"We've caught them in a trap," said Bregg, "and we are presently going
to stick needles into them--a procedure necessitated by your presence,
Doctor Ray. They're highly susceptible to imported viruses, as you
should remember--one of your little parties of do-gooders succeeded in
wiping out a whole band of them not too many years ago. So--inoculations
and quarantine."
* * * * *
Lights had blazed up in the area near the building. The car sped toward
them.
Kieran said slowly, "Why don't you just exterminate the hunters and have
done with them?"
"In your day, Mr. Kieran--yes, I've heard all about you--in your day,
did you on Earth exterminate the predators so that their natural prey
might live more happily?"
Bregg's long muzzle and sloping skull were profiled against the lights.
"No," said Kieran, "we didn't. But in that case, they were all animals."
"Exactly," said Bregg. "No, wait, Doctor Ray. Spare me the lecture. I
can give you a much better reason than that, one even you can't quarrel
with. It's a matter of ecology. The number of humans destroyed by these
predators annually is negligible but they do themselves destroy an
enormous number of small creatures with which the humans compete for
their food. If we exterminated the hunters the small animals would
multiply so rapidly that the humans would starve to death."
The car stopped beside the hill, at the edge of the lighted area. A sort
of makeshift corral of wire fencing had been set up, with wide wings to
funnel the people into the enclosure, where a gate was shut on them. Two
Sakae were mounting guard as the party from the car approached the
corral. Inside the fence Kieran could see the people, flopped around in
positions of exhaustion. They did not seem to be afraid now. A few of
them were drinking from a supply of water provided for them. There was
food scattered for them on the ground.
Bregg said something in his own language to one of the guards, who
looked surprised and questioned him, then departed, springing strongly
on his powerful legs. "Wait," said Bregg.
They waited, and in a moment or two the guard came back leading one of
the black hunting beasts on a chain. It was a female, somewhat smaller
than the ones Kieran had fought with, and having a slash of white on the
throat and chest. She howled and sprang up on Bregg, butting her great
head into his shoulder, wriggling with delight. He petted her, talking
to her, and she laughed doglike and licked his cheek.
"They domesticate well," he said. "We've had a tame breed for
centuries."
* * * * *
He moved a little closer to the corral, holding tight to the animal's
chain. Suddenly she became aware of the people. Instantly the
good-natured pet turned into a snarling fury. She reared on her hind
legs and screamed, and inside the corral the people roused up. They were
not frightened now. They spat and chattered, clawing up sand and pebbles
and bits of food to throw through the fence. Bregg handed the chain to
the guard, who hauled the animal away by main force.
Paula said coldly, "If your point was that the people are not kind to
animals, my answer is that you can hardly blame them."
"A year ago," Bregg said, "some of the people got hold of her two young
ones. They were torn to pieces before they could be saved, and she saw
it. I can't blame her, either."
He went on to the gate and opened it and went inside. The people drew
back from him. They spat at him, too, and pelted him with food and
pebbles. He spoke to them, sternly, in the tone of one speaking to
unruly dogs, and he spoke words, in his own tongue. The people began to
shuffle about uneasily. They stopped throwing things. He stood waiting.
The yellow-eyed girl came sidling forward and rubbed herself against his
thigh, head, shoulder and flank. He reached down and stroked her, and
she whimpered with pleasure and arched her back.
"Oh, for God's sake," said Kieran, "let's get out of here."
* * * * *
Later, they sat wearily on fallen blocks of cement inside a dusty,
shadowy room of the old building. Only a hand-lamp dispelled the gloom,
and the wind whispered coldly, and Bregg walked to and fro in his
curious prance as he talked.
"It will be a little while before the necessary medical team can be
picked up and brought here," he said. "We shall have to wait."
"And then?" asked Kieran.
"First to--" Bregg used a word that undoubtedly named a city of the
Sakae but that meant nothing to Kieran, "--and then to Altair Two. This,
of course, is a council matter."
He stopped and looked with bright, shrewd eyes at Kieran. "You are quite
the sensation already, Mr. Kieran. The whole community of starworlds is
already aware of the illegal resuscitation of one of the pioneer
spacemen, and of course there is great interest." He paused. "You,
yourself, have done nothing unlawful. You cannot very well be sent back
to sleep, and undoubtedly the council will want to hear you. I am
curious as to what you will say."
"About Sako?" said Kieran. "About--them?" He made a gesture toward a
window through which the wind brought the sound of stirring, of the
gruntings and whufflings of the corralled people.
"Yes. About them."
"I'll tell you how I feel," Kieran said flatly. He saw Paula and Webber
lean forward in the shadows. "I'm a human man. The people out there may
be savage, low as the beasts, good for nothing the way they are--but
they're human. You Sakae may be intelligent, civilized, reasonable, but
you're not human. When I see you ordering them around like beasts, I
want to kill you. That's how I feel."
Bregg did not change his bearing, but he made a small sound that was
almost a sigh.
"Yes," he said. "I feared it would be so. A man of your times--a man
from a world where humans were all-dominant--would feel that way." He
turned and looked at Paula and Webber. "It appears that your scheme, to
this extent, was successful."
"No, I wouldn't say that," said Kieran.