"What?" said the governor.
"This is no time for sentimentality," Roos went on dryly. "Too much
is at stake. Several Ganelons have been trapped in the palace by
my officers. They have some trick of invisibility. Psychological,
I believe. But we could still scent them. We knocked them out with
paralyzers. Since they are telepathic, it wouldn't silence them to lock
them up. I ordered them destroyed."
Governor Cameron's face blackened. "Why ..." he began.
A shout interrupted him. There was a chorus of startled exclamations.
Joel glanced over his shoulder.
The governor's aide had just burst into the conference room. A
terrified expression convulsed his pink face.
"Governor!" he yelled. "They've risen! They're attacking Eden!"
"Who?" the Governor half rose from his chair. "Get a grip on yourself!
Who, man?"
"The Unfit!"
X
Joel was stunned. The silence held a moment longer, then everyone began
to shout at once.
Roos leaped to his feet. "The control hall, Governor! Join me there as
soon as you can!" Before the last words were out of his mouth, he was
sprinting through the door.
Governor Cameron succeeded in catching the attention of the Nuvenice
and Nelsville officials, ordered them back to their posts to organize
the free planters. As the last of them trooped from the room, he swung
on Joel. "Well, Hakkyt, which side are you on?"
It was a decision that Joel had known for some time he must make. The
realization of what it would mean to have men like Walt Eriss, the
ex-surgeon, in power tipped the scales. He said, "I'm with you, I
suppose, Governor." And felt like a traitor to Tamis and Nick Thorp and
the rest.
"Then for Heaven's sake, contact the Thinkers. Tell them we'll
arbitrate!"
"But I can't!"
"What?"
"You should have let me know about this sooner. I don't know how to
contact the Thinkers."
Governor Cameron stared at him with blazing green eyes. Then he swung
abruptly on his heel, tramped from the room.
A rumble of sound like the mutter of surf vibrated against the soles of
Joel's feet. He felt Priscilla tug at his sleeve.
"The control room," she was saying. "Hurry!"
Pandemonium burst on Joel's ears as they entered the control hall. The
uproar of battle was emanating from banks of televisors. They were
being operated by a score of young officers--General Roos' staff. The
general himself strode back and forth in front of the screens.
Scenes of the bitter house-to-house fighting, the stampeding mobs of
civilians flashed across the screens with terrifying reality. Joel was
appalled. He felt his throat tighten, his heart hammer against his ribs.
A young field officer appeared briefly in one of the screens. "_We
can't hold them, sir_," he panted. "_It's those damn rays!_"
"Fall back to L Street," Roos ordered, "We're making a stand along the
monorail."
"Look!" Priscilla said, clutching Joel's arm and pointing at another
screen.
It mirrored a broad empty street down which rays were probing like
searching fingers. They were pale green, scarcely visible in the
blinding light of Asgard's twin suns.
Serfs in white ketons were carrying the deadly projectors at their
hips. There was a Ganelon with them, Joel saw. One lone naked man
walking in their midst.
"There's a Ganelon with every squad!" Roos said at Joel's elbow.
"They're directing the attack."
Just then Governor Cameron stood up. He'd been in communication with
Nuvenice. "They can't spare any troops." His voice was stricken. "The
serfs have risen there, too."
Roos began to curse.
Joel felt numb. The Unfit, he realized, were being led by a master
strategist. The slave rebellions at Nelsville and Nuvenice had been
instigated in order that troops could not be diverted to Eden against
which the main assault was being directed.
A voice from one of the audios blared suddenly. "_Spaceport calling.
The rebels are_...." A faint hissing noise burst from the instrument.
At that instant every screen in the televisor bank flickered and went
dead!
Joel's ears rang with the silence. It was like the dead spot following
an explosion.