It called for a celebration.
Selotta had neighbors who, believe it or not, wanted to meet us. So they came over that night, six of them, plus a couple of older children. Equipped with voice boxes. Things were somewhat tense at first until we all got used to one another. Mostly we talked politics. How life would be better if we could, as one of them said, 'stop the nonsense.' In the end we raised glasses of fruit juice to ourselves, Mutes and people, one for all and all for one. Mutes, by the way, do not toast happy occasions with liquid beverages the way we do. That may be because they've never discovered alcoholic drinks or anything else that distorts awareness. Maybe alcohol wouldn't work on them. I don't know. Alex thinks it's because of their telepathic dimension, that it would be bad form to introduce confusion into someone else's mind. Selotta had no idea why we would bother with such a pointless exercise. She added that she couldn't see that I had an explanation for it either. But they all played along. The neighbors thought the raising of the glasses a quaint custom, and I suspected if they could laugh, they'd have been doing so. So we drank to Ilya Frederick, who was our woman in the Confederacy and who would, we all hoped, be able to talk sense to the politicians. A female looked my way. She was young, and did not have a voice box. She and Selotta exchanged something. Then Selotta looked at me: 'Kasta says it is all right for me to tell you this. She thinks it is a pity that there are not more humans like you and Alex. She thinks you are the exceptions. And that your brothers and sisters cannot be trusted.' It didn't matter. They caught on, and we toasted everybody. After we'd drunk to Salud Afar, one of them, the biggest Mute I'd ever seen, offered his hope that something could be done for that unhappy world. 'As they have done something for us .' 'And what have they done for us?' Selotta asked, knowing the answer, I'm sure, but wanting it said aloud. 'Why,' he said, 'they brought us Chase and Alex.' He was a giant, and his name came out as Goolie, or something like that. He lived alone in a stone house just off the beach, Selotta explained. He'd been a teacher at one time, but now simply spent his time reading.
Kassel arrived while things were still going strong, and he happily joined the celebration. He'd heard the good news about the announcement from his own sources. We partied into the night. Dancing was something the Mutes didn't do well. In fact, they didn't do it at all. Their music didn't encourage it, but eventually Alex invited me onto the middle of the deck and we danced under the stars while the Mutes watched with whatever reactions they might have had. Later, in private, Selotta told me they'd grown somewhat alarmed because they'd feared it might be the prelude to
a sexual encounter. In plain sight. After all, she added, who knew what humans were capable of? 'But,' I said, 'they would have been privy to everything we were feeling. How could they think that?' 'That's the whole point,' she said. 'We did know what you were feeling.' 'Oh.' 'So who knew where it was going to lead? And, by the way, we have nothing against sex, even occasionally in public, but I don't think anyone would have been quite prepared for a display by two humans.' 'Right.' 'I'm sorry. I see I have offended you.' 'No, Selotta. Not at all.' The neighbors had gone home, and Alex and Kassel were outside on the deck doing man talk. 'It's good to have you here,' she said. 'Thank you.' 'You will forgive me, but humans are sometimes hard to understand. I know you would not willingly harm anyone.' 'That's so.' 'Are you a standard type?' 'Beg pardon?' 'Are your attitudes more or less typical of everybody?' 'I think so. You've visited Earth. What do you think?' 'It's too confusing to try to sort out a crowd.' I looked at her for a long time. 'I think most individuals are reasonable. And have no inclination to harm others.' 'Then how do you explain your history of wars? And criminal violence? I don't understand it-' 'I don't either. We tend to get together in groups, tribes , and we do things, and support actions, that we would never think of doing if we were alone.' I looked across at her. 'It's a characteristic we've never been entirely able to shake off.' Well,' she said, 'now that I think of it, I don't guess we're that much different.'
