Welcome aboard, Joe."
Joe shook the hand offered, in some surprise.
"Welcome aboard?" he said.
Hodgson looked to Philip Holland, his eyebrows raised in question.
Holland said crisply, "You're premature, Frank. Dr. Haer and Mauserhave just arrived."
"Oh." The newcomer found himself a chair, crossed his legs and fumbledin his pocket for a pipe, leaving it to the others to resume theconversation he had interrupted.
Philip Holland said to Joe, "Frank is assistant to Wallace Pepper." Helooked at Hodgson and frowned. "I don't believe you have any othertitle do you, Frank?"
"I don't think so," Frank yawned. "Can't think of any."
Joe Mauser looked from one to the other, confusion adding to confusionwithin him. Wallace Pepper was the long time head of the NorthAmerican Bureau of Investigation, having held that position under atleast four administrations.
Nadine said dryly, "Which goes to show you, Joe, just how much titlesmean. Commissioner Pepper has been all but senile for the past fiveyears. Frank, here, is the true head of the bureau."
Frank Hodgson said mildly, "Why, Nadine, that's a rather strongstatement."
Joe blurted, "Head of the Bureau of Investigation! I had gathered theimpression I was being taken to meet some members of an underground,organized for the purpose of, as it was put, changing the presentrules of government."
Frank Hodgson grinned at Nadine and laughed softly, "That's a gentleway of describing revolution."
Holland looked at Joe Mauser and said briskly, "I'll try to take youoff the hook as quickly as possible, Joe. Tell me, when you hear theword revolution, what comes first to your mind?"
Joe, flustered, said, "Why, I don't know. Fighting, riots, peoplerunning around in the streets with banners. That sort of thing."
"Um-m-m," Holland nodded, "The common conception. However, a socialrevolution isn't, by definition, necessarily bloody. Picture agigantic wheel, Joe. We'll call it the wheel of history. From time totime it makes a turn, forward, we hope, but sometimes backward. Such aturn is a revolution. Whether or not there is anybody under the wheelat the time of turning, is beside the point. The revolution takesplace whether or not there is bloodshed."
He thought a moment. "Or you might compare it to childbirth. The factthat there is pain in childbirth, or, if through modern medicalscience, the pain is eliminated, is beside the point. Childbirthconsists of a new baby coming into the world. The mother might evendie, but childbirth has taken place. She might feel no painwhatsoever, under anesthetic, but childbirth has taken place."
Joe said carefully, "I'm no authority, but it seems to me that usuallyif changes take place in a socio-economic system without bloodshed, wecall it evolution. Revolution is when they take place with conflict."
Holland shook his head. "No. Poor definitions. Among other things,don't confuse revolts, civil wars, and such with revolution. Theyaren't the same thing. You can have civil war, military revolts andvarious civil disturbances without having a socio-economic revolution.Let's use this for an example. Take a fertile egg. Inside of it achick is slowly developing, slowly evolving. But it is still an egg.The chick finally grows tiny wings, a beak, even little feathers.Fine. But so far it's just evolution, within the shell of the egg. Butone day that chick cannot develop further without breaking the shelland freeing itself of what was once its factor of defense but nowthreatens its very life. The shell must go. When that culminatingaction takes place, you have a revolutionary change and we are nolonger dealing with an egg, but a chicken."
Joe, one by one, looked at the three of them. He said, finally, toNadine, rather than to the men, "What's this got to do with me?"
She leaned forward in her earnestness. "All your life you've revoltedagainst the _status quo_, Joe. You've beaten your head against thesituation that confronted you, against a society you felt didn't allowyou to develop your potentialities. But now you admit you've beenwrong. What is needed is to"--she shot a defiant glance at FrankHodgson, to his amusement--"change the rules if the race is to getback onto the road to progress." She shrugged. "Very well. You can'texpect it to be done single handed. You need an organization. Otherswho feel the same way you do. Here we are."
