It did not say anything else, and neither did the other Masters, but as Martin turned and began walking toward the entrance, they remained standing, silent, motionless and with their swords held high in salute until he had passed from sight.
On Teldi, he had belatedly realized, silence was approval. It meant that there was no dissenting voice.
Chapter 12
EVEN though Martin was certain that he had done the right thing on Teldi, he knew that his actions and decisions had been high-handed to say the least, so that he spent the return trip worrying in case their supervisor, or the Galactics placed in authority above it, would show themselves less certain than he was. While insisting that it was silly to be so concerned about something which might never happen, Beth helped him worry.
But in the event, it was clear that there was nothing to worry about, because at the conclusion of the post- mission debriefing they were given another assignment.
YOUR PROCEDURES WERE UNORTHODOX AND SEVERAL RULES WERE CONTRAVENED REGARDING SHIP HANDLING AND FIRST-CONTACT DIRECTIVES, BUT TO GOOD EFFECT. THE REPORT. ASSESSMENT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGUARDING THE TELDIN SYSTEM HAVE BEEN APPROVED.
WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT, THE ENTITY MARTIN, SERVICE IDENTITY MJC/221/5501 IS PROMOTED NON- CITIZEN CONTACT SPECIALIST LEVEL THREE. THE ENTITY BETH, ECM/221/4977 IS APPOINTED NON-CITIZEN SHIP HANDLER, LEVEL ONE. YOU ARE TO BE COMPLIMENTED.
SINCE YOUR FORMAL TRAINING IS NOW COMPLETE, YOU WILL HENCEFORTH REGARD ME AS YOUR SUPERVISOR AND NOT YOUR TUTOR. YOU ARE NO LONGER TRAINEES, BUT HOPEFULLY YOU WILL CONTINUE TO LEARN.
Martin did not know if their supervisor was capable of audible speech, since it was the rule that all inter- species communications were by the printed word. But he knew sarcasm when he saw it, and remained silent.
SYSTEM TRL/5/11765/G3 AWAITS YOUR ATTENTION. THE DETAILS HAVE BEEN RECORDED FOR LATER STUDY.
QUESTIONS?
“Is this planet’s dominant life form to be contacted,” Martin asked, “and its suitability or otherwise assessed for membership in the Federation?”
CORRECT. BUT ONLY IF YOU FIND THE DOMINANT LIFE FORM TO BE INTELLIGENT.
“Surely that was a job for the searchships,” Martin protested. “Ours is to decide whether or not they are nice people. And why does this assignment follow so closely on the Teldi job? Is it urgent?”
IT IS NOT URGENT. THE ASSIGNMENT IS TO CONFIRM THE FINDINGS OF AN EARLY SEARCH-SHIP INVESTIGATION WHICH DECLARED THE PLANET FREE OF INDIGENOUS INTELLIGENT LIFE, SO THAT TRU5/11765/G3 CAN BE REMOVED FROM OUR LISTS OF WORLDS REQUIRING ATTENTION.
THE ENVIRONMENT IS SUCH THAT THE EARTH-HUMAN SENSORIUM WILL FIND IT RESTFUL, ‘ QUIET, AND VISUALLY PLEASING. PROVIDING BASIC PROTECTIVE MEASURES ARE TAKEN, THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY BE REGARDED AS A VACATION AND A REWARD FOR THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE TELDI OPERATION. DEPART WHEN CONVENIENT.
On this planet it was a different kind of silence from that on Teldi, the silence of fear rather than respect. The insects did not hum, the birds did not sing, and the creatures that they could see, large and small alike, made sounds which had to be amplified to be detectable at all. Only the wind, which had no natural enemies to fear, sighed quietly as it stirred the vegetation.
The silence was contagious.
Without speaking, Martin pointed toward two small, lizardltke creatures who were tearing each other to pieces with such quiet ferocity that it was difficult to tell which limbs belonged to which. Beside him, Beth lowered her image enhancing visor to look at them more closely.
“It’s quiet,” she whispered, “but there isn’t much peace.”
Immediately the two combatants broke off hostilities and moved rapidly and very quietly away-plainly startled by the sound of her whisper-to resume their battle some fifty meters further up the hill Beth and Martin had been climbing.
He sent their protector ahead to make sure that none of the larger predators were waiting silently for them on the other slope.
They had studied the surface of the planet from orbit and during lower level atmospheric flights in the lander. It was an Earthlike world seemingly devoid of indigenous intelligent life. The vegetation was varied, beautiful, and, unlike the fauna, nonaggressive. The largest life form, although too heavily equipped with natural weapons to be effective against members of their own species, were fast enough on their six enormous feet to ensure that their diet was not exclusively vegetarian. Fortunately the species was not numerous, so that it was unlikely that they would become a serious inconvenience during a half-hour stroll.
“The whole planet is like this,” he said, stooping to touch one of the gorgeous blooms. “We’re wasting our time here.”
They had climbed to the top of the hill before Beth replied. “We’ve been ordered to waste our time here, remember, so just relax and enjoy the scenery… Oh-oh.”
He looked up to see that their protector, which had been hovering like an enormous metal insect about a quarter of a mile away, was rushing toward them flashing its warning lights. It was moving only slightly faster than one of the large predators which was coming at them from their right flank.
Running in any direction would simply have complicated the job of rescue by the robot, but it was incredibly difficult to stand still while that outsized predator was bearing down on them.
If anything, it resembled an Earth elephant, Martin thought, but with six padded feet and nearly twice the body mass. Two long trunks were mounted laterally above a mouth which could have been transplanted from an outsize shark. Although fast-moving, it had a jerky, hobbling gait caused by its peculiar leg motion. A fraction of a second before touching the ground, each foot hesitated so that three of the others were supporting the creature’s weight and thrusting it forward while the remaining limbs were lifting to continue the cycle. Whether moving fast or slow, it had the ability to place each foot in turn with the minimum of sound and ground vibration.
While it was charging up the slope toward them, Martin found it difficult to believe that it represented a real threat-he had the ridiculous idea that it was simply a tri-di recording with the sound turned off, and at any moment an instructor’s voice would draw their attention to the interesting anatomical details. Then sound and reality returned as the protection vehicle dropped to the ground with a most unsilent thump between them and their attacker, and they dived through the open entry hatch.
The charging predator struck the other side of the vehicle so hard that they were knocked off their feet. They picked themselves off the floor and tried vainly to strap in as the creature lashed at the upper hull with its twin trunks. The vehicle dropped to the ground, immobilized as its gravity cushion died, and the damage to the external sensors left half of the vision screens showing only white snow. Malfunction lights were winking all over the control console, and they could hear the creature climbing onto the top of the hull.
“What are you waiting for, dammit?” Martin yelled. “Blast it, before it beats you into a heap of scrap!”
One of the still operable screens lit with the reply.
I AM RELUCTANT TO DESTROY THIS CREATURE BECAUSE IT IS A MALE MEMBER OF A SUBSPECIES WHICH IS CLOSE TO EXTINCTION. DAMAGE SUSTAINED SO FAR IS WITHIN THE CAPACITY OF MY SELF-REPAIR
