Shadow of the Giant (6 page)

“Maybe he’s learned from his mistake.”

“He thinks he learned from it,” said Bean, “but Peter is Peter. It wasn’t a mistake, it’s who he is. He can’t listen to anyone else if he thinks he has a better plan. And he always thinks he has a better plan.”

“Nevertheless.”

“I can’t help Peter because Peter won’t be helped.”

“He took Petra along on his visit to Alai.”

“His top secret visit that the I.F. couldn’t possibly know about.”

“We keep track of our alumni.”

“Is that how you pay for your new-model starships? Alumni donations?”

“Our best graduates are still too young to be at the really high salary levels.”

“I don’t know. You have two heads of state.”

“Doesn’t it intrigue you, Bean, to imagine what the history of the world would have been like if there had been two Alexanders at the same time?”

“Alai and Hot Soup?” asked Bean. “It’ll all boil down to which of them has the most resources. Alai has most at the moment, but China has staying power.”

“But then you add to the two Alexanders a Joan of Arc here and there, and a couple of Julius Caesars, maybe an Attila, and…”

“You see Petra as Joan of Arc?” asked Bean.

“She could be.”

“And what am I?”

“Why, Genghis Khan of course, if you choose to be,” said Rackham.

“He has such a bad reputation.”

“He doesn’t deserve it. His contemporaries knew he was a man of might who exercised his power lightly upon those who obeyed him.”

“I don’t want power. I’m not your Genghis.”

“No,” said Rackham. “That’s the problem. It all depends on who has the disease of ambition. When Graff took you into Battle School, it was because your will to survive seemed to do the same job as ambition. But now it doesn’t.”

“Peter’s your Genghis,” said Bean. “That’s why you want me to help him.”

“He might be,” said Rackham. “And you’re the only one who
can
help him. Anybody else would make him feel threatened. But you…”

“Because I’m going to die.”

“Or leave. Either way, he can have the use of you, as he thinks, and then be rid of you.”

“It’s not as he thinks. It’s what you want. I’m a book in a lending library. You lend me to Peter for a while. He turns me in, then you send me out on another chase after some dream or other. You and Graff, you still think you’re in charge of the human race, don’t you?”

Rackham looked off into the distance. “It’s a job that, once you take it on, it’s hard to let go. One day out in space I saw something no one else could see, and I fired a missile and killed a Hive Queen and we won that war. From then on, the human race was my responsibility.”

“Even if you’re no longer the best qualified to lead it.”

“I didn’t say I was the leader. Only that I have the responsibility. To do whatever it takes. Whatever I can. And what I can do is this: I can try to persuade the most brilliant military mind on Earth to help unify the nations under the leadership of the only man who has the will and the wit to hold them all together.”

“At what price? Peter’s not a great fan of democracy.”

“We’re not asking for democracy,” said Rackham. “Not at first. Not until the power of nations is broken. You have to tame the horse before you can let it have its head.”

“And you say you’re just the servant of humanity,” said Bean. “Yet you want to put a bridle and saddle on the human race, and let Peter ride.”

“Yes,” said Rackham. “Because humanity isn’t a horse. Humanity is a breeding ground for ambition, for territorial competitors, for nations that do battle, and if the nations break down, then tribes, clans, households. We were bred for war, it’s in our genes, and the only way to stop the bloodshed is to give one man the power to subdue all the others. All we can hope for is that it be a decent enough man that the peace will be better than the wars, and last longer.”

“And you think Peter’s the man.”

“He has the ambition you lack.”

“And the humanity?”

Rackham shook his head. “Don’t you know by now how human you are?”

Bean wasn’t going to go down that road. “Why don’t you and Graff just leave the human race alone? Let them go on building empires and tearing them down.”

“Because the Hive Queens aren’t the only aliens out there.”

Bean sat up.

“No, no, we haven’t seen any, we have no evidence. But think about it. As long as humans seemed to be unique, we could live out our species history as we always had. But now we know that it’s possible for intelligent life to evolve twice, and in very different ways. If twice, then why not three times? Or four? There’s nothing special about our corner of the galaxy. The Hive Queens were remarkably close to us. There could be thousands of intelligent species in our galaxy alone. And not all of them as nice as we are.”

