Simon was working with Sundaram, toward comprehension of the alien sendings and construction of return messages. They would doubtless be occupied for hours. Cleland’s part was to keep Emil busy, so that Brent could meet with the three Tahirians who wanted an end of all voyaging.
They had not outfitted their common room like the humans’. For one thing, the wheel’s capacity being limited, it had to double as their gymnasium. Exercise machines of exotic design stood about, including a sort of long treadmill on which two persons could gallop for hours. Live turf from home, moist and springy, covered the deck, and shrubs grew in planters. Their odors mingled spicily with those that bodies gave off. Visual screenings decorated the bulkheads and provided entertainment on demand, but what they showed meant essentially nothing to humans, untrained in the artistic conventions and blind to many of the colors.
Standing before Ivan, Leo, and Peter, Brent told them: “(Our purpose is the same, to terminate this bad state of affairs, soon and decisively.)”
“(It is leading to fundamental new knowledge,)” said the biologist Peter.
Ens mates registered . . . disapproval? The three conferred, or argued, in their own language. Manes made wave patterns, fingers undulated sinuous, stances shifted, tones twittered and shrilled, smells gusted rank or sweet or sharp. Brent waited, sweating.
Ivan addressed him. “(The science is a minor consideration. We simply need to clarify our consensus,)” in the usual Tahirian style.
“(You need not depart forever,)” Brent reminded them. “(Your people live ten times nearer the black hole than mine do. Should they wish to, they can readily come back and resume the research.)”
“(That is still a long journey, a long time to be gone from society,)” Leo said.
Probably their dialogue in Cambiante was meant for an explanation to the man, reciting the obvious as so often before to make certain that it really was obvious. “(A stable society must think far ahead,)” Ivan declared. “(Best will it be if we return to Tahir immediately and you then proceed to your home. If our people are to assimilate basic new information, they should first further strengthen their institutions.)”
“I doubt they’ll ever elect to go after the new information, if we don’t bring them more than we have right now,” Brent muttered. “They’ll stay put forever. Your breed isn’t really venturesome.” On the parleur: “(Then we four agree, this expedition shall end in the near future.)”
“(How can we bring that about?)” puzzled Peter.
Leo’s mane quivered. Ens middle eyes glowed at Brent. “(You have a plan,)” en said. “(I have come to know you.)”
Brent nodded — from habit, though they had learned what it meant. “(I do. It requires your resolute help. You shall have to obey instructions without questioning or hesitation.)”
Ivan seemed to grow dubious. “(This is like something out of the distant, primitive past)” — when Tahir, like Earth, spawned occasional abnormal cultures, incompatible with the innate nature of the species, and horror followed.
“(We will have need for forcefulness, yes,)” Brent admitted. “(And we must catch the opposition unprepared, as carnivores ambush prey.)”
“(Simon and Emil are of that opposition,)” Ivan said. A rustling sigh went among the three. Regret? Apprehension? When did their race last know serious conflict?
“(Correct,)” Brent said. “(They might well reveal the plan to Nansen. Therefore we will keep them ignorant of it until the thing is done.)”
Dismay? The Tahirians parleyed again, almost frantically.
Yet, shocking though the thought was, it could not have been altogether unawaited. These beings must have disputed among each other, politely but with a bitterness underneath that perhaps grew as great as in any human.
They steadied and turned back to Brent. “(How can we avoid their sensing that something is afoot?)” Ivan asked. “(They will inquire what it is. If we three are less than candid, or refuse outright, they will become suspicious, and report their misgivings to the Nansen group.)”
Brent shivered with a momentary thrill. “(I have considered this,)” he replied. “(Let me convey to them your request that they avoid you for a number of daycycles while you develop a stronger argument than hitherto in favor of aborting the mission.)”