Latest / 4 Science Fiction Stories by Mack Reynolds / Highest Treason-Randall Garrett

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Highest Treason-Randall Garrett · 4 Science Fiction Stories by Mack Reynolds

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The two rooms were not luxurious, but McMain hadn't expected
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: that they would be. The walls were a flat metallic gray,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: unadorned and windowless. The ceilings and floors were simply continuations
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: of the walls, except for the glowplates overhead. One room
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: held a small cabinet for his personal possessions, a wide,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: reasonably soft bed, a small but adequate desk, and in
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: one corner a cubicle that contained the necessary sanitary plumbing facilities.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: The other room held a couch. two big easy chairs,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: a low table, some bookshelves, a squat refrigerator containing food
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and drink for his occasional snacks, his regular meals were
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: brought in hot from the main kitchen, and a closet
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: that contained his clothing, the insignialist uniforms of a Karathai officer. No,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: thought Sebastian MacMaine, it was not luxurious, but neither did
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: it look like the prison cell it was. There was
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: comfort here, and even the illusion of privacy, although there
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: were TV pickups in the walls, placed so that no
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: movement in either room would go unnoticed. The switch which
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: cut off the soft white light from the glowplates did
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: not cut off the infrared radiation which enabled his host
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: to watch him while he slept. Every sound was heard
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and recorded. But none of that bothered McMain. On the contrary,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: he was glad of it, he wanted the kerothi to
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: know that he had no intention of escaping or hatching
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: any plot against them he had long since decided that
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: if things continued as they had earth would lose the
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: war with keroth and sebastian macmaine had no desire whatever
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: to be on the losing side of the greatest war
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: ever fought The problem now was to convince the Kerothi
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: that he fully intended to fight with them, to give
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: them the full benefit of his ability as a military strategist,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: to do his best to win every battle for Keroth.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: And that was going to be the most difficult task
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: of all. A telltale glow of red blinked rapidly over
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the door, and a soft chime pinged in time with it.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: MacMaine smiled inwardly. although not a trace of it showed
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: on his broad-jawed, blocky face. To give him the illusion
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: that he was a guest rather than a prisoner, the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: kerothi had installed an announcer at the door and invariably
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: used it. Not once had any one of them ever
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: simply walked in on him. Come in, McMain said. He
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: was seated in one of the easy chairs in his
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: living room, smoking a cigarette and reading a book on
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the history of keroth. but he put the book down
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: on the low table as a tall Karothi came in
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: through the doorway. McMain allowed himself a smile of honest pleasure.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: To most Earthmen, all the carrot skins look alike, and
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: McMain admitted honestly to himself he hadn't yet trained himself
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: completely to look beyond the strangeness that made the Karothi
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: different from Earthmen and see the details that made them
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: different from each other. But this was one Karothi that
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: McMain would never mistake for any other.' Talus!' He stood
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: up and extended both hands in the Karothi fashion. The
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: other did the same, and they clasped hands for a moment.'
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: How are your guts?' he added in Karothic.' They function smoothly,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: my sibling by choice,' answered Space General Polon Talus.' And
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: your own?'' Smoothly indeed. It's been far too long a
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: time since we have touched.' The Karothi stepped back a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: pace and looked the Earthmen up and down. You look
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: healthy enough for a prisoner. You're treated well, then? Well, enough.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Sit down, my sibling, by choice. McMain waved toward the
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: couch nearby. The general sat down and looked around the apartment. Well, well,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: you're getting preferential treatment, all right. This is as good
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: as you could expect as a battleship, Commander. Maybe you're
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: being trained for the job. McMain laughed, allowing the touch
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: of sardonicism that he felt to be heard in the laughter.'
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: I might have hoped so once, Tallis, but I'm afraid
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: I have simply come out even. I have traded nothing
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: for nothing.' General Tallis reached into the pocket of his
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: uniform jacket and took out the thin aluminum case that
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: held the kerothite equivalent of cigarettes. He took one out,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: put it between his lips, and lit it with the
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: hot point that was built into the case. McMain took
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: an earth cigarette out of the package on the table
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: and allowed Tallis to light it for him. The pause
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: and the silence, McMain knew, were for a purpose. He waited.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Tallis had something to say, but he was allowing the
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: earthman to adjust to surprise. It was one of the
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: fine points of Karothi etiquette. A sudden silence on the
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: part of one participant in a conversation under these particular
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: circumstances meant that something unusual was coming up, and the
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: other person was supposed to take the opportunity to brace
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: himself for shock. It could mean anything. In the Karothi
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Space Forces, a superior informed a junior officer of the
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: junior's forthcoming promotion by just such tactics. But the same
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: tactics were used when informing a person of the death
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of a loved one. In fact, McMain was well aware
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: that such a period of silence was de rigueur in
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: a Karothi court. just before sentence was pronounced, as well
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: as a preliminary to a proposal of marriage by a
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Karothi male to the light of his love. McMahon could
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: do nothing but wait. It would be indelicate to speak
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: until Tallis felt that he was ready for the surprise.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: It was not, however, indelicate to watch Tallis's face closely.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: It was expected. Theoretically, one was supposed to be able
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to discern at least whether the news was good or bad.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: With Talus, it was impossible to tell, and MacMaine knew
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: it would be useless to read the man's expression. But
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: he watched, nonetheless. In one way, Talus's face was typically Karothi.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: The orange-pigmented skin and the bright grass-green eyes were common
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: to all Karothi. The planet Karoth, like Earth, had evolved
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: to several different races of humanoid, but unlike Earth, the
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: distinction was not one of color. McMain took a drag
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: off his cigarette and forced himself to keep his mind
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: off whatever it was that Tallis might be about to say.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: He was already prepared for a death sentence, even a
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: death sentence by torture. Now, he felt, he could not
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: be shocked, and rather than build up the tension within
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: himself to an unbearable degree, he thought about Tallis rather
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: than about himself. Tallis, like the rest of the Karothi,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: was unbelievably humanoid. There were internal differences in the placement
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: of organs and differences in the functions of those organs.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: For instance, it took two separate organs to perform the
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: same function that the liver performed in Earthman, and the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: kidneys were completely absent, that function being performed by special
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: tissues in the lower colon, which meant that the kerothi
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: were more efficient with water saving than Earthman, since the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: waste products were excreted as relatively dry solids through an
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: all-purpose cloaca. But externally, a Karothi would need only a
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: touch of plastic surgery and some makeup to pass as
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: an earthman in a stage play. Close up, of course,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: the job would be much more difficult, as difficult as
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: a negro trying to disguise himself as a Swede or
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: vice versa. But Tallis was... I would have a word,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Tallis said, shattering McMain's carefully neutral train of thought. It
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: was a standard opening for breaking the pause of adjustment.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: but it presaged good news rather than bad. I await
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: your word, McMain said. Even after all this time, he
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: still felt vaguely proud of his ability to handle the
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: subtle idioms of Karothik. I think, Talos said carefully, that
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: you may be offered a commission in the Karothi Space Forces.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Sebastian McMain let out his breath slowly and only then
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: realized that he had been holding it. I am grateful,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: my sibling, by choice, he said. General Tallis tapped his
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: cigarette ash into a large blue ceramic ashtray. McMain could
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: smell the acrid smoke from the alien plant matter that
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: burned in the Karothi cigarette, a chopped-up inner bark from
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: a Karothi tree. McMain could no more smoke a Karothi
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: cigarette than Tallis could smoke tobacco, but the two were
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: remarkably similar in their effects. The surprise had been delivered. Now,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: as was proper, Talus would move adroitly all around the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: subject until he was ready to return to it again.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: You have been with us how long, Sebastian? he asked.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Two and a third chronot. Talus nodded. Nearly a year
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of your time. MacMaine smiled. Talus was as proud of
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: his knowledge of earth terminology as MacMaine was proud of
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: his mastery of Karothik. Lacking three weeks, McMain said. What? Three? Oh, yes. What?
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: a long time, said Tallis. Damn it, McMain thought in
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: a sudden surge of impatience. Get to the point! His
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: face showed only calm. The Board of Strategy asked me
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to tell you, Tallis continued. After all, my recommendation was
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: partially responsible for the decision. He paused for a moment,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: but it was merely a conversational hesitation, not a formal hiatus.'
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: It was a hard decision, Sebastian, you must realize that.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: We have been at war with your race for ten
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: years now. We have taken thousands of Earthmen as prisoners,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: and many of them have agreed to cooperate with us.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: But with one single exception, these prisoners have been the
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: moral dregs of your civilization.' They have been men who
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: had no pride of race, no pride of society, no
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: pride of self. They have been weak, self-centered, small-minded cowards
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: who had no thought for earth and earthmen, but only
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: for themselves. Not, he said hurriedly, that all of them
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: are that way, or even the majority. Most of them
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: have the minds of warriors, although, I must say, not
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: strong warriors. That last McMain knew was a polite concession.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: The Karothi had no respect for Earthmen, and McMane could
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: hardly blame them. For three long centuries, the people of
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Earth had had nothing to do but indulge themselves in
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the pleasures of material wealth. It was a wonder that
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: any of them had any moral fiber left. But none
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: of those who had any strength agreed to work with us,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Talos went on, with one exception. You. Am I weak then?
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: McMane asked. General Tallis shook his head in a peculiarly
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: human-like gesture. No. No, you are not. And that is
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: what has made us pause for three years. His grass-green
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: eyes looked candidly into McMain's own. You aren't the type
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: of person who betrays his own kind. It looks like
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: a trap. After a whole year, the Board of Strategy
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: still isn't sure that there is no trap. Tallis stopped,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: leaned forward, and ground out the stub of his cigarette
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: in the blue ashtray. Then his eyes again sought McMain's.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: If it were not for what I personally know about you,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the Board of Strategy would not even consider your proposition.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I take it, then, that they have considered it? McMain
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: asked with a grin. As I said, Sebastian, Tallis said,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: you have won your case. After almost a year of
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: your time... Her decision has been justified. MacMaine lost his grin.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I am grateful, Talus, he said gravely. I think you
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: must realize that it was a difficult decision to make.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: His thoughts went back across long months of time and
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: longer light years of space to the day when that
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: decision had been made. Colonel Sebastian McMain didn't feel that
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: morning as though this day were different from any other.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: The sun, faintly veiled by a few wisps of cloud,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: shone as it always had. The guards at the doors
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: of the Space Force Administration Building saluted him as usual.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: His brother officers nodded politely as they always did. His
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: aide greeted him with the usual, Good morning, sir. The
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: duty list lay on his desk as it had every
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: morning for years. Sebastian McMain felt tense and a little
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: irritated with himself, but he felt nothing that could be
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: called a premonition. When he read the first item on
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: the duty list, his irritation became a little stronger. Interrogate
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Karothi General. The interrogation duty had swung round to him again.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: He didn't want to talk to General Talus. There was
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: something about the alien that bothered him, and he couldn't
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: place exactly what it was. Earth had been lucky to
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: capture the alien officer. In a space war, there's usually
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: very little left to capture after a battle. especially if
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: your side lost the battle. On the other hand, the
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Karothi general wasn't so lucky. The food that had been
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: captured with him would run out in less than six months,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: and it was doubtful that he would survive on Earth food.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: It was equally doubtful that any more Karothi food would
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: be captured. For two years, Earth had been fighting the Karothi,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: and for two years, Earth had been winning a few
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: minor skirmishes and losing the major battles. The Karothi hadn't
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: hit any of the major colonies yet, but they had
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: swallowed up outpost after outpost, and Earth's space fleet was
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: losing ships faster than her factories could turn them out.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: The hell of it was that nobody on Earth seemed
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: to be very much concerned about it at all. McMain
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: wondered why he let it concern him. If no one
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: else was worried, why did he let it bother him?
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: He pushed the thought from his mind and picked up
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: the questionnaire form that had been made out for that
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: morning's session with the Karothi general. Might as well get
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: it over with. He glanced down the list of further
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: duties for the day. It looked as though the routine
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: interrogation of the Karothi general was likely to provide most
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: of the interest in the day's work at that. He
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: took the drop chute down to the basement of the
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: building to the small prison section where the alien officer
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: was being held. The guards saluted nonchalantly as he went in.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: The routine questioning sessions were nothing new to them. McMain
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: turned the lock on the prisoner's cell door and went in.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Then he came to attention and saluted the Karathai general.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: He was probably the only officer in the place who
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: did that, he knew. The others treated the alien general
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: as though he were a criminal. Worse, they treated him
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: as though he were a petty thief or a common pickpocket. Criminal, yes,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: but of a definitely inferior type. General Tallis, as always,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: stood and returned the salute. Katamonik, Colonel McMahon, he said.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: The Karothi language lacked many of the voiced consonants of
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: English and Russian, and as a result Tallis's use of
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: B-D-G-J-V-N-Z made them come out as P-T-K-C-H-F-S. The English are
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: as it is pronounced in run or rat, eluded him entirely,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: and he pronounced it only when he could give it
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: the guttural pronunciation of the German R. The terminal NG
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: always came out as NK. The nasal M and N
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: were a little more drawn out than in English, but
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: they were easily understandable.' Good morning, General Tallis,' McMain said.'
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Sit down. How do you feel this morning?' The General
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: sat again on the hard bunk that, aside from the
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: single chair, was the only furniture in the small cell.'
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: As well as could be expected. I get very little exercise.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I— how is it said? I become soft. Soft is correct?'' Correct.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: You've learned our language very well for so short a time.'
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: The General shrugged off the compliment. When it is a
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: matter of learn in order to survive, one learns. You
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: think then that your survival has depended on your learning
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: our language? The general's orange face contrived a wry smile. Obviously,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: your people will not learn Korothik. If I cannot answer questions,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I am of no use. As long as I am
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: of use, I will live, not die. McMain decided he
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: might as well spring his bomb on the Karothi officer
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: now as later. I am not so certain but that
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: you might have stretched out your time longer if you
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: had forced us to learn Karothik, General, he said, in Karothik.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: He knew his Karothik was bad, since it had been
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: learned from the Karothi spacemen who had been captured with
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: the General, and the man had been badly wounded and
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: had survived only two weeks. BUT THAT LITTLE BIT OF
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: BASIC INSTRUCTION, PLUS THE WORK HE HAD DONE ON THE
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: BOOKS AND TAPES FROM THE RUINED KOROTHI SHIP, HAD HELPED HIM. UH?
