Tony considered. "My father says Terra went ahead too fast. He says we
should have consolidated. We didn't assemble adequate supply bases. He
used to be an officer, when he was younger. He was with the fleet for
two years."
The Pas was silent a moment. "It's true," he said at last, "that when
you're so far from home, supply is a great problem. We, on the other
hand, don't have that. We have no distances to cover."
"Do you know anybody fighting?"
"I have distant relatives." The answer was vague; the Pas obviously
didn't want to talk about it.
"Have you ever seen your warfleet?"
"Not as it exists now. When this system was defeated most of our units
were wiped out. Remnants limped to Orion and joined the Orion fleet."
"Your relatives were with the remnants?"
"That's right."
"Then you were alive when this planet was taken?"
"Why do you ask?" The old Pas quivered violently. "What business is it
of yours?"
Tony leaned out and watched the walls and buildings of Karnet grow ahead
of them. Karnet was an old city. It had stood thousands of years. The
Pas-udeti civilization was stable; it had reached a certain point of
technocratic development and then leveled off. The Pas had inter-system
ships that had carried people and freight between planets in the days
before the Terran Confederation. They had combustion-driven cars,
audiophones, a power network of a magnetic type. Their plumbing was
satisfactory and their medicine was highly advanced. They had art forms,
emotional and exciting. They had a vague religion.
"Who do you think will win the battle?" Tony asked.
"I don't know." With a sudden jerk the old Pas brought the truck to a
crashing halt. "This is as far as I go. Please get out and take your
EEP with you."