"Yes, sir, we did," Rainbolt said. "We're established, in about equal
numbers, on planets of three star systems. Of course, I'm not allowed
to give you more precise information on that at present."
"Quite understandable," the spokesman agreed dryly.
Menesee was conscious of a stir of intense interest among the
listening directors in the hall. This was news, indeed! Mingled with
the interest was surprised amusement at the prisoner's artless
assumption that he had any choice about what he would or would not
tell.
"But now that we're established," Rainbolt went on, apparently unaware
of the sensation he had created, "our next immediate concern is to
resume contact with Earth. Naturally, we can't do that freely while
your Machine remains in political control of the planet. We found out
from the two captured men that it still is in control. We'd hoped that
after sixty years government in such a form would have become obselete
here."
* * * * *
Menesee heard an astonished murmuring from the director boxes on his
right, and felt himself that the fellow's impudent last remark might
well have been answered by a pulse of nerve stimulation. Spokesman
Dorn, however, replied calmly that the Machine happened to be
indispensable to Earth. A planetary economy, and one on the verge of
becoming an interplanetary and even interstellar economy, was simply
too intricate and precariously balanced a structure to maintain
without the assistance of a very tightly organized governing class.
"If the Machine were to vanish today," he explained, "Earth would
approach a state of complete chaos before the month was out. In a
year, a billion human beings would be starving to death. There would
be fighting ... wars--" He shrugged, "You name it. No, my friend, the
Machine is here to stay. And the Mars Convicts may as well resign
themselves to the fact."
Rainbolt replied earnestly that he was not too well informed in
economics, that not being his field. However, he had been told and
believed that while the situation described by the spokesman would be
true today, it should not take many years to train the populations of
Earth to run their affairs quite as efficiently as the Machine had
done, and without loss of personal and political liberties.
At any rate, the Mars Convicts and their descendants did not intend
to give up the independence they had acquired. On the other hand, they
had two vital reasons for wanting to come to an agreement with Earth.
One was that they might waste centuries in attempting to accomplish by
themselves what they could now do immediately if Earth's vast
resources were made available to them. And the other, of course, was
the obvious fact that Earth would not remain indefinitely without a
stardrive of its own. If an unfriendly government was in control when
it obtained one, the Mars Convicts would be forced either to abandon
their newly settled planets and retreat farther into the galaxy or
submit to Earth's superior strength.
Meanwhile, however, they had developed the principles of Oneness.
Oneness was in essence a philosophy, but it had many practical
applications; and it was in such practical applications that he,
Rainbolt, was a trained specialist. He had, therefore, been dispatched
to Earth to introduce the principles, which would in time bring about
the orderly disintegration of the system of the Machine, to be
followed by the establishment of an Earth government with which the
Mars Convicts could deal without detriment to themselves.
Menesee had listened with a sense of growing angry incredulity. The
fellow couldn't be as much of a fool as he seemed! Therefore, he had
devised this hoax after he realised he would be captured, to cover up
his real purpose which could only be that of a spy. Menesee saw that
Administrator Bradshaw was saying something in a low voice to the
spokesman, his face stony. Dorn glanced over at him, then looked back
at the prisoner and said impassively, "So the goal of your missionary
work here is the disintegration of the Machine?"
Rainbolt nodded, with an air almost of eagerness. "Yes, sir, it is!
And if I will now be permitted to--"
"I am afraid you will be permitted to do nothing," Spokesman Dorn said
dryly, "except, of course, to answer the number of questions we intend
to ask you."
Rainbolt checked himself, looking startled. The spokesman's hand had
moved very slightly on the desk before him and Rainbolt had just had
his first experience with direct nerve stimulation. He stood kneading
his right hand with his left, staring up at the spokesman, mouth half
open.
Menesee smiled in grim amusement. It would have been a low-level
pulse, of course; but even a low-level pulse, arriving unexpectedly,
was a very unpleasant surprise. He had foreseen the spokesman's
action, had, in fact, felt a sympathetic imaginary twinge in his own
right hand as the pulse reached the prisoner.
Rainbolt swallowed, said in a changed voice, "Sir, we heard from the
two captured men that the Machine has retained its practice of torture
during interrogations. It isn't necessary to convince me that you are
serious about this. Do the questions you referred to have to do with
the stardrive?"