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.Thecenter screen was lit, with the image of an older male Man, perhaps one we hadtalked to in Centrus.Marygay climbed into the captain's chair and strapped herself in."Are there any further casualties?" the Man said without preamble."I was going to ask the same thing.Jynn Silver.""The one who killed one of us.""A Tauran is not `one of us' if you are human.Is she alive?""Alive and in custody.I think we have deduced much of your plan.Would youcare to reveal it now?"Marygay looked at me and I shrugged.She spoke slowly and quietly."Our plan is that this ship is not going toEarth.We demand to be allowed to use the Time Warp as we originallyrequested.""You can't do that without our cooperation.Forty shuttle flights.What willyou do if we refuse?"She swallowed."We'll send everybody back on the shuttle we have.Then myhusband and I will ride the Time Warp to the ground.Crash-land near thesouthern pole.""So you think we will give you the ship rather than let you kill yourselves?""Well, it won't be too comfortable for you, either.When the antimatter fuelexplodes, the resulting vapor will blanket Middle Finger in clouds.There willbe no spring or summer, this year or next.""The third year," I said from behind her, "will be blizzard and then floods.""We can't allow that to happen," he said."So all right.We accede to yourdemands."We looked at each other."That's it?""You give us no choice." Two data screens lit up."The launch schedule you seehere was adapted from your original timetable.""So this is all according to plan," Marygay said."Your plan.""A contingency," he said, "in case you allowed us no alternative."She laughed."You couldn't just let us go.""Of course not.The Whole Tree forbade that.""Hold it," I said."You're disobeying the Whole Tree?""Not at all.It is you who are defying it.We are only taking a reasonablecourse of action.Reaction, to your declaration of intent to wholesale murder."file:///D|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ha.0Forever%20War%2002%20-%20Forever%20Free.txt (51 of 114) [7/12/2004 12:54:35 PM]file:///D|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Haldeman,%20Joe%20-%20Forever%20War%2002%20-%20Forever%20Free.txt"And the Whole Tree predicted this would happen?""Oh, no." For the first time, he allowed himself a small smile."Men on Earthdon't know you as well as we who grew up with you."The sheriff tried to explain what he knew or could deduce about the rationalePage 51ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlfor their plan.It was like a theological argument in somebody else's religion."The Whole Tree is not infallible," he said."It represents a huge andwell-informed consensus.In this case, though, it was.it was like a thousandpeople taking a vote, where only two or three were actually well-informed."We were all at a big table in the dining hall, drinking bad tea made fromconcentrate."That's what I don't understand," Charlie said."It seems to methat would happen more often than not." He was directly across from thesheriff, staring intently, his chin in his palm."No, this was a special case." He shifted uncomfortably."Men on Earth thinkthey know humans.They live and work with them all their lives.But they're not at all the samekind of people as you are."They or their ancestors chose to come to Earth, even though it meant becomingpart of a small minority, outside of Man's mainstream culture.""Trading independence for comfort," I said."The illusion of independence.""It's not that simple.They live more comfortably than you--or we--do, butwhat's more important is that they deeply wanted to come home.People whochose Middle Finger turned their backs on home."So when a Man on Earth thinks about humans, there's a profoundly differentcomposite picture.If you took one hundred fifty Earth humans and shot them forty thousand yearsinto the future.it would be cruel.Like snatching a child from its parents,and abandoning it in a foreign land.""That's nice," Charlie said."The Whole Tree's decision was based on concernfor our happiness.""Concern for your sanity," the sheriff said."The huge expense of the enterprise wasn't a factor.""Not a large one." He made a circular gesture, indicating everything aroundus."This ship represents a lot of wealth in terms of our economy.But it'snot worth much in Earth terms.There are thousands of them sitting empty,parked in orbit around the Sun.This wouldn't be a big project if people onEarth had proposed it.""But they never would," I said."They're stay-at-homes.He shrugged."How many people on Middle Finger think you're crazy?""More than half, I guess." We only had 1,600 volunteers out of 30,000 people.The younger half of my family does."He nodded slowly."But weren't they going along?""Bill, especially, in spite of thinking we're crazy.""I understand that," he said."So am I.""What?""We asked that you take a Man and a Tauran."file:///D|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ha.0Forever%20War%2002%20-%20Forever%20Free.txt (52 of 114) [7/12/2004 12:54:35 PM]file:///D|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Haldeman,%20Joe%20-%20Forever%20War%2002%20-%20Forever%20Free.txtThe Tauran spoke up for the first time."We are they," it growled.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------book threeTHE BOOK OF EXODUS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 52ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlChapter thirteenThe timetable had called for fifteen days' loading before launch, but thatpresupposed everybody being packed and waiting.Instead, they'd had two weeksto rearrange their lives, knowing that the expedition had been scotched.We lost 12 out of the original 150.Replacing them was not as simple as askingfor volunteers, since they'd been chosen with an eye toward a certaindemographic mix and assortment of skills.Forty thousand years from now, we might come back to an unpopulated planet.Wewanted our descendants to have a chance at civilization.We didn't have unlimited leisure for revision, juggling the shuttle schedulewhile we found replacements.Word had of course gone to Earth about ourinsurrection, so ten months from now there might be some response.If they hadthousands of ships at their disposal, a few of them might be faster than theTime Warp; a lot faster.A hundred fifty people were sufficient for a town-hall kind of democracy.We'dworked out the structure a couple of months before [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]