Horsip said, “Moffis.”
Moffis set the report in another pile, reached out for a fresh report, turned the pages automatically, put the report in a separate pile, and—
Horsip said, “Moffis!”
Moffis looked up, and his eyes came to a focus.
“It’s too late,” he said.
Horsip said, “What’s too late?”
“We’ll never stop them now.”
Horsip leaned forward and said sharply, “Stop who?”
Moffis shoved the reports back.
“We now have planets run by communists, planets run by capitalists, planets run by lunatics, planets converted entirely into factories—that’s what it boils down to—for some one specialty or to follow some one fad of the Earthmen. They could never have done it on their own. They’re too quarrelsome. We would never have done it ourselves. We don’t have that many ideas to try out. Argit thought the two of us would make a good combination and supply each other’s lacks. It has worked exactly the other way around. We have given the Earthmen the opportunity to bring into existence every kind of one-sided stroke of genius that occurs to them. Do you realize we now have one whole planet devoted to nothing but horse races? The thing is inconceivable, insane! Worse yet, there’s even a planet—a whole planet—devoted to what they call ‘higher education.’ I tell you, it’s ruinous! But it’s too late now. We can’t stop it. It’s gone too far. We might as well—”
Horsip said, angrily, “Stop that! There’s no use moaning over it! What’s done is done.”
He paused, frowning. “Wait a minute, now. What was that again? A whole planet devoted to what?”
“Higher education,” said Moffis wryly. “That’s what they call it. As a matter of fact, it’s a pesthole of subversion. The students are complaining because of the ‘monotonous quality of life,’ and the ‘repressive narrowness of Centran institutions.’ Narrowness! Repressive! They’re running wild, like a molk with the bloat! And they don’t know it! The professors on this planet are all terrorized. They teach what they think the students want to hear. I tell you, the thing to do is to land about six divisions of the Suicide Corps, and . . .” Then he shook his head. “But it’s too late. There’s no hope now. The damage is done. We might as well—”
Horsip said impatiently, “Wait a minute, Moffis. Back up. You said there was some planet devoted entirely to what? There was something else you mentioned.”
Moffis said dully, “Horse racing. The horse is like a molk, only skinnier, and with no horns. The Earthmen used to ride around on them before they had ground-cars. Now they race them for fun, and to bet on which one is going to win.”
“How could they possibly use a whole planet for a thing like that?”
“It’s a small planet, and the gravity is low. These horses can go fast because of the low gravity. The Earthmen have figured out a way to get oxygen to the horse even though the atmosphere is thin. Any kind of special training, special drugs, special apparatus is all right, as long as the animal is a horse. There are special farms on the planet where they acclimate the horses to the low gravity. There are stud farms there, where they breed horses with bigger lungs. There’s a gigantic rolling casino—”
Horsip said blankly, “A what?”
“The track—the race course—is enormous. These horses travel at terrific speed. There are cameras spaced along the track to bring the race, in three dimensions, to people who watch it at ‘horse parlors’—central places on other planets where they show the race for a fee. For people who come to watch the race on the spot, the whole central building travels around a track set inside the curve of the race course itself. The building is on wheels with some kind of frictionless bearings. When they aren’t watching the race, the patrons gamble in this casino, or . . .” Moffis shook his head. “Maybe what you see is encouraging, but not what I get from these reports.”
Horsip wavered, thinking of the possibility of raising Moffis’ spirits. Then moodily he shook his head. “It’s a mess, Moffis. I know what you think of those reports, and I’ve thought of trying to find someone else I can trust to work up the summaries while we’re visiting these planets, but I can’t, and the reality is no improvement, believe me.”
Moffis nodded. “From what I’ve seen of it, that’s what I thought.”
“It’s almost a relief to get on our way again, so I can go back to reading reports. It was a dream to think we could get away from this mess. It’s everywhere you go.”
Moffis nodded moodily. “I had the idea of getting a little relaxation after I read that report on the ‘planetary university.’ One of ship’s officers had bought an omnivision set on one of the planets we’ve visited. He wasn’t using it, so I borrowed it.” Moffis shook his head. “That was worse than either the reality or the reports.”
Horsip looked around blankly, and saw a sizable grayish cube with crackle finish and a row of knobs under two small lenses thrust out on shiny stalks.
“Is that the thing, Moffis?”
“That’s it.”
Horsip said, “I’ve never used one.”
“Try it if you want to. You put the eyepieces up to your eyes, and there are little plugs that come out and fit in your ears. There’s another thing like a cup that fits over your nose. Naturally, that model is outdated already.”
“What are those knobs for?”
“Don’t touch them. I bumped one by accident, and thought the ship had run into a planetoid. Just work this knob off to the side. That makes the sound louder or fainter. And this rim that sticks out this slot and has numbers on it—that selects the signal you receive. You tune that to pick up different signals.”
Horsip nodded, pulled over a chair, and sat down. He adjusted the eyepieces, found the earplugs, and swung up the little cup that fit over his nostrils. Nothing happened.
Moffis’ voice reached him dimly. “I forgot. You have to push this switch.”
Horsip heard a faint click. Then chaos sprang into existence around him.
A screaming mob armed with clubs and torches hurtled straight at him. The smell of hot metal and burning rubber filled his nostrils. An unkempt maniac with blazing eyes gave a piercing yell, and sprang for Horsip with hands outstretched like claws.
Horsip lashed out, his fist exploded in pain, the maniac dwindled and vanished, and there was a violet yank at his ears, as his head was pulled forward.
Horsip looked around blankly.
The omnivision set was leaning over on its little table, held from smashing to the floor by the cords of the earplugs.
Horsip glanced around furtively, and saw that Moffis was again going through reports like an automaton. Horsip massaged his fist, and hauled the set back up onto its table. No damage appeared to have been done. The sound was loud and clear. A wisp of smoke was drifting out of the nosepiece. A whining voice came across, and Horsip peered into the eyepieces.
Instead of a mob, there was a desk, with individuals hurrying in and out to lay message blanks on the desk. Behind the desk an unprepossessing-looking individual talked earnestly:
“Despite Planetary Premier Grakkil’s speech, the disturbance still has not quieted, and it is feared that the Mekklinites will accept no accommodation short of unconditional surrender to their demands. Already the Mekklinites have razed the western portion of the city. Injuries have occurred, and this has angered the Mekklinites further. The mayor and other hostages, who were shot earlier by the Mekklinites, have been found buried under a cement wall. Panic rules this planet as the Mekklinites turn, no one knows in what direction, to avenge injuries to their people, to destroy the capital city as they have vowed to do if their demands are not met, and there can be no doubt now but that Premier Grakkil miscalculated badly when he failed to accede at once to their demands. Don’t you think so, Sike?”
Horsip was suddenly looking at an individual with large eye-correctors and a look as if he had just been awakened out of a sound sleep.
“Yes, Snok, I believe implicitly in the law of instant acquiescence to the stronger force, and that’s what we’ve got here. The Mekklinites obviously believe in death and destruction, and will stop at nothing to get their way. That’s pretty plain by now, don’t you think so, Snok?”
“It certainly is, Sike, it certainly is. And this should have been obvious to the premier, don’t you think?”
Now the second individual was back again.
“It is to us, after seeing this precise thing happen so many times before. But the political animal doesn’t learn except through kicks administered to his hide. That’s a quote from Gek Kon, the Mekklinite leader, by the way, Snok.”