House of Steel The Honorverse Companion - By David Weber Page 0,129

sinks into a state of withdrawal in which he or she neither eats nor drinks until, eventually, death results. The most common countervailing influence is the existence of relatively youthful treekittens. The mind-glows of a ’cat’s children will sometimes pull the surviving parent out of that dark death spiral.

Treecats who have adopted humans do not normally mate. In most cases, they may form temporary, primarily physical, attachments with other ’cats during their periodic return visits to their clan’s home range, but the permanent mating bond is normally foreclosed by the strength and power of the treecat-human bond of adoption. According to the Sphinx Forestry Service, Nimitz and Samantha are the only mated pair both bonded to humans.

The rearing and education of treekittens, once they are old enough to begin exploring their world, is a communal experience. Adult ’cats, both male and female, contribute to incorporating the ’kittens into the social structure of the clan.

Because of their telempathic abilities, treekittens are familiar with their mother’s mind-glow before they are born. This was believed to be the case once those telempathic abilities were recognized by humans and was subsequently confirmed by Dr. Arif from her discussions with Samantha and with ’cats on Sphinx. It is believed that, much as human babies take time to learn to speak, the growing ’kittens develop the ability to use their mind-voice over time.

TECHNOLOGY

Treecats are tool-users and fire-users, although the use and control of fire in an arboreal civilization poses certain obvious challenges and threats. Prior to contact with humanity, treecats made tools out of bone, wood, and stone, and wove fabrics and ropes out of the Sphinxian equivalent of hemp and also out of their own shed coats. Although clothing was never necessary for them, they created carry nets, tents, pillows, cushions, and similar textile items.

Following the establishment of contact with humanity and especially after the formation of the Sphinx Forestry Service, more sophisticated tools became available to treecats. By and large, especially during the period when treecat intelligence remained a hotly debated topic, efforts were made to prevent them from developing a dependency on humans for tools. Efforts concentrated on teaching them to make new tools out of the materials they’d always used rather than handing out “trade axes” which they would be unable to replace themselves.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CROWN

Treecats are legally considered citizens (albeit as minor children) of the Star Empire and have been since 1568 PD with the passage of the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution. By the same enactment, they hold permanent title to over one-third of the land area on Sphinx. Although it took over eighty T-years, that status as citizens was completely resolved by the passage of the Treecats Rights Bill in 1651. A subsequent decision by the Queen’s Bench Court, the highest court in the Star Kingdom, in 1685 forever banned any legal challenge to the treecats’ status as citizens. The Royal Manticoran Navy’s regulations state that a treecat bonded to a serving member may not be separated for his or her adopted human. This applies to all ranks and all situations, including training.

In 1911 PD, a group of treecats from the same clan as Nimitz asserted that they wanted to emigrate to Grayson. Although the Sphinx Forestry Service opposed the move, the ’cats made it clear that they did not want to be “saved” by the SFS, and the move was allowed. After the RMN declined to provide transport, the ’cats were brought to Grayson on Lady Harrington’s private yacht. An additional small colony from the same clan was recently established in Alexander-Harrington’s duchy on Gryphon.

While adoptions have been occurring at a limited rate since 1518 PD, when Lionheart adopted Dame Stephanie Harrington, only in the last few years have most Manticoran citizens truly understood the intelligence level of the ’cats. This was due, at least in part, to a conscious policy of the treecats to downplay their own capabilities. Following the work of Dr. Arif, the ’cats have demonstrated a growing “comfort” in allowing humans to understand their level of intelligence. There appears to be a growing understanding among the treecat clans of the potential threat posed to the ’cats existence by warfare among humans. Some human researchers believe that the decision to emigrate to Grayson and Gryphon may have been one response to this understanding by the treecats, a fact that seems to be borne out by Dr. Arif’s continuing discussions with the ’cats on Sphinx.

The fact that since the adoption of Crown Prince Adrienne so