“I—I apologize for the way I treated you on our first meeting. I lost my temper.”
Vorgens plucked a leafy twig from the shrubbery. “I accept your apology … under one condition. I want you to hear me out.”
“I’m listening.”
“There are only three points I want to make. First:he Empire has not treated Shinar wellThis is not because of Terran maliciousness; it’s just an accidental by-product of the Imperial system. You could be treated much better under the EmpireOther worlds are.
“Second: Shinar is too small a world, and too weak militarily, to stand alone. If Imperial troops were not here fighting for your people—don’t frown, that’s what they’re doing—if they weren’t here to fight for your people, the Komani would be ruling you with a whip and a gun.
“Finally: Shinar can achieve its own internal freedom under the Empire. I’m saying can, not wiS. Other planets have done it. Perhaps yours can, too. It’s something worth working toward, worth risking a lot for—it’s even orth fighting for—because it’s the only way you’ll ever gain freedom.”
“What kind of freedom would it be?” Merdon asked, with quiet bitterness. “The Terrans would still control us. They’d own our souls.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Vorgens said. “The usual arrangement is to allow the planet complete internal freedom. You can rule yourselves in any way you see fit. The Empire would reserve the right to regulate your commercial treaties with other planets, but once a treaty is made, it’s binding on the Empire as well as you. The Empire is ruled by law. You’d have all the legal rights that any other self-governing planet of the Empire enjoys.”