The Colors of Space

Ringg was still bending over Meta's hand when Vorongil came into the

cabin. He started to speak, then noticed Ringg. "I might have known," he

growled, "if there was anything to find out, you'd find it."

"Shall I go, rieko mori?"

"No, stay. You'll find it out some way or other, you might as well get

it right the first time. But first of all--are you all right, Meta?"

Her chin went up, defiantly. "Yes. And why have you lied to us all these

years--all of you?"

Vorongil looked mildly startled. "It wasn't exactly a lie. Nine out of

ten Lhari captains believe it with all their heart--that humans die in

warp-drive. I wasn't sure myself until I heard the debates in Council

City, last year."

"But why?"

Vorongil sighed. His eyes rested disconcertingly on Bart. "I presume you

know human history," he said, "better than I do. The Lhari have never

had a war, in all written history. Quite frankly, you terrified us. It

was decided, on the highest summit levels, that we wouldn't give humans

too many chances to find out things we preferred to keep to ourselves.

The first few ships to carry Mentorians had carried them without

cold-sleep, but people forget easily. The truth is buried in the records

of those early voyages.

"As the Mentorians grew more important to us, we began to regret the

policy, but by that time the Mentorians themselves believed it so firmly

that when we tried the experiment of carrying them through the shift

into warp-drive, they died of fear--pure suggestion. I tried it with

you, Meta, because I knew Bart's presence would reassure you. The others

were given an inert sedative they believed to be the cold-sleep drug.

How are you feeling, Bart?"

"Fine--but wondering what's going to happen."

"You won't be hurt," Vorongil said, quickly. Then: "You don't believe

me, do you?"

"I don't, sir. David Briscoe did what I did, and he's dead. So are three

other men."

"Men do strange things from fear--men and Lhari. Your people, as I said

before, have a strange history. It scares us. Can you guarantee that

some, at least, of your people wouldn't try to come and take the

star-drive by force? We left a man on Lharillis who thought nothing of

killing twenty-four of us. I suppose the captain of the Multiphase,

knowing he had gravely violated Lhari laws, knowing that Briscoe's

report might touch off an intergalactic war between men and Lhari--well,

I suppose he felt that half a dozen deaths were better than half a

million. I'm not defending him. Just explaining, maybe, why he did what

he did."