Final Inquiries by Roger MacBride Allen Read Free Book Online Page B

"We view things in much the same way. Just bear in mind our hosts can record and translate, even if the SubPilot can't understand us."
    Brox gestured dismissively. "I tell no secrets. Elder Races know our opinions and laugh at them. Just not wish needlessly insult SubPilot to his face--if he can be said to have face."
    "I thought you said he wouldn't be bothered by any statement that was factual," Jamie objected.
    "Vixa find reason for anger if they need it. Be careful," Brox said, before shifting back to Lesser Trade Speech. "To continue, many alliances formed and broke up and shifted and so on. Ironically, they all accomplished their primary goals of preventing their rivals from taking over the Pentam System--but these were not permanent victories. Sooner or later, someone would settle Pentam, and undo the equilibrium. And then the Kendari emerged, followed not long after by the humans. Two small, weak races that posed no threat to anyone."
    "Let me guess," said James. "They decided to give it to one of us--and that started the debate all over again."
    "Exactly. But if any Elder Race that came to be seen as favoring the Kendari over the humans as regarding Pentam, or the humans over the Kendari, the other Elders would regard that as forming an alliance with that species, encouraging other Elder Races to support the other Younger Race, and so the whole weary cycle would begin again."
    "My turn to fill in a few blanks," said Hannah. "The maneuvers, the deal-making, even to get things to the point where the various parties could negotiate about negotiating, took years, even decades. Since the ideal situation was for no one to have the Pentam System, there wasn't much incentive to hurry."
    "Quite right."
    "So the whole process was kept secret from all humans and Kendari until fairly recently, in order to keep the negotiations from becoming even more complex. At some very late, and very recent, point in the process, both Younger Races were informed of what was going on, and were politely told they could either participate under whatever conditions were dictated to them, or else the Pentam System would be awarded to the other race."
    "Right again."
    "And, finally, my guess would be, the Vixa were chosen to adjudicate the matter, because all sides trusted them and because they were known not to want the Pentam System for themselves."
    "Your guesses begin to fail you. Half-correct, incorrect, and incorrect again," said Brox. "The Vixa weren't exactly chosen to decide the matter--they were chosen to preside over the decision and host the meeting. As you have no doubt gathered, we are en route to that meeting, on Tifinda, right now. But the Vixa were chosen for that role precisely because no one could trust them, because all sides knew, for certain, that the Vixa did want the Pentam System for themselves. You need to try harder to think like a member of an Elder Race."
    Jamie laughed. "Which is what she tells me to do all the time. How does payback feel, Hannah?"
    "I'll live with the pain, somehow," Hannah said mildly, before turning back to Brox. " You go ahead and explain how Elder Race beings think. Why put the Vixa in charge if no one trusted them?"
    "Because then everyone else would be on the alert. They'd know to watch the Vixa and to be ready for tricks that would let the Vixa seize Pentam."
    "But why would the Vixa accept the job?" Jamie asked. "What do they get out of it?"
    "As I understand it, there are two main reasons. First, it is an odd acknowledgment of their power, their prestige, and their skill at political maneuver. They enhanced their prestige merely by accepting the task. Secondly, it's a challenge to them as well. It would be a grand achievement indeed if, in spite of all the distrust and watchfulness, they somehow managed to get the Pentam System in the end."
    "And 'the end' might be pretty far off," Hannah said. "An Elder Race can be patient. If they managed to set up a situation that would cause the Pentam