The Man-Kzin Wars 01 Read Free Page A

clearer; his hypnotic relaxation was broken by muscle twitches. He twisted as if in a nightmare. “ N othing aboard ship, not even a knife or a club. Wait, they've got cooking knives. But that's all they use them for. They don't fight."
    “ T hey don't fight? ”
    “ N o, sir. They don't expect us to fight, either. The idea has occurred to three of them, and each has dismissed it from his mind." “ B ut why?" the Captain asked, knowing the question was irrelevant, unable to hold it back .
    I don't know, sir. It's a science they use, or a religion. I don't understand," the Telepath whimpered. I don't understand at all." Which must be tough on him, the Captain thought. Completely alien thoughts . “ W hat are they doing now? ”
    “ W aiting for us to talk to them. They tried to talk to us, and they think we must be trying just as hard. “
    “ B ut why?-never mind, it's not important. Can they be killed by heat?"
    “ Y es, sir. ”
    “ B reak contact. ”
    The Telepath shook his head violently. He looked like he'd been in a washing machine. The Captain touched a sensitized surface and bellowed, “ W eapons Officer! ”
    “ H ere. ”
    “ U se the inductors on the enemy ship. ”
    “ B ut, si r t hey're so slow! What if the alien attacks?"
    “ D on't argue with me, you-" Snarling, the Captain delivered an impassioned monologue on the virtues of unquestioning obedience. When he switched off, the Alien Technologies Officer was back at the viewer and the Telepath had gone to sleep .
    The Captain purred happily, wishing that they were all this easy. When the occupants had been killed by heat he would take the ship. He could tell everything he needed to know about their planet by examining their life-support system . He could locate it by traci n g the ship's trajectory. Probably they hadn't even taken evasive action! If they came from a Kzin-like world it would become a Kzin world. And he, as Conquest Leader, would command one percent of its wealth for the rest of his life! Truly, the future looked rich. No longer would he be called by his profession. He would bear a nante .. .
    “ I ncidental information," said the A-T Officer. “ T he ship was generating one and twelve sixty-fourth gee before it stopped rotating." “ L ittle heavy," the Captain mused. “ M ight be too much air, but it should be easy to Kzinform it. A-T, we find the strangest life forms. Remember the Chunquen?"
    “ B oth sexes were sentient. They fought constantly. ”
    “ A nd that funny religion on Altair One. They thought they could travel in time. ”
    “ Y es, sir. When we landed the infantry they were all gone. ”
    “ T hey must have all committed suicide with disintegrators. But why? They knew we only wanted slaves. And I'm still trying to figure out how they got rid of the disintegrators afterward. ”
    “ S ome beings," said the A-T Officer, “ will do anything to keep their beliefs."
    Eleven years beyond Pluto, eight years from her destination, the fourth colony ship to We Made It fell between the stars. Before her the stars were green-white and blue-white, blazing points against nascent black. Behind they were sparse, dying red embers. To the sides the constellations were strangely flattened. The universe was shorter than it had been. For awhile Jim Davis was very busy. Everyone, including himself, had a throbbing blinding headache. To each patient, Dr. Davis handed a tiny pink pill from the dispenser slot of the huge autodoc which covered the back wall of the infirmary. They milled outside the door waiting for the pills to take effect ''looking like a full-fledged mob in the narrow corridor; and then someone thought it would be a good idea to go to the lounge, and everyone followed him. It was an unusually silent mob. Nobody felt like talking while the pain was with them. Even the sound of magnetic sandals was lost in the plastic pile rug .
    Steve saw Jim Davis behind him. “ H ey, Doc," he called softly. “ H ow long before