The Word for World is Forest

Davidson recites the story of the Smith Camp massacre into Major Muhamed’s recorder. He believes that Lyubov is behind the attacks on them, in alliance with the creechies. He also does not believe that Lyubov is dead, although that is what his people say. He wonders if the creechies actually killed the women or if they have them locked away somewhere. He speaks with a man named Juju over the radio. Juju says that there has been a formal truce and that Davidson’s agitations are making it harder for them all. Davidson says that he is going to liberate all the human slaves, and he doesn’t believe Juju’s protestations that the humans have been released. He feels sick when he thinks that the humans have been locked inside a reservation and are taking orders from the creechies.

He takes fifteen men up in a ship and bombs a creechie warren miles away in the forest. It sets the forest on fire, which is his true weapon. He is prepared to burn the entire forest planet before submitting to the creechies. Gosse gets on the radio during the bombing and tells Davidson he is crazy. There is no way to subdue 3 million creechies through bombing.