Sliding Scales Page 12

  Expecting to be flown to a local police post, or at worst to the central restraining facility for the socially ambivalent, Lwo-Dvuum's unease only increased when the transport instead began to descend in the direction of the main AAnn administration center. Within that diplomatic compound, even a highly respected Vssey such as an educator would have little recourse to universal rights. There would be no circle of compassionate judges to confront and challenge over a prisoner's fate. There would be only the AAnn; they of the nimble feet, snappish temperament, and sharp claws.

  Knowing that much, Lwo-Dvuum was prepared to make his peace with the Great Circle—if only someone would deign to inform the mystified prisoner as to what charges were being laid. The educator asked as much of the nearest armed officer.

  “That's for our friends the AAnn to explain.” The guard's tone was sufficiently brusque to cause the sensitive Lwo-Dvuum to flinch. What had an honest, hardworking mentor done to deserve such opprobrium? If the officer was correct, he would find out only from the authorized agents of Jast's scaly guests.

  By the setting light, the prisoner thought apprehensively, at least one representative of the people should be present, if only for appearance's sake.

  The transport touched down, and its passengers disembarked . The last thing Lwo-Dvuum expected to see as the escort ushered its bemused prisoner away from the landing area was a familiar figure. The educator called out.

  The response was immediate. Though they were marched into the shadowed rear of the looming structure by separate, silent squads, they were close enough to converse.

  Bno-Cassaul was clearly distraught to see a close friend and another member of their special circle caught in the same dispiriting circumstances. Prudently, the restrained programmer made no allusion to any of their absent companions. There was no sign, for example, of Mua-Briiv, Tvr-Vheequa, or any of the other members of the speculative group.

  Of course, Lwo-Dvuum reflected somberly, that did not mean they were not already being held inside, or were on the verge of being disturbed in their sleep.

  The presence of the two friends and their respective Vsseyan escorts drew hardly a glance from passing AAnn. When they did, it was invariably one of scarcely concealed contempt. Lwo-Dvuum reflected that the members of the circle were more attuned to this general derision than the majority of their kind. Though continually expanding their presence and their interests on Jast, it was plain to anyone who took the time to still their tentacles and look that the AAnn cared next to nothing for the Vssey themselves. That was one of the central points of the circle's main thesis that they hoped to convey to the mass of Vssey. Now it looked like they might not ever get the chance.

  Be calm, Lwo-Dvuum mantraed. The reason for the nocturnal seizure remained unknown. When surrounded by fire, the wise Vssey stands its ground and does not hop off in panic. One could only hope that Bno-Cassaul shared the same wisdom.

  Any similar Vsseyan institution would have been crisscrossed with moving walkways to speed travel. In the absence of such, both prisoners and escorts were required to engage in some extensive hopping. They did not tire—the Vssey were durable travelers—but it did take them a fair amount of time to reach their destination. Outside the doorway, the two prisoners were turned over to AAnn guards. Lwo-Dvuum's unease increased as the last of their fellow Vssey headed back the way they had come, hopping in unison back down the high-ceilinged corridor.

  Their modest restraints were removed. As Lwo-Dvuum stretched his liberated footpads, one of the two AAnn guards hissed at them in a crude approximation of the local Vsseyan dialect. Unbound, the two mystified locals hopped forward as ordered.

  They found themselves in a windowless chamber lit only by dimly luminescent walls. There was no décor, only a single table and two chairs. The furniture was designed to accommodate the builders of the complex. No chairs were provided for the prisoners, since the Vssey did not sit. Where standing straight for long periods of time was discomfiting to more flexible species such as the AAnn, the Vssey found the reverse to be true.

  Inclining sideways, Bno-Cassaul whispered of anxiety made worse by the fact that there were not even enough of them present to form a comforting circle. At least three were needed, and there were only the two of them.

  “Why are we here, my frien'? When the police picke' us up, I coul' envision several possibilities. None of them involve' the AAnn. What coul' they want of us?”

  Lwo-Dvuum was under no illusions. “I don't think it is to partake of our respective expertise in teaching an' programming. Beyon' that, I cannot guess.” Movement at the other side of the room drew his attention. “By my last tentacle, I believe we are about to fin' out.”

