“What it all shapes up to is that one human being has recognized an Esket crew member, not only alive long after they were all supposed to be dead , but five or six million cables from the place where they presumably died. We don’t know how certain this human was of the identification; certain enough to call Kabremm’s name on impulse, maybe no certain enough to report to other humans without further checking. After all, such a report could sound pretty silly without strong evidence. We don’t know wheter Barlennan knows of this slip; and worst of all, we can’t tell what he’s likely to answer when questions about it come his way. His safest and most probably line would be complete ignorance seasoned with shocked amazement, and I suppose he’ll realize that, but I certainly wish I could talk to him without having human beings along the corridor.”
“Wouldn’t your best line be complete ignorance, too?” queried the sailor. Like all the Mesklinites on Dhrawn, he was fully aware of the trick being played on the human beings to get the Esket off their books. He also knew as much of the reason for it as Barlennan had made public. Very few — Dondragmer not among them — had been let all the way into the commander’s thinking.
“It would be,” the captain answered, “but I can’t get away with it. I’ve already told the humans about your return. The most hopeful notion I have at the moment centers around the possibility of mistaken identity; how sure is Mrs. Hoffman, or whoever it was — the more I think of it, the more certain I am it was her voice; I wish I’d been paying more attention — that it was really Kabremm she saw? How does she tell us apart anyway? Coloration pattern? Walking style? Can she recognize any of us at a glance, or just a few whom she knows especially well, or does one have to have a missing leg, or no red on his head?
“I’d use that line, except that I just don’t know what Barlennan is going to do — or if he’s in a position to have to do anything. If he didn’t hear that call, and the human is really suspicious, it wouldn’t take many trick questions to catch him out. Even if he did, and is warned, he’s in trouble, because then he’ll be worrying about what I’m likely to say. That’s the sort of thing I’ve been worried about ever since the beginning; with all long distance communication having to go through the humans, coordination of this trick was bound to get difficult. If we could have avoided slips until Destigmet had made enough wire to reach form the mines to the Settlement, and gotten it strung, the chances of getting away with the while thing would have gone up a lot.”
“all that ever worried me,” replied the sailor as he resumed his chipping at the ice, “was what would happen when they did learn about what we were doing. I don’t suppose they’d really abandon us here — human beings don’t seem to be quite that firm, even on business deals — but they could as long as we don’t have spaceships of our own.”
“That was the basic argument the commander gave, as you know,” returned Dondragmer. “They seem to be dependable beings, and personally I’d trust them as far as I would anyone, but they are different in some ways and one is never quite sure what they will consider an adequate motive, or excuse, for some action. That’s why the commander wanted to get us self-supporting on this world without their knowing about it. I’m glad Destigmet has done so well with his ‘farm.’ The mines were a long step, and the dirigibles were a triumph; but we’re a long, long way from being able either to make, or to do without, the human-made energy boxes; and I sometimes wonders if the commander realizes just how beyond us those are.
“But that’s not the immediate problem. I’m going to have to talk to the station again. I suppose my best policy is not to mention Kabremm unless they ask me, and if they do, try to convince them it was mistaken identity.”
“Not mentioning it might make them suspicious,” pointed out the sailor.
“It would be consistent with the mistaken-identify line, though. Thanks for the point; I hadn’t considered it. Carry on, and give me a wave on the bridge when the lock is clear.”
The sailor gestured agreement, and Dondragmer at last got to the bridge.
There was plenty to say to the human beings without mentioning Kabremm, and the captain began saying it as soon as he had doffed his airsuit.
“At least one of the helmsmen was under the hull for a while, and probably both of them were, but I couldn’t find any trace of either one just now except work they had done trying to get out — at least, I can’t see any other reason for it; it certainly wasn’t an assigned job. They wrecked, or nearly wrecked, two of the trucks in the process. Much of the space under there is still frozen up, and I’m afraid they’re probably in the ice. We’ll search more carefully, with lights, when the crew comes back and I can spare the men. The water, or whatever it was, that was boiled away by our heater coated an ice layer on the hull which has sealed the main lock; we must get that back into service as quickly as possible. There is much equipment which can’t now be moved out if we have to abandon the Kwembly, and much which can’t be moved back inside if we don’t, because it won’t go through any other lock.
“Also, the use of that heater caused the melting of about a body length of the radiator wire, and I don’t see how we are going to restore the refrigerator to service if we do get the Kwembly free. This may not be of immediate importance, but, if we do get back into service, we’d have to think twice about going very far into Low Alpha without refrigeration. One of the few things you people seem really sure of is that the low-pressure area is caused by high temperature, presumably from internal heat, and I know you set a very high priority on finding out about it. There is virtually no metal in the ship, and one of the few things I understand about that refrigerator is that its outside radiator must be an electrical conductor. Right?”
The captain waited for his reply with some interest. He hoped that the technical problem would divert the human interest from the whole question of Kabremm and the Esket; but he knew that this would not have worked if he himself were on the other end of the conversation. Of course, Benj Hoffman was young — but he was probably not the only person there.
At least it was Benj who answered; but he didn’t seem much interested in technology.
“if you think they’re in the ice, shouldn’t people get down there right away and look? They might still be alive in those suits, mightn’t they? You said a while ago that no one had ever found out, but that at least seems to me that the longer you put off finding them, the less chance they have of living. Isn’t that the most important problem right now?”
Easy’s voice followed on, before Dondragmer could frame an answer; she seemed to be talking to her son as well as to the captain.
“It’s not quite the most important. The Kwembly is synonymous with the lives of its entire crew, son. The captain is not being callous about his men. I know you feel about your friend, and as a feeling it’s perfectly proper; but a person with responsibility has to think as well as feel.”
“I though you were on my side.”
“I feel with you very strongly, but that doesn’t keep me from knowing the captain is right.”
“I suppose Barlennan would act the same way. Have you asked him what Dondragmer should do?”
“I haven’t asked him, but he knows the situation — if you don’t think so, there’s the microphone; give your side of it to him. Personally I don’t think he’d dream of overriding Dondragmer or any other cruiser captain in such a matter, when he himself isn’t on the scene.” There was a pause while Benj hunted for words to refute this claim; he was still young enough to think that there was something fundamentally inhuman about thinking more than one step ahead at a time. After ten seconds or so of silence, Dondragmer assumed that the station transmission was over and a reply was in order.