INCONSTANT STAR 101 dawn of sympathy, "Then the hyperdrive armada arrived and she was vindicated. Were you not glad?" "Of course," Markham said. "We jubilated, my comrades and 1, after we were through weeping for the joy and glory of it. That was a short-lived happi- ness. We had work to do. At first it was clean. The fighting had caused destruction. The navy from Sol could spare few units; it must go on to subdue the kzinti elsewhere. On the men of the resistance fell the tasks of rescue and relief. "Men as we returned to our homes on Wunderland -1 and many others for the first time in our lives----%Ve found that the world for whose liberation we had fought, the world of our vision and hope, was gone, long gone. Everywhere was turmoil. Mobs stormed manor after manor of the 'collaborationist' aristocrats, lynched, raped, looted, burned---as if those same proles had not groveled befbre the kzinti and kept war production going for theml Lunatic political factions rioted against each other or did actual armed combat. Chaos brought breakdown, want, misery, death. "My mother took a lead in calling for a restoration of law. We did it, we soldiers from space. What we did was often harsh, but necessary. A caretaker government was established. We thought that we could finally get on with our private lives-though 1, for one, busied myself in the effort to build up Centaurian defense forces, so that never again could my people be overrun. "In the years that my back was turned, they, my people, were betrayed." Markham choked on his bitterness. "Do you mean the new constitution, the democratic movement in general?" Tregennis prompted. Markham recovered and nodded. "No one denied that reform, reorganization was desirable. I will concede, if only because our time to talk now is limited, most of the reformers meant well. They did not 102 Poul Anderson foresee the consequences of what they enacted. I admit I did not myself. But I was busy, often away for long periods of time. My mother, on our estates, saw what was happening, and piece by piece made it clear to me." "Your estates. You kept them, then. I gather most noble families kept a substantial part of their former holdings; and Wunderland's House of Patricians is the upper chamber of its parliament. Surely you don't think you have come under a ... mobocracy." "But I do! At least, that is the way it is tending. That is the way it will go, to completion, to destruction, if it is not stopped. A political Gresham's Law prevails; the bad drives out the good. Look at me, for example. I have one vote, by hereditary right, in the Patricians, and it is limited to federal matters. To take a meaningful role in restoring a proper societythrough enactment of proper laws-a role which it is my hereditary duty to take-I must begin by being elected a consul of my state, Braefell. That would give me a voice in choosing who goes to the House of Delegates- No matter details. I went into politics." "Holding your well-bred nose," Ryan murmured. Markham flushed again. "I am for the people. The honest, decent, hard-working, sensible common people, who know in their hearts that society is tradition and order and reverence, not a series of cheap bar- gains between selfish interests. One still finds them in the countryside. It is in the cities that the maggots are, the mobs, the criminals, the parasites, the ... politicians. " For the first time, Ryan smiled a little. "Can't say I admire the political process either. But I will say the cure is not to domesticate the lower class. How about letting everybody see to his own business, with a few cops and courts to keep things from getting too hairy?" "I heard that argument often enough. It is stupid. It assumes the obvious falsehood that an individual INCONSTANT STAR 103 can function in isolation like an atom. Oh, I did my share of toadying, I shook the clammy hands and said the clammy words, but it was hypocritical ritual, a sugar coating over the cynicism and corruption-" "In short, you lost." I learned better than to try." Ryan started to respond but checked himself. Markham smiled like a death's head. "Thereupon I decided to call back the kzinti, is that what you wish to say?" he gibed. Seriously: "No, it was not that simple at all. I had had dealings with them throughout my war career, negotiations, exchanges, interrogation and care of prisoners, the sort of relationships one always has with an opponent. They came to fascinate me and I learned everything about them that I could. The more I knew, the more effective a freedom fighter I would be, not so? "After the ... liberation, my knowledge and my reputation caused me to have still more to do with them. There were mutual repatriations to arrange. There were kzinti who had good cause to stay behind. Some had been born in the Centaurian System; the second and later fleets carried females. Others came to join such kinfolk, or on their own, as fugitives, because their society too was in upheaval and many of them actually admired us, now that we had fought successfully. Remember, most of those newcomers arrived on human hyperdrive ships. This was official policy, in the hope of earning goodwill, of learning more about kzinti in general, and offi-ankly-having possible hostages. Even so, they were often subject to cruel discrimination or outright persecution. What could I do but intervene in their behalf? They, or their brothers, had been brave and honorable enemies. It was time to become friends." "That was certainly a worthy feeling," Tregennis admitted. Markham made a chopping gesture. "Meanwhile I not only grew more and more aware of the rot in 104 Pout Anderson Wunderland, I discovered how much I had been bed to. The kzinti were never monsters, as propaganda had claimed. They were relentless at first and strict afterward, yes. They imposed their will. But it was a dynamic will serving a splendid vision. They were not wantonly cruel, nor extortionate, nor even pettily thievish. Humans who obeyed kzin law enjoyed its protection, its order, and its justice. Their lives went on peacefully, industriously, with old folkways respected-by the commoners and the kzinti. Most hardly ever saw a kzin. The Great Houses of Wunderland were the intermediaries, and woe betide the human lord who abused the people in his care. Oh, no matter his rank, he must defer to the lowliest kzin. But he received due honor for what he was, and could look forward to his sons rising higher, his grandsons to actual partnership." "In the conquest of the galaxy," Ryan said. "Well, the kzinti have their faults, but they are not like the Slavers that archaeologists have found traces of, from a billion years ago or however long it was. Men who fought the kzinti and men who served them were more ftilly men than ever befbre or since. My mother first said this to me, years afterward, my mother whose word had been 'No Surrender.' " Markham glanced at his watch. "We must leave soon," he reminded. I didn't mean to go on at such length. I don't expect you to agree with me. I do urge you to think, think hard, and meanwhile cooperate. " Regardless, Tregennis asked in his disarming fashion, "Did you actually decide to work for a kzin restoration? Isn't that the sort of radicalism you oppose?" "My decision did not come overnight either," Markham replied, "nor do I want kzin rule again over my people. It would be better than what they have now, but manliness of their own is better still. Earth is the real enemy, rich fat Earth, its bankers and hucksters INCONSTANT STAR 105 and political panderers, its vulgarity and whorishness that poison our young everywhere--on your world too, Professor. A strong planet Kzin will challenge humans to strengthen themselves. Those who do not purge out the corruption will die. The rest, clean, will make a new peace, a brotherhood, and go on to take possession of the universe." "Together with the kzinti," Ryan said. Markham nodded. "And perhaps other worthy races. We shall see." "I don't imagine anybody ever promised you this." "Not in so many words. You are shrewd, Quartermaster. But shrewdness is not enough. There is such a thing as intuition, the sense of destiny." Markham waved a hand. "Not that I had a religious experience. I began by entrusting harmless, perfectly sincere messages to kzinti going home, mes- sages for their authorities. 'Please suggest how our two species can reach mutual understanding. What can I do to help bring a d6tente?' Things like that. A few kzinti do still travel in and out, you know, on human ships, by prearrangement. They generally come to consult or debate about what matters of mutual concern our species have these days, diplomatic, commercial, safety-related. Some do other things, clandestinely. We haven't cut off the traffic on that account. It is slight-and, after all, the exchange helps us plant our spies in their space. "The responses I got were encouraging. They led to personal meetings, even occasionally to coded hyperwave communications; we have a few relays in kzin space, you know, by agreement. The first requests I got were legitimate by anyone's measure. The kzinti asked for specific information, no state secrets, merely data they could not readily obtain. I felt that by aiding them toward a better knowledge of us I was doing my race a valuable service. But of...
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