Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (76 page)

He quickly
called the council into session for an important announcement. The
council chambers were where the ceremony would take place and he
decided it would be unfair to spring the election thing on them
unprepared. As soon as they were all seated, expecting some kind of
rehearsal, he called the meeting to order.

"I'll be as
brief as I can. I've been studying the constitution and have found
one clause that can't be ignored. It will be dealt with at the
signing. If anything unexpected comes up before that time I'll try
to get the information to all of you. This has happened very fast.
I can't keep up, it seems. Every time I think I've found the right
words and path something comes up that distracts me.

"From the
moment I sign the constitution into force we'll have exactly one
hundred short days to elect and seat the entire first government.
We have the precincts and voting machinery in place now for the
ratification so I'll use that fact and will announce how the thing
is to be done.

"In one way I'm
glad we have this to fall upon at this time. The ratification is
the only thing that has held this nation together for the past
thirty days, but the signing will end that respite. Without
something new chaos could be upon us in days.

"We've all seen
on the news the kinds of violent riots and savagery some countries
are already beginning to experience. If a void develops in
attention we'll have the same. We can't doubt that and we can't
cross that void without, as trite as the saying is, a bridge to
tread. We must make some kind of plans to control ourselves when
the elections are over. Something to give to the first
government.

"I wanted you
to know I was going to announce the elections at the signing.
That's all. Thank you."

There was a
murmur as he made a quick exit. If questions were allowed now they
would have to postpone the signing ceremony for days. These people
argued about almost everything.

His aide came
to say he was wanted on the com by Sop Lett and should he be called
today? Should Sop be told to call after the ceremony or that Enn
would call back?

"I'm to be
called at any moment I'm wanted by anyone on the islands from Dr.
Yinn to the farmers or fishermen," he answered quickly. "If I'm
wanted and they say it's important I'll stop smack in the middle of
signing the constitution. I'm to be called at any moment they wish!
Get that clear! Anytime at all! I mean that!"

He took the com
and said it was Enn, so go ahead.

"Enn? Sop
here.

“
Listen,
Enn. I think there is a thing you must do at the signing. Before
the actual signing to be more specific. Immediately before. I
cannot stress enough the possible importance of this.

"We are in a
time of deep crisis in the world and the constitution says two
things that apply to the situation. I think you know one of the
things is the health officer. We really must not allow any lapse of
time before implementing that office and there is no way one can be
selected after the signing until the government is elected and
seated. That would mean we would have to go for one hundred days at
the most critical and dangerous time this race has ever faced
without a health officer. THAT IS NOT TOLERABLE!

"The second
item is you are the previous government, meaning all contracts,
agreements and treaties you make must be honored until such time as
the government votes them down.

"I want you to
appoint Mi Yinn as National Health Officer before you sign the
constitution. You can explain we must not be without that office at
this time. She can be removed later if the full government votes
it. I think no one will object!"

"Wait a second!
Wait!" Enn cried. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying
something has happened here I cannot talk about until the proper
time. I am saying there is a need for the officer now and you well
know it. We cannot – MUST NOT – be without that authority at this
juncture. The very survival of the Kroon race could well be held in
the balance here. You, of all people in the nation, know it!

"I am saying
that Mi Yinn is by far the best person to appoint to that critical
office. I can't think of anyone even qualified for second runner in
that. That is another thing we all know.

"I am saying
that I believe this office to be far more important than all the
others combined in our present circumstances and I am saying you
can fill that office properly in accordance with the constitution
before the signing. Your hands are tied for one hundred days once
you sign it – and, Enn?"

"Yes?" Enn was
almost shaking from the implications of what Sop was proposing.

"Be prepared to
take a call at any moment from this island, starting now. If it
comes during the parade to the council, stop the parade. If it
comes during the time of the signing, stop the signing. If it comes
when you are seated on the toilet, grab the com and wipe later. I
mean that quite literally. You don't know how very close we
are!"

"Are you saying
you have the cure?!"

"I am only
saying you are to be ready to take the single most important com
call in the entire history of the Kroon race at any moment. At any
moment and under any circumstances. That is all! Do not give anyone
false hope. That could backfire and become the worst thing
possible. That would ensure riots and worse. We have to finish some
things here and many have reservations. Even Mi has reservations
about whether we are being premature, but I think you understand
that that fact means, IF THIS WORKS OUT, that it will be proven and
indisputable. Just be ready!"

They talked a
moment more and Enn trembled as he went down the hall to head the
parade.

Who would stop
HIM from running amok if this hope was lost? Didn't Sop stop to
think of THAT? No one knew he had the plague except he and his
doctor. That doctor was sworn to silence. Being the kind of man he
was Enn Far didn't for one moment think of himself, but he was sure
Sop wouldn't have said those things if the cure wasn't very near.
The health officer would be the one to direct the treatment and
must have the power. She must have as close to absolute power as
any single person ever had or would have over the affairs of Kroon.
Sop was, as everyone on those islands seemed to generally be,
right.

Enn Far was
excited and happy but, as Sop had said, he must not give a hope
that may prove false, but those suffering people out there would be
saved! If it was to the point that Mi Yinn only had reservations
about premature disclosure it was far past when another scientist
would be claiming victory. He could allow himself hope. He knew too
well how to deal with disappointment. His life had been fairly
freely given its share of that! He was certainly no stranger to
disappointment!

He was also a
man of unflagging faith and he had always known those people on
those islands would come through.