“So you’re dispersing us.”

“As far and wide as we can. Planting our seed in every soil.”

“And for that you want Earth united.”

“We want Earth to stop wasting its resources on war, and spend them on colonizing world after world, and then trading among them so that the whole species can profit from what each one learns and achieves and becomes. It’s basic economics. And history. And evolution. And science. Disperse. Vary. Discover. Publish. Explore.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” said Bean. “How noble of you. Who’s paying for all this now?”

“Bean,” said Rackham. “You don’t expect me to tell you, and I don’t expect you to have to ask.”

Bean knew. It was America. Big sleepy do-nothing America. Burned out from trying to police the world back in the twenty-first century, disgusted at the way their efforts earned them nothing but hatred and resentment, they declared victory and went home. They kept the strongest military in the world and closed their doors to immigration.

And when the Buggers came, it was American military might that finally blew up those first exploratory ships that scoured the surface of some of the best agricultural land in China, killing millions. It was America that mostly funded and directed the construction of the inter-planetary warships that resisted the Second Invasion long enough for New Zealander Mazer Rackham to find the Hive Queen’s vulnerability and destroy the enemy.

It was America that was secretly funding the I.F. now, developing new ships. Getting its hand into the business of interstellar trade at a time when no other nation on Earth could even attempt to compete.

“And how will it be in
their
interest for the world to be united, except under their leadership?”

Rackham smiled. “So now you know how deep our game has to be.”

Bean smiled back. So Graff had sold his colony program to the Americans—probably on the basis of future trade and a probable American monopoly. And in the meantime, he was backing Peter in the hope that he could unite the world under one government. Which would mean, eventually, a showdown between America and the Hegemon.

“And when the day comes,” said Bean, “when America expects the I.F., which it’s been paying for and researching for, to come to its aid against a powerful Hegemon, what will the I.F. do?”

“What did Suriyawong do when Achilles ordered him to kill you?”

“Gave him a knife and told him to defend himself.” Bean nodded. “But will the I.F. obey you? If you’re counting on the reputation of Mazer Rackham, remember that hardly anybody knows you’re alive.”

“I’m counting on the I.F. living up to the code of honor that every soldier has drummed into him from the start. No interference on Earth.”

“Even as you break that code yourself.”

“We’re not interfering,” said Rackham. “Not with troops or ships. Just a little information here and there. A dollop of money. And a little, tiny bit of recruitment. Help us, Bean. While you’re still on Earth. The minute you’re ready to go, we’ll send you, no delays. But while you’re here…”

“What if I don’t believe Peter’s as decent a man as you think he is?”

“He’s better than Achilles.”

“So was Augustus,” said Bean. “But he laid the foundation for Nero and Caligula.”

“He laid a foundation that survived Caligula and Nero and lasted for a millennium and a half, in one form or another.”

“And you think that’s Peter?”

“We do,” said Rackham. “I do.”

“As long as you understand that Peter won’t do a thing I say, won’t listen to me or anyone, and will go on making idiotic mistakes that I can’t prevent, then…yes. I’ll help him, as much as he’ll let me.”

“That’s all we ask.”

“But I’ll still give my first priority to finding my children.”

“How about this,” said Rackham. “How about if we tell you where Volescu is?”

“You know?”

“He’s in one of our safe houses,” said Rackham.

“He accepted the protection of the I.F.?”

“He thinks it’s part of Achilles’s old network.”

“
Is
it?”

“Somebody had to take over his assets.”

“Somebody could only do that if they knew where his assets were.”

“Who do you think maintains all the communications satellites?” asked Rackham.

“So the I.F. is spying on Earth.”

“Just as a mother spies on her children at play in the yard.”

“Good to know you’re looking out for us, Mummy.”

Rackham leaned foward. “Bean, we make our plans, but we know we might fail. Ultimately, it all comes down to this. We’ve seen human beings at their best, and we think our species is worth saving.”

“Even if you have to have the help of non-humans like me.”

