if he lived long enough, was the ruination of his species. And he did not know what he could do to stop it. Atvar thought about that after he went back to his room. It was a truth, but not, for him, a comfortable one. What he feared he would see, if he lived long enough, was the ruination of his species. And he did not know what he could do to stop it.

The journey back to Home was as boring as the one to Tosev 3 had been. Part of him hoped the Tom Edison Tom Edison would have a mishap, even if it killed him. Then he wouldn't have to admit to everyone on Home that he'd crossed between stars twice in much less than a year, even counting the time he'd spent on the Big Uglies' native world waiting for them to get ready to send him back. would have a mishap, even if it killed him. Then he wouldn't have to admit to everyone on Home that he'd crossed between stars twice in much less than a year, even counting the time he'd spent on the Big Uglies' native world waiting for them to get ready to send him back.

Was it five and a half weeks till the starship got ready to jump the light-years? Again, Atvar thought not, but he wasn't quite sure. He had to translate the awkward Tosevite term into the Race's rational chronology to have any feel for how long it truly was. He hadn't kept exact track on the journey to Tosev 3, so he couldn't properly compare now. Not keeping track had been a mistake. He realized as much, but he didn't see how he could have avoided it. He'd a.s.sumed he would go back on the same starship, not a revised model. As the Race so often was in its dealings with the Big Uglies, he'd been wrong.

When the time for the crossing came, the captain warned everyone in the ship to take a seat: first in English, then in the Race's language. Atvar obeyed. For most of the travelers, it wouldn't matter. Most Tosevites felt nothing. That seemed to be true for the Race, too; at least, neither Straha nor Nesseref had reported anything out of the ordinary.

Then that turned-inside-out feeling interrupted his thoughts. It lasted for a timeless instant that seemed to stretch out longer than the history of the Empire. He was everything and nothing, nowhere and everywhere, all at once. And then it ended-if it had ever really begun-and he was nothing but himself again. He didn't know whether to be sorry or glad.

The captain spoke in English. Atvar waited for the translation: "We are inside Home's solar system. Everything performed the way it should have. We expect a normal approach to the Race's planet."

Two ships. No-at least two ships. How many more did the Big Uglies have? They surely knew. Just as surely, Atvar didn't. Were they visiting Rabotev 2 or Halless 1 even now? If they were, they would outrun news of their coming. They would find the Empire's other two worlds undefended. They could do whatever they wanted. Home wouldn't learn of it for years, not unless the Tosevites themselves chose to talk about it.

We shall see what we shall see, he thought again. Whatever it was, he couldn't do anything about it now. he thought again. Whatever it was, he couldn't do anything about it now.

He knew when the Tom Edison Tom Edison went into orbit around Home, because he went weightless. Before long, a Tosevite female came to escort him to the air lock. "We will take you down to Sitneff now, Exalted Fleetlord," she said. went into orbit around Home, because he went weightless. Before long, a Tosevite female came to escort him to the air lock. "We will take you down to Sitneff now, Exalted Fleetlord," she said.

"I thank you so very much," Atvar replied.

If she heard his sarcasm, she didn't show it. "You are welcome," she said. "I hope you had a pleasant flight." Atvar didn't dignify that with an answer. A hundred thousand years of peace, security, and dominance shattering like gla.s.s-and she hoped he had a pleasant flight? Not likely!

His shuttlecraft trip down to the surface of Home was routine in every way, and also less than pleasant. So was the discovery that Straha waited for him in the shuttlecraft terminal. "I greet you, Exalted Fleetlord," Straha said, and bent into a mocking posture of respect. "I trust you enjoyed yourself on Tosev 3?"

"Then you are a trusting fool," Atvar snapped. "I knew you were a fool, but not one of that sort."

Straha only laughed at him. "Still charming as ever, I see. Any residual doubts remaining? The signals arriving from Tosev 3 would kill them, if there are."

"No, no residual doubts," Atvar said. "They can do as they claim."