TURNCOAT
Damon Knight
PROLOGUE
1990: THE pressroom on the eightieth floor of the World Legislature Building was a bedlam, but it quieted the minute the big sandy-haired man walked in.
“You know what we want, Doctor,” somebody called. “Let’s have it.”
“Print this,” said Dr. Kusko, enunciating clearly.
“The passage by the World Legislature today, of the bill creating a universal analogue treatment program, not only gives me and my associates a very deep gratification, but should be a cause for rejoicing on the part of every citizen of this globe. This date marks the beginning of the world’s maturity. We have put an end to war, to crimes of violence, to conspiracy against the peace, to corruption in public office, to all the myriad insanities that have oppressed and divided us since the beginning of history. From now on, we go forward.”
Pencils scribbled busily for another second or two. “What are you going to do next, Doctor ?” asked a reporter.
Kusko grinned. “Off the record—” A groan went up; the big man’s grin widened. “Off the record, I’ve spent the last twenty years, figuratively speaking, in building a bug-trap. Now that it’s built, I’m going to sleep for thirty-six hours, spend the next twelve getting reacquainted with my wife—and after that, praise God, I believe I can begin to get some real work done.”
“Some of us thought,” said a woman, “that Mr. Haggerty of the Civil Rights Commission might block the passage of the bill at this session and perhaps defeat it altogether. Have you any comment on that?”
“How could he?” Kusko asked. “Haggerty had the analogue treatment himself six years ago. He was developing a suicidal mania—off the record.”
After an uncertain pause, the woman said, “Dr. Kusko, forgive me if I’m misinterpreting you—do you mean that when you treated Mr. Haggerty for that condition, that you also deliberately made it impossible for him to interfere with the passage of this bill?”
“That’s what I mean,” siad Kusko.’ “Just as all of you in this room have had the treatment to keep you from revealing anything your informant asks you to keep quiet—otherwise you wouldn’t be getting this story. The only difference is, Haggerty didn’t know what was being done to him. Neither did the fifty-odd world senators who came to us for one reason or another. And everything I have just said, by the way, is—very definitely—off the record.”
Most of the reporters laughed. They liked Kusko; you couldn’t help it.
“The end justifies the means, is that it, Doctor?” said a little-man in the front row, who had not laughed.
“In this case,” said Kusko seriously, “it does.”
2035: “Gentlemen,” said the bulky, well-groomed man at the head of the table, “now that the mutual introductions are over, you undoubtedly realize that we have here a rather unique assemblage. Here in this room are representatives of some of the major interests in every field of production in North America, from food to steel. Together, the companies we represent can clothe Mr. Average North American Consumer, feed him, amuse him, keep him healthy, house him, and sell him everything he needs or wants: And we are all interested in that same consumer, yet we are not in competition with one another. For that reason”—he cleared his throat—“I believe that every one of you will be intensely interested in the proposition I have to lay before you here today.”
He glanced down the double line of faces, then consulted his notes. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “there is one amendment I should make to the statement I have just made. There is, in this room, no representative of the advertising industry. The reason for that will become apparent in a moment.
“My company, gentlemen, spends seven million credits each year on advertising and promotion. I believe that figure is not greatly out of line with the average figure of our respective companies. Now let me ask you this. How would you, as representatives of your companies, like to increase the sales of your products and services, while at the same time reducing your advertising and promotion budgets to exactly zero?”
At his signal, two young men came forward, one on either side of the table, and began to pass out large rectangles of plastic. Mounted on each was a glossy sheet of paper bearing a three-color sketch of a young man and woman standing under a golden cornucopia, from which a shower of jewelry, miniature automobiles, hams, fountain pens and fur coats was descending into their outstretched arms. The banner-line was:
FREE! FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!!
“That,” said the bulky man after a few moments; “is what I might refer to as the advertisement to end all advertisements. As you will note, the text here has been drawn up to represent sample brand names and lines of products from each of the companies and associations represented at this table. You will note that some companies have one brand name or line of products mentioned, while others have two or more.
“That has been done, in every case, to represent five percent of each company’s gross yearly sales. And also you will note that the total of the free goods and services amounts, pricewise, to the same percentage—five percent of the different items that the North American Consumer wants and needs. In other words, each company will take a one-hundred-percent loss for one year on five percent of its products, in order to induce the consumer to buy all the products of that company, exclusive of all other competitors. I have here”—the young men stepped forward again and distributed piles of documents—a table of estimated profit and loss resulting from this offer, based on an enrollment of ten million heads of families the first year. I believe that in every case, the capital reserves of every company represented here will be ample to cover that first year deficit.”
For the first time, one of the other men at the table spoke up. “I believe,” said a thin-faced oldster, “that this would be characterized as an association in restraint of trade, Mr. Dine.”
The Deadly Cycle
IN EVERY age there have been those who sought, for reasons of power or profit, to shackle men’s minds. A character named Hitler believed in the Big Lie—and it is true that for a while you can sell almost any idea, no matter how senseless, to enough people to make a difference. But in every age there are minds and spirits which cannot be deformed, no matter what the pressures, no matter how big the lies. Truth will out, if we may be pardoned a cliche, although sometimes it takes a devilish long time.
‘Meanwhile, there is little to suggest that the deadly cycle of intolerance and rebellion will not continue to be repeated in the future as it has in the past. Only as man becomes more ingenious the patterns will become more clever, the tortures more refined, the rebellions more cunningly fought. TURNCOAT reminds us that a thousand years from now Jefferson’s warning about the price of liberty may have greater point than ever as Iron Curtains give way to atomic force screens.
—The Editor
“Our legal department has covered this question very thoroughly, Mr. Hoyle, and they assure me that the offer is perfectly legal. Our respective companies will be associated only for the purpose of this offer. There will be no consolidation of capital, no interlocking directorates—nothing whatever of that nature, yet. There is no compulsion to accept the offer on the part of any person whatsoever. All we are doing is selling large quantities of merchandise at the same time and offering a premium—there will be a contract for the consumer to sign, over and above the analogue treatment. However, the contract is renewable yearly, and the treatment is permanent.”