The Gripping Hand

by Larry Niven

  The viewscreen showed a human in full space gear, helmet closed, attached to a web of restraining lines. "We come in peace. Fnamyunch(sniff!)."

  "That latter is a Medina Traders recognition signal," Eudoxus said. "She could only have obtained it by speaking with our embassy ship."

  "That should help with your negotiations," Bury said.

  "Ah? Ah, yes, Excellency, if they believe us, and they should. Thank you."

  "Right," Renner said. "Stay on that. Anyone else? Good. Eudoxus, please call your Master and establish negotiations with the Crimean Tartars."

  "We are beginning that now. I will be needed shortly."

  "Right. Then do something else for me. Call me back. And try to tell me who all these people are?"

  Eudoxus nodded his head and shoulders, smiling, and vanished.

  The colored lights in the control display were the only lights in Hecate. Hecate's four crew waited in a vast dark space, listening to clanking and thudding from the hull. They talked in whispers, and rarely.

  With a sound like a gunshot, an elliptical section of hull blasted loose and into Hecate, edge on, straight toward Glenda Ruth, Jennifer shrieked. Freddy yelled warning. Glenda Ruth snapped her tether webbing loose and kicked herself clear... almost clear. The mass banged her flailing foot and tumbled aft, its course unaltered, and banged around back there where the cabin tapered to a rounded point. The cabin pressure fell rapidly, climbed, changed again, then stabilized.

  Glenda Ruth's unladylike swearing fell into a sudden silence.

  She hadn't seen the Motie enter.

  Its gripping hand found a handhold. The crude-looking gun in its right hands was pointed at Glenda Ruth. She screamed and covered her face, then hurriedly grabbed a handhold and spread her hands wide.

  Freddy asked, "Are you hurt?"

  "It cracked me on the shin. Stay tethered, guys. The Motie might have shot me because I was moving. Just wait it out."

  "It's a Warrior," Jennifer said.

  "I think so. It's got toes, but.... yeah."

  Now the Warrior was gripping handholds with its feet, through digital gloves. A second weapon had appeared, a spiked club. The Warrior's head and shoulders swiveled rapidly. Its gun pointed everywhere. It leaped across the cabin, thudded against the wall, and scanned from there. When it was satisfied, it warble-whistled.

  Another Motie came through. It was squat compared to the greyhound look of the Warrior. Its pressure suit hid the pattern of fur, but its behavior identified it: it was a Brown, an Engineer. Another Engineer followed and pulled a transparent balloon after it through the hole. Shapes moved within.

  The Engineers converged on the controls, sliding past and around Hecate's crew, ignoring them. One began to play with the controls. Freddy seemed braced for disaster, but nothing much was happening.

  Another Motie entered. A pressure suit hid her fur; she was a bit larger than the Engineers. A Mediator? The Engineers huddled with the new one, then kicked themselves aft. One opened the balloon and released four Motie shapes each less than half a meter long. They began to work at the aft of Hecate's cabin.

  "Brownies," Jennifer said.

  Glenda Ruth peered close. The little ones were chocolate brown, darker than an Engineer; and each of these had four arms. Watchmakers, "brownies," the Class that had destroyed MacArthur. All but one. The fourth was crawling carefully along the wall, toward the bridge. It was a different color, cream and pale brown, and it had three arms.

  It launched from the wall, impacted against Jennifer, and clung. It chirped at her and waited for a response.

  Glenda Ruth spoke to the big Motie. "Hello? Can you speak?"

  The Motie watched her. "We come in peace for all mankind, and for your sake, too." Glenda Ruth said. "Can you understand me? We carry trade goods. We have the right to make binding treaties."

  The newest Motie disappeared through the hole. Ignoring her.

  "I can't really tell, but that thing doesn't move like it has anything to say. I don't think it's a Mediator," Glenda Ruth said. "Freddy, don't touch any controls."

  "Brace yourselves," Terry said.

  Glenda Ruth asked, "Why?" before she noticed that the Warrior had anchored itself with three limbs out of five. A moment later the cabin shuddered and rocked.

