Towers lowered the report. “There’s that aspect again.”
Logan nodded gloomily.
Towers found his place: ” ‘It therefore appears that these natives fall into a category difficult to deal with: They are technologically backward, because of a lack of suitable materials on the planet. They are, however, possessed of a formidable power, which apparently developed out of the necessities of life on this world. They are subtle—from long practice—in warfare, using various forms of deception, sudden ambushes, and traps, which apparently are the only reliable ways of dealing with enemies possessed of such an effective power of escape.
” ‘It follows that we must be very careful to avoid further weapons captures by the natives.
” ‘It is also evident that to arrive at a treaty of any reliable kind with these natives involves unexpected difficulties, because of their nature and past history of deceit. The more reasonable and attractive the suggestion made to them, the more cunningly hidden and cleverly designed will seem the inevitable trap their experience tells them must be concealed in the agreement.
” ‘The only solution appears to be bring an overpowering force to the planet.’ ”
“Whew,” said Logan, “what’s an ‘overpowering force’ in a setup like this?”
Towers nodded. “That ignores maintenance and supply problems, and the fact that the Centrans have more to think of than just this one planet, which in itself is practically worthless to them, anyway.” He was about to set the report aside, but frowned and separated the pages. Like all the others, this report looked as if it had been stored in a steam bath.
Logan said, “Does it tell how the Centrans carried out a conversation with this native?”
“Here we are,” said Towers. ” ‘ . . . His pronunciation being imperfect but recognizable. The men, after applying tourniquets, carried him over to the aid station on the far side of the island. Goshal asked again to be put out of his misery, objecting that our methods created pain without serving the purpose, and that our troops were not right in causing him pain since he was not of the tribe that had attacked our expedition, but had learned our tongue from a wounded prisoner traded to his tribe by the neighboring tribe, the “green snakes”.’ ”
“So the Centrans didn’t know the local language. The locals learned the Centran language.”
“Apparently.”
“This looks worse and worse,” said Logan. “The natives are intelligent, and past masters of deception. You can’t beat them, because you can’t catch them. You can’t trust any agreement with them, because they’re masters of deceit. And you can’t get away from them, because wherever you go, they can go, too.”
Towers moodily reached for the unread reports. “Let’s find out if there’s more bad news.”
The two men read in silence for a long time, then Towers tossed the last report aside in disgust. Logan read on a while longer, then looked up. The two men glanced at each other.
“Well,” said Towers, “most of this just reinforces what we knew. But there’s something in this last report. The local food here is indigestible for the Centrans. And the locals get nothing from Centran food. What this boils down to is that there’s a continuous supply problem, which will get worse if the Centrans bring in more troops.”
Logan nodded. “That fits.”
“What did you find out?”
Logan said dryly, “In an earlier expedition, a good many locals were transported in Centran landing-boats to the prison ship.”
“The what?”
“Prison ship.”
Towers stared as the implications hit him.
Logan said, “If we ever start to forget these locals are tricky, these are just the reports to remind us.”
Towers forced himself to sit back.
Logan said, “The first thing to remember is that Glossip is in charge of the fourth bunch of Centrans to hit this planet. The first was the team that scouted the planet, and recommended establishment of a signal-and-life-saving station. This first bunch apparently got away safely. The next Centrans came with the signal-and-life-saving station. The natives captured them and seized their weapons. This meant an unexplained cut-off of communications, which led to an investigation. This was the third Centran expedition. Their report, in turn, brought down Glossip and the invasion force. It was the third bunch that set up the prison ship.”
“What happened?”
Logan picked up a handful of papers:
” ‘The natives were quite easily captured as they floundered up out of the water swinging their crude weapons of shell. Our men disarmed them quickly, and headed them into the landing-boats, whence they were transferred to the prison ship. Several were taken aboard the Guard ship for attempted interrogation, and language studies.’ ”
Towers sat back slowly. “Then what?”
Logan leafed through another sheaf of papers. “This one is headed, ‘Night Attack on the Guard Detail’:
” ‘The first attempt came from the direction of the Interrogation Room, preceded by a loud clatter, a hideous yell, and a sound like an avalanche. The Guard, survivors of the Earth campaign, rolled out of their bunks, guns in hand, and fired down the corridors. The stitching-guns got into action at once. Then the attack broke off, and resumed from the direction of the C.O.’s office. That was stopped by grenades, but started up again from the direction of the landing-boat ramp. This attack was broken up by the C.O., using his own stitching-gun. The attack then resumed at all places at once, with terrific intensity, and moderate casualties now resulted on our side, since the use of Centran weapons by the enemy led to the belief that our men were firing on each other. Following repeated repulse, the enemy attacks were finally broken off, and the enemy withdrew, taking his dead. The Guard reoccupied the remainder of the ship, and discovered that the hatches were all still shut and under control, but that a number of portholes had been smashed open. This peculiar fact has raised a number of questions. In the first place, it was obvious to seasoned troops that withdrawal of this sizable force, with their dead and wounded, could not have been carried out through these portholes. Moreover, while the glass from the smashed ports was on the inside, so was a quantity of sand, suggesting that the glass had fallen outside, then been brought back inside, purely as a deception. But if the enemy did not gain entry through the ports, and the hatches were still shut and under control, how did they get in? The ship was not holed anywhere. This matter deserves study.’ ”
Logan looked through the reports and pulled out one headed, “Analysis of the Attack on the Guard Ship”:
” ‘There is thus no way to avoid facing the apparent impossibility. The fact is that the portholes could not have been broken open in the beginning without alerting the guards by means of the electric alarm, which sounded later, when the attack was already under way.
” ‘The electric warning system’s recording drum shows the breaking of the ports to have taken place respectively at 0101, 0106, and 0112, while the attack started a little before 0100.
” ‘At 0100, the hull of the ship, including all hatches and portholes, was intact.
” ‘Nevertheless, at 0100, the attack was already underway.
” ‘The only local natives on board, admitted by our own men, were the three taken aboard for interrogation and language study. No others had been admitted.
” ‘Nevertheless, the attack was carried out by large forces of the local natives, inside the ship.
” ‘In short, with only three of the enemy on board, and the hull intact with all openings shut, a very large force of the enemy gained entrance, without forcing any of the openings.
” ‘The conclusion is inescapable that the enemy in some way passed through the walls of the ship.
” ‘We are now faced with the phenomenon of the broken portholes. Since they were not broken to obtain entrance, why were they broken? The fact that nearly all the glass was placed inside, though much of it would have fallen outside, suggests that the purpose was deception. While it is impossible to infer motive with rigorous accuracy, let us consider the implications.
” ‘What would be the effects of this deception?
” ‘Bear in mind that an attack had been carried out, at night, on a ship fully sealed and protected, with guards on duty, but with no special reason for alertness on the part of the troops, who had just that day helped repulse with ease the “attack” of the local humanoids. Would these troops have any reason to expect trouble? The attack had been defeated. The weapons of the enemy were feeble. The enemy’s physical prowess, out of the water, had been demonstrated to be negligible. The prisoners, under attempted interrogation, had showed a pathetic desire to please, and had cooperated readily in the first language studies. The only cause of discomfort was the heat. The troops were tired after a day of strain, culminating in relief that the supposed enemy was harmless. What reason was there for an attacker to expect a strong resistance?