adventure that had takenplace little more than ten years before.
The _Star Seeker_ had been built in space, about forty thousandkilometers above the Earth. It had been manned by a dozen adventurouspeople, captained by Crownwall, and had headed out on its ion driveuntil it was safely clear of the warping influence of planetary masses.Then, after several impatient days of careful study and calculation, thedistorter drive had been activated, for the first time in Earth'shistory, and, for the twelve, the stars had winked out.
The men of Earth had decided that it should work in theory. They hadbuilt the drive--a small machine, as drives go--but they had never daredto try it, close to a planet. To do so, said their theory, wouldusually--seven point three four times out of 10--destroy the ship, andeverything in space for thousands of miles around, in a ravening burstof raw energy.
So the drive had been used for the first time without ever having beentested. And it had worked.
In less than a week's time, if time has any meaning under suchcircumstances, they had flickered back into normal space, in thevicinity of Alpha Centauri. They had quickly located a dozen planets,and one that looked enough like Earth to be its twin sister. They hadheaded for that planet confidently and unsuspectingly, using the iondrive.
Two weeks later, while they were still several planetary diameters fromtheir destination, they had been shocked to find more than two scorealien ships of space closing in on them--ships that were swifter andmore maneuverable than their own. These ships had rapidly andcompetently englobed the _Star Seeker_, and had then tried to herd itaway from the planet it had been heading toward.
* * * * *
Although caught by surprise, the Earthmen had acted swiftly. Crownwallrecalled the discussion--the council of war, they had called it--andtheir unanimous decision. Although far within the dangerous influence ofa planetary mass, they had again activated the distorter drive, and theyhad beaten the odds. On the distorter drive, they had returned to Earthas swiftly as they had departed. Earth had immediately prepared for waragainst her unknown enemy.
"Your reaction was savage," said Ggaran, his tentacles stiffening withshock at the memory. "You bloody-minded Earthlings must have been awareof the terrible danger."
Ffallk rippled in agreement. "The action you took was too swift and toofoolhardy to be believed. You knew that you could have destroyed notonly yourself, but also all who live on that planet. You could also havewrecked the planet itself and the ships and those of my own race whomanned them. We had tried to contact you, but since you had notdeveloped subspace radio, we were of course not successful. Ourenglobement was just a routine quarantine. With your total lack ofinformation about us, what you did was more than the height of folly. Itwas madness."
"Could we have done anything else that would have kept you from landingon Earth and taking us over?" asked Crownwall.
"Would that have been so bad?" said Ggaran. "We can't tolerate wild andwarlike races running free and uncontrolled in the Galaxy. Once wasenough for that."
"But what about my question? Was there any other way for us to stayfree?"
"Well, no. But you didn't have enough information to realize that whenyou acted so precipitously. As a matter of fact, we didn't expect tohave much trouble, even after your surprising action. Of course, it tookus a little time to react. We located your planet quickly enough, andconfirmed that you were a new race. But by the time we could try to setup communications and send ambassadors, you had already organized a notinconsiderable defense. Your drones blew up our unmanned ships as fastas we could send them down to your planet. And by the time we hadorganized properly for war against you, it was obvious that we could notconquer you. We could only destroy you."
"That old fool on Sunda, the Emperor, decided that we should blow youup, but by that time I had decided," said His Effulgence, "that youmight be useful to me--that is, that we might be useful to each other. Itraveled halfway across the Galaxy to meet him, to convince him that itwould be sufficient just to quarantine you. When we had used your radiosystem to teach a few of you the Universal Galactic tongue, and hadmanaged to get what you call the 'planet-buster' down into the largestof your oceans, he figured we had done our job.
"With his usual lack of imagination, he felt sure that we were safe fromyou--after all, there was no way for you to get off the planet. Even ifyou could get down to the bottom of the ocean and tamper with the bomb,you would only succeed in setting it off, and that's what the Sunda hadbeen in favor of in the first place.
"But I had different ideas. From what you had already done, I suspectedit wouldn't be long before one of you amazing Earthlings would dream upsome device or other, head out into space, and show up on our planet. SoI've been waiting for you, and here you are."
"It was the thinking of a genius," murmured Ggaran.
"All right, then, genius, here I am," said Crownwall. "So what's thepitch?"
"Ggaran, you explain it to the Earthling," said His Effulgence.
* * * * *
Ggaran bowed. "The crustaceans on Sunda--the lobsterlike creatures thatrule the Galaxy--are usurpers. They have no rights to their position ofpower. Our race is much older than theirs. We were alone when we foundthe Sundans--a primitive tribe, grubbing in the mud at the edge of theirshallow seas, unable even to reason. In those days we were desperatelylonely. We needed companionship among the stars, and we helped themdevelop to the point where, in their inferior way, they were able toreason, almost as well as we, The People, can. And then they cheated usof our rightful place.
"The Emperor at Sunda is one of them. They provide sixty-eight of thehundred Viceroys; we provide only seventeen. It is a preposterous andintolerable situation.
"For more than two million years we have waited for the opportunity forrevenge. And now that you have entered space, that opportunity is athand."
"If you haven't been able to help yourselves for two million years,"asked Crownwall, "how does the sight of me give you so much gumption allof a sudden?"
Ggaran's tentacles writhed, and he slavered in fury, but the clashing ofhis teeth subsided instantly at a soothing wave from His Effulgence.
"War in space is almost an impossibility," said the aged ruler. "We candestroy planets, of course, but with few exceptions, we cannot conquerthem. I rule a total of seven races in my Sector. I rule them, but Idon't let them intermingle. Each race settles on the planets that bestsuit it. Each of those planets is quite capable of defending itself fromraids, or even large-scale assaults that would result in its capture andsubjugation--just as your little Earth can defend itself.
"Naturally, each is vulnerable to economic blockade--trade provides asmall but vital portion of the goods each planet uses. All that a worldrequires for a healthy and comfortable life cannot be provided from theresources of that single world alone, and that gives us a veryconsiderable measure of control.
"And it is true that we can always exterminate any planet that refusesto obey the just and legal orders of its Viceroy. So we achieve aworking balance in our Empire. We control it adequately, and we live inpeace.
"The Sundans, for example, though they took the rule of the Empire thatwas rightfully ours away from us, through trickery, were unable to takeover the Sectors we control. We are still powerful. And soon we will beall-powerful. In company with you Earthlings, that is."
Crownwall nodded. "In other words, you think that we Earthmen can breakup this two-million-year-old stalemate. You've got the idea that, withour help, you can conquer planets without the necessity of destroyingthem, and thereby take over number one spot from these Sunda friends ofyours."
"Don't call those damn lobsters friends," growled Ggaran. He subsided atthe Viceroy's gesture.
"Exactly," said His Effulgence to Crownwall. "You broke our blockadewithout any trouble. Our instruments didn't even wiggle when you landedhere on my capital world. You can do the same on the worlds of theSunda. Now, just tell us how you did it, and we're partner
s."
* * * * *
Crownwall lifted one eyebrow quizzically, but remained silent. He didn'texpect his facial gesture to be interpreted correctly, but he assumedthat his silence would be. He was correct.
"Of course," His Effulgence said, "we will give you any assurances thatyour people may desire in order to feel safe, and we will guarantee theman equal share in the government of the Galaxy."
"Bunk," said Crownwall.
His Effulgence lifted a tentacle swiftly, before Ggaran, lunging angrilyforward, could speak. "Then what do you want of us?"
"It seems to me that we need no wordy assurances from each other," saidCrownwall, and he puffed a cigarette aglow. "We can
Upstarts Page 2
