Angelmass. Part 62

"I thought they made you be good," Chandris said, sounding puzzled."They don't make you do anything," Kosta told her. "All they do is let you be good. What I mean is that they help you turn your attention outward, toward other people, by suppressing the major factor that drives human selfishness and self-centered att.i.tudes."

"What's that, the love of money?" Hanan suggested.

"Or basic corrupt human nature?" Pirbazari added cynically.

Kosta shook his head. "Fear."

There was a brief silence around the table. "Fear," Forsythe said, his voice flat.

"But there isn't anything evil about fear, Jereko," Ornina protested, sounding confused.

"I didn't say it was evil," Kosta said. "I said it tends to focus a person's attention inward and pushes

away consideration of others. It tends to make you selfish; and selfishness, carried too far, is what

drives most of what we consider anti-social and criminal behavior."

"Are we talking about the same thing here?" Forsythe asked, frowning. "Fear is a perfectly normal part of the survival instinct."

"Right, but I'm not talking about the kind of immediate danger that sends adrenaline pumping into your blood," Kosta said. "I don't think the angels do anything to affect that kind of physical response."

"So what are you talking about?" Forsythe asked. "I'm talking about the persistent, nagging little fears that clutter up our lives and influence our day-today actions," Kosta said. "The small fears that keep us focused on ourselves. Fear of losing your job or your friends. Fear of not having enough money if you happen to get sick. Fear of being hurt. Fear of looking foolish."

"I know that one, all right," Hanan murmured.

"Do you?" Kosta countered. "Do you really? You took Chandris aboard the Gazelle knowing full well that she was there to steal from you. If she had, you'd have been the laughingstock of the Yard. Did you care?"

Hanan turned a frown toward Ornina. "But..."

"And you were afraid to trust them," Kosta continued, turning to Chandris. "Right? But you did, eventually, even though you knew it would hurt your pride terribly if you found out they were conning you."

He looked back at Forsythe. "As for me, I eventually got to where I wasn't afraid to turn myself in as a spy."

"So what exactly are you saying?" Pirbazari asked. "That all we have to do is give happy pills to the whole populace and we don't need angels?"

"Happy pills dull the mind and blunt the will," Forsythe murmured. In contrast to the others, his expression was thoughtful and reflective, as if certain things were suddenly starting to become clear. "As Mr. Kosta has pointed out, angels don't do that."

"They may actually help make you marginally smarter, in fact," Kosta suggested. "There's that small intelligence component, remember."

"Only when they're in large groups," Hanan reminded him.

"Or else it's only measurable in large groups," Kosta said.

"I was just thinking about the High Senate," Forsythe said meditatively. "All the straight-up trades and deals I watched them make, without any of the cautious maneuvering or self-serving manipulation that's always been a staple of political life. Full cooperation, full willingness to compromise. No fear of looking foolish or being taken advantage of."

Pirbazari shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I still don't buy it," he said firmly. "Even if this effect really exists, it's not going to do much if the person in question doesn't want to be a good boy."

"In fact, it might even make it worse," Hanan suggested. "Fear of getting caught is one of the things that's supposed to slow criminals down."

"Exactly," Pirbazari agreed. "So why haven't there been any High Senators like that?"

"There have," Kosta said. "Seven of them over the past ten years."

Pirbazari seemed taken aback. "Where did you hear that?"

"Director Podolak told me," Kosta said. "She said it had been kept very quiet."

"Well... all right, fine," Pirbazari said. "But there should have been a lot more than just seven who

went off the wagon. Unless you a.s.sume most people basically want to be good, which I don't believe, either.""Self-fulfilling prophecies, Zar," Forsythe said.

"What does that mean?" Chandris asked.

"Those are predictions that come true because everyone expects them too," Forsythe explained.

"Remember, everyone firmly believes that angels make you act ethically. Once that's been accepted, only people who really want to serve the Empyrean will go after high office. Most of the self-serving types out to line their own pockets make very sure they stay away from anything having to do with angels."

