From the AI's shoulders, Lorah peered toward her. "Humans are very peculiar creatures," he said. Terry was sure he'd had the same gift of understanding the Hidden Folk had given her. It had done little to mellow him, though.

  And that, she realized as she could not have before, was in keeping with what he was, with what Crotonites were. Physically weak, unique in the galaxy because of their wings, clannish among themselves but mistrustful of all other races, they could not help acting as they did. Terry was also certain that Lorah would indignantly deny she knew the first thing about him and his land, no matter what wonders the pillar had wrought. That too was the Crotonite way.

  Trying to make Lorah into something he wasn't could only be wasted effort. Instead, Terry said, "Now we've activated two Hidden Folk devices. We know the first one wasn't a fluke. Let's get back to the ship that brought us

  here, and then to our own starships. The research teams will start coming in droves after this."

  On the beach that evening, the off-worlders stayed with the Azusans by the Hewnall; the Gormanians were a few hundred meters away near the Agwwdulsi. Both Ekrekek and Gussaw had pledged to hold the truce until the ships went their separate ways. After the pillar, Terry was sure she could trust the captains. To help make sure none of the crewfolk on either side took things into their own hands, Chives walked to and fro on the beach between the two galleys, ready to shout out a warning at any sign of aggression.

  Lorah said, "That we have succeeded is indisputable. Why we succeeded remains, in my opinion, as yet obscure. " He took a noisy suck on his breathing tube.

  Terry watched twilight fade ftom the western sky, watched the artifacts that floated above the Island of the Gods slowly begin to blend into the darkening sky. "Chives was a big pan of it," she said. "When the compulsion field at the transporter befuddled the rest of us, Chives still saw what needed doing, and did it. And again at the pillar, that fifth band lit up when he drew close."

  The Crotonite sniffed. "Despite all objections, you humans have insisted on bringing your Als to Hidden Folk sites before. Up until this time, they have not shown themselves to be anything out of the ordinary in activating those sites. Keeping that in mind, I must say I find it hard to believe that our successes today are entirely attributable to the robot. I I "No, but we wouldn't have made either gadget work without Chives." Terry paused thoughtfully. "Come to that, we wouldn't have made either one of them work without all of us. We had four people, each from a different species, close by red bands or actually touching diem, and Chives to activate the transporter and to be the fifth at the pillar."

  "Again, I am still tempted to ascribe this to coincidence, " Lorah said. "Many exarriinations of relics of the Hidden Folk have involved more than one starfaring race; some have involved all six. Why, then, were we successfid here where so many others have failed?"

  Terry frowned. As she had while arguing with Chives, she felt sure she was

  right. Even more than Chives, though, Lorah had logic on his side. Or did

  he? "How many expeditions have included races that don't have starflight?" "Not many, I would think," Lorah answered. "Most intelligent species without it are either low-tech like the ones here, or else have only used technology to do their best to destroy themselves, and thereupon renounced it."

  ' 'Exactly. " Terry pounced: "So how many tries at cracking Hidden Folk artifacts have had more than one species of starfarer, more than one species of low-tech intelligent being, and an Al, all working together?"

  The Crotonite was silent for some time. "That is intriguing," he said at last. "Can you propose any explanation as to why the Hidden Folk might have keyed their relics to Oespond only to such an unlikely combination?"

  "Maybe, just maybe," Terry said. "Suppose you were one of the Hidden Folk, however many years ago they headed back for the Andromeda galaxy or wherever they came from. They must have known intelligent life would eventually arise here too, but what sort of intelligent life? They wouldn't

  be interested in species that never developed technology, and they wouldn't

  be interested in species which got along so poorly even with themselves that they ended up destroying their own planets.",

  -Not for long, anyway, in the latter case,' Lorah said.

  "No, not for long. And so maybe they rigged their artifacts to be able to respond only to a party that showed it was made up of races My able to cooperate with one another no matter how different they were externally--and internally," she added, remembering the experience of the pillar. "Even different as to whether they evolved by themselves or were created, if you take Chives into account. "

  "The robot again," Lorah said disgustedly.

  "Yes, the robot again. Discriminating against artificial intelligence is just as foolish and arbitrary as discriminating against a being for any other reason. And if the relics need two or more low-tech species to get them started, then under most circumstances that would be a pretty good

  indication that high-tech folk let less sophisticated races travel a great deal on their starships. "

  "Which isn't so, not even slightly," Chives said.

  "No, but this is Tonclif IV, with two low-tech species already in place.

  Not even the Hidden Folk would think that very likely, I suppose." Terry's eyes widened. "Or would they? Doesn't it seem to you as though the disappearance of all the Agwadulsi's crew except Gussaw was like a puzzle set up to see if we were smart enough--and cooperative enough-to figure it out?" "Possibly," Lorah said. "I would doubt some of your testing criteria, however-surely a prerequisite would be that at least one of the species involved in the investigation has wings, as the Hidden Folk themselves were surely winged. It

  "Whatever you say, Lorah." Even having experienced it from the inside thanks to the pillar, Terry thought as little of the Crotonites' species-wide obsession with the overwhelming importance of flight as they did of humanity's penchant for building robots. She admitted to herself, though, that she could be wrong, just as Lorah had beenall she knew now was that she lacked the data to be sure, one way or the other. Time would tell. Lorah suddenly hissed, as fiercely as if he were an Azusan. "If all is as you describe, human, why should you be allowed to escape from Tonclif IV? Why should my people not gain the sole honor of contacting the Hidden Folk?"

