Some days later, Horsip found himself studying the maps, where bright orange symbols showed the disposition of fifteen million fresh Centran reinforcements, with another five million standing by in their transports.
"I think," said Horsip, "that we can finally say that we have conquered this planet."
Moffis looked at the map skeptically. "That's what I thought, about a million and a half casualties ago."
"There's no armed resistance."
"There wasn't then, either."
Horsip nodded moodily. The effect of Argit's enthusiasm had worn off somewhat, and Horsip was again bothered by the natives' exasperating mental superiority. Horsip was now inclined to think that instead of merely mixing the natives up on their own planet, it might be a better idea to scatter them all over the universe—too much Q material in one spot could be dangerous.
Horsip, however, didn't want to make Moffis feel any more discouraged than he already did, and so, after a few comments recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Horsip shifted gears:
"However, thanks to numbers and surprise, we have conquered this batch, Moffis, and now we have to figure out what to do with them."
Moffis glanced at the maps.
"Let's just make sure they don't heave us right off the planet. I don't want to go through what we've just been through all over again. We need the rest of these reinforcements down here where we can get some use out of them. The longer we leave them in those transports, the more stale they're going to get."
"All right," said Horsip, "where do we put them?"
"Some place where the country is rugged, so we can defend it, and where the natives are scarce, so our men don't have too much contact with them, and get depressed by the comparison."
They pored over the maps, and Horsip said, "This Main-Base Defense Zone A looks as good as any—and we've already got it fortified. The main supply dumps are there, and the country couldn't be much more rugged. It's the least bad place to be if the enemy has any nuclear bombs left. But we can't cram all these reinforcements in there. Let's spread them around in these other main-base zones. The country there is fairly rugged, too, and the zones support each other."
Moffis looked relieved. "Good . . . Now, will Argit go along with it?"
Horsip thought a moment. Argit had understood the situation quickly, and even got along well with the tailless, furless inhabitants of the planet, who, in turn, appeared to forget that Argit was a Centran, the Chairman of the Supreme Staff, and the ultimate Centran military authority on the conquest of new planets.
"H'm," said Horsip. "That's the place where the troops will hurt the natives least, and help us most. I think Argit would be all in favor of it. But he's leaving these details to us. His problem is to figure out how to fit these lop-tails into the Integral Union without wrecking it, and I think he's busy enough with that. He's already mentioned some ideas to me."
Moffis grunted.
"Then let's get the troops down here. If we're going to keep this volcano from blowing up again, we need more weight to hold down the lid."
"Oh," said Horsip, glancing at the map, with all its reassuring orange symbols, "things aren't that bad, Moffis."
Moffis failed to look convinced.
The following days passed with great activity on everyone's part. Horsip's troops worked as if inspired—as they were, by Horsip, Moffis, and the other survivors of the first expedition. The natives, for their part, carried on an enormous trade. Argit, too, was busy.
One day Argit summoned Horsip to his office. Looking as if he had gone through several weeks of penance and fasting, Argit nevertheless spoke with satisfaction.
"When you want a stubborn, headstrong individual to do something," said Argit, "one way is to argue against it. Think up plausible reasons why you might want him not to do it, and act accordingly. The odds are good that he will end up doing what you tell him not to do, which, of course, is what you really want him to do."
Horsip thought it over. "You've persuaded the natives to—"
"They have persuaded me to open up the Integral Union to them. Believe me, Horsip, there is all the difference in who persuades whom."
"Now it's their idea?"
"Exactly."
"But why wouldn't we want them to spread out?"
"Obviously—from their viewpoint—our supposed fear that they might take over the Integral Union. Of course, I never mentioned it. They deduced it."
Horsip thought of the number of star systems in the Integral Union, and his mind boggled.
Argit smiled. "Remember, Horsip, they have no real feeling yet for space. They've had no experience. They don't appreciate the order of magnitude involved. But they're moving in the direction we want. Now, for the first benefit of this policy, I will want your help, Horsip, in attending a meeting of the Supreme Staff, where we will evaluate a new military department, and the . . . ah . . . man in charge."
Horsip looked interested.
"Who is he?"
"His name is Towers. Let's see, John Towers."
"A lop-tail?"
