Sliding Scales Read online

  “My records do not extend to the inclusion of a compilation of Vsseyan athletic accomplishments, Flinx. But I would venture to say that even a moderately active human would easily be able to run circles around any Vssey.”

  “Or any AAnn would,” Flinx added somberly. Visions of the nimble, fleet-footed reptiloids tormenting slow-moving Vssey sprang unbidden into Flinx's mind. It was not a pleasant picture, and he could only hope that the reality on Jast and the relationship between the two species were more amenable than his imaginings.

  “Certainly so,” the ship readily agreed. “Podal agility is likely not to be accounted among the foremost abilities of the Vssey. Like any intelligent species confronted with an inherent physiological impediment, I am sure they have found ways and means to compensate. For one thing, they are asexual and reproduce by budding. Not having to search for a mate greatly reduces the need to move about repeatedly and rapidly, with concurrent consequences for related evolutionary development.”

  “No doubt,” agreed Flinx more somberly, losing the smile. “Tentacles—or those tentacles—don't look very strong.”

  “They apparently are not,” the ship agreed. “However, they must be adequate to the shaping of an advanced civilization, which the Vssey have done. And there are many of them. Perhaps forty or fifty weak fingers are the equal, or even the superior, to ten stronger ones. Or to sixteen, in the case of the thranx.”

  “They must be descended from an ancestor that was originally permanently sedentary.” Flinx was taken with the possibilities of the Vssey body design. “Like Terran anemones.”

  “Perhaps. The information I have on the species does not extend to details of their racial pedigree.”

  Flinx leaned back in the lounge and continued to study the image of the Vssey as the recording ran through to its conclusion. When it began to loop, he waved it away.

  “Your description of Jast doesn't sound very inviting. I don't much care for dry places. As you know, during our recent visit to Pyrassis I ‘enjoyed’ more than enough forced desert sightseeing to last me a long, long time. Not to mention a similar experience years ago on Moth, in the company of an old reprobate named Knigta Yakus.” His tone softened. “But the Vssey—they intrigue me. One might almost call them charming.”

  “That is not a biologically accurate categorization,” said the ship in a voice that was mildly reproving.

  “I know. It's a silly subjective human categorization. One I think happens to fit the sentients under discussion.” He waved a hand grandly. “Set course for this Jast. I'm taking your advice, ship. I'm going to make a strenuous attempt to unwind among the mushrooms.”

  “Strenuous and unwind should not be used tangentially in the context of a proposed vacation, Flinx, as the meaning and intent of one seriously contravenes the meaning and intent of the other. And the Vssey are not taxonomically related to any individual family of the fungi, irrespective of—”

  “Ship?”

  “Yes, Flinx.”

  “Shut up and navigate.”

  As always, the Teacher complied. If it felt disrespected by the abruptness of its master's command, it kept any such reaction entirely to itself. Besides, Flinx had taken its advice, both as to what to do next and where to carry out the doing of it.

  No more than that could an AI ask for.

  2

  Takuuna VBXLLW didn't particularly want to kill the two Vssey juveniles. But he did not particularly mind the prospect of doing so, either. It was not as if his schedule was full. As it was, his duties as a secondary administrator for the outer Vsseyan provinces of Qwal-Dihn and Tual-Sihb left him too much time to think. Too much time to dwell on the dead-end nature of both his assignment and his life. Still young and adventurous, like any ambitious AAnn adult he desperately wished for an opportunity to present itself that would allow for substantial personal advancement. Only then could he change his name to Takuuna VBXLL and hope to ascend within the formal hierarchy that was the Empire.

  Jast was not the sort of place, nor his assignment the kind of work, where one was likely to encounter such a ready prospect. This was a drawback he shared in common with millions of his fellow nye. As he was only concerned for himself, he did not reflect on the fact that behind the AAnn Empire's continued steady expansion stood this collective racial impatience that was reflected in every individual's desire to get ahead. Executing the two miserable young Vssey would likely neither advance nor slow his personal progress. It was just part of the job.

