John nodded. "Except, perhaps, Gerta's?"
the western isles lack the area and resource base to support a major military power, Center said, then slowly added: from a eugenic point of view, the settlement there will supply material for valuable study. existence without a slave base will lead to rapid cultural change, however. the maximum probability is a reorientation of effort from military to commercial-scientific endeavor.
John shrugged. "Good luck to Gerta, then," he said. "Probably better for her than winning would have been, when you think about it."
Jeffrey snorted laughter. "I doubt she'd agree."
"True. But it's our opinion that matters, isn't it? That's what winning means. Not killing your opponents, but converting their children's children. The Chosen made tools of human beings, and that had to be stopped. But we're all the tools of humankind."
The brothers sat in silence for a long moment, looking down the years ahead.
"Well, I've got a wedding to plan," Jeffrey said at last. "Which is the future incarnate. That's what it was all about, wasn't it?"
"Amen," John said softly. "Amen, brother."
