Man - Kzin Wars VI - Larry Niven, ebook
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MAN-KZIN WARS VI
Created by
Larry Niven
with
Donald Kingsbury
Mark O Martin
and
GregoryBenford
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events
portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to
real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright 0 1994 by Larry Niven
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book
or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
ISBN: 0-671-87607-4
Cover art by Stephen Hickman
First printing, July 1994
Distributed by Paramount Publishing 1230 Avenue of the Amerieas
New York, NY 10020
Printed in the Unihid States of America
CONTENTS
THE HEROIC MYTH OF LIEUTENANT
NORA ARGAMENTINE, Donald Kingsbury3
THE TROJAN CAT,
Mark o. Martin & Gregory Benford 257
THE HEROIC MYTH OF
LJEUTENANT NORA
ARGAMENTINE
Donald Kingsbury
Copyright D 1994 by Donald Kingsbury
Chapter 1
(2435-6 A.D.)
He was a five-year-old human boy without membranous ears or fur, or even
claws to defend himself, a boy severed from his family. For days in space
he had been segregated, inspected, prodded, pricked, scannecl, &camined,
and questioned by an unnerving assortment ofkzin. He endured these
strangers dumbly, fear having muted everyword ofhis Hero's slave patois.
Hushed, he recited his mothees name to himself again and again, as if the
inner sound of it would force her to stay alive. He didn't want her to be
dead. He called his mother by the kzin word for mommy, Fnt, the most
comfortable word he knew--having forgotten that she had once told him
fiercely never to forget her name, Nora. 'Tnt!- he ordered her in his head
like he sometimes did when she wasift paying attention. Often she didn't
pay attention.
But she only came to him in his dreams.
He was bewildered. Where had his colossal protector gone? Mellow
Yellowwould never desert them!'ftyliad their master turned funny and
started calling himself by the name of a lord, Grraf-Nig? Where had their
mother gone? Where had the babies and his five-armed jotold fiiends gone?
What land ofworld was this Wkkai place? But finally ai i officious orange
kzin corralled the whole family together, younger siblings and mother. The
room was gray but it shone with relief because s1w was there. Trit!" he
purred Her children were excited to see each
4 Man-Kzin Wars VI
other again. He was excited to see them again. The babies wailed. Their
k2an guardian glowered.
This enon-nous kzin with large nose and lips that never quite covered his
fangs was not like their kzin. He was too tall and he was a deep hue
ofor-ange with disfiguring black spots. He was foppishly dressed in an
unknown cut of gan-nent with lace. And he was mean. The boy watched him
with alert eyes. The boy had known only one kdn, the master, but he could
read every kzin gesture, every expression, every throb of a kzin's
hairless tail. This one was annoyed, a twitch of a grin on his lips. It
was not his pleasure to deal with human slaves. Danger.
Without warning, the kzin cuffed Prrt for not controlling the squalling
and squeals of her infants while he did his mcord-keeping. The boy flew
to protect her ... and bounced off a vicious backhand, thumping against
the wall. instantly, from the mother, an unspoken grimace of warning
passed to her eldest son-4reeze!---causing him to freeze into an unwanted
posture of obeisance. The large-nosed kzin did not notice the exchange
because he could not read human expressions. He merely noticed the
monkeys sudden calm, which probablysaved the boYs life in the minutes
before Hssin's lord Grraf-Nig arrived in a rage to hiss and spit his
offense at having his property malft~eated by a mere Record-Keeper
The slave name of the boy, given to him by master Grraf-Nig,
was,,Kz,eerkttt,- said with a glottal gnashing at the end to distinguish
it from Iceeerkt. " The tr~-' e-boun d kZeerkt, a quasi-primate native
to distant Kzin, featured in kzinti mythology as an animal of trickery
who will always best those who lack bravery and, afterwards, will
raucously advertise his joke from the trees -Kieerkttt (with the glottal
gnash) referred to the tricks themselves.The name is best translated as
Monkeyshine. His twin sister was Furlessface.
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