(67) Who Cares?
The Misha Campaign (059-1122 to 060-1122)
After the discussions with Mike yesterday, its time
to talk to Lap'da and see if he can contribute
anything to their understanding. There has been no apparent
reaction to the previous night's events from anyone outside the crew of
Nightshade.
Nevertheless, since Mich Saginaw is staying
behind, Edward "Shark" Teeth and Teri Cralla stay in the guest rooms
too.
As soon as Misha Ravanos, Kalida Siena, Robert
Morris, and Helia Sarina step out of the guest quarters into the
forest, they see Lap'da is waiting for them.
Misha greets the jann, "Hello, Lap'da. Were
you waiting for us?"
Lap'da replies, "Hello. No. And
yes. I was... expecting you."
Kalida asks, "What are you expecting us to ask you?"
"Not that. You have surprised me."
Misha laughs, "What is the question you were
expecting
us to ask?"
Lap'da pauses, then says, "I am not expecting you to
ask a question."
"What were you expecting us to do?"
"To ask me questions. To answer your
questions."
Robert asks, "Do you know Mike?"
"Who?"
"We met a man whose name is Mike. He said he
had treaties with the Sheriff. So, have you ever met him?
He's a portly fellow."
"No, I have never met him."
"He also said he controlled Jane, who was working on
the lightning system."
"So Mike is who came. And you have been...
careful."
The group doesn't seem to think so. Misha
says, "Careful in what way?"
"You are here."
"We have been careful enough to continue to exist."
"Yes."
Robert says, "In fact, at the beginning of the
meeting he said he would kill us all if we left the planet, and by the
end of the meeting he said he would no longer kill Mich."
"Or the rest of us," adds Helia.
Robert says, "So we made some progress at the
meeting."
"Good. Meetings without progress are... not
meetings. And... what have you learned?"
Helia says, "Since we last talked, or about Mike?"
"Yes."
"Mike isn't what he wants us to think he is."
"What does he want you to think he is?"
"Somebody really, really dangerous who knows a lot."
"How do you know he is not?"
"I think he's really dangerous and knows a fair
amount."
"Ah. Enough to be dangerous?"
"Yes. Not as dangerous as he wants us to think
he is. You know?"
"Why would he want you to think he is dangerous?"
"To scare us."
Kalida adds, "So we'd give him whatever he wants."
Helia explains, "He wanted Mich, or Mich dead, or at
least not available for anybody else."
"And now he does not want that?" asks Lap'da.
"I think he thinks he can manipulate us by other
means. Do you know him?"
"No."
"You don't know anything of his people, do you?"
"I don't know. Who are his people?"
"He won't tell."
Kalida says, "Whoever they are, Jane is with them."
"So these are the same people who brought you here
with the rumor of the beast that used psionics, but
didn't." Lap'da uses the galanglic word psionics.
"They have been interested in you a long time, it seems."
The rumor of that creature was from one of Marquis
Marcus Crestworthy's
contacts, Cappy Starfugger, so it's one of the things that wasn't
directly traceable to the Wonstar Development Corporation. Misha
asks, "What's the connection between that and Jane?"
"Jane was only here then," says Lap'da. "Jane
came here to meet Mich."
Kalida wonders whether Jane was with Mike's people
the whole time, or has just recently been theirs.
Robert says that when Jane was leaving, she sent a
message saying in effect that Mich wasn't a threat and was soon to be
dead anyway. He adds, "Now we've been on many adventures, and
trials and tribulations that we had thought Mike's people had caused,
but Mike has denied he had any involvement."
Lap'da says, "So did Mike send Jane here?"
"As far as we can tell, yes."
"So it was... Mike's thought to send you to the
northern wall?"
Misha and Robert discuss this briefly. Robert
convinces his Captain of the truth of Lap'da's assertion that Jane was
with Mike all the time.
Lap'da asks, "Why would Mike be helping the Sheriff?"
Robert says, "May be part of the treaty that Mike's
people have with the Sheriff, that they're getting something of value,
and in return Mike is helping the Sheriff."
Kalida says, "And yet the Sheriff is either
pretending or actually attempting to be neutral: by setting up this
meeting between us, and he says he's staying out of it."
Lap'da says, "Then the Sheriff is walking a very
fine line."
"It certainly looks like it."
"He is always interested in what is happening.
