Jeffrey Lord Blade 29 Treasure of the Stars

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closely. He still hadn't been hooked up to one of the Teacher Globes to have a
knowledge of the Kananite language implanted directly in his brain. He was
beginning to suspect this wasn't accidental. In spite of this he'd picked up
enough Kananite to be able to read the plan fairly well.
After a few hours' study he concluded that the asteroid was unarmed except for
the weapons aboard the patrol ships based there. The Menel and the Kananites
had spared no expense fitting it out with laboratories, observatories, repair
shops, and living quarters with all the comforts of home for both races.
They hadn't given it a single heavy weapon.
This seemed so ridiculous to Blade that he asked Riyannah what the real
situation was. He was hoping to be told that there were asteroid-based weapons
the plan didn't show and that he couldn't be told about.
Instead Riyannah nodded. "You are quite right. Except for the patrol ships,
the base has no defenses."
"Why? I can understand why it wasn't armed when the Targans didn't have a
space fleet. But now they're building the starship as fast as they can, and
she'll be only the first of many. Surely the base ought to have something."
Riyannah smiled sadly. "It should. But there's a reason for its being unarmed,
a very simple reason.
Richard, I don't think you understand just how the Twenty Cities of Kanan deal
with each other."
"Apparently I don't." He found it impossible to keep an edge out of his voice,
although he knew he ought to. Riyannah wasn't responsible for this situation,
and it wasn't fair to take out his irritation on her simply because she was
the only Kananite he could talk to.
Riyannah explained. Each of the Twenty Cities of Kanan was completely
independent in all the material things of life. This was inevitable when the
energy came from the sun and food, clothing, and housing could literally be
extracted from the air, the water, and the earth. So there was no need to
fight or compete over resources.
On the other hand, there was a continuous struggle, polite but very stubborn,
for prestige. A City could win a victory in this struggle by discovering a new
planet, developing a new art form, winning an athletic competition, or doing
something to impress the Menel.
"What do the Menel think of this game-playing?" Blade asked.
"The Menel are a united planet. Their only divisions are those among the
different Gorani. They don't really understand what we're doing. I think they
would call it silly, except that they're too polite. In any case they're also
realists. They know there's no other way of dealing with Kanan except by
allowing the
'game-playing' among the Cities."
"And I should follow the same path as the Menel?" said Blade.
Riyannah shrugged. "You said it, I didn't. But certainly if the Menel haven't
been able to change us in five hundred years, you aren't going to do it."
The Twenty Cities of Kanan could cooperate if there was a good reason. There'd
been a good reason when it came time to establish the asteroid base for
keeping watch on the Targans. Every City contributed people and equipment and
resources to setting it up. Everyone recognized the need for the base. They
also recognized that contributing generously was one way of showing off before
the other
Cities and the Menel.
So the base was finished. Every City contributed, but no City wanted to risk
another's getting control of the base. It was too valuable. So the Kananites
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who manned it were carefully chosen in equal proportions from all twenty
Cities. The important leadership positions were carefully rotated among people
from the distant cities.
Finally, it was absolutely forbidden to arm the base. Each City sent a few
armed patrol ships to help defend it, but that was all. No one wanted to risk
what might happen if the base was armed. Then one
City might suddenly gain control of it and be able to defend it against the
ships of the other Cities. That might even lead to war among the Kananites, or
at least to some fairly serious fighting.
The base was not that valuable in itself. The resources put into it were small
compared to the total wealth of Kanan. It was just that whichever City took it
over would win a great prestige victory, making the other Cities look foolish
in the eyes of the Menel.
It was a very simple situation, one that could lead to defeat and disaster for
the Kananites. They'd abolished war but they hadn't abolished competition,
politics, or intrigue. In fact they were so in love with their polite
political rivalries that they seemed ready to sacrifice lives and wealth
rather than give them up.
"Don't the governments of the Twenty Cities realize that the situation is
changing fast?" he asked. "If the base can't defend itself, everybody is going
to lose. Everybody is going to look silly in front of Menel, and perhaps
worse. Do you think the Menel will be happy having their people die because
the Kananites want to go on playing games?" He tried to speak calmly and
almost succeeded.
"Blade, please," said Riyannah, raising a hand to stroke his cheek. "I am not
one of the high leaders even of my own City, let alone one who sits on the
Council of Kanan. I am a scientist and your friend. That is all. I cannot even
get a word from the Council here on the asteroid, when you will be taught
Kananite or sent to Kanan! So do not be angry with me for not changing what I
cannot change. Do you think I want the Targans defeated any less than you do?"
"No, Riyannah. I shouldn't have let myself become angry with you. But damn it,
you people can't sit around much longer, never mind who's to blame for what!"
"I'm sure the Kanan Council knows this as well as you do," she said. "Or at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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