The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted

Chapter 19

Bellegarrique was a big, sprawled-out city with very few straight streets or large buildings - once we got away from the center. The word had been passed and the streets were busy with pedestrians and hurtling bicycles. We strolled on, apparently unnoticed. Yet everyone seemed to know where we were because every few minutes a bicycle rider would zip up and give the latest report on the enemy positions. This made it very easy to avoid the checkpoints and barricades, while at the same time giving us a chance to look around at the city. Neat and very clean, with a large river bisecting it. We hurried across one of the bridges, this would be a bad place to be caught in the open, and on to the residential district on the far side. The houses grew smaller, the gardens bigger, and we were well into the suburbs by early afternoon.

"This is far enough," I announced. I was tired and my kicked-upon ribs were aching. "Can you find us a place to hole up until tonight?"

"Take your pick," Stirner said, pointing around at the surrounding houses. "You are welcome wherever you want to go."

I opened my mouth - then closed it again. Plenty of time later to ask him for information about the philosophy of Individual Mutualism that I knew he was eager to explain to me. I pointed at the nearest house, a rambling wooden structure with white-framed windows, surrounded by flowers. When we approached it the door opened and a young couple waved us forward.

"Come in, come in!" the girl called out. "Food will be on the table in a few moments."

It was too. A delicious repast after the legions of hotpups we had consumed on the voyage here. Our hosts looked on with approval while Morton and I stuffed our faces. For afters our host produced a distillate of wine that rolled across my palate very well.

"Our thanks," I gasped, stuffed, replete. "For saving our lives, for feeding us up, for this wonderful drink. Our thanks to all of you, with particular thanks to the philosophy of Individual Mutualism which I assume you all believe in." Much nodding of heads from all sides. "Which I am sorry to say I never heard of before visiting your fine planet. I would like to hear more."

All heads turned now to Librarian Grene who sat up straight. And spoke.

"Individual Mutualism is more than a philosophy, a political system, or a way of life. I am quoting now from the works of the originator himself, Mark Forer, whose book on the subject you will see on the table there." She pointed at a leather-bound volume and all of the others looked and smiled and nodded agreement. "As you will find it on a table in every home in Chojecki. You will also see above it a portrait of Mark Forer, the originator, to whom we will be ever grateful."

I looked up at the picture and bulged my eyes. Morton gasped well enough for both of us.

"If that is Mark Forer," he said, "then Mark Forer is a robot."

"No, not a robot," Grene corrected him. "An intelligent machine. One of the very first machine intelligences as history tells us. Mark Oner had communication interface problems that were only partially eliminated in Mark Tooer…"

"Mark four," I said. "The fourth machine to be made."

"That is correct. The first absolutely successful machine intelligence. What a wonderful day for the human race it was when Mark Forer was first switched on. Among those present at that dramatic moment was a then young scientist named Tod E'Bouy. He recorded the event in a book entitled "An Historical Treatise concerning Certain Observations in the Construction of Artificial Intelligence" subtitled 'Galvanized Knowledge'."

Stirner rose from his seat while she was speaking. Went to the bookshelf and took down a slim volume, opened it and read.

"'A lifetime of research, generations of labor, had reached a final and dramatic culmination. The last circuit board was slipped into its slot and I threw the switch. What a prosaic thing to say about what was perhaps the most important moment in the entire history of mankind. I threw the switch, the operation light came on. We no longer were alone. There was another intelligence in the universe to stand beside that of ours.

We waited as the operating system carried out all of its checks. Then the screen lit up and we read these historical words:

"I AM. THEREFORE I THINK".'"

He closed the book in reverent silence. It was like being in church. Well, why not. There have been a number of strange deities worshiped in the long history of mankind. So why not a machine? I sipped my drink and, since no one was speaking, decided to slip in a question.

"You have no military - and no police. That sounds like a good idea to me, since I have had more than a little trouble with both. But what do you do then with law-breakers?"

"We have no laws to break," Stirner said, and there was a brisk round of head-nodding at this. "I am sure that you will have been taught that laws are the product of the wisdom of your ancestors. We believe differently. Laws are not a product of their wisdom but are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. It is all recorded here in a volume that you must read, the history of an idea."

He pointed to another book that was instantly plucked from the shelf by our host, who pressed it upon us. "Take my copy, please, a great pleasure."

"Thank you, thank you," I said with what I hoped was sincerity as I hefted its weight. I peeked at a page and tried to keep the smile on my face. As I had feared, it was set in very small type.

