Sov-world where we give lip service to them. Thepoint I was about to make is that the supposed founders of our societyhad nothing even remotely approaching this in mind when they did theirresearch. It evidently never occurred to either that the firstattempts to achieve the--" the Hungarian's voice went dry--"gloriousrevolution, would take place in such ultra-backward countries asRussia and China. The revolution of which they wrote presupposedly ahighly industrialized, technical economy. Neither Russia nor, laterChina had this. The, ah, excesses that occurred in both countries, inthe mid-Twentieth Century, were the result of efforts to rectify this.You follow me? The Party, in power as a result of the confusionfollowing in one case the First World War, and in the second case, theSecond World War, tried to lift the nations into the industrial worldby the bootstraps."
The colonel cleared his throat. "Let us say that some elementsresisted the sacrifices the Party demanded--the peasants, forinstance."
Joe said, dryly himself, "If I am correctly informed on Sov-worldhistory, you do not exaggerate."
"Exactly. Let us admit it. Stalin, in particular, but others too, bothbefore and following him, were ruthless in their determination toachieve industrialization and raise the Sov-world to the level of themost advanced countries."
Joe said, "This isn't exactly news to me, colonel."
"Of course not. Bear with me, I was but making background. Toaccomplish these things, the Party had to, and did, become a strong,ruthless, even merciless organization, with all power safely--from itsviewpoint, of course--in its hands. And, in spite of all handicaps andsetbacks, eventually succeeded in the task it had set itself. That isthe achieving of an industrialized nation."
The Hungarian pursed his lips. "But then comes the rub. Have you everheard, Major Mauser, of a ruling class, caste, clique, call it whatyou will, which stepped down from power freely and willingly, handingover the reins of government to some other element?"
Joe vaguely remembered hearing similar words from some other source inthe not too distant past, but by now he was fully taken up by theastonishing Sov officer. He shook his head, encouraging the other tocontinue.
* * * * *
Kossuth nodded. "They tell me that in ancient Greece and Rome, tyrantsor dictators would assume full powers for a period long enough to meetsome emergency, and would then relinquish such power. I do not know. Iwould think it doubtful. But whether or not such was done in ancientGreece, it has been a rare practice indeed, since.
"A ruling caste, like a socio-economic system itself, when taken as awhole, instinctively perpetuates its life, as though a livingorganism. It cannot understand, will not admit, that it is ever timeto die."
The Hungarian waggled a finger at Joe. "At first, when there wasinsufficient even of the basics such as food, clothing and shelter, Partymembers soon learned to take care of their own, explaining this deviationfrom the original Party austerity, by various means. Nepotism reared itshead, as always, almost from the very beginning. Party members wishedtheir children to become Party members and saw to it that they secured thebest of education, and the best of jobs. And ... how do you Americans putit ... the practice of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, becamethe rule. Soon we had a self-perpetuating hierarchy, jealous of itsposition, and jealous of the attempts of outsiders to break into thesanctified organization. Marx and Engels wrote that following therevolution the State would wither away." The colonel laughed acidly."Instead, in the Sov-world it continually strengthened itself. A NewClass, as the Yugoslavian Milovan Djilas called it, had been born."
The Hungarian seemed to switch subjects slightly. "And a newdevelopment manifested itself. At first, Russia alone was of theSov-world but as she became increasingly powerful, she exported herrevolution, taking over in such advanced countries as, let us say,Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Here, supposedly, would have been theconditions under which the original ideas of Marx and his collaboratorwould have flourished, but the Party moved in its heavy bureaucracyand prevented any such development."
Bela Kossuth laughed gently. "Ah, ha, but this led to one of theironies of fate, my friend. Because as the Sov-world expanded itsborders it assimilated peoples of far more, ah, sharpness, shall wesay? than our somewhat dour Russkies. In time, bit by bit, inch byinch, intrigue by intrigue--"
"I know," Joe said. "The capital of the Sov-world is now not Moscow,but Budapest."
