The real reason why the SA contingent had been included with the mission and why such a large proportion of them were disgruntled young Terrans who couldn’t fit into the Kronian system, was now glaringly clear. They concealed a hard core of Pragmatist sympathizers who, given they were prepared to act ruthlessly enough, might well be sufficient to maintain their position.
Maintain their position until what? For the moment, the majority of the base’s inhabitants were at a loss. Even those who might have been capable of acting had been taken by surprise, with no plan or chance to organize. But that would change. The Terrans had a long history of finding ways to resist coercive violence, and Kronians were fast learners. Yes, for now Zeigler and his followers had the guns; but they couldn’t imagine it would be possible to dictate to such a numerical majority indefinitely. Hence, they anticipated being reinforced in some way before very much longer, and consolidating their position.
To Keene’s mind, it said that taking over the Aztec had to be part of their plan too—it was already on its way to Earth with more equipment and materials, accompanied by another flotilla of supply rafts. And who knew how many more Pragmatist supporters might be included among its numbers? But it didn’t necessarily follow that they would make their move there at the same time as Zeigler. In fact, it would make more sense for them to bide their time until the events on Earth could be concealed no longer. That meant there was a fair chance that the most effective way of throwing a wrench into the Pragmatists’ works might be to contrive some way of getting a warning out to the Aztec—thus depriving the Pragmatists of that whole factor in the equation.
But how? Zeigler’s people controlled all communications beyond the Varuna. Keene still hadn’t come up with a means that seemed viable a day after Zeigler’s coup. Then Zeigler summoned him to be brought over to the Operations and Communications Dome for a “discussion.”
* * *
Zeigler summarized from behind the desk in the room he had taken over in the office section on the upper level. Two armed guards stood inside the door, a short distance behind Keene’s chair.
“I expect you and your staff to maintain power from the Agni module as normal. Failure on that account will merely prevent the continued growth of the base toward full functionality, putting everyone out there that much the more at risk. I trust I make myself clear.”
It was blackmail. By “everyone out there” he meant all of Keene’s kind—those who were not part of the takeover. Zeigler and his cohort had moved in to take full control of the OpCom dome, installing quarters for themselves on the lower level, surrounding it with a wire fence, and posting guards at the two gates. OpComs had its own standby generator, which meant that if Keene cut off the power from Agni it would only be depriving everyone else, and stopping further development of the facilities. In other words, it wouldn’t do Keene a lot of good, but it could cause friction between him and some of the others out there. It was Keene’s call.
Right now, Keene could see nothing to be gained by creating further disruption. He was up against a classical no-win bind: either cooperate or risk incurring the kind of resentments that those who would divide and conquer just love to precipitate. Zeigler had also intimated without threatening openly that if forced, he would resort to taking hostages. Keene had no doubt that he meant it. Zeigler was past the point of no return and had nothing to lose by going to any extreme now. Maybe that had been his purpose.
“Do you really think you’re going to get away with this?” Keene asked. No prizes for originality, but he was fishing. In his answer, Zeigler might give away something useful.
“Why don’t you let us worry about that, Dr. Keene?” Zeigler suggested.
“Gallian said it all. Do you think you’re ever going to sleep easily at night now?”
“I’ve tried to address that issue tactfully. We’d prefer not to be driven to taking extreme measures. But if you compel us . . .” So the victims, not the perpetrators, would be responsible. The old terrorists’ and kidnapers’ ploy. But some of the Kronians had already halfway bought it.