John nodded. The explanation made good sense, and was in line with some of his own guesswork.
“Does that one corporation keep the contract forever?"
“Oh, no, of course not! Eventually the colony reaches the point where it can handle modern civilization, and allow in other corporations, or even build corporations of its own. There are a dozen colonies that were never handled by a single developer, and a few others that outgrew it. After all, FTL was invented by one of the colonies in the first place-Achernar IV, the home of the Interstellar Confederacy. They weren't going to stand for giving one company from Earth a monopoly!"
John did not entirely follow this, but did not let that distract him; he latched onto the point that concerned him. “How do they know when a planet is ready to let other corporations in?"
“Oh, that's easy-when the people of the planet invite other corporations, they're free to come. The CRA only chooses the company that can land without an invitation. The colonists own their own planets, though, so they have the final word about who comes and goes. I suppose they could even refuse to let the CRA's developer land at all-but that's never happened, so far as I know."
“You mean that if another corporation received an invitation from someone on Godsworld, they could move in tomorrow?"
“Worried about someone competing with you if you work for Bechtel-Rand, huh? Well, it's not quite that simple. First off, it would take more than a day for a message to reach Earth and a ship to come here. Second, the invitation has to come from someone who has the authority to issue it-the ship has to have a place to land. An innkeeper can't just invite in another company because he wants a better price on his liquor; you can't land a starship in a stableyard."
“I suppose not.” John looked at Kwam? thoughtfully. “How big an area do you need to land a starship?"
“Oh, a dozen hectares or so."
“What's a hectare?"
Kwam? snorted. “I think Godsworld must be the only planet in the entire galaxy where people don't use the metric system! Why your ancestors decided to use the ancient American system I will never understand!"
“They were Americans,” John said stiffly. Insulting the Founders was not something he could take lightly.
“Yes, I know, but even then America had been using metrics for a century or so!"
John had not been aware of that, but refused to be distracted. “What's a hectare?” he repeated.
“It's… it's… I don't know your units well enough. You could land a starship in a square about a thousand feet on a side, I think."
“A thousand-foot square? That would be twenty or thirty acres. That's not that much."
“It's enough."
“If I had a hundred acres of land somewhere, then, I could invite another Earth corporation to land there and trade with me and the rest of Godsworld?"
“Well, yes, I suppose you could-if you had some way of getting a message to them."
“Ah! That, Mr. Mawn-Tess, is why I wanted to talk to you where the machines couldn't hear us. Ms. Humble tells me you don't mind bending rules a little-would you consider delivering a message to the ITD Corporation for me?"
“What?"
“You heard me."
“Are you crazy? I'd lose my job! Why would you want to do that?"
“Mr. Mawn-Tess, I don't like the New Bechtel-Rand Corporation; I don't like the way they do business. I don't think they deserve to be the only corporation on Godsworld, and I want to invite in another one to take part of the planet away from them. If you won't help me, I can find someone else who will-and if you do help me, I would think that the ITD Corporation might be grateful enough to give you a job if you lose your position with Bechtel-Rand."
“They might, at that.” Kwam? looked at him thoughtfully. “They just might-and there could be a nice bonus in it, too."
“You see?"
“I'd need your word that you'd demand they hire me and keep me hired-after all, you'd be issuing the invitation, so you'd be the one with some say."
“I'd be glad to do that, Mr. Mawn-Tess."
“You'll need that landing site-thirty heckus, or whatever you said, of flat, clear ground."
“Acres-thirty acres. That won't be a problem."
“In that case, Captain Mercy-of-Christ, you've got a deal.” He stuck out his hand. This time John's shake was more enthusiastic.
Chapter Eighteen
“Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?"-Ecclesiastes 8:4
****
It had been easy to say that finding thirty acres he could use for a landing site would be no problem-easy to say, but not necessarily true. Certainly Godsworld had no shortage of empty land, but John did not happen to hold title to any of it, nor did he have any clear idea of how to remedy that lack. He did not have any significant amount of money; what had come in in donations to his guerrilla army had gone out to buy supplies of food and ammunition. He had never bothered to save his own money when he had been Armed Guardian of the True Word and Flesh; he had assumed that if he lived long enough to need it he would either be granted a pension or made an Elder. His family lands had gone to his uncle Lazarus, at John's own request-he had never wanted to be a farmer.
Furthermore, Kwam? pointed out that it would be better if the invitation came from a government of some sort rather than an individual. That made sense, John had to admit, but he no longer represented a government. The Anointed had, after supplying his initial wants, not bothered to stay in contact; still, he was the closest thing to an ally that John had. The Chosen had plenty of land-more of it than anyone else on Godsworld except the Heavener protectorate, now that the True Worders were out of the running. An invitation from the Chosen to ITD would be ideal.
For one thing, if the Chosen issued the invitation and events then devolved into open warfare, the brunt of it would fall on the Heaveners and the Chosen, and John still did not find himself in sympathy with either group. The Anointed had helped him, but only out of the basest of motives, and never as openly or effectively as John might have liked.
