‘Just the same, Eugenia, if Marlene really wants to explore Erythro, I think nothing will stop her from doing so in the end. And if she is absolutely convinced that the Plague will not touch her mind, perhaps that mental attitude will prevent it from doing so. Marlene's aggressive sanity and confidence may be her mental immune mechanism.’
Insigna snapped her head up, her eyes smoldering. ‘You are speaking nonsense, and you have no right to give in to this sudden streak of romanticism in a mere child. She is a stranger to you. You do not love her.’
‘She is no stranger to me and I do love her. More important, I admire her. Love would not give me that depth of confidence that would permit the risk, but admiration would. Think about it.’
And they sat there, staring at each other.
20. Proof
Kattimoro Tanayama, with his accustomed tenacity, lived out the year he had been allotted, and was well into another year before his long battle was over. When the time came, he left the field of battle without a word or sign, so that the instruments recorded death before any onlooker could see it had come.
It made little stir on Earth and none at all in the Settlements, for the Old Man had always done his work outside the public eye and had been all the stronger for it. It was those who dealt with him who knew his power, and those who most depended on his strength and policy who were the most relieved to see him go.
The news reached Tessa Wendel early, by the special channel set up between her headquarters and World City. Somehow, the fact that it had been expected for months did not ease the shock.
What would happen now? Who would succeed Tanayama and what changes would be made? She had been speculating on the matter for a long time, but it was only now that the questions seemed to have real meaning. Obviously, despite everything, Wendel (and perhaps all who were involved) had not really expected the Old Man to die.
She turned for comfort to Crile Fisher. Wendel was realistic enough to know that it was not her now clearly middle-aged body (in less than two months, she would be reaching an incredible fifty) that held Fisher. He was forty-three now and the bloom of youth had become somewhat overblown there, too, but it wasn't as obvious in a man. In any case, he was held, and she could still make herself feel that it was she who held him, figuratively, especially on those occasions when she held him, literally.
She said to Fisher, ‘Well, now what?’
Fisher said, ‘It's no surprise, Tessa. It should have happened before this.’
‘Granted, but it's happened now. It was his blind determination that kept this project going. Now what?’
Fisher said, ‘As long as he was alive, you were eager for him to die. Now you are concerned. But I don't think you need worry. The project will continue. Something this size has a life of its own and it can't be stopped.’
‘Have you ever tried to calculate how much this has cost, Crile? There'll be a new Director of the Terrestrial Board of Inquiry and the Global Congress will certainly pick someone they can control. There'll be no new Tanayama before whom they must all cower - not in the foreseeable future. And then they'll look at their budget and, without Tanayama's gnarled hand covering it, they will see it is meters deep in red ink, and they'll want to cut it back.’
‘How can they? They've spent so much already. Are they to stop with nothing to show for it? That would really be a fiasco.’
‘They can blame it on Tanayama. “He was a madman,” they'll say, “an egomaniac, driven by an obsession” - all of which is true to a considerable extent, as we both know - and now they, who were not responsible for any of this, can return Earth to sanity and abandon something the planet can't really afford.’
Fisher smiled. ‘Tessa, my love, your penetration of the manner of political thinking is probably par for a first-class hyperspatialist genius. The Director of the Office is - in theory, and in public perception - an appointed official of narrow powers who is supposedly under the thorough control of the President-General and the Global Congress. These supposedly powerful officials, who are elected, cannot make it plain that Tanayama ruled them all and had them cowering in corners, afraid to let their hearts beat without his permission. They would reveal themselves to be cowards and incapable weaklings, and they would risk losing their positions at the next election. They will have to continue the project. They will make cosmetic cuts only.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ muttered Wendel.
‘Long experience at watching elected officialdom, Tessa. Besides, if we stop short, we're just inviting all the Settlements to get it before we do - to move out into deep space and leave us behind the way Rotor did.’
‘Oh? How will they do that?’
‘Given their knowledge of hyper-assistance, wouldn't you say that an advance to superluminal flight is inevitable?’
Wendel looked at Fisher sardonically. ‘Crile, my love, your penetration of hyperspatialism is probably par for a first-class wheedler of secrets. Is that what you think of my work? That it is an inevitable consequence of hyper-assistance? Haven't you grasped the fact that hyper-assistance is a natural consequence of relativistic thinking? It still doesn't allow travel faster than the speed of light. To move on to superluminal velocities requires a true leap in both thought and practice. It would not come naturally, and I have explained this to various people in the government. They complained about the slowness and the expense, and I had to explain the difficulties. They'll remember this now and they won't be afraid to stop us at this point. I can't whip them onward by suddenly telling them that we may be outraced.’
Fisher shook his head. ‘Of course you can tell them that. And they'll believe you, too, because it will be true. We can be easily overtaken.’
‘Haven't you listened to what I've said?’
‘I have, but you're leaving something out. Allow a little for common sense, especially from someone you've just called a first-class wheedler of secrets.’
‘What are you talking about, Crile?’
‘This vast leap from hyper-assistance to superluminal flight is only a vast leap if one begins at the beginning, as you did. The Settlements, however, are not beginning at the beginning. Do you really think they know nothing at all about our project, about Hyper City? Do you think that I and my Earthly colleagues are the only wheedlers of secrets in the Solar System? The Settlers have their wheedlers, who work just as hard as we do and just as effectively. For one thing, they've known you were on Earth almost from the day you arrived here.’
‘What if they knew?’
‘Just this. Do you think they don't have computers that will tell them you have written and published papers in the field? Do you think they don't have access to those papers? Do you think they haven't read them painstakingly and carefully and that they haven't found out you think that superluminal speeds are theoretically possible?’
Wendel bit her lip and said, ‘Well-’
‘Yes, think about it. When you wrote your thoughts on superluminal velocity, you were merely speculating. You were virtually a minority of one in thinking it might be possible. No-one took it seriously. But now you come to Earth and you stay there. You suddenly drop from sight and do not return to Adelia. They may not know all the details of what you're doing, for security on this project has been as tight as Tanayama's paranoia could make it. Still, the mere fact that you've disappeared is suggestive and there can't be any possible doubt, in the light of what you've published, as to what you're working on.
‘Something like Hyper City can't be kept a total secret. The incredible sums of money being invested must leave a noticeable trace. So every Settlement is scrabbling for odds and ends they may be able to convert into bits of knowledge. And every bit gives them hints that will enable them to progress much more quickly than you were able to. You tell them all that, Tessa, if any question arises over ending the project. We can and will be overtaken in the race if we stop running. That thought will keep the new people as fired-up over the matter as ever Tanayama was, and it all has the merit of being true.’