“I assure you—” the Antarean began.
“You have not abated my suspicion,” Flint said to the Polarian. “This is not based on sex, but on information. How do you settle debt?”
“This is not a matter we discuss lightly.”
The Mintakan cut forward slowly. “The Solarian has challenged the Polarian. It seems likely that one or the other is false—but how should we know which one? I am familiar with neither entity, and do not know about debt settlement, so can not verify the validity of any given answer.”
“I am familiar with the Polarian system,” the Nathian said. “I begin to see the Solarian’s point. It is a matter of—”
“Do not say it!” the Canopian Master interrupted. “You must serve to verify the answer given. It is true we have no direct way of knowing, on an individual basis, which of us is valid. But each Sphere overlaps at its fringe with one or more others. This is how we established initial contact with each other. We can employ that network to isolate the intruder… perhaps.”
“I agree,” Flint said. “Maybe this investigation should be handled by H:::4. We can put it to vote.”
There was a general flurry of a confusion. Flint did not relax, but he realized belatedly that the Polarian’s reference could have been a trap for him, unmasking him if he agreed. He really did not have much of a case, and should not have acted so rashly.
It was the Polarian who spoke. “Nath and Sol and Sador—unfortunately not present—intersect Polaris, and Nath and Sol, also intersect Canopus. Exchange of interviews should verify the reality in circular manner.”
“But Sol and Nath are suspect too!” the Spican protested. “And so am I, for I am a transferee.”
“We have to decide on a course of action,” Flint said, growing impatient. “We can vote—”
“What is a vote?” the Mintakan asked.
Oh—so that was the source of some of the confusion. The human concept of voting was as opaque as the Polarian concept of debt.
“It means each entity says yes or no, and all abide by the decision,” Flint explained.
“Impossible,” the Spican said. “There must always be three sides to any question, no majority. As the maxim goes, it takes three to mate.”
“Push-hook,” the Nathian agreed. “No entity can decide for another.”
Flint saw that they were in danger of dissolving into chaotic debate and indecision. “Then I must act unilaterally. Polarian, I accuse you of being a transferee from Andromeda, murderer of this Mirzam entity and threat to this expedition. What refutation do you offer for me and Nath?”
“Your thrust is dismaying, but typical of your kind,” the Polarian replied. “Permit me to round it off. I will satisfy your query—then query you myself.”
“Fair exchange,” Flint said, hoping the Polarian could vindicate himself. “Now stop stalling.” The others were silent, waiting too.
“My prior statement was misleading,” the Polarian said. “The Sol system of thrust abates debt by conflict. It would be natural for a Solarian to assume this was true in Sphere Polaris. Thus this Solarian’s challenge to me verifies his stated Polarian experience.”
“This does not pull,” the Nathian said. “The push is to Polaris, not Sol.”
“I abate it now. Please forgive my necessary indelicacy. Debt between male and female normally is abated by the mating of the two individuals concerned, and the transfer of the male’s seed-ball to the female as her new wheel. This involves—”
“I am satisfied,” Flint said with relief, lowering his spear. “I apologize for my suspicion.”
“Now I pose my return query, completing the circle. How is debt abated between Polarians of similar sex?”
Flint’s mouth dropped open. “I have no idea,” he said. “I never thought of that!”
“Yet you actually abated debt as a transferee?”
“I don’t expect you to believe this in the circumstance,” Flint said, feeling the cynosure of the eyeless creatures around him. “I was in Sphere Polaris, but I never—”
“You, Nath?” the Polarian inquired.
“Two males with debt must seek two females with similar debt,” the Nathian replied promptly. “One male then makes formal exchange of obligation with one female. He now abates her debt by mating with her debt sister. The other pair proceeds similarly. This is known as ‘squaring’ debt, one of the few examples of non-circularity in Polarian custom, the subject of ribaldry. There are special conventions for debt between juveniles, or when one party to debt dies before abatement—”
“Obvious, now,” Flint said. “I should have known—”
“Demurral,” the Polarian said. “This verifies that even extended transfer cannot replace native knowledge or long-term acquaintance. A transferee cannot deceive one who is truly familiar with the culture.”
“I stand ready to verify my own identity similarly,” H:::4 said. “I am satisfied with this mode of—”
“I am not satisfied,” Mintaka said. “Sol fouled up his own question, and Nath merely applied logic. Who would I exchange questions with? The representative of our neighbor Mirzam is dead.”
“Impasse threatens,” H:::4 said. “Let Sol challenge the others of us as he did Polaris. At least this accomplishes something. We cannot debate interminably, or we fail in our mutual mission through default.”
“Now wait,” Flint said. “This is a murder mystery, and I hardly know how to—”
“Agreement,” the Polarian said. “Sol’s forward thrust and linear thinking seem best here.”
“Pull-hook. Sol gave us all transfer; Sol will not betray us.”
“Solarian, you said you transferred also to Spica,” the Spican quivered.
Flint sighed. It seemed he had been nominated, regardless. “Yes. But of course I know no more about Spican culture than about Polarian. So I can’t—”
“We shall exchange questions. Please define the Spican mating system.”
It always came down to sex, he thought. That was a fundamental drive in any species, and the most subject to social restrictions. So it was a good tool for verification. “That I can do. You have three sexes, the Impacts, the Sibilants, and the Undulants. The confluence of the three leads immediately to an explosive mergence. The third entity on the scene assumes the role of catalyst—”
“A moment,” the Mintakan said. “Did you not say that the Andromedan also transferred to Spica?”
“Yes. In fact, the two of us became part of a mating trio.”
The Canopian saucer wobbled momentarily as if suffering brief loss of control. “You met and knew the enemy—and mated with her?”
Flint spread his hands in a useless gesture. “Ridiculous as it sounds, I did. You see—”
“Then you informed the Spican authorities of her identity so they could kill her,” the Nathian suggested. “No. I—well, you see the situation—”
“My point,” the Mintakan said, “is that she therefore knows as much about Spica as you do—perhaps more.”
“That’s right!” Flint agreed, surprised again by the obvious. “So this is no—”
“In fact, you could give an accurate answer to the question and still be the Andromedan spy.”
“Not that particular one,” Flint said with a smile. “The spy and I are of different sexes.”
“I submit that the spy could be male,” the Mintakan persisted. “Spica is irrelevant, but can Canopus assure us that the spy transferee there was the female?”
The saucer wobbled again. “We cannot,” H:::4 admitted. “We dealt with two transferees, but knew them only by their auras, both extremely high, and their statements. Both claimed to be from Sphere Sol.”