Federation World

Chapter 28

ANOTHER day of frenetic activity passed. Beyond the borders of the Estate, in spite of the urgings, pleadings, and repeated descriptions of the effects of radiation poisoning, there were areas where the evacuations were not going smoothly. Instead of the First there were many Firsts who, while possessing the authority, were more used to government by committee.

There was little that the doctor could do about this. He had been obeyed without question by his own people. In the towns and settlements where he was known and respected, they obeyed him, reluctantly and with much argument. But in the outlying districts he was just a Keidi voice warning of dreadful things to come-a voice which inspired fear but not always belief.

When Martin tried to intervene in support of the doctor, that caused even more arguments, dissension, and delays. The dislike and distrust felt for Galactics all over Keidi came close to being a planet-wide psychosis. And the dissension was beginning to spread to the hypership.

“Group Eighty-eight has wasted too much time,” said Martin impatiently. “That cloud, as you can see from the figures, is a particularly dirty one. It will cross their path half a day before they are able to reach shelter, enough time to give the very young Keidi a lethal dose and render the adults sterile. They must be redirected to Center Twelve-twenty-seven, now. Even then it will be a very close thing.”

The doctor’s speaking horn swung round angrily. “Off-worlder, I have only just succeeded in getting that group moving, and now you want me to tell them to move in what is nearly the opposite direction! There will be disorganization, argument, and more delay. Twelve-twenty-seven is being threatened by fallout from Burst Five, and the delay will mean that they face the same danger going there.”

“Not if they decide quickly and turn back at once,” Martin said. “I think another nonmaterial show of force is indicated, to help concentrate their thinking.”

“No!” the doctor said. “Give me credit for understanding my people’s thinking better than a meddling off-worlder. Sudden terror could just as easily cause them to scatter in all directions, or not move at all.”

Trying hard to control his anger and impatience, Martin said, “There are five other groups in much the same position as Eighty-eight, but for different reasons. We could lift them out, if the transports are ready.”

He looked at Beth, but before she could reply the doctor said, “Off-worlder, the First tried to explain it to you and now I will try. We do not want, but we are forced to accept, your help. But we must also be allowed to help ourselves. Since the Exodus took away our population and skimmed oft the finest layers of our culture, the Keidi who remained have become a backward, angry, and very proud people. Any attempt, however well meant, to force all but the minimum of assistance on them, or to impress them with the scientific marvels of the Federation, will have negative results. This, the First’s dreams of conquest and unification, the premature detonation of his nuclear devices, and everything that has occurred as a result, is our problem. Do you understand that, off-worlder?”

The Keidi sat within arms reach, but he seemed suddenly to be miles away.

Beth looked worriedly from the doctor to Martin and said, “The first transport is ready to launch. It is untested, but testing is a formality because the fabrication module’s self-inspection system is…”

“But you are a healer,” Martin said, ignoring her. “Surely it is your duty to save lives?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “that is why I wanted to help you. But I have found that a patient who wants to survive will aid the healing process, and live longer, than one who has no incentive for continued survival. The loss of pride and self-respect destroys the will to benefit from the healing.”

“I don’t accept that,” Martin said, “especially in the present situation. Pride is no protection against radiation poisoning, and what about your people who are too young to have learned about pride?”

“Don’t be stupid, off-worlder,” the Keidi said. “There are exceptions, naturally. I was simply making the point that too much help can be worse than…”

Beth pointed at the attention light blinking unnoticed on Martin’s console and said, “The First is calling you.” The Keidi leader was staring out of the screen at him, his speaking horn twitching with impatience. The First began speaking without giving Martin time to talk. “Off-worlder, we must negotiate. We have duties and obligations which must be exchanged without delay or misdirection on either side. I shall bind myself, by the continuing respect of my people and by the parental duty of a First Father to his Family, to discharge my obligations fully, without omission or deliberate misunderstanding, to your satisfaction. You must bind yourself and the members of your organization by whatever personal, legal, or nonmaterial authority that you honor, to do likewise.”

“What…” began Martin. “This is not the time for complex negotiations. We’re very busy here right now, as you can see from your repeater screen. If you’re worried about something, don’t be. You are in no danger and the remaining groups of your special family are making good progress toward your center. Please, let’s discuss this later.”

“We will discuss it now,” said the First, “or my remaining family will not join me, and few indeed will be the other Keidi who reach any of their designated centers.”

