course not. How could you?Since he became Prime, his policies have been erratic and unpredictable,not to say foolish."
_This is it_, thought the colonel, wondering what young Senesin'sreaction would be. He didn't have to wonder longer than half a second.
"Mr. Heywood," said Senesin, his voice oddly tight under the strain ofsuppressed emotion, "a person should learn to know what he's talkingabout before he makes any attempt to talk. If you must talk drivel aboutmy father, I'll thank you not to do it in my presence." And beforeHeywood could formulate an answer, Senesin turned to the colonel. "Ifyou'll pardon me, my lord, I have another errand to perform. I'll seeyou at eleven." Then he turned and walked out.
Heywood stared at his receding back. "Well," he said after a moment, "Iguess I spoke out of turn. But he seemed ..." He turned back to hisdrink, shrugged. "Oh, well. Tell me, my lord, what do _you_ think ofSenesin's policies? How long do you think he'll last in office?"
The colonel adroitly avoided the first question by answering the second."I dare say he won't last long. There'll be a great fuss in the File,and most of his own party will desert him--I think. They hardly have anychoice, considering the reaction of the populace to this Bairnvellthing."
"And I agree," said Heywood decisively. "We've got no businessinterfering with the lawful governments of planets and systems outsidethe Empire. The old days of Imperial expansion are over. Why, the wayLord Senesin acts, you'd think Emperor Jerris the First was on thethrone."
"Well, not quite," Colonel Lord Sorban said dryly. "I can't imagine anyPrime Portfolio in the time of Jerris I daring to act on his owninitiative."
"Exactly," said Heywood, just as though the colonel had agreed with him."That's why we have a constitutional Empire today. One man can't beallowed that much power without the consent of the governed. The peoplemust have a right to depose anyone who abuses the power they give him."He swallowed the remainder of his drink. "Can you imagine what it wouldbe like if the present Emperor tried to pull that sort of stuff? Notthat he _would_, mind you; he's too good an Emperor for that. He sticksto his job. But these are different times. And then, too, we can'tafford to antagonize the Gehan Federation. After all, I mean, _war_ ..."He shook his head at the thought.
Colonel Lord Sorban had listened to Heywood's soliloquy with patience,but he felt his irritation growing. Much as he had enjoyed the playbetween Heywood and young Senesin, he had expected to get someinformation out of the boy before he left. And besides, Heywood'scliched monologue was beginning to pall.
Therefore, the colonel finished his own drink, uttered some politebanalities and got out.
* * * * *
He walked around the corner to the restaurant, was bowed into a seat byan ultrapolite android, and quietly ordered his meal. While he waited,he spread the newsfac on the table in front of him, holding it with hisright hand while his left elbow rested on the table and his left palmcradled his left jaw. In that position, there was nothing odd-lookingabout the fact that his left thumbtip was in contact with his larynx andhis left middle finger was pressed tightly against the mastoid bone justbehind his left ear. His lips began to move slightly, and anyone at anearby table would have assumed that he was one of those readers who arehabitual lip-movers.
"The Senesin boy says he has a lead on the tapes. That's all I could getout of him just now, but I have an appointment with him at eleventonight. How far shall I let him go, Sire?"
The sensitive microphone in the tip of his thumb picked up the nearlyinaudible sounds; the speaker in his middle finger vibrated against hisskull and brought him the answer to his question.
"For the moment, I'll leave that up to you. But I wouldn't try to stophim just yet."
"Very well, Sire," murmured the colonel. He had already made up his mindto let the Senesin boy go as far as he could. The lad was smart, and hisattack would at least provide a test for the psycho-sociologicaldefenses that surrounded the Emperor.
"Do you think those tapes--if they exist--are genuine?" the voice asked.
"According to young Senesin," the colonel said carefully, "the tapes aresupposed to show that certain ... ah ... 'highly-placed persons' in theImperial hierarchy are influencing members of the Government illegally.You figure out what that might mean, Sire; it's a little too ambiguousto mean much to me."
