Fleet Commander tensed, his whiskers bristling. 'You suggest I would reveal military secrets. It is a poor host who mocks the honor of his guests.”
'No insult is intended, honored guest. We would not ask you for sensitive information. Of course you are free to decline any question. We are not seeking military advantage, but a fuller understanding of the situation. We hope to prevent another war.”
'Urrrhh.' The big cat relaxed, somewhat mollified. 'Under the circumstances I cannot dispute your fairness.' His ears twitched again.
Long felt relieved. An offended kzin whose honor didn't allow him to adapt to the situation was very difficult to deal with. Establishing the ground rules without antagonizing his subject was the most delicate part of his job. Sensitive questions would be asked, and refused at first. Once Fleet Commander felt at home with the situation his guard would go down and the refusals would come less often. Unsuspected information would be touched on. Whether further answers were forthcoming was irrelevant. What the kzin declined to volunteer would come out later with the hypnotics.
'You must be hungry; I will order food for us. A computer ident is being set up for you so that in future you can do so for yourself. We are also arranging for some prey animals. Meanwhile, I trust you will find fresh meat preferable to shipboard rations.' Long tapped his code into the terminal, keying in a request for a cold dinner – cooked meat would offend the kzin's sensitive nose – and ten pounds of raw beef.
'I am grateful for your hospitality. While we wait perhaps you could tell me what has become of my comrades aboard Silent Prowler.' The kzin's carefully neutral expression showed that he expected the answer, but Long still paused before answering. 'You were the only survivor. The commander of our destroyer says they fought well. I am sorry for your loss.”
'Hrrr. Chraz-Captain was one of the best in the fleet, his crew was of the highest caliber. They will be missed.”
Long filed the identity of the scoutship's captain for future reference. Perhaps it would provide another lead. 'You were fortunate to survive, Fleet Commander. Space is seldom so forgiving.”
'Seldom indeed, Major Long, but more often than the UNSN. I protest these needless deaths. Our mission was only observational, as allowed by treaty.' The kzin wasn't just lodging a grievance, he was testing, trying to find out how far he could push. Long warned himself to tread cautiously. Fleet Commander was an invaluable intelligence prize. His rapid adaptation to the situation suggested considerable resourcefulness.
'The treaty requires notification which was not given and omits the sensors which may be used. You were deeply in violation of Sols defensive sphere. When challenged you opened fire first. Though we regret the results we could have taken no other course.”
The kzin growled softly. 'Silent Prowler was a reconnaissance ship, posing no military threat to Sol System. We fought only because your interception precluded flight, and then only engaged to cover our withdrawal. Our mission began to discern any human war preparations and ended with human attack. Clearly those preparations are considerable or you would not have attacked us. My protest stands.”
'How can you accuse us of aggression? Humans were pacifists before the kzinti came.' Long hoped continuing the argument was the right move. He didn't want to antagonize his subject, but on the other hand the kzin had to come to see him as an equal. That wouldn't happen if he avoided this challenge. Then too, his prisoner had given the purpose of his mission unprompted. Perhaps in the heat of the moment he might reveal less obvious facts.
Fleet Commanders angry snarl took Long by surprise. 'Humans were pacifists because the alternative was self-extinction. You found it no difficulty to revert to killers when need arose. You fear kzinti because we are predators. We duel for honor and hunt for food and you say our race is violent and bloody. But no kzin has used conversion weapons on a population center. No kzin has ruptured the domes of a colony world. How many humans were killed when the UNSN attacked Wunderland? How many sentient species have you eliminated on Earth alone? It is we who should be trembling for having the temerity to attack such a race, May the Fanged God protect us from our folly!”
Long was shocked. His nose could not detect kzinti pheromones, but long experience had taught him how to read the nuances of the Hero's Tongue. Beneath his anger Fleet Commander was actually afraid. This was new and dangerous territory. Against his better judgment but desperately wanting to know the answer, he asked, 'How can a kzinti warrior fear humanity? We fight only to defend ourselves, we don't seek to conquer kzin space.”
Fleet Commander's voice no longer held fear. His fur bristled in barely controlled rage. 'Without thought you conquer what you don't desire. The Patriarch himself quakes to imagine humanity with its liver set for empire. Only a fool would not fear you. A single vr'pren couldn't cow the basest coward, but when they swarm by the eight-to- the-sixth-power they will strip the meat from the bravest warrior. I have read human histories, Major Long. Do you know what happened when Rome sacked Carthage? They slaughtered a populace of over a million. When they were through raping and pillaging they razed the city and burned the ruins and everything else for kilometers around and then they salted the earth so nothing could grow back. A conversion bomb would have been more merciful. Genghis Khan's warriors killed forty million humans with swords and arrows, one third of all who lived in his time. Is it any wonder you became pacifists when you developed weapons of mass destruction? Your planet would now be sterile had you not. You fear the kzin will exterminate you. You forget when you feared you would exterminate yourselves.”
Fleet Commander waited, his lips twitching around the edges of his fangs. His gaze demanded an answer but Long took time to collect his thoughts. He had to gain this kzin's trust and keep the conversation moving, not provoke his anger. He'd allowed his curiosity to lead him too deeply into this volatile topic. Caution was called for.
'Our history is a violent one; perhaps that is why we learned to control our instincts. Now we fight only when attacked Perhaps war with the Patriarchy has released those instincts but we are not true warriors as you are.' His words flattered the kzin without relinquishing his position. Hopefully they would provide a path towards common ground where Fleet-Commander's temper could be defused without loss of face.
'We are warriors and you are not, and yet we lose, again and again and again. You are an intelligence officer, Major Long. Tell me why you think we lose wars so persistently.' The kzin's gaze was unblinking and intense, like a cat watching a mouse for a wrong move, but his temper was back under control. Long took it as a good sign and answered carefully.
'Tactically you're brilliant. Your troops are brave, your commanders are resourceful. Perhaps this very heroism makes victory difficult when attack is not the best strategy.”
Fleet Commander slammed a fist against the desktop, his rage returned in full force. 'We scream and leap, isn't that how humans put it? Kzinti are so wildly aggressive they sacrifice victory for attack, Perhaps it has occurred to you to question how a species with countless generations of space combat experience could be so foolish. Perhaps you wonder why a race patient enough to spend twenty years mounting an invasion will not spend another five to ensure its success.' He slashed the air with his claws. 'Or do you confine yourself to speculating how such a race managed to master space travel at all?”
Long realized he was pushing himself back in his chair, his muscles rigid. The kzin had made no direct threat but the force of his speech had struck home. On Earth the popular media was full of outnumbered but courageous humans beating kzin invaders by exploiting their aggressiveness and stupidity. Some scholars even argued that the Kzin could never have developed their own technology. Long, more than anyone, knew better than that but five minutes earlier he would have said without a second thought that the kzin lost wars because they were overaggressive and understrategic, confident that his view was based solely on the facts. Fleet Commander's words had shaken that confidence. The implications were serious. After six wars humanity was smug, even arrogant in its assurance that it would always triumph. After all, the kzin had demonstrated time and again that they attacked before they'd developed the support needed to win. Debates raged about the morality of exterminating them to prevent future wars, but no one doubted the outcome if one should occur. But if the kzin knew their weak points, perhaps they could compensate for them. The next war might not be a repeat of the last one.
'Few humans ever see a real kzin. Those who do usually meet them in battle. A blind hunter must stalk by nose.' The kzin aphorism could mean almost anything. Long had given up trying to control the interview, deciding to simply follow where his subject led.
'Well, eyeless one, I shall show you the scent of kzin blood.' Fleet Commander's voice was controlled, holding
