Quanshûk shu-Gorlak touched keys on his* command panel, then spoke into his communicator. "Chief Scholar, please report to my quarters at once."
"As you command, Admiral."
Quanshûk turned and crossed the bridge, his dull claws inaudible on the acoustical surface. He was aware that his executive officer, Rear Admiral Tualurog, was following him with his eyes. I have been brooding, Quanshûk realized, and now I will discuss my thoughts with Qonits instead of with him. On a flagship, a certain tension was natural between the XO, who was operations officer, and the chief scholar, who was not military. It would rarely cause serious difficulties—the separation of functions was hard-wired—but it could distract the XO. I will, Quanshûk decided, set his mind at ease later. Somewhere other than on the bridge.
When the grand admiral arrived at his suite, Qonits zu-Kitku was waiting in the corridor. Quanshûk placed a palm on the security plate, then pushed the stateroom door open, and gestured. Both stepped inside, the door closing behind them. The admiral poured nuts into two bowls, handing one of them to Qonits with a brief, casual gesture of blessing. Then he lowered his hindquarters onto a cushion, much as a dog might sit.
Qonits followed his example, then ate several nuts. "How can I serve you, my lord?" he asked.
"I need your ears and your responses." Quanshûk paused, gathering his thoughts. "I have been analyzing our experience in this new region. It has troubling aspects."
"Ah."
"The three worlds we have taken were all occupied by the same species. And their ships generated strange-space, which almost certainly means they have hyperdrive.* Is that not so?"
"It is hard to imagine otherwise, your lordship, considering that the ships were small for faring deep space in warpdrive."
"Yet the sapient populations of all three worlds were very small. One was no more than an outpost. Correct?"
"Unarguably."
"Therefore they could not have been self-sustaining. They must have been part of an empire."
Qonits bobbed his torso from the waist, a formal Wyzhñyñy nod. "True."
"And clearly they were only recently colonized, so this is an expanding empire. But even so, within a month or two—three at most—we will reach their core worlds. And with their technological level, they will no doubt defend themselves vigorously."
Qonits shrugged with his hands. "One would think so."
"Ours is the greatest swarm ever assembled, and far the most powerful. So we will continue in the traditional manner, neither hastening nor dawdling. Thrust into the heart of this empire like a great spear, pausing to put a tribe or tribes on every suitable world along the way. That should force their warfleet to come to us, away from the advantages of established defenses.
"And if they will not be drawn, we will continue. Eventually they must fight, and we will crush them. After that, the remainder of their worlds can be occupied without concern."
Qonits bowed deeply. "Your lordship," he said quietly, "you did not call me here to lecture me on the obvious."
"True. But it was necessary to set the table." Quanshûk's thick lids lowered to half-mast, a Wyzhñyñy frown. "But there are peculiarities in this situation, are there not? Why have these aliens not provided their outposts with meaningful defenses? Warships parked outside the radiation belts. Things to bleed us."
His fly-whisk tail waving slowly, Qonits considered the statement. "Who knows how these aliens think," he replied, "or what they value and do not value? Perhaps, my lord, they are sufficiently powerful, sufficiently dominant in this sector, that they did not foresee an invasion."
Quanshûk filed the reply and continued. "The rulers will soon know of our arrival, if they do not already. Ships escaped worlds one and three, and presumably world two as well. After a day or so, they would have emerged into F-space to launch message pods, warning their nearer colonies, the nearer core worlds, and their crown world." Absently Quanshûk nibbled nuts. "But . . ." His gaze intensified. "Does it not seem that on the worlds we captured, their ships escaped with remarkable alacrity? As if they already knew of us, and were prepared?"
"They could have acted on the basis of our hyperspace emergence waves, which surely they found alarming."
Quanshûk licked air in apprehension, a gesture that might have embarrassed him with someone other than Qonits. "There should have been some defenses. Unless their rulers are indifferent to their outpost worlds."
"They may simply keep the core worlds strong and the outer weak, to ensure obedience. Depending on coercion instead of loyalty, in which case it must be a young empire. As dispersion grows, coercion becomes self-defeating." Qonits paused. "Or this life-form may be so remote, it doesn't recognize the danger."
Quanshûk considered the reply. "I must have information," he decided. "What are they like? How large is their empire? Their fleet? At the next world we capture, we will take prisoners. You will learn to question them and understand their answers. Shipsmind can develop a translation program. The Second and Fourth Swarms did it."
Again Qonits nodded. "True," he said. "But such a program requires much linguistic data, along with time and caution. Prisoners may lie. As for capturing them . . ." He paused, not liking to point out the obvious. "Enemy wounded are potentially dangerous. It is natural to kill them."
Quanshûk flicked a hand as if at a fly. "The physical presence of a commander enhances compliance. I will go insystem with the assault force, to demonstrate the seriousness of my order; they will feel constrained to abide by it."
Qonits' next bow expressed deference, but when he raised his torso, he did not avert his eyes. "You will be risking your life, Grand Admiral, and you would not easily be replaced. You were anointed by the emperor."
Quanshûk answered mildly. "We have yet to encounter meaningful resistance," he pointed out. "And if I deem the situation dangerous, I will stay away."
Qonits placed his palms together in a formal nod. Clearly the admiral would not be dissuaded. And the nature, extent and intensity of the system's technical electronics output would suggest the likely level of danger. "Of course, Grand Admiral. And if we gain no more than some insights into their psychology, they will be useful."
"Thank you, Chief Scholar." Quanshûk stepped to his small bar. "Will you drink with me before you leave?"
After Qonits had left, Quanshûk poured another drink. He felt much better than he had. But even so, the situation had peculiarities.
The chief scholar settled himself at his terminal and turned his attention to the multifaceted entity known as shipsmind. "Librarian," he ordered. And a moment later, "Give me all you have on the interrogation of alien captives." It wouldn't be much, and who knew if any of it would be pertinent here. But it was a place to start. He watched the annotated source list form on the screen. We might learn a great deal, he told himself, or we might harvest confusion and lies. But it will be interesting. I can monitor their brainwaves, their electrical fields . . . He began to like the idea of prisoners.