The Earthman spent some time drumming his fingers on the table. The repetitious thumping reminded Robert of the headache he’d been trying to fight off with biofeedback for an hour or more. For some reason the technique wasn’t working this time. He felt closed in, claustrophobic, short of breath. And seemed to be getting worse.
At last Prathachulthorn looked up. To Robert’s surprise the man’s first remark could be taken as something distantly akin to a compliment.
“Well, Captain Oneagle,” Prathachulthorn said. “I confess to having feared things would be much, much worse than I find them here.’
“I’m relieved to hear it, sir.”
Prathachulthorn’s eyes narrowed, as if he suspected an ever-so-thin veneer of sarcasm in Robert’s voice. “To be precise,” he went on, “I feared I would discover that you had lied in your report to the Council in Exile, and that I would have to shoot you.”
Robert suppressed an impulse to swallow and managed to maintain an impassive expression. “I’m glad that did not turn out to be necessary, sir.”
“So am I. I’m sure your mother would have been irritated, for one thing. As it is, and bearing in mind that yours was a strictly amateur enterprise, I’m willing to credit you with a good effort here.”
Major Prathachulthorn shook his head. “No, that’s unfairly restrained. Let me put it this way. There is much I’d have done otherwise, had I been here. But in light of how poorly the official forces have fared, you and your chims have performed very well indeed.”
Robert felt a hollowness in his chest begin to relax. “I’m sure the chims will be glad to hear it, sir. I’d like to point out, though, that I was not sole leader here. The Tymbrimi Athaclena carried a good part of that burden.”
Major Prathachulthorn’s expression turned sour. Robert wasn’t sure if it was because Athaclena was a Galactic, or because Robert, as a militia officer, should have retained all authority himself.
“Ah, yes. The ‘General.’ ” His indulgent smile was patronizing, at the very least. He nodded. “I will mention her assistance in my report. Ambassador Uthacalthing’s daughter is clearly a resourceful young alien. I hope she is willing to continue helping us, in some capacity.”
“The chims worship her, sir,” Robert pointed out.
Major Prathachulthorn nodded. As he looked over toward the wall, his voice took on a thoughtful tone. “The Tymbrimi mystique, I know. Sometimes I wonder if the media knows what the hell it’s doing, creating such ideas. Allies or no allies, our people have got to understand that Earthclan will always be fundamentally alone. We’ll never be able to fully trust anything Galactic. “-
Then, as if he felt he might have said too much, Prathachulthorn shook his head and changed the subject. “Now about future operations against the enemy—”
“We’ve been thinking about that, sir. Their mysterious surge of activity in the mountains seems to have ended, though for how long we don’t know. Still, there are some ideas we’ve been batting around. Things we might use against them when and if they come back.”
“Good.” Prathachulthorn nodded. “But you must understand that in the future we’ll have to coordinate all actions in the Mulun with other planetary forces. Irregulars are simply incapable of hurting the enemy where his real assets are. That was demonstrated when the city chim insurrectionists were wiped out trying to attack the space batteries near Port Helenia.”
Robert saw Prathachulthorn’s point. “Yessir. Although since then we have captured some munitions which could be useful.”
“A few missiles, yes. They might be handy, if we can figure out how to use them. And especially if we have the right information about where to point them.
“We have altogether too little data,” the major went on. “I want to gather more and report back to the Council. After that, our task will be to prepare to support any action they choose to undertake.”
Robert finally asked the question that he had put off since returning to find Prathachulthorn and his small group of human officers here, turning the cave refuge upside down, poking into everything, taking over. “What will be done with our organization, sir? Athaclena and I, we’ve given a number of chims working officer status. But except for me nobody here has a real colonial commission.”
Prathachulthorn pursed his lips. “Well, you’re the simplest case, captain. Clearly you deserve a rest. You can escort Ambassador Uthacalthing’s daughter back to the Refuge with our next report, along with my recommendation for a promotion and a medal. I know the Coordinator would like that. You can fill them in on how you made your fine discovery about the Gubru resonance tracking technique.”
From his tone of voice, the major made it quite clear what he would think of Robert if he took up the offer. “On the other hand, I’d be pleased to have you join my staff, with a brevet marine status of first lieutenant in addition to your colonial commission. We could use your experience.”
“Thank you, sir. I think I’ll remain here, if it’s all right with you.”
“Fine. Then we’ll assign someone else to escort—”
“I’m sure Athaclena will want to stay as well,” Robert hurriedly added.
“Hmm. Well, yes. I am certain she could be helpful for a while. Tell you what, captain. I’ll put the matter to the Council in my next letter. But we must be sure of one thing. Her status is no longer military. The chims are to cease referring to her as a command officer. Is that clear?”
“Yessir, quite clear.” Robert only wondered how one enforced that sort of order on civilian neo-chimpanzees, who tended to call anybody and anything whatever they pleased.
“Good. Now, as for those formerly under your command … I do happen to have brought with me a few blank colonial commissions which we can assign to chims who have shown notable initiative. I have no doubt you’ll recommend names.”
Robert nodded. “I will, sir’.”
He recalled that one other member of their “army” besides himself had already been in the militia. The thought of Fiben — certainly dead for a long time, now — made him suddenly even more depressed. These caves! They’re driving me nuts. It’s getting harder and harder to bear the time I must spend down here.
Major Prathachulthorn was a disciplined soldier and had spent months in the Council’s underground refuge. But Robert had no such firmness of character. I’ve got to get out!
“Sir,” he said quickly. “I’d like to ask your permission to leave base camp for a few days, to run an errand down near Lome Pass … at the ruins of the Howletts Center.”
Prathachulthorn frowned. “The place where those gorillas were illegally gene-meddled?”
“The place where we won our first victory,” he reminded the commando, “and where we made the Gubru accept parole.”
“Hmph,” the major grunted. “What do you expect to find there?”
Robert suppressed an impulse to shrug. In his suddenly worsening claustrophobia, in his need for any excuse to get away, he pulled forth an idea that had until then only been a glimmer at the back of his mind.
“A possible weapon, sir. It’s a concept for something that might help a lot, if it worked.”
That piqued Prathachulthorn’s interest. “What is this weapon?”
“I’d rather not be specific right now, sir. Not until I’ve had a chance to verify a few things. I’ll only be gone three or four days at the most. I promise.”
“Hmm. Well.” Prathachulthorn’s lips pursed. “It will take that long just to put these data systems into shape. You’ll only get underfoot till that’s done. Afterwards, though, I’ll be needing you. We’ve got to prepare a report to the Council.”