Neither she nor Kai could ignore such an abrogation of basic Federation tenets. For a fleeting moment, she wished she’d made this search alone, then she could have forgotten about it, or tried to. With Bonnard as witness, the matter could not be put aside as a nightmare. The heavy-worlders would have to be officially reprimanded, though she wasn’t sure how efficacious words would be against their physical strength. They were contemptuous enough of their leadership already to have killed and eaten animal flesh.
Varian shook her head sharply, trying to clear her mind of the revulsion that inevitably accompanied that hideous thought.
“Life form, untagged,” Bonnard said in a subdued tone.
Willing for any diversion from her morbid and sickening thoughts, Varian turned the sled, tracking the creature until it crossed a clearing.
“Got it,” said Bonnard. “It’s a fang-face, Varian. And Varian, it’s wounded. Rakers!”
The predator whirled in the clearing, reaching up to beat futilely at the air with its short fore-feet. A thick branch had apparently lodged in its ribs, Varian could see fresh blood from its exertions flowing out of the gaping wound. Then she could no longer ignore the fact that the branch was a crude spear, obviously flung with great force into the beast’s side.
“Aren’t we going to try and help it, Varian?” asked Bonnard as she sent the sled careering away. “We couldn’t manage it alone, Bonnard.”
“But it will die.”
“Yes, and there’s nothing we can do now. Not even get close enough to spray a seal on the wound and hope that it could dislodge that …” She didn’t know why she stopped; she wasn’t protecting the heavy-worlders, and Bonnard had seen the horror.
Hadn’t the carnivores provided the heavy-worlders with enough violence? How many other wounded creatures would she and Bonnard encounter in this part of the world?
“By any chance, had you the taper on, Bonnard?”
“Yes, I did, Varian.”
“Thank you. I’m turning back. I must speak to Kai as soon as possible.” When she saw Bonnard looking at the communit, she shook her head. “This is an executive matter, Bonnard. Again, I must ask you to say nothing to anyone and …” She wanted to add “stay away from the heavy-worlders” but from the tight, betrayed expression on the boy’s face, she knew such advice would be superfluous.
They continued back to the compound in silence for a while.
“Varian?”
“Yes, Bonnard?” She hoped she had an answer for him.
“Why? Why did they do such a terrible thing?”
“I wish I knew, Bonnard. No incidence of violence stems from a simple cause, or a single motive. I’ve always been told that violence is generally the result of a series of frustrations and pressures that have no other possible outlet.”
“An action has a reaction, Varian. That’s the first thing you learn shipboard.”
“Yes, because you’re often in free-fall or outer space, so the first thing you’d have to learn, ship-bred, is to control yourself, your actions.”
“On a heavy world, though,” Bonnard was trying to rationalize so hard, Varian could almost hear him casting about for a justification. “On a heavy world, you would have struggle all the time, against the gravity.”
“Until you became so used to it, you wouldn’t consider it a struggle. You’d be conditioned to it.”
“Can you be conditioned to violence?” Bonnard sounded appalled.
Varian gave a bark of bitter laughter. “Yes, Bonnard, you can be conditioned to violence. Millenniums ago, it used to be the general human condition.”
“I’m glad I’m alive now.”
To that Varian made no reply, wondering if she was in accord. In an earlier time, when people were still struggling to a civilized level that spurned the eating of animal flesh; to a level that had learned not to impose its peculiar standards on any other species; to a level that accepted, as a matter of course, the friendships and associations with beings diverse and wonderful: a woman of only three hundred years ago would have had some occasion to cope with utter barbarianism. It was one matter entirely for beasts to fight and kill each other, following the dictates of an ecology (not that she was prevented from succouring the weaker when she could), but for one species, stronger, more flexible, basically more dangerous because of its versatility, to attack a stupid animal for the sporting pleasure was unspeakably savage.