"Correct!" the Hungarian beamed. "At the very first, we Hungarianstried to fight them. When we found we couldn't prevail, we joinedthem--to their eventual sorrow. However, the central problem has notbeen erased. We have finally achieved, here in the Sov-world, to thepoint where we have the abundant life. The affluent society. But wehave also reached stagnation. The Party, like a living organism,refuses to die. Cannot even admit that its death is desirable."
He held his hands out, palms upward, as though at an impossibleimpasse.
Joe said, suddenly, "What's all this got to do with me, ColonelKossuth?"
The Hungarian pretended surprise. "Why, nothing at all, Major Mauser.I was but making conversation. Small talk."
Joe didn't get it. "Well, why come here at all? Max said you wererather insistent about seeing me, in spite of doctor's orders."
"Ah, yes, of course." The Sov officer came to his feet again andclicked his heels. "My superiors have requested that I deliver thisinto your own hands, as well as copies to the West-world Ambassador,to General Armstrong and Dr. Haer." He handed a document to Joe.
Joe turned it over in hand, blankly. It was in Hungarian. He looked upat the other.
Lieutenant Colonel Bela Kossuth said formally, "The government of theSov-world has found Major Joseph Mauser, Dr. Nadine Haer, and GeneralGeorge Armstrong, _persona non grata_. As soon as your health permits,Major, it is requested that you leave Budapest and all the lands ofthe Sov-world, never to return."
He clicked his heels, bowed again, and started for the door. Just ashe reached it, he turned and said one last thing to Joe Mauser.
XXII
In spite of Nadine Haer's protests, Joseph Mauser insisted that theyabide by the Sov government's expulsion order on the following day. Aspecial plane took them to London, and they there caught the regularshuttle to Greater Washington. At least, Joe, Nadine and Max did,General Armstrong remained on in London.
The flight itself was largely uneventful, Joe having retreated intohis thoughts. He had a great deal to think about. Not only in regardto the immediate collapse of his mission, but both of the past andfuture, as well.
Max, looking out the plane's window as they took off, bore an air ofnostalgia. "Look there," he pointed. "You can see that big statue ofthe Magyar warriors, there in front of the Szepmuveszeti Museum,like." He sighed. "I had a date with a Croat girl, to meet her theretomorrow night. I was making good time with Carla. She thought it wasromantic, me being from the West, and all."
"Max, my friend," Joe growled. "Save us the lurid details of yourromances."
But his voice hadn't really borne irritation. Max went on, "You know,you kind of get used to these people. They aren't much different,like, than us. Take fracases, for instances. They don't have them likewe do, but they got their Telly teams out there in Siberia, with thelads that go chasing the rebels and all. And they got their duels theycover on Telly. But I was thinking, why don't they get modern and havereal fracases, like us? And then we could have, like, internationalmeets, and they'd send a division, and we'd send one, and have it out.Zen! That'd be really something to watch."
Joe winced.
Nadine said, "Max, it took the human race ten thousand years to puteven a temporary halt to the international war, now you want to bringit back for the sake of a sadistic Telly show."
"Yeah, but gee--"
Joe Mauser said, "Max, go on back to the bar and have yourself adrink. I want to talk to Nadine."
When the little man was gone, Joe said, in a conversational tone, "Wecan be married tomorrow, right after we've reported to Phil Hollandand the other
s."
Her eyes widened, "Well, really! Don't you think you might ask meabout it?"
He shook his head. "No, we've covered all the preliminaries. Thetrouble with me has been that I've continued to look _up_ at you. Isuppose the caste system is too deeply ingrained in me. But now ...you're my woman. Period. I suppose you've actually been wondering whyI've been such a slow clod."
"Do you think you're looking _down_ at me now?" She counteredindignantly.
"No. Just evenly. We'll be married as soon as possible."
Her voice went strangely demure. "Yes, Joe," she said.
They drove immediately from the airport to the office