S-One came to his feet as the Head of Government entered the room, unsmiling and tired. Then both sighed, and, as if unaware of the pause, greeted each other, and took their seats. Each glanced slightly around, as if to check that there was no one else in the room—at least, no one physically present in the room.
S-One said, "A rough trip?"
The Head of Government shrugged. "That is temporary. What I cannot say is whether it will be worth it in the long run."
"We have, at least, exposed every doubtful, reluctant, or questionable member of the organization, in France and the U.K."
"If not, we are truly in trouble."
"Once the local fanatics finish their vengeance on these waverers, the rest will be more reliable. What is your impression of Arakal?"
G-One frowned. "He seems trustworthy. But I think Brusilov is right about him."
"In what way?"
"He is, I think, a master of conflict. Though he does not seem to mean us ill, I think we can expect—surprises."
S-One looked thoughtful. "It may well be. Yet he will have great trouble to win against us, in the long run. And, in fact, from what Brusilov says, he does not wish to beat us. There is a serious flaw. How can he win if he doest not wish to beat us? Because, assuredly, we intend to overcome him. In one way or another."
G-One shivered slightly, and rubbed his hands as if they were cold. "Not once was he discourteous. There was good will evident both on his part and on the part of his men. Yet he did not give way. And he did not ask too much because of their new technological advantage."
"We have, in effect, ceded military control of Western Europe."
"He is well aware we retain indirect control of very large regions, through S. I don't know—" G-One paused, frowning.
S-One leaned forward, and spoke sympathetically. "Something troubles you?"
G-One looked blankly across the room, stared at the Head of Security for a moment as if he were a stranger. "I don't know. If we win—Are we certain—?" Again he paused, frowning. "There was a difference in talking there and in talking here."
"Some of what was said there," said S-One, watching the Head of Government's face with all his attention, "was overheard."
"No doubt."
"With further development, in time, it will be as it is here. And all will be overheard."
G-One's face showed merely a faint expression of annoyance, such as appears on the face of a person who momentarily cannot remember a familiar name. S-One frowned.
The Head of Government suddenly leaned forward, "Listen, I understand the point you explained to me about the S organization. It is logical. But there is a danger."
"There would be a danger if we should fail."
"There is, at least theoretically, a danger if you succeed."
"Ah?" said the Head of Security, his tone silky.
G-One looked at him with eyes that came suddenly to a hard bright focus. "Spare me that tone. And give me the benefit of your thought. You can think, can you not? Not all your thoughts are supplied by the local commissary of thoughts? Why do you think that you personally are still in charge of the S organization?"
"I was selected," said S-One seriously. "And you have chosen not to disapprove of the selection." He said, somewhat sadly, "No, not all my thoughts come, at the special low price, from the nearest special commissary. But for the subject you wish to discuss, I can make no promises. I will do my best, but who knows?"
G-One smiled; for the first time a natural expression appeared to replace the look of strain. "Good. I will tell you one reason why you are still here: I could talk to you; there was a meeting of the minds. Now, I want your opinion on this."
S-One settled back slowly, as if bracing himself. "Proceed. But remember," he added dryly, "it will be recorded."
"Good. Now, stand back from all this at a distance, in your mind. Grant that what we believe on certain subjects is a great advance over what went before. Give full credit to our doctrines and beliefs. And our methods."
S-One said, smiling, "I do that readily. I am with you so far. Continue."
"Very well. Now, cast your mental gaze back over all history. All the long life of humankind. There have been many beliefs. Many doctrines. Many methods."
"I am still with you."
"Most of which have been superseded."
"Ah."
"Some of which have been wrong beliefs, doctrines, and methods."
"No doubt."
"Some, though true, could be improved."
"Yes."
"Can we be certain that ours, though a great advance over what preceded them, are the final development in beliefs, doctrines, and methods?"
"They will be," said S-One very seriously, "if we succeed."
"Bear in mind that this is a theoretical discussion."
S-One smiled. "I have not yet accused you of doctrinal deviations."
G-One nodded, his expression remote. "Not yet. But stay with me. If we succeed in gaining control, yes, we can succeed in making our beliefs, doctrines, and methods the last ones in the series to emerge or develop. That is clear."
"Then they are the ultimate development."
"But does that follow because they are necessarily superior, or does it follow because we have arrested the process at that point?"
"Does it matter?"
