Treaty at Doona

by Anne McCaffrey

  “What?” Mllaba replied, deeply troubled. “How could he? Hrruba has sought such advances for centuries.”

  “But a fresh eye,” Hurrhee said in a grunting whisper, “may see things a jaded one cannot. I am most enthusiastic about pursuing this discussion. And Sixth Speaker for Production was eager that I should continue.”

  “If the Hayumans suspect what aim you serve, they will be in possession of valuable information regarding gr—that technology,” Mllaba said sternly. “Discredit anything which comes too close.”

  Hurrhee shook his graying mane, disbelievingly. “But should these things be secrets, madam? Science is the only universal language which cannot lie. Sooner or later they might deduce it on their own. The Hayumans seek it now, and I believe the Gringg have a fair idea that purralinium is what powers the grid systems. The large female has asked several leading questions. I hate to keep putting her off, since who knows what advances she may lead us to?”

  “But it could be advances the Hayumans might be able to share to the disadvantage of Hrruba, and that must not be. Our secrets must remain our own. Can you not equivocate?”

  “No,” Hurrhee said bluntly, but still in a whisper. “The facts would swiftly bear against me. There is more. A few of the naval Hayumans are quite upset about it, and in fact tried to speak out against open discussion.”

  “Could you tell what the subject was?”

  Hurrhee shook his head slightly. “I think it had to do with spaceship technology, maximizing poor resources for greatest effect. It may well be, madam, that both our technologies are short of essential metals to increase our respective transportation mediums. In my deepest heart, I feel cooperation, total cooperation, would benefit us more than the current secrecies.”

  Mllaba eyed him coldly. “Then it is as well that you are not in any position to make policy,” she said in a voice devoid of expression. “Follow the instructions given you and do not deviate.”

  “Madam,” Hurrhee replied with great dignity, “how can I, in my capacity as a leading scientist, ignore the chance to gain advantages which will result in massive leaps forward in many fields? I must know what these Gringg have to say, and to do so, I must be honest.”

  “Honesty!” Mllaba was astonished. “What is that when our security is at stake?”

  “False security, I would say,” Hurrhee replied haughtily. Mllaba didn’t trust herself to speak further. An outburst here would only serve to disgrace her office and that of the Speaker she served. Angrily, she pushed back her chair and stalked out. Hurrhee watched her depart, then returned to his discussion.

  “Ah, Koala,” he said, pleasantly. “Now, where were we?”

  * * *

  “Hrrestan, may I speak to you?”

  At Second Speaker’s voice, the Hrruban co-administrator glanced up from a stack of angry messages scattered across his desk, then rose hastily to his feet. The older male seemed agitated. “But of course, Honored Speaker. Please be seated. How may I serve you?”

  The Hrruban settled himself into the padded chair opposite and attempted to compose his thoughts. “May I take you into my confidence, Hrrestan? You have always held the Hrruban cause dear.”

  “This sounds ominous, Speaker Hrrto,” Hrrestan said, infusing a light tone into his voice. “It is true. I act for the best of all Hrrubans, but also to secure prosperity for my Hayuman neighbor.”

  “My request does not run counter to either of those purposes,” Hrrto said. “You are aware of the scientific conference going on in the Treaty Center?”

  Hrrestan inclined his head. “But of course. Your interest honors us. What is your request?”

  “It is not a simple one to explain. I must tell you I disapprove of the openness which pervades there. Instead of discussing generalities, as I thought the conference was meant to do, the participants seem to have gone straight on to sensitive topics, discussing engineering and space sciences as if they were exchanging recipes.”

  “Scientists do tend to become enthusiastic about their pet topics,” Hrrestan said. “If you wanted them to learn only names and formulae, that could have been done with simple teaching tapes, instead of allowing free-thinking beings to participate. The Gringg have their own sciences, some in advance of ours, from what I have been told. Evidently our own inventors and technicians have discovered they can proceed quickly to the satisfyingly and interestingly complex.”

  “No! That is not the way it should be operating,” Second insisted, raising his voice almost to a shout. He stopped, surprised at his own lack of prudence. “There are reasons why we should be more discreet. I . . . I cannot be more candid at this time, but I am greatly worried that indiscretion reigns with creatures unknown to us a mere four weeks ago.” Second Speaker allowed his alarm to color his tone, then controlled himself and went on firmly. “We take quantum leaps before we understand walking with them as partners. So much is at stake here.”

  “Indeed, but what exactly alarms you so?” Hrrestan asked earnestly.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “From what I have heard, there has been accord and much exchange of information among our scientists, while others are busily discussing trade agreements. What specific problem agitates you so, Second Speaker?”

  “Mllaba has been attending on my behalf while I dealt with the diplomatic immunity affair,” Hrrto said in a testy tone; he had the right to use his assistant as an information gatherer. Hrrestan did not react adversely. Perhaps he, too, had spies. “Her sources suggest that the Gringg may have already deduced the workings of our grid transport system!” He paused to let Hrrestan absorb the significance of that before he continued. “We know they have impure purralinium on offer as barter. We must obtain all, all of the material. We cannot allow the Hayumans to have any. Surely I do not need to remind you why.”

