The winter closed, Bendadn saw its brief summer, then once again the winds brought the snow as two males met in the forest. Armath squatted in the field and turned to Januth. "Why do we meet here, Januth?"
Januth raised his brows and held out his hands. "Armath, can you imagine us meeting in my camp, or yours? Think of the females."
Armath nodded. "They would be disturbed." He rubbed his chin. "I wonder…about educating the females. What would Fellman think of that?"
"Armath, you are closer to the human than any of us. That is why I would ask you a question."
"What question?"
Januth frowned and scratched at the new black hair on his arm. "This human, Spartacus, and the few humans who fought the Persians at that pass…"
"Thermopylae."
Januth nodded. "And the human Hale who hung, and all those others. Humans who faced impossible odds, it is true. But they all failed."
"What is your question?"
"I feel that Fellman would have us… become something different, something better, stronger." Januth held out his hands, then dropped them. "But the examples he gives us all fail. What is the purpose of this?"
Armath studied the ground, then looked into Januth's eyes. "Can there be, Januth, something more important than the Dishah! We serve our own lives, and that of our Dishah. That is how it has always been, and it is good." Armath frowned, then held out a hand in Januth's direction. "But is there something more important? The humans Fellman talks of. They failed, but they… failed serving something more important than themselves. Perhaps that is the lesson Fellman would have us learn."
Januth shrugged. "He would have us serve something more important?"
Armath nodded. "It is what I think."
"Well, what would he have us serve?"
Armath shook his head. "I do not know. One thing I do know is that he teaches us that the contest with power is never won or lost until one side or the other breathes its last. Our contest is not over. Who is the stronger is still to be decided."
Januth smiled. "Do you… do you mean… ?"
Armath grinned and held out his arms. "Yes. Soon my home will be crawling with screaming, squabbling brats!"
A month later, a strange human waited in the darkness at the back of the RMI auditorium furthest from the company administrative complex. He observed the Benda males, totally absorbed in talk, moving into the great room together and crowding toward the small raised stage where they squatted, shoulder to shoulder. When the auditorium was half-full, the Benda lowered their chatter, then became silent as a graying human entered and climbed up onto the stage. He moved to the lectern, placed some notes upon it, then adjusted the microphone. "Questions."
Several hairy black hands rose. The man pointed at one of them and a huge Benda male stood. "Fellman, if the Benda is to serve something larger, more important, than any one of us, or any one Dishah, what is it that we should serve?"
The human nodded. "I am a human. What makes me better than you is that I can devise and choose those things that I serve. You are Benda. It is not for me to devise and choose the things that you will serve. You are creatures of choice; then choose." The graying human looked to his notes. "Today I will talk of manifest destiny—"
A moan rose from the assembled males. One male close to the front stood. "Fellman, we choose not to hear any more of that trash. It is trash, and you have said so yourself." The male's comment was greeted with growls of approval.
The little gray man smiled. "You speak of a book; I speak of an ideal—the true destiny of humans, and of other intelligent races."
The male standing cocked his head to one side. "Is this the destiny of the Benda as well?"
Another male stood and spoke to the first. "Fellman said that such things are a matter of choice. We cannot choose until we listen and understand."
Both males squatted on the floor. The human turned to his notes. "Intelligent life rules other life. But it is not the destiny of intelligent life to rule intelligent life. The destiny of intelligent life is not to be ruled. As creatures of choice, it is our nature to be free to choose. Rule is existence by the choice of others as instinct is existence by the choice of nature. Today we will begin a study of the history of human progress and revolution…"
The Benda males, absorbed in thought, did not notice the other human at the back of the auditorium moving from the shadows, then walking rapidly out of the building.
Jacob Lynn leaned back in his chair and nodded at the biologist. "All right, Hyman. You've had a look around. Now tell me why things are not following the projections in your report."
Hyman pushed a thin wisp of brown hair from his watery blue eyes. "It's your boy Fellman."
"Fellman?"
Hyman nodded. "He's made the entire Manifest Destiny program into a laughingstock. In addition, he has the Benda males discussing matters that should be far beyond them. Dangerous matters."
Lynn frowned. "Such as?"
Hyman shrugged. "He's got them talking philosophy, politics, revolution—"
"What?"
Hyman nodded. "In addition, none of the males I've observed have reverted. By now they should have stopped reproducing altogether. Somehow, Fellman has convinced the Benda that they are, if not superior to humans, at least not to be dominated by humans. I'm afraid that simply removing Fellman and the other teachers who are helping him will not reverse the process. The damage is done."
"What do you suggest?"
Hyman sighed, then shrugged. "There appears to be little alternative. You must convince the Benda—once and for all—that they are inferior. And this must be done in a manner understandable to the Benda."
Lynn rubbed the back of his neck. "What are you suggesting?"
"A confrontation. A demonstration of force." Hyman smiled. "I'm certain that you can devise a pretext that will satisfy the Ninth Quadrant Supervisory Forces."
Lynn pulled at his lower lip, then nodded. "In fact, if it is worked properly, I might even be able to get the Quadrant Forces to do the dirty work." He leaned forward. "One thing more. Your report said that the Benda males cannot act in concert. How can we provoke something that will appear to be an uprising?"
Hyman rubbed his chin and studied the toes of his shoes, then he looked up. "Fellman has them sitting and talking together. Perhaps he has made our task very simple by making it possible for the Benda to act together in an attempt at force." He nodded and held up a finger. "One thing."
"What's that?"
"Fellman and his bunch must not leave the planet. Since they are aware of the report, it wouldn't do to have them wandering around Earth, talking." Hyman stood and walked toward the door. He paused and looked back at Lynn. "There is an alternative—but I suppose you know that."
"Know what, Hyman?"
"If Fellman's efforts result in a unified Benda race, RMI will have a political entity with which to deal for minerals. It will cut into the profits some, but no more than on any other planet RMI has invested in."
Lynn nodded. "I'll be getting in touch with you later, Hyman." The biologist nodded and left the office. Lynn swung his chair around and stared at the map behind his desk. On it were marked the many test-boring sites that had uncovered rich deposits of hematite, silver, tungsten, zinc, lead—a treasure house of metals. He tapped his fingertips upon the armrests of his chair, then he swung back and punched a code into his desk's tiny keyboard.
"Thorpe here."
"This is Lynn."
"Yes, Mr. Lynn."
"Thorpe, I want you to prepare to have a full crew move into the Javuud Valley tomorrow. I want full-scale production to be reached within the next two weeks."