For once, Brad didn’t mind attending one of Kosoff’s meetings.
The starship’s main auditorium was packed for Steiner’s presentation. The entire biology staff was there, of course, together with all the department heads and much of each of the other departments’ staffs. Captain Desai and a handful of the ship’s officers were there as well, sitting with Kosoff in the front row.
Brad sat alongside Felicia, in the midst of the biology team. Littlejohn and the other anthropologists were in the row behind them.
The buzz of anticipatory conversations stopped as Steiner climbed the three steps to the stage. Behind her, the wall-to-wall 3-D display showed a still image of one of the six-legged cats from Beta; huge, powerful, snarling.
Steiner wore a severe white pants suit, with jewelry sparkling at her throat, wrists, and earlobes. Her golden hair was pinned up atop her head, making her look even taller than usual, more regal.
“I am here,” she began, “to report on our examination of the catlike creatures from planet Beta.”
The audience sat stock-still, taut, expectant.
“What we have found is truly extraordinary,” Steiner went on. “I haven’t seen anything like this in all my days as a biologist.
“These cats are nothing less than killing machines. They are built to kill; evolved—or perhaps deliberately designed—to slaughter the intelligent bipeds of planet Gamma, and then themselves to die off.”
The holographic image behind her changed to show a detailed image of one of the cats’ innards. “This was one of the cats that we found on Gamma.”
Turning slightly to aim a laser pointer at the imagery, Steiner said, “As you can see, the creature has only a rudimentary digestive system. It can drink water and ingest little else. Its active life span is measured in days. It emerges from its egg, after flying from Beta to Gamma, hunts down all the Gammans it can find, and then dies.”
She hesitated a moment, then went on, “It is noteworthy to realize that its digestive system cannot handle anything we would think of as food: meat or vegetables. It kills its prey but does not eat it. It dies of starvation.”
From the front row, Kosoff asked, “How could such an animal evolve? How does it procreate itself?”
Looking almost distressed, Steiner replied, “There appear to be three separate types of animal: the males—which are breeders; the females—which lay the eggs for the next generation. They both live for several Earth years before their digestive systems shut down, which kills them. They produce the next generation of beasts sexually, then die off.”
“You said there were three types?”
Nodding tightly, Steiner replied, “The steriles, which seem to be little more than killing machines. They are incubated in the eggs that fly to Gamma, hatch from those eggs, and hunt down the Gammans. Within a few days they die—of starvation.”
A woman’s voice from the audience asked again, “How could such creatures evolve?”
“Frankly,” Steiner replied, “I am at a loss to understand how such a creature could evolve naturally. As I said a few moments ago, it looks to me as if they were designed, purposely, by some other species. It is a biological analog to the robots that we design and use.”
That caused a stir among the audience.
“Designed? By whom?” someone from a back row shouted.
“We don’t know,” said Steiner.
“Designed for what purpose?” asked another.
“To slaughter the Gammans. That’s the only discernible reason for their existence.”
The questions came faster then, and some members of the audience began arguing with others.
Typical, thought Brad. Each scientist wants to solve the riddle with his or her own brilliant ideas.
Steiner went through the cats’ life cycle. “They reproduce sexually. The males and females produce the eggs that reproduce themselves, and also the eggs that bear the steriles—which fly to Gamma when the two planets are nearest to one another. Once on Gamma they hatch and slaughter the Gammans, then die within a few days.”
“What kills them?”
“Starvation. As I showed you, their digestive systems shut down.”
“The females lay their eggs, and then what?”
“Ah yes, those eggs,” Steiner said. “They sit on the ground, drawing nourishment from sunlight and elements in the air and soil.”
“Like photosynthesis!”
“Very much like photosynthesis. The eggs grow and reach maturity at the time when Beta comes to its closest approach to Gamma.”
Steiner pointed to Pedersen, sitting three rows back in the auditorium. “Dr. Pedersen, you understand the mechanics of those eggs better than I. Perhaps you could explain?”