"Theoretically?"
"That is the wrong expression. You mean 'hypothetically'."
"Whichever you prefer."
S-One shook his head. "I cannot see beyond the point at which I stop reasoning on the question. There is a barred gate in my mental processes. On the gate there is a sign. It says, 'Danger. Keep Out. To Enter is Strictly Forbidden.'"
"That is why this discussion is only hypothetical."
"Dangerous animals in the realm of thought roam beyond that gate." S-One frowned. "Surely you did not discuss—with Arakal, for instance—"
G-One made a gesture of irritation. "What would the answer mean, if I discussed it with him? He is completely outside of this frame of reference."
"I am constrained to stop thinking, and to say that our methods and ways of approach are the best. And if not—" S-One held up his hand as if he foresaw an interruption "—if not, still, for the reason I described to you, we must win, and impose an end to the process of competing technological advances. It can go only so far. No further. And we must finally control it."
"In which case, it we are wrong—that is, if we hypothetically were wrong—we would freeze humankind at a level of technological development below its ultimate potentialities."
"Ah, but we foresee a further process of development, according to our own doctrine."
"Yet, if for the purposes of argument we assume that that doctrine might be improved by the slightest amount—"
"I am up against the gate."
"—then it follows that we are blocking a progress that might continue further."
"To possibly end mankind itself, by technological disaster. We have already had one sample of it. That came close enough to show what can happen."
"There is that. But suppose there is a way to resolve that problem? Arakal may find it."
S-One sat bolt upright. "This is why we must penetrate and control his organization!"
"Wait a minute, my friend. If we control his organization, what chance is there then that he will find it?"
"You do not, of course, mean Arakal personally?"
"How should I know? The point is that our reasoning is valid, so long as we accept certain lines of argument. Grant those lines of argument, and all else follows strictly. But if, hypothetically, those lines of argument should be mistaken—Why, then our whole structure of argument becomes an obstruction of progress. And if that were so, there would exist a very serious danger, aside from rivalry with any other system of beliefs and doctrines."
"You have gotten ahead of me. It seems to me that your thought has branched, and that you are making two points at once."
"You see the first, but you do not see the second?"
"There is danger in this."
"That is certainly true. First, if Arakal finds a successful resolution to the underlying problem which is a justification for the present development of S, he will proceed, while we are left in the dust, frozen in a method which, while superior to what went before, still is capable of improvement, and perhaps much improvement. That is a serious and unhappy possibility, but there is a worse one."
S-One frowned, then shrugged. "Go ahead."
"Looking out of that spaceship at the tremendous technological effects—"
"Which nearly ended the human race."
"Yes. A catastrophe. Which reminded me of other, but natural catastrophes. If for the sake of safety we stop the progression of technological methods, and freeze it in the present state, what do we do if there should be a need, brought on not by human actions but by nature, for the very strengths whose development we are blocking?"
S-One looked at him bleakly. "If, say, the radiation of the sun should change in intensity?"
"Yes. Exactly."
S-One shook his head. "How do I answer that? Life presents these alternatives. A wooden house is warm, but it may catch fire. A stone house is fireproof, but it is cold. Yes, I see at least the second risk you speak of. But I will still proceed as rapidly as possible to penetrate Arakal's organization and bring it under control."
"Working from France, England, and our former colonies?"
"Yes. We have a broad foundation. He has escaped us here, but his very victory will be turned against him."
"Let us hope we do not destroy something we may someday need."
S-One looked at the Head of Government and said sympathetically, "You are tired."
"There is no doubt of that."
"Come and take a look at the flowers. They are refreshing."
"What, flowers, still, in this season?"
"One can have flowers in all seasons. You just have to pick the right kinds, and protect them. The colors, the contrast, and the individuality rest the mind, and delight the senses. They are something to take care of, that reciprocates with beauty, that never makes harsh demands."
The Head of Government looked at him quizzically, and then smiled, very briefly. "Did you know that Arakal has a torturer?"
"He has several. There is only one he really trusts. I can give you the reports on that. They are very carefully watched, and used only with great restraint. There is no weakness there."
"Such contrasts amaze me."
S-One looked surprised. "Contrast? Where is the contrast? Any sensible ruler has torturers. Now, let us take a look at the flowers."
