Van Vogt, A. E. – The Barbarian

The captain of the guard, while of course responsible to me, will naturally grant you every facility for carrying on your work.

It is with pleasure, my dear Clane, that I extend to you this costly but earned protection.

At some time not too far in the future I should like to have the privilege of a personally conducted tour so that I may see for myself what treasures you have in your collection, with a view to finding further uses for them for the general welfare.

With cordial best wishes

Tews, Lord Adviser

At least, thought Tews, after he had dispatched the message and given the necessary orders to the military forces, that will for the present get the material all in one place. Later, a further more stringent control is always possible – not that it will ever be necessary, of course.

The wise leader simply planned for any contingency. Even the actions of his most dearly beloved relatives must be examined objectively.

He learned presently that Clane had offered no resistance and that the material had been transported to Linn without incident.

He was still at the mountain palace of the Linns when a third letter arrived from Clane. Though briefly stated, it was a major social document. The preamble read:

To our uncle, the Lord Adviser:

It being the considered opinion of Lords Jertin and Clane Linn that a dangerous preponderance of slaves exists in Linn and that indeed the condition of slavery is wholly undesirable in a healthy State, it is herewith proposed that Lord Adviser Tews during his government lay down as a guiding rule for future generations the following principles:

1. All law-abiding human beings are entitled to the free control of their own persons.

2. Where free control does not now obtain, it shall be delivered to the individual on a rising scale, the first two steps of which shall become effective immediately.

3. The first step shall be that no slave shall in future be physically punished except by the order of a court.

4. The second step shall be that the slave’s work day shall not in future exceed ten hours.

The other steps outlined a method of gradually freeing the slaves until after twenty years only incorrigibles would be ‘not free,’ and all of these would be controlled by the State itself under laws whereby each was dealt with “as an individual.”

Tews read the document with amazement and amusement. He recalled another saying of his mother’s: “Don’t ever worry about the idealists. “The mob will cut their throats at the proper moment.”

His amusement faded rapidly. These boys are really interfering in the affairs of state in Linn itself, which is only remotely in their province. As, the summer over, he made preparations to return to the city, Tews scowlingly considered the threat “to the State,” which – it seemed to him – was building up with alarming speed.

On the second day after his return to Linn he received another letter from Clane. This one requested an audience to discuss “those matters relating to the defense of the empire, about which your deparments have been gathering information.”

What infuriated Tews about the letter was that the mutation was not even giving him time to settle down after his return. True, the work of reestablishment did not involve him – but it was a matter of courtesy to the office he held. On that level, Tews decided in an icy rage, Clane’s persistence bore all the earmarks of a deliberate insult.

He sent a curt note in reply, which stated simply:

My dear Clane:

I will advise you as soon as I am free of the more pressing problems of administration. Please await word from me.

Tews

He slept that night, confident that he was at last taking a firm stand and that it was about time.

He awoke to news of disaster.

The only warning was a steely glinting of metal in the early-morning sky. The invaders swooped down on the city of Linn in three hundred spaceships. There must have been advance spying, for they landed in force at the gates that were heavily guarded and at the main troop barracks inside the city. From each ship debouched two hundred-odd men.

“Sixty thousand soldiers!” said Lord Adviser Tews after he had studied the reports. He issued instructions for the defense of the palace and sent a carrier pigeon to the three legions encamped outside the city, ordering two of them to attack when ready. And then he sat pale but composed, watching the spectacle from a window that overlooked the hazy vastness of Linn proper.

Everything was vague and unreal. Most of the invading ships had disappeared behind large buildings. A few lay in the open, but they looked dead. It was hard to grasp that vicious fighting was going on in their vicinity. At nine o’clock, a messenger arrived from the Lady Lydia:

DearSon:

Have you any news? Who is attacking us? Is it a limited assault or an invasion of the empire. Have you contacted Clane?

L.

The first prisoner was brought in while Tews was scowling over the unpalatable suggestion that he seek the advice of his relative. The mutation was the last person he wanted to see. The prisoner, a bearded giant, proudly confessed that he was from Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, and that he feared neither man nor god. The man’s size and obvious physical prowess startled Tews. But his naive outlook on life was cheering.Subsequent prisoners had similar physical and mental characteristics. And so, long before noon, Tews had a fairly clear picture of the situation.

This was a barbarian invasion from Europa. It was obviously for loot only. But unless he acted swiftly, Linn would be divested in a few days of treasures garnered over the centuries. Bloodthrsty commands flowed from Tews’ lips. Put all prisoners to the sword. Destroy their ships, their weapons, their clothing. Leave not one vestige of their presence to pollute the eternal city.

The morning ran its slow course. Tews considered making an inspection of the city escorted by the palace cavalry. He abandoned the plan when he realized it would be impossible for commanders to send him reports if he were on the move. For the same reason he could not transfer his headquarters to a less clearly marked building. Just before noon, the relieving report arrived that two of three camp legions were attacking in force at the main gates.

The news steadied him. He began to think in terms of broader, more basic information about what had happened. He remembered unhappily that his departments probably had the information that – spurred by Clane – he had asked for months ago. Hastify, he called in several experts and sat somberly while each of the men in turn told what he had learned.

There was actually a great deal of data. Europa, the great moon of Jupiter, had been inhabited from legendary times by fiercely quarreling tribes. Its vast atmosphere was said to have been created artificially with the help of the atom gods by the scientists of the golden age. Like all the artificial atmosphere, it contained a high proportion of the gas, teneol, which admitted sunlight but did not allow much heat to escape into space.

Starting about five years before, travelers had begun to bring out reports of a leader named Czinczar who was ruthlessly welding all the hating factions of the planet into one nation. For a while it was such a dangerous territory that traders landed only at specified ports of entry. The information they received was that Czinczar’s attempt at unfication had faifed. Contact grew even more vague after that; and it was clear to the listening Tews that the new leader had actually succeded in his conquests and that any word to the contrary was propaganda. The cunning Czinczar had seized outgoing communication sources and confused them while he consolidated his position among the barbarous forces of the planet.

Czinczar. The name had a sinister rhythm to it, a ring of leashed violence, a harsh, metallic tintinnabulation. If such a man and his followers escaped with even a fraction of the portable wealth of Linn, the inhabited solar system would echo with the exploit. The goverument of Lord Adviser Tews might tumble like a house of cards.

Tews had been hesitating.There was a plan in his mind that would work better if carried out in the dead of night. But that meant giving the attackers precious extra hours for loot. He decided not to wait, but dispatched a command to the third – still unengaged – camp legion to enter the tunnel that led into the central palace.

As a precaution, and with the hope of distracting the enemy leader, he sent a message to Czincxar in the care of a captured barbarian officer. In it he pointed out the foolishness of an attack that could only result in bloody reprisals on Europa itself and suggested that there was still time for an honorable withdrawal. There was only one thing wrong with all these schemings. Czinczar had concentrated a large force of his own for the purpose of capturing the Imperial party. And had held back in the hope that he would learn definitely whether or not the Lord Adviser was inside the palace. The released prisoner, who delivered Tews’ messuge, established his presence inside.

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