Read Online Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss - Free Book Online Page B

the higher the death rate. The higher the death rate, the more fertile we become and the more reluctant people are to limit their families, in case their line should die out.”
    â€œImproved food production won’t solve that.”
    â€œNot long-term. But resettlement will. It will reduce the collective anxiety.”
    â€œYou colonized your moon—Tasir Ve?”
    â€œTasir Var.”
    â€œDid that work?”
    â€œEvidently not. We hope you’ll help us restore its ecology too.”
    â€œSo what was behind the drive to settle on Bezer’ej?”
    â€œI think we’ve learned a great deal since we overexploited Tasir Var. The next world will be more carefully planned, more managed.”
    â€œYou’ve got deep-space capability. Why not look further afield than this system and avoid conflict with the wess’har?”
    â€œWe had deep-space capability, but it’s a resource-intensive project to maintain. We’re fortunate that you may soon be in a position to help us maintain our more remote instant communications relays because we can no longer reach them ourselves. Food and environmental cleansing are our priorities now. It’s another area where we might find mutual advantage in cooperation.”
    â€œJoint missions?”
    â€œYou have a similar drive to expand. Why else would you all be here? And you think you’re eternal. It’s hard to imagine your whole species and history being trapped on a world that will eventually be destroyed by its own sun. No, Mr. Michallat, I do believe humans and isenj will be partners, and both will benefit.” Ual tapped a limb on the glassy surface of the low table between them, indicating the cup and the bowl. A little fragment of quill fell to his lap and he reached down to sweep it aside. Eddie wondered what happened when a bead-bearing quill broke off.
    Serrimissani stared at Ual, and Eddie saw the concept of disdain expressed as perfectly as any adept Indian kathkali dancer could ever mime. After an eloquent delay, she trotted forward to fill both vessels from their respective jugs. She did not look amused. He could see her little teeth glittering between slightly parted lips.
    â€œLet us drink up, Mr. Michallat. Will you be transmitting this interview soon?”
    Eddie nodded and drained his coffee, which was tepid by now. And it wasn’t wardroom quality. “As soon as I edit it.”
    â€œYou’ll cut out parts? It was very short.”
    â€œActually, I probably won’t omit any detail. I just have to package it with some attractive shots. Would you mind if I traveled a little further and recorded some different images?”
    â€œIf you can find any,” Ual said.
    Eddie loved him instantly and totally for his candor. He would swap Ual for a human politician any day. On the way back to the shuttle, he replayed the footage on the smartpaper the Actaeon had given him and marked appropriate sequences. Ual was right. It all looked much the same to him. No wonder they called those shots wallpaper.
    â€œAh well,” he said. He could only report what he saw.
    Serrimissani watched his fingers moving across the smart-paper. “Are you going to make a habit of this?”
    â€œI have to. It’s called a series.”
    â€œI think you have already recorded all you need to know.”
    â€œI do believe you’re right,” said Eddie. That was what worried him. “Look at it this way: I don’t see it as my job to interpret the isenj to Earth audiences, but there aren’t any other hacks around to tell a different side of the story, so that means I have to be doubly careful that I don’t just tell mine. I’ll be a window, nothing more, as far as I can be.”
    The ussissi gave him a look that might have been sympathy or pity: he only knew that it made him feel like a scorpion, a snack-size one.
    â€œA window should ask more open questions,” she