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mentioned it to you?"
"No," said Bleys. "How do I shut off the connection from this end?"
Dahno reached out to the phone unit on the table not too far from Bleys' chair
and well within reach of the long arms of both of them.
"These two studs," said Dahno, tapping them in turn with his thick forefinger.
"I see," said Bleys. He reached out and pressed both studs. They popped back
up when he released them into the universal off position. "So the two of you
heard my conversation with Hytry. Did anyone else in the communi-cations
building listen at the same time?"
"No," Dahno said thoughtfully. "As I remember, I sent the one man who was
there over to the dining hall for cof-fee, I think. I didn't know your
conversation with Hytry would end quite that quickly. He was still gone by the
time you'd finished."
"Let me thank you, Great Teacher, on behalf of the Peo-ple of the Shoe," said
Anjo. "As for us, the only thing we ask from you is that you be yourself in
whatever way you wish to be."
"I appreciate that, Anjo," said Bleys. "Well, were the two of you pleased with
what I told him?"
"Just what I expected," said Dahno, before Anjo could speak again. "But Anjo
may have more to tell you."
"Do you, Anjo?" Bleys turned his attention on the other man.
"Yes," said Anjo. "I'm sorry to have to say this, Great Teacher, but I don't
think I can keep the radical element in the Shoe completely quiet,
particularly if the word leaks out you're gone and it seems to me that's bound
to hap-pen eventually within a week or two after you go. Could you give me any
specific date on when you'll be back?"
"I wish I could," said Bleys, "but it shouldn't be more than a couple of
months, your local time. We can stay in contact by interstellar mail. I can
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message you from wher-ever I am; and you can message me back through Ana
Wasserlied. You have to remember one thing. What I said to the CEOs and the
Guildmasters applies to your People of the Shoe as well. If I take sides any
side I lose all value as an outside observer. I repeat, it's the whole human
race that concerns me not any one particular element, faction, or individual
in it. That's the way it must be."
"I know you said that," said Anjo, "and I appreciate it, Great Teacher. But,
you know, even given the fastest ship time, it's going to take days for a
letter from me to reach you and a letter from you to come back."
"That's true enough," said Bleys. "But I don't know anything we can do but
live with that situation. With ev-erything else our researchers have been able
to do, they haven't been able to find a faster way. We'll just have to
put up with the delays. Are there any other particular prob-lems you expect?"
"Wiry, are you leaving right away?" Anjo said almost sharply.
"Not yet," answered Bleys. "What made you think I might be?"
"Just the fact that you said you might leave at any time," said Anjo. "Also,
right now things are sensitive" his voice became a little bitter "but then,
they're going to be sensitive whenever you leave."
"I can guess that," said Bleys. "But, again, there's noth-ing I can do about
it except leave you with as many speeches as possible. Play them at the rate
of one a week, and they should have something of a calming effect on the mass
of your people anyway. I've tried to make them so that they'll give your
People of the Shoe reason to wait and see what develops. I've also promised
repeatedly in the speeches that I'll be back. Were you thinking things might
explode the minute I'm gone, if I don't give a return date?"
Anjo sat silent for a moment. "No," he said slowly, at last, "not right off,
anyway."
"That's good," said Bleys. "Because, as I say, I can't promise any particular
date. It depends on too many things. You can tell your people, if you like,
that I told you privately I expected to be back in two months. But don't ask
me to confirm it. Why don't you spread that word, at least among your People
of the Shoe?"
Anjo looked at him starkly for a long moment before he spoke.
"I wasn't going to tell you this just yet," he said at last, slowly. "But it
has been reported to me by our people, both in the Guild and the CEOs, that
those two groups al-ready believe that you've set in motion the beginnings of
a worldwide revolution against them. They're planning to anticipate that by
hiring up to fifty thousand Friendly troops from your Association and Harmony.
I didn't say anything about it yet to you because I didn't know any of the
details and wasn't able to tell you that it was some-
thing that was already not only decided upon but under way. But I think it's
as good as settled. Officially, it will be the CEOs alone who are making the
contract just like a worldwide production contract. Like with Cassida.
Any-way, they're going to start hiring the troops without wait-ing. And if
they bring in even a few thousand of those, this world is absolutely going to
be ripe for an uprising, all the job-holders against them both."
Bleys broke into a laugh a comparison with his feeling about the sandstorm had
come to mind even Dahno stared at him.
Anjo looked at him with something very like suspicion.
"Did you know that was going to happen?" he asked.
"No. No it's just that this troop business must have been behind Hytry's offer
just now," he said. "Of course, hiring troops like that was inevitable. I
expected it sooner or later; and I believe you about the effect it'll have,
once even the first contingent of them gets here. You should have told me this
first, Anjo, before sending Hytry in to talk to me."
"The word is they're waiting only for Hytry to get back with your answer to
his offer," said Anjo. "After that, they'll start hiring. As you say, it had
to happen given the answer you gave Hytry."
He hesitated.
"So," he said emptily, "your Friendlies are coming, and the revolution will
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happen."
"Not necessarily," said Bleys. "Those troops may be made to help your cause,
instead of working against it. Don't be too quick to anticipate the worst. But
a lot is go-ing to depend on my getting back to Association in time to have a
hand in making the agreement from that end. This is a matter that's going to
find its decision in Friendly pol-itics, Anjo. Leave it to me and those with
me, like Dahno here. But now we've got to finish my tour on a few more Worlds
and get home to those same Friendlies without de-lay. If you want to save your
World, start now on the ar-rangements to move us all from here to Favored of
God."
Anjo nodded, got up and went out.
"You expected this," Dahno said.
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