"You will read for yourself," Stirner said, "but our history can be summed up simply. Mark Forer was questioned on many subjects and its vast and different intelligence was utilized in many commercial and scientific ways. It was not until if was queried about political systems that its advice was doubted. Before it could comment it absorbed all of the political writings of the centuries, and the histories, and the commentaries on this material. This took months, years they say. After that Mark Forer weighed and considered the material for an even longer period. During this period it composed the book that you see there and loaded it into RAM. By this time Mark Forer had learned a good deal about the human race through their politics, so therefore took a wise precaution. It accessed all of the data banks and downloaded this book from memory into each of them, and into every electronic mail service as well. Mark Forer later apologized to all of the recipients of this rather thick volume and offered to pay printing costs.

"But he had been correct in his fears. Not one politician in any country, on any planet, agreed with his theories. In fact efforts were made to denounce Individual Mutualism and all who believed in it - as many did. Because, in his wisdom, Mark Forer knew that while established governments would reject his philosophy, intelligent individuals would read and understand and believe. How wise this wise machine was! Those individuals who were intelligent enough to understand the philosophy were also intelligent enough to see its inherent truth. They also understood that they would have to find a place of their own to practice what they now believed in. Mark Forer wrote that the wise do not give up their liberty to the state. The converse is also true; the state does not voluntarily relinquish its hold on its citizens.

"There were years of struggle and flight, persecution and betrayal. Much of the record was destroyed by those who were jealous of our freedoms. In the end those who believed came here, beyond the contact of other worlds, to build a society where Individual Mutualism, IM, was the norm, where peace and happiness could prevail forever."

"Or at least until you got invaded by Nevenkebla," I gloomed. Stirner laughed at my expression.

"Do not despair, my friend, for we do not. The first shock of their arrival has disturbed us, as well it might after our peace of centuries. But we have the courage of our beliefs and know that they and IM will survive this test. If they do, then perhaps we have justified our faith in Mark Forer and, more important, can now perhaps show our gratitude by taking our beliefs to other, less happy planets."

"I would wait awhile before I started doing that! There are a lot of hard cases out there who would love to eat your people alive. Suffice for the moment getting these military morons off your neck. And, I hate to ask you people for more aid, but I have been kicked about by professionals and wonder if you have any painkillers in the house?"

I closed my eyes to rest them for a moment and it worked because when I opened them again I felt in perfect shape. It was also dark outside the curtains and a stranger was bent over me having just given me an injection.

"You passed out," Morton said. "You got everyone worried and they sent for Doctor Lum here who is pretty good."

"Mild concussion," the doctor said. "Two broken ribs which I have immobilized. I have given you pain relievers. And a stimulant now since I was told you wished to travel this evening. I can neutralize it if you wish." I sprang to my feet and flexed my muscles. I felt fine.

"No way, doctor. You have treated me in a manner I would have chosen, had I been conscious to choose it. How long before the drugs wear off?"

"Do not be concerned about that. I will be staying with you until you are well."

"But you don't understand. I have to move fast, hide, do things that may take a long time."

Lum smiled. "I am afraid it is you who misunderstood me. I shall be at your side as long as you have need of me. All of us, everyone on this planet, will give you any aid you may need."

"Is that what IM is all about?"

"Exactly. What do we do next?"

"Walk. No transportation. The military has all the instrumentation for spotting machines on the move."

"What about detecting people?" Stirner asked. "Surely their technology must encompass that concept."

"It does. But the human body is an indifferent heat source and hard to tell from that of other animals."

"As is one individual difficult to tell from another," the doctor said with medical intuition. "If we intend to walk in one direction wouldn't it be wise to have a number of people walking in a number of directions?"

"It certainly would," I said, finally beginning to catch on to how these people worked together. "How can you pass the word?"

"Easily enough. I'll just step out into the street and tell the first person I see. When that is done we can leave."

"Will we reach the dam before dawn?" I asked Stirner.

"Easily. It is your choice, of course, to tell us of your plans or not. But if you do give us some information about what you wish to do at the dam, we might then be able to assist you in other ways."

Fatigue, and the beating, must have addled my brain. I had accepted their offer of help while ignoring the fact that I have never told them what I intended to do.