If he does not want to know, he has a very good reason."
Robert says, "Mike has stated he wants to destroy or
control anyone who understands the script language."
"But the people here use a child's form. Why
doesn't he destroy them?"
"That's a question we had."
Kalida says, "Well, destroy or he had control
of. And the people who speak the child's form of the script
language here don't go anywhere else. That's all he really
needs. He knows exactly where they all are and that they don't
really speak to anybody else."
Lap'da asks, "Why would the Sheriff need a treaty?"
"It depends what he's getting out of it."
"What is he getting out of it? What does he
have to give? Mike is not from this world."
Helia says, "But he can come to this world and he
can threaten other people."
Robert says, "He has threatened us as soon as we
leave the auspices of the Sheriff."
Lap'da says, "What threat does he have against the
Sheriff?"
Kalida says, "Nothing that we know of." She
mentions the lightning suppresser system.
"Why would he want to suppress lightning?"
Kalida says that Mich has doubts that it is actually
for
suppressing lightning.
Through the commdot, Mich joins in. He says
there is a very advanced array of zuchai crystals,
that actually
seems to exist in n-space rather than 3-space. Jane and the
Sheriff both said it was for the lightning suppression system.
There is of course the question of why they would need lightning
suppression.
Lap'da says, "There is no lightning."
Misha asks, "There is no lightning on this planet?"
"Oh, there is in the south."
"Why?"
"Because of the forest."
Kalida says, "So there's no need for any kind of
lightning suppression system anyway. So either the Sheriff is
lying, or he's completely confused."
Misha laughs, "There's a need for some sort of
lightning suppression system, but it's not to suppress lightning."
Robert says, "Unless they're trying to reseed the
southern hemisphere with a forest."
"That won't work," says Lap'da.
Kalida says, "So the one question besides what it
is, is whether it's something positive for the Sheriff or against him."
Misha asks, "Do you think the Sheriff knows that
lightning is unnatural here?"
"Yes," says Lap'da.
"And the Sheriff asked for a lightning suppression
system?"
"No," says Mich through the commdot, "When we
offered if there was anything we could do to help, he said he had these
zuchai crystal arrays, and they use them for lightning
suppression. He has more zuchai crystals than you'd ever
need. And they're all finest quality, excellent condition.
We gave them instruments to check the zuchai crystals, and plans to
build more instruments, and plans for the tools to build those
instruments. In return for that, Jane helped with the antimatter
generators."
Kalida says, "So on the one hand the Sheriff says
that lightning suppression isn't necessary, but then says that whole
array is for lightning suppression."
Robert says that the Sheriff showed it to Mich once,
and it was too much for him to comprehend.
Through the commdots, Mich explains that zuchai
crystals are for storing a
large amount of energy for a short period of time. It could
absorb a lightning bolt, but that's not suppressing the lightning --
and there's no lightning anyway. He could use it to power
something like a really huge meson gun, as part of
the forest's defense
system.
Lap'da agrees that would be important, but what sort
of system would defend the forest.
Mich says that there are no overflights of the
forest, and there's an implied threat not to do it, but nothing that
said what would happen if they did do it. You'd need sensors to
locate an overflight, and something like an expander. But if you
know how to use an expander, you can probably get power out of
nothing. Why go to the trouble of building a big zuchai array if
you can get power from nothing?
Lap'da says, "Can the Sheriff get power from
nothing?"
Mich responds that Jane's people can.
"Everything can get power from nothing," says
Lap'da. "It's just hard to not put it back."
Mich says that if you don't put it back, you run out
of power.
Misha asks, "How does the ship put it back?"
Mich admits quietly through the commdots that they
don't know that. He says
it doesn't. But he goes on, "If you get power from nothing and
immediately put it back, you don't know you got power. But if you
get power from nothing and don't put it back, you can power the ship."
Lap'da muses, "So Jane knows how to get power from
nothing. Does Mike know how to get power from nothing?"
It's pretty clear he does. Mich explains about
Jane's modifications to the antimatter system. When mixing matter
and antimatter, to get a clean annihilation the two particles have to
be identical in spin and other physical properties. When one
particle wasn't like that, you just got the particle you wanted from
the unspace hole, and put unwanted ones into it. Jane made that
work -- and also made it so the two units would blow up. He
hasn't figured out how she did that.
"Was that just a natural side effect of what she
tried to do?" asks Misha.
