The Icerigger Trilogy: Icerigger, Mission to Moulokin, and The Deluge Drivers (106 page)

“Don’t you see? We’re not engaged in anything unnatural here. All we’re doing is speeding up something that’s going to take place anyway. We’re giving the Tran a ten thousand-year head start. Everything we’re trying to accomplish: the melting of the oceans, the warming of the climate, the physical transformations—those are all going to come about sooner or later. Why not sooner?”

“Now we know what’s in it for him.” September jerked a thumb in Corfu’s direction. “We still don’t know what’s in it for you and your ‘financial backers.’ ”

“Me?” Bamaputra drew himself up to his full height. “I am ‘in it’ because I am a scientist. Because I want to help these people achieve their potential. Because I wish to see certain theories of mine come to pass.” He relaxed slightly. “Of course my triumph will be a private one. There will be no public acclaim, no honors or honorary degrees. Since this is highly illegal, my name and that of everyone else involved in the actual work will have to be kept secret.” He looked thoughtful.

“Perhaps after I am dead, as Corfu says of his offspring, some relatives of mine may seek proper enshrinement for my name. In my lifetime, I know I must be satisfied with internal contentment alone.”

“I am confused.” Ta-hoding looked at his human friends. “This all sounds very much akin to what you have been doing for us.”

“This isn’t the way to go about it, Ta-hoding,” Ethan responded. “You don’t unify people by threatening them with drowning and starvation. You don’t bring them closer together by forcing them from their homes, destroying their existing culture, and interfering with the natural order of things.”

Bamaputra’s lower lip pushed forward. “When the oceans melt of natural causes many die. Perhaps more than would die without us here to aid them.”

“The Commonwealth will be around to help the Tran in ten thousand years or it won’t be worth joining,” Ethan shot back.

“Why should these people have to wait that long?” Bamaputra looked shrewdly at Hunnar and Elfa.

Hunnar didn’t reply immediately. He eyed this peculiar little human warily, fond neither of his accent nor his attitude. In the almost two years he’d lived and traveled across the world in the company of Ethan, Skua, and Milliken Williams, he’d learned much about the ways of skypeople. Some his friends had explained to him. Other things he had learned from quiet observation. Something about this Shiva person disturbed him.

Not his treatment of Tran. This Corfu creature he treated well. There was a distance in him, a deliberate if silent barrier erected between himself and those he spoke with. Not contempt. It was almost as if he believed himself to be the only person in the room. Instead of humans and Tran he might as well have been speaking to machines. Was that because he thought of others as nothing more than machines or because he was so machinelike himself? Hunnar wasn’t intimately familiar with sophisticated machinery, but he had observed enough of it in action at the human outpost of Brass Monkey to gain some idea of its characteristics.

“What are you talking about?”

“In coming to this place you have demonstrated courage and resources beyond the Tran norm.” Bamaputra’s expression of false jollity didn’t fool Hunnar in the least. “Now you know what is going to happen to your world. While our facilities for receiving large numbers of migrants are not yet in place, you could still return home and inform your people of what is forthcoming. But for those already living in Yingyapin you could be the first. You could partake of relevant advantages by moving here and helping us in our work before the real changes begin.”

“A moment.” Corfu was more than slightly taken aback by this unexpected offer from his human ally. “We could not possibly cope with …”

Bamaputra cut him off. “There are ways. We could manage. I will talk with my backers. When all is explained to them I am sure they will be able to find a way to come up with the requisite additional funds to commence settlement by outsiders, particularly as energetic and advanced a group as this. Development on the continental plateau could begin ahead of schedule.” He turned his attention back to Hunnar.

“You see, my friend, you and your people could dominate. In time you could rule Tran-ky-ky.”

“What about the line of your emperor?” Elfa asked sarcastically.

“Massul fel-Stuovic’s family is small. Over a period of time, who is to say which group would emerge as the most powerful? That is up to you. Internecine conflicts among your kind do not interest me. I am willing to work with whoever is on top at the time. So are my backers.” He looked over at an obviously upset Corfu.

