The Course of Empire(39)

The other Jao squirmed, as if the memory made her uncomfortable. "They were very difficult to deal with, because they were so impractical," she said in a low voice. "They even have words for it in their own language: 'fanatic,' 'zealot,' and there are others. Sometimes, if we locked them up, they refused to eat and died of starvation. Other times—not many, but some—they killed themselves and each other, sometimes even their own offspring, rather than submit."



Green glinted off the long lines of the sub. Red winked here and there to indicate command posts. "What about the jinau troops?" Aille asked.



"Very capable, sir," the first said, "but it is always difficult to know if you can trust them. They're inherently unstable, I sometimes think, because they are too clever."



"And yet they seem honorable," Aille mused. "I found several arguing with the director today merely because they wished to do 'a good job.' "



"It is difficult to fathom," the first Binnat said, "due to their quirky natures. They tell many untruths."



"They will say anything," the other added, "if it will obtain what they want. They will swear to it, then act later as they please. In the beginning, many Jao died before we understood this."



"And what of the lasers on our assault vehicles?" Aille asked. "These humans insist they were easily thwarted by very low-tech solutions, steam, thrown chaff, and the like."



"After the initial assault, our lasers performed poorly," the first said. "That is true. And it is also true that their own weapons were often terrifyingly effective."



"Was any study ever carried out afterward?"



"Not that I know of." He glanced at his fellow veteran and she flicked an ear in agreement. "We had won, after all."



"I see." Aille's whiskers drooped in an unguarded moment of contemplated-folly until he caught himself and amended the gesture to the more tactful contemplated-action. Yaut caught his eye and Aille read repressed-interest in his stance.



"You have a question, fraghta?"



"Yes," said Yaut, stepping forward. "How often did Jao troops abandon their own weapons and use Terran ones instead?"



An excellent question, thought Aille, and one he would not have thought to ask himself.



The two Binnat glanced at each other. Then the female said, reluctantly, "It was known to happen. Now and then."



Her male companion, in his blunt manner, bolted onto his feet to display amused-derision. " 'Now and then!' Say rather: as often as we could manage it. Which was not often enough, so far as I was concerned. The big problem was that we could not fit into their tanks. But we employed every piece of their artillery we could get our hands on, once we learned how to use it."



The fraghta stared at him. Aille was certain that Yaut had more questions he wanted to ask, but, after a moment, the fraghta stepped back. Clearly enough, there were some further matters which Yaut intended to discuss with these Binnat—but not here and now, in front of Pluthrak.



Aille was not disgruntled. A good fraghta would often handle things privately and in his own manner. Not the least of the reasons for Pluthrak's eminence was its habit of trusting its affiliated kochan and taifs.



The doorfield flared and another Jao entered. Aille squinted at the newcomer's vai camiti for a moment, until he remembered where he'd seen that particular facial pattern. "Director Vamre," he said, falling into a carefully neutral stance.



"I—" The director was radiating unsophisticated misery. "I have been so busy, I did not listen to the day's updates. I did not know!"



The two startled Binnat retreated to the shadows at the back of the room. Yaut's ears twitched and even Tully seemed to catch a whiff of the Jao's distress.



"'Did not know?' " Aille repeated unhelpfully.



"That you were of Pluthrak!"



"Many are of Pluthrak," Aille said. "Certainly you cannot be expected to know all of them."



"I did not know a Pluthrak had been assigned here!" Vamre krinnu Vallt vau Kannu paced toward the two astonished Binnat, then appeared to notice their lower-ranked presence for the first time. He stiffened. "On Terra, I mean, and I should have."



"There are many interesting tales told about this world, despite its isolation," Aille said. "Pluthrak wished to have firsthand experience of Terra, hence my posting."



"I would not have spoken so bluntly," Vamre said, "had I known."



"Does the situation alter itself, when explained to different ears?" Aille took up cold-indignation. "Why should your words be different to Pluthrak than any other? Truth is truth."