Part 76 (2/2)
The Bronthin flopped a long upper lip, and sighed.
”The ratio of such s.h.i.+ps to those next smaller to those next smaller to the smallest is 1.2:3.4:5.6:5:4. An interesting ratio, chosen by the Seti for its ragged harmony, tf I understood them.” It shook its long head. ”Alas . . . never again to roll in the green sweet fields of home or be granted the tail's whisk across the sands in the company of my peers.”
”Such courage in loneliness,” Dupaynil murmured. f( In his experience, praising the timid for courage sometimes produced a momentary flare of it. ”And the total to which such a ratio applies?”
With something akin to a snort, the Bronthin's lovely periwinkle eyes opened completely. , ”Ah! You understand that the ratio is theoretical. The fleet itself made up of actual s.h.i.+ps, of which at any time some fraction is out of service for maintenance and the like. Of those actually here, in the sense that here has any meaning . . . are you at all femiliar with Sere-kleth-vladin's transformational series and its application to hypers.p.a.ce flux variations?”
”Alas, no,” said Dupaynil, who didn't know such things existed-whatever they were.
”Unhhh . . . one hundred four. Eight similar to this, i which would of course make you expect 22.6,37.3, 35.9 s.h.i.+ps of the other cla.s.ses, but fractional s.h.i.+ps are non- functional. Twenty-three of the next cla.s.s, then thirty- seven, then thirty-six. And since it would be the logical I'next question,” the Bronthin went on, its eyes beginning to sparkle, ”I will explain that the pa.s.sive defenses of the Federation Central System, if not tampered with, could be expected to destroy at least 82% of the total.
Those remaining would be unlikely to succeed at reduc-the planets or disrupting the Grand Council. But le Seti count on tampering, which will reduce the iciency of the distant pa.s.sive scans by 41%, and on .
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specific aid whose nature I do not know, to disable additional defenses. This incursion is timed to coincide with the meeting of the Grand Council and the Winter a.s.sizes, at which the presence of many s.h.i.+ps could well cause confusion.”
”They expect no resistance from Fleet?” The Bronthin opened its mouth wide, revealing the square grinding teeth of a herbivore, and gave a long sound somewhat between a moo and a bray. ”My apologies,” it said then. ”Our long misunderstanding of the nature of humans; our votes have long gone to reducing appropriations for what we saw as a means of territorial aggrandizement. These Seti expect that any Fleet vessels in Federation Central Systems s.p.a.ce will be neutralized. And once again, we aided this, voting to require that all Fleet vessels disarm lest they overpower the Grand Council.”
”A most natural error for any lover of peace,” Dupaynil murmured soothingly.
Sa.s.sinak would be there with the Zaid-Dayan. Would she have disarmed completely, trusting in the disarmament of others to keep her s.h.i.+p safe? Somehow he doubted it. But with surveillance by the FSP local government, she wouldn't be able to have all the s.h.i.+p's scans on ... and without warning ... he realized he had no idea how fast the Zaid-Dayan could get into action.
We do appreciate the difficulty. If mental speech could have tones, that would be dry wit, Dupaynil thought. He sent a mental flick of the fingers to the Ssli and Weft, still swimming with apparent unconcern in the tank. Easy for them, he thought sourly, and then realized it wasn't. He would be even more miserable if he'd been stuck in a tank like that.
Despite the rising tension, he had actually fallen asleep when a screech from the Ryxi brought him upright, blinking. The viewsc'reen snowed what he presumed to be the real outer view, although he had no way of knowing which of the s.h.i.+p's outer sensors had produced the image. Darkness, points of light, some .
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visibly moving. A Seti voice from the wallspeaker interrupted the Ryxi's tantrum.
”Captives, observe,” it began, with typical Seti tact. ”See your feeble hopes destroyed.”