Pirbazari shook his head. "I still don't like it."

"I'm not saying this is a hundred percent correct," Kosta conceded. "There's probably more going on

that I haven't thought of. All I'm trying to do is find a theory that fits the behavior I've seen. Plus explaining Ronyon's panic attack out at Angelma.s.s."

"Wait a minute," Ornina said. "Are you saying that Angelma.s.s was attacking hunters.h.i.+ps because it

was frightened of them?""Basically," Kosta nodded. "If angels suppress fear, it follows that anti-angels are the essence of it.""What in the world did it have to be afraid of?" Chandris asked. "We weren't going to hurt it. How could we hurt it?"

"Fear doesn't have to be reasonable," Forsythe said mildly. "In fact, for most of the fears Mr. Kosta listed earlier, it isn't reasonable at all."

"The point of all this is that we need to understand what the angels are actually doing," Kosta said.

"To especially understand their limitations."He hesitated. "Because I think you're going to have to learn to live without them.""What's that supposed to mean?" Pirbazari asked suspiciously."That's right, you didn't hear about that," Forsythe said, gesturing toward Kosta. "Mr. Kosta thinks we should catapult Angelma.s.s out into interstellar s.p.a.ce where it won't be a danger to us anymore."

Pirbazari's eyes narrowed. "That's ridiculous. Besides, it seems to have settled down okay."

"Only because it's chased everyone out of its immediate neighborhood," Kosta pointed out. "There's nothing for it to be afraid of anymore. But suppose it happens to notice Seraph someday? No, we've got to deal with it before that, or at least have a plan ready."

"We definitely need a plan." Forsythe locked eyes with Kosta, an oddly intense look on his face. "The real question is whether kicking it out of the system will be enough."

And the expression on Forsythe's face... "Are we thinking along the same lines, High Senator?" Kosta asked quietly.

"If the interstellar void isn't far enough, I can hardly wait to hear what is," Hanan commented. "What do you want to do instead, give it to the Pax?"

"No," Kosta said, still watching Forsythe. "We have to put it back to sleep. We have to put the angels back in."

The stunned silence was broken by Hanan's low whistle. "You do know how to uncork political bombsh.e.l.ls, don't you, Jereko?" he said. "You don't really think the High Senate will go for this, do you?"

"We may have no choice," Forsythe said quietly. "Catapulting Angelma.s.s away postpones the problem, but it doesn't solve it. We can't take the risk of it popping up somewhere unannounced in the future."

"You're never going to sell this to the people," Pirbazari insisted. "They've gotten used to having ethical leaders."

"No," Kosta told him. "What they've gotten used to is being politically lazy. The angels have basically allowed them to let their government run on autopilot. Now, they're going to have to keep an eye on it themselves."

"Which in the long run may not be a bad thing," Hanan said thoughtfully. "Even ethics-based decisions can be wrong, you know. Maybe it's better to have a suspicious electorate looking over the government's shoulder."

"Fine, but don't forget that if the angels go, so do your jobs," Pirbazari warned, looking at Hanan and Ornina. "Yours too," he added, s.h.i.+fting his gaze to Kosta.

"We'll live," Hanan said with a casual shrug. "I was getting tired of s.p.a.ce flight anyway. Food all over the galley every time we have to maneuver. Yuck."

"We're certainly not going to make any final decisions today," Forsythe said, starting to gather his various papers together. "But this gives us all something to think about."

"So what happens next?" Hanan asked.

"Nothing too dramatic," Forsythe told him. "I'll have EmDef put together a group of catapult s.h.i.+ps and send them out to the Komitadji. It'll take them about a week to get there, and by the time they do Angelma.s.s should have moved far enough away for it to be safe. Meanwhile, well have someone dig up the coordinates for the Scintara system. I'll talk to you later, Kosta, about recording a suitable message for them."