Beth and the doctor had swung around to stare at the screen. Martin wet his lips and said quietly, “Explain.”

There were many Keidi crowded around and behind the First, but none of them made a sound as he said, “Off-worlder, I have been considering your earlier words to me about overcrowding and your means of relieving it, and the real meaning of these words so far as my Family and myself are concerned. I have decided that you intend to use the center’s matter transmitters to split up my family and organization and scatter it to centers all over the north and south continents.”

Too quietly for the doctor to hear her, Beth said, “So that’s why you weren’t worried about letting his special people into one center. A neat, but nasty, solution.”

“The idea had occurred to me,” Martin said softly.

Concentrating Keida’s proven Undesirables-they had been unknowingly nominated as such by the First- into one center, then scattering them so thinly among the more normal Keidi that their ability to reorganize and regain control would have been lost, had been a very attractive idea. After all, on a planetary scale that had been the primary purpose of the induction centers, as well as to filter out potential non-Citizens like Beth and himself. But it had been a nice, simple, and too uncertain solution which he had been reluctantly obliged to discard.

To the First he said, “I do not intend to split your family. Your fears are groundless.”

“That,” the First said harshly, “is the expected reply, a piece of verbal misdirection aimed at rendering my people more amenable until the treachery is accomplished. You must bind yourself to those words, completely and without any possibility of later argument or modification, as I have bound myself to mine. You must do this now.”

“Or else?” asked Martin,

“Your evacuation,” the First replied, “will become an ever greater shambles than it is now.” “Explain,” Martin said again,

In order to allay his people’s distrust and suspicions regarding the Galactics’ intentions, the First explained, he had told them that they should proceed toward their assigned centers only so long as he was able to report it safe to do so. He was in constant communication with them and they with each other, and if he signaled that the centers were not, in fact, radiation shelters but a cunning trap devised by the off-worlders to gather them together for easy execution, few indeed were the refugee groups who would not immediately halt or go somewhere, anywhere, else. If advanced technology was used to blank out or otherwise interfere with the First’s continuing signals of reassurance, his people would then know that the off-worlder’s treachery was a fact and act accordingly, by spreading The news to the other, non-Family groups.

“If you were to blank all Keidi-operated radio transmitters,” the First added, “I suspect that your own ship-directed rescue plans would be seriously hampered. Is this not so?”

For a moment Martin was too angry to speak, then he said, “Those nuclear detonations were a fact, not an off-worlder trick. You know the effects of massive radiation exposure on unprotected people. Will you risk killing a large proportion of your present and future population for selfish, political gain? And for a personal reassurance which you have already received?”

“The majority of my people are post-Exodus second and third generation,” the First said slowly, “and have no understanding of nuclear fallout. They treat the stories about the terrible things which may happen to them with disbelief. Unless, of course, it is a trusted person and not the hated off-worlders or a Keidi healer who has apparently sided with the Galactics, who is telling the stories. It is possible that I would not risk killing so many of my people but you, off-worlder, cannot be sure of that. And the political gain I seek is not selfish, it is for the future of a people who want to live, no matter how difficult that life may be, without the help of off-worlders. As yet your reassurances have no substance.”

“But such threats are unnecessary,” Martin said angrily. “Wait.”

“Had your response been immediate, off-worlder,” the First said, “I would have suspected a total misdirection. I shall wait as long as you can afford to wait.”

That would not be for long, Martin thought. Beth and the doctor were staring at him, ignoring the master screen where the sensor displays and attention lights which were flickering into the colors denoting third-level emergencies. He swore and tried to think.

Plainly the First was frightened by a situation which would not occur, so badly that he was overreacting. Was the Keidi leader so old and selfish and power hungry that even the thought of losing control of his Family Estate i was worse than death to him? Martin did not think so. Perhaps the First really believed that he was being unselfish, that he was acting for the ultimate good of his race, the Keidi equivalent of death or glory.! “I don’t understand,” he said in quiet desperation. “Why is this promise so important to him? He is an old Keidi, after all. Why doesn’t he let go?”

“I don’t know what overall strategy, if any, you had in mind,” Beth said sympathetically, “but this particular battle you’ve lost.”

Martin shook his head. To the First he said, “For my promise you offered a return which would be equally binding. Please specify.”