  Freddy said, "That's torn it. Glenda Ruth, you-"

  There was thrust. It built up smoothly over six or seven seconds to a tenth of a gravity and stopped.

  Freddy said, "My readings don't connect to the rest of the ship. They've disconnected the cabin."

  Jennifer began to laugh. "Maybe they'll bring the rest separately," she said, "and give it back."

  "Oh, thank you very much. Nevertheless I fear Hecate's racing days are over. Any idea what's happening?"

  Glenda Ruth said carefully, "Ooyay ohknay apingtay us eythey areay"

  "What? Ah. What else?'

  "Henry Hudson and the Medina Traders believed themselves in control here," she said. "Clearly they aren't."

  "Who is?"

  "I don't know, but it changes everything, doesn't it? The Empire will make no important deals with anyone who doesn't speak for all of the Moties."

  "Oh. All right. Now what just happened?"

  "We've been captured by a warship. They don't understand what they have, but they can see it's valuable, so they'll be asking for orders. Eventually they'll send a Mediator. Who may or may not know Anglic, Freddy."

  "There's air," Freddy said. "Best open up the suits to save the air tanks."

  Jennifer tentatively opened her faceplate. "Smells all right- hey!"

  Terry Kakumi swiveled toward her. "What?"

  "It's a Mediator pup!" Jennifer said. "It has to be. Look, brown and white, and not much bigger than a Watchmaker, that's what it is. Glenda Ruth-"

  "Figures," Glenda Ruth said. "As soon as they knew they'd be dealing with humans, they bred a Mediator. Jennifer, I think you've got a friend for life."

  Jennifer and the Mediator pup considered each other wonderful. Jennifer cradled it in her arms and answered when it talked. The sounds it made were nonsense, but gradually they began to sound like Jennifer herself.

  When she handed the creature to Terry, it cried and tore itself free and jumped off Terry's chin to reach her again. The pup wanted no part of other humans.

  So the waiting was hard for the rest of them, and the entertainment thin. Glenda Ruth considered running a history flick on the monitors. Were the other classes, the Warriors and Engineers, really so specialized that they wouldn't watch?

  "They've plugged all the holes in the cabin," Freddy said. "Near as I can tell, this is normal Hecate air."

  "Temperature's all right, too," Jennifer said. She fondled the pups's ear.

  "Obvious. They tore the cabin loose and sealed it and gave us our own life support system back. We're alive but helpless. They'll have time to copy our gear before anything stops working," Glenda Ruth said. "Air doesn't worry me as much as..."

  "Yes?"

  "Freddy, there may be more battles. Over us."

  "Good news from all over," Jennifer Banda said. "I always wondered what the crown felt like when the lion and the unicorn fought over it."

  Eudoxus seemed calm. "My Master has been informed. She will set other Mediators to the task of regaining your companions. Our observations show that the inhabited portions of Hecate have been detached from the rest of the ship. The life support systems appear to be intact. Meanwhile, there is heavy message traffic throughout that region. I'll pass on more information as it develops."

  Renner said, "But you can at least tell me who's involved, can't you?"

  "I can tell you what we have learned of the Crimean Tartars. They were among the powers in the moon system of Mote Beta until they were cast out in a complicated contest with the major Mote Beta clan we call Persia. The Tartar group then subsisted on trade and service to other powers until they were swallowed by the Khanate. They're much smaller now, of course, and as nothing has been
heard of them, we thought they must have been successfully integrated into the Khanate families. In light of their capture of your ship we must conclude that they retained some independent identity."

  Renner considered the death rate implicit in the phrase they're much smaller now among a people who die if they can't get pregnant. "Okay. East India?"

  "Please reassure me that His Excellency is listening."

  Horace Bury sighed. "Put me on."

  Kevin turned off his mike. "You sure?"

  "We will learn from each other. If I can't catch him in a lie, perhaps"-he jerked his head at Chris Blaine-"another can."

  Kevin nodded and swiveled the camera. Bury said, "Greetings, Eudoxus."

  The Motie bowed; the one ear folded flat, then extended.

  "You spoke of the year we spent in Mote system as Period One, Period Two you spent sending ships to break the Empire blockade at Murcheson's Eye. Is it so?"

