“Any more than you do.”
“Me?” Caught by an unexpected amount of truth in this charge, Donal could still protest. “I care for the opinion of the people whose opinion I care for.”
“Such as?” she said.
“Well, you,” he answered, “for one. Though I don’t know why.”
About to say something, and hardly waiting for him to finish so she could say it, she checked suddenly; and stared at him, her eyes widening.
“Oh,” she gasped, “don’t try to tell me that!”
“I hardly know why I try to tell you anything,” he said, suddenly very bitter; and went off, leaving her where she stood.
He went directly out from the cocktail gathering and back to his own suite, where he immersed himself in work that kept him at his desk until the small hours of the morning. Even then, when he at last got to bed, he did not sleep well—a condition he laid to a walking hangover from the drinks at the cocktail gathering.
His mind would have examined this excuse further—but he would not let it.
PROTECTOR HI
“… A typical impasse,” said William, Prince of Ceta. “Have some more of this Moselle.”
“Thank you, no,” answered Donal. The Conference was in its second week and he had accepted William’s invitation to lunch with him in William’s suite, following a morning session. The fish was excellent, the wine was imported—and Donal was curious, although so far they had spoken of nothing of real importance.
“You disappoint me,” William said, replacing the decanter on the small table between them. “I’m not very strong in the food and drink department myself—but I do enjoy watching others enjoy them.” He raised his eyebrows at Donal. “But your early training on the Dorsai is rather Spartan?”
“In some respects, yes,” answered Donal. “Spartan and possibly a little provincial. I’m finding myself sliding into Hendrik Gait’s impatience with the lack of progress in our talks.”
“Well, mere you have it,” said William. “The soldier loves action, the politician the sound of his own voice. But there’s a better explanation than mat, of course. You’ve realized by now, no doubt, that the things mat concern a Conference aren’t settled at the Conference table”—he gestured with his hand at the food before him—”but at small tete-a-tetes like these.”
“I’d guess then mat the tete-a-tetes haven’t been too productive of agreements so far.” Donal sipped at the wine left in his glass.
“Quite right,” said William cheerfully. “Nobody really wants to interfere in local affairs on a world; and nobody really wants to impose an institution on it from the outside, such as the open market, against the will of some of its people.” He shook his head at Donal’s smile. “No, no—I’m being quite truthful. Most of the delegates here would just as soon the problem of an open market had never come up at all on New Earth, so that they could tend to then- own styles of knitting without being bothered.”
“I’ll still reserve my judgment on that,” said Donal. “But in any case, now we’re here, we’ve got to come to some decision. Either for or against the current government; and for or against the market.”
“Do we?” asked William. “Why not a compromise solution?1
“What sort of compromise?”
“Well that, of course,” said William”, in a frank tone, “is why I asked you to lunch. I feel very hum-
Gordon K. Dickson ble about you, Donal—I really do. I was entirely wrong in my estimate of you, five years ago. I did you an injustice.”
Donal lifted his right hand in a small gesture of deprecation.
“No … no,” said William. “I insist on apologizing. I’m not a kind man, Donal. I’m interested only in buying what others have to sell—and if a man has ability, I’ll buy it If not—” He let the sentence hang significantly. “But you have ability. You had it five years ago, and I was too concerned with the situation Co recognize it The truth of the matter is, Hugh Killien was a fool.”
“On that, I can agree with you,” Donal said.
“Attempting to carry on with Anea under my nose—I don’t blame the girl. She was still a child then, for all her size. That’s the way these Exotic hothouse people are—slow growing. But I should have seen it and expected it. In fact, I’m grateful to you for what you did, when I think back on it”
‘Thank you,” murmured Donal.
“No, I mean mat absolutely. Not that I’m talking to you now out of a sense of gratitude alone—I wouldn’t insult your credulity with such a suggestion. But I am pleased to be able to find things working out in such a way that my own profit combines with the chance to pay you a small debt of gratitude.”
“At any rate, I appreciate it,” said Donal.
“Not at all. Now, the point is mis,” said William, leaning forward over the table, “personally, of course, I favor the open market. I’m a businessman, after all, and there’re business advantages to perfectly free trading. But more than open markets, it’s important to business to have peace between the stars; and peace comes only from a stable situation.”
“Go on,” said Donal.
“Well, there are after all only two ways of imposing peace on a community—from the inside or from me outside. We don’t seem to be able to do it to ourselves from the inside; so why not try imposing it from the outside?”
“And how would you go about that?”
“Quite simply,” said William, leaning back in his float. “Let all the worlds have open markets, but appoint a separate, individual supraplanetary authority to police the markets. Equip it with sufficient force to back up its authority against even individual governments if need be—and appoint a responsible individual in charge whom governments will think twice about tangling with.” He raised his eyes calmly to Donal across the table and paused to let expectation build to its proper peak in this young man. “How would you like the job?” he asked.
“I?”
Donal stared at him. William’s eyes were shrewd upon him. Donal hesitated; and the muscles of his throat worked, once.
“I?” he said. “Why, the man who commanded a force like that would be—” the word faltered and died, unspoken.
“He would, indeed,” said William, softly. Across from him Donal seemed to come slowly back to him-
Gordon & Dickson self. He turned narrowed eyes on William. “Why come to me with an offer like this?” he demanded. “There are older commanders. Men with bigger names.”
“And that is just precisely why I come to you, Donal,” replied William, without hesitation. “Their stars are fading. Yours.is rising. Where will these older men be twenty years from now? On the olfaer hand, you—” he waved a self-explanatory hand.
“I!” said Donal. He seemed to be dazzled. “Commander—”
“Call it Commander in Chief,” said William. “The job will be there; and you’re the man for the job. Fm prepared, in the name of Ceta, to set up a tax on interplanetary transactions which, because of our volume of trade, we will bear the most heavily. The tax would pay for your forces, and yourself. All we want in exchange is a place on a three-man commission which will act as final authority over you.” He smiled. “We could hardly put such power in your hands and turn you loose under no authority.”
“I suppose—” Donal was hesitant. “I’d have to give up my position around Procyon—”
“I’m afraid so,” said William, frankly. “You’d have to remove any suspicion of conflicting interests.”
“I don’t know.” Donal’s voice was hesitant. “I might lose this new post at any time—n
“Tliere’s no need to worry about that,” said William. “Ceta should effectively control the commission— since we will be paying the lion’s share. Besides, a force like mat, once established, isn’t easy to disband.
And if they’re loyal to their commander—and your troops, I hear, usually are very much so—you would be in a position to defend your own position, if it came to that.”
“Still—” Donal still demurred. ‘Taking a post like that I’d inevitably make enemies. If something should go wrong, I’d have no place to turn, no one would hire me—”
“Frankly,” said William, sharply, “I’m disappointed in you, Donal. Are you completely lacking in foresight?” His tone took on a little impatience. “Can’t you see that we’re inevitably tending toward a single government for all the worlds? It may not come tomorrow, or even in the next decade; but any supraplanetary organization must inevitably grow into the ultimate, central authority.”
“In which case,” said Donal, “I’d still be nothing but a hired hand. What I want”—his eyes burned a little more brightly—”is to own something. A world … why not? I’m equipped to control a world; and defend it.” He turned on William. “You’ll have your position,” he said.
William’s eyes were hard and bright as two cut stones. He laughed shortly.