“Bean, when I spoke of human beings at their best, whom do you think I was talking about?”

“Ender Wiggin,” said Bean.

“And Julian Delphiki,” said Rackham. “The other little boy we trusted to save the world.”

Bean shook his head and stood up. “Not so little now,” said Bean. “And dying. But I’ll take your offer because it gives me a hope for my little family. And apart from that, I have no hope at all. Tell me where Volescu is, and I’ll go see him.”

“You’ll have to secure him yourself,” said Rackham. “We can’t have I.F. agents involved.”

“Give me the address and I’ll do the rest.”

Bean ducked again to leave the room. And he was trembling as he walked through the park, back toward his office in the Hegemony compound. Huge armies prepared to clash, in a struggle for supremacy. And off to one side, not even on the surface of Earth, there were a handful of men who intended to turn those armies to their own purposes.

They were Archimedes, preparing to move the Earth because they finally had a lever big enough.

I’m the lever.

And I’m not as big as they think I am. Not as big as I seem. It can’t be done.

Yet it might just be worth doing.

So I’ll let them use me to try to pry the world of men loose from its age-old path of competition and war.

And I’ll use them to try to save my life and the lives of my children who share my disease.

And the chance of both projects succeeding is so slim that the odds are much better of the Earth being hit by a disastrously huge meteor first.

Then again, they probably already have a plan to deal with a meteor strike. They probably have a plan for everything. Even a plan they can turn to if…when…I fail.

A woman’s face appeared on the screen. She was dressed in the simple work-stained clothing of a Hindu peasant woman. But she bore herself like a lady of the highest caste—a concept that still had meaning, despite the long-ago banning of all outward markers of caste.

Peter did not know her. But Petra did. “It’s Virlomi.”

“All this time,” said Bean, “she hasn’t shown her face. Till now.”

“I wonder,” said Petra, “how many thousands of people in India already know her face.”

“Let’s listen,” said Peter. He moused the
PLAY
button.

“No one is faithful to God who has no choice. That is why Hindus are truly faithful, for they may choose not to be Hindus and no harm comes to them.

“And that is why there are no true Muslims in the world, because they may not choose to cease to be Muslims. If a Muslim tries to become a Hindu or a Christian or even a simple unbeliever, some fanatical Muslim will kill him.”

Pictures were flashed on the screen of beheaded bodies. Well-known images, but still potent as propaganda.

“Islam is a religion that has no believers,” she said. “Only people who are compelled to call themselves Muslims and live as Muslims under fear of death.”

Standard pictures of Muslims en masse, bowing down to pray—the very footage that was often used to show the piety of Muslim populations. But now, framed as Virlomi had framed it, the images seemed to be those of puppets, acting in unison out of fear.

Her face reappeared on the screen. “Caliph Alai: We welcomed your armies as liberators. We sabotaged and spied and blocked Chinese supply routes to help you defeat our enemy. But your followers seem to think they conquered India rather than liberating us. You did not conquer India. You will never conquer India.”

Now there was new footage: Ragged Indian peasants bearing modern Chinese arms, marching like old-fashioned soldiers.

“We have no need of false Muslim soldiers. We have no need of false Muslim teachers. We will never accept any Muslim presence on Indian soil until Islam becomes a true religion and allows people the freedom to choose
not
to be Muslim, without any penalty.”

Virlomi’s face again. “Do you think your mighty armies can conquer India? Then you do not know the power of God, for God will always help those who defend their homeland. Any Muslim that we kill on Indian soil will go straight to hell, for he does not serve God, he serves Shaitan. Any imam who tells you otherwise is a liar and a shaitan himself. If you obey him, you will be condemned. Be true Muslims and go home to your families and live at peace, and let us live in peace with our own families, in our own land.”

Her face looked calm and sweet as she uttered these condemnations and threats. Now she smiled. Peter thought she must have practiced the smile for hours, for days in front of a mirror, because she absolutely looked like a god, even though he had never seen a god and did not know how one should look. She was radiant. Was it a trick of the light?

