"I swear," he said.
"Then I swear not to tell," she said.
He kissed her. After all, he thought, it isn't a lie. _I_ don't mean
her people any harm. Besides, sooner or later, her mother will get it
out of her, so she won't be keeping her part of the bargain.
* * * * *
The next time he went to Barshwat he knew he would be followed. He
tried to shake the follower or followers off, but he couldn't be sure
he'd succeeded.
He found the colonel looking out of the window with an expression of
quiet melancholy. If there had been any Earthwomen on Damorlan, Clarey
would have thought he'd been crossed in love.
"Things are taking a bad turn, Clarey," Blynn said. "There have been
certain manifestations of hostility from the natives. Get any hint of
it?"
"No," Clarey said, taking his usual chair, "not a whisper."
The colonel sat down heavily. "Katund's too out of the way. We
should've moved you to a city once you'd got the feel of things. But
you do go to Zrig occasionally. Haven't you heard anything there?"
"Only that an Earthman bought out a cloth merchant's entire stock at
one blow."
Blynn grinned weakly. "Maybe it was rather an ostentatious thing to do,
but the fabric's beautiful stuff."
He rubbed his nose reflectively. "Fact is, I've been hearing disturbing
rumors. They say some fellow named Kuhak's invented a ground car that
can run without tracks."
Clarey almost said "Guhak," but caught himself in time. "Nonsense," he
scoffed. "The more I know of them, the more surprised I am they ever
got as far as inventing the chains."
"But they did, no getting around that. This is what Earth's afraid of,
you know," he reminded Clarey--unnecessarily. "This is why you were
sent here. And, if the rumor's true, it looks as if you weren't needed
at all. I got the bad news by myself."
"But why should it be that upsetting?" Clarey tried to laugh. "You look
as if it were the end of the world."
The colonel gave him a long, level look. "I consider that remark in the
worst of taste."
Clarey stopped laughing.
"Remember," the colonel reminded Clarey, again unnecessarily, "this is
the way we ourselves got started."
"But the Damorlanti don't have to move in the same direction. They may
look human and even act human, but they don't think human."
The colonel clasped his hands behind his head and sighed. "There have
been articles against us in the paper, and whenever we go out in the
street people--natives, I mean--make nasty remarks and sometimes even
faces at us. And what have we done to them? Carefully minded our own
business, avoided all cultural contacts except for trade purposes, paid
them much more than the going price for their goods, and gave them one
or two tips on health and sanitation. As a result, they're beginning to
hate us."
"But if you send a report, it'll bring the staff ship in ahead of time.
Maybe the whole thing'll blow over. This way, you're not giving it a
chance to."
The colonel chewed his lip. "Well," he finally said, "I might as well
wait and see if the rumor's verified before I report it."
* * * * *
Clarey went back to Katund. The months went by. The friendly atmosphere
in the Furbush had vanished, and not as many people stopped and
chatted when they came to the library. But there wasn't any actual
incident until the evening Clarey was walking home after late night at
the library and a stone struck him between the shoulder-blades. "Dirty
Earthman!" a voice called, and several pairs of feet scuttled off.
He didn't mention the incident to Embelsira, not wanting to worry her,
but the next morning he went to the Village Dome and informed Malesor.
"Very bad," the headman muttered. "_Very_ bad. Whoever did it will be
punished."
"You won't be able to catch them," Clarey said, "and there'd be no
point in punishment, anyway. Look at it like this, Mal. Suppose I had
been an Earthman, don't you see how dangerous this would be, not for me
but for you? Can't you imagine the inevitable results?"
Malesor nodded. "The Earthmen's catapults do go farther and faster,
then?"
"And maybe deeper," Clarey agreed, pretending not to notice that it had
been a question. "After the way Irik talked, I couldn't help drifting
over to the starfield when I was in Barshwat and watching an Earth ship
come. You've no idea how incredibly powerful a thing it was. Anyone
who has power in one direction is likely to have it in another."
"I wonder if the Earthmen always had power," Malesor mused, "if they
weren't like us once. If, given time, we couldn't be like them...."
Clarey didn't say anything.