"What is truth, bai Suth?"

Nostrils closed. "According to fact"

Koch nodded slowly. "I perceive something of your thinking, then. Is there, Dr. Averson, a regul word for honest?" honest?"

"In business, the word alch . . . alch . . . meaning evenly balanced advantage or observation, or something like. Value for value, we say." meaning evenly balanced advantage or observation, or something like. Value for value, we say."

"Mutual profit," Suth said. "We can spend much time at these comparative exercises, reverence. Favor, consider our position in orbit about this world. We are in range of these cities, which you imagine to be safe. I strongly urge a reconsideration."

"What would the regul wish?"

"Negation of the hazard here."

"Ethical considerations forbid. Or is that another word that doesn't translate?"

There was a silence from the other side. Koch looked at Aver-son. Averson muttered a regul word.

"We understand," said Suth. "We also respond to instincts."

"Sir," said Degas, "I think abstracts are in the way."

"Yes," said Suth, and grinned broadly.

Koch frowned at Degas, nodded slowly. "So the bai is concerned for our safety and that of home s.p.a.ce. So are we."

"How much time, bai Koch, how much time? This youngling Duncan . . . how much have you given him?"

"A human matter, bai."

"We are allies."

"We are waiting."

"Humans walk very quickly. This youngling has taken far more days than needed to reach Flower Flower after the attack. This evidences misfortune ... or lack of cooperation on the part of this youngling. True?" after the attack. This evidences misfortune ... or lack of cooperation on the part of this youngling. True?"

"Do you have information on him, him, bai?" bai?"

"No. Nor do you. Fact?"

"We simply wait."

"How long do you wait?"

"Does it matter?"

"Mri have had time to prepare response, bai Koch. Does this seem wise, to afford them this? They have weapons."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not."

"You balance all home s.p.a.ce on this perhaps, perhaps, bai." bai."

"We are aware of the hazard."

"If they fire-"

"We adjust policy."

Suth clamped his bony lips shut, exhaled long and softly. "We are your allies. We, we are not a fighting people. We are your very safe neighbors, rich in trade, in mutual profit And will you trade us for mri? Go home, bai. Leave this matter to us if your instincts forbid you to settle it You know that we do not lie. We have no interest in hiring mri."

"It isn't likely that you could, is it, reverence?"

"The situation does not make agreement likely."

"Doubtless not Nor was the fact that bai Sham destroyed peace messages from them and deliberately deceived us."

"The messages themselves were deceptive."

"I thought regul did not hypothesize."

"We do not leap across dataless voids. The intent of the messages was to delay your response and encourage your near approach to the world without firing. You are alive; you might now be dead. Consider this hypothesis, bat"

"We do, in all respects."

"How long will you wait on this youngling?"

"Our patience is not yet exhausted."

"We remain, then, in danger. The dead worlds; think on them; and what if there is a mri fleet loose; and what if it comes on us here?"

"Regul imagination?"

"We make hypotheses based on data and experience. Both indicate mri are apt to wild actions which do not take into account their personal survival. We suggest you set Saber Saber a little farther out in the system; one of our two ships can hover over a little farther out in the system; one of our two ships can hover over Flower Flower for its safety since you insist on its remaining on the surface; one of us can scan the other side of the world. We have not been sharing data. I suggest we do so, to our mutual benefit" for its safety since you insist on its remaining on the surface; one of us can scan the other side of the world. We have not been sharing data. I suggest we do so, to our mutual benefit"

"We at least have a basis for discussion."

Suth let go a great breath. "So, indeed, I invite the human bai to my ship."

"No."

"Basis?"

"Nature of human patterns of command, bai; I have to stay near my own machines. We're not as highly automated."

Suth's nostrils puffed. Whether he believed this or whether a regul could doubt a plain declaration . . . remained uncertain.

"Compromise," Suth said. "We discuss through channels. We may also consider opening channels between Flower Flower and our own onworld mission." and our own onworld mission."

"You do have an onworld mission."

"Why not, reverend ally? Why should we not? A closer cooperation, I say."

Koch frowned. "I shall take it under advis.e.m.e.nt, bai Suth. I think we are at that point. What What regul activity onworld?" regul activity onworld?"

"When we have Flower Flower data, we shall give you ours." data, we shall give you ours."

