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There was a short silence.
"Oh," said Sally. "Of course. If the Moties never meet Admiral Kutuzov, or Captain Mikhailov-or any of Lenin's crew-how could they talk them into anything? Surely, Mr. Bury, you don't imagine they could persuade MacArthur's crew to mutiny?"
Bury shrugged, "My lady, with all respect, have you thought of what the Moties can offer? More wealth than exists in the Empire. Men have been corrupted by far less-"
And you've done it, too, Sally thought.
"If they're that good, why haven't they done it already?" Kevin Re
"Possibly they have not yet needed to do so," Bury said.
"More likely they can't do it," Re
"They were never in direct contact with Captain Blaine," Bury reminded him.
"They had Miss Fowler for as long as they needed." Re
"I would be inclined to agree with Mr. Re
"Um. Well, Mr. Bury?" Kutuzov asked.
"But-I tell you, they're dangerous! The technological abilities are beyond belief. Allah the Merciful, who can know what they can construct from harmless items? Weapons, communications equipment, escape gear-" Bury's calm ma
"I withdraw the suggestion that Mr. Bury be given access to the Moties," Hardy said carefully. "I doubt if they would survive the experience. My apologies, Your Excellency."
Bury muttered in Arabic. Too late he realized that Hardy was a linguist.
"Oh, surely not," Hardy said with a smile. "I know my ancestry much better than that."
"I can see, Admiral," Bury said, "that I have not been sufficiently persuasive. I'm sorry, because for once I have no motives but the welfare of the Empire. If I were interested only in profits-I am not slow to realize the trade potentials and the wealth to be made from the Moties. But I consider them the greatest danger the human race has ever faced."
"Da." Kutuzov spoke decisively. "On that we may possibly agree, if we add one word: potential danger, Excellency. What we consider here is lesser risk, and unless there is risk to Lenin I am now persuaded that lesser risk is to transport these ambassadors under conditions suggested by Chaplain Hardy. Dr. Horvath: you agree?"
"If that's the only way we can take them, yes. I think it's shameful to treat them this way-"
"Bah. Captain Blaine. Do you agree?"
Blaine stroked the bridge of his nose. "Yes, sir. Taking them is the lesser risk-if Moties are a threat, we can't prove it, and we may learn something from the ambassadors."
"My lady?"
"I agree with Dr. Horvath-"
"Thank you." Kutuzov seemed to be sucking lemons. His face puckered into near-agony. "Captain Mikhailov. You will make preparations for confinement of Moties. The fiction is risk of plague, but you will see that they ca
"Admiral, what about the gift ship?" Horvath asked. "Can't we take-" His voice trailed off, because there-was no one to speak to. The Admiral had stalked out of the wardroom.
45 The Crazy Eddie Jump
Kutuzov called it the Alderson point. MacArthur's refugees tended to call it the Crazy Eddie point, and some of Lenin's crew were catching the habit. It was above the plane of the Mote system, and usually rather hard to find.
It would be no problem this time.
"Just project the path of the Motie ship until it intersects the direct line between the Mote and Murcheson's Eye," -Re
"Motie astrogation is that efficient?" Mikhailov asked incredulously. -
"Yah. It's enough to drive you crazy, but they can do it. Assume constant acceleration."
"There is another ship approaching that point from the Mote," Kutuzov said. He reached past Captain Mikhailov to adjust the bridge screen controls, and vectors flashed in front of them. "It will not arrive until well after we have departed."
"Fuel ship," Re
"Not even me, you mean," Kutuzov said. Re
They had left the Trojan asteroids behind. Every scientist aboard wanted Lenin's telescopes to examine those asteroids and the Admiral had made no objections. It was not clear whether he feared a last-minute attack from the asteroids, or shared the civilians' wish to know everything about Moties, but Buckman and the others had their chance.
Buckman soon lost interest. The asteroids were thoroughly civilized and their orbits had been shaped. They weren't worth anything at all. The others didn't share that view. They watched the light of Motie fusion drives, measured neutrino fluxes from power stations, saw flecks of light that showed a dark spectrum around the chlorophyll green band, and wondered. Huge plant farms were under domes there-it was the only possible conclusion. And on every rock large enough- to see, there was the characteristic single crater proving conclusively that the asteroid had been moved.
Once Buckman regained his interest. He had been examining the asteroid orbits as a favor to Horvath; suddenly his eyes went blank. Then he feverishly punched codes into the computer and watched the results. "Incredible."
"What's incredible?" Horvath asked patiently.
"The Stone Beehive was dead cold."
"Yes." Horvath had experience drawing information out of Buckman.
"Assume the rest of the asteroids are. I believe it. Those orbits are perfect-project them back or forward as far as you like, they'll never have collisions. Those things could have been up there a long time." Horvath went away talking to himself. Just how old was that asteroid civilization? Buckman thought in stellar lifetimes! No wonder the Stone Beehive had been cold: the Moties made no orbit corrections. They just put them where they wanted them- Well, he thought, time to get back to the gift ship. It won't be long before we have to abandon it-wonder if Blaine's making any progress?
Rod and Sally were at the moment in conference with the Admiral. They met on the bridge: to the best of Rod's knowledge, no one but the Admiral and his steward had ever seen the inside of Kutuzov's cabin. Possibly not even the Admiral, as he seemed always to be on the bridge, watching the screens like any scope dote, perpetually looking for Mode treachery.