Mich says that Mike said it was their work.
Sally, the girl who was working with Professor Farol, was quite
interested in the unspace concept.
Lap'da looks like he's been pondering
something. He says, "Has Mike said that the treaty was with the
Sheriff?"
Kalida shakes her head. "He said the treaty
was with Digitis,
but not specifically with the Sheriff."
Lap'da says slowly, "Did he say the treaty was with Digitis
or about Digitis?"
"He said they were not permitted to do anything with
Digitis. We asked by whom, and he said by a treaty.
He refused to show it to us, or to say who the treaty was with.
He muttered 'treaty' and changed the subject."
Robert says, "The treaty could be with a whole other
party."
"He also said if he used the expander around here it
would be a violation of the treaty. That's it."
Lap'da is silent for a while. He then says,
"Did the treaty have four parties?"
Robert says, "We don't know anything more about the
treaty other than that one exists. It governs Mike's actions with
peoples on Digitis."
Lap'da is speaking very slowly now. He says,
"The Sheriff is walking a fine line. He is... very
perceptive. I am sure he has not been told how fine the line
really is."
Misha asks, "Do you mean he knows, even though he
hasn't been told?"
"Perhaps he... He is good at guessing."
"So what is the fine line that he is walking?
What are the two dangers that lie on either side of the line for the
Sheriff?"
"Perhaps it is Mike's treaty."
Helia says, "With whom?"
Robert says, "We know Mike's a party to the treaty,
but we don't know anybody else who's a party to it. We suspect
that the Sheriff is a party to it."
Lap'da says, "I suspect the Sheriff is too
young. One of the parties may be gone."
"The original creators of the ships. They
could be one party."
"That would be two parties."
Misha asks, "The original ship was created by two
people?"
"No."
Kalida asks, "Why would you think there could be
four parties to the treaty?"
"There could be. It depends on the treaty."
Robert says, "But if the original creators of the
ship aren't around anymore, then there's nothing to enforce the treaty."
Kalida says, "The Sheriff is too young?"
"I don't know," says Lap'da.
"To be a signatory to the treaty," says Robert.
Misha asks, "Which treaty? Is there a treaty
that you're referring to?"
"Yes," says Lap'da.
Robert says, "Do you know a treaty actually exists?"
"Yes."
Misha asks, "And there are four parties to this
treaty?"
"There were four parties to this treaty. There
may be four parties to the treaty. There may be three."
"Do you know who those parties were?"
"Yes. No."
This is getting confusing. Kalida considers
asking Robert to symbol it.
Misha asks, "Do you know any of the parties of this
treaty?"
"Yes," replies Lap'da. "Is it the same treaty?"
"We don't know. Are any of the parties to the
treaty that you are referring to, that you raised in this conversation,
are any of those the same as the parties to the treaty... we don't know
how many parties to the treaty that Mike was referring to." Misha
tapers off into silence. He tries again: "Mike referred to a
treaty..."
"There is a treaty..."
"Please summarize this treaty!"
"You... do not have the background."
"How long will it take to gain this background?"
"I don't know."
Helia asks, "Who does?"
"I do."
"Who does and can explain it to us?"
"I don't know."
"You could try," says Kalida. "You could try,
and if we get confused, then so be it."
Robert explains that if you don't have the
background, the self-referential pointers are meaningless.
"Could you tell us who was a party to that treaty?"
asks Kalida.
"You... do not have the background," insists Lap'da
slowly.
Helia asks, "How old is the treaty? Is that
the problem?"
"It is a little older than the forests."
"So Mike belongs to a group that has a treaty with
the people here?"
Misha and Kalida point out that they don't actually
know that. Misha says, "There is a treaty. There are two
treaties. There is one Mike referred to, and there is one Lap'da
referred to."
Kalida adds, "They might be the same, they might
not."
Misha asks, "Does the treaty that you refer to
concern..."
Robert finishes for him, "...the use of," he
continues in scryptese <<[reference]>> == "...ships like
ours."
"No," says Lap'da.
Robert drops back to galanglic, "Now Mike has stated
that ships-like-ours are to be held for their future use, and are not
to be used under pain of death."
Kalida laughs, "He said a lot of things."
For once, Lap'da actually looks concerned.
