Carthago Delenda Est

Still, mused Agayan, it had its advantages.

Strength, for one. The Voivode glanced at the nearest of the sepoys standing silently against the wall of the chamber. Now unencumbered by armor, the Gha’s bronze-colored, rangy body was fully visible. Quite impressive, in its own crude way.

Especially this one, thought the Voivode. He’s the commander of the squad, I believe.

For a moment, Agayan’s gaze met the bulging eyes of the sepoy. As always, the Gha’s face was utterly expressionless. To humans, that face would seem froglike in its shape. To the Voivode, it simply seemed inanimate.

Gha, he reflected, were the most uninteresting species he had ever encountered. Barely sentient, in his opinion, based on his long experience with the sepoys. The creatures never expressed any sentiments in their faces, and they were as indistinguishable as so many pebbles. This one, for instance-the one he supposed to be the sepoy commander. Agayan thought that the Gha was the same one which had been in his service when he was a mere Guild Cacique. But he was not certain.

He looked back at Yuaw Khta. The Investigator was now practically writhing in the pain/pleasure from its massage. For a moment, Agayan felt genuine envy. The ubiquity of the vertebrate structure, whatever its limitations, meant that vertebrate Guildmasters could enjoy more in the way of personal and intimate service than could members of his own species.

While Yuaw Khta grunted its pain/pleasure, Agayan took the time to examine its personal attendant. Ossa were particularly favored for that purpose by genetic engineers. The quasi-reptiles lent themselves as easily to phenotype surgery as they did to genetic manipulation. And there was always a large supply of the things. Their sexual and procreative energy was notorious, in their natural state as well as the multitude of bodily forms into which they were shaped by Doge engineers.

Idly, Agayan wondered if this particular Ossa regretted its transformation. It was neutered, now, to match Yuaw Khta’s current sexual stage. The Investigator kept two other Ossa on the ship, one male and one female, to serve it/her/him as Yuaw Khta progressed through the cycle.

Agayan did not ponder the matter for more than a few seconds. Ossa, for him, were not much more interesting than Gha.

He decided that he had been polite enough. “Are you going to be distracted by this exercise in self-torture for much longer?” he demanded. “The affairs of the Guild press heavily.”

Yuaw Khta’s grunt combined satisfaction with irritation. The Investigator made a snapping sound with its fingers and the Ossa attendant immediately departed the chamber.

After taking a long draught from its cup, Yuaw Khta said: “I fail to see your point, Voivode Agayan. Regardless of their social discipline and cohesion, the humans are still primitives.”

He made a small waving gesture, which encompassed the entirety of the ship. “Even if they managed-somehow-to seize the ship, they would have no way to fly it anywhere.”

“Unless they coerced the Pilot,” retorted Agayan. The Voivode spread both his forelimb clusters, to give emphasis to his next words. “Unlike you, Yuaw Khta, I have personal experience with the humans. I was their Commander, for a time, before my promotion to Voivode. As you may or may not know, I passed through the Cacique ranks faster than any Guildmaster on the record. Some of that unprecedented speed in climbing through the ranks, of course, was due-”

He interlaced his finger-clusters modestly.

“-to my own ability. But every Commander of the human sepoys enjoyed rapid promotion. The humans were, far and away, the best sepoy troops the Guild has ever had. They were invariably successful in their campaigns, and did not even suffer heavy casualties.”

He took a drink from his tumbler. “As these things go,” he concluded. “In time, of course, their numbers would have declined to the point where they would have been useless. But there were many, many campaigns which the Guild would have profited from before their liquidation was necessary.”

“So?” demanded Yuaw Khta.

Agayan could not control the agitated flexing of his hindlimb clusters, he was so aggravated. But he managed to maintain a calm voice.

“So? What do you think accounts for the human success, Investigator? It was not simple physical prowess, I can assure you!”

The Voivode pointed to the Gha commander. “This one-or any of its fellows-could easily defeat a human in single combat. Several of them at once, in fact. But I have no doubt whatsoever that on a field of battle, matched with equivalent weapons, the humans could have defeated a Gha army.”

The Investigator was still not convinced.

“Gha are stupid,” it grumbled. “Everyone knows that. I am prepared to admit that the humans were unusually intelligent, for a slave race, but-”

The Voivode had had enough. “Do you have any alternative explanation?” he demanded.

The Investigator was silent.

“In that case,” stated Agayan firmly, “I now exercise my command prerogatives. If the humans seized their transport vessel, and coerced the Pilot into operating the craft, their most likely destination would have been their original home. Their native planet. Accordingly, this ship will proceed to that same planet. If the humans are there, we will destroy them. This vessel is far better armed that any troop transport.”

“Their native planet?” exploded the Investigator. “That’s ridiculous! The humans were in Guild service longer-far longer-than any other sepoy troops. They underwent tens and tens of Stasis episodes. It must be hundreds-thousands-of years since their initial recruitment. I doubt if we even have a record of-”

“The record will exist,” stated Agayan firmly. “I have instructed the Pilot to check. You underestimate the care with which the Guild-”

He was interrupted by the appearance of the Pilot herself in the chamber.

“Ah!” he exclaimed. “I presume you have finished your examination of the records?”

“Yes, Guild Voivode.” The Pilot belonged to a spindle-shaped species which found bowing impossible, so she indicated her respect by darkening her purple skin.

“The results?”

“The human planet-there is no name for it, beyond the catalog number-is only two hundred and twelve light years distant. The humans were recruited slightly over two thousand Guild years ago.”

Agayan turned triumphantly to Yuaw Khta.

“You see, Investigator?” He waved a finger-cluster at the Pilot, dismissing her. To his surprise, the Pilot remained planted on her footskirt.

“There is something else, Guild Voivode.”

“Yes?”

“I used a broad-range program in my search, and it brought up all information concerning this planet. In addition to the original sepoy records, there is also a significant-perhaps significant-item of meteorological data.”

Agayan’s finger-clusters began to flex. “What is the point of this?” he demanded.

The Pilot turned a very dark purple, in her attempt to placate the Voivode’s rising irritation.

“The Federation’s Meteorological Survey has been paying close attention to that region of the galaxy. A Transit storm has been moving down that spiral arm for many thousands of Guild years. The human planet and its environs were cut off from all Transport nodes shortly after the sepoys were recruited. The nodes were only reestablished two hundred Guild years ago.”

“Has a Guild vessel returned to that planet since Transit possibility was renewed?”

“No, Guild Voivode. Nor has any Federation ship. But shortly after the nodes re-formed, the Meteorological Survey began detecting oddities in the region, which they eventually pinpointed to that planet’s solar system. They didn’t know what to make of the peculiar data, until they thought to consult with the Federation’s Historiographic Bureau.”