“I offer active and total cooperation in the evacuation and movement of refugees,” the First said. “From the situation reflected on my screen it is obvious that the operation is being mishandled by a couple of ignorant if well-meaning off-worlders no Keidi trusts, and a healer who is good at his job but sadly inadequate in other areas. I will take charge of this operation, which is essentially a military one, and complete it, if not to your satisfaction, at least with a degree of success many times greater than you could achieve unaided.

“All Keida knows the First Father of the Estate,” he ended proudly. “When I speak they will listen, believe, and obey.”

The attention lights on the status and prediction panel were proliferating like tiny, fast-growing flowers which blossomed yellow and orange and, in a few places, bright red. More and more refugee groups were either not moving or moving too slowly to reach safety. Martin stared at the wrinkled, age-discolored features on his screen and reached for the transmit stud.

“Off-worlder,” the Doctor warned. “Take time to think.”

“Yes, dammit,” said Beth. “He made fools of us once already. Now he wants to take all the credit for saving, not only the people of his Estate, but the entire population from the disaster he caused, while maintaining his precious military dictatorship intact as well, it means giving him what he has always wanted, the leadership of all the Keidi, and what he could never have expected, their life-long gratitude for saving them as well. Surely we can’t let him get away with that!”

Martin nodded toward the status board and the immediate attention lights that were winking urgently all over it, and sighed. “I have no choice.”

To the waiting First he went on, “Very well. In return for the services specified, I most solemnly bind myself and my life-mate to this obligation. To the best of our ability, and without any misdirection or omission of effort, we will ensure that you, your blood family and the special members of your Family Estate whom you wish to remain with you will so remain. All of the relevant facts and circumstances governing this situation are being recorded for later study and assessment by our superior, who will…”

“Have our bloody guts for garters,” Beth said with quiet intensity. ‘This is exactly what we aren’t supposed to do.”

“… Who will be obliged to follow our recommendations and be similarly bound by them,” Martin went on, “since we have been given responsibility for the Keida assignment. This obligation will be honored and may not be abrogated, nor amended in any particular, until you and your chosen Family, even to its youngest present member, have died by accident, at the hands of other Keidi, or from old age…”

“There was no need to go that far,” Beth protested.

“… And no future agency,” he continued, “direct or indirect, will be used to separate your group or hasten the death of any member covered by this binding. Are we agreed?”

“Have you the power to do that?” asked the Keidi leader. He sounded impressed.

“As the Federation’s representative on Keida,” Mar-tin replied, “I have the responsibility.”

The First regarded Martin silently for a moment, then said, “We are agreed, off-worlder. The primary responsibility for the movement of the refugees is now mine. Henceforth you will provide information and additional communication channels when required and will not, by any word, act, omission, or implication try to undermine or criticize in any way my personal authority or that of my organization. You will not interfere verbally in any situation nor provide material assistance of any kind unless requested by me to do so. Is this also agreed?”

Beth seemed ready to go into spontaneous combustion.

“Yes,” Martin said quickly, “unless we are able to provide forms of assistance which you cannot.”

When the First spoke it was obvious that he had been testing Martin, trying to see just how far the off-worlder could be pushed, because there was no argument. He said, “We and our organizations are agreed, then. I shall begin by speaking to Group Eleven-twenty-seven,” he went on, “which is progressing like a beheaded cretsil with one leg…”

During the three hours which followed Beth and Martin had nothing to do but watch the sensor data flashing onto the big surveillance screen and listen while the First did all the talking with, occasionally, a little help from the doctor. In the time they saw, with very mixed feelings, an increasing number of the Immediate Attention tights flicker from red to orange, and the orange downgrade to the yellow or green denoting refugee groups which, barring accidents, would make it to their assigned centers in time or had already reached them. A few of the lights persisted in burning red, but the Keidi leader was working hard on those groups, in turn bullying, threatening, encouraging, and, wherever possible, sending Estate vehicles and draught animals to speed them along. Much as Martin hated to admit it, the First was doing a fine job.

Beth’s angry voice made him realize that he had been thinking aloud again.

“I can admire the job he’s doing,” she said, “but I most definitely do not admire him! He deserves to be lynched for what he did, and instead he’s going to end up as the apparent savior of all Keida. You’ve handed him exactly what he’s always wanted, the whole damned planet, and without even trying to reduce his demands.”