“My blessing upon India. I bless the Great Wall of India. I bless the soldiers who fight for India. I bless the farmers who feed India. I bless the women who give birth to India and raise India to manhood and womanhood. I bless the great powers of the Earth who unite to help us regain our stolen freedom. I bless the Indians of Pakistan who have embraced the false religion of Islam: Make your religion true by going home and letting us choose not to be Muslim. Then we will live at peace with you, and God will bless you.

“My blessing above all blessings on Caliph Alai. O noble of heart, prove that I am wrong. Make Islam a true religion by giving freedom to all Muslims. Only when Muslims can choose
not
to be Muslims are there any Muslims on Earth. Set your people free to serve God instead of being captives of fear and hate. If you are not the conqueror of India, then you will be the friend of India. But if you intend to be the conqueror of India, then you will make yourself nothing in the eyes of God.”

Great tears rolled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. This was all done in a single take, so the tears were real enough. What an actress, thought Peter.

“Oh, Caliph Alai, how I long to embrace you as a brother and friend. Why do your servants make war on me?”

She made a strange series of movements with her hands, then drew three fingers backhanded across her forehead.

“I am Mother India,” she said. “Fight for me, my children.”

Her image remained on the screen as all motion stopped.

Peter looked from Bean to Petra and back again. “So my question is simple enough. Is she insane? Does she really believe she’s a god? And will this work?”

“What was that business at the end, with the fingers on her forehead?” asked Bean.

“She was drawing the mark of Shiva the Destroyer on her forehead,” said Peter. “It was a call to war.” He sighed. “They’ll be destroyed.”

“Who?” said Petra.

“Her followers,” said Peter.

“Alai won’t let them,” said Bean.

“If he tries to stop them, he’ll fail,” said Peter. “Which may be what she wants.”

“No,” said Petra. “Don’t you see? The Muslim occupation of India absolutely counts on supplying their armies from Indian produce and Indian revenues. But Shiva will be there first. They’ll destroy their own crops rather than let the Muslims have it.”

“Then they’ll die in famine,” said Peter.

“And they’ll absorb many bullets,” said Petra, “and beheaded Hindu bodies will litter the ground. But then the Muslims will run out of bullets and they’ll discover that they can’t get more because the roads are blocked. And for every Hindu they killed, there will be ten more to overwhelm them with their bare hands. Virlomi understands her nation. Her people.”

“And all of this you understand,” said Peter, “because you were a prisoner in India for a few months?”

“India has never been led into war by a god,” said Petra. “India has never gone to war with perfect unity.”

“A guerrilla war,” insisted Peter.

“You’ll see,” said Petra. “Virlomi knows what she’s doing.”

“She wasn’t even part of Ender’s Jeesh,” said Peter. “Alai was. So he’s smarter, right?”

Petra and Bean looked at each other.

“Peter, it’s not about brains,” said Bean. “It’s about playing the hand you’re dealt.”

“Virlomi has the stronger hand,” said Petra.

“I don’t see it,” said Peter. “What am I missing?”

“Han Tzu won’t just sit there while the Muslim armies try to subdue India. The Muslim supply lines either run across the vast Asian desert or through India or by sea from Indonesia. If the Indian supply lines are cut, how long can Alai hold his armies there in numbers sufficient to keep Han Tzu contained?”

Peter nodded. “So you think Alai will run out of food and bullets before Virlomi runs out of Indians.”

“I think,” said Bean, “that what we just saw was a marriage proposal.”

Peter laughed. But since Bean and Petra weren’t laughing…“What are you talking about?”

“Virlomi
is
India,” said Bean. “She just said so. And Han Tzu
is
China. And Alai
is
Islam. So will it be India and China against the world, or Islam and India against the world? Who can sell that marriage to their own people? Which throne will sit beside the throne of India? Whichever one it is, that’s more than half the population of the world, united.”

Peter closed his eyes. “So we don’t want either to happen.”

“Don’t worry,” said Bean. “Whichever happens, it won’t last.”

“You’re not always right,” said Peter. “You can’t see that far ahead.”

Bean shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll be dead before it all shakes out.”