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: THE GENERAL BLINKED IN SURPRISE. THEN HE SMILED. YOUR ACCENT,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: HE SAID IN KOROTHIK, IS ATROCIOUS, BUT CERTAINLY NO WORSE
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: THAN MINE WHEN I SPEAK YOUR INKLICH. I SUPPOSE YOU
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: INTEND TO QUESTION ME IN KOROTHIK NOW, EH? IN THE
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: HOPE THAT I MAY REVEAL MORE IN MY OWN TONGUE.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Possibly you may, McMain said with a grin, but I
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: learned it from my own information. For your own what? Oh,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I see. Interesting. I know no others of your race
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: who would do such a thing. Anything which is difficult
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: is beneath them. Not so, General. I am not unique.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: There are many of us who don't think that way.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: The General shrugged. I do not deny it. I merely
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: say that I have met none. Certainly they do not
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: tend to go into military service. Possibly that is because
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: you are not a race of fighters. It takes a
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: fighter to tackle the difficult just because it is difficult.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: McMain gave him a short, hard laugh. Don't you think
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: getting information out of you is difficult? And yet we
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: tackle that. Not the same thing at all. Routine. You
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: have used no pressure, no threats, no promises, no torture,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: no stress. McMain wasn't quite sure of his translation of
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: the last two negative phrases. You mean the application of
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: physical pain? That's barbaric. I won't pursue the subject, the
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: general said with sudden irony. I can understand that, but
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: you can rest assured that we would never do such
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: a thing. It isn't civilized. Our civil police do use
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: certain drugs to obtain information, but we have so little
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: knowledge of kerothi body chemistry that we hesitate to use
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: drugs on you. The application of stress, you say, is
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: not civilized. Not perhaps according to your definition of, he
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: used the English word, civilized stress. No, not civilized. But
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: it works. Again he smiled. I said that I have
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: become soft since I have been here, but I fear
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that your civilization is even softer. A man can lie
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: even if his arms are pulled off or his feet crushed,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: McMain said stiffly. The Kurothai looked startled. When he spoke again,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: it was in English. I will say no more. If
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: you have questions to ask, go ahead. I will not
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: take up time with further talking. A little angry with
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: himself and with the General, McMain spent the rest of
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the hour asking routine questions and getting nowhere, filling up
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: the tape in his mini-quarter with the same old answers
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: that others had gotten. He left, giving the General a
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: brisk salute and turning before the General had time to
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: return it. Back in his office he filed the tape dutifully,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: and started on item two of the duty list, strategy
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: analysis of battle reports. Strategy analysis always irritated and upset him.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: He knew that if he'd just go about it in
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: the approved way, there would be no irritation, only boredom.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: But he was constitutionally incapable of working that way. In
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: spite of himself, he always played a little game with
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: himself and with the general strategy computer. The only battle
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: of significance in the past week had been the defense
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: of an Earth outpost called Bennington 4. Theoretically, McMain was
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: supposed to check over the entire report, find out where
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: the losing site had erred, and feed correctional information into
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the computer. But he couldn't resist stopping after he had
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: read the first section. Information known to Earth Commander at
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: moment of initial contact. Then he would stop and consider
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: how he personally would have handled the situation if he
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: had been the Earth commander. So many ships in such
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: and such places. Enemy fleet approaching at such and such velocities.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Battle array of enemy, thus and so. Now what? McMain
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: thought over the information on the defense of Bennington IV
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and devised a battle plan. There was a weak point
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: in the enemy's attack, but it was rather obvious. McMain
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: searched until he found another weak point much less obvious
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: than the first. He knew it would be there. It was.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Then he proceeded to ignore both weak points and concentrate
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: on what he would do if he were the enemy commander.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: The weak points were traps. The computer could see them
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: and avoid them, which was just exactly what was wrong
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: with the computer's logic. In avoiding the traps, it also
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: avoided the best way to hit the enemy. A weak
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: point is weak, no matter how well it may be booby-trapped.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: In baiting a rat-trap, you have to use real cheese
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: because an imitation won't work. Of course, McMain thought to himself,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: you can always poison the cheese, but let's not carry
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: the analogy too far. All right, then. How to hit
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the traps. It took him half an hour to devise
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: a completely wacky and unorthodox way of hitting the holes
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: in the enemy advance. He checked the time carefully because
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: there's no point in devising a strategy if the battle
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: is too far gone to use it by the time
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: you've figured it out. Then he went ahead and read
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: the rest of the report. Earth had lost the outpost.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: And worse, McMain's strategy would have won the battle if
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: it had been used. He fed it through his small
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: office computer to make sure. The odds were good. And
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: that was the thing that made McMain hate strategy analysis.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Too often he won. Too often Earth lost. A computer
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: was fine for working out the logical outcome of a
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: battle if it was given the proper strategy, but it
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: couldn't devise anything new. Colonel McMain had tried to get
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: himself transferred to space duty, but without success. The commanding
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: staff didn't want him out there. The trouble was that
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: they didn't believe McMain actually devised his strategy before he
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: read the complete report. How could anyone outthink a computer?
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: He'd offered to prove it. Give me a problem, he'd
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: told his immediate superior, General Matsukuo. Give me the initial
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: contact information of a battle I haven't seen before and
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: I'll show you. And Matsukuo had said testily, Colonel, I
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: will not permit a member of my staff to make
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a fool of himself in front of the commanding staff.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Setting yourself up as someone superior to the strategy board
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: is the most antisocial type of egocentrism imaginable. You were
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: given the same education at the academy as every other officer.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: What makes you think you are better than they? As
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: time goes on, your automatic promotions will put you in
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: a position to vote on such matters. provided you don't
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: prejudice the promotion board against you by antisocial behavior. I
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: hold you in the highest regard, Colonel, and I will
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: say nothing to the promotion board about this, but if
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: you persist, I will have to do my duty. Now,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I don't want to hear any more about it. Is
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: that clear? It was. All McMain had to do was wait,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: and he'd automatically be promoted to the commanding staff where
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: he would have an equal vote with the others of
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: his rank. One unit vote to begin with, and an
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: additional unit for every year thereafter. It's a great system
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: for running a peacetime social club, maybe, McMain thought, but
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: it's no way to run a fighting force. Maybe the
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Karathite general was right. Maybe Homo sapiens just wasn't a
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: race of fighters. They had been once. Mankind had fought
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: its way to domination of Earth by battling every other
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: form of life on the planet, from the smallest virus
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: to the biggest carnivore. The fight against disease was still
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: going on, as a matter of fact, and man was
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: still fighting the elemental fury of Earth's climate. But man
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: no longer fought with man. Was that a bad thing?
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: The discovery of atomic energy two centuries before had literally
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: made war impossible. if the race was to survive. Small
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: struggles bred bigger struggles, or so the reasoning went. Therefore
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: the society had unconsciously sought to eliminate the reasons for struggle.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: What bred the hatreds and jealousies among men? What caused
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: one group to fight another? Society had decided that intolerance
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: and hatred were caused by inequality. The jealousy of the
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: inferior toward his superior, the scorn of the superior toward
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: his inferior, The have-not envies the have, and the have
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: looks down upon the have-not. Then, let us eliminate the have-not.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Let us make sure that everyone is a have. Raise
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the standard of living. Make sure that every human being
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: has the necessities of life. Food, clothing, shelter, proper medical care,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: and proper education. More. Give them the luxuries, too. Let
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: no man be without anything that is poorer in quality
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: or less in quantity than the possessions of any other.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: There was no longer any middle class simply because there
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: were no other classes for it to be in the
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: middle of. The poor you will have always with you,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Jesus of Nazareth had said. But in a material sense
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: that was no longer true. The poor were gone and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: so were the rich. but the poor in mind and
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: the poor in spirit were still there in ever-increasing numbers.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Material wealth could be evenly distributed, but it could not
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: remain that way unless society made sure that the man
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: who was more clever than the rest could not increase
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: his wealth at the expense of his less fortunate brethren.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Make it a social stigma to show more ability than
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: the average. Be kind to your fellow man, Don't show
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: him up as a stupid clod, no matter how cloddish
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: he may be. All men are created equal, and let's
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: make sure they stay that way. There could be no
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: such thing as a classless society, of course. That was
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: easily seen. No human being could do everything, learn everything,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: be everything. There had to be doctors and lawyers and
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: policemen and bartenders and soldiers and machinists and laborers and
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: actors and writers and criminals and bums. But let's make
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: sure that the differentiation between classes is horizontal, not vertical.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: As long as a person does his job the best
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: he can, he's as good as anybody else. A doctor
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: is as good as a lawyer, isn't he? Then a
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: garbage collector is just as good as a nuclear physicist.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: and an astronomer is no better than a street sweeper.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: And what of the loafer, the bum, the man who's
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: too lazy or weak-willed to put out any more effort
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: than is absolutely necessary to stay alive? Well, my goodness,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: the poor chap can't help it, can he? It isn't
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: his fault, is it? He has to be helped. There
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: is always something he is both capable of doing and
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: willing to do. Does he like to sit around all
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: day and do nothing but watch television? Then give him
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: a sheet of paper with all the programs on it
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and two little boxes marked yes and no, and he
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: can put an X in one or the other to
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: indicate whether he likes the program or not. Useful? Certainly.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: All these sheets can be tallied up in order to
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: find out what sort of program the public likes to see.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: After all, his vote is just as good as anyone else's,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: isn't it? And a program analyst is just as good,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: just as important, and just as well cared for as
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: anyone else. And what about the criminal? Well, what is
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: a criminal? A person who thinks he's superior to others.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: A thief steals because he thinks he has more right
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: to something than its real owner. A man kills because
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: he has an idea that he has a better right
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: to live than someone else. In short, a man breaks
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: the law because he feels superior, because he thinks he
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: can outsmart society and the law. Or, simply... because he
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: thinks he can outsmart the policeman on the beat. Obviously,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: that sort of antisocial behavior can't be allowed. The poor
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: fellow who thinks he's better than anyone else has to
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: be segregated from normal society and treated for his aberrations.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: But not punished. Heavens, no! His erratic behavior isn't his fault,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: is it? It was axiomatic that there had to be
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: some sort of vertical structure to society, naturally. A child
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: can't do the work of an adult. and a beginner
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: can't be as good as an old hand. Aside from
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: the fact that it was actually impossible to force everyone
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: into a common mold, it was recognized that there had
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: to be some incentive for staying with a job. What
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: to do? The labor unions had solved that problem 200
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: years before. Promotion by seniority. Stick with a job long enough,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: and you'll automatically rise to the top. That way, everyone
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: had as good a chance as everyone else. Promotion tables
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: for individual jobs were worked out on the basis of
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: longevity tables, so that by the time a man reached
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: the automatic retirement age, he was automatically at the highest
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: position he could hold. No fuss, no bother, no trouble.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Just keep your nose clean and live as long as possible.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: It eliminated struggle. It eliminated the petty jockeying for a
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: position that undermined efficiency in an organization. Everybody deserves an
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: equal chance in life, so make sure everybody gets it.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Colonel Sebastian McMain had been born and reared in that society.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: He could see many of its faults, but he didn't
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: have the orientation to see all of them. As he'd
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: grown older, he'd seen that, regardless of the position a
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: man held according to seniority, A smart man could exercise
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: more power than those above him if he did it carefully.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: A man is a slave if he is held rigidly
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: in a pattern and not permitted to step out of
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: that pattern. In ancient times, a slave was born at
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the social ladder and he remained there
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: all his life. Only rarely did a slave of exceptional
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: merit manage to rise above his assigned position. But a
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: man who is forced to remain on the bottom step
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: of a stationary stairway is no more a slave than
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: a man who is forced to remain on a given
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: step of an escalator, and no less so. Slavery, however,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: has two advantages, one for the individual and one which
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: in the long run can be good for the race.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: For the individual it offers security. and that is the
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: goal which by far the greater majority of mankind seeks.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: The second advantage is more difficult to see. It operates
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: only in favor of the exceptional individual. There are always
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: individuals who aspire to greater heights than the one they
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: occupy at any given moment, but in a slave society
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: they are slapped back into place if they act hastily.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Just as the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: blind can be king if he taps the ground with
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: a cane, so the gifted individual can gain his ends
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: in a slave society, provided he thinks out the consequences
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: of any act in advance. The law of gravity is
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: a universal edict which enslaves, in a sense, every particle
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: of matter in the cosmos. The man who attempts to
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: defy the injustice of that law by ignoring the consequences
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: of its enforcement, will find himself punished rather severely. It
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: may be unjust that a bird can fly under its
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: own muscle power, but a man who tries to correct
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: that injustice by leaping out of a skyscraper window and
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: flapping his arms vigorously will find that overt defiance of
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the law of gravity brings very serious penalties indeed. The
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: wise man seeks the loopholes in the law. and loopholes
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: are caused by other laws which counteract, not defy, the
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: given law. A balloon full of hydrogen falls up in
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: obedience to the law of gravity. A contradiction? A paradox? No.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: It is the law of gravity which causes the density
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: and pressure of a planet's atmosphere to decrease with altitude,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: and that decrease in pressure forces the balloon upwards until
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: the balance point between atmospheric density and the internal density
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: of the balloon is reached. The illustration may seem obvious
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: and elementary to the modern man, but it seems so
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: only because he understands, at least to some extent, the
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: laws involved. It was not obvious to even the most
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: learned man of, say, the 13th century. Slavery, too, has
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: its laws. And it is as dangerous to defy the
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: laws of a society as it is to defy those
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: of nature. And the only way to escape the punishment
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: resulting from those laws is to find the loopholes. One
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: of the most basic laws of any society is so
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: basic that it is never, ever written down. And that law,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: like all basic laws, is so simple in expression and
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: so obvious in application that any man above the moron
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: level has an intuitive grasp of it It is the
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: first law one learns as a child. Thou shall not
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: suffer thyself to be caught. The unthinking man believes that
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: this basic law can be applied by breaking the laws
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: of his society in secret. What he fails to see
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: is that such law-breaking requires such a fantastic network of lies, subterfuges, evasions,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: and chicanery that the structure itself eventually breaks down and
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: his guilt is obvious to all. The very steps he
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: has taken to keep from getting caught eventually become signposts
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: that point unerringly at the lawbreaker himself. Like the loopholes
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: in the law of gravity, the loopholes in the laws
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: of society cannot entail a defiance of the law. Only
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: compliance with those laws will be ultimately successful. The wise
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: man works within the framework of the law, not only
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: the written but the unwritten law of his society. In
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: a slave society, any slave who openly rebels will find
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: that he gets squashed pretty quickly. But many a slave
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: owner has danced willingly to the tune of a slave
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: who was wiser and cleverer than he, without ever knowing
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: that the tune played was not his own. And that
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: is the second advantage of slavery. It teaches the exceptional
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: individual to think. When a wise, intelligent individual openly and
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: violently breaks the laws of his society, there are two
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: things which are almost certain. One, he knows that there
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: is no other way to do the thing he feels
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: must be done, and two, he knows that he will
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: pay the penalty for his crime in one way or another.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Sebastian McMain knew the operations of those laws. As a
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: member of a self-enslaved society, he knew that to betray
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: any sign of intelligence was dangerous. A slight slip could
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: bring the scorn of the slaves around him. A major
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: offense could mean death. The war with Keroth had thrown
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: him slightly off balance, but after his one experience with
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: General Matsukuo, he had quickly regained his equilibrium. At the
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: end of his workday, McMain closed his desk and left
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: his office precisely on time as usual. Working overtime, except
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: in the gravest emergencies, was looked upon as anti-socialism. The
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: offender was suspected of having ambition. Obviously a bad thing.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: It was during his meal at the officer's mess that
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Colonel Sebastian McMain heard the statement that triggered the decision
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: in his mind. There were three other officers seated with
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: McMain around one of the four-place tables in the big room.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: McMain only paid enough attention to the table conversation to
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: be able to make the appropriate noises at the proper times.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: He had long since learned to do his thinking under
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: cover of general banalities. Colonel Van Dusen was a man
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: who would never have made private first class in an
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: army that operated on a strict merit system. His thinking
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: was muddy and his conversation betrayed it. All he felt
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: comfortable in talking about was just exactly what he had
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: been taught. Slogans, banalities, and bromides. He knew his catechism
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: and he knew it was safe.' What I mean is,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: we got nothing to worry about. We all stick together
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: and we can do anything. As long as we don't
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: rock the boat, we'll come through okay.'' Sure,' said Major Brock,
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: looking up from his plate in blank-faced surprise. I mean,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: who says different? Guy on my research team, said Van Dusen,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: plying his fork industriously. A wise guy, second Louie. One
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: of them. Oh, said the Major knowingly. One of them.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: He went back to his meal. What'd he say, McMain asked,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: just to keep his oar in. Uh, nothing serious, I guess,
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: said Van Dusen around a mouthful of steak. Said we
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: were all clogged up with paperwork, making reports on tests,
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: things like that. Said, why don't we figure out something
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: to pop those carrot skins out of the sky? So
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: I said to him, look, Lieutenant, I said, you got
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: your job to do, I got mine. If the paperwork's
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: piling up, I said, it's because somebody isn't pulling his share.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: And it better not be you, I said. He chuckled
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: and speared another cube of steak with his fork. That
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: settled him down. He's all right, though. Young yet, you know.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: Soon as he gets the hang of how the Space
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Force operates, he'll be okay. Since Van Dusen was the
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: senior officer at the table, the others listened respectfully as
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: he talked, only inserting a word now and then to
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: show that they were listening. McMain was thinking deeply about
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: something else entirely, but Van Dusen's influence intruded a little.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: McMain was wondering what it was that bothered him about
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: General Tallis, the Kurothi prisoner. The alien was pleasant enough
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: in spite of his position. He seemed to accept his
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: imprisonment as one of the fortunes of war. He didn't
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: threaten or bluster, although he tended to maintain an air
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: of superiority that would have been unbearable in an Earthman.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: Was that the reason for his uneasiness in the General's presence? No.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: McMain could accept the reason for that attitude. The general's
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: background was different from that of an Earthman, and therefore
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: he could not be judged by terrestrial standards. Besides, McMain
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: could acknowledge to himself that Talos was superior to the norm.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Not only to the norm of Keroth, but that of Earth.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: McMain wasn't sure he could have acknowledged superiority in another Earthman,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that he knew there must
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: be men who were his superiors in one way or another.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: Because of his social background, he knew that he would
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: probably form an intense and instant dislike for any Earthman
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: who talked the way Talus did, but he found that
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: he actually liked the alien officer. It came as a
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: slight shock when the realization hit McMain that his liking
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: for the General— was exactly why he was uncomfortable around him.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: Damn it, a man isn't supposed to like his enemy,
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: and most especially when that enemy does and says things
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: that one would despise in a friend. Come to think
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: of it, though, did he, McMain, actually have any friends?