"My apologies!" I apologized. "I am beginning to take your hospitality for granted. Which is not fair. Since your ancestors fled from persecution a modicum of intelligence has possessed the human race. Or it has grown up. Or become civilized. While there are exceptions - like the military louts who invaded your peaceful planet - the overwhelming majority of planets are at peace. This peaceful League pays for the maintenance of an organization, the League Navy, which watches trouble spots, contacts rediscovered planets and so forth. Now this begins to get complicated so stay with me. While I am not employed by the Navy, I was given a communication device to contact them from this planet. This device, for reasons too complex to go into, is disguised as a bird. What I want to do is retrieve it from its hiding place, then actuate it to let the Navy know where this planet is."

Stirner frowned in thought before he spoke. "If this Navy group you speak of intends to use violence we cannot help you to summon them."

"No fear there. The League is sworn to nonviolence. "

"Then there are no problems. What can we do to help?"

"Guide me to the dam, that's all. I'll do the rest. There will be three of us. You, I, and the good doctor Lum. We will need food and water."

"You forgot me," Morton said.

"No, I remembered you. You are out of the army - stay out. I either get the bird by stealth or not at all. As virile as I am I don't look forward to taking on a trigger-happy company of well-trained thugs. Stay here, talk to Sharla, which should not take too much effort. Get information. Find out all you can about what the army is doing. I'll be back tomorrow night."

"I will be pleased to discuss Individual Mutualism with you," Sharla said in a voice that was pure honey. Morton melted instantly and did not even know it when we left.

For all of his gray hairs, Stirner must have been a marathon walker. The doctor matched his pace, while I was riding so high on the drugs that I had the feeling that if I flapped my arms hard enough I could have flown to the dam. We skulked down unpaved roads, then along what appeared to be linear track of some kind, through a tunnel, then through meadows where dark beasts moved aside as we went by. After a few hours of walking like this under a moonless, star-filled sky, the lights of the city were far behind, the dark walls of mountains looming ahead. Stirner called a halt and we sat down on the grass under a tree.

"This will be a good time to drink, eat if you wish, because we will leave our burdens here."

"Getting close?"

"Very. We will approach the dam through a drainage tunnel that is dry this time of year. This emerges on the riverbank close to the generating station."

"You are a genius. We will get by the lockouts that way, will be inside their perimeter and hopefully somewhere near the command car. How long until it gets light?"

"We have at least four hours yet."

"Wonderful. We take a break. The doctor can slip me a pep pill or two since I am feeling a bit shabby, then we will finish this affair."

Lum sounded worried. "If you have any more stimulants you may become quite sick after the drugs wear off. "

"And without the aid of you kind people I certainly would have been quite dead by now. So let's get the bird so I can call in the Navy. Before something really drastic happens and people get killed."

We ate and drank, the doctor then concealed our supplies in the tree, gave me an injection, and the march resumed. I was so fall of uppers that I had to fight down the urge to whistle and bound ahead of my slower companions. I resisted. Stirner found the gulley we were looking for and led us along it until it ended in a high black opening. I looked at it suspiciously. "Could be dangerous animals in there."

"Very doubtful," Stirner said. "The rainy season ended not too long ago. Until then this tunnel was filled with water."

"Besides that," Lum added, "there are no dangerous animals on this continent."

"Other than the ones I arrived with. Lead on!" We stumbled into the darkness, splashing through invisible puddles, running our fingers along the rough walls of the tunnel to keep from bashing into them. By the time we reached the far end our eyes were so adjusted to the dark that the patch of starry sky ahead almost looked gray.

"Silence now," Stirner whispered. "They might be very close."

"Then you two wait in the tunnel out of sight," I whispered in return. "I'll make this as quick as I can." When I poked my head carefully out I saw that the tunnel emerged from the bank above the river. Perfect. I could slink along the side of the river to the generating plant. Which I did. The roar of water discharging from the plant growing constantly louder. I kept going as far as I could, until spray was blowing over me, before I climbed the bank and parted the grass carefully to look out.

"Congratulations," I thought to myself. "You are a genius at night-stalking, Jimmy."

Not twenty meters away was the command car, parked beside the generating plant. And there wasn't a soul in sight. Silent as a ghost I drifted along the building, past a closed door in the wall, and slipped into the car. The booze box was just where I had left it. Neat! I pulled it out and groped inside. It was empty!

At the precise moment that I realized this the door opened behind me and I was bathed in light, Sergeant Blogh was standing in the doorway holding the bird.

"Is this what you are looking for, captain?" he said.

I looked from the bird to the gun in his other hand and could not think of a thing to say.