Duun said nothing. His face had that masklike look that it had when he was not going to say anything.
“Did they?” Thorn persisted.
“Who said they didn’t make the tapes up?”
“Don’t do this to me, Duun!”
“You don’t sound sleepy. You want a cup of tea, a bit to eat?”
Thorn surrendered. Duun was being kind. Duun was leading him off again. Thorn knew the tricks. He ripped the sandy bedclothes loose and threw them down on the floor. The bed wanted turning and thumping anyway, and the blankets could use washing. Duun had left the door and left it open. Thorn pulled the bin open in the side of the riser and took out yesterday’s clothes, but it was before baths and he had to dress again before class.
Duun was in the kitchen when he came in, setting the teapot on the riser. “Sobasi?”
“It’s all right.” The microwave was busy. It went off and Thorn pulled the plates out and set them on the table. (Faces. Faces. The station. Ships coming and going. Dots and symbols. Chemistry. The value of pi. Numbers.) Thorn sat down and swung his legs about, crossed; Duun did the same and poured tea for himself. “I drink too much of this stuff,” Duun said, “it ruins my sleep.”
“So do I. Duun, can we talk about it-once?”
Duun’s ears went flat.
“Dammit, please!”
Duun held out the teapot to him with a bland look on his face. “One question. I’ll listen to it. Only one, Haras-hatani. You don’t have to ask it now if you want to think about it. Snap judgment’s never good.”
Thorn took the teapot, composed his face and poured. (I hate him. I hate him. He hasn’t got a nerve in his body.) “I’ll tell you when I ask it: I don’t want you taking the first question I ask and claiming that lets you off. Have you got a lover?”
(Got him.) Duun’s ears flicked; the eyes dilated and contracted. “Was that the nightmare?”
“No. I’m just curious.”
“None now. A companion for a while. I sent her off.” Duun filled his mouth and swallowed.
“Why?”
(Another strike. I hadn’t thought that.) “She would have wanted marriage eventually. I didn’t.”
“How old are you?”
“Minnow, when you started this, we were talking about one question. Is this all pertinent?”
“You were onto me yesterday because I always take the defensive; attack sometimes, you said. I realize I do that even outside the gym. So I’m attacking. Do you think you’re old?”
Duun grinned. “You’ll go too far pretty soon, Haras-hatani, and I’ll call this game. Do you think I’m old?”
“What was your solution for the government?”
“To make you hatani. Which I’ve done.”
“Why didn’t you want me to learn about the world the way it is?”
“You have now, haven’t you?” Duun shrugged. (Gods, not a flicker.) “It never came up; too much of Sheon and too little of the world. When we came here-two years early, and not quite my planning, I might remind you-” (Counterattack and hit.) “You were pretty badly shaken, if you’ll recall, and you knew too damn much you were unusual.” (Hit again. Gods! he’s got no mercy.) “What was I going to do? Throw the world at you in a day? Listen, minnow, I had a problem on my hands, I had a boy to bring up without newscasts, without pictures of cities, without any hint what went on outside Sheon’s woods, because any photograph with people in it was going to show a smart young lad that people all look a lot like me and none of them like you. I had to educate you without educating you, if you see the problem, because I didn’t want you to suffer with your difference. I wanted to give you a childhood, and I gave you the best one I knew: I gave you mine.”
(He’s working on me. He’s telling the truth. What was the experiment? They’re not done with it. It’s still going on.) Thorn felt sweat gather in the folds of his knees and beneath his arms.
“You have to admit,” Duun said, “the last two years there’s been a lot poured into your head. A lot of facts. You’ve come from the past to the present. I’ll tell you: when I started I didn’t know what your mental capacity might be, whether it was normal, you understand. I didn’t know whether I could do what I planned. I had to know that before I let anyone else set hands on you… whether you could be hatani. Remember Ehonin’s daughter.”