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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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"What?"
Durniak's nod seemed to be contagious: Sukhinin's head now bobbed in sync with hers. "Da: the cowboy on his mustang is a symbol of the United States-but just ...
Hollingsworth's voice was only a murmur, as if she was remembering something from a history lesson thirty years ago. "Of course; they were brought by the Span...
Visser was still staring at Caine. "So you are suggesting that almost twenty millennia ago, Neolithic humans were taken from Earth. But being so primitive, of...
"Their primitiveness may have been exactly what made them useful: they couldn't really resist, had no greater sense of the cosmos, had only rudimentary social...
Hollingsworth stared at Caine with raised eyebrows. "So you are saying that we were bred to be oxen-or lab rats?"
"Perhaps, but our lab rats and oxen don't get special attention-or special buildings. However, other species have long been recipients of our extra care and c...
Sukhinin nodded again. "To hunt down the wild wolves."
"Exactly. Our forebears fought fire with fire. They found creatures that could help with-or could wholly take over-tasks that were both important and dangerou...
"Now, let's apply the same logic to the relocation of humans. There's certainly no reason to use us for dragging around heavy objects: hell, we're not particu...
"And then what? These human servitors were simply abandoned? Were allowed to die out?"
"Mr. MacGregor, why should we be surprised by an aftermath of neglect? Did the Spaniards remain as game wardens for the horses they left behind? No: empires r...
"And so what about our old masters? Are they all dead and gone-or tarrying around some distant star, ready to re-adopt us if we find our way back home to them...
"Possibly. Or possibly, they'd just see us as a species gone feral. And of course you all know what we do to feral dogs."
"Oh," said MacGregor. Who fell as deathly quiet as the rest of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ODYSSEUS
Gaspard was the first to break the long silence. "Mr. Riordan, I wish to return to the less esoteric matter of your experiences on Delta Pavonis Three. It is sa...
"Technically, correct. However, as far as I know, I am the first human to communicate with an exosapient-unless you consider Mr. Bendixen's shotgun a communic...
"Er . . . yes." Gaspard cleared his throat. "I wonder if you could tell us what happened after your encounter with the Pavonian."
"Certainly. I decided that I couldn't risk normal communication channels anymore. So I activated the orbital beacon/transceiver that Lieutenant Brill had give...
"'Preparing'?"
"Yes, Mr. Gaspard: I suspected that the threat to me would not end when I departed Shangri-La. After my last chat with the head archaeologist, I surmised that...
"Hmm . . . I recall reading that there was also a final exchange between you and Mr. Helger, just before you spoke to the archaeologist."
"Yes, that is correct."
"In which you threatened a great deal more than simple interdiction of traffic and messages."
"That is true."
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that I had to force him to end his campaign of xenocide, sir."
Gaspard moved back an inch: Caine couldn't tell if it was from his words or his tone. "Xenocide? I'm afraid I don't understand why you-"
"Then I will explain it-sir. Admiral Silverstein gathered detailed orbital images of Site One immediately after I was extracted. Thermal lookdown showed a num...
"Prospectors?"
"I doubt it."
"What then?"
"Hunters. CoDevCo was trying to finish the program that Mr. Bendixen had started."
"What program do you mean, Mr. Riordan? I do not follow you."
Caine was sure Gaspard did, but he wanted it on the record. "They were trying to exterminate the Pavonians, Mr. Gaspard. Before I arrived, it was clear that t...
"Why?"
"Because there was overwhelming evidence that the Pavonians were not merely an interesting species: they were intelligent. Which meant that, in any practical ...
"And this worked?"
"The hunter teams returned to Site One. The Pavonians were not molested after that."
"And so it has been concluded that it was CoDevCo that tried to kill you aboard the Tyne?"
Nolan interrupted. "Mr. Gaspard, that investigation is ongoing and the confidentiality essential to that process precludes discussing it in this forum." He st...
CIRCE
Seated at the same table, in the same sidewalk cafi, the tall man looked up as the same young waiter rushed past. "I will have a few last olives."
The waiter stopped as if one of his feet had suddenly been nailed to the floor. "Last? You are leaving us?"
"After I finish my work today."
"Well, I hope you will return."