"When we have yours we will consider the matter."

"Simultaneous exchange?"

That put it untidily fair. Koch felt the burden on himself, denied it with a hissed breath the regul might understand. "What might you have? Scan data? Our own is highly efficient."

"You have more?"

"Might." Regul feared not knowing, Averson had advised him; it seemed valid, for Suth showed discomfiture at that suggestion.

"Neither of us knows what the other has," Suth said.

"I will consult with my own staff, bai Suth. Doubtless you will want to consult with yours."

Suth's nostrils puffed back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly the grin reappeared. "Excellent, reverence bai. Soon, another conference, in which we hope specific proposals. Younglings, move. Your favor, bai."

"Favor, reverence." Koch leaned elbows on his desk, stared at the flurry of motion as the ma.s.sive sled trundled toward the door and the waiting escort, and the younglings hastened after. Koch shifted a glance toward their own two superfluous aides, dismissing them to join the group outside. They understood and went without oral command.

The regul left a musty scent behind them. They had gotten it cleared out of the ship and it was back again. Koch had not begun by hating it, but it produced now a tautness in his gut, memories of tense encounters and regul smiles.

He slid a glance to Degas as the door closed, pushed away the cooling cup of soi, the taste of which he a.s.sociated with the smell. Degas offered nothing, discreetly blank. He looked at Averson.

"Advice," he said.

"My advice." Averson wiped at his mouth and felt after some object in his pocket, patted it as if to be sure it was there. "I have given it, sir."

"Your opinion on what you just heard."

Averson moistened his lips. "The maneuverings of their ship . . . this forward and back, forward and back, the eluding of watch; this is what I said . . . bluff. They have a word for it, somewhere between status and a.s.sertion. They are here to a.s.sert themselves after their crisis."

"Or they're screening some operation. They're very anxious to have us move."

"a.s.sertion. Ask more than you can get; provoke and study the reaction."

"That can get men killed down there, doctor. Or worse."

"This is a new doch, this Horag. A new power. A totally new ent.i.ty in control. They're distressed by this long silence on our part; they lost an elder here, and that confounded all bargains, because that elder was replaced by a different doch entirely. They deal only in memory; and the murder of an elder . . . they remember vividly. They need some current reaction from us, some approach, some substance against which they can plan policy. Remember that they can't imagine, sir. And we don't know what Horag remembers."

"What difference?" Koch asked impatiently. "They were all on one ship."

"A lot of difference, sir. A great deal of knowledge was lost with Sham. This youngling comes out of a different pool of knowledge. His entire reality is different."

"I leave that to the psych lads. My question is what specifically will he do? What is he likely to do in the matter with Flowerr" Flowerr"

Averson's hands were visibly trembling. He extracted a bottle of pills from his pocket. . . . Koch stared at the performance critically; jump-stress, maybe. There were younger men in that condition among them.

"You have to give them data to convince them of cooperation," Averson said. "But no, sir, they haven't gone down there because your threat is believed. They believe the line you've drawn." Averson tucked the pill into his mouth, put the bottle away, an annoyingly meticulous process with shaking hands. "If they fear too much they could also leave this star. Break down the whole treaty arrangement by going back to home s.p.a.ce and reporting a human-mri alliance. Fact is, we don't know that mri and humans are the only sapient life regul are in contact with. We don't know that any exist. We don't know anything about what lies inside or the other side of regul s.p.a.ce. And we know this one direction, where all the worlds but this one are dead; and we need to get back, sir. If no one gets back who'll tell it?"

Koch leaned chin on his locked hands and frowned. There were things not spread to Averson's level . . . that Saber Saber might not be the sole mission; that Kesrith would send out another, and another . . . desperate to have an answer. The way to the mri homeworld was the mri's secret, and humanity's, and regul . . . when might not be the sole mission; that Kesrith would send out another, and another . . . desperate to have an answer. The way to the mri homeworld was the mri's secret, and humanity's, and regul . . . when Shirug Shirug reached home . . . their secret too. And if a human marker were not in place broadcasting peace to ships which came . . . human ships would move in with force. It might take time; second missions might go world by world, years upon years in searching dead worlds; they had followed mri, quick and desperate. But come they would, if humans feared enough, if men and equipment sufficed to hurl out here. reached home . . . their secret too. And if a human marker were not in place broadcasting peace to ships which came . . . human ships would move in with force. It might take time; second missions might go world by world, years upon years in searching dead worlds; they had followed mri, quick and desperate. But come they would, if humans feared enough, if men and equipment sufficed to hurl out here.