Robert continues, "We also know that inhabitants of Goose
also recognize ships-like-ours. They had a delegation that met us
that expected us to be the original creators of the ship, and were
slightly disappointed when we weren't them."
Lap'da says, "Maybe there are five, which are now
four perhaps. There were three, the three became four.
Perhaps the three became five. Yes, the three would become five."
"Now we know that the Imperial Wonstar Development
Corporation and Mike have both expressed desire to control
ships-like-ours, and not allow anyone else to use them. Both are
under pain of death."
"Many people are greedy. What do they want to
do with it?"
"Wonstar just seems to want to understand how it
works, because they have no clue about how to interpret
scryptese. We do not know if Mike can converse in script
language. Now we expect that he arrived on the ship the Baba
Yaga, and their registrations that they filed in port were written
in jannish. Hand written in jannish, which implies someone on
board the Baba Yaga could at least write the child's version of
script language."
"Is Mike sure that the treaty allows him to be here?"
Misha says, "He didn't say either way."
Kalida says, "So you think perhaps he's not supposed
to be here at all?"
"I suspect he doesn't understand the treaty himself."
"Hm. He said, 'We're not permitted to do
anything with Digitis."
Lap'da asks, "Does he have... a ship?"
"He says he does."
Robert adds, "He says he does, with enhanced stealth
mode, enhanced weaponry, enhanced detection systems."
Kalida says, "He said they improved it."
Lap'da says, "Then maybe he should not be
here." He pauses, then continues, "If Mike should not be here...
then Jane should not be here..."
"Yet the Sheriff has been letting them be here, if
not actually inviting them."
"It is a fine line."
"I wonder how evasive the Sheriff would be."
Robert says, "The Sheriff wants to not know the
details of the negotiations."
Helia says, "That's so he won't be a party to
whatever happens."
"That's another part of the fine line that he's
walking."
Kalida says, "He said that along as we're here, no
violence will be done to either side by either side."
Misha decides they need make the conversation
clearer. "This treaty you are talking about, can we give it a
name for the purposes of this and future conversations?"
"Certainly. What name would you like to give
it?"
Robert suggests, "The Treaty of Versailles."
Lap'da and Misha nod their agreement. It's as
good a name as any other.
Misha asks, "What can you tell us about this Treaty
of Versailles other than the number of parties in it?"
Lap'da says, "We are here from it."
"Which 'we'?"
"The janns."
"You are here because the treaty was created, or you
are here to enforce the treaty?"
Lap'da turns to Robert. He says,
<<[continuous-from-point: ref.treaty [necessity(middle voice):
ref.janns ref.location]]>>. The translators squawk their
incomprehension. Robert translates, "Yes."
Nonplused, Misha asks, "By here, you mean on this
planet, or exist, or something else?"
"On this world. This world is ours."
"The janns are one of the parties to the treaty?"
"Yes. Or part of one."
Kalida asks, "Part of Digitis as a whole, or
part of something separate from Digitis?"
"No."
Misha says to Kalida, "I think he meant part of one
of the parties to the treaty."
Lap'da explains, "We are one of four, or perhaps
five. We are part of three."
Misha says, "The janns are part of three parties."
"Yes. But we are one of four. Or five."
Misha looks confused. "What?" he says.
Kalida explains, "You've got the janns, and two
others, who are a party of the treaty. The treaty itself has
four. Think sets and subsets. Again: you've got janns, and
two other groups. Those three form one party to the treaty, which
has three or four other parties. Apparently the kegs and snacks
have not yet arrived."
Lap'da says helpfully, "They are here, on the
bushes."
Robert adds, "And the Goose people could be
part of another one of the three or four. Or are they one of the
three?"
Misha says, "Do you even know who the Goose
people are?"
"No," says Lap'da. "There was three, which
became four."
Kalida asks, "When did it become four?"
"After it was three."
"You say the treaty came into effect before the
forests were here."
"Yes."
"Did the fourth party come in before the forests, or
after?"
"There were only ever the same parties."
"So one of the parties split?"
"Yes."
"Is the party who split, the same party that the
janns belong to?"
"Yes."
"OK. Were there originally four pieces to the
party that the janns are in, or...?"
"Originally there was one. It became
two. It may be three."
"OK. The janns and two other groups make a
party to the treaty."
"No."
"OK. The janns and two other groups used to be
part of one party of the treaty."
"Maybe. The janns and one, and that one is now
maybe two."