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: He looked around him, suddenly clearly conscious of all the
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: other men in the room. He searched through his memory.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: thinking of all his acquaintances and relatives. It was an
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: even greater shock to realize that he would not be
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: more than faintly touched emotionally if any or all of
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: them were to die at that instant. Even his parents,
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: both of whom were now dead, were only dim figures
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: in his memory. He had mourned them when an aircraft
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: accident had taken both of them when he was only eleven,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: but he found himself wondering if it had been the
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: loss of loved ones that had caused his emotional upset,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: or simply the abrupt vanishing of a kind of security
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: he had taken for granted. And yet he felt that
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: the death of General Poland Tallis would leave an empty
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: place in his life. Colonel Van Dusen was still holding forth.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: So I told him, I said, Look, Lieutenant, I said,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: don't rock the boat. You're a kid yet, you know,
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: I said. You got equal rights with everybody else, I said,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: but if you rock the boat, you aren't going to
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: get along so well. You just behave yourself, I said,
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: and pull your share of the load and do your
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: job right and keep your nose clean and you'll come
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: out all right. Time I get to be on the
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: general staff, I told him, while you'll be taking over
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: my job, maybe. That's the way it works, I said.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: a good kid i mean he's a fresh young punk
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: that's all he'll learn okay he'll climb right up once
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: he's got the right attitude why when i was but
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: macmaine was no longer listening it was astonishing to realize
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: that what van dusen had said was perfectly true a
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: blockhead like van dusen would simply be lifted to a
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: position of higher authority only to be replaced by another
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: blockhead there would be no essential change in the status quo.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: The Karothi were winning steadily, and the people of Earth
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: and her colonies were making no changes whatever in their
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: way of living. The majority of people were too blind
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: to be able to see what was happening, and the
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: rest were afraid to admit the danger even to themselves.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: It required no great understanding of strategy to see what
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: the inevitable outcome must be. At some point in the
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: last few centuries, human civilization had taken the wrong path,
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: a path that led only to oblivion. It was at
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: that moment that Colonel Sebastian McMain made his decision. End
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: of Part 2 Part 3 of The Highest Treason. This
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: The Highest Treason by Randall Garrett. Part 3. The Escape.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Are you sure you understand, Tallis? McMain asked in Karothik.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: The alien general nodded emphatically. Perfectly. Your Karothik is not
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: so bad that I can misunderstand your instructions. I still
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: don't understand why you are doing this. Oh, I know
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: the reasons you've given me, but I don't completely believe them. However,
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: I'll go along with you. The worst that could happen
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: would be for me to be killed, and I would
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: sooner face death in trying to escape than in waiting
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: for your executioners. If this is some sort of trap,
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: some sort of weird way your race's twisted idea of
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: kindness has evolved to dispose of me, Then I'll accept
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: your sentence. It's better than starving to death or facing
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: a firing squad. Not a firing squad, McMain said. That
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be kind. An odorless but quite deadly gas would
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: be pumped into this cell while you slept. That's worse.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: When death comes, I want to face it and fight
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: it off as long as possible, not have it sneaking
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: up on me in my sleep. I think I'd rather starve.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: You would, said McMain. The food that was captured with
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: you has nearly run out, and we haven't been able
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: to capture any more. But rather than let you suffer,
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: they would have killed you painlessly. He glanced at the
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: watch on his instrument cuff. Almost time. McMain looked the
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: alien over once more. Tallis was dressed in the uniform
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: of Earth Space Force, and the insignia of a full
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: general gleamed on his collar. His face and hands had
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: been sprayed with an opaque, pink-tan film. and his hairless
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: head was covered with a black wig. He wouldn't pass
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: a close inspection, but McMain fervently hoped that he wouldn't
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: need to. Think it out, be sure you're right, then
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: go ahead. Sebastian McMain had done just that. For three
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: months he had worked over the details of his plan,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: making sure that they were as perfect as he was
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: capable of making them. Even so, there was a great
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: deal of risk involved, and there were too many details
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: that required luck for McMain to be perfectly happy about
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: the plan. But time was running out. As the General's
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: food supply dwindled, his execution date neared, and now it
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: was only two days away. There was no point in
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: waiting until the last minute. It was now or never.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: There were no spying TV cameras in the General's cell,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: no hidden microphones to report and record what went on.
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: No one had ever escaped from the Space Force's prison,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: therefore no one ever would. McMain glanced again at his watch.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: It was time. He reached inside his blouse and took
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: out a fully loaded handgun. For an instant the alien
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: officer's eyes widened and he stiffened as if he were
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: ready to die in an attempt to disarm the Earthmen.
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: Then he saw that McMain wasn't holding it by the butt.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: His hand was clasped around the middle of the weapon.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: This is a chance I have to take, McMain said evenly.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: With this gun you can shoot me down right here
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: and try to escape alone. I've told you every detail
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: of our course of action and with luck you might
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: make it alone. He held out his hand with the
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: weapon resting on his open palm. General Tallis eyed the
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: Earthman for a long second. Then, without haste, he took
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: the gun and inspected it with a professional eye. Do
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: you know how to operate it? McMain asked, forcing calmness
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: into his voice. Yes, we've captured plenty of them. Tallis
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: thumbed the stud that allowed the magazine to slide out
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: of the button into his hand. Then he checked the
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: mechanism and the power cartridges. Finally, he replaced the magazine
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: and put the weapon into the empty sleeve holster that
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: McMain had given him. McMain let his breath out slowly.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: All right, he said, let's go. He opened the door
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: of the cell and both men stepped out into the corridor.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: At the far end of the corridor, some thirty yards away,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: stood the two armed guards who kept watch over the prisoner.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: At that distance it was impossible to tell that Tallis
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: was not what he appeared to be. The guard had
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: been changed while McMain was in the prisoner's cell. and
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: he was relying on the lax discipline of the soldiers
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: to get him and Tallis out of the cell block.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: With luck, the guards would have failed to listen too
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: closely to what they had been told by the men
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: they replaced. With even greater luck, the previous guardsmen would
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: have failed to be too explicit about who was in
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the prisoner's cell. With no luck at all, McMain would
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: be forced to shoot to kill. McMain walked casually up
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: to the two men who came to an easy attention.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: I want you two men to come with me. Something
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: odd has happened, and General Quimby and I want two
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: witnesses as to what went on. What happened, sir? one
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: of them asked. Don't know for sure, McMain said in
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: a puzzled voice. The General and I were talking to
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: the prisoner when all of a sudden he fell over.
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: I think he's dead. I couldn't find a heartbeat. I
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: want you to take a look at him so that
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: you can testify that we didn't shoot him or anything. Obediently,
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: the two guards headed for the cell and McMain fell
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: in behind them. You couldn't have shot him, sir, said
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: the second guard confidently. We would have heard the shot. Besides,
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: said the other, it don't matter much. He was going
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: to be gassed day after tomorrow. As the trio approached
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: the cell, Tallis pulled the door open a little wider,
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: and in doing so contrived to put himself behind it
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: so that his face couldn't be seen. The young guards
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: weren't too awed by a full general. After all, they'd
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: be generals themselves some day. They were much more interested
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: in seeing the dead alien. As the guards reached the
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: cell door, McMain unholstered his pistol from his sleeve and
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: brought it down hard on the head of the nearest youth.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: At the same time, Tala stepped from behind the door
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: and clouted the other. Quickly, McMain disarmed the fallen men
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: and dragged them into the open cell. He came out
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: again and locked the door securely. Their guns were tossed
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: into an empty cell nearby. They won't be missed until
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: the next change of watch in four hours, McMain said.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: By then it won't matter one way or another. Getting
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: out of the huge building that housed the administrative offices
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: of the Space Force was relatively easy. A lift chute
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: brought the pair to the main floor, and this late
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: in the evening there weren't many people on that floor.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: The officers and men who had night duty were working
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: on the upper floors. Several times Tallis had to take
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: a handkerchief from his pocket and pretend to blow his nose,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: in order to conceal his alien features from someone who
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: came too close, but no one appeared to notice anything
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: out of the ordinary. As they walked out boldly through
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: the main door fifteen minutes later, the guards merely came
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: to attention and relaxed as a tall colonel and a
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: somewhat shorter general strode out. The general appeared to be
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: having a fit of sneezing, and the colonel was heard
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: to say, That's quite a cold you've picked up, sir.
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: Better get over to the dispensary and pick up an
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: anti-coriza shot. Mm, said the General. Getting to the spaceport
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: was no problem at all. McMain had an official car waiting,
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: and the two sergeants in the front seat didn't pay
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: any attention to the General getting in the back seat
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: because Colonel McMain was talking to them. We're ready to roll, Sergeant,
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: he said to the driver. General Quimby wants to go
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: straight to the Manila, so let's get there as fast
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: as possible. Takeoff is scheduled in ten minutes. Then he
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: got into the back seat himself. The one-way glass partition
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: that separated the back seat from the front prevented either
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: of the two men from looking back at their passengers.
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: Seven minutes later, the staff car was rolling unquestioned through
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the main gate of Waikiki Spaceport. It was all so
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: incredibly easy, McMain thought. Nobody questioned an official car. Nobody
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: checked anything too closely. Nobody wanted to risk his lifelong
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: security by doing or saying something that might be considered
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: antisocial by a busy general. Besides, it never entered anyone's
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: mind that there could be anything wrong. If there was
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: a war on, apparently no one had been told about
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: it yet. McMain thought, was I ever that stubbornly blind?
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: Not quite, I guess, or I'd never have seen what
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: is happening. but he knew he hadn't been too much
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: more perceptive than those around him. Even to an intelligent man,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: the mask of stupidity can become a barrier to the
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: outside world, as well as a concealment from it. The
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: interstellar ship Manila was a small, fast, ten-man blaster boat
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: designed to get into the thick of a battle quickly,
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: strike hard, and get away. Unlike the bigger, more powerful battlecruisers,
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: she could be landed directly on any planet with less
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: than a 2G pole at the surface. The really big
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: babies had to be parked in an orbit and loaded
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: by shuttle. They'd break up of their own weight if
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: they tried to set down on anything bigger than a
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: good-sized planetoid. As long as their anti-acceleration fields were on,
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: they could take unimaginable thrusts along their axis, but the
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: AA fields were the cause of those thrusts as well
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: as the protection against them. The ships couldn't stand still
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: while they were operating, so they were no protection at
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: all against a planet's gravity. But a blaster boat was
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: small enough and compact enough to take the strain. It
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: had taken careful preparation to get the Manila ready to
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: go just exactly when McMain needed it. Papers had to
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: be forged and put into the chain of command's communication
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: at precisely the right times. Others had had to be
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: taken out and replaced with harmless near-duplicates so that the
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: commanding staff wouldn't discover the deception. He had had to
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: build up the fictional identity of a General Lucius Quimby
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: in such a way that it would take a thorough
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: check to discover that the officer who had been put
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: in command of the Manila was non-existent. It was two
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: minutes until take-off time when the staff car pulled up
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: at the foot of the ramp that led to the
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: main airlock of the ISS Manila. A young-looking captain was
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: standing nervously at the foot of it obviously afraid that
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: his new commander might be late for the takeoff, and
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: wondering what sort of decision he would have to make
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: if the General wasn't there at takeoff time. McMain could
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: imagine his feelings. General Quimby developed another sneezing fit as
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: he stepped out of the car. This was the touchiest
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: part of McMain's plan, the weakest link in the whole
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: chain of action. For a space of perhaps a minute,
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: the disguised Kurothi general would have to stand so close
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: to the young captain that the crudity of his makeup
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: job would be detectable. He had to keep that handkerchief
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: over his face, and yet do it in such a
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: way that it would seem natural. As Tallis climbed out
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: of the car, chuffing windily into the kerchief, McMain snapped
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: an order to the sergeant behind the wheel. That's all.
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: We're taking off almost immediately, so get that car out
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: of here. Then he walked rapidly over to the captain
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: who had snapped to attention. there was a definite look
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: of relief on his face now that he knew his
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: commander was on time all ready for takeoff captain everything
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: checked out ammunition energy packs all filled to capacity all
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: the crew aboard full rations and stores stowed away the
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: captain kept his eyes on mcmain's face as he answered Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: To the rapid fire of questions. He had no time
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: to shift his gaze to the face of his new CO,
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: who was snuffling his way toward the foot of the
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: landing ramp. McMain kept firing questions until Tallis was halfway
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: up the ramp. Then he said, Oh, by the way, Captain,
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: was the large package containing General Quimby's personal gear brought aboard?
