The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order by Stephen R. Donaldson Page B

to
wage warfare of a kind which must defeat us. In a raw test of technological
resources, we will fail. Our means of production are too precise,
time-consuming, and costly to compete with yours.
    “Yet
that is not the sum of the threat which Captain Succorso represents. By some
means which we do not understand — perhaps by what you term ‘intuition’ — he
has acquired knowledge of our researches into the use of uniquely designed gap
drives to produce space-normal velocities which very nearly approximate the
speed of light. If our defensives could attain those velocities, our prospects
in warfare would be greatly improved.”
    With an
effort, Sorus kept her expression blank; but inwardly she gave a groan of
surprise. “Greatly improved” was a stunning understatement. If a battlewagon
like Calm Horizons could be accelerated to · 9C or more, no human
station could stand against her. Even Earth might have no adequate defence.
    Without
pausing, Taverner concluded, “Captain Succorso must not be permitted to convey
his knowledge to the United Mining Companies Police. We fear that human space
would have no choice but to engage us in warfare immediately, if only to
prevent us from completing our researches.
    “Do you
understand now, Captain Chatelaine?”
    She
nodded slowly, dumbly. Oh, she understood, all right. She hated her role, but
she understood it. If she’d been the “decisive” of Calm Horizons — or
even the Mind/Union itself — she would have made the same choice. The stakes
were high enough to justify risks on almost any scale.
    Yet she
couldn’t let the question rest there. Some streak of stubbornness in her, some
mute, unsubjugated piece of her genetic inheritance, pushed her to raise one
more objection.
    “I
understand fine, but I’m not sure you do. You can talk all you want, but you’ve
already missed your chance to take the only action that would have made a
difference. You let Trumpet get away. And since then too much time has
passed. What good will it do to send me after her now?
    “The
cops’ll be waiting for her to come back — with a whole fleet, if they think
they need it. Even if I could catch her before she reaches them — which I can’t
— I couldn’t stop her from transmitting any messages she wants. And if you’re
right that Succorso is working for the cops, they already know about his
immunity drug. They probably gave it to him. Nothing I do can possibly prevent
them from spreading that information.
    “Sending
me into human space to get shot by a fleet of damn cops is going to accomplish
zip.”
    The
human side of Vestabule’s face frowned as if he were unsure of her slang. Again
he and Taverner glanced expressionlessly at each other before Taverner replied.
    “The
question of Captain Succorso’s immunity is not a simple one. I” — for a minute
he hung fire, as if his memory had slipped — “I have been the deputy chief of
Com-Mine Station Security. If an immunity drug were known anywhere in human
space, that knowledge would surely have come to me. Assume that this immunity
is a devising of the United Mining Companies Police, and that Captain Succorso
received it from them. Still it has not been disseminated. In my” — again he
faltered briefly — “my experience, no knowledge or record of such an immunity
exists. Therefore we must also assume that the United Mining Companies Police
have chosen to suppress this immunity.
    “I —”
Taverner stopped. To her surprise, Sorus saw that he was in distress. The
effort of thinking like a human drew sweat from his pores, turned his pale skin
the colour of bone.
    “I
speculate,” he resumed in a thin, slightly hurried tone, “that some
intraspecies betrayal which I find difficult to comprehend is taking place. One
faction has developed this immunity, and now holds it secret from the other in
order to gain advantage. I find the concept abhorrent, but I remember that such
explanations are plausible among