The Kalif heard him out, waiting till Alb Drova sat down again before replying. "Your concerns are well taken and well expressed," he said, "and I thank you for them. But please, good friend, do not say you can never agree to elevating The Book of the Mountain. Surely not before it's been thoroughly considered and discussed."
He spread his hands and looked around. "What alternatives would you suggest? The numerous inhabited planets of the Confederation have been found, and this is bound to become common knowledge. Soon. And given this fact, which then is preferable? To expand holy writ to account for them, with what now clearly seems to have been written by The Prophet? Or to reject The Prophet's gift, and leave a gross anomaly between established fact and Holy Scripture? An anomaly which can be used by men of ill will to disparage The Book as a whole."
Alb Tariil lifted his thick hand again, and the Kalif acknowledged it.
"As much as your proposal goes against the grain, Your Reverence, I agree with you. We do need to elevate The Book of the Mountain. But the more dangerous discovery, for Karghanik and perhaps the security of the empire, is the discovery of the non-human empire. A very large and seemingly formidable empire. A Klestronu flotilla intruded into their space and fired on one of their ships. Suppose they decide to visit us with a punitive force?"
The Kalif got to his feet to answer. As he stood, his glance moved to Alb Thoga, who clearly hadn't considered the possibility of invasion by the non-humans. Thoga's pinched face reflected shocked sobriety instead of its usual rancor.
"Regarding the possibility of a non-human invasion: I am not much concerned. The hostile encounters occurred between four and five years ago, and there's been no sign of invaders yet, not even in reconnaisance. I doubt there ever will be. They don't know where the flotilla came from, though they might know the direction it had been traveling. And the first encounter was more than ten hyperspace months out from Klestron, well beyond the limits of previous exploration and far outside our own empire."
He looked around the table. "Actually, the non-humans may not have a vast empire. That's an assumption based on the distance between encounters. But the evidence suggests that both encounters were with a single ship that pursued them, probably well outside their own space. The encounters might not even have been in their own space! It's even conceivable that they occupy only a single system, though that's unlikely for a species that has hyperspace generators.
"There's also a good possibility that the Klestronu destroyed the non-human ship with their distortion bomb, just before changing course. Which means it's quite possible that no other non-humans learned of Rashti's flotilla. Their rulers may have no inkling that we exist.
"Finally, suppose it wasn't destroyed. Suppose it returned to base somewhere and reported. How important was the encounter to them? Worth sending out a fleet to sweep some vast, unknown sector of space on the chance of finding where the intruder came from?"
He shook his head. "As I said, I am not much concerned. I will ask the War Ministry to prepare a contingency plan for my consideration, and I will share it with you. But I'm more concerned with what the encounter can mean to our religion.
"We can't keep the non-humans a secret. Presumably the entire complement of the Klestronu flagship knows-some three hundred personnel. Rashti said nothing about keeping them sequestered, so we can assume they've been granted ground leave, and the story has been seeded on Klestron.
"About all we can do is give it minimum mention for now-treat it as if it were unimportant. And give people other things to think about. Regarding the inconsistency with Scripture, we may decide-hopefully not-we may decide we need to 'discover', possibly even elevate, the legendary Book of Shatim. First we'd have to write it in a suitable form, of course, which we'll then 'find' in some linty paper archive. We can write it in a form which does the most good and the least harm. But only as a last resort, if it comes to seem urgently necessary."
To the Kalif's surprise, there was no outcry at this. Thoga's pinched face only looked more pinched than usual, while Tariil's broad features were grim. Alb Drova seemed in shock.
Alb Bijnath spoke then, a strong, vigorous man who seemed younger than any of them except the Kalif. " 'Give people other things to think about,' you said. What other things do you have in mind, Your Reverence?"
"Perhaps you can suggest something."
"I believe I know what you were thinking of."
"And that is?"
"Tell us yourself."
The Kalif grunted. "Perhaps you credit me with ideas I don't have."
Bijnath's mouth twisted with a suppressed smile. "I think not. You've had an evening to think about this, and slowness is not among your attributes. And after all, colonization was Rashti's stated purpose in exploring.
"But I'm not surprised you're keeping silent about this one yet awhile. Any proposal to conquer the Confederation, or some part of it, would meet with a great deal of hostile resistance in the Diet and the empire at large, given the distance involved, and the expense."
"Conquest? An interesting proposal. I…"
"I did not propose it, Your Reverence," Bijnath interrupted. "I merely suspected you of harboring the intention, or at least the thought. Your first career was military, and even I can imagine long-term benefits in conquest, as well as some obvious difficulties. Meanwhile, the uproar and debate over the proposal would certainly leave less of the public's attention for the non-humans. That would be the case even if you had no intentions of actually invading anyone.
"At any rate, you'd do well not to associate yourself with the idea at the beginning. Let it seem to arise from the military. As it will."
"I stand corrected," the Kalif replied. "You didn't propose it, merely pointed it out. And elaborated on the idea at some length."
"Even so, I prefer not to be mentioned in connection with it," Bijaath said.
"You have my word on it. Does anyone else have thoughts to offer on this interesting possibility? Alb Tariil?"
"Are you serious about this conquest, this invasion rather, of the alien confederation?"
"I haven't proposed it. I didn't even bring it up."
Scowling, the heavy-set exarch clamped his mouth to a lipless crease. "Your Reverence, do not play that game with me. I asked a serious question."
The Kalif's eyes remained bland as they fixed on the exarch's. "I gave you a serious answer. I have not proposed an invasion. Nor do I intend to, at least not in the immediate future. But since the possibility has been pointed out, I suppose it should be looked at further, if for no other reason than to discard it. Certainly I can see serious problems in getting it through the Diet, as Bijnath pointed out. Should we decide to try." He frowned thoughtfully. "Alb Tariil, would you do me the favor of listing specific objections that might be raised? And possible answers to the objections."
Tariil grunted; it was an assignment he'd gladly take. Any objections he might point out would probably not sway the Kalif, if he was set on it, but they would certainly strengthen the opposition.
"Alb Thoga," the Kalif was saying, "if you'd do the same, please. Independently of Alb Tariil. I don't want you to consult with each other at all on this." His eyes shifted. "Alb Jilsomo, if you will list reasons that might be given for favoring invasion, and possible rebuttals…"