slipped a large roll of currency across the table. “Will you do it?”
Jannis looked at the roll, then nodded. “I imagine it will have to be on one of the outworlds. They won't come to any planet of your choosing, and you certainly won't go to the Canphor system.” “The hell I won't,” said Baird. “I want them to know we mean business.” “How about Canphor III, then?” said Jannis. “That way it won't seem like a total capitulation.” “No,” said Baird firmly. “One of the Twins, VI or VII, I don't care which.” Jannis shrugged. “It's your funeral.”
But that, decided Baird after his companion had left, was where Jannis was wrong. It was the Commonwealth's funeral. Not today, not next year, perhaps not even in a century, but it would be the start.
Jannis contacted him a few days later. The Canphorites had, to his amazement, agreed to the meeting. The two Men would go to Canphor VI, where Jannis would escort Baird to a certain building and then leave him. No arrangements had been made for Baird's departure, which Jannis found distinctly ominous, but Baird readily consented to the conditions. Baird had never been to either of the Canphor Twins, and as Jannis's ship landed at a Canphor VI spaceport, he was amazed by the lack of structures to be seen. He had thought, considering the Canphorites’ long and variegated history, that both populated planets would be teeming with life and activity.
“Don't be misled,” said Jannis when Baird questioned him on this point. “Most of Canphor VI is underground. I guess they got understandably tired of rebuilding their cities after we kept razing them to the ground. Pretty much the same situation exists on Canphor VII. In fact, over the past few hundred years, property values have skyrocketed in direct relation to depth. Only the most impoverished portion of the populace lives on the surface, which actually serves a double purpose.” “And what is that?” asked Baird.
“It keeps the Commonwealth happy and ignorant. Happy, because the portion of the planet they have access to is so tranquil and obviously unequipped for violence; and ignorant, because if nothing else the surface is totally unrepresentative of the planet.” He opened the hatch of the ship and stepped down. A windowless vehicle was awaiting them. “It works by remote control,” Jannis informed Baird. “The reason for it is so that nobody will be able to see in. Less chance of an incident this way.” “How do you survive in your business?” asked Baird. “I assume you mean physically and not financially.” Jannis smiled. “I never leave the surface, and I work out of our embassy.”
They entered the vehicle, which immediately raced off across the red, barren landscape. After a few minutes it began descending at a 45-degree angle, and when it leveled out again Baird estimated that he was at least four miles beneath the surface. There followed a number of sharp turns, so many that he concluded it was being done to confuse him in case he had been trying to remember the way back, which indeed was the case. At last it stopped and the doors opened automatically, to reveal the interior of a
large building of totally inhuman design.
“I'm not supposed to get out with you,” said Jannis. “I suppose I'll be kept here until you've finished with them, or vice versa.”
Baird nodded and stepped out. No Canphorites were around, so he walked to the only door he could find, opened it, and stepped through. He heard the door close behind him, and found himself in a small, darkened room. Standing a short distance away was a Canphorite. The being was typical of its race, all of which looked alike to Baird: tall, incredibly slender, with a large, bulbous head, small dark eyes, and a round, protruding mouth. It was humanoid in type, but very definitely inhuman. “You are Baird,” it said, the tones coming out dull and unaccented through a T-pack. “Yes,” said Baird. “And you?”
“I am Brastillios.”
“I am pleased to meet you,” said Baird. “Are you indeed?” said Brastillios.
Baird nodded. “Where are the others?”
“What others?”
“I was under the impression that I was to meet the leaders of your underground,” said Baird. “I am empowered to speak on their behalf,” said the Canphorite. “All right,” Baird said, making the best of the situation. “Let's get down to business.” “And just what is the business at hand?” asked Brastillios. “I think you know, or you wouldn't be here,” said Baird. “However, if you want me to spell it out for you, I will. My business is the overthrow of the Commonwealth.” “And why should a Man wish to overthrow another Man when there are still so many non-Men in the galaxy, non-Men that your race delights in slaughtering?” “What my government does and what my race approves of are not necessarily the same thing,” said Baird.
“I wonder,” said Brastillios. “Certainly you seem to have many of the trappings of your government. You cannot speak my language nor I yours, but it is I who have the T-pack.” “I was told to bring nothing with me,” said Baird. “Nothing,” agreed Brastillios, “except the desire to meet a Canphorite. And now that you have, do you even know whether I am native to Canphor VI or Canphor VII?” “What difference does it make?” said Baird. “There are only two sides involved here. Canphor VI and
VII are on the same side, so why should I prefer one to the other?”
“A noble sentiment, and an adroit evasion,” said Brastillios. “I am native to Canphor VII, and I agree that it makes no difference. There is Man, and there is everything else.” “Correction,” said Baird. “There aresome Men, and there is everything else.” “You have not yet answered my original question,” said the Canphorite. “Why should you wish to help us?”
“Because a large body of Men finds the Commonwealth as intolerable as you do. Our economy is unstable, our culture is stagnating, our ambition has been misdirected and stifled.” “Tell me about your ambition,” said Brastillios. “Men have always hungered for distant worlds. Why should I believe that you do not hunger for mine?” “Men have better goals to strive for than the subjugation of other races,” said Baird. “It is unusual, is it not,” said the Canphorite, “that in all of Man's history he has not yet set his sights on some of those better goals?”
“I'm not here to apologize for the past,” said Baird. “My concern is the future. You want to overthrow the Floating Kingdom. So do I. You can't do it alone. Neither can I. But together, we just might cause a few ripples.”
“And after these ripples have caused a wave that washes the Commonwealth away, what are your intentions then?” asked Brastillios.
“I might well ask you the same question,” said Baird. “If the Commonwealth crumbles, Man will be virtually powerless in a galaxy where he is vastly outnumbered by a populace that probably will have a few scores to settle with him.”
“The concept of punishment is alien to most races’ way of thinking. I think Man has very little to fear from us once the Commonwealth is destroyed,” lied Brastillios. “Similarly, I can assure you that the Men I represent are not the type to turn on their allies,” lied Baird. “Whowill they turn on?” asked the Canphorite. “Man always turns on someone.” “Governing the race of Man will be time-consuming enough,” said Baird. “We've already got a pretty big chunk of the galaxy. We don't need any more.” “And who will rule this philanthropic new order? You?” “The thought has crossed my mind.”
“It is an unrealistic thought,” said Brastillios. “We can strike a painful blow to the Commonwealth, but it will nonetheless outlive both you and myself by centuries, probably millennia.” “Then there's no time to waste,” said Baird. “Shall we lay our cards on the table?”