  A door silently appeared in the otherwise blank wall at the back of the room. Two AAnn stepped through, whereupon the door shut tightly behind them. Not even glancing in the direction of the two detainees, they proceeded to occupy the two chairs behind the table. One removed a pair of small electronic instruments from a pouch slung at its waist. While the other waited patiently, these were activated. Both mute Vssey eyed the devices. Lwo-Dvuum decided they were not directly threatening. If their hosts intended to do them physical harm, some sort of restraints would surely have been put in place, with guards in attendance. The educator relaxed, but only a little. The AAnn might be bad-tempered, but they were a civilized species. To get what they wanted, surely they would not resort to something so inconceivably primitive as physical abuse.

  Mental maltreatment—now that was something else.

  The larger of the two toothy aliens spoke curtly, without any attempt at formality or greeting. His Vsseya, Lwo-Dvuum noted, was excellent, the mark of an experienced bureaucrat who had spent some time on Jast.

  “Fssadd—you are the educator Lwo-Dvuum, and you the programmer composser Bno-Cassaul.”

  Since the identifying was not posed as a question, neither Vssey saw reason or need to respond.

  Their silence constituted sufficient acquiescence for the AAnn. “I am Takuuna VBXLLW, head of a sspecial unit of Vissitor Ssecurity.” He did not have to denote which visitors or whose security he was working for.

  “What has that to do with us?” Bno-Cassaul pleaded his case with a fluttering of forward-facing appendages. If the AAnn recognized the meaning behind the gesturing, he did not respond.

  “While it iss well known that not every ssection of your populace lookss favorably upon the Imperial pressence on Jasst, heretofore ssuch dissapproval hass taken the form of petitioning, argument within the general media, and occassional philossophical and ssatirical broadssides. It hass been brought to my attention that both of you have for ssome time participated in jusst ssuch a circle of dissputation right here in Sskokossas.”

  “There iss nothing illegal about any of that which you allude to.” By responding boldly, Bno-Cassaul hoped to put their inquisitors on the defensive. “We an' the other members of our discussion circle have done nothing wrong.”

  Distracted by something significant buried within the AAnn's accusation, Lwo-Dvuum hardly heard the programmer's response. “What di' you mean by ‘heretofore’?”

  Alert, vertical pupils turned to eye the educator. “I think you know perfectly well what I meant.”

  It was Bno-Cassaul's turn to look curiously at the educator. Lwo-Dvuum paid no attention. “I do not. Nor does my frien'. Nor, I believe I can say with some confidence, woul' any other member of our circle. If you woul' consent to explain what you mean, perhaps we can she' some light on the situation.”

  Extending one arm, Takuuna dragged the point of a claw across the smooth tabletop. The subsequent subdued screeching induced brief but excruciating pain in the hearing receptors of the two Vssey. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps not. Lwo-Dvuum did not care, as his aural frill snapped almost flat against his upper body in a futile attempt to shut out the piercing squeal. The timbre of it did not seem to affect the AAnn.

  When the official finally lifted his finger from the hard surface, b
oth Vssey were swaying weakly.

  Takuuna affected ignorance. “Oh, I am sso ssorry. Did you find that uncomfortable?” Still recovering from the excruciating aural assault, neither of the sensitive Vssey responded. The AAnn leaned slightly toward them. “Did it perhapss sserve to clarify your memory?”

  Lwo-Dvuum swallowed air. “T-truly,” the educator whispered, utilizing the favored AAnn preamble, “we have no idea what you are referring to, or what you could possibly want from us. That is why I sought clarification. I did not mean to offen'.”

  “We don't like you,” a stiffening Bno-Cassaul declared forthrightly. The programmer ignored Lwo-Dvuum's frantic gestures and rambled on. “We don't like having you on our worl'. While doing business here and persisting with cultural exchanges, you seek to infiltrate an' undermine our institutions an' our culture. We will conduct formalities with you, but we will never be part of your Empire.”

