WHY.TXT Indeed, Why? - By Brother PackRat (c) 1991 The Rashathran Society A form lay in a pool of it's own blood. It no longer felt pain, as shock had stopped it from feeling much of anything. It lifted it's broken-toothed muzzle and stared blankly at the overcast sky. "Why?" It croaked. The one eye watched a cloud roll by. A slash scarred the socket where the other orb had once lain. It lifted a steel-clad paw to the sky and again plaintively cried, "Why?" "Why do we fight endlessly with the humans? Why can we not be allowed to step forward?" A soft chuckle. 'Such askings got you this position, Jhiss-Kke.' Even as a cub, he had never been one who cared to kill. Sure, one must eat to survive.. But he had seen the scars, worn so proudly.. "To The Grave.." He muttered. Learned his race's History. But he was also no fool.. And a careful nose-poking got answers. There was another race of beings.. If what he read be true, They had no wars for many revolutions of their planet. No Territorial disputes.. No Outcasts for thinking Perhaps the system was wrong. Then he learned under a Governor who bent many a tail with questions.. That one had been murdered. By the ones he tried to learn from.. Again the voice lifted. This time in pain, and anger.. "Why?" "Why can we not go, hand in paw, towards greater achievements?" Why indeed.. Why had the Gods decided to give Him the role of fool. A sigh, and a shift.. He grabbed a pawfull of earth. 'Not to be even allowed the dignity of dying on one's own planet..' Part of the answer was at clawtip. "Hormones.. We have evolved from mindless animals that hunted only game, To mindless Animals who hunt Everything.. Even each other." The cough was ragged, and shook the frame. What kept him clinging to life so stubbornly? Whatever lay beyond Had to be better than what was here.. A thought made him scratch his nose. If he was thrown into a Combat Arena to fight a human.. Whose hell would it be? Betrayal being a way of life, saying the wrong thing in the wrong ear, had got him moved from the semi-cushy job of Librarian to Front-Trooper.. Perhaps This was Hell. Then he choked, remembering all his work being paraded before the same idiots he had fought against for so many years.. And all the research, All the months of digging, to try and find the truth... Burned. Tossed into a fire. And He was banished. He ground his fist into the dirt. "Why!" "What Did I do.. What Sin, or Trespass did I blindingly commit.. To deserve This?" He slumped, his anger spent. The answer to that was at his paws too.. He was a dreamer. He wanted to see peace.. To learn and teach. The Gods, however had other plans for his race.. "Why?" "Why Do you delight so in our torture, Our pain? You kill off any who might have vision. You destroy Any hope of reason.. How Many Cubs Must You Murder, before Your BloodLust is Slaked!!" 'And if this is what rules us, How much more terrible it must be for the humans.. Years of no war. No fighting.. To be tossed into the cosmic jaws..' Something shiny impinged itself on his waning vision. Footsteps.. "Greetings.. On which side of the Grave do I stand?" The armored stood a moment. Raised it's weapon.. Then lowered it. Watched the body rack with another cough that brought a fresh trickle of crimson to flow out of a nostril. "Greetings," the being returned at last. Terranglo. Human.. "A favor.. Come closer." Hesitation, followed by movement. The shiny one knelt beside him. He lifted his paw, to have it clasped by a steel hand. 'Not much time left.. How do convey all I have seen. Put into words a lifetimes worth of seeing wrong, and stupidity reign, where sanity and forethough should be..' He opened his mouth to speak, to pass on at least Some of his insights... "Why?" bubbled out of the broken muzzle. Then the paw clasped the hand so hard it bent the metal, as the kzin died. The man felt many emotions go through his being.. Sighed, unclasped paw and stood, scanning the horizon. He stared at the now stiff form for a time, hearing the word echo through his mind.. "I don't know why.. I do know I am Damnded tired of this bloody war." For a moment, he looked down at the kzin, as if expecting it to add some commentary.. Something came on the wind. The trooper shook his head. Strained to hear.. Then the radio squawked. Recall.. He lifted his hand in a salute. "Sleep well, Warrior. You have earned it." Wearily made his way down the hill. Again the wind came to ruffle the fur, dry the life-fluid the ground was slowly drinking in. The sound came again, now plain for any to hear.. "Because.." The End Note - I have Love-hate relationship with the 'Man-Kzin Wars' series of books.. They are good reading. But to Kill off Principle characters is the weary fall- back of Hack writers. And how many times must a man and Kzin fight before seeing they are mirror images of each other..