Inconstant Star — Poul Anderson

First you scream, and then you leap....

When humans and kzinti met, the kzinti introduced themselves with a scream-and-leap of joyous anticipation. But--surprise!--the monkey boys and girls of Planet Earth not only fought back but won! How, how could the Warrior Race have fallen prey to slinking, cowardly (albeit clever) leaf-eaters who didn't even possess weapons?

After long hard thought the Kzin have come up with an answer: the first time they didn't leap hard or fast enough! After all, no matter how clever the humans may be, they won't stand a chance if it all happens so suddenly that monkey cleverness never has a chance to come into play. So when Eric Saxtorph and his crew stumble across the secret of the Great Attack the kzinti are more than a little upset.

And when kzinti are upset, you know what they do...