Hawkins and I had come over to Barbara's for supper, and the three of
us were sitting now, talking. Wieniawski's Violin Concerto cried its
sorrow, muted in the background, and the serene home she had made of
the bare little functional apartment folded itself around us. Then Kane
dropped in as he often did, with a casualness that fooled nobody, and
sat with all his soul in his eyes, looking at Barbara. He was a nice
kid. I didn't know why he should annoy me so.
The talk shifted to Valgolia. I found myself taking the side of my
race. It wasn't that I hoped to convert anyone, but--well, it was wrong
that we should be monsters in the sight of these friends.
"Brutes," said Kane. "Two-legged animals. Damned bald-headed,
copper-skinned giants. Wouldn't be quite so bad if they were octopi or
insects, but they're just enough different from us to be a caricature.
It's obscene."
"Sartons look like a dirty joke on mankind," I said. "Why don't you
object to them?"
"They're in the same boat as us."
"Then why mix political and esthetic prejudices? And have you ever
thought that you look just as funny to an Eridanian?"
"No race should look odd to another," said Nat Hawkins. He puffed blue
clouds. "Even by our standards, the redskins are handsome, in a more
spectacular way than humans, maybe."
"And Barbara," I smiled, with a curious little pang inside me, "would
look good to any humanoid."
"I should think so," said Kane sulkily. "The redskins took enough of
our women."
"Well," I said, "their original conquistadores were young and healthy,
very far from home, and had just finished a hard campaign where they
lost many friends. At least there were no half-breeds afterward. And
since the reconquest none of their soldiers has been permitted to have
anything to do with an Earthwoman against her consent. It's not their
fault if the consent is forthcoming oftener than you idealists think."
"That sort of thing was more or less standard procedure at home with
them, wasn't it?" asked Hawkins.
* * * * *
I nodded. "The harshness of their native world forced them to develop
their technology faster than on Earth, so they kept a lot of barbarian
customs well into the industrial age. For instance, the rulers of the
state that finally conquered all the others and unified the planet took
the title _Waelsing_, Emperor, and it's still a monarchy in theory.
But a limited monarchy these days, with parliamentary democracy and
even local self-government of the town-meeting sort. They're highly
civilized now."
"I wouldn't call that spree of conquest they went on exactly civilized."
"Well, just for argument's sake, let's try to look at it from their
side," I answered. "Here their explorers arrived at Sol, found a system
richer than they could well imagine--and all the wealth being burned up
in fratricidal war. Their technical power was sufficiently beyond ours
so that any band of adventurers could do pretty much as it wanted in
the Solar System, and all native states were begging for their help. It
was inevitable that they'd mix in.
"Sure, the Eridanians have been exploiting Solarian resources, though
perhaps more wisely than we did. Sure, they garrison unwilling
planets. But from their point of view, they're slowly civilizing a race
of atomic-powered savages, and taking no more than their just reward
for it. Sure, they've done hideous things, or were supposed to have,
but there've been plenty of reforms in their policy since our last
revolt. They've adopted the--the red man's burden."
"Could be. But Sol wasn't their only conquest."
"Oh, well, of course they had their time of all-out imperialism. There
are still plenty of the old school around, starward the course of
empire, keep the lesser breeds in their place, and so on. That's one
reason why the highest posts are still reserved for members of their
own race, another being that even the liberal ones don't trust us that
far, yet.
"Their first fifty years or so saw plenty of aggression. But then they
stabilized. They had as much as they could manage. To put it baldly,
the Empire is glutted. And now, without actually admitting they ever
did wrong, they're trying to make up what they did to many of their
victims."
"They could do that easily enough. Just let us go free."
* * * * *
"I've already told you why they don't dare. Apart from fearing us,
they're economically and militarily dependent on their colonies. You're
an American, Nat. Why didn't our nation let the South go its own way
when it wanted to secede? Why don't we all go back to Europe and let
the Indians have our country?
"And, of course, Epsilon Eridani honestly thinks it has a great
civilizing mission, and is much better for the natives than any lesser
independence could ever be. In some cases, you've got to admit they're
right. Have you ever seen a real simon-pure native king in action? Or
read the history of nations like Germany and Russia? And why do we
have to segregate races and minorities even in our own organization to
prevent clashes?"
"We're getting there," said Nat Hawkins. "It's not easy, but we'll make
it."
_Only you're not there yet_, I thought, _and for that reason you must
be stopped_.
"You claim they're sated," said Barbara. "But they've kept on
conquering here and there, to this very day."
"Believe it or not, but with rare exceptions that's been done
reluctantly. Peripheral systems have learned how to build star ships,
become nuisances or outright menaces, and the Empire has had to swallow
them. Modern technology is simply too deadly for anarchy. A full-scale
war can sterilize whole planets. That's another function of empire, so
the Eridanians claim--just to keep civilization going till something
better can be worked out."
"Such as what?"
"Well, several worlds already have _donagangor_ status--self-government
under the Emperor, representatives in the Imperial Council, and no
restrictions on personal advancement of their citizens. Virtual
equality with the Valgolians. And their policy is to grant such status
to any colony they think is ready for it."
Hawkins shook his head. "Won't do, Con. It sounds nice, but old Tom
Jefferson had the right idea. 'If men must wait in slavery until they
are ready for freedom, they will wait long indeed.'"
"Who said we were slaves--" I began.
"You talk like a damned reddie yourself," said Kane. "You seem to think
pretty highly of the Empire."
* * * * *