“In here, Mr. Smith,” Dake said, glad to get the man off the street.
They rode up in the groaning elevator, and walked down the hall to the office. Darwin Branson got up quickly from behind his desk. Dake felt a warm assurance at seeing the man, felt an end to his own doubts.
The conference began. Dake was so accustomed to hearing the gentle assurance with which Branson wheedled that he listened with half an ear. He suddenly focused his full, shocked attention on Darwin Branson when he heard him say, a bit coldly, “Naturally, if all the arrangements please your Leader, President Enfield wishes your Leader to... ah... remember us with friendliness.”
Dake said, “Darwin! Good Lord, that implies that we’re...”
“Please!” Branson said with soft authority. Dake became reluctantly silent, telling himself that Branson had some good motive for handling this interview on a different tone and level than all the others.
Smith smiled. “I was afraid, after listening to your young friend, Mr. Branson, that I would find myself dealing with a saint. I am glad to detect a... shall we say... practical approach.”
“This country, Mr. Smith, can’t afford not to make friends, particularly with a coalition as powerful as yours.”
“Could I safely say then, that those concessions we make shall be more... ah... spectacular than effective?”
Dake had never seen quite that smile on Darwin Branson’s face before. “Please, Mr. Smith. You must remember that we are gentlemen of sincerity and integrity. Think how President Gondohl Lahl would be annoyed should he begin to think that whereas his concessions were made honestly, yours were made with a view to appearances.”
Smith nodded. “I see what you mean. We must, above all else, be sincere. Now I am wondering if... your other dealings, with Garva and with Chu, have been made with this same degree of sincerity. I think that is a fair question.”
“Of course, Mr. Smith. I will say this. They are all hoping that it is not... too good to be true.”
“I believe,” said Smith, “that I shall offer an alternate concession to the one you ask for. I believe we shall surrender Gibraltar to Spain.”
“Eyewash,” Dake said hotly. “That means nothing. You can have missile stations zeroed in on it to immunize it any instant you feel like it.”
Smith looked at Branson and raised one eyebrow. Branson said, “Don’t underestimate his offer, Dake.”
“But it’s so obvious. You’ve said a hundred times, Darwin, that each concession has to be real and honest, or the whole thing will fall down. When everyone else sees that Irania is just making a... pointless gesture instead of a real concession, they’ll withdraw their promises and we’ll be back where we were.”
“Your young man seems to be filled with childish faith, Mr. Branson.”
“An attribute of most young men, I’m afraid. I’ll relay your offer to the others, Mr. Smith.”
“And spoil a year’s work, Darwin,” Dake said dully. “I... just don’t understand.”
Branson stood up. “Can we assist you further, Mr. Smith?”
“No thank you. Arrangements have been made for me. I’ll be in Alexandria in the morning. And, I assure you, the Leader will not forget your... cooperation.”
Smith bowed first to Branson and then, a bit mockingly, to Dake Lorin. He left quietly.
The moment the door shut, Dake said, “You’ve blown it, Darwin. You’ve blown it sky-high.”
Branson leaned back. He looked weary, but satisfied. “I think I’ve handled it in the only possible way, Dake. It has become increasingly obvious to me that we couldn’t ever bring them all together.”
“But yesterday you said...”
“Things have happened between yesterday and now. Things I can’t explain to you. We’ve had to lower our sights, Dake. That Smith is an oily specimen, isn’t he? But he’s the representative of Irania. Oil reserves, Dake. A tremendous backlog of manpower. And influence gradually extending down into Africa, down into vast resources. They’ll be good friends, Dake. Good friends to have.”
“Now slow up just a minute. That is the kind of thinking, Darwin, we have both openly said we detest. Opportunistic, blind thinking. Lining up with the outfit which seems to have the biggest muscles. Damn it all, this is an about-face which I can’t comprehend.”
“When one plan looks as if it will fail, you pick the next best. That’s mature thinking, Dake.”
“Nuts, my friend. It’s an evidence of a desire to commit suicide. You, of all the people in the world, to suddenly turn out to be...”
“Watch it, Dake!”
“I won’t watch it. I gave a year of my life to this, and now I find that all along you’ve been giving me the big one-world yak, and the brotherhood of man yak, while without letting me know you’ve been setting us up for a power deal.”
“A power deal, my young friend, is the best that an indigent nation can hope for. We have to line up with the people who can hit the quickest and the hardest. I... think we’ve managed it.”
“You’ve managed it. Leave me out of it. I’m through, Darwin. You’ve tried your best to drag me into it, to assume that somehow — merely through being here with you — I become some kind of... partner. It was more than a dream, for God’s sake!”
“Remember how the British survived for so long, Dake, after they’d lost their muscles? Always creating that delicate balance of power and...”
“Ending in hell, Darwin, when the Indians threw them out of Fiji, when all the throats in the Solomons were cut. I can’t seem to get through to you. We weren’t doing this for us. We were doing it for the world at large, Darwin.”
“Sometimes it is wise to accept half a loaf.”
Dake Lorin felt the tingling tension in all his muscles, felt the uprush of the black crazy anger that was his greatest curse. The blindness came, and he was unaware of his movements, unaware of time — aware only that he had somehow reached across the desk to grab the front of Branson’s neat dark suit in one huge fist, had lifted the smaller man up out of the chair. He shook him until the face was blurred in his vision.
“Dake!” the man yelled. “Dake!”
The anger slowly receded. He dropped Branson back into the chair. He felt weak and he was sweating.
“Sorry,” he said.
“You’re a madman, Lorin!”
“You’re a cheap little man, Branson. I have a hunch. I have the feeling there are people who’ll understand exactly how you sold out the human race on this deal. And I’m going to put the case before them. All of it. Every part of it. Then let the world judge you, Branson.”
“Now just a moment. This involves a question of security, Lorin. I can have you classified as potentially subversive, have you sent to labor camp until you cool off. You know that.”
“I don’t think you can stop me.”
“You’ve been engaged in secret negotiations. Any violation of security will be evidence of your disloyalty.”
Dake said softly, “And you’re the man who called those regulations, called the labor camps, the new barbarism, government by aboriginal decree. You changed overnight, Darwin. You’re not the same man. I’ll do what I can, and you can kindly go to hell.”
“While you’re doing it, examine your own motives again, Dake. Maybe you’ve spent your life looking for martyrdom, and this is your best opportunity.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“You’re upset, Dake. In a way I don’t blame you. Disappointment is hard to take. But you are my friend. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Dake stared at him for long seconds. There was nothing else to say. He turned on his heel and left the office, slamming the door violently behind him, taking wry pleasure in the childishness of the gesture.