” ‘Now, then, having obtained a high degree of reassurance and presumed unreadiness on the part of the defenders, the natives delivered an overwhelming attack. That the attack failed is due to no neglect on their part, but to bad luck. The staff, in sending the improvised investigation force to the planet, happened to find a large detachment of the former Headquarters Guard of Horsip’s Earth Invasion Force in a convenient location to be rerouted. These troops, survivors of the worst action on record, awarded the platinum nova as a unit, are to all intents and purposes unsurprisable. Military surprise presupposes reliance on an incorrect assumption as to the enemy’s intent or capability. As a result of their past experiences, the troops of the Guard consider all such estimates unreliable. They maintain, by ingrained habit, the maximum state of readiness.
” ‘It was pure bad luck that brought the enemy attack up against such troops. In all ordinary circumstances, this attack would have succeeded, the troops would have been wiped out, and the smashed portholes would have suggested that entry had been made in this way.
” ‘The analysis, however, cannot stop at this point. Grant that the enemy had every reason to expect the attack to be successful. Grant that preparations were made to mislead any investigator as to the means of entrance. The question arises, why mislead?
” ‘For the answer, we need to consider outside facts, not included in the attack on this one ship.
” ‘On the same night, the laboratory ship, where the natives had been physically examined the day before, was attacked, and the crew wiped out. A porthole was found smashed, and the hatches open.
” ‘On this same night, an attempted attack was made against the headquarters ship, from the landing-boat locker. A disturbance there during the night was heard by the officer of the deck, who decided it was a drunken spree of formidable proportions, and left it locked up. Next morning, the locker was entered by a strong party, and found empty; there were, however, signs of an ineffectual attempt to open the lock.
” ‘Meanwhile, the fourth ship, the landing-forces ship, was traveling over the island chain looking for anything that might account for the disappearance of the life-saving station. By the time this ship returned, it was to be expected that the personnel of the other ships would have been wiped out. A seemingly reasonable explanation would help lull the remainder of the force.
” ‘We now have the final conclusion to unravel from the evidence. The attackers were able, by some means, to pass through the walls of this ship. Why, in that case, were they unable to pass through the walls of the headquarters ship? Examination of the records reveals that native prisoners were not brought into this ship, though they were ferried to the prison ship in the landing-boat of the headquarters ship, and hence had entered this landing-boat, which returned to the landing-boat locker of the headquarters ship. We are driven to the conclusion that the natives were able only to enter places where one of their number had already been.
” ‘We are obviously confronted with an opponent possessed of an extraordinary power, and extremely capable in ambush warfare. And there still remains hanging over our heads the possibility that the enemy is concealing some new surprise. Extreme caution is necessary.’ ”
Involuntarily, Towers whistled. “This was a conclusion of the third expedition?”
Logan nodded. “The deductions of one Derk Moggil on the fourth ship—the ship that was away when the natives attacked.”
“They seem to have sent some good men on that third expedition. I’d like to have a talk with this Derk Moggil. I wonder if he’s still on the planet?”
Logan shook his head. “His name was on a list of those invalided out after the massacre of most of the third expedition.”
“The natives sprang the new surprise Moggil was afraid of?”
Logan nodded. “The Centrans hadn’t yet figured out the actual way this teleportation worked. When the soldiers found some large pretty shells lying on the beach one day, they took them on board for souvenirs. The natives then wiped out most of the troops on the headquarters and landing-forces ships.”
“How about the Guard ship?”
“The Guards were apparently too busy cleaning their guns and practicing angle shots down the corridors to pay much attention to souvenirs. The locals tried another attack the same night they hit the other two ships. But the Guard ship turned out to be crammed with booby traps every place the natives had been before. For good measure, the Centrans flashed lights on and off, and bounced timed grenades off the walls while observers watching through periscopes called the shots. The bulkheads of some of these places where the locals materialized had been reinforced and holed so the Centrans could fire machine guns through them from the other side. One had a kind of dispenser that dropped Bouncing Betsy mines every time the soldier on watch saw another local show up. It was supposed to be a surprise attack, but it worked out as a slaughter. After about five minutes, the natives quit.”
Towers nodded with grudging approval. “Where the situation’s hopeless, they clear out.”
“And come back again from another angle.”
“They tried again?”
“The night after next. They showed up just long enough to bring in some things like snakes, in woven baskets, and turn them loose. Apparently these were supposed to be poisonous, but the shock of the booby traps and mines going off killed them. The next night, the locals tried again, with a kind of biting insect. But the insects didn’t like the taste of the Centrans, generally wouldn’t bite, and died when they did bite. About that time, Glossip and his invasion force were diverted to the planet, and pretty soon the natives had something to think about besides the Guard.”
“How long after Glossip got here till he called us in?”
“Judging by the dates, it couldn’t have been much over a month.”
Towers frowned. “Just suppose, for the sake of argument, that this teleportation ability of theirs will let them reach the nearest habitable solar system? Then what?”
“They still can’t get there until they’ve been there.”
“I wonder where the ships of the original scouting expedition set down last? Where did they go after they left here? What other ships were at the place where they set down, and where did they go?”
Logan looked startled. “You mean, what if natives stowed away, say, on a Centran ship?”
“What if by any means they get off this planet, into a position to put this ability of theirs in use on a large scale? If the practical limit is half a planetary diameter, that’s impressive, but it’s a local problem. On the other hand, what if the practical limit is thirty light-years? This changes the scale entirely. The fact that the original scouting expedition didn’t see anything doesn’t prove a thing. The natives operate by indirection. If they would go to all that effort to deceive the third Centran expedition, who knows what they may have done to the first expedition?”
“It is peculiar that first expedition didn’t see anything.”
“Deception is second nature with these natives. They rely on it regularly in their warfare with their neighbors. I wonder if this fight with the Centrans doesn’t fit right into their usual framework with no trouble at all.”
“A different neighbor, you mean?”
“Correct. And a war with him, started off with maximum deception.”
“Hm-m-m. The scouting expedition didn’t see anyone here at all. The occupants of the life-saving station disappeared without a trace. The investigating team almost got wiped out. But look, if their aim is conquest on a large scale, why not stay hidden—only come out at night to touch the side of the ship, or whatever they do so they go to it? The Centrans would never know what hit them.”
“If they’d done that, the Centrans might have given up trying to figure out what happened here, and left, taking their ships, their weapons, and their equipment with them. The locals had already fooled the first expedition. They’d easily overcome the second expedition. Why shouldn’t they think they could overpower the third expedition? Then they’d have all the equipment, and all those weapons, and wouldn’t the Centrans send a fourth expedition, too?”
Logan swore. “You think they planned it this way from the beginning?”
Towers shrugged. “As the Centran report says, it’s impossible to deduce motive with certainty. But it sure seems to fit.”
“In that case, whether meant that way or not, this planet was a trap, set and baited from the beginning.”
“That’s what I have in mind.”
Logan shook his head. “God help us if the brute-force boys get hold of this one.”
“Luckily, Glossip seems to have sense. Suppose you get those Centran scout ships traced, and I’ll see what we can do to ease things for Glossip.”