  Letting out a soft hiss of resignation, he glanced sky-ward. The choluub were already ascending. Small, limbless nocturnal grazers on Jast's surprisingly luxuriant and varied desert flora, they ate and defecated pretty much where they lay. In addition to eating, they spent the night regenerating membranous sacs from a special organ on their slightly humped backs. As a by-product of their consumption of Jast's nourishing plant life, they produced methane gas. Instead of voiding it anally, the gas was diverted inside the choluub's body to the freshly extruded membrane, slowly filling it.

  As the sun rose, it heated the gas inside the membranes. Now, hundreds of sleepy choluub, elevated by these slowly expanding balloons, were rising into the air from the surrounding terrain. In contrast to the dull brown and dark green bodies of the choluub themselves, the transparent membranes that provided their lift were strikingly iridescent. All around the open courtyard of the local AAnn administrative compound, hundreds of glistening, multihued bubbles were rising majestically skyward. After filling their bellies during the night, the hovering choluub would rest and travel with the wind. By late afternoon they would begin to vent gas and sink slowly surfaceward, to gently touch down anew in fresh grazing grounds.

  It was a process of aerial wandering that took place every day across much of the planet. Many other species— some larger, some smaller, some day-sleepers like the choluub, others diurnal, and a few who were unabashedly carnivorous—utilized similar methods of locomotion to get around without the need for legs or tentacles, wings or fins. Furthermore, migrating to new feeding grounds while asleep was highly efficient, a fine way to conserve energy.

  Srrsstt! Everything on this world moves slowly, Takuuna growled to himself. In a naturally sluggish environment, the Vssey had distinguished themselves not only by developing intelligence, but also by evolving a method of comparatively rapid locomotion. But only comparatively. Any healthy AAnn, even one aged and sloughing scales, could beat the fastest Vsseyan sprinter, and probably do it while running backwards. The minds of the stolid Vssey, however, were as sharp as those of any other sentient— which left them, like everyone else, the administrator knew, at least one cut below the average AAnn.

  A sudden warm downdraft threatened to fill the elegant parquet courtyard with its tinkling fountain and fine tile work and writhing Vsseyan sculptures with globs of bulbous, drifting choluub. Irritated, Takuuna swatted at one that came floating toward his face. Unintentionally, the sharp, short claws on the fingers of his right hand sliced into the lifting membrane. There was a whiff of escaping stink, the punctured balloon collapsed, and the softly squeaking choluub fell the rest of the way to the ground. Startled awake and stunned by the fall, it lay there motionless and mewling softly, bewildered by its surroundings. Takuuna could have lifted up a wide, sandaled foot and stomped it flat, but chose to ignore it. Unable to reach anything edible in the spotlessly clean courtyard, it would soon go silent and likely expire before nightfall.

  The two condemned Vssey waited at the far end of the courtyard, mumbling to each other in the local dialect of their mellifluous language. Occasionally, a bubble or two would emerge from a mouth to rise into the rapidly warming air of morning, only to pop into nothingness before it had traveled more than a single body length. Instead of utilizing hand and arm gestures like the AAnn, for emphasis the Vssey blew bubbles to underscore or stress certain words or phrases. It struck Takuuna as a childish means of expression. One that was eminently suitable to the species as a whole, he reflected
.

  The two accused were not alone. They were flanked by several armed Vssey. Ordinarily, a simple crime like thievery would be dealt with by local authorities and would not even involve the AAnn. But the theft had occurred at an AAnn scientific station and had involved AAnn property. Therefore, according to Vsseyan law, it was the right of the affronted to pronounce and carry out sentence.

  The AAnn could have dismissed the charges entirely, or requested sociality counseling and treatment for the offenders, or simply ignored the case altogether. But the head of the station, having suffered from such thievery previously and tired of having to fill out the relevant reports, had chosen to make an example this time. The local Vssey had been left shocked by his decision, but with no choice except to follow the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.

  Which was why secondary administrator Takuuna, brought over from his comfortable office in Skokosas, had been asked to personally carry out the sentence. Sharp-clawed devil, that station head Muurindi, he mused. Make an example of the thieves, but import someone else to deliver the punishment that had been decreed. That way all the local opprobrium would fall on Takuuna, giving the station head what he wanted but sparing him the anger of the locals.

