Страница 92 из 132
"You are finished?" Kutuzov asked contemptuously.
"I'm finished for now. I won't be finished when we get back."
Kutuzov touched a button on the arm of his chair. "Captain Mikhailov, please make ready for departure to the Alderson entry point. One and one-half gravities, Captain."
"Aye aye, sir."
"You are determined to be a damn fool, then," Horvath protested. "Blaine, can't you reason with him?"
"I am determined to carry out my orders, Doctor," Kutuzov said heavily. If Horvath's threats meant anything to him, he didn't show it. The Admiral turned to Rod. "Captain, I will welcome your advice. But I will do nothing to compromise safety of this ship, and I ca
Rod had listened to the conversation without interest, his thoughts a confused blur. What could I have done? He asked himself endlessly. There was nothing else to concern him. The Admiral might ask his advice, but that was courtesy. Rod had no command and no duties. His ship was lost; his career finished- Brooding in self-pity wasn't doing any good, though. "I do think, sir, that we should try to keep the Moties' friendship. We shouldn't make the Government's decisions..."
"You are saying I do that?" Kutuzov demanded.
"No, sir. But it is likely the Empire will want to trade with the Mote. As Dr. Horvath says, they have done nothing hostile."
"What of your midshipmen?"
Rod swallowed hard. "I don't know, sir. Possibly Potter or Whitbread weren't able to control their lifeboats and Staley tried a rescue. It would be like him-"
Kutuzov scowled. "Three lifeboats, Captain. All three reenter, and all three burn." He examined the displays around him. A boat was being winched into Lenin's hangar deck, where Marines would flood it with poison gas. No aliens would get loose in his flagship! "What would you like to say to Moties, Doctor?"
"I won't tell them what I'd like to say, Admiral," Horvath said pointedly. "I will stay with your story of plague. It's almost true, isn't it? A plague of miniatures. But, Admiral, we must leave open the possibility of a returning expedition."
"They will know you lie to them," Kutuzov said flatly. "Blaine, what of that? Is better Moties hear explanations they do not- believe?"
Damn it, doesn't he know I don't want to think about Moties? Or anything else? What good is my advice? Advice front a man who lost his ship- "Admiral, I don't see what harm it would do to let Minister Horvath speak to the Moties," Rod emphasized "Minister"; not only was Horvath a ranking Council Minister, but he had powerful co
"Very well. Da. Captain Mikhailov, please have communications call Mote embassy ship. Dr. Horvath will speak to them."
The screens lit to show a brown-and-white half-smiling face. Rod grimaced, then glanced up quickly to confirm that his own image pickup wasn't on.
The Motie looked at Horvath. "Fyunch(click)."
"Ah. I was hoping to speak to you. We are leaving now. We must."
The Motie's expression didn't change. "That seemed obvious, but we are very distressed, Anthony. We have much more to discuss, trade agreements, rental of bases in your Empire-"
"Yes, yes, but we haven't the authority to sign treaties or trade agreements," Horvath protested. "Really, we did accomplish a lot, and now we have to go. There was plague on MacArthur, something new to our doctors, and we don't know the focal infection center or the vector. And since this ship is our only way home, the Ad-our decision makers think it best we leave while there is a full astrogation crew. We'll be back!"
"Will you come yourself?" the Motie asked.
"If at all possible. I'd love to." He had no trouble sounding sincere about that.
"You will be welcome. All humans will be welcome. We have great hopes for trade between our races, Anthony. There is much we can learn from each other. We have gifts as well-can you not take them on your ship?"
"Why, thank you-I-" Horvath looked at Kutuzov. The Admiral was about to explode. He shook his head violently.
"It would not be wise," Horvath said sadly. "Until we know what caused the plague, it is best we add nothing we have not already been exposed to. I'm very sorry."
"So am I, Anthony. We have noted that your engineers are-how can I put this delicately? Are not so advanced as ours in many ways. Underspecialized, perhaps. We have thought partially to remedy this with our gifts."
"I-excuse me a moment," Horvath said. He turned to Kutuzov after switching off the sound pickup. "Admiral, you ca
The Admiral nodded slowly. His dark eyes narrowed. "It is also true that Moties in possession of Langston Field and Alderson Drive may be most significant threat in history of human race, Minister Horvath."
"I'm aware of it," Horvath snapped. He turned the sound pickup on. "I am afraid that-"
The Motie interrupted. "Anthony, can you not inspect our gifts? You may take pictures of them, learn them well enough to duplicate them later. Surely that would be no danger to persons who have been on the Mote planet itself?"
Horvath thought furiously. He had to have those! The pickup was switched off, and Horvath smiled thinly at the Admiral. "He's right, you know. Can't we put them in the cutter?"
Kutuzov seemed to taste sour milk. Then he nodded. Horvath turned back to the Mode in relief. "Thank you. If you will place the gifts in the cutter, we will study them on the way out and you may retrieve both the gifts and the cutter, our gift to you, at the Crazy Eddie point in two and a half weeks." -
"Excellent," the Motie said warmly. "But you will not need the cutter. One of our gifts is a space craft with controls suitable for human hands and minds. The others will be aboard it."
Kutuzov looked surprised and nodded quickly. Horvath caught it with an inward smile. "That's wonderful. We will bring gifts for you on our return. We want very much to repay your hospitality-"
Admiral Kutuzov was saying something. Horvath leaned away from the screen pickup to listen. "Ask about the midshipmen," the Admiral commanded.
Horvath gulped and said, "Is there any other word about our midshipmen?"
The Mode's voice took on a pained note. "How could there be, Anthony? They were killed attempting reentry, and their craft burned away completely. We have sent you pictures, did you not receive them?"
"Uh-I didn't see them, Horvath replied. Which was true, but it didn't make saying it any easier. The damned Admiral didn't believe anything! What did he think, that the boys were captured somewhere and being tortured for information? "I'm sorry, I was instructed to ask."
"We understand. Humans are very concerned about their young decision makers. So are Moties. Our races do have much in common. It has been good to speak with you again, Anthony. We hope you will return soon."
An alarm flashed on the bridge consoles. Admiral Kutuzov frowned and listened attentively to something Horvath couldn't hear. Simultaneously a speaker a
The Motie had evidently overheard. She said, "The gift ship is quite capable of catching up with you, provided you do not accelerate at more than"-there was a pause as the Mode listened to something-"three of your gravities."
Horvath shot an inquiring eye at the Admiral. The officer was brooding heavily, evidently about to say something. Instead he nodded to Horvath. "One and a half of our gees for this trip," Horvath told the Motie.