Retief's Peace by Keith Laumer

Author:Keith Laumer [Laumer, Keith]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-05-13T15:11:45.536000+00:00

flag. Apparently, the Krll warrior's headlight was out. Nothing showed in the helmet but a black slit.

�

�"You know, I'd be more convinced if you sounded more like a businessman, and less like a politician ora social scientist. What does a 'simple businessman' care about civilizing uncivilized natives?"

�

�"Well, there's the market to consider, right? And your blockadeis, like, restraining our free trade and all, and keeping us from settling old scores with those damned eight-legged nightmare ogres next door! Wewill destroy them, crush them, mangle them! We will burn their cities and enslave their shes! We�" The Krll stopped, its antennae wigwagging furiously. "Uh, I mean . . . it keeps us from pursuing our lawfulpursuits in the Cluster!"

�

�"By 'damned eight-legged nightmare ogres,'" Retief said slowly, drawing on his dopestick, "I assume youmean the B'ruklians."

�

�"What if I do?" the being said, its chirping voice again carefully neutral. "They ain't civilized neither. Whenwe conquer them, we'll probably save a few of the more docile ones to breed as beasts of burden."

�

�"Uh-huh. They don't have space travel . . . and with those crocodile jaws and rows of sharp needleteeth, they certainly aren't vegetarians. Two strikes against them." He drew another deep lungful of scented smoke from his dopestick. "But . . . you know something interesting? I don't think the B'ruklians of B'rukley are native to that planet."

�

�

�"Uh . . . so what? I mean, what makes you say that?"

�

�

�"Have you ever seen one?"

�

�

�The Krll seemed to shrug with its antennae. "Doesn't matter if I have."

�

�"Hmm. They have this thick, tough hide." Retief held up a thumb and forefinger, an inch apart. "Must bethis thick. And it's dark colored, black or dark gray or brown. Good protection against the radiationfrom a hot, bright star. The thing is, Firstsun, as they call their primary, is a cool red star. Almost noultraviolet component to the stellar output at all."

�

�

�"Yeah? So what? I never went in for astrology."

�

�"Astronomy. Here's another thing. They're solidly built, with eight legs and a low center of gravity. Heavy musculature. Almost as if they evolved on a high-gravity planet. But B'rukley has a gravitational field ofonly about nine-tenths of a G. You'd expect life forms native to the place to be taller, more willowy . . .not built like a tank."

�

�

�"So what do I care about a bunch of ugly alien barbarians, huh?"

�

�

�"Okay, let's talk about the Krll."

�

�

�"Hey! Now you're getting' personal!"

�

�"Obviously,youfolks evolved in the ocean, where the planet's gravity field doesn't matter so much. Itwould affect the water pressure, of course. The fact that you've adapted well to life out of the watermeans you didn't evolve in a high-pressure environment. If you had, you'd explode when you approached the surface. Also, the coloration of your carapace suggests you got a fair share of sunlight where yougrew up. A deep-benthic life-form would tend to be colorless or even transparent."

�"Listen, I don't like the way this is goin'."

�

�

�"So, my guess would be that the Krll evolved from bottom-feeder crustaceans in warm,

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