two weeks. But that little bit of basic instruction, plus the work he
had done on the books and tapes from the ruined Kerothi ship, had
helped him.
_
"Ah?" The general blinked in surprise. Then he smiled. "Your accent,"
he said in Kerothic, "is atrocious, but certainly no worse than mine
when I speak your _Inklitch_. I suppose you intend to question me in
Kerothic now, eh? In the hope that I may reveal more in my own tongue?"

"Possibly you may," MacMaine said with a grin, "but I learned it for my
own information."

"For your own what? Oh. I see. Interesting. I know no others of your
race who would do such a thing. Anything which is difficult is beneath
them."

"Not so, general. I'm not unique. There are many of us who don't think
that way."

The general shrugged. "I do not deny it. I merely say that I have met
none. Certainly they do not tend to go into military service. Possibly
that is because you are not a race of fighters. It takes a fighter to
tackle the difficult just because it is difficult."

MacMaine gave him a short, hard laugh. "Don't you think getting
information out of _you__ is difficult? And yet, we tackle that."

"Not the same thing at all. Routine. You have used no pressure. No
threats, no promises, no torture, no stress."

MacMaine wasn't quite sure of his translation of the last two negative
phrases. "You mean the application of physical pain? That's barbaric."

"I won't pursue the subject," the general said with sudden irony.

"I can understand that. But you can rest assured that we would never do
such a thing. It isn't civilized. Our civil police do use certain drugs
to obtain information, but we have so little knowledge of Kerothi body
chemistry that we hesitate to use drugs on you."

"The application of stress, you say, is not civilized. Not, perhaps,
according to your definition of"--he used the English word--"_cifiliced__.
No. Not _cifiliced_--but it works." Again he smiled. "I said that I have
become soft since I have been here, but I fear that your civilization
is even softer."

"A man can lie, even if his arms are pulled off or his feet crushed,"
MacMaine said stiffly.

The Kerothi looked startled. When he spoke again, it was in English. "I
will say no morr. If you haff questionss to ask, ko ahet. I will not
take up time with furtherr talkink."

A little angry with himself and with the general, MacMaine spent the
rest of the hour asking routine questions and getting nowher