"Well… I don't see why not."
"I'd just like to see the look on his face. Vic was obviously enjoying himself. Yet I'm told that you didn't think it would work. Is that right?"
This wasn't going the way Eesyan had expected. The atmosphere was too convivial, too light-not right for the heavy clash of opinions that he had been bracing for. But Calazar's question gave him as good an opening for the kind of line he had prepared, he supposed. "The truth is, we were extremely lucky," he replied. "Far luckier than we had any right to hope for. The convergence suppressor at MP2 is the experimental prototype, barely tested. It shouldn't have been rushed out there in such haste, and a staff installed. We're violating all the principles. I accept that it's my responsibility, and I have no excuse to offer. Managing a mixed Thurien-Terran team seems to bring complications that I don't pretend to understand yet."
"Grave words," Calazar commented. Eesyan had the feeling that it hadn't come as a great surprise.
"It's a serious business. I can only state the situation as I see it."
"What would you recommend?"
"A thorough reappraisal of the physics, commencing with a recapitulation of the low-power phase at Quelsang. A moratorium on all further experiments at MP2 until we have consolidated our thoughts and plans. Replacement of the suppressor by a properly engineered and tested device when results from Quelsang permit." Eesyan drew a breath. What was to have been his whole argument had compressed itself into a few words. Might as well see it through, he decided. "It's more than a recommendation, Calazar. If I am to retain the capacity of director of this project, I must insist. Otherwise, I would have no choice but to step down from taking further responsibility."
Calazar and Showm glanced at each other. Well, that had put things clearly enough, they seemed to say. Eesyan waited for the querying and cajoling to begin. "It does seem that we got a bit carried away, doesn't it?" Calazar replied. "I mean everybody-myself included. I think you're right. Absolutely right. The house needs to be put in order from the ground up. We must never stray from our standards of excellence and professionalism."
"Don't take it as a personal lapse, Porthik," Showm said. "I've heard from the other scientists that It's been affecting all of them. A firm lead is exactly what they want."
Showm wasn't coming across as somebody in the process of consigning a pet project to oblivion. Her manner was detached and casual, as if it had never been more than a passing curiosity. Eesyan was off balance. He sensed that something more was afoot. "It goes without saying, of course, that this will put all thought of sending reconnaissance probes to Minerva on indefinite hold," he pointed out, more to test their reaction than to tell them anything they wouldn't already know.
"Which should please you," Showm said. "You were never keen on it anyway."
Eesyan looked perplexedly from her to Calazar. Calazar waved a hand dismissively. "Ah… And what could it have achieved, really? You told us yourself how improbable it would be for us to learn anything meaningful about Minerva that way. Creeping about, spying and eavesdropping from the sky… Didn't we have enough of that with the Jevlenese? And then what, even if we did? Suppose we should find answers to our questions there-Minerva before its downfall, hopeful and unsuspecting, yet with the whole ghastly story of war, destruction, catastrophe, and the aftermath all lying ahead of it. What do we do after we've collected, sorted, categorized, and catalogued our data in tidy charts and reference bases? Just pull out the probes and leave them to it like laboratory animals that have served their purpose-billions of unborn to the story of anguish, pain, torment, and slaughter that will unfold… for millennium after murderous millennium?"
Calazar looked expectantly toward the door. It opened to admit a house platter, which glided in to deliver a serving of ule with a selection of confectionaries. Timed exactly to allow him time to absorb the message, Eesyan noted.
"I didn't mention this at the time, because I wanted to reflect and be sure," Calazar said, rising to set out the dishes from the tray, as befitted the host. "Some time ago, I had a visit from Gregg Caldwell."
Now it was all taking another unexpected turn. "Vic Hunt's superior," Eesyan said, more to give himself a moment to adjust again.
"Yes. The man who was one of the driving forces that turned Terrans' energies away from violence and destructiveness, and instead hurled them out across the Solar System; who directed the investigations that led to their rediscovery of their past and the rescue of the Shapieron, and kept his head after they eventually made contact with ourselves, when many others on both sides were yielding to fears and suspicions that would have led us to a very different situation today." Showm flinched slightly, but Eesyan didn't think Calazar had intended it personally. Calazar handed Eesyan a goblet mixed in the way he knew from experience was to Eesyan's taste. "The kessaya are very good." He gestured toward the tray.
"Maybe in a moment… Thank you."
Calazar went on, "A person not only of rare vision, but also with the even rarer gift of being able to turn visions into reality. Who dares to dream, and can make dreams come true. Well, Caldwell came to me with a dream… Are you sure you won't try the kessaya?"
Eesyan had a fleeting urge to throw them at him. He shook his head.
"Terrans like him epitomize all that's positive about their race: the dynamism; the restless energy; the refusal to give in even when the cause is hopeless, and yet win. Look at what can happen in just a few decades when they turn their aggressiveness upon constructive ends."
Such thoughts weren't exactly new to Eesyan. He had discussed them on many occasions, with Showm among others. "Truly extraordinary," he agreed. They had come across nothing else like it in all the worlds they had reached.
"And we Ganymeans embody another set of qualities that are every bit as laudable," Calazar said. "You put them succinctly yourself just a few minutes ago: caution and thoroughness; commitment to excellence in all things; dignifying of the moral over the material. We've seen what each of these combinations has achieved on its own. But can you imagine, Porthik, what they might be capable of together?"
Eesyan looked at Showm, who was watching him intently. She seemed to be brimming with things to say of her own, but just at this instant not wanting to interrupt Calazar's stride. Eesyan wondered if he was missing a point somewhere. "Yes, I hear what you're saying," he said, turning back to Calazar. "But isn't that what we have? The Jevlenese menace has been uncovered and neutralized. Earth is showing signs that it might have mended its ways finally. They seem to be absorbing our science and adapting to our technology…"
Calazar waved a hand and shook his head rapidly. "That isn't what I meant. What we have is Earth with all its scars and bruises and blemishes, and us on the other side of a divide that began opening tens of thousand of years ago, struggling to get to know each other again like adult siblings that were separated in childhood. I'm talking about the potential that existed with the human race as it existed then, before they were forced back to animal survivalism, and then had their recovery sabotaged; when no gulf existed. Where might Thuriens and a race like that be today, do you think? Still striving to trace the origins of the codes that direct life, to discover what agency devised them and for what purpose? Or would we long ago have become fully alive and conscious beings, knowing ourselves and our role in the multiplicity of realities that we are even now just beginning to glimpse?"