Chess With a Dragon by David Gerrold Page B

Communist?”
    â€œI show you my card,” said Madja, standing up and unbuttoning her blouse pocket. “I carry it everywhere I go.”
    â€œNever mind,” interrupted Yake. “We’re off the track. Madja, maybe this is only a game to the other species because they don’t have as much at stake—but you’re the one who pointed out that the stakes in this game are human dignity. Maybe this game is about measuring your dignity by how clever you are, not by how honorable. Maybe honor is the booby prize.”
    â€œI had not thought of that,” Madja admitted. She fell silent. She looked sad at the idea, and for a moment even Yake felt sorry for her. She looked so . . . vulnerable. Abruptly, she looked up. “Is one thing wrong, Yake.”
    For just a moment, Yake hoped she was right. “Yes?”
    â€œIs assumption you are making here about InterChange. You keep saying is game. Is clever. Is very American clever. But is maybe sacrifice truth for clever, Yake. For one hundred and sixty-seven years, we have known what InterChange was—interstellar government, no? Now you are saying it is not?”
    Yake said, a little too quickly, “Maybe that hundred and sixty-seven years was the false assumption—” and immediately wished he hadn’t said it.
    Madja took it seriously. The color was draining from her face.
    â€œYou are right, Yake,” she said finally. “We must question everything.” She looked to Yake again. “But if we question everything, we must question if game analogy is also accurate?”
    â€œI think that’s what we have to find out.”
    Kasahara said softly, “We’re going to have to make some very hard assumptions here.”
    Larson turned to him and asked, “Nori. Tell me something. What do you do if you’re losing a game?”
    Nori shrugged. “I pay my debts and go home.”
    â€œWe can’t do that here. What else can you do?”
    â€œI don’t know poker that well.” Nori looked up. “Yake, you’re the expert. What do you do?”
    Larson shrugged. “I don’t know either. I’m no expert in Game Theory.”
    â€œForget Game Theory. I’ll tell you what I’d do.” Yake leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table. “I’d bring in the pros from Dover and kick some assets.”
    â€œThe what?”
    â€œThe ‘pros from Dover.’ It’s an American expression. It means—you bring in the power hitters. Um—you call for an expert.”
    â€œThere are no experts here,” moaned Madja. Just capitalists. That is what makes the whole thing so dreary .”
    â€œThen we’ll bring in an expert capitalist—” Yake said, and then caught himself in surprise. My Ghod! That’s it! He turned excitedly to Kasahara. “Warm up your keyboard, Nori! I want you to download a complete set of—no, wait. Limit your search to mammalian species only. Which species has been the most successful overall in its transactions with the InterChange?”
    â€œDon’t bother, Nori,” said Anne. “Yake, I can tell you without looking. It’s the Rh/attes.”
    â€œThe rats?”
    The Rh/attes. The ‘/’ is silent.” Larson grinned. “They’re the ones who want to indenture themselves to us.”
    â€œOh, right.”
    â€œI’ve been doing some research. The Rh/attes are so successful that nobody trusts them.”
    â€œOh, that’s terrific,” said Madja. “Capitalist pigs.”
    â€œNo. Rh/attes.”
    â€œIs no difference.”
    â€œWait a minute—” said Yake. “I don’t care if they’re dancing bears if they’re successful! What’s the gimmick, Anne? How are they doing it?”
    â€œI think—that they’re uh, there’s no polite word for it. They’re