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: The big package? Yes, sir. About fifteen minutes ago. Good,
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: said McMain. He looked up the ramp. Are there any
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: special orders at this time, sir? he asked. No, said Tallis,
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: without turning. Carry on, Colonel. He went on up to
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: the airlock. It had taken Tallis hours of practice to
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: say that phrase properly, but the training had been worth it.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: After Tallis was well inside the airlock, McMain whispered to
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: the young captain, As you can see, the general has
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: got a rather bad cold. He'll want to remain in
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: his cabin until he's over it. See that anti-coriza shots
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: are sent up from the dispensary as soon as we
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: are out of the solar system. Now let's go. We
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: have less than a minute till takeoff. McMain went up
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: the ramp with the captain scrambling up behind him. Tallis
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: was just stepping into the commander's cabin as the two
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: men entered the airlock. McMain didn't see him again until
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: the ship was twelve minutes on her way, nearly five
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: billion miles from Earth and still accelerating. He identified himself
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: at the door, and Tallis opened it cautiously. I brought
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: your anti-coriza shot, sir, he said. In a small ship
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: like the Manila, the captain and the seven crew members
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: could hear any conversation in the companionways. He stepped inside
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: and closed the door. Then he practically collapsed on the
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: nearest chair and had a good case of the shakes.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: So far, so good, he said. General Tallis grasped his
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: shoulder with a firm hand.' Brace up, Sebastian,' he said
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: gently and carothic.' You' ve done a beautiful job.' I still
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: can't believe it, but I'll have to admit that if
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: this is an act,' it' s a beautiful one.'' He gestured
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: toward the small desk in one corner of the room'
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: and the big package that was sitting on it.' The
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: food is all there.' I' ll have to eat sparingly, but
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: I can make it.' Now what's the rest of the plan?''
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: McMain took a deep breath, held it, and let it
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: out slowly.' His shake subsided to a faint, almost imperceptible quiver.
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: The captain doesn't know our destination. He was told that
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: he would receive secret instructions from you. His voice, he
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: noticed thankfully, was almost normal. He reached into his uniform
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: jacket and took out an official-looking sealed envelope. These are
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: the orders. We are going out to arrange a special
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: truce with the Karothi. What? That's what it says here.
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: You'll have to get on the sub-radio and do some
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: plain and fancy talking. Fortunately, not a man jack aboard
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: this ship knows a word of your language, so they'll
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: think you're arranging truce terms. They'll be sitting ducks when
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: your warship pulls up alongside and sends in a boarding party.
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: By the time they realize what has happened, it'll be
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: too late. You're giving us the ship, too? Tallis looked
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: at him wonderingly. And eight prisoners? Nine, said McMain. I'll
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: hand over my sidearm to you just before your men
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: come through the airlock. General Tallis sat down in the
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: other small chair, his eyes still on the Earthman. I
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: can't help but feel that this is some sort of trick,
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: but if it is, I can't see through it. Why
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: are you doing this, Sebastian? You may not understand this, Tallis,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: McMain said evenly, but I am fighting for freedom. the
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: freedom to think. End of Part 3 Part 4 of
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: The Highest Treason This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Highest Treason by Randall Garrett.
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: Part 4. The Traitor. Convincing the Karothi that he was
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: in earnest was more difficult than McMain had at first supposed.
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: He had done his best, and now, after nearly a
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: year of captivity, Tallis had come to tell him that
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: his offer had been accepted. General Tallis sat across from
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: Colonel McMain, smoking his cigarette absently. Just why are they
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: accepting my proposition? McMain asked bluntly. Because they can afford to,
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: Tala said with a smile. You will be watched, my
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: sibling by choice. Watched every moment for any sign of treason.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: Your flagship will be a small ten-man blaster boat, one
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: of our own. You gave us one, we'll give you one.
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: At the worst, we will come out even. At the best,
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: your admittedly brilliant grasp of tactics and strategy will enable
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: us to save thousands of Kurothi lives, to say nothing
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: of the immense savings in time and money. All I
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: ask is a chance to prove my ability and my loyalty.
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: You've already proven your ability. All of the strategy problems
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: that you have been given over the past year were
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: actual battles that had already been fought. In 87% of
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: the cases... YOUR STRATEGY PROVED TO BE SUPERIOR TO OUR OWN.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: IN MOST OF THE OTHERS IT WAS JUST AS GOOD.
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: IN ONLY THREE CASES WAS THE ESTIMATE OF YOUR LOSSES
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: HIGHER THAN THE ACTUAL LOSSES. ACTUALLY, WE'D BE FOOLS TO
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: TURN YOU DOWN. WE HAVE EVERYTHING TO GAIN AND NOTHING
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: TO LOSE. I FELT THE SAME WAY A YEAR AGO,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: SAID MCMAIN. EVEN BEING WATCHED ALL THE TIME WILL ALLOW
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: ME MORE FREEDOM THAN I HAD ON EARTH, IF THE
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: BOARD OF STRATEGY IS WILLING TO MEET MY TERMS. Tallis chuckled.'
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: They are. You'll be the best-paid officer in the entire fleet.
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: None of the rest of us gets a tenth of
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: what you'll be getting, as far as personal value is concerned.
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: And yet it costs us practically nothing. You drive an
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: attractive bargain, Sebastian.'' Is that the kind of pay you'd
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: like to get, Tallis?' McMane asked with a smile.' Why not?
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: You'll get your terms, full pay as a Karothi general.'
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: with retirement on full pay after the war is over.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: The pick of the most beautiful, by your standards, of
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: the earth-women we capture, a home on Keroth, built to
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: your specifications and full citizenship, including the freedom to enter
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: into any business relationship you wish. If you keep your promises,
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: we can keep ours and still come out ahead. Good.
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: When do we start? Now, said Talus, rising from his chair.
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: Put on your dress uniform and we'll go down to
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: see the High Commander. We've got to give you a
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: set of generals, Insignia, my sibling by choice. Tallis waited
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: while McMain donned the blue trousers and gold-trimmed red uniform
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: of a Karothi officer. When he was through, McMain looked
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: at himself in the mirror. There's one more thing, Tallis,
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: he said thoughtfully. What's that? This hair. This hair. I
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: think you better arrange to have it permanently removed according
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: to your custom. I can't do anything about the color
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: of my skin, but there's no point in my looking
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: like one of your wild hillmen. You're very gracious, Talus said,
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: and very wise. Our officers will certainly come closer to
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: feeling that you are one of us. I am one
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: of you from this moment, McMane said. I never intend
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: to see Earth again, except perhaps from space. when we
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: fight the final battle of the war. That may be
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: a hard battle, Tala said. Maybe, McMain said thoughtfully. On
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: the other hand, if my overall strategy comes out the
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: way I think it will, that battle may never be
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: fought at all. I think that complete and total surrender
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: will end the war before we ever get that close
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: to Earth. I hope you're right, Tala said firmly. This
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: war is costing far more than we had anticipated, in
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: spite of the weakness of your... that is, of Earth. Well,
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: McMain said with a slight grin, at least you've been
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: able to capture enough Earth food to keep me eating
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: well all this time. Tallis' grin was broad. You're right,
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: we're not doing too badly at that. Now, let's go.
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: The High Commander is waiting. McMain didn't realize until he
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: walked into the big room that what he was facing
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: was not just a discussion with a high officer, but
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: what amounted to a court of inquiry. The high commander,
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: a dome-headed, wrinkled, yellow-skinned, hard-eyed old Kurothai, was seated in
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: the center of a long, high desk, flanked on either
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: side by two lower-ranking generals who had the same deadly,
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: hard look. Off to one side, almost like a jury
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: in a jury box, sat twenty or so lesser officers,
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: none of them ranking below the Karothi equivalent of Lieutenant Colonel.
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: As far as McMain could tell, none of the officers
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: wore the insignia of fleet officers, the spaceship and comet
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: that showed that the wearer was a fighting man. These
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: were the men of the permanent headquarters staff, the military
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: group that controlled not only the armed forces of Keroth,
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: but the civil government as well. What's this? McMain hissed
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: in a whispered aside in English. Pair up, my brother,
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: Talus answered softly in the same tongue. All is well.
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: McMain had known long before he had ever heard of
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: General Polantalus that the hegemony of Caroth was governed by
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: a military junta, and that all Carothi were regarded as
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: members of the armed forces. Technically, there were no civilians.
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: They were legally members of the unorganized reserve and were
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: under military law. He had known that Karothi society was,
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: in its own way, as much a slave society as
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: that of Earth, but it had the advantage over Earth
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: in that the system did allow for advance by merit.
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: If a man had the determination to get ahead and
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: the ability to cut the throat, either literally or figuratively,
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: of the man above him in rank, he could take
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: his place. On a more strictly legal basis, it was
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: possible for a common trooper to become an officer by
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: going through the schools set up for that purpose. but
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: in practice it took both pull and pressure to get
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: into those schools. In theory, any citizen of the hegemony
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: could become an officer, and any officer could become a
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: member of the permanent headquarters staff. Actually, a much greater
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: preference was given to the children of officers. Examinations were
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: given periodically for the purpose of recruiting new members for
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: the elite officers' corps, and any citizen could take the
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: examination once, but the tests were heavily weighted in favor
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: of those who were already well-versed in matters military, including
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: what might be called the inside jokes of the officer's corps.
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: A common trooper had some chance of passing the examination.
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: A civilian had a very minute chance. A non-commissioned officer
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: had the best chance of passing the examination, but there
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: were age limits, which usually kept NCOs from getting a commission.
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: By the time a man became a non-commissioned officer, He
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: was too old to be admitted to the officers' training schools.
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: There were allowances made for extraordinary merit, which allowed common
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: troopers or upper-grade NCOs to be commissioned in spite of
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: the general rules, and an astute man could take advantage
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: of those allowances. Ability could get a man up the ladder,
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: but it had to be a particular kind of ability.
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: During his sojourn as a guest of the Karothi, McMain
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: had made a point of exploring the history of the race.
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: He knew perfectly well that the histories he had read
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: were doctored, twisted, and in general totally unreliable insofar as
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: presenting anything that would be called a history by an
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: unbiased investigator. But, knowing this, McMain had been able to
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: learn a great deal about the present society. Even if
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: the history was worthless as such, it did tell something
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: about the attitudes of a society that would make up
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: such a history. And, too, he felt that in general
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: the main events which had been catalogued actually occurred, the
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: details had been blurred and the attitudes of the people
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: had been misrepresented, but the skeleton was essentially factual. MacMaine
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: felt that he knew what kind of philosophy had produced
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: the mental attitudes of the court he now faced, and
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: he felt he knew how to handle himself before them.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: Half a dozen paces in front of the great desk,
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: the color of the floor tiling was different from that
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: of the rest of the floor. Instead of a solid blue,
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: it was a dead black. Tallis, who was slightly ahead
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: of McMain, came to a halt as his toes touched
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: the edge of the black area. Uh-oh. A bulk line,
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: McMain thought. He stopped sharply at the same point. Both
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: of them just stood there for a full minute while
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: they were carefully inspected by the members of the court.
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: Then the High Commander gestured with one hand, and the
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: officer to his left leaned forward and said, Why is
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: this one brought before us in the uniform of an officer,
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: bear of any insignia of rank? It could only be
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: a ritual question, McMain decided. They must know why he
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: was there. I bring him as a candidate for admission
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: to our in-group, Tallis replied formally, and ask the indulgence
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: of your superiorities, therefore. And who are you to ask
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: our indulgence? Tallis identified himself at length. Name, rank, serial number,
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: military record, etc., etc., etc. By the time he had finished,
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: McMain was beginning to think that the recitation would go
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: on forever. The High Commander had closed his eyes, and
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: he looked as if he had gone to sleep. There
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 1: was more formality. Through it all, McMain stood at rigid attention.
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: flexing his calf muscles occasionally to keep the blood flowing
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: in his legs. He had no desire to disgrace himself
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: by passing out in front of the court. Finally, the
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: Karothi officer stopped asking Talus questions and looked at the
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: High Commander. McMain got the feeling that there was about
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: to be a departure from the usual procedure. Without opening
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: his eyes, the High Commander said in a brittle, rather
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: harsh voice, These circumstances are unprecedented. Then he opened his
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: eyes and looked directly at McMain. Never has an animal
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: been proposed for such an honor. In times past, such
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: a proposal would have been mockery of this court and
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: this in-group, and a crime of such monstrous proportions as
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: to merit excommunication. McMain knew what that meant. The word
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: was used literally. The condemned one was cut off from
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: all communication by having his sensory nerves surgically severed. Madness
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: followed quickly. Psychosomatic death followed eventually, as the brain, cut
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: off from any outside stimuli except those which could not
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: be eliminated without death following instantly, finally became incapable of
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: keeping the body alive. Without feedback, control was impossible. and
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: the organism as a whole slowly deteriorated until death was inevitable.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: At first, the victim screamed and thrashed his limbs as
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: the brain sent out message after message to the rest
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: of the body, but since the brain had no way
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: of knowing whether the messages had been received or acted upon,
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: the victim soon went into a state comparable to that
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: of catatonia and finally died. If it was not the
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: ultimate impunishment, It was a damned close approach, McMain thought,
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: and he felt that the word damned could be used
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: in that sense without fear of exaggeration. However, the High
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: Commander went on, gazing at the ceiling, circumstances change. It
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: would once have been thought vile that a machine should
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: be allowed to do the work of a skilled man,
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: and the thought that a machine might do the work
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: with more precision and greater rapidity would have been almost blasphemous.