  Takuuna saw no way to manipulate the situation to his personal advantage. He could not turn down the request because fulfilling such requests from outlying AAnn communities and stations was part of his job. Perhaps, he thought, he was making too much of it. As soon as he had concluded the business he would climb back into his waiting aircar and zip back to Skokosas. It was just that he did not look forward to doing work that he could not turn to his benefit. As to the guilt or innocence of the two young Vssey he was about to kill, he gave not a thought. Like the doing of the killing itself, he did not really much care one way or the other.

  The two Vssey certainly cared. It was evident in the way their eyestalks retracted flush against their wide, flattened heads and their rippling hearing organs lay almost flat against the upper, domed portion of their bodies. As Takuuna approached, the two sets of guards flanking the prisoners hopped off to opposite sides. Only one, unarmed and identified as an Elder by the disgusting flaking of his epidermis, advanced in slow, deliberate hops to intercept the oncoming AAnn. By way of cordial preliminaries, a couple of bubbles emerged from its mouth.

  “I am Awn-Bween, senior judiciary of eastern TualSihb.” Several of the tentacles that lined the upper, dome-like part of the Elder's body extended themselves in the AAnn's direction. Takuuna took an indifferent swipe at them with one hand. There were no claws to make point-to-point contact with, and he did not much like the dry, wormy feel of Vsseyan appendages. His attention remained focused on the two cowering detainees.

  “Tsslk—let uss get thiss business over with,” he hissed impatiently.

  Like a large, upturned brown bowl, the Elder's upper body tilted in the administrator's direction. “If I may be permitte', administrator, I woul' like to point out that it be possible for you, as presiding official in this instance, to grant clemency to offenders.”

  Pweetasst, Takuuna thought angrily. As if his position wasn't sufficiently awkward already. The senior judiciary's associates looked on thoughtfully. As they did so, Takuuna experienced a powerful urge to slice through their eyeball stalks with a single swipe of one clawed hand.

  A wayward thought, he admonished himself. These are allies. They support the Empire and therefore my work here. They are not thranx.

  Such realities notwithstanding, he saw no reason to commute a sentence that had already been handed down, and said so. The colorful tentacles that encircled the upper portion of Awn-Bween's body fluttered in the bright sunshine. His eyes dipped slightly, the stalks inclining toward the visitor.

  “Then we await the carrying out of sentence. Though my companions an' I think it unduly harsh, as the offense was committe' against your property, it is your right to judge. We will not interfere.”

  As if you could, Takuuna thought. Reaching down, he drew the pistol he always carried with him. An unarmed AAnn was a naked AAnn. The sidearm was floridly decorated, as befitted an official instrument of justice. It was also fully functional. As the senior judiciary and the others hopped clear, Takuuna raised the muzzle of the pistol. Since the Vssey possessed nothing like a central heart, there was no point in aiming anywhere at the thick stump of a lower body. But the brain was easily located. It lay in the center of the upper cap, between the eyes.

  Two quick shots and it was all over. Though not a veteran soldier, at such close range even a youngster could have done the work efficiently. Small craters smoking from the apex of their rounded upper bodies, tentacles twitching violently, first one thief and then the other toppled over onto the smooth tile of the courtyard. Those curious AAnn who had been watching from a distance turned back to their work. A new group of Vssey came forward to remove the bodies. Since their tentacles were too weak for the purpose, they employed clever mechanical devices to lift the corpses into a waiting, self-propelled container.

  Awn-Bween chose to walk Takuuna back to his temporary quarters. Feeling some slight sympathy for the Vssey official, who doubtless was charged with the task of informing the relatives of the recently deceased of their actual demise, Takuuna slowed his walk to a crawl to enable the laboriously hopping judiciary to keep pace.

  “Imperial justice is as swift as it is harsh.” The Vsseyan language was so liquid that it reminded Takuuna of an infant's contented hissing. The occasionally emitted punctuational bubbles only reinforced the impression.

  “It workss,” Takuuna replied brusquely. “Had I been the one to have committed the sspecified offensse, againsst your property, you would have been granted the right to sshoot me.”

  Except that your manipulative digits aren't strong enough to hold a proper weapon, he thought. A hovering naqueep materialized in front of him. It was smaller and more robustly built than a choluub, and rode the air by means of not one but three gas bladders. He could easily have killed it or sent it crashing to earth. Instead, he brushed it out of his path with a back sweep of his hand. It hooted querulously as it struggled to find a breeze on which to flee.

