“Really,” Sagan said. “That’s poor security on the part of the Enesha. That’s not like them.”
“We all make mistakes,” Cainen said.
“And all the other Rraey we found in the base?” Sagan asked. “They were prisoners as well?”
“They were,” Cainen said, and felt a wave of concern for Sharan and the rest of his staff.
“How was it that you all came to be prisoners of the Eneshans?” Sagan asked.
“We were on a Rraey ship that was taking us to one of our colonies for a medical rotation,” Cainen said. “The Eneshans attacked our ship. They boarded us and took my crew prisoner and sent us here.”
“How long ago was this?” Sagan asked.
“Some time ago,” Cainen said. “I’m not exactly sure. We’re on Eneshan military time here, and I’m unfamiliar with their units. And then there’s the local planetary rotational period, which is fast and makes things more confusing. And I am also unfamiliar with human time divisions, so I can’t describe it accurately.”
“Our intelligence does not have any record of the Eneshans attacking a Rraey vessel in the last year—that would be about two-thirds of a hked for you,” Sagan said, using the Rraey term for a full orbit of the home world around its sun.
“Perhaps your intelligence is not as good as you think,” Cainen said.
“It’s possible,” Sagan said. “However, given that the Eneshans and the Rraey are still technically in a state of war, an attacked ship should have been noted. Your two peoples have fought over less.”
“I can’t tell you any more about it than what I know,” Cainen said. “We were taken off the ship and to the base. What happened or didn’t happen outside of the base in all this time is not a subject I know much about.”
“You were being held prisoner at the base,” Sagan said.
“Yes,” Cainen said.
“We’ve been all through the base, and there’s only a small detention area,” Sagan said. “There’s nothing to suggest you were locked up.”
Cainen gave the Rraey equivalent of a rueful chuckle. “If you’ve seen the base you’ve also no doubt seen the surface of the planet,” he said. “If any of us tried to escape we’d freeze before we got very far. Not to mention that there’s nowhere to go.”
“How do you know that?” Sagan said.
“The Eneshans told us,” Cainen said. “And none of my crew planned an excursion to test the proposition.”
“So you know nothing else of the planet,” Sagan said.
“Sometimes it’s cold, other times it is colder,” Cainen said. “That is the depth of my knowledge of the planet.”
“You’re a doctor,” Sagan said.
“I’m not familiar with that term,” Cainen said, and pointed at the speaker. “Your machine is not smart enough to give an equivalent in my language.”
“You’re a medical professional. You do medicine,” Sagan said.
“I am,” Cainen said. “I specialize in genetics. That is why my staff and I were on that ship. One of our colonies was experiencing a plague that was affecting gene sequencing and cell division. We were sent to investigate and hopefully find a cure. I’m sure if you’ve been through the base you’ve seen our equipment. Our captors were kind enough to give us space for a lab.”
“Why would they do that?” Sagan asked.
“Perhaps they thought if we kept busy with our own projects we would be easier to handle,” Cainen said. “If so, it worked, because as a rule we kept to ourselves and tried not to make any trouble.”
“Except for when you were stealing weapons, that is,” Sagan said.
“I had them for some time, so apparently I didn’t arouse their suspicions,” Cainen said.
“The weapon you used was designed for a Rraey,” Sagan said. “An odd thing for an Eneshan military base.”
“They must have taken it from our ship as they boarded,” Cainen said. “I’m sure as you search the base you’ll find a number of other Rraey-designed items.”
“So, to recap,” Sagan said. “You and your crew of medical personnel were taken by the Eneshans an indeterminate time ago and brought here, where you’ve been prisoners and out of communication with any of your people. You don’t know where you are or what plans the Enesha have for you.”
“That’s right,” Cainen said. “Other than that I suppose they didn’t want anyone to know I was there once the base was invaded, because one of them tried to kill me.”
“That’s true,” Sagan said. “You fared better than your crew, I’m afraid.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Cainen said.
“You’re the only Rraey that we found alive,” Sagan said. “The rest had been shot and killed by the Eneshans. Most of them were in what appeared to be barracks. We found another near what I imagine was your lab, since it had quite a bit of Rraey technology in it.”
Cainen felt sick. “You’re lying,” he said.
“I’m afraid not,” Sagan said.
“You humans killed them,” Cainen said, angrily.