"Okay," he said wearily, "So now we know. It had to be something like that, to get a Class I agent involved."
"Yeah," agreed Bran, "We're still caught in the middle, but at least now we know what we're caught in the middle of!" He looked thoughtful. "Their security stinks. They've got entirely too many people who know that they're planning to take over the Alliance, and too many of them talk too much. I can understand how the Alleys got wind of it. Trouble is, I don't see what that Class I needs with us. I mean, what does he think we can find out that he can't, and why does he think so? Maybe he thinks that they'll approach us to run in a shipment of weapons, or something."
"Yeah. I was wondering about that myself," Jirik replied. "If a crew of strange spacers can hear about it in bars in one night, a trained agent should be able to find out everything there is to know in a few days, including the underwear sizes of the people behind it. The funny thing is, these people don't seem to realize that what they're talking about is sedition, and maybe even armed treason. They don't seem to see anything wrong with it."
Bran grimaced tiredly. "I noticed that, too. It's weird. They all act as though they were just talking about a normal political process. It was the same in that bookstore that I visited. When I went in, a group of them congregated around me again. I asked the clerk if he had a copy of Atmos' major work. I told him that been hearing the name since I got here, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They all started talking at the same time, trying to tell me about Atmos, and the Empire, and the future. Next thing I know, they almost came to blows over this Actionist/Longtermer stuff. For a while, I was afraid that leaving you was useless, that I was going to be involved in a brawl anyway. In a bookstore!" Bran looked so scandalized by the idea that Jirik had to chuckle.
"Anyway," Bran continued with a wounded expression, "They didn't quite swing on each other. But from what they said to each other, and me, I managed to get quite a bit of information. Most of it agrees with what the kid heard. The Actionists are a political party on Boondock, and they control a close minority in the Planetary Council. They're confident that they will gain control at the next election, next year some time. The Actionist candidate for President lost by a margin of less than seven percentage points in the last election, and they believe that they'll win the next one. With an Actionist President and Actionist control of the Council, they will effectively rule Boondock. From what I could gather, they already control the planets of Outback and Farout, and expect to win on at least three more rim worlds in their next elections. That means Actionist control of at least six planets within the next two years, and possibly the other three Atmos-influenced rim worlds in the two or three years beyond that. I think that's when the greatest threat to the Alliance will materialize."
"The rumor is that they plan to secede from the Alliance once they're 'united'. Exactly how they plan to do it, I don't know. One version has them simply petitioning the Alliance Council to release them. Another version was vague, but assumes that they'll be able to force the issue. I couldn't probe any further without causing suspicion, so I let it drop. But, I think that at least some of them are prepared to use force, if necessary, to establish this 'Rim Worlds Coalition' they plan to set up." Bran paused, evidently expecting a shocked response from Jirik which wasn't forthcoming.
"At any rate," he continued in a nettled tone, "The nine Atmos-influenced worlds evidently already exist in a close-knit sort of symbiotic relationship that's amazing, considering the distances involved. After all, Farout is some ten light-years from Toolie, the farthest-opposite 'Coalition' world. They seem to exist in a sort of communal interdependence." Bran raised his hand, continuing as he ticked them off, "Farout, Toolie and Beyond are largely agricultural worlds, supplying the rest with Earth-Descended foods. Boondock and Varner's World are mining planets, supplying the others with raw materials and heavy metals. Outback, Border and Yonder are manufacturing worlds, supplying the others with needed technology. The other member of this "Coalition" is Wayoff. I'm not sure what their contribution is, yet. It's a very strange situation. I don't think it's ever come about before. Many planets strive for planetary self-sufficiency, and it's not unusual for them to attain it. It usually results in some deprivation, though; making do without something or with a local substitute. Here we have nine planets, none self-sufficient in themselves, but together almost completely so."
"They have an almost closed-loop trading relationship. Each is free to trade outside the group, of course, and most do, to one extent or another. The thing is that none of them have to trade outside the group. Naturally, there is a danger of increasing insularity, but at the moment at least, that doesn't seem to be a problem."
"Most of what they seem to import from non-coalition planets is knowledge and high technology. That cargo of medical electronics that we delivered here, for example. Since most of the Coalition planets have trade surpluses with their non-Coalition trading partners, they can collectively muster enough Alliance credits for just about anything that they can agree that they want. That cargo of bookchips we've been using as a cover story, for instance. If Boondock could convince the rest of the Coalition members that they were worth having, they could buy them easily; in fact, they could probably buy copies of everything in that Empire library, if they decided that they needed them."
Jirik grunted in a preoccupied tone. "Wait . . . Wasn't there a situation a thousand or so years ago where two planets in a binary system had an arrangement like that?"
Bran waved a dismissing hand. "Tweedledum and Tweedledee. But they were in the same system. They got into a disagreement and damned near wiped each other out before the Empire stepped in and put a stop to it. Captain, we're talking about nine planets spread over ten light-years of rim space. Believe me, it's never happened before. And, if they all fall under the domination of the Actionists, the Alliance will face an unprecedented situation; nine unified planets in one sector simultaneously demanding secession, and acting with a single controlling idea."
"If they do petition the Council to be released, and the Council agrees, what then? Do they continue to subvert neighboring planets, who will soon be petitioning to join the Coalition? I doubt that they would simply sit back on their nine little planets waiting for the Empire to fall. And if the Council refuses to release them, what then? Does the subversion continue until the Actionists dominate the Alliance Council? Would there be an armed insurrection by nine prosperous, united systems? Could the Alliance Navy put down such an insurrection? For thousands of years, it's been a political maxim that prolonged interstellar war was impossible, due to the distances and logistics problems involved." Bran looked at Jirik seriously, his somber look emphasizing his cadaverous appearance. "I'm scared, Jirik. I'm afraid that we may have to prove that maxim within a very few years. And I don't think we're going to like it!"
Chapter 4
A still-weary Jirik dragged himself from his bunk at 0830 the morning. Bran's words had haunted his fitful sleep all night. Deity! he hoped Bran was wrong. His Navy experience gave him a sense of strategic and tactical situations that Bran didn't share; and he was, if anything, more worried than Bran. As he completed his morning ablutions and donned a clean uniform, he tried to visualize the military situation as it would appear to the Alliance.
The Coalition planets formed a ten-light-year crescent along the Alliance's frontier, the concave face of the crescent facing unexplored (or at least unsettled) space. Their convex inner limit would form a bulge facing Alliance forces. Without frantic exploration of the space beyond the Coalition for the purpose of mapping, it would be very risky to attempt to outflank them. Ships and crews would be lost to uncharted navigational hazards.