"Maybe we should send one to Lorelei, too," Pirbazari suggested. "In fact, we could send that one right now. Let the Pax forces know a pull-out order will be coming their way soon, and warn them not to mess with the planet and people until then."

"I can write something up," Kosta said. "We could also include a copy of the recording from Central's cameras."

"That should keep them walking carefully until the Pax pulls them out," Forsythe agreed. "Zar, you're in charge of getting that organized."

"Yes, sir."

"Then that should do it for now," Forsythe said, glancing around the table. "I'm releasing you all on your own recognizance, pending a hearing before proper legal authorities."

"Said hearing to take place after the Pax has run away with its tail between its legs?" Hanan

suggested."We'll fine-tune the schedule," Forsythe a.s.sured him. "Thank you all for your time."Beside Kosta, Chandris cleared her throat. "There's just one more thing, High Senator."Forsythe lifted his eyebrows. "Yes?""I was the one who helped Jereko destroy the Komitadji," she reminded him. "In fact, if you follow the chain of events, you'll see that if it wasn't for me that s.h.i.+p would still be sitting over our heads."

"You want a medal?" Pirbazari asked dryly.

"No," Chandris said. "I want a reward."

Pirbazari snorted under his breath. "I think your reward comes in the same box as Kosta's," he said.

"Namely, you don't get prosecuted for collaboration with a Pax spy."

"No, I don't think so," Chandris said calmly. "See, I don't think I ever knew anything about that. I'm pretty sure you can't prove it, anyway."Pirbazari's face darkened. "Look-"Forsythe cut him off with a gesture. "What is it you want?" he asked."The Komitadji was a really big s.h.i.+p," Chandris said. "A really big s.h.i.+p. I looked up some ancient privateer numbers in the old Earth history records, and the price for capture or destruction of something that size would have been right through the roof. In fact, salvage rights alone on what's left of the hulk-"

"We get the point," Forsythe interrupted her. "What is it you want?"

She looked him square in the eye. "I want an operation for Hanan," she said flatly. "Complete repair and reconstruction of his nervous system."

Hanan's jaw dropped, his eyes widening with amazement. Pirbazari, for his part, actually sputtered. "You must be joking," he insisted, clearly appalled. "You have any idea what that would cost?"

"At this point, two to three million ruya," Chandris said. "I figure that's around one and a half percent of what I could demand under privateer law."

"The Empyrean doesn't have any privateer law," Pirbazari growled, throwing a black look at Hanan. "This is extortion."

"Chandris, you don't have to do this," Hanan protested urgently.

"Shut up, Hanan," Chandris told him. "Look, High Senator. Like it or not, Kosta and I are the closest thing you've got to war heroes coming out of this. We could command a lot of public attention if we wanted to."

"Except that I hardly think you would want to," Forsythe pointed out mildly. "Certainly not considering your past and Mr. Kosta's current situation."

"Oh, I'm sure we'd prefer to keep a low profile," Chandris agreed. "Whether we actually do so is up to you."

Forsythe smiled faintly. "You would have made a wonderful politician of the old school, Miss Lalasha. Very well. Mr. Daviee will have his operation."

"Sir-" Pirbazari said urgently.

"But." Forsythe leveled a warning finger at her. "Not because you've pressured me into it. Because you're right: you and Mr. Kosta have earned it."

He looked around the table. "Then unless there's anything else, this meeting is adjourned."

With a final nod to each of them, he stood up, and he and Pirbazari strode side by side from the room. Ronyon paused long enough to grin and wave a hand in farewell, then followed.

"You didn't have to do that," Ornina said, reaching past Kosta and half pulling Chandris out of her chair. Standing up with her, she enveloped the girl in a ma.s.sive bear hug. "But thank you. Thank you so much."

"For me, too," Hanan said, stepping over and wrapping his arms around both of them. "Group hug, Jereko," he added, winking down at Kosta. "Want to join in?"