"I don't have time to sit here and admire your command of invective, Captain," He stated flatly. "I gather that you'll be on Boondock for a while, and that's what matters to me."
"Since you're a stranger to this part of the Alliance, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to lecture a bit." He held up his hand to forestall Jirik's angry retort. "Have you ever heard of Dr. Ran Atmos?"
"Not until last night," Jirik replied "He's some kind of writer that's got everybody here excited."
"Well," Tomys continued, "Dr. Atmos was a Historical Anthropologist who died about fifty years ago. He was Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Largos University on Priam, and specialized in ancient civilizations, mostly pre-Empire."
"Hell," Jirik interrupted, "That means over 2000 years ago. Who the hell cares about that crap?"
"Anthropologists, that's who," Tomys answered mildly, "You know, human civilization traces back more than 6000 years before the Empire. But, to get back to Dr. Atmos. Mostly he just puttered happily around amid the dust of history. But finally, he noticed some trends that he felt were cyclical. Now, historians and anthropologists have had cyclical theories of civilizations for millennia, but most of them confine themselves to the remote past, and don't relate them to the present. Dr. Atmos noted what he thought were parallels between these ancient cycles and current Empire and Alliance trends. Being a good scientist and a thorough researcher, he proceeded to develop a theory to account for what he saw, and then to seek evidence to support it."
"After about ten years of research," Tomys continued, "Dr. Atmos published his findings, as most academics do. Millions of these scholarly works are published every year, all over the known universe." Tomys shrugged. "They usually disappear quietly into dusty university archives. Atmos, however, claimed that the historical trends that he researched were identifiable in present events. Among other things, he announced that the Empire had passed it's "Golden Age" some two hundred years ago, and since then has been in decline."
Jirik snorted. "I spend a lot of time in the Empire, and I don't see any signs of it."
"You wouldn't," Tomys replied. "In fact, Atmos says that it won't be apparent for another hundred years. But you might be interested to know that the earliest firm evidence that he cites is the Empire's 'release' of the Alliance a century ago."
"Dreck!" Jirik growled. "I'm no historian, but even I know about Admiral Kedron and our fight for independence. They didn't 'release' us. We broke free!"
"Calm down, Captain. I went to the same schools you did. I know all about our 'heroic revolution' – but I've also read all five volumes of Atmos, and even some Empire histories of the period. To tell you the truth, I'm no longer so sure. Neither are a lot of other knowledgeable people. Atmos could be right – and that's worrisome. If the Empire does disintegrate, there will be one hell of a lot of fallout. The government is worried that the Alliance might just get sucked down with the Empire, and the whole of human space could be reduced to barbarism."
Chapter 2
"But," Tomys continued, to forestall Jirik's obvious interruption, "That's not what I'm here about – not directly, anyway. Let me continue. As you can guess, Atmos' claims made quite a stir in the academic community. Even academics don't want to believe that their civilization is dying."
Jirik fidgeted, eager to interrupt, but getting interested in Tomys' story. "Atmos was derided," Tomys continued, "And disgraced. Someone leaked Atmos' theory to the popular press, which rose up in self-righteous indignation. He became the butt of jokes sector-wide. There is some evidence that Empire Intelligence was involved in promoting the ridicule of the man and his theory. Possibly someone high up recognized the validity of Atmos' work, and feared that its general acceptance might accelerate the process. At any rate, Atmos was condemned, dismissed from his position, and exiled. Unfortunately," Tomys smiled grimly, "He was exiled to the Alliance. In an attempt to get as far from the scene of his humiliation as possible, Atmos finally ended up out here on the outer rim. On Boondock, as a matter of fact. He brought copies of his work with him, of course."
Jirik could stand it no longer. "So what? What the hell could a disgraced professor and a five volume textbook do that needs a Class I Agent to straighten out?"
Tomys' grim smile returned. Jirik was learning to hate that smile. "You are a man of action, Captain. I'm afraid that you fail to appreciate the use of ideas as weapons. All that Atmos actually did was to come to Boondock and begin selling books and offering courses. There was no university here then. In fact, Atmos founded what is now the University of the Rim."
"The effect of what he did, however, was much more far reaching than his actions themselves. The man was not a villain. He was simply a dedicated scientist, a bit of an ivory-tower type. I doubt that he realized the implications of his research; to him it was simply interesting data."
"Boondockers of the time were like frontiersmen everywhere, They were not well educated by inner world standards, but they had a great respect for learning, Dr. Atmos had outreached his disgrace. The people here hadn't heard that he was considered a crackpot. His academic credentials were very impressive, especially to a people whose best-educated members held degrees from small border universities in the Alliance. As a result, Atmos had no problem finding students. Besides, reading was the major form of recreation on Boondock. This is typical of frontier societies, particularly those where conditions are harsh. Though at the time few could afford any luxuries at all, reading matter was likely to be the first luxury bought. People hungrily devoured almost anything readable, since reading materials were scarce. Imported book discs were in extremely high demand."
"Naturally, most of Atmos' luggage consisted of book discs, all from the Empire. To tide him over, he made and sold unlicenced copies of his library. He actually ended up quite a wealthy man from his efforts."
"Naturally, all of his own published works were among the discs which he copied and sold. When he began teaching classes from his home, he was quite amazed to find that he was famous, and that he had to turn students away. Over a period of time, his classes resulted in the University of the Rim, but that wasn't the end of his effect on Rim politics."
"You see, an entire planet of voracious readers had been exposed to his works and his theories. Inevitably, intersystem trade took copies of his works to the equally voracious readers of neighboring systems. Now, some seventy years later, we are faced with the result. Tell me, Captain, what do you think of Boondockers? I know you've only been here a week or so, but what are your first impressions?"
Jirik's brow wrinkled with concentration. "My Engineer and I talked about this last night. They're friendly enough. Actually, I kinda like 'em. The only thing is," he continued, "They're so damned self-righteous and smug. They act like they have the key to the secret of the Universe, and they're going to unlock the door any minute."
Tomys nodded knowingly. "Have you had a chance to socialize with any of them, Captain? Talk to them?"
Jirik shrugged. "Not really. I've been working dawn to dusk, and with this damned gravity, I just collapse into the rack every night. Oh, I've talked to ship's chandlers, of course, and the workmen and shipping agents. But I haven't even managed to get a beer."
"Well, Captain," Tomys continued, "When you do, you'll find out why they're so smug. You see, they and the inhabitants of eight other planets in this sector believe that they are destined to save mankind, and ultimately to rule the galaxy."