  "Yes, Excellency. Period One began as MacArthur intercepted a miner belonging to Medina Trading. Thereafter a Mote Prime group headed by a powerful planetary Master who called himself King Peter took control of communications with the human expedition."

  "Was there a battle?" Renner asked.

  "None that you were intended to notice."

  "I saw none." Renner said.

  "His Excellency noticed the change," Eudoxus said. "I know because-"

  "Yes, of course," Bury said. "What I saw was that the Mote Prime group had no interest at all in the creature we had aboard- and although that Engineer had sent a message to its home, nothing came of that."

  "Bloody Hell," Renner muttered. "The Skipper never thought of that, and neither did I."

  "That also was clear," Eudoxus said. "Only His Excellency understood the true situation." He looked expectantly at Bury. "So. Period One ended with MacArthur destroyed and your battleship Lenin departing Mote system. The ship and its recorded observations sent back by our Engineer you took aboard gave Medina knowledge of how to build an energy shield... Langston Field? Name of a human inventor?'

  Kevin said, "Right."

  The Motie was amused. Naming a tool for an Engineer! "Our wanderings began shortly after. Our Master saw that there would be great changes, and Medina Traders would not be powerful enough to hold where we were. Thus we traded what we had to Persia: they would take our territory and give us ships. Then during our withdrawal from the Mote Beta Trailing Trojans," she said, "our Engineers developed a working Langston Field and traded it to Persia for more assistance in withdrawing to the Comets.

  "It was bad timing. If we had been larger and more powerful, we need not have abandoned our base at all. With what we gave them and what they had, Persia came to rule the Mote Beta moons. They didn't merely arm ships with your Field. They skimmed through the remains of the Mote Beta Ring. After a million years of mining, the planet retained only a narrow ring of dust, but that was megatons of dust. One pass and Persia had it all. We could have had that ourselves... but we were too far away and might not have held it, and in any case we had set our sights further."

  Blaine caught Bury's eye. They exchanged nods. Blaine's voice came to Renner on the private intercom circuit. "Medina plans far and acts fast. And they've got some of the best Engineers in the system."

  "During Period Two we tested your blockade at the Eye." Eudoxus said, "To do that we needed the assistance of the group we call Byzantium. This is a large and powerful coalition located in the Mote Gamma moons, far from Persia, far from our original home in Mote Beta's Trailing Trojans. I may give you details of our negotiations with them-"

  "For the moment, continue your story."

  "Well, then, various bandits had already noted our activity. East India Company was one of those. This is the group I spoke of, asteroid based, many ships, nominal allies of Medina until recently, and should be again if things go as planned.

  "Still with me? The period during which the Curdle in the Coal Sack might be expected to collapse is Period Three. King Peter of Mote Prime gave you data we knew to be incorrect, data indicating that the Curdle would not become a star for some time. Incidentally, King Peter's data were incorrect also. They did not expect the star to ignite for another fifty of your years. We knew better, and we had the advantage of knowing what the Empire had been told. Of course we did not know precisely when the star would form, and indeed the date we expected was years too early."

  "Wow," Joyce said. Her voice was barely audible.

  Renner grinned slightly and looked to be sure that she was recording. Good. That gave them an extra copy for insurance. It would take study to be certain he understood everything Eudoxus was saying.

  "Period Three opens around a hundred thousand hours ago," Eudoxus continued. "We prepared to exploit the new opening. Medina Traders began sending probes solely to determine whether the Crazy Eddie point had jumped. From your viewpoint these ships would still have come sporadically, and we still shaped them to shake the Empire's composure. You were not to notice a difference. We could afford nothing so flamboyant as the iceball fleet... . Did that have any success?"

  Chris Blaine wiggled his eyebrows, offstage. Bury said. "Only in exciting our admiration."

  "Our later probes were cheaper, but still our resources were not expanding to match our tasks. While our estimates were better than King Peter's, we made ready too early, and it was costly to remain in a state of readiness. Power shifted among the Mote Gamma families. Medina's behavior was becoming too conspicuous, our security was getting less attention than-"

  Bury said, "You were expanding too fast."

