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They didn’t know he understood their language. They thought he was just another speechless creature—a large cat in the semantic categories that shaped their thinking. He could have spoken to them in their own language when they captured him. He had known he could save himself if he let them see he could speak. He had been afraid they would kill him on the spot. But he had been brave. He had swallowed the words swelling in his mouth. He had pressed his tail flat against his leg, so it wouldn’t betray his feelings.
The two humans eyeing him through the metal gate in front of his stall looked like they might be a male and a female. The probably-male was taller, with bigger shoulders. The probably-female looked slighter and seemed to have broader hips. Golva had only seen two humans in his life but they had displayed the same differences.
“He raises questions,” the slighter one said.
“Zoological questions?”
“He’s got claws like a carnivore. But he doesn’t look particularly strong. And I gather he wasn’t very fast.”
“He didn’t put up much of a fight. They were going to shoot him on the spot but he just stood there. Backed up against the barn. Watching them.”
“He let them throw the net over him?”
“Will decided to get a net. He says the thing didn’t do a thing when he moved in on it.”
“Like it knew what the rifles were?”
“It can’t be the thing that builds the towers.”
“But it could be something that recognizes weapons. The creatures that build the towers could have something that looks like a rifle.”
“Like crossbows. . . .”