CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: SIXTY OF ONE OR TWENTY MILLION OF THE OTHER

Secretary of State Vincent Hartman arrived in town by helicopter later that afternoon. He was taken quite off guard when all the armed servicemen sent along to serve as his bodyguards collapsed into unconsciousness. He was wondering what to do next when Captain Jameson appeared and escorted him to the equipment shed.

A padded stool had been set up in the shed for Hartman's comfort. The Secretary seated himself and put down his attache case on the floor. He fidgeted nervously for a few moments as he looked over the rats before him. "Which … one of you is the leader here?"

"I am," Justin said.

"And who is Dr. Hargraves?"

"That's me." Ian stepped forward.

Hartman gazed at the Vok, standing motionless at the back of the shelf. "I don't have to ask who the extraterrestrial is." He turned back to Justin. "I've been in constant contact with the President of the United States. He's called an emergency meeting with his advisors and cabinet to discuss this situation. I have with me a proposal for peace that was drawn up by the President himself and relayed to me by radio on my way here."

"Great," said Justin enthusiastically. "Let's hear it."

Hartman fished some papers out of his case and put on his glasses. "You must understand that the President is grieved by the loss of life, and naturally demands some compensation for these losses. Since this is a situation quite unlike any before, there are no rules or precedents that we can follow, and so we have had to draw up a plan based on our own judgment of what seems fair."

Hartman shuffled through his papers. "After some debate, it was agreed, for your benefit, to let only six rats equal one human. This very conservative estimate is a show of our good faith. Ten human lives were claimed in this incident, so the President has seen fit to call for a proportional number of your kind to be handed over to us in return."

"Wait a minute, you've lost me." Justin held up his forepaws. "Are you saying that you want me to let you have sixty of my people, to kill if it pleases you?"

"They would not be killed. They would be sent to the National Institute of Mental Health for study."

"Study!" Ian took Justin aside. "I know the kinds of study he has in mind, and believe me, it would be far better just to kill sixty of us outright!"

"You were a human once, Ian. Could you talk to Secretary Hartman?"

"Damn right I will!" Ian stood up to the human. "Mr. Secretary, you are treating us like animals, and we will not tolerate it! I have lived among these people for a number of months, and I can say that they are at least as intelligent as human beings, if not more so. You proposal is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Let me remind you, Dr. Hargraves," Hartman said, "that it was the rats who initiated hostilities. They should be grateful that the President has even decided to negotiate at all."

"Mr. Secretary, sir," Justin pleaded, "you don't realize that this war was the result of one rat's crazy dreams." He pointed to Jenner, who was starting to come around. "He controlled the others' minds, and made them do as he wanted. That rat alone among us is responsible for the humans that have been killed."

Hartman looked at Jenner. "It will take far more than one rat to atone for the damage that has been done."

"If one man murders ten others," Justin asked, "are ten members of his family killed to make up for his crimes?"

"So you don't accept the President's demand for recompense?" Hartman rubbed his shaven chin. "I have no authority to do so, but perhaps I can modify his request. Suppose we call it three rats to a human? That way, only thirty would have to be handed over."

Justin shook his head. "I am these people's leader. Their safety is my first responsibility. I can give you Jenner, along with a promise that this will never happen again. If you want any more than that, you ask too much."

Hartman took off his glasses. "There can be no peace between our two species until this matter is settled to our satisfaction."

"Then I have failed." Justin turned his back on the Secretary of State and walked, head bowed, to rejoin his fellow rats.

"I will settle this matter." The Vok spun away from the wall toward Hartman. "It seems I was wrong in my assumption that peace could be achieved without my involvement. I shall act as judge."

"This conflict doesn't involve you," Hartman assured the alien. "You have my word that you will not be harmed."

"Harmed?" The red mind stones embedded in the Vok's head suddenly glowed twice as brightly as they had been. "Your words provoke me. I am in no way in your power. And it just so happens that this conflict does involve me."

The Vok spoke to Justin. "Tell me, how many of your kind were killed by the humans during this fighting?"

"Two," Justin answered.

"Ten humans were killed out of a total population of nearly four billion," the Vok announced. "Only two rats were killed, but those lives were taken from a population of fewer than four hundred. It seems to me, Secretary Hartman, that it will require the taking of slightly more than twenty million additional human lives to atone for the killing of those two rats."

Hartman turned white as a sheet. "You wouldn't … would you?"

"I could kill twenty million humans in the time it takes you to blink, and I could do it without leaving this shed." The Vok brought its five claws together over its head. "That is my decision. I shall do it now."

"No!" Justin rushed forward. "No, please don't!"

"Why would you defend the race that would have destroyed you?"

"We don't want any more killing!" Justin said. "We only want peace."

The alien lowered its arms. "Secretary, your enemy has shown you mercy. I shall not take any more human lives. And you shall not take any more of these rats' lives. Is that clear?"

Hartman nodded. "I am not so sure that it is clear to you," the Vok stated matter-of-factly, "so I will give you a little added incentive." The Vok pointed at the door of the shed. As it did so, Lucy stepped through it.

The female scientist handed Hartman an envelope. "What is this? And who are you?"

Lucy introduced herself. "I am a researcher at NIMH. And that, Mr. Secretary, is a Superior Court injunction prohibiting anyone from harming any of these rats."

Hartman pulled a paper out of the envelope and read it over. "' … part of an invaluable scientific experiment … must be preserved at all costs … '" He put the sheet back in the envelope and returned it to Lucy without saying another word.

"This is in my hands now," she told him, and went to the shelf. "Hello, Justin, Dr. Hargraves … " Then she spied the Vok. "Ur … what is that?"

"An extraterrestrial," Ian grinned at her.

"You're joking, aren't … Dr. Hargraves, you just spoke! What's going on here?"

"I'll fill you in later. What's important now is that you got that injunction. For awhile I was beginning to think nothing could save us," Ian glanced at the Vok, "then we were suddenly getting help from just about everywhere."

The Vok moved away from all the rats and folded its arms underneath its head. "My work here is done." Its voices filled the shed. "I am leaving for now, but I will be watching over this world to see that my decrees are not broken." The creature disappeared in a spiral of colors. "Remember to tell your president that, Secretary Hartman. I will be watching."

The spiral of light dwindled into nothingness, and the Vok was gone.