The face that looked out of the cowl-part was humanoid, but with wide jawbones, rounded chin and eyes set far apart over a flat nose. So that, although no one feature suggested it, his face as a whole had a faintly feline look.
“Our apologies,” said Dormu, leading the way forward. “The marshal just received an urgent message for me from Earth, in a new code. And only I had the key to it.”
“No need to apologize,” said the Jhan. “We’ve had our musician here to entertain us while we waited.”
Dormu and Whin sat down at the opposite ends of their table, facing each other and at right angles to the Jhan. The Jhan had already begun to eat. Whin stared deliberately at the foods on the Jhan’s table, to make it plain that he was not avoiding looking at them, and then turned back to his own plate. He picked up a roll and buttered it.
“Your young men are remarkable in their agility,” the Jhan said to Dormu. “We hope you will convey them our praise—”
They talked of the athletic show; and the meal progressed. As it was drawing to a close, the Jhan came around to the topic that had brought him to this meeting with Dormu.
“…It’s unfortunate we have to meet under such necessities,” he said.
“My own thought,” replied Dormu. “You must come to Earth some time on a simple vacation.”
“We would like to come to Earth—in peace,” said the Jhan.
“We would hope not to welcome you any other way,” said Dormu.
“No doubt,” said the Than. “That is why it puzzles me, that when you humans can have peace for the asking—by simply refraining from creating problems—you continue to cause incidents, to trouble us and threaten our sovereignty over our own territory of space.”
Dormu frowned.
“Incidents?” he echoed. “I don’t recall any incidents. Perhaps the Jhan has been misinformed?”
“We are not misinformed,” said the Jhan. “I refer to your human settlements on the fourth and fifth worlds of the star you refer to as 27J93; but which we call by a name of our own. Rightfully so because it is in our territory.”
Tonk, tonk, TINK… went the three notes of the Morah music.
“It seems to me—if my memory is correct,” murmured Dormu, “that the Treaty Survey made by our two races jointly, twelve years ago, left Sun 27J93 in unclaimed territory outside both our spatial areas.”
“Quite right,” said the Jhan. “But the Survey was later amended to include this and several other solar systems in our territory.”
“Not by us, I’m afraid,” said Dormu. “I’m sorry, but my people can’t consider themselves automatically bound by whatever unilateral action you choose to take without consulting us.”
“The action was not unilateral,” said the Jhan, calmly. “We have since consulted with our brother Emperors—the Morah Selig, the Morah Ben, the Morah Yarra and the Morah Ness. All have concurred in recognizing the solar systems in question as being in our territory.”
“But surely the Morah Jhan understands,” said Dormu, “that an agreement only between the various political segments of one race can’t be considered binding upon a people of another race entirely?”
“We of the Morah,” said the Than, “reject your attitude that race is the basis for division between Empires. Territory is the only basis upon which Empires may be differentiated. Distinction between the races refers only to differences in shape or color; and as you know we do not regard any particular shape or color as sacredly, among ourselves, as you do; since we make many individuals over into what shape it pleases us, for our own use, or amusement.”
He tilted his head toward the musician with the enormous, steadily jerking, forefinger.
“Nonetheless,” said Dormu, “the Morah Jhan will not deny his kinship with the Morah of the other Morah Empires.”
“Of course not. But what of it?” said the Jhan calmly. “In our eyes, your empire and those of our brothers, are in all ways similar. In essence you are only another group possessing a territory that is not ours. We make no difference between you and the empires of the other Morah.”
“But if it came to an armed dispute between you and us,” said Dormu, “would your brother Emperors remain neutral?”
“We hardly expect so,” said the Morah Jhan, idly, pushing aside the last container of food that remained on the table before him. A server took it away. “But that would only be because, since right would be on our side, naturally they would rally to assist us.”
“I see,” said Dormu.
Tonk, tonk, TINK… went the sound of the Morah music.
“But why must we talk about such large and problematical issues?” said the Jhan. “Why not listen, instead, to the very simple and generous disposition we suggest for this matter of your settlements under 27J93? You will probably find our solution so agreeable that no more need be said on the subject.”
“I’d be happy to hear it,” said Dormu.
The Jhan leaned back in his seat at the table.
“In spite of the fact that our territory has been intruded upon,” he said, “we ask only that you remove your people from their settlements and promise to avoid that area in future, recognizing these and the other solar systems I mentioned earlier as being in our territory. We will not even ask for ordinary reparations beyond the purely technical matter of your agreement to recognize what we Morah have already recognized, that the division of peoples is by territory, and not by race.”
He paused. Dormu opened his mouth to speak.
“Of course,” added the Jhan, “there is one additional, trivial concession we insist on. A token reparation—so that no precedent of not asking for reparations be set. That token concession is that you allow us corridors of transit across your spatial territory, through which our ships may pass without inspection between our empire and the empires of our brother Morah.”
Dormu’s mouth closed. The Jhan sat waiting. After a moment, Dormu spoke.
“I can only say,” said Dormu, “that I am stunned and overwhelmed at these demands of the Morah Jhan. I was sent to this meeting only to explain to him that our settlements under Sun number 27J93 were entirely peaceful ones, constituting no human threat to his empire. I have no authority to treat with the conditions and terms just mentioned. I will have to contact my superiors back on Earth for instructions—and that will take several hours.”
“Indeed?” said the Morah Jhan. “I’m surprised to hear you were sent all the way here to meet me with no more instructions than that. That represents such a limited authority that I almost begin to doubt the good will of you and your people in agreeing to this meeting.”
“On our good will, of course,” said Dormu, “the Morah Jhan can always depend.”
“Can I?” The wide-spaced eyes narrowed suddenly in the catlike face. “Things seem to conspire to make me doubt it. Just before you gentlemen joined me I was informed of a most curious fact by my officers. It seems some of your Military Police have kidnapped one of my Morah and are holding him prisoner.”
“Oh?” said Dormu. His face registered polite astonishment. “I don’t see how anything like that could have happened.” He turned to Whin. “Marshal, did you hear about anything like that taking place?”
Whin grinned his mechanical grin at the Morah Jhan.
“I heard somebody had been picked up down at the docks,” he said. “But I understood he was human. One of our people who’d been missing for some time—a deserter, maybe. A purely routine matter. It’s being checked out, now.”