Topaz seemed even more dubious. “There are no ships around Solferino at the moment,” she said. “It’s supposed to be another week before the medical center service ship comes back here. Brewster said so. You just imagined you saw something.”
It wasn’t an argument that you could win. How could you prove that something now vanished had ever been there? Josh was ready to try anyway, with the indignant statement that he had seen a ship, definitely, certainly, undeniably; but a new sound from behind stopped him before he could start. Even before he turned, Josh recognized the familiar whine.
“Oh, that’s what it was,” Topaz said. “A cargo aircar.”
“No, it wasn’t!” Josh began, and gave up. No matter what he said, he wouldn’t get their attention now.
The aircar feathered down beside the camp. As it touched, blowing a ripple of dew across the wet ground, Ruby, Amethyst, and the Lasker twins came hurrying from the camp dormitories. They had heard the arriving car.
The whole group froze, waiting. When the door of the vehicle opened and Brewster stepped down the three-rung ladder, the tension increased. Yesterday might have been hectic and scary, but at least Brewster had not been there to push people around.
“Where are Winnie Carlson and Sapphire Karpov?” Brewster didn’t waste any time on greetings.
No one answered, until Topaz provided a reluctant, “I guess they’re in bed.”
“Indeed?” From the tone in Brewster’s voice, it might have been after midday. “If they are in bed, go and rouse them. The rest of you, get to work. We’ll be breaking camp as soon as possible. I don’t want to waste another minute here.”
Brewster did not wait to see that his order was obeyed. He was striding back toward the aircar when Josh raised his hand and said, “Sir!”
He was surprised by his own boldness, especially when he saw the impatient glare that Brewster gave him.
“Yes? Kerrigan, isn’t it? Didn’t you understand what I told you? Or do you have a hearing problem?”
“I did understand, sir.”
“So what are you standing about for?”
It occurred to Josh that everyone was standing about, wondering what Brewster was going to do to him. But he was committed.
“I think something very important happened yesterday, while you were gone.”
At least that got Brewster’s full attention. The pale eyebrows raised above the dark eyes. “Important in what way?”
“We found a new animal.”
“That is hardly a surprise. Humans came to Solferino only three years ago. The planet must have a million species that have not yet been cataloged. What did it look like?”
“It was a rupert.”
“Then it is not a new animal at all.”
“But this one was different, sir. I mean, it was a different sort of rupert. I mean…”
Josh knew what he wanted to say, but his tongue was tripping over itself. He started to explain what had happened, then realized he could not tell Brewster that Ruby got lost because her sister was drugged out of her mind. He tried to edit what he was saying as he spoke, and heard things coming out choppy and illogical. No one else helped him out, and it was a real relief to see Topaz returning with Sapphire and Winnie Carlson in tow. Winnie looked awful, pale-faced but dark under the eyes, and yawning as though she had been awake all night.
Brewster turned on them. “Ah. It is nice of you to favor us with your presence. I hope you are enjoying your Solferino vacation.” But then it was at once back to Josh.
“So, Kerrigan, let me get this clear. An animal was discovered in the forest. Not by you, and you did not obtain a clear view of it. But despite the fact that you did not see it, you believe that it is intelligent. Who did see it?”
Josh didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice. While Sapphire looked pure murder at him, he pointed to Ruby and Dawn.
Brewster’s eyebrows went up farther. “You saw this animal?” he said to Ruby She nodded without speaking.
“Describe its appearance.” And, when Ruby hesitated, “What did it look like?”
“It was gray, and a bit smaller than me. It looked very cuddly.”
“Did it do anything?”
“Yes. It stood there, and it stared at me while I stared at it. It had little beady eyes, like black pebbles.”
“I don’t care what it looked like. Did it act intelligently? Did it have tools with it, or wear clothing? Did it try to speak?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that.”
“I see.” Brewster turned back to Josh. Everyone else was silent. Hag and Rick were grinning at his misery, while Winnie Carlson, the only one who might have been able to help, stood with her head bowed and her eyes staring at the floor in front of her feet.
“Well, Kerrigan,” Brewster went on. “You didn’t see the animal, and the only person who did see it detected no signs that it might be intelligent. So how did you reach your own conclusion? By mind reading? By divine inspiration?”
“No, sir.” Josh knew this was only going to get worse, but he could think of no way to stop it. “It was the pictures, sir.”
“The rupert drew pictures?”
“Yes. Well, I mean, no, not exactly. Dawn drew them. She drew the pictures. Pictures of pictures that the ruperts had made.”
“No gibbering, if you please.” Brewster turned to Dawn, but she was not looking at either him or Josh. She was staring at the stream, as though no one else were around.
Brewster returned his attention to Josh. “So she told you about the pictures. Of course. But naturally, since she talks to no one but you, there is no way of checking what she said, is there?”
“She didn’t actually tell me. I realized…” Josh didn’t try to finish the sentence. Under Brewster’s questioning, everything that he said sounded ridiculous. He had trouble believing it himself.
But last night, and early this morning, it had seemed obvious that the ruperts must be intelligent.
“I think that’s more than enough nonsense for one day.” To Josh’s relief, Brewster seemed to have done with him. “I’m going to say a couple more things, and then we’ll go to work and get out of here. I have a low tolerance for nonsense, as you will learn. And it’s nonsense to give me a far-fetched story about an intelligent rupert, when every survey of Solferino shows there’s no such thing. It’s not just the surveys. It’s common sense, too. The smartest animals are all carnivores and omnivores—either they have to develop brains to outthink their prey, or they have to be able to find something edible where other animals can’t. That’s why a sheep doesn’t have one-tenth the intelligence of a wolf, and why humans can live just about anywhere on Earth. But every animal on Solferino big enough to have a thinking brain is a herbivore, and it just eats plants. You don’t need to be clever to catch a plant. And don’t get confused because an animal shows some of the signs of intelligence. Did any of you ever see a beaver lodge?”
There was a general mutter, which Brewster took for agreement. “So you know that it seems impossible for an animal to build that lodge without being very smart,” he went on. “But a beaver isn’t intelligent, it’s still just an animal. Same for a beehive, or a termite colony. Very complex, and you might think whatever made it had to be intelligent. But we don’t go around saying bees and termites are intelligent. We know better. Same with ruperts. It’s also nonsense to say that you saw a rupert which had eyes, when everyone knows that ruperts navigate using ultrasonic signals, the same as bats.
“I told you when you arrived, if you take your orders from me you’ll be all right. But I go away for a day, and what happens? With no one in control, even when there’s supposed to be”—he stared hard at Winnie Carlson—“you start doing crazy things and thinking crazy thoughts, before my vehicle is off the ground.”