David wondered how such an odd system had ever evolved. And Qonits had mentioned God. Had he said it to mislead them, or was the proverb genuine?
"That is why," Qonits continued, "the exalted genders are exposed to actual combat no more than necessary. But matrons are especially precious. A warrior is most fierce when protecting a matron."
He bowed then, and the president reclaimed the floor. "Tell us about scholars, Mr. Ambassador."
"Ah, scholars. I have slighted my own kind, have I not? Scholars are exalted artisans. The artisan genotype in general absorbs information more easily than other genotypes. And artisans tend to apply information in practical ways. Scholars excel artisans in their affinity for information, but are less focused on its practical applications. Also we look more deeply, and analyze with greater facility."
He displayed what David knew was a grimace. "Unfortunately those strengths are not always accompanied by wisdom. They can give rise to overconfidence and vanity." He paused. "And it is a scholar weakness to become so engrossed in some area of interest-learning your language, for example-that we lose track of relative importances."
Chang regarded Qonits for a long moment. "Thank you, Mr. Ambassador," he said. "You've been very enlightening."
Chang led his de facto council through two additional rounds before he and his prime minister thanked and dismissed them. The last thing he said was that he would consult next with Charley Gordon, then perhaps talk further with them.
Leaving the council room, David felt relief at the direction the meeting had taken. For despite the death of Yukiko, he did not want the Wyzhnyny eradicated. Qonits, who had become his friend, was a Wyzhnyny. Also he remembered the pastry chef on the Meadowlands, who out of goodness of heart had been friendly to him and Yukiko and Annika. And who now was dead.
After lunch in their suite, Qonits napped, while David sat in one of the small roof gardens and read the Kunming Daily Reporter in detail. Later, Qonits also came up, accompanied by Lance Corporal Shaughnessy, who removed himself a dozen yards, as if to give them privacy. Nonetheless, David supposed the marine was bugged-surely something was-and that everything they might say would be recorded.
"Tell me about Wyzhnyny history," he said to Qonits. "Not the details, but the broad features."
"The broad features? That is feasible, yes. I will begin at the beginning." Qonits also believed they were being recorded, and that David was leading him. Nonetheless he talked frankly, almost till supper.
Via Ramesh, the president and prime minister tried to consult with Charley Gordon after lunch. Admiral Soong, however, asked that they postpone it a couple of hours. Charley was still sleeping off the nervous exhaustion of the long battle. And the colonization fleet showed no sign of leaving. There was constant warp radio traffic between Wyzhnyny ships, but while no one on the Altai had any idea of what was being discussed, it sounded desultory, rather than intense.
Chang and Peixoto gave him half an hour, then eavesdropped on the ambassador and David MacDonald, gaining useful insights.
Forty minutes later they called the Altai again, and counseled with Charley, and Alvaro Soong. When the armada had arrived in the system, Charley told them, the colonization fleet had obviously been ordered to park where they were, and wait. But they wouldn't wait forever. Their commanders were surely aware that their warfleet had been destroyed. His impression was, they'd been discussing the dangers of fleeing-of being dispersed and isolated, with the separate units lacking adequate technical-industrial equipment for long-range survival. Along with the probability that many would be torpedoed when they booted their drives. They were aware that a human fleet was standing by, also in warpspace, with target locks on Wyzhnyny ships. And that survivors would almost certainly be hunted by the humans.
But they wouldn't wait forever. Unless something intervened soon, they'd leave, unless a peace proposal changed their minds.
An hour's discussion resulted in a plan. Half an hour later, Qonits, using a bottled savant in Cee Ministry, sent the basic features of an offer via Charley himself, who forwarded it using the Wyzhnyny command frequency. The vocators of the bottled savants provided a much better approximation of Qonits' Wyzhnynyc speech than any human vocal apparatus could.
The Wyzhnyny commanders could expect an "imperial" ambassador in two Wyzhnyny shipsweeks, to confer with them directly. Qonits would leave in a cruiser the next day, with David as his companion.
Chapter 64
Unfinished Business
Months had passed since the Wyzhnyny offensive on New Jerusalem had been broken. The Burger engineers had worked diligently, transforming the army's base from a tent camp to prefabs, electrified for heat and light. The battalion officer's dayroom had a wooden frame and a subfloor of newly-sawn planks, provided by the Burgers' portable sawmill. Walls, ceiling, roof, and the floor itself were sheets of Plastosil brought from Pastor Luneburger's World with the army.
The New Jerusalem Liberation Corps was ready for winter.
Which soon would be there. It was early ElevenMonth by the Jerrie calendar-dark, cold and wet-when Ensign Esau Wesley came in after supper. He'd brought his platoon back from patrol an hour and a half earlier, had cleaned up and eaten, then come to the dayroom to read. He'd never been much for loafing, and over the months had read, then reread the books Captain Zenawi had loaned him. He found them engrossing, full of facts and ideas-even wisdom-useful to a leader.
And that's what he'd become. The previous Sevenmonth he'd been officially posted as acting platoon leader. He'd never known or wondered why. In the army, orders came from on high-the company commander, Regiment, Division, or War House-and you went along with them.
He knew very well, of course, how he'd become unofficial acting platoon leader. Ensign Berg had been killed on the Tank Park Raid, then Ensign Hawkins had broken his leg on the Artillery Base Jump. But taking over in an emergency was one thing. Having the post on the company TO was something else.
There was a story behind it. It had been Sevenmonth. The entire corps had taken a lot of casualties, and the regimental commander, Colonel Leclerc, had called in his company commanders to work on reorganizing the regiment. They'd begun right after breakfast, and had pretty much wrapped it before lunch. Some companies had been deactivated-combined with other companies, or their personnel distributed within the regiment as replacements.
Division wanted airborne-qualified personnel kept in airborne-qualified platoons; something Leclerc would have done in any case. "Zenawi," he said, "your 2nd Platoon has the most distinguished record in the regiment. With a very fine commander. But according to Major Hatta, Hawkins won't be out of the hospital for eight weeks at the soonest. Add three weeks or more for rehab… " He shrugged. "And Hatta strongly recommends that Hawkins not jump again-not in this gravity.
"Fortunately Ensign Hussain is available. From 3rd Regiment; a good man. His platoon covered Demolitions while they'd wrecked the Wyz howitzers, and taken a lot of casualties. Including Major Chou, which left Hussain the senior officer, in charge of the rear guard action and evacuating the casualties. Then the Wyz elite hit. Hairy business, and he handled it well, all of it.
"I'm assigning him to you, to lead 2nd Platoon B."