* * *

Sop Lett put
the com down and told the operator to leave an open line set on the
special circuit to Enn Far when she went to see the ceremony. There
was to be that line prepared and open at all times. She agreed and
he sat back. Maybe this was the wrong way to do this. Maybe he was
letting the constitutional question do his thinking for him, but he
honestly believed the document and its implementation were of such
immense importance to the Kroon people it must take precedence over
all other things now that the cure was known.

Was he rushing
Mi Yinn into releasing this thing prematurely?

No. It was, if
anything, past time. Scientists of her caliber were far too
cautious and this was a thing that really should have been released
as soon as the Sand Islanders showed those positive results. That
was enough for almost everyone. There was no one who would choose
to wait. Leave it to the people with the plague to decide if it's
worth the risk someday in the far future they may experience bad
side effects. Jak Tall said the thing might temporarily sterilize
the male subjects, but even that would pass in less than ten
days.

Life was too
complicated. Why couldn't one simple thing happen without all this
decision-making?

Sop Lett wasn't
the type to ask moral questions. Not when the simple truth was that
morality equals a horrible death for many thousands, even millions,
of people. Give those people life now and the morality would take
care of itself in its own time. If the gods were really dead then
the question of morality was one of the best course for the people
– and who gave a damn what the churches said about it? Look at what
those churches had done to Kroon throughout its entire history and
ask if they were the ones who should be dictating policy!

There would be
a few against any cure simply because they really were stupid
enough to believe gods would send such things as punishments. If
that were true he would far rather be damned than to have to face
such a sadistic vicious ... that was hardly a productive line of
thought.

Sop Lett was a
very moral person, but he had no moral sense. What he did he did
because that was the best course of action when he considered the
logic of it all. It didn't take a church to tell him rape was
wrong. It was an act of violence and anyone who committed such an
act was admitting they lacked any qualities that made their lives
worth living. They retained a negative value in the scheme of
things. That was true of most criminal acts so far as Sop was
concerned. Each such act was further evidence that the entire race
would be better off without the perpetrator. It was admittance of
failure by its very nature and one could not live a life of
constant failure and remain among the higher lifeforms. Sop could
never understand how supposedly thinking persons could degrade
themselves in such manners.

His mind
wandered along strange paths. He didn't remember that he had ever
contemplated such things in quite this way before. Did that mean he
was unsure of his motives?

Surely not! He
was first to admit he was selfish and he would be first to admit he
wanted his name in history. There was never going to be any
question whatever of whether the Kroon race would have been better
off if Sop Lett had never lived. As he was also willing to admit he
had flaws and knew about them. He tended to be something of a
coward in ways while being quite brave in others. His worst flaw
was knowing he was flawed and how he was flawed and doing nothing
to correct his obvious deficiencies. He knew that, too. It was his
only shame in life.

He was too
nervous. This would make anyone nervous. That speech was thundering
toward him and there would be no retreat once it was done. The
bones would be thrown and fate would have to take the
leftovers.

Had he made any
mistakes in the constitution? Could the new government hope to
operate under such extreme strictures?

The aliens said
it could if the people would remain vigilant. Politicians would
constantly be attacking the document to give themselves more power
and the people less. That was the nature of politicians throughout
the galaxy. It was nice to know one of the disgusting features of
the Kroon race was shared universally.

"Little Mentan,
how I wish you were here to make your cynical, dry, cutting remarks
to me," Sop mumbled lightly. "I would much prefer you pointed out
what a total fool I am in private to later having it pointed out to
the entire world!

"I have let you
aliens replace the old gods.

“
That is
not true. I never really believed in the old gods. I am of too much
of a logical mind to believe much of it could be true.

"I wonder what
would be happening now if we were still held in thrall by the
churches? Would there be any chance we could stop this plague?
Would Gui Veltree be running around preaching it was punishment for
the sins of the infidels – defining infidel as meaning anyone who
didn't accept her own personal proclamations of semi-deity? Would
Gu Verdeen be calling for the murder of all afflicted persons in
the name of Soolinn? Cleanse the world of the infidels and their
plague sent upon them by Soolinn to cause the church to decree they
were identified as heretics by dint of the fact they had the
plague?

"Looking back,
I cannot understand how we were so taken in by those sordid people.
Which one of them ever practiced things they preached at us? All we
had to do was to look at them to see they could not logically have
believed any of it.

"Use the
example of my words, not my actions! Ha!

"And the Foes
of Grumm? He was supposed to reward those who accepted him and took
him as their god by freezing them in ice to their necks and
dangling rich food in front of them for eternity? People actually
would believe that? They actually did believe that? The alien, Z,
said they had a Grumm called Satan who would reward his followers
by burning them in sulfur fire for eternity. Makes about as much
sense as Grumm!

"Okay. I've
passed the time. The parade will be starting.

"Great gods of
old! I've been speaking all this aloud! I've recorded this
silliness!

"Oh, well. I'm
more nervous than I've ever been before. I have more reason to be
nervous than I ever had before."

Sop Lett picked
up the com and waited until Enn Far was on the line.

"Enn? Sop
here," he said. "Listen, Enn...."

* * * * *

Jak Tall sat
perfectly still. The only sign of life was the chewing of the glamp
twig and the knowing look in his eyes. He was allowing his
subconscious mind to try to tell his conscious whatever it was it
wanted to say. It was a strange process that was much like a
surrealist dream with bright pictures and sounds that didn't seem
connected.