  “Pure purralinium is also on offer, and the Hayumans seem much more interested in that,” Hrrestan said soothingly. “They like quality and insist on the purest assays.”

  “But the danger exists, and you should know by now how Hayumans can grasp a single word and end up with a statement! If they ever connected the impure purralinium with our grid technology—!” Second Speaker threw his hands up at the thought of such a catastrophe. “Mllaba has tried to slow the talks or divert them from discussions that would inevitably lead to its disclosure, but she has been unsuccessful. These scientists are so single-minded! Therefore, you must disband the science conference!”

  “I must not do that. For shame, Speaker Hrrto,” Hrrestan said, his large eyes flashing. “For shame that you will not allow the Gringg to prove themselves as strong and supportive allies. If they can deduce our poor technology by casual examination—as our Hayuman friends have never yet managed to do—and yet have offered their friendship and their assistance instead of taking advantage of us, you should be pleased and grateful instead of treating them with distaste and fear. I shall be proud to have them as friends, which is much more preferable than making them rivals or potential enemies. As you have said, I support Hrruba, and I say that Hrruba would benefit greatly by frank and honest interaction with such a race.”

  Hrrto regrouped his arguments. “But you do not fear them yourself? You do not find their size frightening?”

  “Not at all,” Hrrestan said, his jaw dropping in a slight smile. “Their voices are annoying, but they cannot help that. We become accustomed, and nape hair no longer rises when they speak too loudly. If they are large of stature, what of it? They are intelligent, caring beings. Yesterday, at the incitement of my grandchild, one of the Gringg picked me up and held me in the air like an infant. You were at the barbecue; you might have seen it yourself. It was a game—the two of them were playing together, and yet the Gringg is the size of a large hrrss. My rambunctious grandson considered him a playmate. If my children and their offspring trust them, can I do less? Children are most intuitive. The Gringg v
alue the same things we do, hold life as dearly. I find a great basis of mutual understanding already.”

  “I see,” Hrrto said slowly, realizing that he could form no alliance with this person. “Thank you, Hrrestan. It has been most instructive speaking with you.”

  Hrrestan rose and bowed deeply. “I am always glad to be of service.”

  * * *

  Hrrto left the Government House and made his way to the grid in the heart of the First Village. The mist obscured his vision for a moment, matching the muzziness of his thoughts. Hrrestan had always appeared such a sensible Stripe, even if he seemed to have wasted his opportunities, choosing to be a mere co-leader on an agricultural planet. Furthermore, nothing Hrrto had seen or heard of the Gringg, even the unfortunate hrrss accident, contradicted their contention of pacific nature. The horrific tape shown to him by Spacedep seemed more and more of a fantasy. And they had purralinium.

  Throughout the weeks since the Gringg had arrived, Mllaba harped at him that revealing the Gringg’s inherent evil would serve to propel him into his world’s highest honor. Yet he continually temporized and did not reveal the existence of that damning tape. At this moment, he too had difficulty seeing them as evil. And yet, if he was wrong, he was risking the destruction of a Hrruban colony. He had almost told Hrrestan about the tape. Would that omission cost lives?

  Few people of any species were in the corridor of the Federation Center. Hrrto walked soft-footed into the Council Chamber and took the same seat he had occupied the day of the trade negotiations. The chamber was empty, for which he was grateful. He wanted solitude to mull over the conversation with Hrrestan.

  In the final analysis, Hrruba had to have whatever purralinium the Gringg had! He could even use that as his excuse for withholding vital evidence.

  * * *

  “But why, Tom?” Todd asked, puzzled and unhappy. The emigration request Tom Prafuli had just handed him was possibly the worst document to cross his desk. A totally unexpected and unwelcome surprise.

  Tom Prafuli pushed the sheets toward Todd. His solemn, dark brown eyes were mournful. “Just sign the emigration order, will you, Todd? Don’t take it personal. Get it over with.”

  The colony co-administrator took the pages in both hands and met the other man’s gaze. “Tom, we’ve been friends for more than twenty years. We grew up together; we suffered through university exams together. I don’t want to see you take off on an impulse like this.”

  “It’s no impulse,” Prafuli said, straightening his thin shoulders. “Sigrid and I talked it out all night, but a month of nights arguing won’t change our minds. We want to get off Rraladoon. We don’t like the change the neighborhood is taking.” The colonist made a meaningful gesture with one hand, holding it high above the ground beside his head.

  “The Gringg?” Todd asked, astonished. “Tom, you’re one of the greatest proponents of diversity I know. The Gringg will make great friends and allies. They’re harmless.”

  “Oh, yeah!” the rancher said, bitterly, and Todd could almost see tears starting across the man’s shiny dark eyes. “Ask Crystal Dingo how harmless they are.”

  “Crystal Dingo?”

  “My mare. My prize brood mare that was. She’s the one who’s going to be cheval steaks and a tanned hide today. But my mare is just the beginning, isn’t she? I hear you’re giving a big prime chunk of Rraladoon to those Gringg.”

  Todd stared. “What? Who told you that?”

