The Mote in God's Eye

His repairs worked perfectly, as they always did. Now, his armor stripped off, Sinclair relaxed in the command chair watching the Moties. The Motie program had tremendous popularity throughout the ship, with attention divided between the big Motie in Crawford’s stateroom and the miniatures. The big Motie had just finished rebuilding the lamp in her quarters. Now it gave a redder, more diffused light, and she was cutting away at the length of Crawford’s bunk to give herself nearly a square meter of working space. Sinclair admired the Motie’s work; she was deft, as sure of herself as anyone Sinclair had ever seen. Let the scientists debate, Sandy thought; that beastie was intelligent.

On Channel Two, the miniatures played. People watched them even more than the big Motie; and Bury, watching everyone watch the little Moties, smiled to himself.

Channel Two caught Sinclair’s eye and he looked away from the big Motie, then suddenly sat bolt upright. The miniatures were having sexual intercourse. “Get that off the intercom!” Sinclair ordered. The signal rating looked pained, but switched the screen so that Channel Two went blank. Moments later, Renner came onto the bridge.

“What’s the matter with the intercom, Sandy?” he asked.

“There is nothing wrong with the intercom,” Sinclair said stiffly.

“There is too. Channel Two is blank.”

“Aye, Mr. Renner. ’Tis blank at my orders.” Sinclair looked uncomfortable.

Renner grinned. “And who did you think would object to the—ah, program?” he asked.

“Mon, we will nae show dirty pictures aboard this ship—and with a chaplain aboard! Not to mention the lady.”

The lady in question had been watching Channel Two also, and when it faded Sally Fowler put down her fork and left the mess room. Beyond that point she practically ran, ignoring the looks of those she passed. She was puffing when she reached the lounge,where the miniature Moties were still in flagrante delicto. She stood beside the cage and watched them for almost a minute. Then she said, not to anyone in particular, “The last time anyone looked, those two were both female.”

Nobody said anything.

“They change sex!” she exclaimed. “I’ll bet it’s pregnancy that triggers it. Dr. Horvath, what do you think?”

“It seems likely enough,” Horvath said slowly. “In fact I’m almost sure the one on top was the mother of the little one.” He seemed to be fighting off a stutter. Definitely he was blushing.

“Oh, good heavens,” said Sally.

It had only just occurred to her what she must have looked like. Hurrying out of the mess room the moment the scene went off the intercom. Arriving out of breath. The Trans-Coalsack cultures had almost universally developed intense prudery within their cultures.

And she was an Imperial lady, hurrying to see two aliens make love, so to speak.

She wanted to shout, to explain. It’s important! This change of sex, it must hold for all the Moties. It will affect their life styles, their personalities, their history. It shows that young Moties become nearly independent at fantastically low ages… Was the pup weaned already, or did the “mother,” now male, secrete milk even after the sex change? This will affect everything about Moties, everything. It’s crucial. That’s why I hurried—

Instead, she left. Abruptly.

20. Night Watch

For a wonder the gun room was quiet. With three junior lieutenants crammed in among six middies, it was usually a scene of chaos. Potter sighed thankfully to see that everyone was asleep except Jonathon Whitbread. Despite his banter, Whitbread was one of Potter’s friends aboard MacArthur.

“How’s astronomy?” Whitbread asked softly. The older midshipman was sprawled in his hammock. “Hand me a bulb of beer, will you, Gavin?”

Potter got one for himself too. “It’s a madhouse down there, Jonathon. I thought it would be better once they found Mote Prime, but it isn’t.”

“Hm. Mapping a planet’s no more than routine for the Navy,” Whitbread told him.

“It might be routine for the Navy, but this is my first deep space cruise. They have me doing most of the work while they discuss new theories I can’t understand. I suppose you’d say it’s good training?”

“It’s good training.”

“Thank you.” Potter gulped beer.

“It doesn’t get any more fun, either. What have you got so far?”

“Quite a bit. There is one moon, you know, so getting the mass was straightforward. Surface gravity about 870 cm/sec square.”

“Point 87 standard. Just what the Motie probe’s accelerating. No surprises there.”

“But they are in the atmosphere,” Potter said eagerly. “And we’ve mapped the civilization centers. Neutrinos, roiled air columns above fusion plants, electromagnetics—they’re everywhere, on every continent and even out into the seas. That planet’s crowded.” Potter said it in awe. He was used to the sparseness of New Scotland. “We’ve got a map, too. They were just finishing the globe when I left. Would you like to see it?”