Manning was silent for a moment. “Let’s hope so,” he said shortly. “If they find out how weak we are, how long it would take us to get reinforcements out here….”
“They’re still just a dying race, remember,” Rynason said. “They’re not the Outsiders. What makes you so sure that they’re dangerous?”
“Oh, come on, Lee! Think! They’re in contact with the Outsiders; you said so yourself. And just remember this: the Outsiders obviously considered it inevitable that there would be war between us. Now put those two facts together and tell me the horses aren’t dangerous!”
Rynason said slowly, “It isn’t as simple as that. The order given to Tebron was to stop all scientific progress and stifle any military development, and he seems to have done just that. The idea was that if the Hirlaji were harmless when we found them there might be no need for fighting.”
“Perhaps. But we weren’t supposed to know that they were in contact with the Outsiders, either—that was probably part of the purpose of the block in the race-memory. But we got through the block, and they know it, and presumably by now the Outsiders know it. That changes the picture, and I’d like to know just how much it changes it.”
“They’re not in contact with the Outsiders any longer,” said Rynason.
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“Tebron broke the contact—that was in the orders too. The priesthood, which had been the connecting link with the Outsiders through the machine, was disbanded. When Tebron died he didn’t appoint a successor; the machine hasn’t been used since.”
Manning thought about that, still frowning. “Where is the machine?”
“I don’t know. If it hasn’t been kept in repair it might not even be usable any more, wherever it is.”