by David Drake
Dr. Infarus shuddered. "Please! Just let us Grands stop this war!"
"Fine with me, if you can stop it right now. How did it start, anyway, Doc?"
The doctor shifted uneasily. "Natural clash of economies and cultures, that's all. The Farmers are the descendants of the original pioneers—farmers and ranchers, mostly, with a few shopkeepers thrown in. But the planet has developed enough to provide an industrial base now. . . ."
"So the Bankers are trying to move in, huh?"
"That's a rather crude way of putting it." Dr. Infarus frowned "But, yes, the 'Bankers,' as you call them . . ."
"And the Farmers call them, too," Ikeyumi muttered.
"But they're not. Oh, a few of them are bankers, yes, but even they are borrowing development funds from off-planet—funds to buy land for factories, mineral-rich land for mining . . ."
"And the Farmers, for some odd reason, don't like the idea of good fields and pastureland being torn up to gouge out the ore underneath."
"Well, the Bankers resent the Farmers owning all the land, and being unwilling to share!"
"So they talk the Farmers into mortgages, push them into bankruptcy, and take their farms. No wonder they decided to start shooting."
"The Bankers aren't pushing—there just happened to be a drought, until a year ago."
Ikeyumi reflected that, with the technology at its disposal, the Grand Harriers could cause a drought without any trouble. "How odd that the Farmers think the Bankers are a bunch of lying thieves."
"Yes, well, the Bankers sneer at the Farmers for being uncultured hicks—which they are, you must admit."
"Only if you define 'culture' as being the way of life in the cities. Of course, the Bankers aren't too slow to realize that it's easier to take land than to buy it . . ."
"And total up the cost later, and find out that the guns and ammunition and mercenaries cost a good deal more than the purchase price? No, Lieutenant, I think the Bankers would have been more than willing to pay high prices—if the Farmers had been willing to sell."
"They just happen to want to keep their farms."
"You can't stop progress, Lieutenant!"
"Maybe not, Doc, but the Farmers are sure giving it one hell of a try."
A huge crumping sound filled the tank, and the front slammed down, jarring the men against their webbing. Ikeyumi cursed. "What the hell was that?"
"Road mine," a lookout reported. "It got the front fan. Sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't think they'd have any."
"Kill the rear fan! No wonder you didn't think of it, Sergeant—its really stupid! Mining a road that they both need!" Ikeyumi frowned. "Wait a minute—maybe they saw us coming."
"Sure, the whole planet must know we're coming in, by now. What's that . . ." Sarben stared. "You mean they ran in and set up a mine, just for us?"
"Wouldn't put it past them. Of course, they've put a big hole in their main road, just to stop us, but neither side is thinking about anything sensible like that right now." Ikeyumi shook his head.
"Okay, start up the treads. Full speed as soon as you can—and if anything shows up in the roadway, blast it."
They did. Twice in the next mile, they detected mines and shot them. The explosions blew huge holes in the road, but not big enough to stop the tank's treads.
Ikeyumi shook his head. "Crazy, destroying what they're going to need. Do the Grand Harriers actually think they can stop the shooting, when there's so much outright stupidity on each side?"
"There is a chance, a very good chance." Dr. Infarus frowned, brooding. "Provided we do not disrupt their negotiations in the process of trying to bring back the shipment of vaccine."
Lt. Ikeyumi just sat still for a minute, paying total attention to the amber fields in his viewscreen. Then he said, "Let me get this straight, Doc. You're still trying to tell me that if anybody fires at me, I shouldn't fire back."
"That is what I was hinting at, yes." Dr. Infarus looked relieved. "You've done too much shooting already. We must not do anything further to endanger the chance of peace."
"Do? I'm supposed to bring that serum back right down a battle line, and I'm not supposed to do anything to endanger it?"
"I'm afraid not, Lieutenant. In particular, you must not do anything to weaken the Farmers—that's vital to cessation of hostilities."
"Wait a minute. The Farmers don't have ways of making any more weapons or ammunition. They're weak enough already—and if we make them any weaker, the Bankers will walk all over them."
"That may be so, but that's not the kind of end to the war the Grand Harriers desire."
