“A statement of pious intentions.” Did the Rikhan sound contemptuous?
“A basic common-sense agreement,” Karl reproved.
“Anyhow,” Hebo said, “we weren’t about to commit banditry, conquest, environmental destruction, or cruelty to politicians. We just intended a look-see. Dzesi’s partnered with me before, now and then.”
[26] “For the fame and honor of the Ulas Trek,” said the anthropard.
And Dzesi’s own, Lissa thought. She isn’t altogether unlike us.
“How did you find the artifact when we didn’t?” the woman asked.
“Partly luck, no doubt,” Hebo conceded. “However, we did have our particular motives. You people are after basic scientific knowledge, planetology, biology, et cetera. The planet’s loaded with that, anywhere you go. We were looking for something that might pay off.”
“How?”
“Oh, maybe a region someone would like to try colonizing. These long days and nights, swings in the weather, and all—in some areas, at least, maybe they’d not be too much for, oh, possibly the Sklerons. Of course, they’d want very specific information before deciding it was worth their while to investigate further. So we were random-sampling, with a close eye out for anything unusual. When our optics spotted this from orbit, naturally we came down to see what it was.”
Indignation resumed. “And you haven’t considered reporting it!”
“We will, we will, and meanwhile we won’t have harmed it. We figured somebody—a news agency, a scientific institution, whatever—would pay well to be told about it. Contract drawn up beforehand, payment on proof of truthfulness. Same as selling any other information. Information’s really the one universal currency.”
Anger gave way to a certain sympathy. She wished it were not she who must dash his hopes to the ground. “I’m afraid we— can’t keep the secret for you. Not ethically.”
Dzesi snarled.
Hebo shushed her. Astonishingly good-humored, he responded: “Luck of the draw. Can’t win ’em all. Though I do already have a couple of notions about deals that could maybe be [27] made—” He finished his drink. “Hey, let’s knock this off. Stay a while, why don’t you? We’ll help you set up your camp. We’ll show you around. And then you can decide what to tell them at your base, other than that you’re safe and sound and having a good time.”
IV
DINNER became jolly, at any rate for the humans. Hebo kept an excellent larder. He poured the wine with a liberal hand and did most of the talking. Lissa soon had nothing against that, even after it became rather boastful. If half what he told was true, he’d had some fabulous adventures. And he had also absorbed considerable culture. Much of what he quoted or mentioned in passing was unfamiliar to her—who were Machiavelli, Hiroshige, Buxtehude?—but she didn’t think he was making it up. The worlds and histories were simply too manifold.
“Yep,” he ended, “we’d’ve been rescued plenty sooner if it hadn’t been for the squabbles back on the satellite.”
“That was a tense situation,” she said. “The rivalry between the Susaians and the Grib—I didn’t know it can get so bitter.”
“Actually, that didn’t cause most of the trouble,” Hebo explained. “Sure, those two breeds don’t get along, and it was a big mistake including several of both in the expedition. But they’re too different for any real, deadly feuding, let alone war. Nope,” he said, turning a bit philosophical, “I don’t expect there’ll ever be an interstellar war. Between species, that is. Inside a species, though—races, religions, tribes, factions—in this case, two Susaian creeds. Not that we humans are saints. We may be the worst of the lot.”
You might almost call him handsome, in a rough-hewn fashion, Lissa thought. “You must have a wide basis for comparison,” she murmured, “with all the roving you’ve done for—how long?”
“I was born about nine hundred years ago, Earth count.”
“What? But that’s amazing!” Minor scars and the like [29] suggested his latest rejuvenation had been about twenty years back, which would put him biologically in his forties. He didn’t look it. “Why have I never heard of you before, at home on Asborg or anywhere else?”
“Oh, I’ve been on Asborg now and then. You’ve got some beautiful country. But it’s a while since last, and anyway, a planet’s so big and patchworky and changeable. Not to speak of a galaxy. I’m not interested in doing anything worldshaking.”