The kzin tended to be highly literal in his use of words. Was this a reflection of how kzinti thought or was it his effort to hide that he knew a great deal more Interworld than she had “taught” him?
Otto’s reply was not what Jenni had expected.
“What do you know about the other project we’re working on here at the base?”
Jenni blinked, covering her surprise with another pull on her drink bulb. “You mean the mechanical one? The one that has to do with some scavenged kzinti technology?”
“That one.”
She decided against admitting she knew the technology in question was a ship. After all, she wasn’t certain. She’d deduced it from the types of injuries that had come into her office-the base did have numerous autodocs, but some injuries were best looked at by a human medico. There had been a few verbal slips as well. She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.
“I don’t know much more. I’ve been assuming it’s something scavenged from a kzinti craft either before the self-destruct went off or after an incomplete destruction.”
Miffy let slip-or was it a slip? — a look of satisfaction.
“It’s better than that,” he said, “or should be.”
He paused, doubtless considering-or appearing to consider-how much he should tell her. Then he continued.
“We actually have an entire intact ship. It’s not a very large one, but with some repair it should be functional.”
Jenni made surprised and astonished noises. So encouraged, Miffy unbent further.
“From studies of past wrecks, we had gathered a fair idea of where the kzinti tended to mount their self-destruction packets. There are usually several-near the drives, near the bridge, and suchlike. A plan was evolved in which an effort was to be made to disable these packets. I won’t bore you with the details of our near successes and flat-out failures, but in the end we succeeded.”
Jenni knew that by “we,” Miffy meant the wide-spread arms of Intelligence, not him personally. As far as she knew, he had never left the base.
“The ship was brought here. When I say it was ‘intact’ I should probably qualify. It is intact compared to other kzinti ships we have taken, all of which-as far as I know-have been complete wrecks.”
A touch of bitterness in that “as far as I know,” Jenni thought. Competition then between the spooks? Yes. I think so.
“This ship has a functioning drive and functioning life support. The computer systems appear to be fried, as are the weapons systems.”
He looked at Jenni and seemed to interpret her expression as one of disapproval when all she’d been thinking was how nice it would be if Theophilus came in with more cocoa. She really was very tired. Walking a kzin up and down corridors for hours was more demanding than others might imagine, since she never dared be anything but completely alert. She knew that her finger on the tranquilizer gun stood been her life and death-and quite likely the life or death of her patient.
“Yes,” she said, trying to sound as encouraging as possible. “I can imagine it would be impossible to take a kzinti vessel without disabling the weapons systems. Computers are fragile at the best of times.”
Otto seemed satisfied. At least he now zeroed in on the point of this interview.
“Without being able to access their computer, we’re having difficulty figuring out how the ship works. From escaped captives, we’ve learned a little of the written version of the Heroes’ Tongue, but, frankly, we don’t have a strong technical vocabulary.”
Jenni could see where this was headed and decided that seeming cooperative and eager was her best move.
“And you’re wondering if the prisoner might be able to help,” she said. She sucked in her lips, considering. “He might. I’ve gotten him using a limited Interworld vocabulary, but I will admit, it’s not heavy on the technological stuff.”
“I thought you said you thought he already spoke Interworld,” Miffy said suspiciously.
“I did and I do,” she said carefully. “However, I think he may not have had as wide a vocabulary as I believed. I think what I was seeing was an awareness of patterns and a few words, rather the way you can watch a movie with subtitles in a language you don’t know, catch a few familiar words, and so ‘hear’ meaning that you couldn’t actually translate.”
Miffy blinked, then nodded. “Yes. I see what you mean. You’ve been teaching him Interworld. Do you think he knows enough to explain to us how parts of the ship work?”
“I’m not certain,” Jenni replied. “You’d need to make your questions very concrete-not ‘What does this do?’ or even ‘What does that red button do?’ You’d need to show him-and I fear that you’d also need to permit him some hands-on opportunities to demonstrate.”
“Maybe,” Miffy said. “Maybe eventually. I believe at first we could manage with a holographic reproduction. No need to let him near the ship. No need to take undue risks.”
The kzin could smell a new tang-Was it fear? Was it tension? — in Dr. Anixter’s sweat when she came to his room. When the door into the corridor swished open and shut, he caught another scent, that of Otto Bismarck. Something unusual was about to happen.
He learned what this was when their walk-which was along some tunnels he did not think he and Dr. Anixter had ever visited before-terminated rather more quickly than was usual at a room that managed to simultaneously seem both cramped and quite large.
The reason for this contradictory sensation was that while the chamber-a natural air pocket, the kzin thought, within the metal ore of the asteroid that the humans had adapted and converted into this base-was ample and spacious, the only part of the chamber that was lit was a relatively small area near the center.
Without the natural olfactory and auditory cues on which he usually relied, it took the kzin a moment to “see” what was represented within that lit area. When he recognized what he was being shown, his heart began to beat so furiously that his head swam and his tail lashed wildly.
There before him was depicted the cramped confines of the cockpit of a kzinti scout ship. The detail was so perfect that the kzin felt no doubt the humans had access to an actual ship. Immediately, as he might have leapt after prey in a hunting park back home, the kzin’s mind came to what he was certain was a correct conclusion.
The humans had captured this scout ship. Not the crew, he determined…Even with the scrubbers that efficiently cleansed and recycled the air in this contained environment, he thought he would have smelled another kzin. No. Not the crew, but the ship, definitely the ship.
A low growl rumbled in his throat and before he could stop himself, he turned to Dr. Anixter.
“What?” he asked. “Why?”
“A ship,” she said simply. “Or rather part of a ship, a picture of part of a ship. Otto Bismarck wants you to help him understand the controls.”
Most of these words had been introduced in their language lessons. Even “controls” had come up in the context of permitting him to use the food dispenser and waste disposal facilities in his room. There was one rather glaring omission and he addressed it.
“Ship?” He sketched the rounded lines of a non-atmosphere-entry-capable vessel with one claw, then the more disk-like lines of ships used for surface-to-space transit. “Ship?”
“Ship,” Dr. Anixter agreed.
She held up her holopad. A parade of vessels-all human-make, the kzin noted-glided across.
“This ship,” she went on, lowering the pad, “is a kzinti ship. Otto Bismarck is interested in learning how it works.”
The kzin’s mind raced. He could refuse. He should refuse. However, if he did so, he would be pressured to cooperate. He had begun to understand the relationship between Otto Bismarck and Jenni Anixter. He thought that in this particular situation, Otto Bismarck’s will would dominate. Therefore, Dr. Anixter could only protect her patient to a point. After that…