He was truly amazed now. When he had finally admitted interest in whatNadine had hinted to be a subversive organization, he'd had in mindsome secretive group, possibly making their headquarters in a hiddencellar, complete with primitive printing press, and possibly someweapons. He most certainly hadn't expected to be introduced to thesecretary of the Foreign Minister, and the working head of the NorthAmerican Bureau of Investigation.
Joe blurted, "But ... but you mean you Uppers are actually planning tosubvert your own government?"
Holland said, "I'm not an Upper. I'm a Mid-Middle. What're you Frank?"
"Darned if I know," Hodgson said. "I forget. I think I was bounced upto Upper-Middle about ten years ago, for some reason or other, but Iwas busy at the time and didn't pay much attention. Every once in awhile one of the Uppers I work with gets all excited about it andwants to jump me to Upper, but somehow or other we've never got aroundto it. What difference does it make?"
Joe Mauser was not the type to let his mouth fall agape, but he staredat the other, unbelievingly.
"What's the matter?" Hodgson said.
"Nothing," Joe said.
Philip Holland said briskly, "Let's get on with it. Nadine"--his voicehad a dry quality--"is one of our most efficient talent scouts. It wasno mistake I met you at her home, a few weeks back, Joe. She thoughtyou were potentially one of us. I admit to having formed the sameopinion, upon our brief meeting. I now put the question to you direct.Do you wish to join our organization, the purpose of which isadmittedly, to change our present socio-economic system and, as Nadineput it, get back on the road to progress?"
"Yes," Joe said. "I do."
"Very well, welcome aboard, as Frank said. Your first assignment willtake you to Budapest."
* * * * *
They were throwing these curves too fast for Joe. Noted among hissenior officers as a quick man, thinking on his feet, he still wasn'tup to this sort of thing. "Budapest!" he ejaculated. "The capital ofthe Sov-world? But ... but _why_--?"
Philip Holland looked at him patiently. "There are many ramificationsto revolution, Joe. Particularly in this present day with its FrigidFracas which has gone on for generations between the West-world andthe Sov-world and with the Neut-world standing at the sidelinesglaring at us both. You see, really efficient revolutions may simplynot look like revolutions at all--just unusual results of historicaccidents. And if we're going to make this one peacefully, we've gotto take every measure to assure efficiency. One of these measuresinvolves a thorough knowledge of where the Sov-world stands, and whatit might do if there were any signs of a changing in the _status quo_here in the West-world."
Frank Hodgson said idly, "I believe you have met Colonel Lajos Arpad."
Joe said, puzzled still again, "Why, yes. One of their militaryattaches. An observer of our fracases to see whether or not theUniversal Disarmament Pact is violated."
"But also, Colonel Arpad is probably the most competent espionageagent working out of Budapest."
"That corseted, giggling nincompoop!"
Frank Hodgson laughed softly. "If even an old pro like yourself hasn'tspotted him, then we have one more indication of Arpad's abilities."
Philip Holland took up the ball again. "The presence of Colonel Arpadin Greater Washington is no coincidence. He is here for something,we're not sure what. However, rumors have been coming out of theSov-world, and particularly Siberia, and the more backward countriesto the south, such as Sinkiang. Rumors of an underground organized tooverthrow the Sovs."
"And that religious thing," Nadine added.
Frank Hodgson murmured, "Yes, indeed. We received two more reports ofit today."
All looked at him. He said to Joe, "Some fanatic in Siberia. ATuvinian, one of the Turkic-speaking peoples
in that area once calledTannu-Tuva, and now the Tuvinian Autonomous Oblast. He's attractingquite a following. Destroy the machines. Go back to the old way. Tillthe soil by hand. Let the women spin and weave, make clothing on thehand loom once more. Ride horses, rather than hovercraft and jets.That sort of thing. And, oh yes, kill those who stand in the way ofthis holy mission."
"And you mean this is catching hold in this day and age?" Joe said.
"Like wildfire," Hodges said easily. "And I wouldn't be too verysurprised if it would do the