"OK. Who would be the other one maybe?"
"There is no one maybe. It is or it is not."
"If there is another one, who would it be?"
"I don't know," says Lap'da brightly. "At the
Treaty of Versailles, three groups came and four left. We are one
of the four."
"Were you also one of the three, before it became
four?"
"We were part of the three. We were part of
one."
"Who then split off to become number four."
"Yes."
"While the treaty was being worked out."
"Because of the treaty, we became the fourth."
"When the treaty came into being, and you became the
fourth part, is that when you came to this place?"
"Yes. We became the fourth to be here."
"Is the forest here because of the treaty?"
"Yes." Lap'da pauses for a long time, then
says, "Our ancestors came here. We were tired of fighting.
We stayed. The other two fought on, and they may now be one, but
the other one went on to keep fighting."
Robert asks, "Were they fighting each other, or a
common enemy?"
"Yes."
Kalida asks, "Successively, or at the same time?"
"Yes. You have not seen the... other
one? The other two were local."
Helia asks, "Local... planets?"
"Around."
"I have not seen any others that were local."
Kalida says, "Well, we don't know, you haven't given
me a reference for who the others are."
Robert says, "They may be the people on Goose."
Lap'da says, "They were not... people."
Robert explains the deeper meaning of "people," as
in "people like us." That would mean they were not any of the
branches of humaniti,
like the Zhodani, but
could have been hivers,
vargr, aslan or other aliens.
Lap'da continues, "If Mike is of the fourth, he must
not interfere here. None must interfere here. It is neutral
ground, a sanctuary."
"Then why are they here?" asks Helia. "If they
are in violation of the treaty, shouldn't something be done?"
"Are they interfering?"
"They're interfering with our right to enjoy
ourselves."
"Are they interfering... here? Or are they
interfering with you?"
Kalida says, "Is here the forest, or the planet?"
"Here." Lap'da says something in scryptese to
Robert: the concept is a large, vague, encompassing, but very variable
sense of "here" -- it could include the whole system and anything that
might affect it, or just as far as they can see right now.
Helia says, "He said he'd blow us up as soon as we
get outside of orbiting."
"So nothing would damage here. It would fall
up. It should fall up, or it would not be permitted."
"What if it did not?"
Kalida asks, "What if the treaty was broken?"
"The treaty would not be broken. We do not
break treaties. Now those who are not people, we did not think
they would break the treaty. They did not. But they may
only be one."
They quickly review what they recall of the story of
the janns arriving on this world. What they remember is
consistent with what Lap'da has now told them.
"So we have been here a very long time," says Lap'da.
"Many lifetimes," says Helia. "You came here
1200 years ago. I do not think my people existed when you came
here, and we've had many dozens of generations." Those 1200 local
years are about 300,000 years by the Imperial calendar.
Misha says, "The treaty that Mike referred to, he
hinted or indicated that that treaty prevented him from certain
unspecified actions on this planet, or to that planet. Does that
fit within the Treaty of Versailles? Could that treaty have that
effect upon Mike?"
"It could be, yes" says Lap'da.
"So we could be talking about the same treaty.
Is it possible that Mike is a member of one of the parties to that
treaty?"
"Yes. It is possible."
"Is it likely?"
"I don't know. This world was to be left
alone. This was our home. We are settled here."
"What did the janns give in return for that?"
"The janns gave nothing."
"Who gave?"
"All sides of the three gave something."
"Did the party that the janns came out of give the
janns?"
"No. We were not theirs to give."
"The other parts of the party that the janns came
out of... do they have a name?"
"No. Maybe."
"Do they have a name that we can use?"
"You can call them... crusaders."
"And the crusaders continued the war with the other
parties of the treaty."
"No. They continued the war onwards. We
were passing through."
"Ah. The crusaders and the janns, when they
were part of one party, were passing through."
"Yes. The other two were at war."
"Ah! With each other."
"Yes," confirms Lap'da.
"Here," says Misha.
"Yes."
"The larger jann/crusader party -- the crusaders --
encountered them."
"Yes."
"And the janns were tired of crusading."
"Yes."
"What did the crusaders give to these other two
parties?"
"It is what they did not give. They gave their
word."
"What did those other two parties give?"
"Here."
"They gave this planet."
"Yes."
"To keep," suggests Misha.
