The Fleet of Stars Poul Anderson

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other materials we'll need. Likewise, pretty well for the Martian surface. What I have to collect is more
exact infor-mation, the details."
"Beware, I intend to pump you about those. I'm vague on them. Most Martians are." David clicked
his tongue. "Ironic, isn't it? For us out here, getting one regular ship a year, space has become more
abstract, less real, than it is te the average Earthbound Earthdweller. He at least sees frequent traffic to
and from Luna."
"Nevertheless, you po'e you folk were quick to grasp the idea of converting Deimos. And you do
still favor it, don't you?"
Positively. If anything, sentiment has grown stronger since you were here last."
"But I hear about problems too," Fenn said. "Not technological. Social, economic, political, the sort
of gar-bage I don't know how to recycle into anything useful."
David frowned slightly, but chose not to take umbrage. "Leave that to my colleagues and me. You
get your in-vestors and organization together, and tell us you are ready to go to work. I can guarantee
you the Republic will then vote approval and support. You know it means our salvaging what we are, this
whole society of ours." As the quid pro quo for Martian help and resources: com-etary water for Mars.
"I admit the longer-range prospect, the transformation of the whole planet, that's still contro-versial,
though more because of questions about practi-cality than principle. But our grandchildren will decide."
"They may not care any longer."
Eh? Oh. Because of new technologies from the stars, perhaps changing everything, making our
concerns of to-day irrelevant? It could be." David paused. "What our generation must do is keep that
chance open for those who come after us."
Fenn nodded. "Bucking the system."
Again David regarded the big man for a while before replying slowly, "No. Not in the way you seem
to think. The Synesis isn't an enemy. We're a part of it. And you recall I'm sure the synnoiont Chuan is a
personal friend of our family. He and I've cooperated much oftener than we've been at cross purposes.
When we disagree, we're civilized about it."
Fenn reddened. "Of course, of course! I mean his op-position to the Deimos work to the whole
thought of organics getting back into space in earnest, not to speak of making Mars into a new Demeter.
Do you know the reason? He talks and talks about stuff like destabilization, and others do too, but it's as
hazy as a comet's tail."
"Which can be bright and clear, seen from afar," Da-vid answered. "I admit he's not explained his
stance to my satisfaction either. Nobody has. Maybe the cyber-cosm can't. Maybe the matter is too
complex, top deep for human brains. Don't worry; I'm not convinced of that, nor are most of us on Mars.
But we do have certain urgent cares, where Chuan and we stand together."
Fenn tensed in his seat. "What are they?"
"You must have heard, in general terms. The Proser-pinans. We Terrans are trigger-suspicious of
them, and this is dividing us more than ever from our Lunarian neighbors. We know the Proserpinans
have been influ-encing things on Mars for years, and we think that influ-ence is on the increase, but how
important it is how strong, widespread, subversive we don't know." David raised a clenched fist.
"We do not propose to let them make use of us for their own ends, such as the recovery of Luna. We
have recent evidence, intelligence, of in-citement and conspiracy by them in the Threedora, You
remember, the Lunarian towns in Tharsis that have never acknowledged the law of the Republic, but
obey it under protest, when they obey it at all. Robotic instruments have shown spacecraft what must
be spacecraft of the new field-drive type descending on those parts or leav-ing them. Rarely, but even
three or four is too many."
"Has anybody actually seen them?" Fenn demanded.
"Well, no, not anybody I know of. We don't exactly have a space TrafCon system, you realize. Nor
have over-flights or our few monitor satellites revealed anything. But camouflage while they're on the
ground wouldn't be hard to arrange, as ill-equipped as our constabulary is to deal with such things. If
nothing else, blow dust over a hull and it'll look like a transient dune.
"Besides, the overt aggressiveness of the Proserpinans, like their attempt to seize a solar lens ''
"Another story handed you by the cybercosm," Fenn interrupted. "How do you know it's true?"
"Because because why should the cybercosm lie?"
Who knows? Why should it build that station on Pavonis, not just an observatory node but a
database center, and refuse to say what the data are?"
"It doesn't. Astronomers can and do consult the fa-cility. A few have even gone there for special
purposes, to work with the instruments."
"But there's a large block of information sealed off from them and everybody, right?"
"True. The cybercosm has the same right to keep si-lence as a human scientist does till s/he's sure of
the observations and what they signify."
"The solar lens data mainly, no? Been a fair number of years now, hasn't it? I thought the Teramind
was sup-posed to be able to interpret anything instantly."
David sighed. "This is getting to be pointless and quarrelsome, which is worse. Listen, please. The
business is highly relevant to you. You can't very well convert Deimos if Mars is exploding beneath it, can
you?
"Dare we sit idle in ignorance while matters drift to-ward bad trouble? I'm among those who've been
driven to the conclusion that the Republic can't tolerate the in-transigence of the Threedom any more. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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