"Lord of All, may I offer you a bargain?"
"Bargain?" grunted Vorgan.
"Tlembo has been a source of discomfort to you. We have forced you
off-balance several times, have caused you to go forth and fight in
sectors where you were not ready to enter. We have been instrumental in
causing you to change your master plan."
"Right."
"We have never been a real menace to you," went on the little man, "but
we have been annoying. Now if I offer you our promise not to stir up
any more trouble, will you offer us less than utter and abject slavery?"
Vorgan blinked. The bluntness of the offer was startling to him, and
the offer itself was a new facet to the Loard-vogh conquest. He snarled
inwardly at Mangare again, cursing the long-dead Lord of All that had
permitted the initial escape of the Tlembans. But snarling at a dead
man's mistake was not solving this problem, and Vorgan dropped it to
consider Indan Ko's startling offer.
Until recently, nothing like this could have come up. Save for three or
four times in the past--before Vorgan's time--when Tlembo had created
minor riots, the Loard-vogh conquest had been lightning fast and
completely unheralded. A sector would be overrun, a star cluster at a
time, and no word would go out ahead of their plans. Races fell before
their might, and then lived in slavery. A slave has no position, and no
right nor ability to offer terms. Therefore terms were a consideration
never before handled.
Terms, by themselves, offered a conflict in Vorgan's mind. Bartering
and buying among the Loard-vogh was normal, of course, but the concept
of terms from an alien race struck a snag, somehow.
Yet Vorgan could see the point. A chance for the Loard-vogh to
complete their master plan without the interference of this race of
trouble-makers. True, the Loard-vogh must relinquish the right to hold
them as absolute slaves. Perhaps a single representative in the Lower
Council would suffice. At any rate, giving a little right now might
mean less loss for the future. Vorgan groaned at the thought of all
the races of the Galaxy asking terms, and getting certain conditions
of servitude. Better to give a little to this one race than to go on
trying to keep a galaxy full of races satisfied.
No, he thought, not one race. That makes two! Terra had certain
advantages asked and offered. But Terra had been defeated, and only her
very brilliant ability had won her the right to a certain freedom. And,
of course, Terrans were helping the Loard-vogh on a myriad of planets,
doing things that the Loard-vogh found difficult, mentally.
But to keep Tlembo from stirring up trouble might well be worth the
effort. Tlembans were not the intelligent race that the Terrans were,
but--
Vorgan laughed. Let the Terrans have another job. They could possibly
use the Tlembans in some way. Let Terra keep Tlembo satisfied and
quiet and useful! Terrans were of exceedingly high intelligence, and
the results of their researches often required either that the Terrans
follow it, or that the Terrans direct a number of Loard-vogh. The
latter was not right, politically, and it had been a bother to them all.
To have a large group of Terrans all running down important details
seemed better, though Vorgan admitted that it was a waste of good
brainpower to have highly trained technicians performing routine
research. Tlembans were of a high order of intelligence, though not
as high as the Loard-vogh. They might be able to handle the routine
experiments and act in tertiary capacities under Terran direction.
An excellent idea.
"Indan Ko, I offer you a brief period of armistice. Permit me to
consult the Grand Council. I--"