"Neither do I—the galaxy wouldn't notice another thousand dead bodies, but I don't need 'em on my conscience. That's not the issue, though, is it, Doc? Where did the Farmers get their weapons from, anyway?"
The doctor's face tightened. "I don't know. Of course I don't know."
"But you suspect, don't you?" Ikeyumi frowned. "After all, how much of a secret could a Grand Harrier keep, aboard its own ship? There had to be rumors, movements seen in the night—or at least somebody commanding. 'Watch the wall, my dear, as the Gentlemen pass by.' Just where are they getting their ammo, Doc?"
The doctor looked away. "I can only speculate, Lieutenant, and that's tantamount to spreading rumors. You know that rumors probably aren't true."
"No, but I'm a natural-born lover of gossip. Speculate a little for me, Doc."
"I have my duty . . ."
Ikeyumi sighed. "Look—if you don't speculate, we might all get shot down. And if we buy the farm, where's your precious shipment then?"
The doctor clamped his jaw shut while he visibly wrestled with himself. Ikeyumi recognized the signs, and waited.
Waited too long. The tank rocked onto its port track; then a huge impact knocked it back onto the starboard.
"Idiots are trying to play ping-pong with us!" Ikeyumi yelled. "Farmers to port, Bankers to starboard! Let 'em have it! All guns! Now!"
The tank stabilized, shuddering, as equal and opposite blasts thundered out of both sides of the vehicle, only slightly out of phase.
"One!" the gunner called out over the booming. "One down! Two! Three down! Four!" He was quiet for a few minutes, then called, "Nothing moving, Lieutenant."
"Damn straight there's nothing moving!" Ikeyumi grinned. "If I were out there, I sure as blazes wouldn't be moving a muscle! Forward!"
The tank ground into motion again.
Something huge swooped down out of the sky.
"Enemy fighter dead ahead!" the lookout shouted.
"Fire!" Ikeyumi bawled.
The main gun filled their world with thunder. The tank rocked back, jounced forward again.
"Got him!" the lookout crowed. "Only winged—he's swooped up—no, he's stalled . . . he's coming down . . . he's ejected . . ."
On the screen, Ikeyumi saw a dot arcing high away from a meteor that roared down out of the sky, growing larger and larger. . . .
"Dead bird coming straight at us!" the lookout howled.
"Ahead! Full speed!" Ikeyumi hit the throttle before he even started talking.
On the screen, the falling fireball swelled and swelled, then abruptly shot off the top. A huge explosion erupted, knocking the back of the tank high, slewing it from side to side. Ikeyumi held on to the sticks, fighting for control. Their rear hit, and hit hard. The tank bounced once; then it was rolling down the road again, unharmed. The men inside were quiet for a few minutes, listening.
"Anything moving?" Ikeyumi asked.
"Only us," the lookout reported.
They were quiet for a while again, marveling at survival.
Finally, the doctor said, "Okay. You're right—the Grand Harriers have been supplying the Farmers with weapons and ammunition. But if word of this got out, the Bankers would drop the negotiations faster than a hot rock."
"Yeah, sure." Ikeyumi frowned. "Who's going to listen to a mediator who has been helping the enemy? But something doesn't square, Doc. The Farmers had to hav
e plenty of arms and ammo before they stood up and said 'No' to the Bankers. If they'd known they didn't stand a chance, they'd never have made a try."
The doctor nodded. "That makes sense, Lieutenant."
"What? 'Makes sense?' You're just going to tell me that it 'makes sense?5 You can't deny it or confirm it?"
"Exactly, Lieutenant."
Ikeyumi fought down the urge to throttle the man. "Okay, so you don't really know anything, which means you can't say I'm definitely right but I'll settle for 'definitely wrong,' if you know anything that would let you say that. Just for openers, let's say the Grand Harriers were supplying the Farmers with all the ammo they could use, and guns to shoot it out of, before the first shot was ever fired. Could you say 'no' to that, Doc?"
Dr. Infarus reddened and looked as though he were about to say something, but bit it off and managed to stay silent.
Thought not," Ikeyumi said. "After all, if the Grands had really wanted to end this war, all they would have had to do is just sit back and watch. But they didn't want to—at least, not until it had been going on long enough for everybody to get good and sick of it, and want a way out. Which means that before the Grand Harriers could end the war, there had to be a war."
