Chief Samas dropped his hands to his sides. "I thought not. But I will
repeat: If any of you want to go to the Invaders, you may do so now."
Anketam noticed a faint movement to his right, but it stopped before it
became decisive. He glanced over, and he noticed that young Basom was
standing there, half poised, as though unable to make up his mind.
Then The Chief's voice bellowed out again. "Very well. You are with me.
I will leave the work of the barony in your hands. I ask that you
produce as much as you can. Next year--next spring--we will not plant
_cataca_."
There was a low intake of breath from the assembled men. Not plant
_cataca_? That was the crop that they had grown since--well, since
_ever_. Anketam felt as though someone had jerked a rug from beneath
him.
"There is a reason for this," The Chief went on. "Because of the
blockade that surrounds Xedii, we are unable to export _cataca_ leaves.
The rest of the galaxy will have to do without the drug that is
extracted from the leaves. The incident of cancer will rise to the level
it reached before the discovery of _cataca_. When they understand that
we cannot ship out because of the Invader's blockade, they will force
the Invader to stop his attack on us. What we need now is not _cataca_,
but food. So, next spring, you will plant food crops.
"Save aside the _cataca_ seed until the war is over. The seedlings now
in the greenhouses will have to be destroyed, but that cannot be
helped."
He stopped for a moment, and when he began again his voice took on a
note of sadness.
"I will be away from you until the war is won. While I am gone, the
barony will be run by my wife. You will obey her as you would me. The
finances of the barony will be taken care of by my trusted man,
Kevenoe." He gestured to one side, and Kevenoe, who was standing there,
smiled quickly and then looked grim again.
"As for the actual running of the barony--as far as labor is
concerned--I think I can leave that in the hands of one of my most
capable men."
He raised his finger and pointed. There was a smile on his face.
Anketam felt as though he had been struck an actual blow; the finger was
pointed directly at him.
"Anketam," said The Chief, "I'm leaving the barony in your hands until I
return. You will supervise the labor of all the men here. Is that
understood?"
"Yes, sir," said Anketam weakly. "Yes, sir. I understand."