“If the Terran presence in Kronia is to be denied lawful expression, then by the same standard, the Kronians cannot claim to exercise lawful dominion over any territory of Earth. As the representative of, and speaker for, the sole surviving body qualified to exercise authority within those said territories, I hereby do proclaim the existence of the Terran Planetary Government, inaugurated under me as the uncontested President, to take effect as of now. And by that same authority invested in me, I declare all territories, installations, ground works, and other facilities introduced to Earth in the course of the current Kronian invasion of that territory, along with associated spacecraft, air and ground vehicles, and all forms of ancillary equipment and materials, to be rightfully the property of the Terran Planetary Government, seized according to prior international law applicable to those territories in the course of invasion and effective undeclared war. Former Terrans present in those territories are considered subject to such laws that the Terran Planetary Government shall see fit to declare. Kronians not wishing to become Terran citizens or failing to qualify will be regarded as temporary political detainees of status to be determined by negotiation with the Kronian administration.
“My colleagues and I will be arriving shortly to take direct charge of the recovery operation. In the meantime, I confer upon Kurt Zeigler the title of Acting Governor on behalf of the Terran Planetary Government, and with it delegate full authority to ensure and maintain order across all of the Terran possessions by whatever measures he judges appropriate.
“I ask all of you to help by giving your unqualified support through this difficult period when martial law must take precedence. But until our effective borders are secure, this is forced upon us. The sooner we can consolidate in a socially unified and coherent community, the sooner it will be possible to relax our vigilance and create once again the fabric of more civilized procedures that we all remember.” The Pragmatist emblem of a triangular motif pierced by a lightning flash appeared superposed on the picture. Valcroix concluded, “Together, we will build Earth again!” The image vanished.
A few seconds of stunned bewilderment passed while the message sank in. Then the protests started.
“They’re saying the ships are theirs now? They’re our ships!”
“How can they get here in that moon-jumper that vanished? It’s just the local bus company.”
“How can they get anywhere? They’re dead.”
In the center of the floor, Kelm raised a hand and flipped on the mike attached to a lapel of his tunic. “I think you’ll find that rumor was much exaggerated,” he said in answer to the last question. He turned his head toward one of the console stations, where a girl with a submachine gun had taken the operator’s place. “Transmit the code word down to Zeigler,” he instructed.
* * *
They had left the cave of metal boxes and talking pictures to move to another of the giant huts. It was less cluttered, with more places to sit, and had great tables, where Rakki and his companions were given food and drink. The food was more varied in composition and tastes than the kinds of things the Sky People had brought with them to Joburg, and consisted of variously colored preparations, some hot, some cold, some wet, some dry, served in dazzling bowls and platters and eaten with metal tools instead of sticks. Rakki still thought of all the beings as Sky People, although Naarmegen had tried to explain that there were two different kinds. Some of them had come back to the world, and others, called Kronian, were from a different world. The only difference Rakki could see was that the Kronians tended to be taller. He had learned other words too, such as “flyer,” “ground truck,” “building,” “screen,” “wheel,” “compad,” and “machine”—although so many things seemed to be described by the last that he still wasn’t sure what formed one and what didn’t.
It seemed that the intention was for the visitors to be impressed. Sariena, the goddess—a “Kronian” who had come to this world before—and Keene had talked of how all these things were achieved through people working for each other, not through killing and trying to subdue. The message seemed to be that Rakki’s people too could learn to command the powers that the gods did and live similarly one day if they changed their thinking and their ways. But if the gods already had the powers they had, and lived in ways that defied comprehension, why would they care what Rakki’s clan chose to do? They had nothing to gain that he could see; and if over some long span of time they succeeded in turning Rakki’s people into another race of gods, then it would only mean risking an eventual clash with them over sharing everything. And yet they seemed to want it. There was nothing in his experience that helped him to understand.