"Certainly you do not think . . . !"
"No, but you want me to, don't you?" Lt. Ikeyumi watched the doctor through narrowed eyes. "For a smart man, you've been dropping an awful lot of hints. I think that if the Harriers wanted a spy along on this mission, they should have chosen one who didn't care so much about, bringing back the serum."
Dr. Infarus's face turned stoney.
"But what's your commission as an officer, against the lives of a hundred thousand people, eh, Doc? Good for you. How about these people, though—the Farmer army, and the Bankers' mercenaries who are doing all the dying? What about their lives?"
"I couldn't do anything about that," Dr. Infarus snapped.
"Nobody says you could, Doc—except maybe you." Ikeyumi frowned. "Now, why should you think that? Only reason I can think is because you're a Grand Harrier—and you're the sort of noble martyr type who would figure that if the Grand Harriers started the war, and you're a Grand Harrier, then it's your fault for not stopping your bosses."
"It isn't!" Infarus cried in agony. "It can't be! I had no authority, no power to stop them!"
"Good to hear you say it." Ikeyumi nodded. "Even better for you than for us, maybe. Just hope you were listening. You did hear yourself, didn't you, Doc?"
Infarus swallowed and nodded, closing his eyes.
Ikeyumi turned away, gaze roving over the landscape, though he knew his lookout was certainly watching it better than he could. "Now, why should the Grands start a civil war?"
Infarus stayed doggedly silent. The tank rolled along to the steady percussion of the treads.
"Spaceport ahead!" the lookout sang.
Ikeyumi stiffened in his chair. "Be ready! They'll throw everything they've got at us. Gunners, fire at will!"
"Shell at two o'clock !" the lookout shouted.
Ikeyumi swerved. A huge concussion jarred the starboard side of the tank, but it kept on going.
"Eleven o'clock !" the sentry yelled. "Three o'clock !"
Ikeyumi shoved and pulled. Explosions rocked the tank, but it kept rolling, dancing between exploding shells. Then the main gun thundered, and the tank rocked back for a moment before it shouldered ahead.
"Got one of 'em!" the lookout shouted. "Get the one on top of the terminal, Joe!"
"No!" Infarus shouted. "You'll wreck the terminal building!"
"Fire!" Ikeyumi roared. "They should have thought of that before they shot us!"
The main gun spoke again.
"Got him!" the lookout crowed. Terminal dead ahead, Lieutenant! Do we go out front?"
"We don't bother," Ikeyumi said between clenched teeth. "Main gun horizontal! Fire!"
"No-o-o-o!" Infarus cried, but his wail was lost in the huge concussion that enwrapped them. Smoke filled the viewscreen.
"Shell coming in at twelve o'clock !" the lookout called.
"Side guns, fire!" Ikeyumi snapped.
A double explosion deafened them.
"Got it!" the lookout reported.
The smoke cleared on the screen, showing a huge ragged hole in the side of the terminal.
"Going in!" Ikeyumi warned.
The tank jounced and jostled, canting thirty degrees to port, twenty to starboard—but it kept on going, grinding on in.
"Pop the hatch!" Ikeyumi released his safety harness. "Let's go, Doc! Gunners, cover! They're going to be waiting with every small arm they've got!"
"How about we announce you?" Joe suggested.
Ikeyumi nodded. "Hand 'em our calling card."
The tank was filled with the racheting of a heavy machine gun, mounted just overhead.
"Now!" Ikeyumi vaulted out of the hatch a heartbeat after the machine gun went silent. White-faced, Infarus followed him.
They leaped out, dropped down the side of the tank. Small arms fire began to crackle all around them. Machine guns chattered.
The racheting began again, from the top of the tank. The side guns boomed, sending shells into the corners of the ramps and balconies where the snipers lodged.
The enemy guns went silent.
"Start here!" Ikeyumi darted over to a pile of crates. "Guns!" He heaved the first crate aside, saw the silhouette on the plastic underneath. "Ammo!" He kicked it away. "Chocolate?!"
"Here it is!" Infarus came up with a small crate hugged to his chest.
Ikeyumi stared. "Where are the rest?"
"Just the one! All we really need is a cup of serum, and we can mass-produce batches from it! This box must hold a gallon!"