  Crotonites owned a richly deserved reputation for being underhanded.

  Lorah's starship was supposed to be no more heavily armed than Terry's. But what was supposed to be and what was sometimes weren't the same thing.

  Terry knew a moment of real fear, but then she began to laugh. Lorah squawked indignantly.

  "It would matter to me if you blasted my ship as soon as we lifted off," Terry said, "but would it do you any good in the long run? You might be rid of what I know, and humanity wouldn't find out about it, but you'd have to tell somebody, because I think you need another high-tech species as partner. And even the Samians, good-natured as

  they are, would ask questions you couldn't answer. Besides, where would you get an Al, except from humans? And you can bet humans would get very curious very fast if Crotonites developed a sudden, consuming interest in robotics. We may as well cooperate now, Lorah-we'll have to in the future. "

  "What a distasteful concept," the Crotonite muttered.

  "That's what the Azusans and Gormanians think too," Terry pointed out.

  "They managed, though, when they really had to. I hope we will, when the time comes. If I had to guess, I'd say the Hidden Folk probably are to us as we are to the two species here. I just hope they're patient with us when we finally do figure out how to contact them. ~1

  "They'll need to be," Lorah said. "If they are that advanced, we won't be able to keep from resenting them at the same time as we learn from them. " The Crotonite paused, then continued, "One more thing-"

  "What's what?"

  "I'll still bet you three squantoken-in your measure, about a tenth of a kilo-of gold that when the Hidden Folk appear, they'll have wings. "

  "You're on." Terry stuck out her arm. One of Lorah's small, weak grasping limbs stretched out to meet it. Their hands clasped. This was cooperation too, Terry thought, even in rivalry. "Good enough," she said.

  "What?" Lorah asked.

  "Never mind."

  About the Authors

  Poul Anderson

  One of the most versatile writers in the history of the genre, Poul Anderson is equally adept at hard and soft science fiction, high fantasy, and sword and sorcery. He is also one of the most honored writers, having won seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards for such wonderful stories as "No Truce with Kings," "The Queen of Air and Darkness," "Goat Song," and "The Saturn Game." His scores of novels included such masterworks as Brain Wave (1954), The High Crusade (1960), Tau Zero (1970), Fire Time (1974), The Avatar (1978), and The King of Ys (1986).

  David Brin

  The holder of a Ph.D in space science, David Brin has quickly established himself as one of the premier writers of hard science fiction. He won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for his firsi novel Startide Rising (1983), a Hugo Award for "The Crystal Spheres" (1985), and another Hugo for The Uplift War (1988). Other notable novels include The Practice Effect (1984), The Postman (1985), and The Heart of the Comet (1986, coauthored with Gregory Benford).

  Robert Sheckley

  Robert Sheckley debuted in the science fiction magazines during the 1950s, and his finely crafted, satirical stories were among the fitiest produced in that rich decade. The best of his early stories can be found in such collections as Untouched by Human Hands (1954) and Pilgrimage to Earth (1957). As a novelist in the science fiction field (he has also written excellent espionage novels), he is best known for The Tenth Victim (1966), which was a novelization of his short story "The Seventh Victim. " Other notable novels include Immortality Delivered

  (1958), Mindswap (1966), Dimension of Miracles (1968), Crompton Divided (1978), and Victim Prime (1987).

  Robert Sliverberg One of the most esteemed and honored science fiction writers of his generation, Robert Silverberg has been awarded three Hugos and five Nebulas. It is likely that he has produced more noteworthy novels than any other writer in the genre-a few of his best are Hawksbill Station (1968), Tower of Glass (1970), The World Inside (1971), the magnificent Dying Inside (1972), The Stochastic Man (1975), Lord -Valentine's Castle (1980), and Star of Gypsies (1986). His collaboration with Isaac Asimov, Nightfall: The Novel, is one of the most eagerly awaited novels of 1990.

  Harry Turtledove

  Harry Turtledove began his writing career under the pseudonym "Eric Iverson." His books combine his great knowledge of ancient history (he holds a Ph.D in history) with excellent writing skills. Dr. Turtledove's major work to date, a four-part historical fantasy series consisting of The Misplaced Legion, An Emperor for the Legion, The Legion of Videssos, and Swords of the Legion (all published in 1987) received widespread critical acclaim, as did his novels Agent of Byzantium (1987), Noninterference (1988), and A Different Flesh (1989).

 

 

  Unknown Author, Greenberg, Martin H - The Diplomacy Guild vol. 1

 

 

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