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: This case must be viewed in the same light. As
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: we are replacing certain of our workers on our outer
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: planets with Earth animals simply because they are capable of
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: doing the work more cheaply, so we must recognize that
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: the same interests of economy govern in this case. A
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: computing animal in that sense is in the same class
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: as a computing machine. It would be folly to waste
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: their abilities simply because they are not human. there also
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: arises the question of command. It has been represented to
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: this court by certain officers who have been active in
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: investigating the candidate animal, that it would be as degrading
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: to ask a human officer to take orders from an
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: animal as it would be to ask him to take
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: orders from a commoner of the unorganized reserve, if not
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: more so. And I must admit there is on the
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: surface of it some basis for this reasoning. But again,
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: we must not let ourselves be misled. Does not a
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: spaceship pilot in a sense take orders from the computer
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: that gives him his orbits and courses? In fact, do
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: not all computers give orders in one way or another
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: to those who use them? Why then should we refuse
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: to take orders from a computing animal? He paused and
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: appeared to listen to the silence in the room before
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: going on. Stand at ease until the High Commander looks
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: at you again. Talus said in a low aside. This
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: was definitely the pause for adjusting to surprise. It seemed interminable,
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: though it couldn't have been longer than a minute later
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: that the High Commander dropped his gaze from the ceiling
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: to McMain. When McMain snapped to attention again, the others
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: in the room became suddenly silent. We feel, the hard-faced
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: old Kurothai continued as if there had been no break,
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: then in this case we are justified in employing the
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: animal in question. However, we must make certain exceptions to
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: our normal procedure. The candidate is not a machine, and
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: therefore cannot be treated as a machine. Neither is it human,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: and therefore cannot be treated as human. Therefore, this is
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: the judgment of the court of the ingroup. The animal,
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: having shown itself to be capable of behaving in some
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: degree as befits an officer, including, as we have been informed,
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: voluntarily conforming to our custom as regards superfluous hair, it
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: shall henceforth be considered as having the same status as
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: an untaught child or a barbarian, insofar as social conventions
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: are concerned, and shall be entitled to the use of
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: the human pronoun he. Further, he shall be entitled to
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: wear the uniform he now wears, and the insignia of
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: a general of the fleet he shall be entitled as
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: far as personal contact goes to the privileges of that
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: rank and shall be addressed as such he will be
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: accorded the right of punishment of an officer of that
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: rank in so far as disciplining his inferiors is concerned
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: except that he must first secure the concurrence of his
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: guardian officer as hereinafter provided HE SHALL ALSO BE SUBJECT
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: TO PUNISHMENT IN THE SAME WAY AND FOR THE SAME
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: OFFENSES AS HUMANS OF HIS RANK, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT PHYSIOLOGICAL
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: DIFFERENCES EXCEPT AS HEREIN AFTER PROVIDED. HIS REWARD FOR PROPER SERVICE,
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: THE HIGH COMMANDER LISTED THE DEMANDS MCMAIN HAD MADE, ARE
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: DEEMED FITTING AND SHALL BE PAID, PROVIDING HIS DUTIES IN
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: SERVICE ARE CARRIED OUT AS PROPOSED. OBVIOUSLY, HOWEVER, CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: MUST BE MADE. Colonel McMain, as he is entitled to
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: be called, is employed solely as a strategy computer. His
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: ability as such and his knowledge of the psychology of
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: the earth animals are, as far as we are concerned
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: at this moment, his only useful attributes. Therefore his command
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: is restricted to that function. He is empowered to act
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: only through the other officers of the fleet as this
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: court may appoint. He is not to command directly. Further,
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: it is ordered that he shall have a guardian officer
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: who shall accompany him at all times and shall be
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: directly responsible for his actions. That officer shall be punished
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: for any deliberate crime committed by the aforesaid General McMain
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: as if he had himself committed the crime. Until such
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: time as this court may appoint another officer for the purpose,
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: General Poland-Tolles, previously identified in these proceedings, is appointed as
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: guardian officer. The High Commander paused for a moment, then
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: he said, Proceed with the investment of the insignia. All
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: or to volunteer... please visit LibriVox.org. The Highest Treason by
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: Randall Garrett Part 5. The Strategy General Sebastian McMain, sometime
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: Colonel of Earth Space Force and presently a General of
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: the Kurothi Fleet, looked at the array of stars that
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: appeared to drift by the main viewplate of his flagship,
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: the blaster boat Shudos. Behind him General Tallis was saying,
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 1: You've done well, Sebastian. Better than anyone could have really expected.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: Three battles so far, and every one of them won
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: by a margin far greater than anticipated. Any ideas that
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: anyone may have had that you were not wholly working
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: for the Karothi cause has certainly been dispelled. Thanks, Tallis.
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: McMain turned to look at the Karothi officer. I only
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: hope that I can keep it up. Now that we're
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: ready for the big push, I can't help but wonder
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: what would happen if I were to lose a battle. Frankly,
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: Talos said, that would depend on several things, the main
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: one being whether or not it appeared that you had
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: deliberately thrown the advantage to the enemy. But nobody expects you,
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: or anyone else, to win every time. Even the most
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: brilliant commander can make an honest mistake, and if it
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 1: can be shown that it was an honest mistake... and
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: one furthermore that he could not have been expected to avoid,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't be punished for it. In your case, I'll
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: admit that the investigation would be a great deal more
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: thorough than normal, and that you wouldn't get as much
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: of the benefit of the doubt as another officer might,
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: but unless there is a deliberate error, I doubt that
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: anything serious would happen. Do you really believe that, Tallis?
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: Or is it just wishful thinking on your part, knowing
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: as you do that your punishment will be the same
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: as mine if I fail? McMain asked flatly. Talos didn't hesitate.'
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: If I didn't believe it, I would ask to be
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: relieved as your guardian, and the moment I did that,
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: you would be removed from command. The moment I feel
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: that you are not acting for the best interests of Keroth,
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: I will act, not only to protect myself, but to
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: protect my people.'' That' s fair enough,' McMain said.' But how
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: about the others?' I cannot speak for my fellow officers,
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: only for myself. Then Tallis's voice became cold. Just keep
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: your hands clean, Sebastian, and all will be well. You
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: will not be punished for mistakes, only for crimes. If
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: you are planning no crimes, this worry of yours is needless.
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 1: I ceased to worry about myself long ago, MacMaine said coolly.
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: I do not fear personal death. Not even by excommunication.
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: My sole worry is about the ultimate outcome of the
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: war if I should fail. That and nothing more. I
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: believe you, Talos said. Let us say no more about it.
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: Your actions are difficult for us to understand in some ways,
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: that's all. No Kurothai would ever change his allegiance as
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: you have. Nor has any Earth officer that we have
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: captured shown any desire to do so. Oh, some of
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: them have agreed to do almost anything we wanted them to,
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 1: but these were not the intelligent ones, and even they
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: were only doing it to save their own miserable hides. Still,
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: you are an exceptional man, Sebastian, unlike any other of
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: your race as far as we know. Perhaps it is
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: simply that you are the only one with enough wisdom
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: to seek your intellectual equals rather than remain loyal to
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: a mass of stupid animals who are fit only to
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: be slaves.' It was because I foresaw their eventual enslavement'
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: that I acted as I did,' McMain admitted.' As I
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: saw it, I had only two choices,' to remain as
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: I was and become a slave to the Kurothai,' or
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: to put myself in your hands willingly and hope for
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: the best.'' As you—' he was interrupted by a harsh
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: voice from a nearby speaker.' Battle stations! Battle stations!' Enemy
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: fleet and detector range! Contact in twelve minutes!' Tallis and
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: McMain headed for the command room at a fast trot.
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: The three other Karothi who made up the strategy staff
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: came in at almost the same time. There was a
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: flurry of activity as the computers and viewers were readied
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: for action. Then the Karothi looked expectantly at the Earthmen.
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: McMain looked at the detector screens. The deployment of the
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: approaching Earth fleet was almost as he had expected it
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: would be. There were slight differences, but they would require
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: only minor changes in the strategy he had mapped out
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: from the information brought in by the Karothi scout ships. Undoubtedly,
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: the Karothi position had been relayed to the Earth commander
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: by their own advanced scouts buzzing about in tiny one-man shells,
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 1: just small enough to be undetectable at normal range. Watching
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: the positions on the screens carefully, McMain called out a
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: series of numbers in an unhurried voice and watched as
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: the orders relayed by the Karothi staff changed the position
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: of parts of the Karothi fleet. Then, as the computer-led
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: Earth fleet jockeyed to compensate for the change in the
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: Karothi deployment, McMain called out more orders. The High Commander
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: of Karoth had called McMain a computing animal, but the
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: term was far from accurate. McMain couldn't possibly have computed
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: all the variables in that battle, and he didn't try.
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: It was a matter of human intuition against mechanical logic.
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: The advantage lay with McMain, for while the computer could
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: not logically fathom the intuitive processes of its human opponent,
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: McMain could and did have an intuitive grasp of the
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: machine's logic. McMain didn't need to know every variable in
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: the pattern. He only needed to know the pattern as
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: a whole. The Shudos was well in the rear of
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: the main body of the Karothi fleet. There was every
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: necessity for keeping McMain's flagship out of as much of
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: the fighting as possible. When the first contact was made,
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: McMain was certain of the outcome. His voice became a
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: steady drone as he called out instructions to the staff officers.
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: His mind was so fully occupied with the moving pattern
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: before him that he noticed nothing else in the room
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: around him. Spaceship against spaceship, the two fleets locked in battle.
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: The warheads of ultralight torpedoes flared their eyes searing explosions
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: soundlessly into the void ships exploded like overcharged beer bottles
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: as blaster energy caught them and smashed through their screens
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: men and machines flamed and died scattering the strip nuclei
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: of their component atoms through the screaming silence of space
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: And through it all, Sebastian MacMaine watched dispassionately, calling out
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: his orders as ten Earthmen died for every Karothi death.
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: This was a crucial battle. The big push toward the
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: center of Earth's cluster of worlds had begun. Until now,
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: the Karothi had been fighting the outposts, the planets on
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: the fringes of Earth's sphere of influence which were only
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: lightly colonized and therefore relatively easy to take. Earth's strongest
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: fleets were out there to protect planets that could not
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: protect themselves. Inside that periphery were the more densely populated planets,
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: the self-sufficient colonies which were more or less able to
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: defend themselves without too much reliance on space fleets as such.
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: But now that the backbone of the Earth's space force
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: had been all but broken, it would be a relatively
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: easy matter to mop up planet after planet since each
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: one could be surrounded separately pounded into surrender and secured
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: before going on to the next. That at least had
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: been the original Kurothi intention. But McMain had told them
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: that there was another way, a way which, if it succeeded,
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: would save time, lives, and money for the Kurothi. And
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: if it failed, McMain said, they would be no worse off.
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: They would simply have to resume the original plan. Now
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: the first of the big colony planets was to be taken.
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: When the protecting Earth fleet was reduced to tatters, the
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: Karothi would go on to Houston's world as the first
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: step in the big push toward Earth itself. But McMain
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: wasn't thinking of that phase of the war. That was
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: still in the future, while the hellish space battle was
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: still at hand. He lost track of time as he
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: watched the Karothi fleet take advantage of their superior tactical
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: position and tear the Earth fleet to bits. Not until
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: he saw the remains of the Earth fleet turn tail
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: and run did he realize that the battle had been won.
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: The Karothi fleet consolidated itself. There was no point in
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: pursuing the fleeting Earth ships. That would only break up
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: the solidity of the Karothi deployment. The losers could afford
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: to scatter. The winners could not. Early in the war,
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: the Karothi had used that trick against Earth. The Karothi
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: had broken and fled, and the Earth fleet had split
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: up to chase them down. The scattered Earth ships had
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: suddenly found that they had been led into traps composed
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: of hidden clusters of Karothi ships. Naturally, the trick had
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: never worked again for either side. All right, McMain said
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: when it was all over. Let's get on to Houston's world.
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: The staff men, including Tallis, were already on their feet,
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: congratulating McMain and shaking his hands. Even General Hokotan said,
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: The headquarters staffman, who had been transferred temporarily to the
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 1: fleet force to keep an eye on both McMain and Tallis,
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: was enthusiastically pounding McMain's shoulder. No one aboard was supposed
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: to know that Hokatan was a headquarters officer, but McMain
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: had spotted the spy rather easily. There was a difference
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 1: between the fighters of the fleet and the politicos of headquarters.
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: The politicos were no harder, perhaps, nor more ruthless than
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: the fighters. but they were of a different breed. Theirs
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: was the ruthlessness of the bully who steps on those
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: who are weaker, rather than the ruthlessness of the man
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: who kills only to win a battle. McMain had the
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: feeling that the headquarters staff preferred to spend their time
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: browbeating their underlings rather than risk their necks with someone
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: who could fight back, however weakly. General Hokotan seemed to
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: have more of the fighting quality than most HQ men,
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: but he wasn't a fleet officer at heart. He couldn't
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: be compared to Tallis without looking small and mean. As
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: a matter of cold fact, very few of the officers
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: were in any way comparable to Tallis, not even the
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: fleet men. The more McMain learned of the Karothi, the
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: more he realized just how lucky he had been that
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: it had been Tallis and not some other Karothi general
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: who had been captured by the Earth Forces. He was
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: not at all sure that his plan would have worked
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: at all with any of the other officers he had met. Tallis,
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: like McMain, was an unusual specimen of his race. McMain
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 1: took the congratulations of the Karothi officers with a look
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: of pleasure on his face, and when they had subsided somewhat,
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: he grinned and said, Let's get a little work done
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: around here, shall we? We have a planet to redo shit.
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: They laughed. Reducing a planet didn't require strategy, only firepower.
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: The planet-based defenses couldn't maneuver, but the energy reserve of
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: a planet is greater than that of any fleet, no
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: matter how large. Each defense point would have to be
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 1: cut down individually by the massed power of the fleet,
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: cut down one by one until the planet was helpless.
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 1: The planet as a whole might have more energy reserve
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: than the fleet, but no individual defense point did. The
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: problem was to avoid being hit by the rest of
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: the defense points while one single point was bearing the
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: brunt of the fleet's attack. It wasn't without danger, but
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: it could be done. And for a job like that,
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: McMain's special abilities weren't needed. He could only watch and
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: wait until it was over. So he watched and waited.
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: Unlike the short-time fury of a space battle, the reduction
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: of a planet took days of steady pounding. When it
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: was over, the blaster boats of the Kurothi fleet and
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: the shuttles from the great battlecruisers landed on Houston's world
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: and took possession of the planet. McMain was waiting in
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: his cabin when General Hokutam brought the news that the
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: planet was secured. They are ours, the HQ man said
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: with a superior smile. The sniveling animals didn't even seem
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: to want to defend themselves. They don't even know how
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 1: to fight a hand-to-hand battle. How could such things have
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 1: ever evolved intelligence enough to conquer space? Hookaton enjoyed making
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: such remarks to McMain's face, knowing that since McMain was
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: technically a Karothi, he couldn't show any emotion when the
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: enemy was insulted. McMain showed none. Got them all, eh?
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: he said. All but a few who scattered into the
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: hills and forests. but not many of them had the
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: guts to leave the security of their cities, even though
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: we were occupying them. How many are left alive? An
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: estimated 150 million, more or less. Good. That should be
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: enough to set an example. I picked Houston's world because
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: we can withdraw from it without weakening our position. Its
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: position in space is such that it would constitute no
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: menace to us, even if we never reduced it. That
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 1: way we can be sure that our little message is
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: received on Earth. Hokatan's grin was wolfish. And the whole
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 1: weak-hearted race will shake with fear, eh? Exactly. Talos can
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: speak English well enough to be understood. Have him make
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: the announcement to them. He can word it however he likes,
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: but the essence is to be this. Houston's world resisted
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: the occupation by Karothi troops. An example must be made
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: of them to show them what happens to Earthmen who resist.
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: That's all? That's enough. Oh, by the way, make sure
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: that there are plenty of their cargo spaceships in good
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: working order. I doubt that we've ruined them all, but
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: if we have, repair some of them. And, too, you
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: better make sure that you allow some of the merchant
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 1: spacemen to escape, just in case there are no space
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: pilots among those who took to the hills. We want
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: to make sure that someone can use those ships to
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: take the news back to Earth. And the rest? Hokatan
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: asked with an expectant look. He knew what was to
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: be done, but he wanted to hear McMain say it again.
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: McMain obliged. Hang them. Every man, every woman, every child.
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: I want them to be decorating every lamppost and roof
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: beam on the planet, dangling like overripe fruit when the
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: Earth forces return. Part 6 of The Highest Treason This
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org.
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: The Highest Treason by Randall Garrett. Part 6. The Results.
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: I don't understand it, said General Polantalis wordly. Where are
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: they coming from? How are they doing it? What's happened?
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: McMain and the four Karothi officers were sitting in the
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: small dining room that doubled as a recreation room between meals.
