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Updated: May 3, 2025
For instance, it took two separate organs to perform the same function that the liver performed in Earthmen, and the kidneys were completely absent, that function being performed by special tissues in the lower colon, which meant that the Kerothi were more efficient with water-saving than Earthmen, since the waste products were excreted as relatively dry solids through an all-purpose cloaca.
"I can't help but feel that this is some sort of trick, but if it is, I can't see through it. Why are you doing this, Sepastian?" "You may not understand this, Tallis," MacMaine said evenly, "but I am fighting for freedom. The freedom to think." The Traitor Convincing the Kerothi that he was in earnest was more difficult than MacMaine had at first supposed.
But he watched, nonetheless. In one way, Tallis' face was typically Kerothi. The orange-pigmented skin and the bright, grass-green eyes were common to all Kerothi. The planet Keroth, like Earth, had evolved several different "races" of humanoid, but, unlike Earth, the distinction was not one of color.
The advantage lay with MacMaine, for, while the computer could not logically fathom the intuitive processes of its human opponent, MacMaine could and did have an intuitive grasp of the machine's logic. MacMaine didn't need to know every variable in the pattern; he only needed to know the pattern as a whole. The Shudos was well in the rear of the main body of the Kerothi fleet.
"Thanks for trying to find an excuse for me, Tallis, but I'm afraid it isn't so. Listen. "I had to find out what Earth was up against. I had a pretty good idea already that the Kerothi would win would wipe us out or enslave us to the last man. And, after I had seen Keroth, I was certain of it.
Most of them have the minds of warriors, although, I must say, not strong warriors." That last, MacMaine knew, was a polite concession. The Kerothi had no respect for Earthmen. And MacMaine could hardly blame them. For three long centuries, the people of Earth had had nothing to do but indulge themselves in the pleasures of material wealth.
The three other Kerothi who made up the Strategy Staff came in at almost the same time. There was a flurry of activity as the computers and viewers were readied for action, then the Kerothi looked expectantly at the Earthman. MacMaine looked at the detector screens. The deployment of the approaching Earth fleet was almost as he had expected it would be.
Three Kerothi shot after the explosion that ruined the A-A drive, and before the fifty-gee acceleration." He looked at the sergeant. "What do you think happened?" "He got away," the tough-looking noncom said grimly. "Took the courier boat and scooted away from here." "Why did he set the timer on the drive, then? What was the purpose of that fifty-gee blast?" "To distract us, I'd say, sir.
There were things to be done. Tallis first. MacMaine made his way over to one of the emergency medical kits that he knew were kept in every compartment of every ship. One of the doors of a wall locker hung open, and the blue-green medical symbol used by the Kerothi showed darkly in the dim light that came from the three unshattered glow plates in the ceiling.
"It's like fighting ghosts," MacMaine said in a hushed voice. For the first time, he felt a feeling of awe that was almost akin to fear. What had he done? In another sense, that same question was in the mind of the Kerothi. "Have you any notion at all what they are doing or how they are doing it?" asked Tallis gently. "None," MacMaine answered truthfully. "None at all, I swear to you."
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