  Exchanging a glance, inquisitor and recorder exchanged hissing laughter. Neither appeared to take offense at the challenge. “I sseek new information, not what hass been known for ssome time.” Penetrating eyes met BnoCassaul's. “Fortunately, there are a great many Vssey who think and feel differently from you. There are thosse who quite like uss. There are even thosse who cannot wait for Jasst to be formally brought within the Empire. Ssuch ssentimentss are to be encouraged.” He sat back in the chair, his tail switching methodically back and forth behind it.

  “While we do not encourage dissenting opinion, we are perfectly willing to tolerate it. After all,” Takuuna added magnanimously, “ssuch open debatess are fully protected by your lawss.”

  For how much longer? a still-recovering Lwo-Dvuum could not keep from wondering.

  “But, kssassk, when opinion turnss to violence, and to murder, then our outlook changess rather sseverely. Your government iss of the ssame mind.”

  Lwo-Dvuum was completely at a loss. At such a moment one wished for the flexibility to convey true inner feelings by flexing one's face. Since the Vssey did not possess faces of the commonly accepted kind, this means of expression was denied to them. All the two Vssey could do was ripple their dozens of short tentacles passionately.

  “What violence? What murder? Our circle philosophizes and discusses, nothing more.”

  The recorder leaned sideways to whisper something in the AAnn tongue. Takuuna listened gravely, gesturing from time to time, while the mystified Vssey could only wait.

  Finally, the administrator straightened in his chair. “It may be that you are telling the truth.” As he spoke, one extended claw hovered above the tabletop, drawing lazy circles above the unyielding surface. Lwo-Dvuum and Bno-Cassaul tracked its movement with a kind of stolid, horrified fascination, as if watching an old-type fuse burn shorter and shorter. They would have sweated, had their systems been equipped for it.

  “It may be that you are telling the truth,” Takuuna observed quietly. “If not, then what I am about to ssay will already be known to you. It will not matter. The end will be the ssame.

  “Sseveral of your time periodss ago, a violent explossion claimed the livess of many innocent nye at a military and sservices ssupport base located outsside the city of Morotuuver. A ssingle time period passt, a building in the city of Aulauwohly that houssed, among other agenciess, the one ressponssible for much of Imperial-Jasstian trade was desstroyed.”

  Bno-Cassaul's eyestalks retracted slightly. “I am familiar with both incidents. The first was cause' by a ba' electrical circuit flashing volatile materials kept in storage, the secon' by faulty maintenance of the building's climate control system.”

  Takuuna gestured knowingly. “After conssultation with your government, thosse are the explanationss that were releassed to the media.” The administrator's eyes glittered in the diffuse light. “The reality iss ssomewhat different.”

  Bno-Cassaul's tentacles rippled uncertainly. “What possible reason coul' justify prevarication in such a matter?”

  The AAnn official was clearly controlling himself with an effort. “I think you both know very well, tssissk.” It was immensely frustrating, Takuuna thought, to have to deal with sentients who had no expressions whatsoever and whose posture was virtually impossible to interpret. He would suck the truth out of them in spite of that. But whether they were still insufficiently intimidated or truly ignorant had yet to be determined. What he wanted to do was walk up to the more defiant of the pair and begin ripping its tentacles off, one by one. He restrained himself. Time enough later to engage in time-honored ritual.

  For the sake of the official record that would be viewed by his superiors, among others, he proceeded to elucidate.

  “It hass been determined, with only the sslightesst probability of erroneousness, that both incidentss were the ressult of deliberate hosstilitiess on the part of as yet unknown perpetratorss. You are both known to be active memberss of a circle that iss vociferoussly oppossed to the Imperial pressence on Jasst. Do you wissh now to deny thiss?”

  Lwo-Dvuum did not even glance in the direction of the silent AAnn operating the formal recording device. Much as the educator would have preferred to reply in the negative, there was not much point in denying what the AAnn obviously already knew.

  “As my frien' has already state', we don't like you. To be fair, there are many Vssey who fin' your presence here not only acceptable but welcome. It happens that the members of our particular circle do not.” A dozen tentacles gestured in unison in an attempt to encompass all of their immediate surroundings. “I fail to see how that justifies an arrest that borders on near abduction, or this style of questioning, or your attempts to intimidate us.”