The AI maintained a search of the news channels for word that the Confederacy had reacted. The response came just before we retired for the evening. There wasn't much of it Alex and I could make out. Just a formally dressed Ashiyyurean seated comfortably in front of a mountain-scape portrait looking across the room at us while music played in the background and Selotta and Kassel picked up whatever message was being relayed. We knew it had become official when they turned and looked directly at us. 'Very good,' said Kassel. 'The Confederates will observe the cease-fire, and they express their hope that it will be possible to achieve a more permanent arrangement. They've even offered reparations for the Monsorrat incident.' The current round of fighting had been triggered by the destruction of the Mute cruiser Monsorrat with its escort at Khaja Luan. It had been carrying a diplomatic team when it was destroyed with all hands. Three of the four destroyers serving as its escort had also been damaged or destroyed. The attack appeared to have been inadvertent, the result of a communication breakdown, but that hadn't mattered very much. It seemed as if everything militated against a peaceful relationship. I mentioned the tribal theory to Alex that night as we were heading to bed, and he agreed that there was probably a lot of truth to it. 'Sometimes I think,' he said, 'there has to be an Other , an enemy against whom the tribe can rally. Check Haymakk Colonna,' he said. Colonna had famously remarked that peace between the Confederacy and the Mutes would come on the day they found a common enemy.
It was a bright hour in what had been an unrelentingly dark few months. Alex elected to forgo his daily visit to the museum. Maybe because Selotta was not scheduled in-or she'd taken the day off, I don't
remember which-but we were all seated out on the deck in weather she described as unseasonably cool. The windows were down, and the heating system was on. Giambrey had arrived just before breakfast, but he was consumed watching for more news and exchanging encrypted messages with his contacts on Rimway. They were, he said, waiting for an announcement from the Confederates that the fleet was being dispatched to help at Salud Afar. That would be seriously big news. 'They've still not committed themselves formally,' he said. Clouds drifted out of the west, the sky was growing dark, and rain was coming. 'High-level discussions are apparently under way,' he continued, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. 'We're hearing that Dellaconda, Seabright, and Camino are unhappy. They don't trust the Ashiyyur.' Alex admitted he understood their concerns. 'It's the same story you told us,' he said to Selotta. 'Politicians have been telling them for decades that the Ashiyyur can't be trusted, that they're savages. Now the politicians are telling them it's okay. We were just kidding.' He shook his head. 'They're border worlds. If there were an attack, they'd be first to be hit.' The stakes were high. Either side was easily capable of taking out entire worlds. Selotta turned in my direction. 'You're absolutely right, Chase,' she said. I hadn't said anything, but I was thinking how irrational it all was. The rain started and turned quickly into a downpour. A cold wind swept in off the ocean. Kassel called to ask whether we'd heard anything more. His sources wanted to know what the Confederates were going to do. There was talk the Ashiyyur might demand a summit meeting with the Executive Director of the Confederacy, Ariel Whiteside. That would allow them to determine his intentions. The rumor had apparently reached the Confederacy. Giambrey watched the story come in and closed his eyes. 'They won't permit a summit,' he said. 'Whiteside's given his word it won't happen.' 'Why not?' I asked. 'That seems like a simple solution to the problem. Let the Chief Minister see for himself what Whiteside is thinking.' 'That's exactly why they won't do it, Chase. They're arguing that telepathic skills give the Ashiyyur too much of an advantage.' 'That's sheer lunacy,' I said. We watched the storm beat against the windows. Alex leaned forward. 'Not really,' he said. 'They have a point. At some stage, somebody's simply going to have to take a chance.' Giambrey reacted to something he'd just read. 'What is it?' asked Alex. 'Toxicon's rep walked out. Don't know why.' The evening wore on, and the storm showed no sign of abating. Rain got swept against the house. Kassel got home late again and came in drenched. He arrived with a recommendation that we take a few days and do a tour. 'There are all sorts of historical and natural sites within easy reach of Provno. The Kaiman Cliffs look down into the deepest known canyon on any-' The discussion was cut short by another message to Giambrey. He read it, and smiled. Not an ordinary smile. But a wide grin with his fists in the air and his eyes blazing. 'Yes!' he said. And before anyone could ask: 'The Confederacy just voted to send assistance to Salud Afar.' That ignited a celebration. We hugged each other and screeched and generally carried on until the neighbors called over to ask what had happened. I visualized the fleet setting out, a thousand ships to the rescue, cruisers and destroyers and patrol craft and support vessels of all kinds. Even then it might not be enough, but it would damn sure give Kilgore a fighting chance. I don't know that I had ever felt more ecstatic. It was the high point of my life. It was the reason Alex and I had gone to Salud Afar. No, more than the reason: We'd gone to solve a mystery, and maybe save a few lives, if it turned out that anyone was actually in danger. I think we had both suspected that Vicki had developed a mental problem, and that in the end we would go back with only that knowledge for our trouble.