Petra growled and stood up and paced.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Peter. “I tried to talk to Alai, and all I did was provoke a coup. Or rather, Petra did that.” He couldn’t hide his annoyance. “I wanted him to control his people, but they’re out of control. They’re roasting cows in the streets of Madras and Bombay and then killing the Hindus who riot. They’re beheading any Indian that someone accuses of being a lapsed Muslim—or even the
grandchild
of lapsed Muslims. Do I just sit here and watch the world collapse into war?”

Petra snapped at him. “I thought that was part of your plan. To make yourself seem indispensable.”

“I don’t have a great plan,” said Peter. “I just…respond. And I’m asking you about it instead of figuring things out on my own because the last time I ignored your advice it was a disaster. But now I find out you don’t actually have any advice. Just predictions and assumptions.”

“I’m sorry,” said Bean. “It didn’t cross my mind you were asking for advice.”

“Well, I am,” said Peter.

“Here’s my advice,” said Bean. “Your goal isn’t to avoid war.”

“Yes it is,” said Peter.

Bean rolled his eyes. “So much for listening.”

“I’m listening,” said Peter.

“Your goal is to establish a new order in which war between nations becomes
impossible
. But to get to that utopian place, there’s going to have to
be
enough war that people will
know
the thing they’re desperate to avoid.”

“I’m not going to encourage war,” said Peter. “It would discredit me completely as a peacemaker. I got this job because I’m Locke!”

“If you stop objecting and listen,” said Petra, “you’ll eventually get Bean’s advice.”

“I’m the great strategist, after all,” said Bean with a wry smile. “And the tallest man in the Hegemony compound.”

“I’m listening,” said Peter again.

“You’re right, you can’t encourage war. But you also can’t afford to try to stop wars that can’t be stopped. If you’re seen to try and
fail
, you’re weak. The reason Locke was able to broker a peace between the Warsaw Pact and the West was that neither side wanted war. America wanted to stay home and make money, and Russia didn’t want to run the risk of provoking I.F. intervention. You can only negotiate peace when both sides want it—badly enough to give up something in order to get it. Right now, nobody wants to negotiate. The Indians can’t—they’re occupied, and their occupiers don’t believe they pose a threat. The Chinese can’t—it’s politically impossible for a Chinese ruler to settle for any boundary short of the borders of Han China. And Alai can’t because his own people are so flushed with victory that they can’t see any reason to give anything up.”

“So I do nothing.”

“You organize relief efforts for the famine in India,” said Petra.

“The famine that Virlomi is going to cause.”

Petra shrugged.

“So I wait until everybody’s sick of war,” said Peter.

“No,” said Bean. “You wait until the exact moment when peace is possible. Wait too long, and the bitterness will run too deep for peace.”

“How do I know when the time is right?”

“Beats me,” said Bean.

“You’re the smart ones,” said Peter. “Everyone says so.”

“Stop the humble act,” said Petra. “You understand perfectly what we’re saying. Why are you so angry? Any plan we make now will crumble the first time somebody makes a move that isn’t on our script.”

Peter realized that it wasn’t them he was angry at. It was his mother and her ridiculous letter. As if he had the power to “rescue” the Caliph and the Chinese emperor and this brand new Indian goddess and “set them free” when they had all clearly maneuvered themselves into the positions they were in.

“I just don’t see,” said Peter, “how I can turn any of this to my advantage.”

“You just have to watch and keep meddling,” said Bean, “until you see a place where you can insert yourself.”

“That’s what I’ve
been
doing for years.”

“And very well, too,” said Petra. “Can we go now?”

“Go!” said Peter. “Get your evil scientist. I’ll save the world while you’re out.”

“We expect no less,” said Bean. “Just remember that you asked for the job. We didn’t.”

They got up. They started for the door.

“Wait a minute,” said Peter.

They waited.

“I just realized something,” Peter said.

They waited some more.

“You don’t care.”

Bean looked at Petra. Petra looked at Bean. “What do you mean we don’t care?” said Bean.

“How can you say that?” said Petra. “It’s war, it’s death, it’s the fate of the world.”