Oberheim (Voices) Part 35

"Very well, Mr. VICE-president. I will tell you exactly where the peoples of the Soviet s.p.a.ce Republics stand." He paused, as if calling to mind a prepared speech.

"We are not yet at full-scale war with you. But we have no intention of letting Hayes run loose, or of having our hands tied anywhere in the galaxy, in dealing with the crisis as we see fit. And should we encounter ANY hostile force within Soviet s.p.a.ce or that of our allies, we shall deal with them as declared enemies. If you should reach the Third Fleet before us, and bring it under your firm control, so be it.

But if we come upon Hayes first we will not be gentle, or stop to negotiate.

"As a further sign of our firm resolve in this matter, we are recalling our amba.s.sador from Was.h.i.+ngton and breaking off formal relations with you. If you have anything to say to us in future, that is worth hearing, you may reach me directly, here. That is all."

The screen went blank. The transmission ended. Stone, Plant and Bacon were silent.

The following day Stone met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and had them each swear a further oath of allegiance to him, their Commander-in-Chief, to serve no other, and to have no secret dealings with Hayes. He then appointed new heads of the Army and s.p.a.ce Navy, and those who would not submit were dismissed.

There was angry shouting, and much hard feeling, but no violence in the transition.

X

Isograph: 7/20 to 12/30

Not on the socialist and pioneer alone did the hammer-stroke fall. Nor was the sword always wielded by those without a cause, to the detriment of the n.o.ble and just. This struggle, this convulsion of wills, was a human reality, and therefore complex.

Like and yet unlike so many wars before it, this conflict, neither large nor glorious, was fought on a myriad of battlefields, where reasons were often lost, and morals obscured. The constraints of civilization had been removed, freeing men, both good and evil, to commune once more with their darker nature. That was all. And that was more than enough.

There was but a single unifying link among the sprawl of planets and peoples caught up, involved, willingly or not, in this unraveling: all those who transgressed were filled with the desire to take, at the expense and death of others, and those who were transgressed upon, fought with all they had not to yield up the pebbles of home, seeds of family, and grains of meaning they had found. And whether right or wrong, wise, brave or foolish, they bled.

Part, the First

The breast of woman is the very temple of Nature Transporting the mind and body of Man To other places, Other times, where beings struggled In endless rhythm with the forces that seek to drag us back to earth.

Mystical, beautiful, oh Woman You are the crown of creation: The pure and holy vessel of new life.

Oh, glory of this world Keep me forever young!

---unnamed Irish poet

The Irish planet-colony of New Belfast was rich and fertile. The air was infinitely breathable and sustaining, the vegetation lush, with roots that went deep into the ground. It was a land and sea that men could be proud to die for, a place where family could mean something, and women grow old without feeling lost. To watch a young maid walk here among the fields, to see the depths in her eyes that reflected the melancholy of her soul, and hear the Gaelic accent touch lightly on the stones of moss-covered walls, was to know that G.o.d gave love to Man.

Life flowed in its every vein, and the minor modes of Baroque ballads seemed to form a living chain to many pasts.

It was also a place coveted by the French Elite, who knew all that the Irish knew of love and land and harvest, but knew it better, and therefore contrived to take from these coa.r.s.e, uncultured folk what could more fruitfully be employed by themselves.

And so a siege was laid, in which the Free French took no part, and even loudly decried. But due to a peculiar Dual Const.i.tution enacted late in the twenty-first century---at which time the French, desiring to show their independence, frank difference, and superiority to the rest of the world, had created a political structure wholly new and untried---their approval was not needed for a military venture utilizing French Elite forces.

New Belfast was surrounded and cut off. And as the Irish had only one other major holding, the green homeland of Earth, and few outposts close at hand, it was unlikely that sufficient help would arrive before the colonists were overthrown and new, foreign defenses erected---new, foreign erections defended.

And United Ireland* as well, for reasons no foreigner could quite comprehend, had established few ties or alliances with the vast expanse beyond its islands, except for a continuing dialogue with their many descendants living in the Commonwealth, which they had always, until now, considered protection enough.

*The province of Northern Ireland had been restored in time by the British not because the mindless violence of the IRA had succeeded, but because it had failed. The bitter cycle of hatred had finally, toward the mid 22nd Century, diffused, and both sides forgotten their indisputable righteousness long enough to come to the bargaining table, where a mutually acceptable agreement had been reached.

But at the moment the Americans had other things on their minds. Hayes was still on the loose, the Soviets were brewing mischief of their own, and Stone had been a.s.sa.s.sinated.

The protective s.h.i.+elds and outer defenses of the planet were strong, as were the staunch will of both soldier and civilian who manned and supported them. But the offensive capabilities of the French were not to be underestimated. Not for nothing had they ruled most of Europe under Bonaparte (though they seemed better at taking territory than holding it). Who would prevail?

The United British Kingdoms kept a consulate and Consul-general on New Belfast (though he was seldom pet.i.tioned or asked for advice), and on the morning of October 10, a fortnight after the siege and a.s.sault had begun, he appeared at the residence of the Planetary Governor with a proposal from British Prime Minister Blackwood, and tentatively approved by Parliament, to lend military a.s.sistance in the crisis. He was received with the stiff politeness characteristic of modern English-Irish relations, and conducted to a polished oak drawing room to wait.

After a short time the Governor entered with an a.s.sistant, looking haggard and worn, and skeptical as to the meaning of his visit. A butler came when called, and brought them brandy. Consul Witherspoon spoke first, intending to address the issue at once.

"Governor Gale," he began, unable yet to relinquish the formality of his profession. "I know you have many things on your mind and that your time is short, so I shall come directly to the point."

"Please do."

"Very well. The a.s.sault brought upon you by the French is both formidable and determined, and though your defenses are strong and your men fight bravely, you cannot hope to withstand them much longer. Your s.h.i.+elds won't absorb the pounding forever, and you've not the resources for a serious counter-attack on the adversarial fleets."

"You said you'd be coming to the point."

"And I intend to do just that. Your help from outer-Earth will not arrive for several weeks at least, and when it does New Belfast may no longer be yours to defend." Gale grumbled something about 'pointless'

and 'salt in our wounds', but Witherspoon pushed forward.

"Prime Minister Blackwood, then, has sent me to make the following proposal. The United Kingdoms have a strength of three hundred s.h.i.+ps stationed at Drake Outpost, which could be brought to your aid within---"

"Oh, I dare say. And what, pray, shall good Minister Blackthorne (for some reason Gale always called him this) and the n.o.ble English receive in return?"

"I won't lie to you, Governor. That's not why I've come. We are not acting entirely unselfishly, of course. That is not the point."

"Then what is the point? And first I'd be pleased to know what it is you're after."

"The point is survival, Governor, the lessons of which..... Nevermind.

As for Britain's further intentions, I can only say that we want nothing from the Irish of New Belfast, except perhaps a posture more open to diplomacy and trade."

"And now you'll be telling us how to survive," stole Gale gruffly.

"There are many kinds of survival, Governor, and many threats to them all, as we both know. There is undoubtedly a kind of survival that the English could learn from you: faith in life, perhaps, or the freeing of caged emotions." Witherspoon was himself aware that his tone had grown more confidential, and that he was violating the learned rules of diplomacy.