Lap'da explains, "To be neutral. To be
unharmed in their wars."
"Do these other two parties have names?"
Lap'da makes a noncommittal gesture.
"What are they?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know a name that I would know, or you
don't know a name at all?"
"Yes."
"Is what the crusaders agreed not to do was harm, or
attack, or otherwise..."
"To pass on through."
"To continue, to just leave."
"Yes. It was a mutual enemy at the time."
"A fourth party?"
"No."
"A mutual enemy of...?"
"The crusaders and the other two parties."
"There was a mutual enemy."
"They had a small war. We had a... bigger
one. Our enemies got... caught."
"So there was a mutual enemy. Can we give this
mutual enemy a name? What name would you suggest?"
"We have no name. We do not know who they are."
"You know nothing about them, except they were a
mutual enemy...?"
"They were our enemy. They did some things
here. We fought here."
"They were what the crusaders were crusading
against."
"Yes."
"And did they have some involvement with the other
two parties to the treaty?"
"Yes." Lap'da pauses, then says, "They
destroyed their homeworld."
"The other two parties had the same homeworld?"
"Yes. It is... not there any more."
"So when the crusaders left here after the treaty,
they continued this crusade against this mutual enemy."
"Yes. Except... it was our enemy first, and
after. But here we fought them as a mutual enemy. For a
short while. Then the crusaders left. And the other war
continued."
"The war between the other two parties to the
treaty."
"Yes."
Kalida puts this in perspective. She says,
"You know what was going on around here three hundred thousand years
ago? The Final War when the ancients were destroyed."
Misha asks, "Who were the ancients?"
Kalida brings up the library data on her hand
computer, but it doesn't do Misha any good -- he can't read. She
starts, "Well, obviously they were a very long time ago. They
were highly advanced. Very little has been found from them, just
ruins here and there. The ancients transported humans around and
basically seeded us everywhere. 'People like us.'
Throughout what's now the Imperium, their warfare resulted in a lot of
asteroid belts throughout known space." She reminds them that the
database they broke into mentioned finding black ships in asteroid
belts. She continues, "Apparently, they were widely spread --
humans go to war all the time, I don't see why they wouldn't."
"OK," says Misha, "So I think it's reasonable to
assume that the parties to this treaty were all ancients."
"Humans were around at the time as well, so they
might have been one of the parties, or... but probably yes."
"The ancients... weren't human? You said they
'seeded' humans, so that implies they weren't humans?"
"They transported humans from Terra."
"So the ancients, whoever they were, weren't from Terra
-- wherever that is. They went there, gathered up humans, and
scattered them all over."
"That's right." Kalida pauses, then says,
"Have you heard of the droyne?"
Misha shakes his head, "No."
Kalida reads from her puter, "They are a small race
derived from winged herbivorous gatherers. It's a caste
society. They generally stand about a meter tall, but large ones
can be larger than humans. They appear to be pastoral, with
little drive for expansion, conquest, or conflict. There have
been some studies that indicate that the droyne are physically
identical to the ancients, but nobody knows where the droyne homeworld
is or was. As for the actual relationship between them -- the
have no idea." She explains that those conclusions come from the
few artifacts that
remain after the Final War. She adds, "So
perhaps the people who weren't like us were probably one or more
factions of the ancients, and probably looked like the droyne."
"What do you know about the other two parties?"
Misha asks Lap'da.
"Not a lot," the jann replies, "They were
fighting. We did not know why."
"Were they human?"
"No."
"If there were members of the other two parties
still alive today... what would cause them to continue to honor the
treaty?"
"Because... it is a treaty."
"Just honor, in and of itself. Do you
understand what I mean?"
"I... think... they did not want more... destruction
from outside."
Misha looks puzzled.
Lap'da continues, "The enemy stopped at one world
destroyed."
"The mutual enemy?"
"The mutual enemy. And there was no treaty to
break then. Those who went on were not like the janns... we did
not want to destroy any more."
"The crusaders wanted to destroy more?"
"They were fighting. They would not...
tolerate the treaty being broken."
"Do the crusaders still exist?"
"I don't know."
Kalida asks, "Do you know what they were fighting
about?"
"Who?"
Misha explains Lap'da's answer: "There were two wars
going on at the same time. They collided."
Kalida nods. She says to Lap'da, "Why were
both fights going on?"