  With difficulty, Takuuna continued to restrain himself. “Leaving asside for the moment the matter of the damage to relationss between your government and mine, the cassualtiess among my kind from both incidentss total in the hundredss. Among my people, that jusstifiess a reaction far sstronger than anything you have thuss far experienced, either individually or collectively. I ssuggesst that you take a moment to reflect on the fact that I and my kind have thuss far sshown conssiderable resstraint.” It was the closest to an outright threat the administrator had issued since the uninformative pair of Vssey had been brought before him.

  It did not appear to rattle the two detainees any more than they already were. Either they were dedicated fanatics, as Takuuna half hoped, or else they were secure in their ignorance.

  “Furthermore,” he continued when no response was forthcoming from the pair, “it iss ssusspected that the wider organization to which your circle iss believed to belong wass receiving advice and possibly material assisstance of an as yet unknown nature from a recently deceassed vissiting human sspy.”

  This last accusation was a wild shot in the dark. Ever suspicious, he had always wondered about the real reason behind the dead human's presence on Jast. By throwing it into the interrogation he might perhaps, like the prowling sand skimmer of Old, sink his claws into something as tasty as it was unexpected.

  The allegation certainly took the prisoners aback, but not for the reason the watchful Takuuna hoped.

  What, a now doubly bewildered Lwo-Dvuum wondered dazedly, was a human? Rotating one eye leftward, the perplexed educator saw that poor Bno-Cassaul was equally baffled. Straining his memory, he vaguely recalled an image and description of a tall bipedal creature not unlike the AAnn, only devoid of scales and with a pulpy physical texture completely alien to his own kind as well. In concert with another, more appropriately hard-skinned species called the thranx, these humans dominated the vast interstellar political entity known as the Commonwealth that was permanently at odds with the Empire of the AAnn.

  He had never seen a human, of course. Only a very few had ever visited Jast, and he had never encountered one. There were only the few isolated mentions in the official media. And now this relentless AAnn official was claiming that he and Bno-Cassaul and the other members of their circle had not only had concourse with such a creature, but had actively engaged i
n antisocial activities with its aid. It would all have been hysterically amusing— under different circumstances. A glance was enough to show that the AAnn administrator was not laughing in the manner of his kind, or in any other manner. He was quite serious.

  At such times, Lwo-Dvuum reflected, it must be interesting to be gender differentiated, if only to be able to view an identical situation through a different mental prism. Being essentially sexless, the Vssey could only ponder such possibilities from a purely philosophical point of view.

  Irregardless of gender, the characteristically impatient AAnn was visibly awaiting a response.

  “We know nothing of this human of whom you speak, or of any representative of its kind. To the best of my personal knowledge, neither I nor any member of our circle has ever encountere' such a creature. I am compelle' to reiterate that the objections we have raise' to the Imperial presence on our worl' have taken the form of civil discourse only.” Tentacles fluttered in a steady, rippling motion, creating a continuous cilia-like wave around the upper portion of the speaker's body. “I am an educator. Bno-Cassaul is a programmer. Even if we wishe' to carry out the kinds of actions to which you refer, neither we nor any of the members of our circle have the requisite technical expertise to do so.”

  “Ssay you,” Takuuna shot back. “Next I ssupposse you are going to tell me that newss of the atrocitiess that have been perpetrated againsst my kind did not fill you with glee?”

  Lwo-Dvuum was forced to consider his own personal reactions to what the AAnn had so far told him. There was more going on here than what met the eyes. If he and Bno-Cassaul could figure out what was really behind this ill-mannered interrogation, they might be able to turn it to their advantage. But they would have to be careful, a consideration the educator was afraid his friend had not yet taken to account. From what he knew of AAnn gestures, expressions, and postures, Lwo-Dvuum could sense that this Takuuna official was simultaneously angry and nervous: a volatile combination. If they could keep him calm, the two bemused Vssey might well acquire bits and pieces of worthwhile knowledge.