MALCOLM JAMESON: Science Fiction Collection - 17 Books in One Edition. Malcolm Jameson
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punches, but here he was treading on dangerous ground.
"I am sorry to report, sir," he said, as if painfully picking his words, "that your noble kinsman is disloyal, and his entire establishment is with him."
"I know that," barked Lohan. "The details, please."
"He poses as a humane man, as bait to the workers. To bolster that pose, he feeds them a little better and allows them small liberties. It is a policy that has brought many of the better workers to his side. Slaves scheme to be sold to him. He has allowed it to leak downward to the multitude that when he becomes the Khan — "
"He will never become Khan," snapped Lohan.
" — he will abolish slavery and institute reforms. His man Stallforth is particularly dangerous because he is able, sincere and a courageous fighter. The rank and file are all steamed up. They plan to contaminate the other workers and eventually seize control of the Moon. The accession of Prince Li-Kiang would follow as a matter of course."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Lohan. "You put the thing in a nutshell. It is a true report and a concise one. I knew all of it long ago. I wanted confirmation from an enemy."
"An enemy, my lord?" asked Winchester.
"Aren't you?" countered Lohan. "And why not?"
"I am not a fool, like these others. In this world, the strong get what they want, and therefore I intend to be strong. And to be still stronger, I intended to ally myself with the strong. It is no more than common sense."
"Well spoken. Now, what are your recommendations as to the mine situation?"
"All but the superintendent should be made convicts. That is simple. Merely make the mine crater another prison — the work will continue uninterrupted. Stallforth should be sent to the Crater of Dreams — "
"He shall die by torture," declared Lohan.
"No," said Winchester firmly. "He knows too much. He has a peculiar insight into the geologic structure of the Moon. It was he who discovered the veins they are now working. When those fail, he will discover more."
"From the Crater of Dreams — steeped in dope?" queried Lohan sarcastically.
"Yes. It is an intuitive matter. All we must do is put a helmet on him. Let his ideas and fantasies roam. Any slave could listen in on them, and if that slave could remember them truly, he would appear to be a great metallurgist. We will know where other deposits are likely to be found, and how to get at them. Stallforth will be helpless to act, but the activity of his brain is left to us."
"A novel idea," murmured Lohan. "We should have thought of that sooner. Are there other scientists that we could profit from in the same manner?"
"Many. Few of them are truly loyal. Most resent the present regime. I would recommend dozens for the pit of dreams, including most of my former associates in botany and zoology. We need not put up with their sulky ways and obstinate behavior. All we have to do is give them a whiff of the gas and they have formed the habit.
"After that we need only listen in to reap the fruits of their uncontrolled thoughts. I assure you an era of unprecedented advance in the sciences will follow."
Winchester paused to gauge the effect he had made. It was profound. Lohan had taken the bait, hook, line and sinker.
"Magnificent!" he exclaimed. "You shall do it."
"I only know some of them," reminded Winchester. "I would have to have access to the secret files to know the real capacities of the rest and their attitude toward us."
"You shall have it," said Lohan. "But back to the mines. You failed to state your recommendation concerning the Prince Li-Kiang. What should be done with him?"
"That is for your Lordship to say. If I were in your place, I should have him beheaded."
"As good as done. The order will go forth tonight. What else?"
Winchester scratched his head, pretending a reluctance he did not feel. He stammered several beginnings, as if uncertain what to say, then laid his plan down plainly. Lohan listened attentively throughout, nodding from time to time as he agreed with the several items.
There were too many AFPA men, Winchester told him. Many of them were corrupt, as shown by the recent exposure of the late Number Eight.
"He is dead," interrupted Lohan, "and his death was not a pleasant one."
"There are others," reminded Winchester, and went on with his bill of indictment.
The mass of workers, he asserted, were content with mere subsistence. A great deal of the current unrest was due to the system set up to suppress them unnecessarily. That could be done away with at one stroke. Modify the system so that it would not be so galling, round up and imprison the known agitators in one grand haul. After that there would be little trouble.
"You can do this?" asked Lohan, sold to the tip of his toes.
"I can — given the information you have on file and unlimited authority."
"You have it," said Lohan, rising.
The two men stood up and faced one another.
"You have proclaimed yourself a selfish man," said Prince Lohan, deliberately. "You expect a reward for this service. What is it?"
"Power, first," said Winchester. "Then a wife of my own choosing."
"The first has already been granted," said Lohan smoothly. "We will see how you handle it. As to the wife, that will follow. Deliver what you promise and you shall have the inspection and choice of a hundred thousand maidens. Select which, or as many, as you choose. We will not quarrel about such a trivial detail."
"My selection is already made," said Winchester with dignity, "and your Excellency knows what it is. The power I ask is to be employed for your benefit. The reward should be for me alone. It is a small thing to request from one who has the entire population of the Earth and planets on which to draw."
"We shall see. We shall see," said Prince Lohan testily. "It is a point that can be debated later."
Winchester's gaze bored into the half-averted face before him. He wanted to defy the man then and there; but there was too much at stake. Given the power he craved, he would not have to petition. He could demand and take. For once Winchester suppressed his primal instincts and pretended to accede.
"As your Lordship will have it," he said, but not too humbly. "We will postpone that discussion until you have seen the fruit of my work."
"So be it," said Lohan, gathering his skirts about him and rising.
It was a gesture of dismissal. Winchester took the hint, bowed, and backed away. At the prescribed distance of twenty backward paces, he bowed again, turned and stalked off into the forest.
The first step of the task he had undertaken had been accomplished. He had been given power to dispose of the revolutionists, and many of the dreaded AFPA men. With luck, everything else in his secret plan would follow.
So far, Cynthia was well and safe. There was no more that he could insist upon at this time without jeopardizing all his gains.
That night he received orders, telling him the Khan had decided he needed no advice on how to cultivate his parks. The so-called expert from the Moon could return to his regular duties.
Winchester took the midnight ferry back to the Central Receiving Station. He entered the royal suite which had been assigned him and sat for a long time slumped in an easy chair, thinking over the events of the past few days.
Now he had the tools of the destruction and reconstruction of a government in his hands.
How well could he use them?
CHAPTER XVIII
Reign of Terror