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: The nervous strain of the past few months was beginning
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: to tell on all of them. Six months ago, Talus
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 1: continued jerkily, we had them beaten. One planet after another
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: was reduced in turn. Then out of nowhere comes a
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 1: fleet of ships we didn't even know existed and they've
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: smashed us at every turn. If they are ships, said Lupot,
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: the youngest officer of the Shudo staff. Who ever heard
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: of a battleship that was undetectable at a distance of
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: less than half a million miles? It's impossible. Then we're
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: being torn to pieces by the impossible, Hokatan snapped. Before
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 1: we even know they are anywhere around, they are blasting
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: us with everything they've got. Not even the strategic genius
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: of General McMain can help us if we have no
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: time to plot strategy. The Karothi had been avoiding McMain's eyes,
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: but now, at the mention of his name, they all
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: looked at him as if their collective gaze had been
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: drawn to him by some unknown attractive force. It's like
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: fighting ghosts, McMain said in a hushed voice. For the
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: first time, he felt a feeling of awe that was
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: almost akin to fear. What had he done? In another sense,
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: that same question was in the mind of the Karothi.
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: Have you any notion at all what they are doing
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 1: or how they are doing it? asked Talos gently. None,
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 1: McMain answered truthfully. None at all, I swear to you.
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: They don't even behave like Earthmen. said the fourth Kurothai,
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: a thick-necked officer named Asif. They not only outfight us,
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: they outthink us at every turn. Is it possible, General McMain,
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: that the Earthmen have allies of another race, a race
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: of intelligent beings that we don't know of? He left
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: unsaid the added implication, and that you have neglected to
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: tell us about. Again, said McMain, I swear to you
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: that I know nothing of any third intelligent race in
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: the galaxy. If there were such allies, Talos said, isn't
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: it odd that they should wait so long to aid
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: their friends? No odder than that the Earthmen should suddenly
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: develop superweapons that we cannot understand, much less fight against,
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: Hokatan said with a touch of anger. Not superweapons, McMain
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: corrected almost absently. All they have is a method of
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: making their biggest ships undetectable until they're so close that
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. When they do register on our detectors,
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: it's too late. But the weapons they strike with are
• 1:41:24
  Speaker 1: the same type as they've always used, I believe. All right, then,
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 1: Okatan said, his voice showing more anger. One weapon, or
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it. Practical invisibility. But that's enough.
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 1: An invisible man with a knife is more deadly than
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: a dozen ordinary men with modern armament. Are you sure
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: you know nothing of this, General McMane? Before McMane could answer,
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: Tala said, Don't be ridiculous, Hokatan. If he had known
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: that such a weapon existed, would he have been fool
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 1: enough to leave his people? With that secret, they stand
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: a good chance of beating us in less than half
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: the time it took us to wipe out their fleet.
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: or rather to wipe out as much of it as
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: we did. They got a new fleet somewhere, said young Lupot,
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 1: almost to himself. Tallis ignored him. If McMain deserted his
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 1: former allegiance, knowing that they had a method of rendering
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: the action of a space drive indetectable, then he was
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: and is a blithering idiot, and we know he isn't.
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: All right, all right, I concede that. snapped Hokatan. He
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: knows nothing. I don't say that I fully trust him
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: even now, but I'll admit that I cannot see how
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: he is to blame for the reversals of the past
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: few months. If the Earthmen had somehow been informed of
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 1: our activities, or if we had invented a superweapon and
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 1: they found out about it, I would be inclined to
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: put the blame squarely on McMane. But how would he
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 1: get such information out? Tallis cut in sharply. He has
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: been watched every minute of every day. We know he
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: couldn't send any information to Earth. How could he? Telepathy,
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: for all I know, Hokatan retorted. But that's beside the point.
• 1:43:24
  Speaker 1: I don't trust him any farther than I can see him,
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 1: and not completely, even then. But I concede that there
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: is no possible connection between this new menace and anything
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: that Mane might have done. This is no time to
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: worry about that sort of thing. We've got to find
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: some way of getting our hands on one of those
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: ghost ships. I do suggest, put in the thick-necked Asif,
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: that we keep a closer watch on General McMain. Now
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: that the earth animals are making a comeback, he might
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: decide to turn his coat now, even if he has
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: been innocent of any acts against Keros so far. Hokutan's
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: laugh was a short, hard bark. Oh, we'll watch him,
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: all right, Asif. but as Tallis has pointed out, McMane
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: is not a fool, and he would certainly be a
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 1: fool to return to Earth if his leaving it was
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 1: a genuine act of desertion. The last planet we captured
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: before this invisibility thing came up to stop us was
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 1: plastered all over with notices that the Earth fleet was
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: concentrating on the capture of the arch-traitor McMane. The price
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: on his head as a corpse is enough to allow
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: an Earthman to retire in luxury for life. The man
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: who brings him back alive gets ten times that amount.
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: Of course, it's possible that the whole thing is a
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: put-up job, a smokescreen for our benefit. That's why we
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 1: must and will keep a closer watch. But only a
• 1:44:55
  Speaker 1: few of the Earth's higher-up would know that it was
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: a smokescreen. The rest believe it, whether it is true
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: or not.' McMain would have to be very careful' not
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 1: to let the wrong people get their hands on him
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 1: if he returned.'' It' s no smokescreen,' McMain said in a
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 1: matter-of-fact tone.' I assure you that I have no intention
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: of returning to Earth.' If Keroth loses this war, then
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 1: I will die,' either fighting for the Kurothai' or by
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: execution at the hands of Earthmen if I am captured.'' Or,'
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: he added musingly, perhaps even at the hands of the Karothi,
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: if someone decides that a scapegoat is needed to atone
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: for the loss of the war. If you are guilty
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 1: of treason, Hokatan Bart, you will die as a traitor.
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 1: If you are not, there is no need for your death.
• 1:45:46
  Speaker 1: The Karothi do not need scapegoats. Talk, talk, talk, Tala
• 1:45:53
  Speaker 1: said with a sudden bellow. We have agreed that McMain
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: has done nothing that could even remotely be regarded as suspicious.
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: He has fought hard and loyally. He has been more
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 1: ruthless than any of us in destroying the enemy. Very well.
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 1: We will guard him more closely. We can put him
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: in irons if that's necessary. But let's quit yapping and
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 1: start thinking. We've been acting like frightened children, not knowing
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: what it is we fear, inventing our fear-caused anger on
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: the most handy target. Let's act like men, not like children.
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: After a moment, Hokatan said, I agree. His voice was firm,
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: but calm. Our job will be to get our hands
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: on one of those new Earth ships. Anyone have any suggestions?
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 1: They had all kinds of suggestions, one after another. The detectors, however,
• 1:46:50
  Speaker 1: worked because they detected the distortion of space. which was
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: as necessary for the drive of a ship as the
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: distortion of air was necessary for the movement of a
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 1: propeller-driven aircraft. None of them could see how a ship
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: could avoid making that distortion, and none of them could
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: figure out how to go about capturing a ship that
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: no one could even detect until it was too late
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: to set a trap. The discussion went on for days,
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 1: and it was continued the next day, and the next,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: and the days dragged out into weeks. Communications with Keroth
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: broke down. The fleet-to-headquarters courier ships, small in size, without armament,
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: and practically solidly packed with drive mechanism, could presumably outrun
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: anything but another unarmed courier. An armed ship of the
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: same size would have to use some of the space
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 1: for her weapons, which meant that the drive would have
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: to be smaller. If the drive remained the same size,
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 1: then the armament would make the ship larger. In either case,
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: the speed would be cut down. A smaller ship might
• 1:47:54
  Speaker 1: outrun a standard courier, but if they got much smaller,
• 1:47:57
  Speaker 1: there wouldn't be room inside for the pilot. Nonetheless, courier
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 1: after courier never arrived at its destination. And the Kurothi
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: fleet was being decimated by the hit-and-run tactics of the
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: Earth's ghost ships. And Earth never lost a ship. By
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 1: the time the Kurothi ships knew their enemy was in
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: the vicinity, the enemy had hit and vanished again. The
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: Kurothi never had a chance to ready their weapons. In
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: the long run, they never had a chance at all.
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: McMain waited with almost fatalistic complacence for the inevitable to happen.
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: When it did happen, he was ready for it. The Shidos,
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: tiny flagship of what had once been a mighty armada
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: and was now only a tattered remnant, was floating in
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: orbit along with the other remaining ships of the fleet
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: around a bloated red giant sun. With their drives off,
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: there was no way of detecting them at any distance,
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 1: and the chance of their being found by accident was
• 1:49:03
  Speaker 1: microscopically small. But they could not wait forever. Water could
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: be recirculated, and energy could be tapped from the nearby sun,
• 1:49:13
  Speaker 1: but food was gone once it was eaten. Hokutan's decision
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 1: was inevitable, and under the circumstances the only possible one.
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: He simply told them what they had already known, that
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: he was a headquarters staff officer. We haven't heard from
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 1: headquarters in weeks, he said at last. The Earth fleet
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: may already be well inside our periphery. We'll have to
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: go home. He produced a document, which he had obviously
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: been holding in reserve for another purpose, and handed it
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 1: to Talos. Headquarters staff orders, Talos. It empowers me to
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 1: take command of the fleet in the event of an emergency,
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: and the decision as to what constitutes an emergency was
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: left up to my discretion. I must admit that this
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: is not the emergency any of us at headquarters anticipated.
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 1: Tallis read through the document. I see that it isn't,
• 1:50:13
  Speaker 1: he said dryly. According to this, McMain and I are
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: to be placed under immediate arrest as soon as you
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: find it necessary to act. Yes, said Hokutan bitterly. So
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 1: you can both consider yourselves under arrest. Don't bother to
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 1: lock yourselves up. There's no point in it. General McMain,
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 1: I see no reason to inform the rest of the
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: fleet of this, so we will go on as usual.
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: The orders I have to give are simple. The fleet
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: will head for home by the most direct possible geodesic.
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 1: Since we cannot fight, we will simply ignore attacks and
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: keep going as long as we last. We can do
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 1: nothing else. He paused thoughtfully. And, General McMain... In case
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: we do not live through this, I would like to
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 1: extend my apologies. I do not like you. I don't
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: think I could ever learn to like a non-Karothi. But
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 1: I know when to admit an error in judgment. You
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: have fought bravely and well. Better I know than I
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 1: could have done myself. You have shown yourself to be
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: loyal to your adopted planet. You are a Karothi in
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: every sense of the word except the physical. My apologies
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: for having wronged you. He extended his hands and McMain
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 1: took them. A choking sensation constricted the Earthman's throat for
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: a moment. Then he got the words out, the words
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: he had to say. Believe me, General Hokotan, there was
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 1: no need for an apology. No need whatever. Thank you.
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 1: said Hokitan. Then he turned and left the room. All right, Talos,
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: McMain said hurriedly. Let's get moving. The orders were given
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: to the remnants of the fleet, and they cut in
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: their drives to head homeward. In the instant they did,
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: there was chaos. Earth's fleet of ghost ships had been
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 1: patrolling the area for weeks, knowing that the Karothi fleet
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 1: had last been detected somewhere in the vicinity. As soon
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 1: as the spatial distortions of the kerothi drives flashed on
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 1: the Earth ship's detectors, the Earth fleet, widely scattered over
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 1: the whole circumambient volume of space, coalesced toward the center
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: of the spatial disturbance like a cloud of bees, all
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: heading for the same flower. Where there had been only
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: the dull red light of the giant star, there suddenly
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: appeared the blinding blue-white brilliance of disintegrating matter, blossoming like cruel, deadly,
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: beautiful flowers in the midst of the Karothi ships, then
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 1: fading slowly as each expanding cloud of plasma cooled. Sebastian
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: McMane might have died with the others, except that the Shudos,
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: as the flagship, was to trail behind the fleet, so
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 1: her drive had not yet been activated. The Shudos was
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: still in orbit, moving at only a few miles per
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 1: second when the Earth fleet struck. Her drive never did
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 1: go on, A bomb, only a short distance away as
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 1: the distance from atomic disintegration is measured, sent the Shudos
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: spinning away end over end like a discarded cigar butt
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: flipped toward a gutter, one side caved in near the
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: rear as if it had been kicked in by a
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 1: giant foot. There was still air in the ship, McMane
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: realized groggily as he awoke from the unconsciousness that had
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: been thrust upon him. He tried to stand up, but
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: he found himself staggering toward one crazily slanted wall. The
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: stagger was partly due to his grogginess and partly due
• 1:53:59
  Speaker 1: to the Coriolis forces acting within the spinning ship. The
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 1: artificial gravity was gone, which meant that the interstellar drive
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: engines had been smashed. He wondered if the emergency rocket
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: drive was still working. Not that it would take him
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 1: anywhere worth going to in less than a few centuries.
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: But then Sebastian McMane had nowhere to go anyhow. Tallis
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: lay against one wall looking very limp. McMane half staggered
• 1:54:27
  Speaker 1: over to him and knelt down. Tallis was still alive.
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: The centrifugal force caused by the spinning ship gave an
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: effective pull of less than one earth gravity, but the
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 1: weird twists caused by the Coriolis forces made motion and
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 1: orientation difficult. Besides, the ship was spinning slightly on her
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: long axis as well as turning end for end. McMain
• 1:54:52
  Speaker 1: stood there for a moment, trying to think. He had
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: expected to die. Death was something he had known was
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: inevitable from the moment he made his decision to leave Earth.
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 1: He had not known how or when it would come,
• 1:55:07
  Speaker 1: but he had known that it would come soon. He
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: had known that he would never live to collect the
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: reward he had demanded of the Kurothi for faithful service.
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: Traitor he might be, but he was still honest enough
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 1: with himself to know that he would never take payment
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: for services he had not rendered. Now death was very near,
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: and Sebastian McMain almost welcomed it. He had no desire
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: to fight it. Tallis might want to stand and fight
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 1: death to the end, but Tallis was not carrying the
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: monstrous weight of guilt that would stay with Sebastian McMain
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: until his death, no matter how much he tried to
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: justify his actions. On the other hand, if he had
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: to go, he might as well do a good job
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: of it. Since he still had a short time left,
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: he might as well wrap the whole thing up in
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 1: a neat package. How? Again, his intuitive ability to see
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: pattern gave him the answer long before he could have
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: reasoned it out. They will know, he thought, but they
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: will never be sure they know. I will be immortal,
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 1: and my name will live forever, although no Earthman will
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: ever again use the surname McMane nor the given name Sebastian.
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: He shook his head to clear it. No use thinking
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: like that now. there were things to be done. Talus first.
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: McMain made his way over to one of the emergency
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 1: medical kits that he knew were kept in every compartment
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 1: of every ship. One of the doors of a wall
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: locker hung open, and the blue-green medical symbol used by
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: the Karothi showed darkly in the dim light that came
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 1: from the three unshattered glowplates in the ceiling. He opened
• 1:57:04
  Speaker 1: the kit, hoping that it contained something equivalent to adhesive tape.
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: He had never inspected a Karothi medical kit before. Fortunately,
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: he could read Karothi. If a military government was good
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: for nothing else, at least it was capable of enforcing
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 1: a simplified phonetic orthography so that words were pronounced as
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: they were spelled, and he forced his wandering mind back
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: to his work. The blow on the head, plus the
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: crazy effect the spinning was having on his inner ears,
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 1: plus the cockeyed gravitational orientation that made his eyes feel
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 1: as though they were seeing things at two different angles,
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: all combined to make for more than a little mental confusion.