"Then lets go!" Ikeyumi started back toward the tank, running.
A slug slapped the concrete a foot in front of his boots, ricocheting. Ikeyumi jumped and cursed. The tanks side-gun barked. Far away, someone screamed.
"Lets go, Doc!" Ikeyumi called.
Another snipers gun cracked, and Infarus yelled incoherently. The side gun spoke, and something thudded. Ikeyumi turned back.
Infarus was down, blood spreading over his thigh. "Go without me!" he gasped. "I don't matter—only the serum!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ikeyumi snapped. "Hold tight to that box!" He braced himself and hauled the doctor up to his shoulder in one quick surge, in a fireman's carry. Infarus clung to the crate for dear life.
Ikeyumi turned and trotted back to the side of the tank. Gunfire rang around his feet, but the side gun spoke again, and it stopped. He came to the tank and eased Infarus down onto one of the treads. "Give me the box, Doc."
Infarus surrendered the crate.
"Up here, Lieutenant!" Sarben reached down out of the hatch.
"Brace yourself, Doc." Ikeyumi boosted the doctor back up to the hatch. Teeth gritted, Infarus let himself be hauled aboard like a side of beef. Ikeyumi followed him.
The terminal was oddly silent behind him.
He strapped himself into his chair. Infarus half-lay beside him, face pale, breath ragged.
"Missed the artery by a quarter of an inch," Sarben finished securing a bandage. "I hit him with a pain-killer." He scrambled back into his seat. "Should be taking effect any time now."
"All right." Ikeyumi set his jaw and started turning the tank. "Back we go, back down the gamut."
"They're going to have everything and its brother waiting for us by now, Lieutenant," Sarben warned.
"I know," Ikeyumi said grimly.
"Bogey at five o'clock !" the lookout sang.
"Five?" Ikeyumi looked up. "Behind us?"
"Eagle to egg," the radio called. "Come in, Lieutenant."
Ikeyumi stared, then called back, "Egg to eagle! What the hell are you doing aloft, Krasno?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time, Lieutenant. They ranged heavy guns on us, so we took off and dropped a few shells on them. Then as long as we were up, I thought we might as well do th
e same to the spaceport guns, too."
"The spaceport defense bunkers! Are you crazy? You'll get shot down trying!"
"Shot down? Lieutenant, you took out every artillery nest all the way in! Nothing to hammer us now, except right on the tarmac—and we already blew out one of those!"
A huge concussion shook the terminal.
"Make that two," the radio amended. "Meet you out on the pavement, Lieutenant."
They did.
Ikeyumi sat beside Infarus's bed in the Petit Harrier infirmary, with Sarben beside him. "I got to hand it to you, Doc. You had the sand, when the chips were down."
"Mixed metaphor?' Infarus grunted.
"Depends on the kind of chips."
Infarus smiled. "But I'll be back aboard a Grand Harrier ship tomorrow. You realize I can't tell you anything."
"Yeah, but you don't have to," Ikeyumi mused. "I said it myself already, didn't I? The Grand Harriers can't be the hero who bails them out, if the boat isn't already sinking. Start a civil war, keep it going until everybody's good and sick of it, then come riding in and play peacemaker. But that's not all there is to it, is there, Doc? Or the Grands wouldn't have been so big about not hurting the Farmers—and that is one thing they told you to give me orders about, isn't it? Shoot the Bankers, but don't shoot the poor underdog Farmers. Of course, if our expedition should just happen to have weakened the Bankers enough for the Farmers to be in the stronger position at the peace conference, they'd be so indebted to the Grand Harriers that they would be virtually a puppet government, willing to grant all sorts of concessions, making the planet an ideal refitting and refueling base. What started the war, anyway? We know what led up to it, but we don't know what triggered the opening salvo. Wouldn't have any idea, would you, Doc?"
"I would," Sarben said, thin-lipped.
Ikeyumi turned to him with a frown. "Why should you care?"
" 'Cause my home planet's a lot like this one. I come from farm folks, myself—and if the Grands can do it to this planet, they can do it to mine, too."
"So." Ikeyumi's eyes glittered. "What did they do?"
"They ended the drought, started buying grain at hugely inflated prices, and paid in gold. Lots of gold."