Arakal, headed home through rough seas on board Admiral Bullinger's flagship, was listening to Buffon question one of his numerous prisoners:
"You say you joined S because your daughter was sick, and needed money for treatment. S helped, and you were grateful; but you later came to think that S was responsible for the trouble in the first place. What did you mean by that?"
"If every day is gray," said the prisoner, "how long will it be before people become dispirited? And if people are kept dispirited, how long before they become impoverished. The presence of S had the effect of unending bad weather."
Arakal thought back over the prisoner's explanation of how he had joined S in despair, of his relief at having money from S to care for his family, of his resulting loyalty, his rise in the S organization, his gradual disillusionment, and his eventual conviction that S was the cause of the trouble that drove people to despair.
Arakal stayed to hear the prisoner add, "But it isn't the people in S who cause most of the trouble. It's S itself—the organization—that does the damage. In S, people are like cells in the body of a snake. They may not be evil themselves, but they have become part of an evil thing."
Arakal slipped out of the room, and made his way slowly and carefully along the corridor toward the cabin where Slagiron and Colputt were studying records and photographs of conditions in Europe.
As the weather was growing progressively more foul, it took nearly five minutes before Arakal swung open the door of the cabin, to see Slagiron and Colputt at a table heavily loaded with papers.
Slagiron glanced around.
"Getting worse out there, isn't it?"
Arakal got the door shut.
"Coming up that ladder, it seemed like it." He glanced at the papers on the table, kept from sliding off by sections of a kind of low fence snapped up into position around the edge of the table. "What have you found out?"
Colputt said, "It's almost unbelievable, but the photos and descriptions from before the war show that the physical arrangements then match the arrangements now almost exactly. In every way we can check, Europe has stood still.
Arakal said, "Since S took over."
Slagiron nodded. "It's as if Europe has been pickled in brine."
Arakal slid into a chair bolted in place before the table. "You remember Burke-Johnson saying that not much damage had been done in Western Europe during the war; that S had already taken over?"
"Yes. He didn't seem to think anything of their standing still all this time."
"The Russ must have set S up deliberately to stop progress."
"But why?"
There was a silence, and then Arakal, frowning, said, "What did progress do to them the last time?"
Slagiron nodded slowly.
Colputt said, "Yes. Strangleweed and trained germs."
They glanced at each other.
From outside came the howl of the wind, and the crash of water against the ship.
"They must," said Colputt, "have decided to freeze technology where it was. In S, they have an organization first to spy, next to penetrate, then to take control, and finally to smother progress entirely."
Slagiron gripped the table as the ship heeled.
"But it won't work if they just stop progress in their own territory. They have to stop it everywhere."
Arakal nodded. "They have to control us, sooner or later."
"Sooner," said Slagiron. "And how do we keep them out? They build their listening devices in when they build a ship, and they plant the things all over. Our troops have found scores of them in Normandy. They slipped that nurse in on us on practically no notice. And the so-called partisans were a collection of fake outfits from the beginning. Just think of the time, men, money, and resources they must tie up in S. And, where we're concerned, they're only getting started. Once they get going, they can pour their spies and agents at us through Old Kebeck and Old Brunswick."
"Hopefully," said Arakal, "we'll have the means to detect that. We have a good number of former agents who don't like the idea that S turned them over to us."
"Some of those will serve both sides."
"Some. Not all. We may learn more about S than S expects."
Slagiron nodded.
"But now that we see how they work, how likely is it that their colonies, when we captured them, weren't already riddled? We're wide open to them."
"What we need," said Arakal, "is some narrow place where they can only come through a few at a time. We could watch that. Also, we need some way to cut the ground out from under S itself."
"How do we get at S? We may bring some of its men around to our viewpoint. We may manage to cut off a part of it. But the main organization is out of our reach."
Arakal said dryly, "The answer isn't exactly obvious." Then he added stubbornly, "But it should be there somewhere."
"As for a narrow place," said Slagiron, "is there any place on Earth that fits that description?"
Colputt said, "We'd better find an answer now, if there is one. Because the problem will just get worse. If S is meant to stop progress, then S has to either destroy us or control us."
Arakal was frowning. "S is meant to stop progress. Why?"
Slagiron shrugged. "We've just answered that. Progress is dangerous. Look at what happened." He paused. "That is, what we think happened. I'm assuming we've been told the truth."
Colputt said, "It sounded true to me. Anyway, the point is true. Progress is dangerous. Progress is bound to be dangerous. And the further we progress, the more dangerous it is likely to be."