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: There was adhesive tape, all right. Wound on its little spool,
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: it looked almost homey. He spent several minutes winding the
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: sticky plastic ribbon around Tallis's wrists and ankles. Then he
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 1: took the gun from the Karothi general's sleeve holster. He
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: had never been allowed one of his own, and holding
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: it firmly in his right hand, he went on a
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: tour of the ship. It was hard to move around.
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: The centrifugal force varied from point to point throughout the ship,
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: and the corridors were cluttered with debris that seemed to
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: move with a life of its own as each piece
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: shifted slowly under the effects of the various forces working
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: on it. And, as the various masses moved about, the
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: rate of spin of the ship changed as the law
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: of conservation of angular momentum operated. The ship was full
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: of sliding, clattering, jangling noises as the stuff tried to
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: find a final resting place and bring the ship to equilibrium.
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: He found the door to Asif's cabin open and the
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: room empty. He found Asif in Lupat's cabin, trying to
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: get the younger officer to his feet. Asif saw McMain
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: at the door and said, You're alive! Good! Help me!
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: Then he saw the gun in McMain's hand and stopped.
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: It was the last thing he saw before McMain shot
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: him neatly between the eyes. Lupot, only half-conscious, never even
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: knew he was in danger, and the blast that drilled
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: through his brain prevented him from ever knowing anything again
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: in this life. Like a man in a dream, McMain
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 1: went on to Hokotan's cabin, his weapon at the ready.
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 1: He was rather pleased to find that the HQ general
• 1:59:34
  Speaker 1: was already quite dead, his neck broken as cleanly as
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 1: if it had been done by a hangman. Hardly an
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: hour before, McMain would cheerfully have shot Hokotan where it
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 1: would hurt the most and watch him die slowly. but
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: the memory of Hokatan's honest apology made the Earthman very
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 1: glad that he did not have to shoot the General
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: at all. There remained only the five-man crew, the NCO
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: technician and his gang who actually ran the ship. They
• 2:00:04
  Speaker 1: would be at the tail of the ship in the
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: engine compartment. To get there, he had to cross the
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: center of spin of the ship in the change of
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 1: gravity from one direction to another, decreasing toward zero, passing
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: the null point, and rising again on the other side
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: made him nauseous. He felt better after his stomach had
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: emptied itself. Cautiously, he opened the door to the drive
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: compartment and then slammed it hard in sudden fear when
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 1: he saw what had happened. The shielding had been torn
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: away from one of the energy converters and exposed the
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 1: room to high-energy radiation. The crewmen were quite dead. The
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: fear went away as quickly as it had come. So
• 2:00:45
  Speaker 1: maybe he'd dosed himself with a few hundred rinkins. So what?
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: A little radiation never hurt a dead man. But he
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: knew now that there was no possibility of escape. The
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 1: drive was wrecked, and the only other means of escape,
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 1: the one-man courier boat that every blaster boat carried, had
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: been sent out weeks ago and had never returned. If
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 1: only the courier boat were still in its cradle. McMain
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 1: shook his head. No. It was better this way. Much better.
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: He turned and went back to the dining room where
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 1: Tallis was trussed up. This time, passing the Nol-G point
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: didn't bother him much at all. Tallis was moaning a little,
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: and his eyelids were fluttering by the time McMahon got back.
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: The Earthman opened the medical kit again and looked for
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: some kind of stimulant. He had no knowledge of medical
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: or chemical terms in Karothik, but there was a box
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: of glass ampules bearing instructions to Crush and allow patient
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: to inhale fumes. That sounded right. The stuff smelled like
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: a mixture of spirits of ammonia and butyl mercaptan, but
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: it did the job. Tallis coughed convulsively, turned his head away,
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: coughed again, and opened his eyes. McMain tossed the stinking
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: ampule out into the corridor as Tallis tried to focus
• 2:02:07
  Speaker 1: his eyes. How do you feel? McMain asked. His voice
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: sounded oddly thick in his own ears.' All right. I'm
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: all right.'' What happened?' He looked wonderingly around.' Near miss?''
• 2:02:24
  Speaker 1: Must be. Anyone hurt?'' They' re all dead but you and me,'
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 1: McMain said.' Dead? Then we better—' He tried to move
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: and then realized that he was bound hand and foot.
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: The sudden realization of his position seemed to clear his
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: brain completely.' Sepastian, what's going on here? Why am I
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 1: tied up?'' I had to tie you,' McMain explained carefully,
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: as though to a child.' There are some things I
• 2:02:56
  Speaker 1: have to do yet, and I wouldn't want you to
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: stop me.'' Maybe I should have just shot you while
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: you were unconscious.' That would have been kinder to both
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: of us, I think. But, but Talus, I had to
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: tell somebody. Someone else has to know. Someone else has
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 1: to judge. Or maybe I just want to unload it
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 1: on someone else. Someone who will carry the burden with
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 1: me for just a little while. I don't know.' Sebastian,
• 2:03:36
  Speaker 1: what are you talking about?' The Karothi's face shone dully
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: orange in the dim light, his bright green eyes looked
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: steadily at the Earthman, and his voice was oddly gentle.'
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 1: I' m talking about treason,' said McMane.' Do you want to listen?''
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: I don't have much choice, do I?' Tala said.' Tell
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 1: me one thing first.' Are we going to die?' You are, Tallis,
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: but I won't. I'm going to be immortal. Tallis looked
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: at him for a long moment, then, All right, Sebastian.
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 1: I'm no psych man, but I know you're not well.
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: I'll listen to whatever you have to say, but first
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: untie my hands and feet. I can't do that, Tallis. Sorry. Sorry.
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 1: but if our positions were reversed, I know what I
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: would do to you when I heard the story, and
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: I can't let you kill me because there's something more
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: that has to be done. Talos knew at that moment
• 2:04:43
  Speaker 1: that he was looking at the face of death, and
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 1: he also knew that there was nothing, whatever, he could
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 1: do about it except talk and listen. Very well, Sebastian,
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: he said lovely. Go ahead. Treason, you say? How? Against whom?
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure, said Sebastian McMain. I thought maybe
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 1: you could tell me. End of Part 6 Part 7
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 1: of The Highest Treason This is a LibriVox recording. ALL
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 1: LIBRIVOX RECORDINGS ARE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. FOR MORE INFORMATION
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: OR TO VOLUNTEER, PLEASE VISIT LIBRIVOX.ORG. THE HIGHEST TREASON BY
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: RANDALL GARRETT. PART VII. THE REASON. LET ME ASK YOU
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 1: ONE THING, TALLIS, MCMAIN SAID. WOULD YOU DO ANYTHING IN
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: YOUR POWER TO SAVE CAROTH FROM DESTRUCTION? Anything, no matter
• 2:05:59
  Speaker 1: how drastic, if you knew that it would save Keroth
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 1: in the long run? A foolish question. Of course I would.
• 2:06:06
  Speaker 1: I would give my life. Your life? A mere nothing.
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 1: A pittance. Any man could give his life. Would you
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: consent to live forever for Keroth? Talos shook his head
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: as though he were puzzled. Live forever? That's twice or
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: three times you've said something about that. I don't understand you.
• 2:06:32
  Speaker 1: Would you consent to live forever as a filthy curse
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: on the lips of every Karothi old enough to speak?
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: Would you consent to be a vile, inhuman monster whose
• 2:06:46
  Speaker 1: undead spirit would hang over your homeland like an evil
• 2:06:50
  Speaker 1: miasma for centuries to come, whose very name would touch
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: a flame of hatred in the minds of all who
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 1: heard it. That's a very melodramatic way of putting it,
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 1: the Keroth I said, but I believe I understand what
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 1: you mean. Yes, I would consent to that if it
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 1: would be the only salvation of Keroth. Would you slaughter
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: helpless millions of your own people so that other billions
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: might survive? Would you ruthlessly smash your system of government
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: and your whole way of life if it were the
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: only way to save the people themselves? I'm beginning to
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: see what you're driving at, Tala said slowly. And if
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 1: it is what I think it is, I think I
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 1: would like to kill you very slowly. I know, I know.
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: But you haven't answered my question yet. Would you do
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 1: those things to save your people? I would, said Talus coldly.
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: Don't misunderstand me. I do not loathe you for what
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: you have done to your own people. I hate you
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 1: for what you have done to mine. That's as it
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 1: should be, said MacMaine. His head was clearing up more now.
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 1: He realized that he had been talking a little wildly
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: at first. Or was he really insane? Had he been
• 2:08:18
  Speaker 1: insane from the beginning? No. He knew with absolute clarity
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 1: that every step he had made had been cold, calculating,
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: and ruthless, but utterly and absolutely sane. He suddenly wished
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 1: that he had shot Tallis without wakening him. If his
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 1: mind hadn't been in such a state of shock, he
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: would have. There was no need to torture the man
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: like this.' Go on,' said Tullis in a voice that
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: had suddenly become devoid of all emotion.' Tell it all.''
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: Earth was stagnating,' McMane said, 'surprised at the sound of
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 1: his own voice.' He hadn't intended to go on.' But
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: he couldn't stop now.' You saw how it was.' Every
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: standard had become meaningless' because no standard was held to
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: be better than any other standard.' There was no beauty
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: because beauty was superior to ugliness.' and we couldn't allow
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 1: superiority or inferiority. There was no love, because in order
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: to love someone or something, you must feel that it
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: is in some way superior to that which is not loved.
• 2:09:28
  Speaker 1: I'm not even sure I know what those terms mean,
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: because I'm not sure I ever thought anything was beautiful.
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure I ever loved anything. I only read
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: about such things in books. but I know I felt
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: the emptiness inside me where those things should have been.
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 1: There was no morality either. People did not refrain from
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 1: stealing because it was wrong, but simply because it was
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 1: pointless to steal what would be given to you if
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 1: you asked for it. There was no right or wrong.
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: We had a form of social contract that we called marriage,
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 1: but it wasn't the same thing as marriage was in
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: the old days. There was no love. There used to
• 2:10:10
  Speaker 1: be a crime called adultery, But even the word had
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: gone out of use on the earth I knew. Instead,
• 2:10:17
  Speaker 1: it was considered antisocial for a woman to refuse to
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 1: give herself to other men. To do so might indicate
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 1: that she thought herself superior or thought her husband to
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: be superior to other men. The same thing applied to
• 2:10:31
  Speaker 1: men and their relationships with women other than their wives.
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: Marriage was a social contract that could be made or
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 1: broken at the whim of the individual. It served no
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 1: purpose because it meant nothing. Neither party gained anything by
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 1: the contract that they wouldn't have had without it. But
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: a wedding was an excuse for a gala party at
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 1: which the couple were the center of attention. So the
• 2:10:55
  Speaker 1: contract was entered into lightly for the sake of a
• 2:10:57
  Speaker 1: gay time for a while, then broken again so that
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: the game could be played with someone else. The game
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 1: of musical bedrooms. He stopped and looked down at the
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: helpless Karothi. That doesn't mean much to you, does it?
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: In your society, women are chattel to be owned, bought,
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 1: and sold. If you see a woman you want, you
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: offer a price to her father or brother or husband,
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: whoever the owner might be. Then she's yours until you
• 2:11:26
  Speaker 1: sell her to another. Adultery is a very serious crime
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: on Caroth, but only because it's an infringement of property rights.
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 1: There's not much love lost there, either, is there? I
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 1: wonder if either of us knows what love is, Talos.
• 2:11:44
  Speaker 1: I love my people, Talos said grimly. MacMaine was startled
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 1: for a moment. He'd never thought about it that way.
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 1: You're right, Talos, he said at last. You're right, we
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: do know. And because I love the human race, in
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 1: spite of its stagnation and its spirit of total mediocrity,
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: I did what I had to do. You will pardon me,
• 2:12:10
  Speaker 1: Tala said, with only the faintest bit of acid in
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: his voice, if I do not understand exactly what it
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: is that you did. Then his voice grew softer. Wait.
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I do understand. Yes, of course. You think you understand?
• 2:12:30
  Speaker 1: MacMaine looked at him narrowly. Yes. I said that I
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 1: am not a psychomedic, and my getting angry with you
• 2:12:38
  Speaker 1: proves it. You fought hard and well for Carol, Sebastian,
• 2:12:43
  Speaker 1: and in doing so you had to kill many of
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 1: your own race. It is not easy for a man
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: to do, no matter how much your reason tells you
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 1: it must be done. And now, in the face of death,
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: remorse has come. I do not completely understand the workings
• 2:12:57
  Speaker 1: of the Earthman's mind, but I— That's just it. You don't,
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: McMahon interrupted. Thanks for trying to find an excuse for me, Tallis,
• 2:13:06
  Speaker 1: but I'm afraid it isn't so. Listen. I had to
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: find out what Earth was up against. I had a
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: pretty good idea already that the Karothi would win, would
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 1: wipe us out or enslave us to the last man.
• 2:13:21
  Speaker 1: And after I had seen Karoth I was certain of it.
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 1: So I sent a message back to Earth telling them
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 1: what they were up against because up till then they
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 1: hadn't known. As soon as they knew they reacted as
• 2:13:34
  Speaker 1: they have always done when they are certain that they
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: face danger. They fought. They unleashed the chained-down intelligence of
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 1: a few extraordinary Earthmen, and they released the fighting spirit
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: of even the ordinary Earthmen. And they won. Talos shook
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: his head. You sent no message, Sebastian. You were watched.
• 2:13:56
  Speaker 1: You know that. You could not have sent a message.
• 2:14:01
  Speaker 1: You saw me send it, McMane said. So did everyone
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 1: else in the fleet. Hokatan helped me send it. made
• 2:14:09
  Speaker 1: all the arrangements at my orders. But because you do
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: not understand the workings of the Earthman's mind, you didn't
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: even recognize it as a message. Talus, what would your
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: people have done if an invading force, which had already
• 2:14:23
  Speaker 1: proven that it could whip Keroth easily, did to one
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 1: of your planets what we did on Houston's world? If
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: the enemy showed us that they could easily beat us
• 2:14:33
  Speaker 1: and then hang the whole population of a planet for resisting? Why,
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 1: we would be fools to resist. Unless, of course, we
• 2:14:41
  Speaker 1: had a secret weapon in a hidden pocket the way
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: Earth had. No, Talos, no. That's where you're making your mistake.
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 1: Earth didn't have that weapon until after the massacre on
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: Houston's World. Let me ask you another thing. Would any
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 1: Karothi have ordered that massacre? I doubt it, Talos said slowly.
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 1: Killing that many potential slaves would be wasteful and expensive.
• 2:15:08
  Speaker 1: We are fighters, not butchers. We kill only when it
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: is necessary to win. The remainder of the enemy is
• 2:15:15
  Speaker 1: taken care of as the rightful property of the conqueror. Exactly.
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 1: Prisoners were part of the loot, and it's foolish to
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 1: destroy loot. I noticed that in your history books. I noticed, too,
• 2:15:28
  Speaker 1: that in such cases the captives recognized the right of
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: the conqueror to enslave them, and made no trouble. So,
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 1: after Earth's forces get to Keroth, I don't think we'll
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: have any trouble with you. Not if they set us
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: an example like Houston's world, Talus said, and can prove
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 1: that resistance is futile. But I don't understand the message.
