The universe above the ice was vast—and crowded. Competition among species. Human and Citizen efforts to keep secrets showed an unwillingness to share. Anything else would have been the surprise. Tn’ho Nation was but one of many polities on this world. Tn’ho was rich because it was powerful. None but the powerful could retain their wealth. Hence: the wealth of humans and Citizens. Ol’t’ro would learn all that the newcomers had to teach—not merely what they chose to offer. Hence: faster-than-light technology. The visitors could survive unprotected nowhere in this solar system, and yet they had appeared in response to a radio summons long before the message could have reached the nearest star. And: unknown means of calculation. In the privacy of their shelter, Baedeker and Kirsten had combined observations from widely spaced instruments. No Gw’otesht could assimilate the quantities of data necessary for the practical application of that algorithm, neither small groups who merely computed cooperatively, nor even fully emergent group minds like Ol’t’ro themselves.