"Nevertheless," said Arakal, "to the degree that we can eliminate the danger, we destroy the justification for S to exist."
Colputt shook his head.
"Progress is dangerous. Inevitably, if we progress, we will again reach the point where we can create—among other things—strangleweed and trained germs."
"Let's just suppose," said Arakal, his expression remote, "that there is some way to protect the world from the errors of progress. Look at the resources S uses up. How will it justify the expense if the danger isn't there?"
Slagiron began to speak, but, seeing Arakal's expression, hesitated. He glanced across the table to see that Colputt was also looking into the remote distance.
"But," said Arakal, "is that enough? Like a habit, S might continue, just because they are used to doing things that way. And it will still be useful to them as a spy organization. We need to lead them to create an organization that will compete with S by drawing on the same resources S uses."
Slagiron shook his head, but said nothing, and waited.
Arakal's gaze refocused, and his expression seemed to show a momentary surprise, as if he hadn't expected to find himself here. He glanced at Colputt, who said, "I see the idea. But there are contradictions. To begin with, we need to have progress, without danger. But the two go hand-in-hand."
Arakal said, "We need to have progress—without danger to Earth."
"True," said Colputt. Then his eyes widened. "I see. There is a distinction there."
Slagiron frowned. "Without danger to Earth. How?"
Arakal said, "A powerhouse is useful, and dangerous, so we are careful where we put it. We can't get rid of the danger itself. But we can keep the consequences of the danger from being so dangerous."
"Yes," said Colputt. "It would be hard, expensive, and inconvenient. But possibly it could be done, at that."
Slagiron glanced at Colputt. "What do you have in mind?"
"The Old O'Cracys' atomic reactor," said Colputt, "had to be a certain size, in order to work. If its fuel were put in too concentrated, and in too small a space, it would not be a reactor, but a bomb. There had to be room for internal shields, or moderators. Just possibly, a technology, too, has to have a certain size, or it will also be a bomb and not a reactor. There has to be space for internal shielding to moderate certain effects—to slow them down and prevent them from penetrating the whole mass as soon as they are created."
Slagiron frowned. "Where do we get this space?"
Before Colputt could answer, the ship and the sea together created a roll and lunge that stopped the conversation. Then Colputt said, "We can look on Earth as 'the world', or we can look on it as the nursery of the human race, with the real world out beyond it. There are satellites, and other planets, and resources in space, and, with the platforms, we have what seems to be a practical means to travel in space. If we can rebuild the technology, by combining what we have ourselves with the frozen skills of the Old Kebeckers and Old Brunswickers, why can't we use space to protect Earth? Why couldn't foreseeably dangerous experiments be carried out far from Earth?"
Arakal nodded.
"It would be difficult," said Colputt. "But, having seen the alternatives, I think we have to try it."
Arakal said, "If we can eliminate the danger to Earth, while maintaining progress, S as it is now becomes a plain waste of resources. Could it survive that?"
"Better yet," said Slagiron suddenly, "if we move out into space, just how well situated is S—which rejects progress—to follow? There's your narrow place! And to try to overcome that handicap, the Russ will have to use men and resources that would otherwise go to S!"
Colputt said, suddenly cautious, "Of course, this is just an idea. The one thing we can be reasonably sure of is that space will be a very—" He groped for words "—A very unwelcoming environment."
Arakal and Slagiron, both gripping the table as the storm shook the ship, glanced around.
Outside the thin walls, they could hear the wind howl, and the sea smash across the tilted deck. Through Arakal's mind passed a brief vision of humanity's experiences on a planet whose environment was enlivened by such things as volcanoes, earthquakes, sharks, viruses, snakes, and hurricanes.
Despite the queasiness caused by the motions of the ship, he suddenly laughed and turned to Colputt.
"Let's not underestimate our nursery. If space isn't very welcoming, should that scare us away? How have we been raised?"
Colputt glanced around as the ship rolled far over, then he managed a faint smile.
"We have had the problem before, haven't we?"
Inside, as the storm beat on the ship, they thought over the frail, insubstantial idea that had come to them, like a ray of light through dense clouds.
Outside, the storm raged, its freezing wind and drowning depths held away by the ship, each and every part of which had begun as a frail, insubstantial idea.
Severely tried, but still on course, the fleet made its way through the storm toward home.