Chapter 28

"Well, that was pointless," said Igwanda sourly. He and Meiersdottir had resumed their periodic private meetings, and they were alone in his soundproofed compartment.

"Pointless?" she repeated in evident astonishment. "I thought it was a very good conversation. John did well; he didn't make it accusatory, didn't blame them. And Joe answered very frankly. And it turned out to be just as we'd thought—"

"Amanda," he cut her off. "I know you to be an intelligent person. If you need, please play the recording of that discussion again. But I ask you with all respect and courtesy not to pass off that sort of pacifistic pap to me."

"'Pacifistic pap?' That's 'respect and courtesy?'" He could see she was genuinely offended.

He took a deep breath. "I apologize for my terms. I have no excuse except that I am angry. You know well that, as the one responsible for security of this mission, the matter has always been my paramount concern—now, with our present very different contact with these natives, more than ever. Why was that contact immediately violent and this one is so much the opposite? And today I listened to a fool throw away our best chance to learn the answer."

"Carlos, you heard Joe give the answer—"

"No," he interrupted. "I heard it parrot your colleague. Nothing more."

She looked at him without speaking.

"Any competent teacher of eight-year-olds knows well that in conducting an interrogation—"

"'Interrogation?'" she stopped him. "This couldn't have been an interrogation. We're not in authority here, we can't 'grill' them as you might in the military."

"You construe the word too narrowly. An interrogation is merely a discussion for the purpose of eliciting information. No authority relationship is implied or required. Here we were seeking the specific information why the Argo crew were attacked and we were not. And as I said, any competent teacher of children knows to simply ask questions, not suggest the answers. As soon as the child discovers what is expected, it will instantly provide the responses it has been effectively told are acceptable without regard to whether they bear any relationship to the truth."

"Well..."

"In this sort of situation, one asks. Then one merely waits, allowing the silence to build and pressure the other party into responding. You yourself used that technique just a moment ago by simply looking at me after I expressed disdain for the quality of the responses your colleague received, thereby encouraging me to explain—an explanation, I would have thought, that you would not need inasmuch as this is a frequent ploy you use in conversation. It does not of course guarantee an honest answer, but it does guarantee one that originates with the responder."

"I wasn't aware I did that," she said slowly. "And frequently, you say? It seems rude, doesn't it?"

"Quite the contrary," said Igwanda. "It allows the other person to express himself fully and shows an interest in what he might have to say. To offer suggestions and hints about what you think he ought to be saying is what is rude; it is patronizing and implies that you believe he is either stupid or inarticulate. Of course if the subject matter is uncomfortable to the other party, as was the case today..."

"Well, it wasn't a comfortable subject to anyone," she pointed out.

"Much less to them than to us," he said.

"Why do you think that?"

"They have a trick, a mannerism," he explained. "When they are agitated, their eyes appear to enlarge slightly. It is visible in the Argo record and I have seen it several times during our visit. I am quite sure they are unaware of it; it appears to be simple reflex. Today your colleague began—"

"Carlos, why do you have so much trouble with names?" she interrupted him. "He's John, or Dr. Toshimura if you want to keep being so formal. You keep saying 'your colleague' the way you kept calling me 'ma'am' at our first meeting. He's an individual, not some anonymous and interchangeable robot; show him that respect, even talking only to me."

"An individual simpleton, I should say," Igwanda muttered almost inaudibly. Meiersdottir heard it nevertheless, but elected not to react. "Very well, Amanda. Dr. Toshimura began well, simply stating our view of the Argo attack and asking for theirs. There was a silence, and their eyes—not just Joe's, but all of the group—were well widened. Then your ... Dr. Toshimura allowed the silence to rebound against himself and began offering options based on his own theorization, and your Joe fell all over itself agreeing. And all the eyes went back to normal."