“Relax, my friend. You would still be in charge of the distribution and sale of all supplies and equipment, including any new devices we choose to provide.”

“Where do the people live?” Ethan asked.

“Which people?”

“The engineers, the technicians who run this place.”

“We have constructed an extensive underground facility for their comfort.” Bamaputra was obviously annoyed at the interruption, feeling he’d been making progress with Hunnar and Elfa. “Given the climate, underground living is much more practical. That is one of the things we will change, of course. Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering,” Ethan told him evenly, “if they’re all aware of what the end result of their work here is going to be.”

“It wouldn’t be practical to try concealing our aims from those who work for us. Each has his own reason for being here. You see, my idealistic friend, there still exists a sufficiently large segment of humanity which is not concerned with the fate of alien races as much as they are with improving their own circumstances—the thranx excepted, naturally. We pay very well and our method of payment ensures that the taxing authorities have trouble tracing such disbursements.

“Even so, not all know everything. Safer to keep as many as possible in the dark. They prefer this as much as we do. Should they be discovered and arraigned they will be able to plead honest ignorance before the truth machine. It’s not hard to find competent people to perform under such circumstances, provided you phrase your job offer appropriately. The number of zeroes at the end of financial statements is likewise efficacious.”

September was looking around the conference room/office. “You’re right about one thing. Somebody’s put a lot of money into this. I imagine they expect they’re going to get it all back by selling vital supplies and equipment for the development of a new civilization to the grateful survivors?”

“I would not know. I am not much interested in commerce myself, though in order to deal effectively with my backers I have been forced to learn something of the financial world, yes. Your supposition is correct insofar as it goes, but it does not go far enough. It is not only the Tran who will be dependent on my backers for favors.

“When the sea level begins to rise, low-lying harbors such as Brass Monkey will be flooded. Much of the island Arsudun will likewise become untenable. The Commonwealth will need a new location for its outpost, not to mention its refugee centers. Not enough of Arsudun will remain above water to suffice.

“Here, the government will find not only facilities suitable for human habitation already in place, but also the new center of Tran civilization. Uncertainty over how this all came about will be overwhelmed by the need to establish a new base quickly.”

“To help the migrants,” Ethan muttered.

“Precisely. In any fight between necessity and morality the latter never wins.”

“It’s still not the right way to do things,” Ethan argued.

“What is the right way anymore?” Everyone turned in surprise to Mousokka, second mate of the
Slanderscree.
“So much has changed since these people have come to our world.”

“For the better,” Elfa reminded him, “because we know that Ethan, Skua, and Milliken are our friends. This have they proven not with words but with deeds.”

“They are changing us. The skypeople are changing us. Why is one group better than another? None of them are Tran!”

“Why don’t you talk over my offer?” Bamaputra suggested with a smile. “Return to the familiar surroundings of your beautiful ice ship. Discuss it among yourselves. I would much prefer to have your cooperation than not, though it will not make any difference in the end either way.”

“And if we don’t cooperate?”

“You people have this charming way of dispensing with diplomacy.” Bamaputra retained his good humor. “That can be discussed if and when it occurs. Do not trouble yourself with such thoughts. We are not barbarians here.”

“No,” echoed Corfu proudly, “we aren’t barbarians here.”

“I don’t like giving ultimatums. But keep in mind that nothing is going to stop this project. There is too much invested. You can be part of it or not, as you will. Go and talk in private. If you have any more questions, Corfu will see to it that they are relayed to me.

“Meanwhile I need to talk about
your
unexpected appearance here.” He was staring straight at Ethan as he spoke. “Devin Antal is plant foreman. It is his responsibility, too.”

“Any preliminary thoughts on the matter?” September asked easily.

Their slightly built captor tilted his head back to regard the giant casually. “When any occur to me, Mr. September, I assure you that you and your companions will be made aware of them immediately.”

H
UNNAR WAS TOO NERVOUS
to sit. He paced the
Slanderscree
’s dining room, ruffing his dan and clicking his canines.