All he had to do was convince the Chosen to issue the invitation. For something this important John decided not to rely on messengers, but to go himself.
As escort-as commander, he could scarcely go alone-he chose David Beloved-of-Jesus, himself one of the Anointed's men, and Thaddeus Blood-of-the-Lamb. The pair had been decent companions, and having one of the Chosen and one of his own men seemed like a good distribution. He expected Miriam to insist on tagging along, but she surprised him by announcing her intention to stay at the inn. Kwam?, of course, could not leave his job in the fortress without raising suspicion.
That settled, the threesome set out at dawn on the tenth of November, on horseback-John had become quite familiar with the roads and countryside in the area during his time there, and although taking an airship to one of the outlying towns to the northwest would have saved a considerable amount of time, John thought it would also be far more likely to attract the attention of people at Bechtel-Rand whose attention he preferred to avoid.
The first day was quiet and uneventful. The second was marred by a long, loud theological argument between David and Thaddeus; David maintained that all men were damned unless they served the Lord's Anointed, while Thaddeus insisted that, quite aside from any spurious claims to divine authority made by mere mortals, God was sufficiently merciful to allow a second chance for any who lived out their lives without ever hearing the Word of God-such would be reborn to live new lives, again and again, until they got it right.
Neither side sounded exactly right to John; Thaddeus’ version was not quite in accord with his own understanding of True Worder doctrine. He declined to intervene, however; since the defeat of the People of the True Word and Flesh John was no longer certain that he considered their doctrines to be absolute truth, and furthermore, for a commander to take sides in such a dispute between two of his men would be extremely foolish. He ignored
the entire discussion and simply refused to hear questions or demands for intercession directed at him.
Other arguments sprang up, but none developed into anything worse than a moment's shouting, and the three men reached Spiritus Sancti without coming to blows, either amongst themselves or with the four soldiers who formed their escort for the last leg of the journey.
Once in the Chosen capital, however, events did not proceed as smoothly as John had hoped. Unlike his previous visits, he was kept waiting in the courtyard for virtually an entire afternoon; his men were not permitted to accompany him. Finally, only a few minutes before sundown, the great nearwood doors swung open and four men surrounded him.
He had the distinct impression that had he not stepped eagerly forward he would have been dragged, willing or not, into the audience chamber. One of the men kept a spear levelled at him the entire time he was in the chamber, and another had a hand on his sword-hilt; this was obviously no ceremonial honor guard.
He walked up the center aisle, as before, but upon seeing the Anointed's expression of extreme displeasure he stopped a few paces further back than he had previously.
Before he could decide what to say, the Anointed himself spoke.
“So, John Mercy-of-Christ, you're back-what do you want this time?"
John decided against any preliminary rigmarole. “J'sevyu, sir; I have only a small favor to ask,” he said, “requiring simply the use of your name on an invitation and a few acres of barren land…"
“Oh? No more men to be killed or to desert their loyalties?"
“No, Reverend Sir…"
“Has it occurred to you that your schemes have not been very successful, Mercy-of-Christ? You've lost two entire armies now, one in the field and one of guerrillas."
“No, sir, I have not; I did not lose my guerrillas! They're in hiding in the protectorate!"
“Oh? Of the eighty-five men I gave you, ten are known dead and twenty-eight have returned here after leaving your service."
“I admit I've lost men-that happens in any war! And desertions have been a problem because we're facing a powerful enemy, and with little support!"
The Anointed glared at him for a few seconds of tense silence, then calmed somewhat, waved a hand in dismissal, and said, “All right, then, what's this new idea of yours?"
John spoke slowly, trying to choose his words carefully. “I have discovered that the People of Heaven are more powerful than I had thought. I don't think that any army on Godsworld can succeed against them-I don't think all of Godsworld put together could defeat them. However, that doesn't mean that they can't be stopped. I propose to invite one of their enemies to come in and oppose them, with our help. They're known back on Earth as a ‘corporation', the New Bechtel-Rand Corporation-it's something like a tribe or congregation. Theirs is the second largest, second most powerful of all the corporations that ‘develop’ worlds like Godsworld. I want to invite the largest, ITD Corporation, to come to Godsworld and compete against them, destroy them if possible."
There was absolute silence for a long moment. Finally, the Anointed asked, “Are you crazy?"
John did not answer.
“Isn't one of these what-do-you-call-its bad enough? You want to invite another one?"
“That's right; the two of them should slow each other down, maybe destroy each other."
“That's crazy!” The Anointed stared at him for several seconds; John stared back.
At last, the Anointed sighed. “All right, then, why do you need us? If you have some way of inviting in this other ‘corporation', why don't you just do it?"
“I can't,” John said. “These people are bound by a sort of covenant-only one is permitted onto each world unless others are invited. The invitation has to come from someone in a position of authority, who controls a piece of land big enough for their ships to land on-my informant said that thirty acres of reasonably flat country would be about right. I need your name on the invitation, and the use of thirty acres for the landing field."