Argit winced. "If we are going to get desirable results, Horsip, I think it would be just as well for us to call them 'Earthmen.' "
"He's one of the locals?"
"Yes. And as nearly as we can discover, his ideas, directly and indirectly, have cost us better than half a million casualties."
"He must be one of their highest officers."
"No. Ideas are not so rare with them as with us, so they don't value good ideas properly. This officer is appreciated only by a few loyal followers. He has the temporary rank of brigadier general, and the permanent rank of major. He is outspoken, and he has highly placed enemies. To get him out of their way, these enemies have cleverly decided to unload him on us. I think we can use him. We are going to have a special meeting of the Supreme Staff to consider the matter. We will need someone with firsthand experience of these Earthmen.
"And," added Argit, frowning, "we may run into opposition on the Staff itself. I'll appreciate your support."
Horsip considered what it would be like to have some Earthmen on his side for a change.
He nodded cheerfully. "I'll do my best."
Horsip, aboard the warship that served as their headquarters, looked on with awe as the generals of the Supreme Staff settled into their massive seats around the oval table. There was a creak of leather, the rustle of paper, the snap of lock-levers as the seats were adjusted. Then, halfway down the long side of the table, Argit, Chairman of the Supreme Staff, cleared his throat.
"The fourth meeting of the twentieth session of the present cycle is hereby opened. This meeting was called to consider a new military department. The secretary will note that all members are present, and will read the summary of the previous meeting."
A thin, nervous-looking individual at a small side table rose to his feet.
"Summary, third meeting, twentieth session. All members were present, two regional seats unfilled due to vacancies. Business at hand was to evaluate performance of General Klide Horsip, Planetary Integrator of Earth. Testimony of General Argit favorable. Records and reports examined. Exhibits: stitching-gun, portable; several rolls four-tooth fang-wire; flying bomb with Q-metal warhead; disassembled warhead mechanism; scale models, traveling forts; other exhibits, listed in full minutes. Much discussion. Examination of casualty figures. Lively discussion. General Takkit moves for censure of General Horsip. Motion defeated. General Argit reprimands General Maklin for referring to General Takkit as a 'brainless molk.' General Argit reprimands General Roffis for correcting General Maklin, to say General Takkit is an 'addled molk.' General Maklin moved for approval of General Horsip's conduct. Motion passed. General Argit raises question of empty regional seats. Lively discussion. General Roffis proposes General Horsip to fill vacancy. Motion passed. General Argit raises question of second vacancy. Much discussion, no agreement. General Argit closes meeting."
The secretary sat down.
Horsip, dazed, was escorted to a seat at the table. Argit cleared his throat.
"We welcome our new regional member, and trust he will add to the wisdom and harmony of these meetings. Horsip, we need your experience on this next item of business. Now, we have approved the plan, and the High Council has sanctioned it, to give every opportunity to these Earthmen to disperse. We have now been offered use of an Earth military unit—"
A bull-necked general seated to Argit's left cleared his throat.
"Gride Maklin speaking. Let the secretary get it in the minutes that I'm opposed to arming native troops. The Great Records show we've already had two revolutions and an interstellar war out of that."
Argit said politely, "General, there's no need to interrupt. You'll have full time, during the discussion."
"I want it in the minutes before you get us convinced in spite of ourselves. We don't control a gun some native's got in his hands. Out men get soft, and theirs get tough. Next they jam our tail in the meat grinder. No, thanks. We'll keep the guns, and we'll do the fighting. That's simpler."
Argit growled, "You've got it into the minutes now, General."
Maklin nodded. "It had to be said. Armed natives are poison."
A slender general near Horsip snarled, "Secretary, note that Dorp Takkit opposes Maklin's giving the background discussion."
A white-furred, steely-eyed general at the far end of the table looked around.
"Sark Roffis. Note, Secretary, that I back General Maklin's opposition to native troops, and I back it to the hilt."
Takkit snarled, "We have one chairman. We don't need three."
Another general growled approval.
A murmur arose like a hornet's nest when someone jars the tree.
Argit said, very courteously, "The opposing viewpoints are now on record. I hope that any further comment can wait until we reach the discussion. Otherwise I will have to censure it, and the censure will go in the condensed summary. The High Council always reads the condensed summary."
