Honor - Kevin Killiany [22]
Her Smaunif zookeeper was not surprised she did not instantly recognize that it was not just “better” but was in fact the only moral code of any worth. What separated people from animals was self-determination. With that came responsibility and through that, honor.
Interested in more useful information, Pattie didn’t dispute the issue. But once started young Solal seemed determined to make his point.
“Our scientists have proven that we are the pinnacle of evolution,” he explained. “We are the only ones who have developed the capacity to understand that we are making choices. Thus we are the only ones with the spirit to take responsibility for those choices.”
“On Smau, yes,” Pattie said, unable to let that bit of elitism pass despite herself. “But could not the evolution of other worlds lead to the development of other people?”
Solal shrugged.
“We have found no other people on New Smau,” he said, as though that closed the issue.
Yet you’re comfortable conversing with a “talking animal,” Pattie thought. Undisturbed that it’s “animal” technology that makes that possible.
Much as she wanted to confront the massive conceit underlying Solal’s assumptions, Pattie forced herself to let the issue go. No ally was ever won over through religious debate. Not to mention the potential danger of reminding him the “talking animals” of New Smau were perceived as threat enough to warrant slaughter.
“So Sonandal leads in all things?” she asked.
“Any task which must be done, he must do first. The greater the responsibility, the greater the need for the leader to be first partaker.”
Pattie could see how this philosophy could lead to a sort of meritocracy. Leaders who did not dare take risks led no one anywhere and leaders who took foolish risks eventually removed themselves from the picture entirely.
Sonandal’s risk in leading the first one-way expedition to a world that might not have been inhabitable had been a big one. A potentially very foolish one, in fact. But one that had paid off with him becoming the planetary ruler. Or at least ruler of this growing colony.
Solal had been too young to be first among those who followed Sonandal. But he had been the first student of his university or trade school (the universal translator was not sure which) to meet the challenges and qualify to come.
Pattie revised her estimation of Solal’s intelligence. Apparently it was wisdom he lacked.
She did not follow all of his explanations of how he saw his personal career on New Smau leading to his becoming leader of his own colony or research facility; again Smau semantics confused the universal translator. However, she did pick up on the fact he thought being the first to study her species would be a major stepping-stone in his advancement.
That Solal was keeping her existence secret out of self-interest reassured Pattie. Altruism was far too amorphous and fickle a motive for her to trust. Her survival would have depended on his moment-to-moment perceptions of whether the greater good was protecting her or serving the mission. Solal would go to greater lengths to safeguard her if he believed this served his own ambitions.
However, if his subterfuge were discovered, it might put her in a worse position. What would he do to avoid discovery or punishment if found out? If she was in danger of being given up, or killed, she wanted some way to know what to expect.
She missed a good deal of his explanation of social life as she puzzled out how to bring up the subjects of crime and punishment. Preoccupied, she almost missed the opening when he offered it.
“A challenge of authority?” she asked, infusing her voice with several gigajoules of interest. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. How does it work?”
“If I have a better way of doing something than I have been told to do it, I can refuse to follow orders and do things my own way.” Solal struck a pose that Pattie thought suggested self-importance. “My supervisor can either acknowledge the superiority of my method or he can order me to conform. If he orders me to conform, I can challenge.”
“In