The jann says, "We don't know why they were
fighting. We were fighting because we were attacked, and we don't
know why."
Misha says, "You said earlier that it might have
become five."
Lap'da says with certainty, "It is five."
"So where did the fifth group come from?"
"To enforce the treaty."
Helia says, "Who gave them permission to interfere?"
"They have no permission to interfere here."
"But they do."
Misha says, "Who created them? The other
parties to the treaty?"
"No. Some crusaders must have stayed behind."
"And became the fifth. Got it. What did
the crusaders get out of it?"
Robert says, "This planet. To live on."
"No, the janns got that."
Lap'da says, "For us. We were... them."
Robert adds, "The guarantee that their species would
continue to live, no matter what happened in the war."
Misha asks, "Is that right?"
"Slordidah," says Lap'da.
Misha sighs, "I can see why the group that was the
crusaders and the janns together would get this planet. Once the
two groups were separated, I don't understand why the remaining
crusaders would stick around to continue to enforce the treaty."
"They are still us. We are still them."
"That makes sense," says Helia.
Misha says, "To me it only makes sense as a sense of
duty -- I protect my children, even after they're adults. That
would explain why the other groups would continue to honor the treaty,
because there are still crusaders around to enforce the treaty.
So that brings up the question, who cares? Or, more importantly,
why? Why does anybody care? 300,000 years
later. I mean, I can understand why the janns care. I can
even understand sort of why the crusaders continue to care. But
the other two groups, if they still exist, they're not still warring --
or if they are, they're warring very quietly. Unless they're
warring out in the open, and their war is one we know about, and we
just haven't connected the two."
Kalida suggests, "Could be behind other wars."
"Yes. Those groups have evolved into new
groups, or new groups with names we now know. But they weren't
human. I don't suppose the humans could be carrying on wars that
were started by ancients."
Robert starts, "If Mike is a representative of the
people who broke off from the crusaders..."
Misha says, "No... well. he could be, but that was
not what I was imagining before."
"...if he is, then his treaty with Digitis
is that this is his... the vestiges of the original race and he doesn't
want to mess with it, so that's why he doesn't want to do anything with
Digitis. Now that would also mean that he has some of the
original crusader technology, but apparently not all, because otherwise
he'd build his own ships, and not worry about ships that are left for
him in the future in case something bad happens. That what he
said they were there for -- if his ancient enemy, I guess, comes back,
he'll want to use these ships that are left stashed. It doesn't
make a whole lot of sense because he's already said the ships that he's
got are much more advanced than the ships that are stashed. If
that is true."
Misha says, "He might have meant that both the ships
that he's got and the ships that are stashed are higher technology, but
he doesn't know how to use it. So the improvements he's made are
improvements designed to make up for his lack of knowledge." He
sighs, then turns to Lap'da. "You mentioned that crusaders were
left behind. Crusaders... would they have stashed ships for
future use, or does that not make sense?"
"I don't know," replies Lap'da.
Robert says, "We have found ships bigger than ours,
and one almost identical to ours, and both of them were full of holes
-- they looked like swiss cheese."
Helia says, "Yeah, Lap'da -- they said they might
let Mich live if we gave them the other ships. Are they allowed
to have them?"
"I don't know," says Lap'da again.
"That's not in the treaty?"
"No."
Kalida points out, 'He doesn't really know who Mike
and his people are, because we don't really know who they are."
Misha muses that this information gathering thing is
so much easier when you have an angle. He sighs heavily.
Lap'da seems to be wrapping up the
conversation. He says, "There are many around now who do not know
of the treaty, so do not tell anyone."
Misha says, "Who would we tell? And why would
they care? Why does it matter?"
"It might matter to us."
"The janns."
"Yes."
"Could you contact these crusaders?"
"No. We do not know where they are."
"I mean the crusaders who were left behind."
"We do not know where they are. But I think I
have things I must do. We may talk again later."
"Did this conversation create the need to do these
things?"
Lap'da shrugs and says, "Corahl?"
Misha laughs, "Well, a good day to you too."
The jann says to Robert in scryptese that Misha
asked a nonsense question, nothing was created that wasn't there
already. Lap'da turns to go.
After a moment, all of them pick themselves up off
the ground feeling quite dizzy. Only a moment has passed, but
Lap'da is nowhere to be seen. They walk back to their guest
quarters in silence.