Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (82 page)

On
the
other
hand,
they
had
already
received
a
large
trade-off,
in the
promised
increase
in
their
individual
power.

It
was
not
his
intention
to
alienate
them—not
as
long
as
they
did their
jobs
as
he
required.
So
it
was
time
to
reconcile
them
to
their losses.

"We
know
this
hurts
your
efforts
on
your
individual
planets,"
he said
now,
in
a
soothing
tone.
"You've
been
doing
good
work—we know
that,
and
you
know
that."

He
put
a
little
more
authority
into
his
tone
now.

"But
the
work
we've
all
been
doing
is
not
confined
to
your
single planets—you
know
that
as
well."

He
smiled
at
them,
just
a
little.

"None
of
us
can
ever
make
the
mistake
of
losing
sight
of
the
overall
situation,"
he
went
on.
"In
fact,
that's
exactly
what
the
Chairman and
I
are
for:
to
not
let
the
view
from
one
planet
obscure
our
organization's
aims
on
all
the
worlds."

Dahno
had
sold
these
people,
when
he
recruited
them,
on
the idea
that
they
were
superior
to
ordinary
people
and
really
deserved to
rule
the
worlds.
Dahno
had
not
really
intended
to
seek
that
ruling
position,
but
Bleys
had
risen
to
supplant
him,
in
all
but
title, precisely
because
he
had
revived
that
notion,
reinforced
it
in
their minds,
and
given
them
reason
to
believe
it
could
be
done.

Behind
Bleys
they
had
risen
to
positions
of
wealth
and
power; and
like
most
people
who
attain
those
things,
they
wanted
more. They
would,
he
knew,
do
whatever
he
wanted—even
forget
subtractions
from
their
organizational
domains—if
they
believed
he could
lead
them
even
higher.

By
giving
them
what
they
wanted,
he
would
get
what
he
wanted. The
results
he
was
aiming
for
would
not
at
all
be
something
these
people
would
be
very
happy
about,
but
that
did
not
matter,
because by
the
time
they
realized
where
he
was
going—if
they
ever
did—it would
be
much
too
late.

"We've
spent
almost
a
Standard
month
here,"
he
went
on,
"discussing
the
next
major
steps
of
our
program—steps
that
will
bring
four more
worlds
under
our
control
and
neutralize
any
possible
threat
from the
Exotics
and
the
Dorsai."
He
was
settling
into
his
planned
exposition
now,
and,
all
unconsciously,
they
were
sensing
that,
and
setting
in their
turns
into
a
more
business
-
like
frame
of
mind.

"Three
worlds
remain
to
be
considered,"
he
said.
"Well,
four,
if you
count
Dunnin's
World,
but—"
He
dismissed
that
most
marginal of
planets
with
a
short
wave;
and
saw
unease
come
to
faces
that
had calculated
exactly
which
worlds
he
was
referring
to.

"Yes,"
he
said.
"Venus,
Mars—and
Old
Earth."

They
were
stirring
about
a
little
now,
as
the
goats
had,
in
their pens
back
on
Henry's
farm,
when
someone
came
near
in
the
night. He
could
hear
an
undercurrent
of
comment,
and
beside
him
Dahno seemed
to
be
studiously
concentrating
on
the
data
display
embedded
in
the
tabletop.

"Old
Earth?"
Ana
Wasserlied
said,
her
voice
a
little
shrill.
"Even if—"
He
cut
her
off.

"I
know,"
he
said,
once
more
calm
and
soothing.
"You
were about
to
remind
us
that
the
population
of
Old
Earth
is
about
the size
of
that
of
all
the
Younger
Worlds
put
together,
and
that
we
have barely
enough
people
to
do
our
work
on
those
worlds
as
it
is,
without
subtracting
more
from
their
ranks—and
that
we
couldn't
possibly
send
enough
to
make
even
a
dent
in
Old
Earth's
politics."
He smiled
at
her.

"We
all
know
all
that,"
he
said.
"Don't
worry;
that's
not
what
we have
in
mind."

He
left
the
podium
and
moved
back
to
his
chair,
where
he
sat down,
leaning
across
the
table
as
if
ready
to
take
part
in
a
serious discussion
among
equals.

"Really,"
he
said,
"when
you
think
about
it,
what
we're
proposing
is
nothing
more
than
a
bit
of
preventive
maintenance."
He
took a
moment
to
let
that
innocuous
term's
connotations
sink
into
their minds.

"The
prospectus
for
this
conference
contained
a
brief
summary of
the
political
and
economic
situations
on
all
the
worlds,"
he
went on
after
that
moment,
"but
we
know
you
had
no
particular
reason
to pay
much
attention
to
what
our
research
staff
had
to
say
about
Old Earth.
You're
all
probably
aware
of
the
basic
facts:
Old
Earth
is
the richest,
most
populous
and
most
technologically
advanced
of
all
the planets,
it's
true.
But
it
continues
to
be,
as
it
has
always
been,
a planet
so
disorganized
as
to
make
Ceta
look
simple."
He
smiled, and
got
low
laughs
as
a
reward.