In view
of developments it might be argued that they have been justified in this view. However,
our real weakness is not that we lack the potential, but that we lack the will to
act.
We have lost the initiative and allowed our opponents to dictate the subject – even
the rules – of the debate. This has resulted in the perpetuation of the belief that
change is
not merely desirable but inevitable. Moreover, they believe that the natural instrument
of that change is the House, therefore they seek to increase the power of the House.
The logic of this process is inexorable. There is nothing but House and Seven, hence
the House can grow only at the expense of the Seven.
War is inevitable. It can be delayed but not avoided. And every delay is henceforth
to our opponents’ advantage. They grow while we diminish. It follows that we must
pre-empt their play
for power.
We must destroy them now, while we yet have the upper hand.
Li Shai Tung closed the file with a sigh. Shepherd was right. He knew, with a gut
certainty, that this was what they should do. But he had said it already. He was not
simply T’ang, he was
Seven, and the Seven would never act on this. They saw it differently.
‘Well?’
‘I can keep this?’
‘Of course. It was meant for you.’
The T’ang smiled sadly, then looked across at the boy. He spoke to him as he would
to his own son, undeferentially, as one adult to another. ‘Have you seen this, Ben?’
Shepherd answered for his son. ‘You’ve heard him already. He thinks it nonsense.’
Ben corrected his father. ‘Not nonsense. I never said that. I merely said it avoided
the real issue.’
‘Which is?’ Li Shai Tung asked, reaching for his glass.
‘Why men are never satisfied.’
The T’ang considered a moment, then laughed softly. ‘That has always been so. How
can I change what men are?’
‘You could make it better for them. They feel boxed in. Not just physically, but mentally,
too. They’ve no dreams. Not one of them feels real any more.’
There was a moment’s silence, then Hal Shepherd spoke again. ‘You know this, Ben?
You’ve talked to people?’
Ben stared at his father momentarily, then turned his attention back to the T’ang.
‘You can’t miss it. It’s there in all their eyes. There’s an emptiness there. An
unfilled, unfulfilled space deep inside them. I don’t have to talk to them to see
that. I have only to watch the media. It’s like they’re all dead but they can’t see
it.
They’re looking for some purpose for it all and they can’t find it.’
Li Shai Tung stared back at the boy for a moment, then looked down, chilled by what
Ben had said. Was it so? Was it really so? He looked about the room, conscious suddenly
of the lowness of the
ceiling, of the dark oak beams that divided up the whitewashed walls, the fresh-cut
roses in a silver bowl on the table in the corner. He could feel the old wood beneath
his fingers, smell the
strong pine scent of the fire. All this was real. And he, he too was real, surely?
But sometimes, just sometimes…
And you think we could give them a purpose?’
‘No. But you might give them the space to find one for themselves.’
Ah. Space. Well, Ben, there are more than thirty-nine billion people in Chung Kuo.
What practical measures could we possibly take to give space to so many?’
‘You mistake me, Li Shai Tung. You take my image too literally.’ He put a finger to
his brow. ‘I meant space up here. That’s where they’re trapped. The City’s
only the outward, concrete form of it. But the blueprint – the paradigm – is inside
their heads. That’s where you’ve got to give them room. And you can only do that by
giving them a sense of direction.’
‘Change. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?’
‘No. You need change nothing.’
‘Then I don’t understand you, Ben. Have you some magic trick in mind?’
‘Not at all. I mean
of developments it might be argued that they have been justified in this view. However,
our real weakness is not that we lack the potential, but that we lack the will to
act.
We have lost the initiative and allowed our opponents to dictate the subject – even
the rules – of the debate. This has resulted in the perpetuation of the belief that
change is
not merely desirable but inevitable. Moreover, they believe that the natural instrument
of that change is the House, therefore they seek to increase the power of the House.
The logic of this process is inexorable. There is nothing but House and Seven, hence
the House can grow only at the expense of the Seven.
War is inevitable. It can be delayed but not avoided. And every delay is henceforth
to our opponents’ advantage. They grow while we diminish. It follows that we must
pre-empt their play
for power.
We must destroy them now, while we yet have the upper hand.
Li Shai Tung closed the file with a sigh. Shepherd was right. He knew, with a gut
certainty, that this was what they should do. But he had said it already. He was not
simply T’ang, he was
Seven, and the Seven would never act on this. They saw it differently.
‘Well?’
‘I can keep this?’
‘Of course. It was meant for you.’
The T’ang smiled sadly, then looked across at the boy. He spoke to him as he would
to his own son, undeferentially, as one adult to another. ‘Have you seen this, Ben?’
Shepherd answered for his son. ‘You’ve heard him already. He thinks it nonsense.’
Ben corrected his father. ‘Not nonsense. I never said that. I merely said it avoided
the real issue.’
‘Which is?’ Li Shai Tung asked, reaching for his glass.
‘Why men are never satisfied.’
The T’ang considered a moment, then laughed softly. ‘That has always been so. How
can I change what men are?’
‘You could make it better for them. They feel boxed in. Not just physically, but mentally,
too. They’ve no dreams. Not one of them feels real any more.’
There was a moment’s silence, then Hal Shepherd spoke again. ‘You know this, Ben?
You’ve talked to people?’
Ben stared at his father momentarily, then turned his attention back to the T’ang.
‘You can’t miss it. It’s there in all their eyes. There’s an emptiness there. An
unfilled, unfulfilled space deep inside them. I don’t have to talk to them to see
that. I have only to watch the media. It’s like they’re all dead but they can’t see
it.
They’re looking for some purpose for it all and they can’t find it.’
Li Shai Tung stared back at the boy for a moment, then looked down, chilled by what
Ben had said. Was it so? Was it really so? He looked about the room, conscious suddenly
of the lowness of the
ceiling, of the dark oak beams that divided up the whitewashed walls, the fresh-cut
roses in a silver bowl on the table in the corner. He could feel the old wood beneath
his fingers, smell the
strong pine scent of the fire. All this was real. And he, he too was real, surely?
But sometimes, just sometimes…
And you think we could give them a purpose?’
‘No. But you might give them the space to find one for themselves.’
Ah. Space. Well, Ben, there are more than thirty-nine billion people in Chung Kuo.
What practical measures could we possibly take to give space to so many?’
‘You mistake me, Li Shai Tung. You take my image too literally.’ He put a finger to
his brow. ‘I meant space up here. That’s where they’re trapped. The City’s
only the outward, concrete form of it. But the blueprint – the paradigm – is inside
their heads. That’s where you’ve got to give them room. And you can only do that by
giving them a sense of direction.’
‘Change. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?’
‘No. You need change nothing.’
‘Then I don’t understand you, Ben. Have you some magic trick in mind?’
‘Not at all. I mean
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