Inferno: A Chronicle of a Distant World (The Galactic Comedy) by Mike Resnick Page B
Book: Inferno: A Chronicle of a Distant World (The Galactic Comedy) by Mike Resnick
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Authors: Mike Resnick
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"You have us over a barrel, your majesty. Under no circumstances will Cartright call in the Navy. If you push for immediate self-rule hard enough, he'll have to agree to it."
"Your words will not leave my office," Bobby assured her. "No one will ever claim that Susan Beddoes was the first Man to yield to our demands."
She shook her head. "I don't care if that leaves your office or not. The truth of it is self-evident. You know and I know and Arthur knows that he won't use force against you."
"Then what is it you wished to say?" asked Bobby.
Beddoes again considered keeping silent, but finally decided to speak. "You are doubtless going to have a planetary vote on self-rule," she began.
"Certainly."
"And it will win overwhelmingly."
"I would assume so."
"Your first order of business will be to elect a planetary government," she continued, "and I assume you will be running for the Presidency."
"That is my intention," said Bobby.
"If there is any chance whatsoever that William Barioke will run against you," she said, staring directly into his eyes, "I think you should do everything in your power to see that such an eventuality does not come to pass."
"You make it sound positively sinister," said Bobby, once again amused. "Would you care to define 'everything'?"
"I would not, your majesty. I would merely urge it."
Bobby got to his feet, signifying that the meeting was over.
"I am the acting President of Faligor, descended from three hundred sitates," he said, walking her to the ornate door of his office. "William Barioke is merely a Rizzali who I have chosen to use for my own political ends. Still," he added, "I thank you for your concern. When the election is over, I will remember who my friends are."
"I just hope you remember who your enemies are before the election is held," said Beddoes sincerely.
5.
The election was held 22 months later. The people of Faligor, as expected, voted overwhelmingly for self-rule.
Despite Cartography's opposition—or possibly because of it—William Barioke was elected President over Robert August Tantram II by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. As a gesture of goodwill and solidarity, the winner created the office of Prime Minister for the loser.
And Susan Beddoes took a long look at the rolling grassy plains outside her window and the fog-shrouded Hills of Heaven off in the distance, and decided that it was time to think of leaving the Diamond of the Outer Frontier and returning to the worlds of the Republic.
Part 2:
GLASS
INTERLUDE
You wander through the streets, past the ruins of the notorious Government Science Bureau, the smell of the dying and the dead heavy in the air. You can see the green savannah between the frames of two burnt-out houses, stretching all the way to the so-called Hills of Heaven, and you wonder if a single living thing exists anywhere within your field of vision.
It's difficult to remember that Johnny Ramsey once wandered those plains, hunting animals for the natural history museum back on Deluros VIII, that Sabare University was once considered the finest alien seat of learning on the Outer Frontier, that Men and jasons and moles lived and worked in peace and tranquility not fifty yards from where you are standing.
Oh, you've heard the stories, read the headlines, seen holographs of the slaughter—but that was all about some incredibly distant world gone mad, it had no relevance to you. Now you're here, and try as you might, you can't imagine how it came to pass.
Did no one see what was coming? Were no voices raised in protest? If the jasons didn't care, what about the thousands of Men who had made this their home? Wasn't there a day, an hour, a moment, when one of them could have stood up and said, "Stop! This far and no farther!"
And where was the Republic during this descent into hell? It opened the world, educated the people, taught them farming and mining and commerce and the complexities of government. How could it just turn its
"Your words will not leave my office," Bobby assured her. "No one will ever claim that Susan Beddoes was the first Man to yield to our demands."
She shook her head. "I don't care if that leaves your office or not. The truth of it is self-evident. You know and I know and Arthur knows that he won't use force against you."
"Then what is it you wished to say?" asked Bobby.
Beddoes again considered keeping silent, but finally decided to speak. "You are doubtless going to have a planetary vote on self-rule," she began.
"Certainly."
"And it will win overwhelmingly."
"I would assume so."
"Your first order of business will be to elect a planetary government," she continued, "and I assume you will be running for the Presidency."
"That is my intention," said Bobby.
"If there is any chance whatsoever that William Barioke will run against you," she said, staring directly into his eyes, "I think you should do everything in your power to see that such an eventuality does not come to pass."
"You make it sound positively sinister," said Bobby, once again amused. "Would you care to define 'everything'?"
"I would not, your majesty. I would merely urge it."
Bobby got to his feet, signifying that the meeting was over.
"I am the acting President of Faligor, descended from three hundred sitates," he said, walking her to the ornate door of his office. "William Barioke is merely a Rizzali who I have chosen to use for my own political ends. Still," he added, "I thank you for your concern. When the election is over, I will remember who my friends are."
"I just hope you remember who your enemies are before the election is held," said Beddoes sincerely.
5.
The election was held 22 months later. The people of Faligor, as expected, voted overwhelmingly for self-rule.
Despite Cartography's opposition—or possibly because of it—William Barioke was elected President over Robert August Tantram II by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. As a gesture of goodwill and solidarity, the winner created the office of Prime Minister for the loser.
And Susan Beddoes took a long look at the rolling grassy plains outside her window and the fog-shrouded Hills of Heaven off in the distance, and decided that it was time to think of leaving the Diamond of the Outer Frontier and returning to the worlds of the Republic.
Part 2:
GLASS
INTERLUDE
You wander through the streets, past the ruins of the notorious Government Science Bureau, the smell of the dying and the dead heavy in the air. You can see the green savannah between the frames of two burnt-out houses, stretching all the way to the so-called Hills of Heaven, and you wonder if a single living thing exists anywhere within your field of vision.
It's difficult to remember that Johnny Ramsey once wandered those plains, hunting animals for the natural history museum back on Deluros VIII, that Sabare University was once considered the finest alien seat of learning on the Outer Frontier, that Men and jasons and moles lived and worked in peace and tranquility not fifty yards from where you are standing.
Oh, you've heard the stories, read the headlines, seen holographs of the slaughter—but that was all about some incredibly distant world gone mad, it had no relevance to you. Now you're here, and try as you might, you can't imagine how it came to pass.
Did no one see what was coming? Were no voices raised in protest? If the jasons didn't care, what about the thousands of Men who had made this their home? Wasn't there a day, an hour, a moment, when one of them could have stood up and said, "Stop! This far and no farther!"
And where was the Republic during this descent into hell? It opened the world, educated the people, taught them farming and mining and commerce and the complexities of government. How could it just turn its
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