Cholly dropped a glass and spun around. “That’s all I need to hear. You’re going. An’ so’re you.” He aimed a finger at Sam. “Can’t leave this poor, innocent lamb to the mercy of them Terran wolves. I’ll guarantee yer return fare, if it comes to it.”
“Done!” Sam slapped the bar. “I’m off on the road back to Terra! But why can’t Bhelabher take it back himself?”
“Because he’s staying here.”
Cholly dropped another glass.
“Oh.” Sam chewed that one over. “How about his staff?”
“They’re staying too. Seems we’ll be needing ‘em.”
“No, don’t tell me—you’re cutting into me glassware.” Cholly held up a hand. “Shacklar’s giving ‘em all jobs.”
Dar nodded. “Bhelabher’s going to revise the filing system and streamline the bureaucracy.”
“Well, there goes private enterprise,” Cholly sighed.
“No, Bhelabher’s not that bad,” Sam said judiciously. “He did a fine job as long as he was only in charge of the records for Terra. It was when they put him in charge of the records for the whole I.D.E. that he ran into trouble.”
“Oh?” Cholly looked up, with a glimmer of hope. “He had the ability, but couldn’t handle responsibility, heh?”
Sam nodded. “Something like that. As long as he was able to take orders, he was fine. It was being top man that stymied him.”
“Better ‘n better.” Cholly nodded. “Then no doubt he’ll take Shacklar’s orders to leave some glitches in the bureaucracy.”
Sam frowned. “Why?”
“It makes for flexibility, lass. If the bureaucracy’s too efficient, it gives the central government too much power, and they control every aspect of life. But a little inefficiency … now, that leaves some room for a man to beat the system… Well! You’ll only have one problem, then, Dar.”
Dar looked up, startled. “What’s that?”
“Shacklar thinks you’re Ardnam Rod now, and all yer papers’ll be made out to him.”
“Oh.” Dar pursed his lips. “That will be a problem, won’t it?”
“But not much of one.” Sam patted his arm reassuringly. “Trust your traveling bureaucrat.”
Dar frowned. “Where’s he going?”
“Who?” Sam pressed up to the window, craning her neck. “That guy in the coverall, going over to the control shed?”
“Yeah—he’s the pilot! Who’s going to fly the ferry up to the courier ship?”
Sam shrugged. “His relief, I suppose. No doubt he’s taking a planet-side leave.”
“He’s just had a week’s worth—or, no, I can’t really say that, can I?”
“Right. For all you know, he’s run daily missions since Bhelabher came in.”
“But I didn’t know we had a relief pilot down here.”
“Is it your job to know the duty roster?”
Dar turned to her. “You know, as a traveling companion, you might get to be a bit difficult.”
Sam shrugged. “You’re free to choose any other BOA clerk you can find here.”
“Well, I suppose I could talk to one of Bhelabher’s people.” Dar turned back to the window. “But somehow, I think you’d be a little more …”
“Dependable, I assure you,” murmured an approaching voice.
Dar stiffened. “Company.”
“… Oh, I have no doubt of that,” Bhelabher was saying hurriedly. “But the situation is not. I am concerned that our courier might be delayed.”
Dar and Sam turned around slowly as Bhelabher and Shacklar came toward them. “I suggest you have a word with him yourself, and warn him of the pitfalls of the journey.” Shacklar looked up. “Well, Ardnam! This will be ‘bon voyage,’ then.” He clasped Dar’s hand tightly and gave it a shake. “You’ve been a credit to my command here, young man. I’ll be sorry to lose you—but do remember how great a service you’ll be performing, for all of us who remain here on Wolmar.”
“It’s a pleasure to do my duty, sir.” Dar took Shacklar’s commendation with a grain of salt, since “Ardnam” had only been under Shacklar’s command for a week.
Shacklar released his hand and stepped back. “I believe the Honorable has a word for you, too.” Bhelabher pressed in, and Shacklar turned away to Sam.
“Be careful, young man, do be careful,” Bhelabher said loudly, drawing Dar further away from Shacklar and Sam. He dropped his voice to a low rumble. “Now, I hadn’t wanted to mention this to the general; after all, there’s no need to worry him with something over which he has no control.”
Dar instantly felt a need to worry. “Uh … such as?”
“When I was back on Terra, and in an office of some influence, some members of the LORDS party approached me—you know of them?”
“Uh, yeah.” Dar wet his lips. “They’re the arch-conservatives in the assembly, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t have used the ‘arch’ a week ago. I do now, though.” Bhelabher shook his head in wonder. “What an amazing planet this is!”
“About the LORDS,” Dar prompted.
“Indeed. They approached me, to see if I would be interested in joining in a scheme to overthrow the Secretary-General and establish a temporary LORDS junta, to govern while the I.D.E. government could be restructured along more efficient lines.”
Dar stood rigid, feeling like a resistor in a high-voltage circuit. “You’re … talking about a dictatorship.”
“Certainly; it’s the most efficient form of government there is!”
“Oh, sure.” Dar passed a dry tongue over drier lips. “Of course it’s efficient. It just wipes out all those silly time-wasters—you know, parliamentary debate, public input, elections, trial by jury. All those silly, inefficient boondoggles.”
“Indeed it does. And as an administrator, I can assure you—they do take a great deal of time. They also encumber an amazing number of people, keeping them from tasks in production.”
Dar nodded sardonically. “And all you get for all that time and trouble are little, unnecessary luxuries, such as liberty and justice.”
“Make no mistake; they are luxuries.” Bhelabher smiled with sudden, amazing warmth. “But they seem much more important out here, where they help people to actually do something!”
“Kind of makes up for the cost?”
“Well worth it, well worth it! In fact, I’ve a suspicion liberty is actually cost-efficient, in a growing society.”
“But you couldn’t prove it, to the LORDS?”
Bhelabher smiled sadly. “Would they even listen?”
“I’d think so.” Dar frowned. “Even a conservative can have an open mind.”
“Not if he’s in power. Efficiency matters far more to those who give orders than to those who take them.” Bhelabher held up a forefinger. “Take the Minister of the Exchequer, now—his purpose is to keep the economy of the whole I.D.E. family of planets as high as possible.”
“Uh, with respect. Honorable—isn’t the correct word ‘profitable’?”
“No, it certainly isn’t—but the Minister very quickly comes to believe that it is. Consequently, he tends to frown on anything that costs more than it makes.”
Dar frowned. “Such as?”
“Such as trade to the outlying planets—for example, Wolmar.”
“Now, hold on!” Dar was amazed to realize he was getting angry; he fought down his temper, and went on. “We always ship out a lot of pipe weed.”
“Indeed you do—but I’ve seen the trade reports, and the goods I.D.E. sends to you cost far more than your pipe weed brings—not even counting the shipping cost. No, I.D.E. shows a definite loss on you.”
“Well, you’ll pardon me if I think we’re worth it!”
“Of course—more than worth it. But how do you explain that to the Minister of the Exchequer?”
“Hm.” Dar frowned. “I see the problem. And there’re a lot of planets like ours, aren’t there?”
“Upwards of thirty.” Bhelabher nodded. “Thirty frontier worlds, and the Minister shows a loss for each of them—thirty or forty billion BTUs apiece. It adds up to a very substantial drain on the economy.”
“It’ll pay off, though—someday!” Dar’s temper kindled again. “Give us time, and we’ll be sending out more than we bring in!” A sudden thought nudged Dar’s brain. He cocked his head to the side, gazing at Bhelabher through slitted eyes. “It’s no accident that you mentioned the Minister of the Exchequer, is it?”