Escape was out of the question. The icerigger’s anchors had been wrapped around heavy pilings, and Corfu had mounted a guard on the deck. Upon returning from the installation their situation had been explained to the crew. Now the sailors and soldiers were conferencing out on deck while Hwang and her companions anxiously discussed their own options in the cabin that had been reserved to them.

Elfa was present, of course, as were Ethan and Skua. Ta-hoding, Suaxus-dal-Jagger, and the
Slanderscree
’s mates sat off to one side.

“What I do not understand is what’s so bad about the offer we have been made.” The second mate, Mousokka, leaned against a wall and crossed his arms.

“You can’t let someone turn your world upside down like this,” Ethan tried to explain.

“Why not?” The mate eyed him sharply, then let his gaze rove around the room. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like the idea of being warm all the time. Simply because our weather is always cold does not mean it is to be enjoyed. The north winter wind never delights me. If our bodies will adapt themselves to warmer temperatures, why should we not welcome their arrival?”

“And we could also,” the third mate put in, “gain an advantage over all other Tran, as this human says. With the
Slanderscree
to lead the way, all of Wannome could move to this place.”

“It would mean starting over with nothing,” Elfa argued. “Would you then abandon the homes of your forefathers for a promise?”

“If what this human says comes to pass, we will be forced to do that one day anyhow. We will become like the Golden Saia.” Kilpit looked at Ethan. “Is this so?”

Ethan nodded. “But we’re talking ten thousand years or more before the change occurs naturally.”

“Why not start now? This human says his people will help us. We will be given light weapons and sky boats for our own use.”

“At a price,” Hunnar snapped. “And a price we know nothing of.”

Kilpit looked to Mousokka for support, then shrugged. “Everything comes at a price. We can pay these humans now or pay the world later.”

“What about your union?” September asked him. “What happened to the idea of all Tran cooperating and working together for a common goal?”

“We will all be united as the world warms and the seas die. Only some of us have a chance to be united before everyone else.”

“Such thoughts go against the whole idea of union. Either we work together as equals or we cannot work together at all,” Hunnar insisted.

“Too much to decide on in one day,” murmured Ta-hoding. “Too much. Of course we cannot accept this divisive proposal. It is unthinkable.”

“Unthinkable to you, perhaps,” growled Kilpit. “What will you do when the seas melt and you have no ice ship to captain?”

“I will learn to steer one of these sky boats. Or I will learn another trade. What I will
not
do is compromise my ideals or the world of my birth because some skinny furless creature from elsewhere says it is best for me.” He glared hard at his third mate. “That is what you and Mousokka seem to be forgetting. Always have we Tran made our own decisions. Not always for the best of reasons or motivations, but at least they have been ours. I dislike the idea of my future and that of my cubs being determined by someone else, no matter that he may be well intentioned.”

“I don’t think he’s as well intentioned as he’s trying to be.” September dug at a tooth. “Never can tell about some of these pure-research types. They live in their own little worlds. So long as they can prove an occasional theory or so, they’re happy. As far as they’re concerned, the rest of the universe can go hang. He argues well but not plausibly.”

“Then this is settled,” said Hunnar firmly. “We will refuse his offer.”

“But not right away,” Ethan cautioned him. “We have to make it look like you’re hesitating, have to buy some time until we can figure out a way to break out of here so we can warn the authorities. If this is such a benign enterprise whose primary beneficiaries are supposed to be the Tran, let’s let the Commonwealth Xenological Society debate its merits, not us.”

“It does not matter.” Kilpit suddenly rose and headed for the door. “You have made your decision. We have made ours.”

“We?” Hunnar’s fur bristled.

Ta-hoding rose and his eyes narrowed. “Kilpit, you have been a good and faithful mate, but now you go too far. You forget yourself.”

“On the contrary, Captain mine,” the third mate said with a hint of the old deference still detectable in his voice, “it is myself I must not forget.” Mousokka moved to join him in flanking the exit. “Myself, my relatives I have not seen in more than a year, and my friends.” His eyes darted around the room.