“I see. And if I agree to this, what happens next?"
“Well, in a few weeks their first ship would arrive, and they would negotiate a trade agreement, just as the Bechtel-Rand people did with the old People of Heaven. They would sell you weapons, I assume, and set up a base here, and whenever the People of Heaven or any of their client states gave you any trouble after that you could ask for help."
“Why shouldn't I just join the protectorate, then, if I'm to give up my freedom?"
“You wouldn't be giving up your freedom! ITD would be here at your invitation; you would have complete say over what they do here on Godsworld!"
“Oh? Why would they do that? What's to stop them from simply taking over the entire Realm of the Chosen?"
“They have laws…"
“Laws! What good are laws, when these people aren't even true Christians? What can bind men who don't honor the word of God? Do you know what happened to Stephen Christ-is-Risen, the Shepherd of the People of Heaven, when the Earthers arrived in the Citadel?"
“Uh…"
“It was one of your own men that told me, Mercy-of-Christ-one who deserted your camp to return home to his wife and children. He heard it from one of your spies in the Citadel, who never told you because you never bothered to ask about what happened to the rightful rulers of the place!"
It was true that John had never troubled himself with learning the details of the Earther takeover of the People of Heaven; he had simply accepted it as an accomplished fact. It had not even occurred to him that there might have been resistance, and he had never before heard either the name or title of Stephen Christ-is-Risen, Shepherd of the People of Heaven.
“Well?” the Anointed demanded.
“I don't know,” John admitted, imagining assorted horrors-involuntary painwiring, perhaps, or some other even more perverse punishment.
“He agreed to let them trade, allowed them to build their headquarters and their airport-and then disappeared! He went into their headquarters one day and never came out, and all the Earthers would tell anybody was that he'd gone off somewhere! By then the Heaveners were too far gone to care, though-they never argued, just took orders from the Earthers as if their Shepherd had told them to. They didn't care!"
John was startled by the Anointed's vehemence.
“Do you think that I'm going to let some ship land here and entice my people to sin, so that when these invaders get tired of me I could simply vanish without anyone even paying any attention?"
John suddenly understood. The Anointed had not brought up Stephen Christ-is-Risen as another example of the untrustworthiness or evil of the Earthers, but because he feared the same fate-whatever it was-himself. He was jealous of his own power and prestige.
“Oh,” John said. “No, I reckon you won't.” Further argument was obviously not going to accomplish much.
The rest of the audience was trivial; the Anointed asked for an accounting of the men and supplies he had provided, which John did his best to supply. It was agreed that any of the Chosen John could contact were to be ordered home to Spiritus Sancti; John refrained from voicing his suspicion that many of them would not obey such an order. There were no supplies left to return, as John told it; he had no intention of giving up the few remaining arms he had salvaged from the destruction of his camp. Throughout the remaining conversation the Anointed was visibly tired and irritable, while John was simply impatient to be done and leave. He was quite certain that, barring the overthrow of the Anointed, he would not be getting any further help from the Chosen of the Holy Ghost; that meant that any more time spent in Spiritus Sancti would simply be wasted. He was eager to move on and find a tribe that would issue the invitation to ITD; surely, among the dozens of smaller tribes in the hills of Isachar and Gad, there would be one or more eager for a chance to become a rich and powerful nation, even at the cost of independence.
As he talked about missing men and squandered ammunition he ran through the possibilities in h
is head. He would need a tribe where the government was not as jealous of its power as the Anointed of the Chosen.
That limited the field considerably. He thought over what he knew of the politics of the region, and was surprised to realize that most of the tribes he was familiar with were out-and-out dictatorships of one sort or another, ruled by prophets, military men, or hereditary monarchs. That was hardly in keeping with his own beliefs-hadn't Christ taught that all men are worthy? The ancient Americans had had a republic, and the original plan among the Godsworlders was for a democracy, with all laws set by referendum, but little seemed to remain of that; each group that had split off from the founding colony at New Jerusalem had followed its own leaders and set its own precedents, and New Jerusalem itself had elected the first Lion of Judah as its absolute ruler within a century of the Crossing-not that it mattered, since the city had been sacked by the Children of the New Israel long ago, and never rebuilt.
The People of the True Word and Flesh were not a dictatorship, of course-or at least they weren't before joining the protectorate-but they hadn't been a democracy, either. They were ruled by the Elders, who served for life, with death-created vacancies filled by vote of the eleven survivors. Such a council, made up of those who guarded the true faith, might be jealous of its prerogatives, too. John tried to imagine what the Elders would have said if he had asked them to issue the invitation, but could not decide.
That didn't matter, he told himself; his own people were part of the protectorate now, and therefore in no position to invite ITD.
He would surely be able to find a tribe somewhere that would do, he told himself. After all, even if he could only find dictatorships and oligarchies, he would not point out Stephen Christ-is-Risen's disappearance, and he might well turn up a dictator whose greed outweighed his caution.
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