  With waves of hands and tail he acknowledged the polite salutations of fellow AAnn as well as the occasional Vssey he knew from previous visits to this eastern Imperial outpost of Tual-Sihb. Exiting the courtyard, he found himself in the narrow avenue that ran parallel to the central administrative complex. Paid for by the government, his rooms were in the better of the town's two hotels. He was looking forward to a nice sand bath in the desiccated atmosphere of his quarters. Then a meal, a good sleep, and first thing in the morning it would be back to far more heavily urbanized Skokosas, where real work awaited him.

  Awn-Bween bid him farewell outside the complex. “I myself have studie' a goo' deal of AAnn law. Though I disagree with some things, there is much in it to admire. I understan' what you say.”

  “Truly,” Takuuna agreed indifferently. He could already feel the heated imported sand against his skin, the delicious caress of fine silicaceous grains abrading dead scales and dirt from his body. “It must be ssaid that your people have been very ssensible and cooperative in allowing uss to establissh our few outpostss on your world.”

  “I personally revere the Empire and look forwar' to the day when Jast is officially include' in it.” Tentacles rippled like a breaking wave by way of a farewell salute. “Not all are so enthusiastic, but many very much are.”

  And the rest can be dealt with appropriately, as has been done elsewhere on other worlds, Takuuna knew. While it was not his place to measure or facilitate that eventual formal integration, he could see it coming. So could his fellow nye. Another world to swell the boundaries of the Empire. One more small expansion of Imperial space. Despite their physical handicaps and unpleasant appearance, the Vssey would be welcome. Outstanding engineers, builders, and artisans, they had a very real contribution to make. Though not noted as innovators, they were superb mimics, able to reprod
uce in their factories any device or apparatus that was presented to them. Given such promise, their displeasing physical appearance could be overlooked.

  They parted amiably, AAnn administrator and Vsseyan judiciary. Gratefully, Takuuna resumed a more normal stride, his long, powerful legs carrying him past and around busy Vssey as if they were standing still. None envied him his forward velocity. They were quite comfortable proceeding at their own speed, one methodical hop at a time. Never having had legs, they did not miss them.

  Only once did he have to slow, when a vast flock of low-drifting satubvwo blocked the street. Caught by a shifting, unusually strong breeze, they had been blown in and down. A change in the wind would carry them up and away easily, since no building in town was more than two stories tall. Although they possessed an excellent sense of balance, like any monoped the Vssey lived in fear of falling—the more so because their small tentacles did not provide a means for easily returning themselves to an upright position. A Vssey who fell and was not equipped with a mechanical means for righting itself had to rely on the assistance of others in order to return to a vertical stance, or else look forward to perhaps an hour of hard struggle with both its tentacles and the bracing edge of its flexible dome.

  So it was that Takuuna found himself fuming impotently at the swirling, confused, and incredibly dense flock of satubvwo that blocked the street in front of him. It was small consolation that the crowd of busy Vssey over which he towered by a head were equally frustrated. Despite the flock's density there was very little smell. Vertical travel allowed them to leave clinging dirt, vegetative matter, and individual waste products behind. Unlike the smaller, softer-voiced choluub, however, the satubvwo did make quite a lot of noise. With each one generating a steady wail from its conical mouth, the siren-like collective howl tended to overwhelm the polite murmuring of the Vssey.

  Crowded together, the locals dealt with the situation in the traditional manner: they began to discuss it among themselves. Looking down at them, Takuuna marveled that they had ever been able to advance beyond the tribal stage. Nothing was done swiftly. Any action involving more than one Vssey required the attainment of consensus, usually arrived at after interminable discussion of every possible ramification of even the least confrontational issues. This inherent cultural trait, no doubt evolved from when the ancestral Vssey existed as fixed individuals incapable of movement, made for great philosophers and deep thinkers, for fine musicians and authors, but it was no way to conquer the next hill, much less vast swaths of space. Those accomplishments were to remain the province of more active, energetic species, he knew, and of one in particular. Reaching for his sidearm, he prepared to yet again underline the reality of that conviction. But before he could do so, the conundrum of the airborne roadblock was resolved by the nature of Jast itself.