Zhao sat bolt upright. “Can he persuade them to obey the law?”
“I think maybe he and I between us^can get them to compromise, if you can get the Federation policy makers to,” Dagny replied. “I have in mind some2 thing like the Lunarians admitting Sundaram’s team. Afterward, maybe they’ll agree to stop two or three disapproved projects.” She didn’t mention that the inspectors might not find everything there was to find and that an undertaking halted could always be started afresh. “You, the Federation, would have to make a credible promise beforehand, of a concession giving them and others like them control of their territory.”
Zhao bit his lip. “ Their’ territory. Private property, de facto if not dejure. No, worse than that. A feudal domain. Those four at the gate were a detachment of what amounts to a private army. And what of those other Lunarians? Once the precedent is set, what will they seek?”
Dagny resisted a temptation to reach over and pat his hand. “Don’t worry so. You’ll never get uniformed Lunarian thugs parading around intimidating voters. They’re no more interested in politics as we understand it than my cats are. That is, it affects them, they react to it, but it’s not a game they really care to play.”
“Cats.” This time Zhao’s smile came easier. “I keep parakeets myself.”
Dagny smiled back. “I’d enjoy meeting them.”
“You shall be welcome.” His mouth lowered. “You, though, have cats.”
She decided to push her luck. “Bueno, what about my proposal?”
“That you consult Guthrie? Yes, do. I could not prevent you in any case. Beyond that, we must see. At best, the details to hammer out will be stubborn and countless.”
“Uh-huh. And surprises jumping up at us all along the way. Still, we can hope to build a launch pad for a peace effort, can’t we?”
“I must think.”
He was a sensible, kindly man, she thought. He would almost certainly come to admit the need for yielding ground while preserving forms. Probably he could persuade them on Earth. Of course, he’d retain his deep doubts. She did. What about those long-range consequences?
Unforeseeable. You could only deal with the future as it came at you. In a storeroom underground, Kenmuir saw another door and started for it. “No, not there,” Norton said. “That’ll take you back to the street. Here.” She pushed at a shelf loaded with containers. It must double as a switch, for a section of wall slid aside. A passage reached beyond, bare, bleakly lit, surfaced with dull-green spray plastic. He followed her in. She touched a second switch and the entrance closed behind them. Air hung chill and stagnant. It smelled dusty.
.”Come on,” she urged.
Doubt flared into rebellion. He stopped. “What is all this, anyhow?” he demanded.
“It’s our way out. If my guess is right, we have to hope they’ll assume you went the other way, screened somehow. But if we stay this close, detectors could spot us—motion, infrared, transmitted through the wall—and that’d be that. Let’s go.”
He shook his head. “I mean, what’s this all about?”
She tugged at his arm. The grip was strong. “Kahuhtt, move, you tonto! We may have only minutes.”
He resisted. “Not so fast, I say. Who are we running from? What am I being hustled into, and why?”
She released him, clenched her fists at her sides, and drew a shaky breath. The expressionless pale face turned up toward his contrasted uncannily with the intensity of her voice. “Are you afraid this is some2 thing criminal? Listen. We’re in the service of the lady Li lisa ire, aren’t we? Has anyone accused her of any wrongdoing?”
“Well, I—she—”
“You’re thinking the Peace Authority wouldn’t be investigating her without a reason, aren’t you? Bueno, of course there’s a reason. She’s told you, hasn’t she? She wants to get the Habitat project stopped. Since when has the Covenant of the Federation denied any citizen of any member republic the right to have a political opinion and work for it? Since when was it a crime to search for information? So far, at least, anything unlawful has been on the other side. Most especially if I’m right about what they’ve done to you, Kenmuir. Find out and then decide!”