Martin looked from her to the main screen and said quietly, “Bargaining might have satisfied my pride, wasted time, and lost a lot of Keidi lives which the First is busy saving. In the circumstances I couldn’t afford to be proud.

“Pride, independence, self-reliance,” he went on, “are considered more important among the Keidi than I had realized, even though there were clear indications of how they felt during that Keidi-Surreshon contact in the World. They’ll need Federation help, food, fuel, insulated housing and so on, to resettle, but they don’t want too much outside help. The First is saving their pride as well as their lives, and, even though the motive is self-aggrandizement, I think he also has the ultimate good of the Keidi at heart.”

“If he has one,” Beth said. “But what bothers me is that there is nothing we can do to save people like the doctor, potential Federation Citizens, from people like the First. I can’t see him allowing anyone to try for citizenship under the new set up…Oh, no, this is all we need!”

“What is it?” Martin asked.

“Seismic activity along a fault line which runs thirty miles south of the missile arsenal,” she said. “A delayed reaction to that subsurface detonation in the crater, 1 should think. The shockwaves are moving in both directions along the line, which diagonally bisects the continent. Our sound sensors are beginning to pick it up and within a few minutes the nearest refugee groups will feel as well as hear it. I’m flagging the areas at immediate risk on the screen. We’d better tell the First what’s happening…”

The Keidi leader reacted quickly, rerouting his groups where necessary to avoid them having to travel through forested areas where the severe shocks would be certain to bring down trees with consequent death, injury, and reduced mobility. Martin was still talking to the First when Beth interrupted him.

“More bad news,” she said quickly. “This isn’t a simple plate movement along a fault line. The sensors in the crater have been reporting the levels of radioactive dust expected after a large, subsurface detonation. But now they are showing increasing amounts of steam, hydrogen sulphide, and other sulphur combinations indicative of an active volcano. The deep probes show a massive pressure buildup centered under the arsenal site where the old lava plug sealing the conduit which opens the crater to the underlying magma has been fractured and severely weakened by the detonation. We can expect a major eruption as well as earthquakes which are, in fact, the advance warning of the volcanic activity to come. The computer is predicting severe and continuing shocks all along the fault line, and it keeps reminding me that the induction centers are not proof against major earthquakes and that their matter transmission equipment is delicately tuned, sensitive, and susceptible to vibration damage.

“The good news,” she added dryly, “is that the matter transmitters should remain operative for at least two hours after the last few groups are due to reach shelter, but it would be safer to transport all refugees to centers on the north and south continents as soon as they come in.”

While she was speaking Martin had kept his eyes on the Keidi leader. He said, “Did you hear that?”

“I heard, off-worlder,” said the First. “The Keidi are a stubborn race. The more obstacles are placed in our path, the harder we try to surmount them. They will reach your centers in time. My obligation will be discharged. I remind you of yours.”

“I have not forgotten,” Martin said angrily. “But surely you are being overconfident? We still have red lights on groups Seven-eighteen and Twelve-twenty-one, Both are large, widely scattered groups. What are you doing for them?”

“Seven-eighteen will go orange very soon and will reach shelter in time,” the First replied. “The other group is encamped in thickly forested mountains on my western border and would have been difficult to move even without this latest complication. I am particularly sorry about them, but in an operation of this magnitude and complexity a certain level of casualties must be accepted.”

“There is no acceptable level of casualties,” Martin said firmly. “If you can’t help them, maybe I can.”

Not for the first time Martin wished that he was able to read those alien features as the First said, “It is a large training establishment, staffed by aged Keidi who make their experience available to very young trainees. The isolation and hostile environment aids the development of strong character. The camp instructors know of you and will not listen to or accept help from a Galactic, and the trainees will follow without question the orders of their superiors, whose minds lack the flexibility to adapt to the present situation.

“The loss of this group saddens me, off-worlder,” the Keidi ended, “but this part of my obligation, you must agree, is impossible for me to discharge.”

“If they won’t accept help from an off-worlder,” Martin persisted, “they might listen to you or the doctor. Can you spare him if he will come with me?”

“I will come,” the doctor said. The First remained silent.

“Don’t worry,” Martin said impatiently, “we won’t criticize you in any way. I won’t even mention your name.”

“In that camp,” said the First, “your words of criticism would not be believed. You may have the doctor, off-worlder, and I wish you success.”