There was a silence that bulged with unspoken comment, and Argit went on.
"These Earthmen have technological ability demonstrated in action, and shown in previous exhibits. They have been granted full partnership with Centra. 'Full partners' have to do their share of the fighting. The Earthmen are not going to be armed by us. Despite everything we can do to disarm them, they are still armed to the teeth, by their own efforts, and this unit in particular has a method of fighting that ought to be put to use for Centra's benefit.
"The question," said Argit, "is not of arming native troops, but of putting the prowess of this special unit to work for Centra. We have already suffered severely from the operations of this unit, and now, since the unit's commanding officer is unpopular with his short-sighted superiors, we can whisk this unit out from under the control of the Earthmen and put it to use ourselves. The general in charge of the unit is right outside, and we can call him in and evaluate the man and his methods."
There was a silence when Argit finished, and then the discussion began. General Maklin still opposed the idea, but he and everyone else wanted to see this native general. Argit turned to the guards.
"Show in General Towers."
The guard escorted into the room a trim Earthman, whose uniform bore a double row of ribbons, wings, and other emblems. The officer's bearing was quiet, but there was an indefinable something about him that made Horsip uneasy.
Around the table there were creaks, scrapes, and snaps as those with their backs to the door craned, shoved their chairs back, or pivoted around. Then came a grunt and murmur at the sight of the tailless, almost furless alien.
It came to Horsip that the indefinable something about this native was his quiet unimpressed look. There was no need to put him at his ease. He was at his ease.
Argit was saying, "Members of the Supreme Staff, this is Brigadier General John Towers. General Towers, we are considering the suggestion that you and your Special Effects Team serve as part of the Centran Armed Forces. What is your view of this?"
Towers said warily, "It's an idea."
Argit frowned. "Perhaps you'd care to give us your opinion?"
Towers looked stubborn.
"It all depends on who is over us, and how he operates." Towers, narrow-eyed, looked over the Supreme Staff, and, for an instant, Horsip seemed to see how he and the others must look to the Earthman:
Furry creatures, like some kind of blend of Earthmen and the furry animals they called lions.
Towers suddenly grinned.
"I don't know how it would work. We've got some ideas we'd like to try out, but if I'm given orders what to do, and then when I start to do it some blockhead starts telling me I can't do it that way, or if I get orders to stick to my headquarters so I can fill out all the forms and be there when the phone rings, why, we're going to have trouble, and we might as well find it out right now. Give me a job—I'm not worried about how hard it is—but then leave me alone. Let me know what the problem is at the beginning. If I'm given to understand that the problem is such-and-such, and then, every time I try to move, some new condition is added, it isn't going to work. And there's something else. We might as well have this out in the open, too. I figure there's no special break in the chain of command between top sergeant and second lieutenant. I don't see any unbridgeable gap there. If that's the wrong attitude, get somebody else for the job, because that's the attitude I'm going to have, whether I'm a buck private in the rear rank or the man in charge. What counts isn't rank, so far as I can see, but whether the man can and does do the work."
Towers looked at them, started to say more, then changed his mind, and waited attentively.
The clear impression came to Horsip that whether or not Towers was on trial before the Supreme Staff, the Supreme Staff was, in effect, on trial before Towers. Horsip, though agreeing with what Towers said, began to see why Towers was unpopular with his superiors.
Near Horsip, the slender general named Takkit said, "You know, Towers, there are many unpleasant jobs in the Integral Union. An officer who failed to show a cooperative frame of mind could find himself with a succession of rather unpleasant assignments, with no advancement, and with—shall we say—a somewhat tedious life ahead of him. But life can be quite pleasant for those who are cooperative."
There was a sudden tense silence, with every eye on Towers.
Towers' eyes glinted, and then he smiled and faced Takkit.
"Oh, I will cooperate, General."
Takkit said coolly, "I rather thought you would."
Towers added, "I just won't cooperate with a blockhead, General."
To Argit's left, the bull-necked general named Maklin suddenly grinned.
Takkit said coldly, "I trust—what is your actual rank?—Major, isn't it?—I trust, Major—line your hands up along the seams of your trousers, there—I trust that you understand the penalties for even the hint of discourtesy to superiors?"
