“How am I doing?” Mary asked.
“You’ll be all right,” Lieutenant Commander Terry said. He looked at the X-ray again. “That treatment should do it. If it doesn’t, we’ll need to do some slicing.” He saw her look of dismay. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Routine, actually. You’re a standard chromotype. Regeneration stimulators work fine on you. Problem is, sometimes it’s easier to remove something and get it to grow back than to fix the original parts. Either way, you’ll be fine.”
“But what was wrong?”
“Vibration. Enough to tear some intestinal mesenteries. They’ll grow back, but I’m worried about adhesions.”
“That sounds serious.”
“Not really. You’ll have to take it easy for a bit, that’s all. Nothing strenuous.”
“I—” She was embarrassed, but it had to be said. “I was hoping to be married. Quite soon.”
“Hmm. Honeymoon wouldn’t be very interesting for a while,” he said. “But we’ll get all that fixed, too. You’ll be fine.”
“You’re sure?” The honeymoon could wait. It wasn’t as if they were impatient virgins. But — “Are you really sure?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Commander Terry’s smile was reassuring. “I may not have had a lot of experience treating women’s problems, but yours is quite simple. Nothing wrong with the reproductive system. Just intestinal tissue. I’ll have you right in a few weeks.”
“I didn’t think you could treat colonials,” Mary said.
“We can’t, as a usual rule, but of course the rules don’t apply to prisoners.”
“Prisoner? But-”
“Didn’t you know? Sorry,” he said. “I thought they’d told you. Captain Greenaugh sent up an arrest order three hours ago. You’ve been charged with interfering with the orderly development of Makassar.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
HORSE COLLARS
The Imperial Marine officer was polite, but very insistent. “Colonel MacKinnie, I have my orders. You are to accompany me to Empire House immediately.” He looked around Dougal’s office, then at Dougal. “I have a squad of Marines outside, and I am in communication with Marine Barracks.”
“Calmly, calmly,” Dougal said. “We have offered no resistance. I merely asked what Colonel MacKinnie is charge with. I assume he is under arrest?”
“I’d rather not put it that way,” the officer said. “But I could.”
“But what am I charged with?” MacKinnie demanded.
The officer shrugged.
“What should I do?” MacKinnie asked.
Dougal looked grave. “I would prefer that you go with him. Until this matter is settled, we should be prepared to go to any lengths to show how well we cooperate with the Imperial authorities.”
MacKinnie shrugged. “All right.”
“We will protest to the High Commissioner at once,” Dougal said.
“While you’re doing that, get them to set Freelady Graham free,” MacKinnie said, “We’ve got a wedding scheduled.”
“We will do our best,” Dougal said. “I’ll talk to the King immediately.”
Nathan sat in an ornate chair in the study at Government House. A cheerful fire burned on the hearth, but he hardly noticed it.
Where is Mary? Have they brought her here, or is she still up in that ship? Damn them, damn them to hell. They’ll have to let her go. They can’t hold her, she’s the most famous person on Samual, better known than King David.
That thought was disturbing. Dougal would see that, too. What would Dougal do about it? He can’t have one of David’s subjects more popular than the king, not if he plans to control the development of this planet.
Wonder if he’ll get that control? He’s certain the Empire is going to approve his application for Class II status. He seems to know a lot about Ackoff. Or says he does, and I’ve no evidence one way or another.
Suppose he’s right, they approve David’s application and bring Samual into their Empire. What happens then? What have they done with Mary?
The door opened and a large man, formally dressed, came in. “Colonel MacKinnie? I am Dudley Boyd, First Secretary. His Excellency will see you now.” MacKinnie stood, remembering that it was in this room that he’d first met the Imperials. That seemed like a long time ago.
And it is interesting, MacKinnie thought as he followed the diplomat down the hall. The First Secretary for escort. I’ve come up in the world …
Mary was in the High Commissioner’s office. He went to her without waiting to be introduced to the Commissioner, but then he stood self-consciously. He wanted to hold her, but old habits die hard. “Are you all right ? You look pale.”
“I’m fine-”
“The Navy’s surgeon says she will recover,” Boyd said. “There was internal bleeding, and perhaps an intestinal adhesion may need minor surgery.”
“Was it bad?” Nathan asked.
She grinned lopsidedly. “No worse than the carts on
Makassar.” Her reserve broke, and she stepped toward him. He opened his arms and held her.
Boyd cleared his throat. “Your Excellency, may I present Colonel Nathan MacKinnie. Colonel, High Commissioner Sir Alexei Ackoff.”
“Your servant,” MacKinnie said automatically.
“Hardly,” Ackoff said. “Have you any idea of how many man-hours of planning you two have wrecked? No, I wouldn’t suppose you would. Sit down, Freelady, Colonel. We have much to discuss.” He led the way to the comfortable couches arranged at the far end of his office. “Would anyone care for a drink? This will be quite informal.”
“Informal but official,” Boyd warned. “Colonel, you and Freelady Graham have been charged with interfering with the orderly development of a primitive world, to wit, Makassar.”
“But we didn’t interfere,” Mary protested.
Ackoff waved impatiently. “Don’t be nonsensical, There’s always interference when an advanced people move among primitives.”
“I see,” MacKinnie said. “You were embarrassed by our ship, and you’ve chosen us to pay for it.”
“Pronouns,” Dudley Boyd said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wrong pronouns,” Boyd said. “You said ‘you,’ meaning us, and that’s not true. You’ve been arrested by Navy orders, not ours.”
“Makassar is under Navy jurisdiction,” Ackoff explained. “There is no civil government there. Captain Greenaugh is within his rights, and he could try you by court martial. You would then have the right to appeal to civil authority, which is to say, to me. We’re trying to save time by dealing directly with you.”
“But what did we do?” Mary asked.
“Captain Greenaugh is still building his case,” Ackoff said. “But as it happens, I can put one precise specification to his charge. Horse collars.”
“Horse collars?” MacKinnie frowned. “I hadn’t thought the Empire concerned itself with trivia.”
Ackoff laughed. “Trivia? Colonel, the horse collar effectively ended slavery on Earth in pre-atomic times. I see you don’t understand.
“Consider that if you harness a horse by fastening a strap around its neck, the poor beast can’t pull very hard because when it pulls it strangles itself. Improperly hitched horses can do about five times as much work as a man. But a horse eats five times as much as a man. Given the choice between a horse and a slave there isn’t much in it.
“But. Add the rigid horse collar so the load goes on the shoulders, and the horse can do ten times as much work as a man — and it still eats only five times as much. Horses are then clearly preferable to humans for heavy work. Prior to the invention of horse collars there were as many slaves as free people on Earth. Afterwards, slavery became fairly rare and only imposed on people thought inferior. And I see I am indulging my tendency to lecture.
“My point is simple. I know from the reports — from your own admissions — that you introduced rigid horse collars. Probably a lot of other seemingly minor innovations will have a profound impact. Privately, I expect you did them far more good than harm, but if we want to charge you, we have all the evidence we need.”