The view shown s.h.i.+fted from one angle to another. The outside of the Grand Luckt with a long pointed snout oozing from a recess to slide past, aimed at some distant enemy. A zooming view of nearby s.h.i.+ps, lifting them from points of light to toylike shapes against a dark background. Then another view, of the star around which the Federation Central Zone planets swung, a star which now looked scarcely bigger than any of the others.
Share again!
Dupaynil tried to relax. He had already pa.s.sed on all lie'd learned from the Bronthin. Now he watched the screen, listened to the Seti boastful commentary and hoped the Ssli/Weft pair could contact another Ssli. Time pa.s.sed. The view s.h.i.+fted every few minutes, from one sensor to another.
Contact.
Dupaynil wasn't sure if the triumphant tone came from the Ssli or his own reaction. He expected to hear more, but the Ssli did not include him in whatever link ft and the Weft had formed with that distant Ssli. The Ryxi clattered its beak, s.h.i.+fted from one great k.n.o.bby foot to another, fluffed and sleeked its feathers, staring wide-eyed at the viewscreen. The Bronthin refused to itook. Its closed eyes and monotonous hum could be either sleep or despair. And the Lethi, as before, simply stuck to each other and the sulfur.
Dupaynil had the feeling that he should do something more to prepare for the coming battle. Now that die Ssli had warned its fellow. Now surely that alarm was being pa.s.sed on. He felt free to consider more Immediate problems. Could they possibly break free of I* this compartment? Could they steal weapons? Find some
kind of escape vehicle? Or, failing escape, do something ”disasterous to this s.h.i.+p and destroy it? He and the Ryxi re the only two who might actually do something, for , BO one had ever heard of a Bronthin being violent. He .
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edged over to the hatch, and prodded its complicated-looking lock.
A roar of Seti profanity from outside made it clear that wouldn't work. He was looking around for something else to investigate, when the viewscreen blurred, cleared, blurred, and cleared again after a couple of short FTL skips. Then it grayed to a pearly haze and the s.h.i.+p trembled.
”Battle started!” came the announcement in Standard over the speaker. Then a long complicated gabble of Seti that must be orders.
Sa.s.smak is not aboard her s.h.i.+p. That fell into his mind like a lump of ice. She disappeared onplanet. Wefts can't land to find her.
Other s.h.i.+ps?
He had a.s.sumed she would be aboard her s.h.i.+p. He had a.s.sumed she would be wary, as alert as he'd always known her. What was she doing, playing around onplanet with her s.h.i.+p helpless above, with its weapons locked down, with no captain? Without at least taking Wefts with her?
No other s.h.i.+ps larger than escort insystem.
”Stupid woman!”
He didn't realize he'd said it aloud until he saw the Bronthin's eyes flick open, heard the Ryxi's agitated chirp.
”Never miruf!” he said to them, glaring.
Here he had gone through one miserable h.e.l.l after another, all to get her information she desperately needed, and she wasn't where she was supposed to be.
Zaid-Dayan moving.
That stopped his mental ranting. Then the Grand Luck lurched sharply, as if it had run into a brick wall, and as his feet skidded on the floor he realized his head had nowhere to go but the corner of the Ssli transport tank.
Chapter Sixteen.
FedCentral ”You're joking.” Cons stared at her. ”You don't realize ...”
”I realize precisely what will happen to all of us if we don't take the initiative.” Sa.s.sinak was on her feet now and the others were stirring restlessly, not committed to either side of this argument. ”If you'd wanted death, or a mindwipe, and the rest of your life at hard labor, you'd have managed it before now. It's easy enough, even yet. Just wait for them to come after me. Because Temi is quite right. They will. I'm too dangerous, even by myself.” She paused a careful measure, then added, ”But with you, I could be dangerous enough to win.”
”But we don't . . . We aren't ...” Jemi's nervous looks around got no support. Most were staring fascinated at Sa.s.sinak.
”Aren't what? Strong enough? Brave enough? You've been strong and brave enough to survive and stay free. How long, Coris?”
”I been here eight years. Jemi, six. Fostin was here when I came ...”
”Years of your lives,” Sa.s.sinak said, almost purring it.
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