Pedersen rose to his feet. “I wish I could explain. The eggs are laced with nano-sized control systems that we have not yet been able to fully understand. The eggs themselves are a rudimentary sort of spacecraft, it seems.”
Kosoff turned in his seat. “They are actively guided to Gamma?”
Shaking his head, the planetologist answered, “Apparently not. The tremendous atmospheric disturbances caused by the two planets’ near collision cause cyclonic winds that lift the eggs off the ground on Beta and hurl them across the gap to land on Gamma.”
“They land without breaking?”
“Most of them do. Even those that do break hatch out full-grown cats.”
Steiner resumed her narrative. “Once the eggs arrive on Gamma, the sterile cats break out of them, fully adult, and begin to track down and kill the Gammans.”
The 3-D image behind her showed footage of the mangled bodies of Gammans sprawled on the ground in their own blood.
“Incredible!”
“But true,” said Steiner.
“Wait a moment,” said Quentin Abbott. Rising to his feet, the astronomer confessed, “I’m a bit confused here. You say the beasts mate and lay eggs. I presume that happens before the conjunction of the two planets.”
“Yes. Only a relative few of the animals break out of their eggs before the planets’ closest approach. They do the mating and lay the eggs that eventually become the next generation.”
“Lucky critters,” someone said, in a stage whisper.
“The early bird gets the worm.”
“So to speak.”
Chuckles and outright laughter swept through the audience. Breaking the tension, thought Brad.
Still on his feet, Abbott said, “So that means the eggs for the next generation of beasts have already been laid.”
“Yes,” said Steiner. “Our observation satellites have spotted nearly a hundred caches of eggs on the ground. They will apparently stay there, growing and maturing, until the planet nears Gamma once again.”
“They survive their winter, then,” said one of the planetologists.
“Evidently so.”
“And hatch after they fly off Beta and land on Gamma,” Abbott said.
Nodding, Steiner confirmed, “That is our conclusion, yes.”
The auditorium hummed with voices. Steiner broke through the chatter with, “Now I’d like to ask Dr. MacDaniels to tell you about the Gammans’ response to the invasion and slaughter.”
Surprised, Brad got to his feet.
“Up here, Dr. MacDaniels,” Steiner urged, motioning for Brad to join her on the stage. “Here, where everyone can see you.”
Trying to put his thoughts in order, Brad slid past Felicia and the others sitting in the row, then climbed the steps to the stage.
Littlejohn was watching him like a proud father; Kosoff looked warier.
“Thank you, Dr. Steiner,” Brad began. “The Gammans have a mythology—or maybe it’s more of a philosophy—of passivity and acceptance. They believe that in the distant past their ancestors built cities and created a civilization that spanned the whole planet. Based on their history or mythology or whatever you want to call it, we have found the remains of a city and are excavating it.”
Littlejohn called out, “The city was destroyed, wasn’t it?”
“Smashed flat,” Brad acknowledged. “Nothing left but the foundations of the original buildings.”
Kosoff said, “And they believe it was deliberately destroyed.”
Nodding, Brad replied, “Destroyed by some force which they call the Sky Masters. The Gammans believe the Sky Masters—whatever they are—crushed their ancient civilization and send those cats from Beta to kill them every time the two planets approach each other.”
“You mean there was a war?” an incredulous voice from the audience asked. “An interstellar war?”
“That’s one possible explanation,” Brad answered. “Whatever the Sky Masters are, or were, they apparently are intent on preventing the Gammans from rebuilding their civilization.”
Steiner added, “The biology of the cats from Beta fits in with that interpretation.”
Pedersen said, “This must have happened on the order of a hundred thousand years ago—when this planetary system was disrupted.”
Dead silence fell over the auditorium. Brad understood what they were all thinking: A war, interstellar invaders destroyed the Gammans’ civilization, using technology far in advance of our own.
“It’s a fantastic story,” said Pedersen. “But it just might be true.”
“If it is,” Kosoff said, his voice heavy with apprehension, “by helping the Gammans we’ve made ourselves enemies of the Sky Masters—whoever or whatever they may be.”