Again there was silence, with every eye watching Towers, who clicked his heels, stood at stiff attention, and said, "Yes, sir."
Takkit said lazily, "Oh? Is that so? I'm surprised. I thought you had been in the lop-tail—pardon me, Earth—armed forces. How would you know what our regulations are?"
"Because, sir," said Towers, "when offered this opportunity to transfer to your armed forces, I naturally studied your regulations first."
"Is that so?" said Takkit, sounding somewhat foolish.
"Yes, sir," said Towers, without intonation.
At the far end of the table, the white-furred General Roffis looked at Takkit's expression and began to grin.
Towers remained at stiff attention.
Takkit said, "At any rate, Major, whatever order I directly give you, you will at once, and without hesitation or question, obey that order, won't you?"
"I will not, sir," said Towers matter-of-factly.
"WHY NOT?" roared Takkit.
"Because, sir," said Towers politely, "I am not yet a member of the Centran Armed Forces, and your authority over me is nonexistent."
At the far end of the table, General Roffis was beaming.
General Maklin, grinning, banged his fist on the table.
Takkit opened his mouth and shut it again.
Towers remained at stiff attention, waiting.
The silence stretched out, and Argit, with the urgent distracted look of someone groping for a way to cover up someone else's peculiarly stupid blunder, said, "Were there any more questions that you wanted to ask General Towers, General Takkit?"
Takkit let his breath out with a hiss.
"That will be all for now."
Towers turned to face Argit, and relaxed from his posture of stiff attention. He now looked alert and attentive, but at ease.
Argit said uneasily, "I think we understand, and are sympathetic with your ideas of command, General Towers . . ."
Horsip, watching, did not know how the Earthman's face could express, with scarcely a movement of the muscles, such a profound lack of agreement.
Argit studied Towers' face, cast an irritated glance at the fuming Takkit, and then suddenly glanced around at the other generals, a large number of whom were watching the scene with expressions of profound gratification. Argit seemed to come suddenly to a decision.
"General Towers, if you want the job, and are agreeable, we will, first, support your complete force, allow initially for recruitment to three times its current level, and give you a completely free hand in its organization."
"That part is more than satisfactory, sir," said Towers, plainly reserving judgment.
"Now," said Argit, "some of our men—even occasionally general officers—are not always receptive until they get their minds on the track. Even highly able officers occasionally make errors . . . We all do it . . . And there are always clashes of personality amongst able men. You will need plenty of authority to get the proper cooperation. We cannot give you high rank in the beginning, until your method proves itself clearly. What I propose, to bridge the gap, is a device we have used occasionally in the past. This is the 'code name,' and its associated rank. If my colleagues agree, your regular rank with us will be that corresponding to the Earth rank of colonel. This rank is solid, not temporary, but it is insufficient to deal with a hard-headed general in a tight spot. We therefore offer, if the majority of my colleagues agree, a code name—say, 'Able Hunter'—together with the rank of general, grade III, and—again if the majority of my colleagues agree—a regional seat for Able Hunter on the Supreme Staff. You see, General Towers, we cannot give you this rank, but we can give it to the code name, and then, at our will, assign the code name to you. You can then use the code name whenever you find it advisable. As code names receive no pay, you will suffer a disadvantage in pay for every day you assert this rank. However, once your method proves its worth, there should be little difficulty."
Argit looked around. "What do you say, shall we give General Towers the rank and code name, with the particulars I've just mentioned? Secretary, note the votes."
A rumble of Yes's followed, and Argit turned to Towers, who cheerfully accepted the offer.
Horsip, smiling, considered the situation. The Integral Union was so big that there were always upheavals of some kind going on somewhere.
If Towers, code name "Hunter," needed a place to try out his special methods, the Integral Union could certainly use someone who could straighten out problems.
The question was: Could Towers do it?
As Horsip asked himself that, there came a rap at the door, and the guards let in an officer who bent by Argit's chair with an air of gloom.
Horsip braced himself.
Argit looked up.
"Another revolt on Centralis II. This time, they've managed a total surprise."
There was a groan, then Argit, and everyone else, turned to the Earthman.
"Towers," said Argit, "if you want to test your methods, here's your chance. Get your troops together. We are sending you to Centralis II as fast as we can get you there."