Dagny sipped likewise. The fluid went hot and flowery over her tongue. “I can understand their reasons. It’s hard enough settling what national autonomy is going to amount to, without adding the germ of a whole new nation.”
“And thus we come to the present exigency,” Zhao said. “You Selenites are scarcely in a position to threaten anyone else—not that I accuse you of wishing to. But if you set an example of defiance, asuccessful example, which virulent nationalists on Earth can make into a precedent, that could open the gates to new horror. Consider, for example, how many people will perish miserably if the African Protectorate is overthrown.” He sighed. “The Federation needs time to gain strength, to take firm root, before it is severely tested.”
Temptation beckoned. “Meanwhile,” Dagny snapped, “Luna’s a nice, small, comfortably distant laboratory for trying out this or that theory of international governance.”
At once she regretted her outburst. Relief brought warmth when he said merely, mildly, “Pray do not be bitter.”
“Oh, I’m not,” she made haste to answer. “Some among us are, true, but I do believe—yes, I am glad you wanted a meeting in person—I believe you mean well, senor.” She spoke sincerely, within limits. His good intentions were not necessarily identical with hers.
“Thank you. Gracias.” Zhao dropped his cigarette down the disposer in his table and reached for a replacement. “Then please help me.”
“How? I’m nothing but a private citizen, these daycycles.”
He measured out his sentences. “Your influence is global. The colonists respect you, they listen to you, as they do not my officials or me. Furthermore, you know what they want and, more important, what they need. After three years, I continue to be an outsider. Advise me. Support me—“ he inhaled twice “—to the maximum extent your conscience permits. For my part, I promise that when you disagree with me, /will listen.”
“Advise?” Dagny asked in astonishment. “Senor, anything I can tell you, you’ve heard a thousand times before.”
Her mind leaped. She was here on account of her sons. If he offered her an opening, jump through it! “What do we on Luna want and need?” she said.
“Why, it’s simple, obvious. For openers, removal of a lot of rules and restrictions left over from the former regimes. We tMought we’d gotten rid of them, but then your Lunar Authority came in and declared nearly all were back in force.”
“Those that have justification.”
Boldness, short of insolence, might well be the safest course. “Such as?”
“Taxes paid to the respective governments on Earth. Yes, you Selenites complain that you do not receive commensurate services. Perhaps adjustments should be made. Nevertheless, the fact abides that without viable nations on Earth you would have no markets and indeed would not long survive. Consider that a service.”
“We’re self-sufficient by now in air, water, food, energy. We managed during the Jihad. We’re looking spaceward:”
Zhao stayed by his argument. “Furthermore, you have an obligation to humankind at large, the civilization from which you sprang and that is still your spiritual home.”
“I don’t dispute that myself,” Dagny said with care.
“Certain people do. Above all—pardon me, I intend no offense—above all, in the younger generation, the metamorphs.”
Dagny nodded. “They’d feel less alien if—less alienated if the educational requirements laid on them were better fitted to … their natures.”
“Again, adjustments are possible,” Zhao said. Sharply: “In fact, they are made. My office is not ignorant of what goes on in colonial households. More and more, that is where children learn their major lessons, from programs written at home and from their elders and their peers. True?”
“Yes. It’s only right and natural.”
Zhao frowned, drew on his cigarette, made a stabbing gesture with it. “Up to a point, madame. That alienation to which you admit must not evolve much further. It is taking an ugly, yes, dangerous turn.”
Dagny had known the talk would come to this. Let her play for time, though, keep him among generalities a few minutes more while she marshalled her wits and will. “Not just the young are protesting,” she said. “Many of us were doing it for years before the Jihad. The grievances are genuine, your Excellency.”