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they carried on as normal for the time being. The decision didn t seem to come
as any great surprise to her. As a Kronian, she would have been hard put to
conceive in any concrete form exactly what else they were supposed to do. Just
at the moment, Keene was far from having much of an idea himself. They moved
through a switchroom annex behind the control room and went outside via a door
at the far end, where they could talk away from unwelcome ears.
What else did he say? Shayle asked. She stood in the pose of women gripped
by anxiety, pulling her jacket tighter around her as if she were cold. In fact
the wind had shifted to the south and did have a chilly nip to it.
The proposition about being a spokesman and making it easier for everyone,
again, Keene answered. Only this time laced with a dash of promise of being
well looked after when they run their Brave New World.
You didn t agree, did you?
Keene shook his head. No . . . He let it hang for a moment. But things
could reach the point where something like that might be the best course. The
strategy of people like that is always to divide the opposition among
themselves. That s how tyrants stay in power. Speaking through one person
could keep us united and make it more difficult.
You mean you d cooperate with them?
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Keene sighed. See how they get you? They ve got you doubting me already.
I m sorry, Lan. Shayle put a hand to her brow and shook her head. I ve just
got no instinct for dealing with this. . . . None of us have.
I know.
Shayle stared out past the domes and structures of the base at the hills
outlined against a dark, angry sky. So how bad could it get? How does a
minority like this keep control over a whole community?
You ve already seen how, Keene said grimly.
But they can t shoot everybody. There s got to be a line. Push people beyond
it and they ll simply revolt en masse because they ve nothing to lose. I do
know something about Earth s history, even if I never lived it.
Keene shrugged. It s like I said. You divide them against each other. Single
out individuals and make examples of them. Take hostages. And if you ve got
the guns, you can do things like control the food -he gestured at the wall
shielding Agni- or the energy supply. When you have power over people s
ability to make a living and survive, they ll do what you want. As an
afterthought, he added, Controlling the distribution of wealth created by
others was how the elites who ran Earth operated for centuries. If slavery
means being coerced to work for the benefit of others, maybe it never really
was abolished. They just replaced the blatant physical kind with things that
were more subtle. He looked at Shayle curiously. I never thought about that
before. Maybe there are more reasons for Kronia s determination to stay away
from introducing a monetary system than I
realized.
But for how long? Shayle persisted. How can something like this it last?
Look how long it lasted on Earth, Keene replied. Even then, it took Athena
to end it.
Shayle shook her head. But surely this is different. That was a whole world
of mutually supporting interests. We are just . . . this. They re obviously
not so stupid as to believe that they can hold on indefinitely as things are.
They must be expecting some kind of reinforcement.
Keene nodded. Yes, I d already come to the same conclusion.
But who?
What else can it be but the Aztec?
Shayle stared at him in the kind of disbelieving way that said it was too
obvious. Of course,
she said tiredly.
It s got the AG lithoforming prototypes to make big, secure constructions
here. Profab equipment to create a diversified industrial base. That would
give them a start to expand from.
Would it be enough? Obviously there won t be any more follow-up missions from
Saturn now.
Keene could only shrug. Maybe that s a gamble they decided to take. With a
whole planet full of resources here for the taking, waiting to be developed .
. .
By whom?-if they have to spend all their time keeping the rest of us in
line.
By us, working for them. That s what it s all about. And in any case, we
don t know how many more of them there might be coming with the Aztec. That
could change the balance of numbers a lot.
Keene gazed around restlessly. One of the guards had come through into the
switchroom to keep an eye on them, but he was staying back at the far end.
Keene dropped his voice. Saturn will figure out that something s wrong here
from the communications blackout, but it might take them awhile. So the
Pragmatists might not have made their move on the Aztec yet. It still might
not be too late to get a warning to the ship somehow. We need a way of getting
access to the Varuna s or the Surya s communications.
Shayle stared at the bank of cable ducts and piping running from the power
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building through the shielding wall around the Agni, and then looked back into
the room full of equipment behind them.
Something was taking shape in her mind. Keene watched her face silently and
waited. When she spoke, her agitation of a moment ago had given way to a
deeper, more distant thoughtfulness.
Suppose we staged some kind of problem with Agni s power system down here
that needed diagnostics and repair directions from the Varuna to fix. At least
that would put us in touch with the engineers up there.
But Agni s self-sufficient. It wouldn t need any help from up there, Keene
pointed out.
You and I know that. But Zeigler doesn t.
Keene stared at her. Of course! The shadow of a grin softened his face. And
then we play it by ear from there, he completed.
Something like that.
Keene checked it through in his mind again. There was no obvious flaw that he
could see. And time was crucial. He nodded. The sooner the better, then.
We ll need to cue Gus and Blinda in on what we re doing. They were the two
Kronians back inside the power house. He thought for a few seconds longer.
Can you dream up something, Shayle? It would probably look better if I
weren t around when it happens. Let Zeigler s people come to me when you
discover the emergency.
That s fine. Leave it to me, Shayle said.
They made a cursory show of checking displays and equipment in the switchroom,
then went back into the main distribution control center. I m done here for
now, Keene said to the guards.
I need to go back to the dorms. It stuck in his throat to have to ask it,
but the formality was already established. One of the guards nodded. Keene
left via the door connecting through to the workshop domes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Keene found Sariena in one of the partly completed work areas in the
Laboratory block, where the planetary scientists had been in the process of
moving into from the Surya. The next phase of their program involved adding a
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