"Dr. Averson, ... I appreciate your effort I'd appreciate a written a.n.a.lysis of the transcript for our files. Things have a way of coming clear when they're written. If you would do that."

"Yes, sir," Averson replied. He looked much calmer, looked left at Degas as if to learn whether this was dismissal.

"Good day, doctor," Koch said, waited patiently as Averson made his awkward and slow retreat, with backward glances as though he would gladly have stayed.

"Opinion," Koch said to Degas.

Degas locked his hands across his belly, relaxed in his chair. "Cautious credence. I share your apprehensions about the bai; but there is merit in their position and in their offers."

"I reckon they've read the scan also. They know those cities are live again; that's what's brought them running. The question is whether they know about Galey."

"Possibly. Possibly not," Degas said. "Our strong warning has had some effect, I believe."

"On Flowers Flowers safety, yes. We still haven't accounted for their own operation, and the only possible motive their mission can have is provocation." safety, yes. We still haven't accounted for their own operation, and the only possible motive their mission can have is provocation."

"Observation."

"Possibly"

"They aren't physically capable of getting into the sites. Chances are they suspect some operation like Galey's. We might calm them by feeding them Galey's reports openly; but I doubt they would put much weight on them."

TBecause their decision is already firm."

Degas frowned; by his face he wanted to say something, finally gestured and did so. "Sir, I would suggest that we're also operating under subconscious bias."

"Meaning?"

"The regul are repulsive, aren't they? No one likes them; the crew shies from them. It's an emotional reaction, I'm afraid. There's nothing lovely about them. But the fact is, the regul are nonviolent. They are safe neighbors. Of course the mri are appealing; humans find their absolutisms attractive. They have instincts that almost overlap our own ... or seem to; they're handsome to human eyes. But they're dangerous, sir; the most cold-blooded killers ever let loose. Incompatible with all other life. We learned that over forty b.l.o.o.d.y years. Regul don't look n.o.ble; they aren't, by our rules; they'll cheat, given the chance . . . but in terms of property, not weapons. They would be good neighbors. We can can understand them. Their instincts overlap ours too; and we don't like to look at that. Not nearly so attractive as the mri. But the end result of regul civilization is trade and commerce spread over all their territories. And we've had a first-hand look at the result of mri civilization too . . . the dead worlds." understand them. Their instincts overlap ours too; and we don't like to look at that. Not nearly so attractive as the mri. But the end result of regul civilization is trade and commerce spread over all their territories. And we've had a first-hand look at the result of mri civilization too . . . the dead worlds."

Koch made a face. It was truth, though something in it was sour in his belly. "But it's rather like what Duncan said, isn't it, Del that we shape ourselves by what we do here. We become . . . what we do here."

Degas's face went flat and cold. He shook his head. "If we kill here, ... we stop them. We stop them flat It's our doing; it doesn't go any farther than than that. We have to take the responsibility." that. We have to take the responsibility."

"And we we become the killers we kill to stop, eh? Paradox, isn't it? We can sneak out of here regul-fashion and let the regul become the killers; or do our own killing, and how will regul look on us then, a species that looks like the mri, that could do what the mri did? Another paradox. What's the human answer to this situation?" become the killers we kill to stop, eh? Paradox, isn't it? We can sneak out of here regul-fashion and let the regul become the killers; or do our own killing, and how will regul look on us then, a species that looks like the mri, that could do what the mri did? Another paradox. What's the human answer to this situation?"

"Side with the peaceful side," Degas said too quickly, like a man with his mind long made up. "Blow this place."

Koch sat and stared at him, thinking that the connection of those two ideas was not half so mad as might be. Not here. Not with mri.

"Pull up Galey's mission," Degas urged him. "And Flower Flower too. You can't entirely stop the regul from prodding about down there. Regul do that, keep pushing a situation. Humans can deal with that. Mri..." too. You can't entirely stop the regul from prodding about down there. Regul do that, keep pushing a situation. Humans can deal with that. Mri..."

"You're still taking for granted mri control those weapons."