  “There’s a Hrruban going around saying that you’re going to plant those bruin-monsters right in the middle of town, taking our land away for them, and fardle anyone who protests. I’m not one for racial or species solidarity, Todd—you know that—but I think these Gringg are plain dangerous. Just like that Hrruban said. A lot of people are listening close to him, and what he says makes sense. I’ve been hearing worse, too. They’re killers.”

  “That’s bull,” Todd replied staunchly, suppressing the rise of anger at such ridiculous gossip, “and you know it, Tom. Even if one of them wanted to settle right here, they’d have to take unclaimed land. That’s in both the Decision and the Treaty. You know how I feel about them, don’t you?” Todd put a little heat in his words because Tom had been pro-spaceport.

  “Well, there’s those that say you’re thinking of them before your own folk, Hayuman or Hrruban.”

  Todd eyed him. “If you weren’t hurting, I’d take exception to a crack like that, Tom.”

  “You can take what you like, so far as I’m concerned. You can give them my ranch when I’m gone. I don’t want to be anywhere near them. Let me go, Todd,” Prafuli begged. “I heard through the bulletin board that they’re taking applications for homesteaders on Parnassus. We’re already booked on a ship heading in that direction next week.”

  “I wish you’d reconsider,” Todd said, sensing even as he spoke that his attempt was going to fall flat. “Snake Hunt is only a week away. We’d miss you if you left before it started.”

  Prafuli shook his head. “Thank God, because that’s how we can get out of here now, when we want to. I’m not the only one who feels this way, Todd. I’m just the only one who’s going right now. You ought to get out there and listen to your friends.”

  Without further protest, Todd signed and affixed his seal to the form and handed it back to the rancher, who left the room without saying another word.

  * * *

  When the sound of Prafuli’s retreating footsteps died away, Todd got up from his desk and stared out the window for a moment. Usually the view relaxed him enough so he could think. The vast garden, changing with the season and overlooked by the grand presence of Saddle Ridge, was a most soothing view. This morning, though, the garden was flooded by a gathering crowd. Among them he could pick out the probable dissidents by their pallid complexions, somewhat scorched across noses and cheeks by the sun. All this past month there had been a steady stream of agitators swelling the original numbers, troublemakers Todd was sure Barnstable had gridded in.

  He really hadn’t thought they’d have much effect on dedicated Rraladoonans, but Tom Prafuli had proved him wrong. Unfortunately Rraladoon had never seen the need for any exclusion policy for “undesirable” visitors, much less professional agitators. Whoever had the money—or the interest—to come to Rraladoon was made welcome. Right now, with so many arriving for New Home Week and the Snake Hunt, and every Rraladoonan involved in those affairs, there wasn’t a spare someone to screen the spurious from the serious. Wryly Todd thought that those who took in paying guests for the New Home Week festival would be making good money.

  He vowed that once New Home Week and the Snake Hunt Festival, which was its finale, were over, he’d start weeding out the agitators on the grounds they were disturbing the peace. Which they were.

  As he watched, in full view of the crowd, some of these new “activists” unfurled banners and stapled them to poles of green rla wood. Todd squinted to read the badly printed messages snapping in the light breeze: Gringg Go Home, Two’s Company—Three’s a Crowd! . . . Doona for Doonans.

  That last slogan was obviously contrived by Earth-dwellers, since they didn’t even use the current name for the planet. Todd recognized many neighbors and people he knew from all six villages. No one seemed to protest the waving banners, and that saddened him.

  Once the banners were erected, the group hoisted the poles and began to march in a large oval, obstructing the pedestrian walkways to the building. Todd forced himself to watch several circuits, listened to them chanting their slogans, then turned back to his desk.

  His mail was full of messages of complaint: the Gringg were an unwelcome and threatening presence. He erased most of them as soon as he saw their content, stunned by the depth of ill-feeling. A half-dozen suggested that he step down from office immediately and allow a “responsible, right-thinking Terran” to take over before disaster struck. Where had his wits been all these weeks?
He’d been so convinced that the best possible outcome for all Human and Hrrubankind was to form a partnership with the new species that he’d ardently pursued that goal. Had he been so wrong to inflict his world-view on the rest of his people? Was his idea of galactic unity so unwelcome to the majority?

  Hrriss slipped into the office. “Arre you ready to go yet, Zodd? My father would like to take a few moments to talk wiz you befrrr ze conference begins. What is ze mazzer?”

  Todd looked up at him, his blue eyes wide with confusion and hurt like those of a lost child.

  “The first real test of my government, and I don’t know if I’ve failed my responsibilities or not.” He told Hrriss about Prafuli’s visit. “I’ve forced my judgment on others, without caring what happened to anyone, or what anyone else thought.” He threw up his hands, paced fitfully to the end of the room, and spun self-accusingly on his heel.

  “You have not failed,” Hrriss assured him. “Hrrestan has had such messages, too, and he is paying no heed zo zem. Zere is bound zo be malcontents who will not wait frr all to come out right. How many of zose messages were signed by villagers?”

  “More than I like to count.” Todd felt suddenly unworthy of the office Hu Shih had ceded to him.