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 1: What was the message, and how did you send it?
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 1: The massacre on Houston's world was the message, Talus. I
• 2:15:59
  Speaker 1: even told the staff when I suggested it. I said
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 1: that such an act would strike terror into the minds
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: of Earthmen. And it did, Talos. It did. But that
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: terror was just the goad they needed to make them fight.
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 1: They had to sit up and take notice. If the
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 1: Karothi had gone on the way they were going, taking
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: one planet after another as they planned, the Karothi would
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: have won. The people of each planet would think, it
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: can't happen here. And, since they felt that nothing could
• 2:16:31
  Speaker 1: be superior to anything else, they were complacently certain that
• 2:16:35
  Speaker 1: they couldn't be beat. Of course, maybe Earth couldn't beat
• 2:16:38
  Speaker 1: you either, but that was all right. It just proved
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 1: that there was no such thing as superiority. But Houston's
• 2:16:45
  Speaker 1: world jarred them badly. It had to. Hell does more
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 1: than heaven can to wake the fear of God in man.
• 2:16:56
  Speaker 1: They didn't recognize beauty. but I shoved ugliness down their throats.
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: They didn't know love and friendship, so I gave them
• 2:17:05
  Speaker 1: hatred and fear. The committing of atrocities has been the
• 2:17:10
  Speaker 1: mistake of aggressors throughout Earth's history. The battle cries of
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: countless wars have called upon the people to remember an atrocity.
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: Nothing else hits an Earthman as hard as a vicious, brutal,
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 1: unnecessary murder. So I gave them the incentive to fight, Talos.
• 2:17:28
  Speaker 1: That was my message. Talos was staring at him wide-eyed.
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: You are insane. No, it worked. In six months they
• 2:17:42
  Speaker 1: found something that would enable them to blast the devil
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: Korothi from the skies. I don't know what the society
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: of Earth is like now, and I never will. But
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: at least I know that men are allowed to think again,
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 1: and I know they'll survive. He suddenly realized how much
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: time had passed. Had it been too long? No. There
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 1: would still be Earth ships prowling the vicinity, waiting for
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 1: any sign of a Karothi ship that had hidden in
• 2:18:12
  Speaker 1: the vastness of space by not using its engines. I
• 2:18:17
  Speaker 1: have some things I must do, Talos, he said, standing
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 1: up slowly. Is there anything else you want to know?
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 1: Talos frowned a little, as though he were trying to
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 1: think of something, but then he closed his eyes and relaxed. No, Sebastian, nothing. Nothing.
• 2:18:36
  Speaker 1: Do whatever it is you have to do. Tallis, McMain said.
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 1: Tallis didn't open his eyes, and McMain was very glad
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: of that. Tallis, I want you to know that in
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: all my life, you were the only friend I ever had.
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 1: The bright green eyes remained closed. That may be so. Yes, Sebastian,
• 2:19:04
  Speaker 1: I honestly think you believe that. I do, said McMain.
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 1: and shot him carefully through the head. The Highest Treason
• 2:19:16
  Speaker 1: by Randall Garrett The End and Epilogue Hold it! The
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 1: voice bellowed thunderingly from the loudspeakers of the six Earth
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 1: ships that had boxed in the derelict. Hold it! Don't
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: bomb that ship. I'll personally have the head of any
• 2:19:59
  Speaker 1: man who damages that ship. In five of the ships,
• 2:20:03
  Speaker 1: the commander simply held off the bombardment that would have
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 1: vaporized the derelict. In the sixth, Major Thornton, the group commander,
• 2:20:11
  Speaker 1: snapped off the microphone. His voice was shaky as he said,
• 2:20:16
  Speaker 1: That was close. Another second and we'd have lost that
• 2:20:19
  Speaker 1: ship forever. Captain Verensky's oriental features had a half-startled, half-puzzled look.
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 1: I don't get it. You grabbed that mic control as
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: if you'd been bitten. I know that she's only a derelict.
• 2:20:33
  Speaker 1: After that burst of 50G acceleration for 15 minutes, there
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 1: couldn't be anyone left alive on her. But there must
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 1: have been a reason for using atomic rockets instead of
• 2:20:43
  Speaker 1: their anti-acceleration fields. What makes you think she's not dangerous?
• 2:20:48
  Speaker 1: I didn't say she wasn't dangerous, the Major snapped. She
• 2:20:52
  Speaker 1: may be. Probably is. But we're going to capture her
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: if we can. Look! He pointed at the image of
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: the ship in the screen. She wasn't spinning now, or
• 2:21:03
  Speaker 1: looping end over end. After fifteen minutes of high acceleration,
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: her atomic rockets had cut out, and now she moved
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: serenely at constant velocity, looking as dead as a battered
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: tin can. I don't see anything, Captain Verensky said. The
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: Karothik symbols on the side. Palatal, unvoiced, sibilant, rounded. I
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 1: don't read Karothik, Major, said the captain. I... Then he
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 1: blinked and said, Shudos. That's it. The Shudos of Karoth.
• 2:21:39
  Speaker 1: The flagship of the Karothi fleet. The look in the
• 2:21:44
  Speaker 1: Major's eyes was the same look of hatred that had
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: come into the captain's. Even if its armament is still functioning,
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 1: we have to take the chance, Major Thornton said. Even
• 2:21:54
  Speaker 1: if they're all dead, we have to try to get
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: the butcher's body. He picked up the microphone again. ATTENTION, GROUP.
• 2:22:02
  Speaker 1: LISTEN CAREFULLY AND DON'T GET ITCHY TRIGGER FINGERS. THAT SHIP
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: IS THE SHUDOS. THE BUTCHER'S SHIP. IT'S A TEN-MAN SHIP
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 1: AND THE MOST SHE COULD HAVE ABOARD WOULD BE THIRTY,
• 2:22:15
  Speaker 1: EVEN IF THEY JAMMED HER FULL TO THE HOLE. I
• 2:22:18
  Speaker 1: DON'T KNOW OF ANY WAY THAT ANYONE COULD BE ALIVE
• 2:22:20
  Speaker 1: ON HER AFTER FIFTEEN MINUTES AT FIFTY G'S OF ATOMIC DRIVE,
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: BUT REMEMBER THAT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW
• 2:22:26
  Speaker 1: OUR CONTERACTION GENERATORS DAMP OUT SPATIAL DISTORTION EITHER. Remember what Dr.
• 2:22:31
  Speaker 1: Pendrick said. No man is superior to any other in
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 1: all ways. Every man is superior to every other in
• 2:22:40
  Speaker 1: some way. We may have the counteraction generator, but they
• 2:22:44
  Speaker 1: may have something else that we don't know about, so
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 1: stay alert. I am going to take a landing party aboard.
• 2:22:51
  Speaker 1: There's a reward out for the butcher, and that reward
• 2:22:54
  Speaker 1: will be split proportionately among us. It's big enough for
• 2:22:57
  Speaker 1: us all to enjoy it, and we'll probably get citations
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: if we bring him in. I want ten men from
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 1: each ship. I'm not asking for volunteers. I want each
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 1: ship commander to pick the ten men he thinks will
• 2:23:10
  Speaker 1: be least likely to lose their heads in an emergency.
• 2:23:13
  Speaker 1: I don't want anyone to panic and shoot when he
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: should be thinking. I don't want anyone who had any
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 1: relatives on Houston's world. Sorry, but I can't allow vengeance yet.
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 1: We're a thousand miles from the Shudos now. Close in
• 2:23:29
  Speaker 1: slowly until we're within a hundred yards. The boarding parties
• 2:23:33
  Speaker 1: will don armor and prepare to board while we're closing in.
• 2:23:37
  Speaker 1: At a hundred yards we stop and the boarding parties
• 2:23:40
  Speaker 1: will land on the hull. I'll give further orders then.
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 1: One more thing. I don't think our AA generators could
• 2:23:47
  Speaker 1: possibly be functioning judging from that dent in our hull.
• 2:23:50
  Speaker 1: But we can't be sure. If she tries to go
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: into A.A. Drive, she is to be bombed, no matter
• 2:23:57
  Speaker 1: who is aboard. It is better that sixty men die
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 1: than that the butcher escape. All right. Let's go. Move in.
• 2:24:07
  Speaker 1: Half an hour later, Major Thornton stood on the hull
• 2:24:09
  Speaker 1: of the Chudos, surrounded by the sixty men of the
• 2:24:12
  Speaker 1: boarding party. Anybody see anything through those windows? he asked.
• 2:24:17
  Speaker 1: Several of the men had peered through the direct vision ports,
• 2:24:20
  Speaker 1: playing spotlight beams through them. Nothing alive, said a sergeant,
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: a remark which was followed by a chorus of agreement.
• 2:24:29
  Speaker 1: Pretty much of a mess in there, said another sergeant.
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: That 50 G's mashed everything to the floor. Why'd anyone
• 2:24:36
  Speaker 1: want to use acceleration like that? Let's go in and
• 2:24:40
  Speaker 1: find out, said Major Thornton. The outer door to the
• 2:24:44
  Speaker 1: airlock was closed, but not locked. It swung open easily
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: to disclose the room between the outer and inner doors.
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: Ten men went in with the Major. The others stayed
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: outside with orders to cut through the hole if anything
• 2:24:57
  Speaker 1: went wrong. If he's still alive, the Major said, we
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 1: don't want to kill him by blowing the air. Sergeant,
• 2:25:05
  Speaker 1: start the airlock cycle. There was barely room for ten
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 1: men in the airlock. It had been built big enough
• 2:25:12
  Speaker 1: for the full crew to use it at one time,
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: but it was only just big enough. When the inner
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 1: door opened, they went in cautiously. They spread out and
• 2:25:22
  Speaker 1: searched cautiously. The caution was unnecessary, as it turned out.
• 2:25:26
  Speaker 1: There wasn't a living thing aboard. Three officers shot through
• 2:25:30
  Speaker 1: the head, sir, said the sergeant. One of them looks
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 1: like he died of a broken neck, but it's hard
• 2:25:35
  Speaker 1: to tell after that fifty G's mashed him. Crewmen in
• 2:25:39
  Speaker 1: the engine room, five of them, mashed up. but I'd
• 2:25:42
  Speaker 1: say they died of radiation, since the shielding on one
• 2:25:45
  Speaker 1: of the generators was ruptured by the blast that made
• 2:25:47
  Speaker 1: that dent in the hole. Nine bodies, the Major said musingly.
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 1: All kerothi, and all of them probably dead before the
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 1: 50G acceleration. Keep looking, Sergeant. We've got to find that
• 2:26:04
  Speaker 1: tenth man. Another twenty-minute search gave them all the information
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 1: they were ever to get. No earth food aboard, said
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 1: the Major. One space suit missing. Hand weapons missing. Two
• 2:26:22
  Speaker 1: emergency survival kits and two medical kits missing. And, most
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 1: important of all, the courier boat is missing. He bitted
• 2:26:32
  Speaker 1: his lower lip for a moment, then went on. Outer
• 2:26:36
  Speaker 1: airlock door left unlocked. Three Karothi shot hit. after the
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 1: explosion that ruined the AA drive and before the 50G acceleration.
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 1: He looked at the sergeant. What do you think happened?
• 2:26:53
  Speaker 1: He got away, the tough-looking non-com said grimly, took the
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 1: courier boat and scooted away from here. Why did he
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 1: set the timer on the drive then? What was the
• 2:27:04
  Speaker 1: purpose of that 50G blast? To distract us, I'd say, sir.
• 2:27:09
  Speaker 1: While we were chasing this thing, he hightailed it out.
• 2:27:13
  Speaker 1: He might have at that, the Major said musingly. A
• 2:27:18
  Speaker 1: one-man courier could have gotten away. Our new detection equipment
• 2:27:23
  Speaker 1: isn't perfect yet. But... At that moment, one of the
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: troopers pushed himself down the corridor toward them. Look, sir,
• 2:27:32
  Speaker 1: I found this in the pocket of the carrot skin
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 1: who was taped up in there. He was holding a
• 2:27:36
  Speaker 1: piece of paper. The Major took it, read it then
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 1: read it aloud greetings fellow earthmen when you read this
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 1: I will be safe from any power you may think
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 1: you have to arrest or punish me but don't think
• 2:27:53
  Speaker 1: you are safe from me There are other intelligent races
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: in the galaxy, and I'll be around for a long
• 2:28:00
  Speaker 1: time to come. You haven't heard the last of me.
• 2:28:04
  Speaker 1: With love, Sebastian McMane. The silence that followed was almost deadly.
• 2:28:15
  Speaker 1: He did get away, snarled the sergeant at last. Maybe,
• 2:28:21
  Speaker 1: said the major, but it doesn't make sense. He sounded agitated. Look,
• 2:28:28
  Speaker 1: in the first place, how do we know the courier
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: boat was even aboard? They've been trying frantically to get
• 2:28:33
  Speaker 1: word back to Keroth. Does it make sense that they'd
• 2:28:36
  Speaker 1: save this boat? And why all the fanfare? Suppose he
• 2:28:40
  Speaker 1: did have a boat. Why would he attract our attention
• 2:28:43
  Speaker 1: with that 50G flare? Just so he could leave us
• 2:28:47
  Speaker 1: a note? What do you think happened, sir? The sergeant asked.
• 2:28:53
  Speaker 1: I don't think he had a boat. If he did,
• 2:28:56
  Speaker 1: he'd want us to think he was dead, not the
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 1: other way around. I think he set the drive timer
• 2:29:03
  Speaker 1: on this ship, went outside with his supplies, called up
• 2:29:06
  Speaker 1: a drive tube, and waited until that atomic rocket blast
• 2:29:10
  Speaker 1: blew him into plasma. He was probably badly wounded and
• 2:29:15
  Speaker 1: didn't want us to know that we'd won. That way
• 2:29:18
  Speaker 1: we'd never find him. There was no belief on the
• 2:29:22
  Speaker 1: faces of the men around him. Why'd he want to
• 2:29:26
  Speaker 1: do that, sir? asked the sergeant. Because as long as
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 1: we don't know, he'll haunt us. He'll be like Hitler
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: or Jack the Ripper. He'll be an immortal menace instead
• 2:29:38
  Speaker 1: of a dead villain who could be forgotten. Maybe so, sir,
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: said the sergeant, but there was an utter lack of
• 2:29:45
  Speaker 1: conviction in his voice. But we'd still better comb this
• 2:29:49
  Speaker 1: area and keep our detectors hot. We'll know what he
• 2:29:53
  Speaker 1: was up to when we catch him. But if we
• 2:29:56
  Speaker 1: don't find him, the Major said softly, we'll never know.
• 2:30:00
  Speaker 1: That's the beauty of it, Sergeant. If we don't find him,
• 2:30:05
  Speaker 1: then he's won. In his own fiendish, twisted way, he's won.
• 2:30:12
  Speaker 1: If we don't find him, said the Sergeant stolidly, I
• 2:30:15
  Speaker 1: think we better keep a sharp eye out for the
• 2:30:17
  Speaker 1: next intelligent race we meet. He might find him first. Maybe,
• 2:30:24
  Speaker 1: said the Major very softly, that's just what he wanted.
• 2:30:30
  Speaker 1: I wish I knew why. The End The End of
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 1: the Highest Treason by Randall Garrett