  Eudoxus-Bury3A-nodded reluctantly. "Wealth that should have gone to security went to feed our growing numbers. Eighty thousand hours ago, East India Company surged out of the Mote Gamma Leading Trojans and took possession of the Crazy Eddie point. They replenished the cost of that mighty battle by dismantling two of our probes already en route to the Eye."

  "Where was your ally Byzantium?"

  "Far around its orbit, too distant to interfere directly, preoccupied with local problems, and unable to send a large battle fleet. They were not happy, and they blamed us for our carelessness. But the Curdle's collapse was slow in coming, and nobody loves blockade duty."

  That's for damn sure, Renner thought, and caught an answering nod from Chris Blaine.

  "Having been dispossessed, we did what we could to recover our position. Medina Traders brought the East India Company in on part of the secret. Having taken the old Crazy Eddie point, East India Company was given the obligations, too. Byzantium gave them your Fyunch(click)'s second student's third apprentice."

  Kevin said, "Just so I don't get lost -

  "Bury-One has died. Medina Traders has Bury 3A, me. Byzantium still has Bury 2 and Bury 3B. Byzantium's Bury 3C went to East India Company. Another family bought Bury 3D while they still had wealth; they may have sold some Bury-Fours. Byzantium may be training others."

  Bury stared at the misshapen shadow in wonder. "Have I become the basis of your economy?"

  "Not extensively, Excellency, not yet. Of course I am become immensely more valuable since I have had the honor of speaking with you directly."

  "Wonderful."

  "Our own problem was that East India Company sent the cheapest possible probes. You were bound to notice. I expect that was why you arrived so rapidly?. Yes. But having a Horace Bury Fyunch(click) made East India Company more confident than they should have been-as we intended. Their Bury student is not an astronomer. We gave them a wrong mapping for the expected new Crazy Eddie point, and they accepted it."

  "They may be annoyed with you. They are attacking these interlopers, the Crimean Tartars, but whom were they sent to attack?"

  "Excellency, you may well- Excuse me," Eudoxus said, and the monitor screen went dark.

  Kevin said, "Blaine?"

  Chris Blaine said, "The Motie ships got easier to hit nine years ago. Before my time, but the records show. The Crazy Eddie Squadron thought it was because we were g
etting better at it."

  Bury was nodding, enjoying himself. "The word Byzantine might have been invented just for Moties," he said. "Well, Kevin?"

  "We can make maps. Computer maps, holograms that move. We should."

  "Yes. Jacob?"

  "I've been doing that. Horace, I think your interests and mine may have converged at last. Have a look at this." All the monitors suddenly bloomed with an axial view of the Mote system. For a moment it held, then began turning like a sluggish whirlpool.

  "Now, note." Buckman's pointer traced along the shaded ring of comets. "Mote Gamma is resources for anyone in this region. A better source than the nearby comets, right? Because comets are so far apart. Where Mote Gamma is passing, there's an economic boom. When Gamma's gone, there's a recession. Sanity check, Horace?"

  "Very likely. The boom would stretch over perhaps twenty degrees of arc before costs grow too great. Mote Beta would be too close to the sun for such an effect. And if... what are these marks? The old Jump point to the Eye, the new one ..."

  "Right."

  They weren't moving. Matter flowed around and past them.

  "The Crazy Eddie points. And the new Jump to the red dwarf, Crazy Eddie's Sister. Thirty degrees around from Mote Gamma, and up ten degrees along the Mote's axis. Medina Trading had no easy access to the Mote Gamma resources."

  Renner watched the map display rotate. The Crazy Eddie point, not far outward from Mote Beta's orbit, had moved a few hundred thousand klicks when Buckman's Protostar (the Curdle) became Buckman's Star. But the Sister was a billion klicks away, above the plane of the system and well beyond Mote Gamma.

  Eudoxus was back. "Excellency, Captain, my Master will act to recover your people and goods. Our bargaining position is worsening. Hecate is in flight with a Crimean Tartar escort, twelve ships of varying size, running out from the sun and wide of the Khanate positions. It seems the Tartars have severed relations with the Khanate. Thirty-six Tartar ships remain in command of the Sister. The East India Company contingent has fled."