"'Influencing,' eh? That could mean anything from a broad hint, throughpressure and bribery, to actual brainwashing," said the voice from thefinger.
"Which one do you think it is, Sire?" the colonel asked with mockinnocency.
The voice chuckled, then said, "I haven't tried brainwashing yet."
"No-o-o," agreed the colonel, "but you might have to if Lord Evonderinggets in, and if you have to, you will."
"Colonel," said the voice gently, "there are times when I believe youdon't have a very high opinion of your Sovereign's moral outlook."
The colonel grinned, although he knew the listener couldn't see it. Buthe knew the other was grinning, too. "I humbly beg your majesty'spardon."
"You'll have to wait a while, colonel; Imperial pardons have to be bythe Portfolio for the Interior. Your Sovereign is an impotentfigurehead."
"Sure you are, Sire," said the colonel. "Meanwhile, what about thosetapes?"
"Get them--or copies of them. They can't be dangerous in themselves, butif they're genuine, I want to know who's bugging this place. I can'thave spies in the Palace itself. Otherwise, keep your eyes on theSenesin boy."
The voice went on giving instructions, but the colonel lifted the thumbof his left hand from his larynx; the waiter was approaching, and if hewanted to speak to him, it would be better not to have to interrupt theflow of words from his finger.
The android put the dishes on the table. "Coffee, sir?"
"Yes," said the colonel. "Cream, no sugar. And bring a second cup assoon as I've finished with the first." Only a part of his attention wasgiven to the waiter; the rest was focused on the instructions he wasreceiving. The instructions kept coming until after the coffee had beenbrought. Then the voice said:
"Any questions?"
"No, Sire," said the colonel, replacing his thumb.
"Very well. I'll be expecting your report sometime between eleven andmidnight."
The colonel nodded, brought his hand down from the side of his jaw topick up his fork and begin a concerted attack on his lunch.
* * * * *
Hawaii, with its beauty and its perfect climate, had been the obviouschoice for the center of the Terran Empire. For centuries before thecoming of interstellar travel, the islands had been used to a mixture oftongues and races, and the coming of the Empire had merely added to thatmixture. In the five centuries since Man had begun his explosive spreadto the stars, more "races" had come into being due to the geneticvariations and divisions that occurred as small groups of isolatedcolonists were cut off from Earth and from each other. The fact thatinterstellar vessels incorporating the contraspace drive were relativelyinexpensive to build, plus the fact that nearly every G-type sun had anEarth-like planet in Bode's Third Position, had made scattering to thestars almost an automatic reflex among men.
It had also shattered the cohesion of Mankind that had been laboriouslybuilt up over several millennia. The old U.N. government had graduallywelded together the various nations of Earth under one flag, and fornearly two centuries it had run Earth like a smoothly operating machine.But no culture is immortal; even the U.N. must fall, and fall it did.
And, during the chaos that followed, a man named Jerris Danfors hadgrabbed the loosened reins of government just as Napoleon had done afterthe French Revolution. Unlike Napoleon, however, Jerris had been able tohold his power without abusing it; he was able to declare himselfEmperor of Earth and make it stick. The people _wanted_ a single centralgovernment, and they were willing to go back to the old idea of Empirejust to get such a government.
Jerris the First was neither a power-mad dictator nor an altruist,although he had been ca
lled both. He was, purely and simply, a strong,wise, intelligent man--which made him abnormal, no matter how you lookat it. Or supernormal, if you will.
Like Napoleon, he realized that wars of conquest were capable of beingused as a kind of cement to hold the people together in support of theirEmperor. But, again, unlike Napoleon, he found there was no need to sapthe strength of Earth to fight those wars. The population and productivecapacity of Earth was greater than any possible coalition amongextra-Solar planets and vastly greater than any single planet alone.
Thus the Terran Empire had come into