Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (83 page)

"Old
Earth's
power
structure
is
a
maze
of
competing
and
conflicting
political,
economic
and
societal
entities,
consisting
of
everything
from
the
remnants
of
ancient
nation-states
to
independent undersea,
orbital,
and
lunar
installations,
multinational
economic entities,
and
cross-boundary
social
alliances."
He
shook
his
head.

"They
haven't
united
on
anything
at
all
since
the
days
when Dow
deCastries
led
them
to
try
to
rule
the
Younger
Worlds,"
he continued.
"All
we
want
to
do
is
keep
it
that
way."

He
could
see
that
the
unease
in
their
faces
was
being
replaced
by curiosity.

"So
far,"
he
said,
rising
to
his
feet
once
more,
"Old
Earth
has
paid little
attention
to
what
we've
been
doing
on
the
Younger
Worlds.
But some
elements
there
might
become
alarmed
as
our
power
continues to
grow—within
a
short
time
we
could
be
in
control
of
nine
worlds, after
all—and
we
don't
want
the
old
planet
to
be
concerned."

He
looked
about
the
room
as
if
challenging
them
to
dispute
his argument.
It
was
a
tactic
they
had
all
been
taught
to
use
themselves,
intended
to
convince
an
audience
of
the
speaker's
own
certainty
of
the
truth
of
what
he
was
saying;
it
was
a
common
human reaction
to
feel
that
people
who
were
so
deeply
certain
about
a
belief
as
to
be
emotional
about
it
were
probably
right.
Bleys
knew they
would
recognize
the
tactic,
but
he
believed
that
very
recognition
would
disarm
their
instinctive
fear
reaction.

"As
I
mentioned
some
weeks
ago,"
he
went
on,
now
in
a
softer, calmer
voice,
"we
believe
the
Exotics
have
been
aware
of
our
movement
for
quite
a
while.
Whether
they
initially
confused
us
with
the original
Others
group
makes
no
difference:
regardless
of
what
went
before,
they're
certainly
aware
that
our
plans
for
the
Younger
Worlds can
only
threaten
them.
It's
predictable
they'll
try
to
raise
an
alarm
on Old
Earth,
hoping
to
rouse
it
enough
to
provide
some
sort
of
countervailing
force
against
us."

He
moved
to
the
podium
again,
shaking
his
head.

"It
will
do
them
little
good,"
he
said,
"because
they
can't
unite that
planet
any
more
than
we
can.
Nonetheless,
we'd
be
wise
to
try to
smother
that
effort."

He
raised
a
hand,
as
if
reaching
out
to
pull
in
their
understanding.

"That
's
why
we
need
to
take
some
of
your
people,"
he
said.
"We want
to
send
them
to
Old
Earth—not
to
try
to
take
it
over,
but
only
to counteract—to
kill
at
birth—any
impulse
to
take
action,
of
any
sort, against
us."

Some
were
nodding
now.

"We'd
like
your
personal
input,
all
of
you,"
he
continued,
"as
to possible
leaders
for
this
mission—in
fact,
if
one
of
you
would,
yourself,
feel
particularly
qualified
for
the
task,
please—"

Beside
Bleys,
Dahno
sat
up
straighter
in
his
chair;
and
at
the same
time
Hammer
Martin
spoke
up.

"It
should
be
me,"
Hammer
said.
"This
job
demands
the
skills
of someone
experienced
in
starting
a
whole
organization
from
scratch; and
among
those
of
us
who
were
sent
out
to
do
just
that
on
our
various
worlds,
I'm
senior."
Again
he
wore
a
somewhat
belligerent
look on
his
face.

"Wait,"
Dahno
said.
He
was
rising
to
his
feet,
looking
at
Bleys.

"It's
my
job,"
he
said.
He
turned
to
look
out
over
the
audience.

"I've
got
the
skills
needed
to
analyze
the
situations
we
find
there," he
said.
"You
know
that,
brother—"
He
looked
back
at
Bleys
for
an instant.
"—it's
been
vital
to
our
work
on
the
Younger
Worlds."

Bleys
nodded,
cautiously.
Dahno
had
surprised
him
on
several
occasions,
and
he
had
an
uncomfortable
feeling
it
was
happening
again.

"I
know
how
to
find
the
best
people
to
cultivate,"
Dahno
went on,
again
addressing
the
whole
gathering.
"And
I've
been
on
Old Earth
before
and
have
contacts
already
in
place."

Low,
approving
murmurs
began
to
arise
in
the
room,
but
Bleys voiced
a
further
objection:
"You're
a
sitting
member
of
the
governing body
on
Association,"
he
said.
"More
than
that,
you're
a
large
part
of our
control
on
these
two
worlds—"