Long was silent.
“From the bridge he went to the hangar bay. The marines were in position by then, for all the good it did us. We lost four squads like that. Once in the hangar he boarded a civilian prospector's singleship. He put a hole in every other ship there with the mining laser, blew up the lock-field poles and left.”
“Any pursuit?”
“Nobody outside Andromeda knew what was going on. Nobody inside knew either, for that matter.”
Long understood. By destroying the bridge Fleet Commander had effectively blown Andromeda's brains out. Her crew could no longer function as a cohesive unit. Instead small groups tried to follow their last orders as well as possible, unsure of the nature of the threat. Lacking information and direction there was little they could do to help each other. The kzin had gone through them like a force knife. The other Navy ships in the area probably hadn't even known there was a problem. By the time control could be reestablished and warnings issued the singleship would have been long gone.
He took a deep breath. “If there's any blame to bear it belongs to me. He was my responsibility. I failed to —”
Tskala cut him off. “If there was any negligence involved I'm sure it will come out before the Court of Inquiry. Right now I don't have time for blame. I need to know what you learned from him, and I need to know what he learned from us.”
“From us he got about fifty datacubes full.”
The admiral blanched. “Fifty datacubes! What was on them?”
“Kzin virtual adventures originally. He copied over them. I'm sure he took the operating manuals for the singleship and anything else he needed for his escape, probably all my interrogation records, beyond that I don't know, anything he could access with my ident code. If we can't get the databanks running again…”
He didn't go on. As an intelligence officer Long had access to nearly everything but need-to-know secrets. Because of her mission Andromeda's computer contained vast amounts of sensitive information. Ship schedules, code keys, automanuals for every piece of equipment in the fleet, UNSN operating procedures, hundreds of algorithms, inventories and rosters. The list was endless. A datacube would hold over five thousand automanuals. Fifty datacubes would barely scratch the surface of what was available, but if what was on them couldn't be determined then everything in the system had to be considered compromised. Millions of hours of work would have to be thrown out to ensure security. Beyond that the losses were staggering. Codes and procedures could be changed, weapon capabilities couldn't.
The kzinti had gained an advantage that might well mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Tskala composed himself. “What did we get from him?”
“Nothing of military value, but I think something more important. He was a very unusual kzin. He put a lot of experience into perspective for me.”
“What did he say?”
Long took a deep breath. Everything depended on convincing the admiral that he was right, despite the fact that he wasn't sure himself. “He told me why we win wars. He told me why we might lose the next one.”
“How so?”
“Why can a gazelle outrun a leopard? Because the leopard is running for its supper, the gazelle is running for its life. We had to win or die. For the kzinti it was just another conquest. Well, we stopped them, and we kept on stopping them. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Fleet Commander is afraid we'll destroy his species.”
Tskala laughed bitterly. “That's a switch. We aren't the ones with a dozen slave races that we hunt and eat for fun. What makes him afraid of us?”
“He's been studying human history and what he sees is scorched earth and extermination programs. He sees entire civilizations wiped from the globe. He sees a species committed to total war.”
The admiral laughed again. “What does he think his species has been committed to during the last six invasions? We were pacifists before they attacked us, tanjit!”
“To us they were total war. To the kzin they were conquests. From the Patriarch's point of view a small, medium-risk investment offering a good rate of return, with the added advantage of giving hot-blooded young Heroes something to do other than challenge his authority. The kzinti have never fought a total war, it isn't their style. You need a population willing to submit completely to the group will, and they aren't socialized enough to do that. They go to war for the honor it brings, for slaves, new resources, wealth, status. You don't get those things when you exterminate your enemy. Their form of conquest is closer to organized piracy. Fleet Commander was genuinely horrified by the way we fight, and he was right to be. We had absolute peace because the only alternative was total self-destruction.”
“I don't scan that. Kzinti are predators born and bred. Sure we had wars before the UN took over, but after that we had as close to paradise as you can get on Earth. We had to learn to fight all over again when they came knocking.”
“Oh, no? Think about what it took to enforce that paradise. Suppression of any technology that could be used aggressively, which means almost all of it. Every single citizen subjected to intense anti-aggressive conditioning from cradle to grave. The personality types we make into combat commanders today were considered dangerous and unstable. They had to undergo compulsory 'treatments' with psychodrugs for their entire lives. Even that level of control wasn't enough. Ever hear of an organlegger? When transplants were still in use they would kill people and sell them for spare parts. I don't think the kzinti are any more brutal than that.”
The admiral smiled wryly. He was, after all, a combat commander. “I'd rather be a brutal free human than a gentle kzinti slave. Still, I don't see the problem from our point of view. They don't pose a threat anymore. They'll attack before they're ready as they always do. We'll beat them back and take a few more worlds away from them. Sooner or later they'll learn that their conquest game costs them too dearly to continue.”
“That's the danger point, sir. The kzin culture is expansionist by nature. The Patriarch doesn't care if the Conquest Heroes win or die trying, as long as they keep moving out from the settled systems. Up until now they've been willing, even eager, to do it. There isn't much opportunity for an ambitious kzin on a settled planet. Joining a conquest isn't just more glorious, it's safer, or it was until now.”
Tskala was puzzled. “I know they're crazy for combat, but how can going to war be safer than staying at home?”
“All social carnivores have ways to limit damage. Most threats are bluffs and most fights aren't serious; those that are, are subject to strict rules. On an established world the only quick way to the top is through serious duels, with the rules rigged against the contender. That serves to preserve their social structure, but it only works if there's a better alternative for the challenger. That used to be the conquests, but we've changed that. I saw a lot more duels in my last year on W'kkai than in my first, duels involving senior kzin. It's only going to get worse as their population pressure builds up. Kzinti can't be packed into multiblocks the way humans can; they need a lot of room.”
“How does that affect us?”
“Put yourself in the Patriarch's shoes! Already the first cracks are starting to show — Fleet Commander is proof of that. He's facing his own death, the destruction of a dynasty that predates human civilization, the dissolution of his society and maybe the extinction of his species. He's a kzin. Do you want to bet thirty billion lives he won't decide to learn how total war is fought?” Long paused for breath. His words had come tumbling out almost unaided. The half-formed ideas that had stewed in his brain while he hung on the police web had clicked into place. Now that he was sure of the problem he knew the answer.