Sword of the Lamb (24 page)

“Doing what I do best,” he replied with a brief smile. “Studying the Bonds. I’m something of a rarity—a qualified sociologist with an interest in the Bonds and an established rapport with their leaders. That is, the Shepherds. I have expertise in an area vital to the Phoenix, and it can offer me means of gathering and interpreting data the Concord can’t match.”

Alexand’s eyes narrowed. “Why are the Bonds vital to the Phoenix?”

Rich looked up at him sharply. “Are you afraid we might
use
the Bonds in a destructive way? You know I’d never accept that. Remember that in the last thirty years, the most obvious symptom of the Concord’s instability is Bond uprisings. They’re not only a symptom, but a contributing factor, an exacerbating factor. That’s why the Bonds are vital to the Phoenix.”

Alexand felt chastened and vaguely confused. He hunched his shoulders against a chill gust of wind.

“What else can you tell me about the Phoenix? It must offer more than unusual research facilities to induce you to take the risks and make the sacrifices it involves.”

Rich leaned forward, a light in his eyes that stirred equivocal responses in Alexand, both curiosity and fear, and, underlying that, an uncomprehended hope.

“Alex, it offers a great deal more. We’ve shared everything important in our lives, and I don’t think it would be possible for me not to share this with you. And it’s important from a political standpoint that you understand the Phoenix, both for its sake, and the Concord’s. The Concord will have to deal with it eventually as something other than a band of pirates and/or radicals. The first thing you must understand about the Phoenix is that it is
not
a revolutionary organization. Our ultimate aim is admittedly to change the existing power structure, but not by revolution. By a process of evolution.”

Alexand commented, “Evolutionary processes are notably slow.”

“True, but not nearly so destructive.”

“Still, evolution implies long-range planning and immense patience. It would be a rare group of people capable of that kind of sustained effort.”

“The Phoenix is such a rare group. I’m realistic enough to assume the Society isn’t made up of paragons, and to realize that it constitutes a concentration of power, which is always dangerous. Power vacuums inevitably attract ambitious men, and that could destroy it, or at least subvert it. That’s my main concern, not its capacity for long-range planning or intelligent use of its power. But if I’m wrong, if I’m disappointed in any way, you’ll know. I’ll make sure of that somehow.”

Alexand felt a dry tightness in his throat that continually threatened a break in his voice.

“All right, Rich, but if this is such a benign organization, how do you explain the raids and sabotage?”

He only shrugged at that. “A great deal of that must be laid at the feet of the Outsider pirates and smugglers; Amik the Thief and his Brotherhood, or the petty independent clans. But the Phoenix does indulge in small-scale military operations. It also uses sabotage occasionally to maintain certain power alignments, and even stoops to piracy to procure supplies otherwise unobtainable, or to increase its military capabilities, or simply to make the Concord aware of its existence in terms it can understand. That’s part of the General Plan, but a small part, and a recent development.”

“Recent? It seems to have been going on for a number of years.”

“Recent in terms of the Society’s history.” Rich gave him a crooked smile. “This isn’t a go-by-night organization, Alex. There’s already a second generation born into its ranks. The Phoenix predates the Fall of the Peladeen Republic. It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this year.”

Alexand’s jaw went slack, then he repeated distractedly, “Its fiftieth anniversary . . . but why is it no one knew about it all that time?”

“That was also part of the General Plan.”

“But how did it come into existence? How many people are involved in it?”

Rich blinked and hesitated. “I can’t tell you how many members there are.”

Alexand took note again of that momentary confusion; it was as if Rich had briefly lost track of the conversation.

“Is that the conditioning?”

“Yes. One form of it; sec-con. Security conditioning. The form the SSB usually encounters is the Total Amnesia Block.” “The SSB claims Phoenix conditioning can’t be broken.” “Not the TAB. At least they haven’t succeeded yet. But they haven’t given up; they still keep trying when they think they have a likely candidate.”

Alexand knew something of the SSB’s methods, and the thought chilled him. Rich was vulnerable to that now.

“So the Phoenix has been in existence for fifty years, but who founded it, and why?”

Again, that momentary blankness. “I can’t tell you who founded it. Only why.”

“Can you tell me if the rumors that Andreas Riis was the founder are true? I mean the Polluxian physicist.”

Rich shook his head. “I can’t give you any names. No—I can give you one. The Society was originally funded and as a fledgling nurtured in strictest secrecy by the Lord Elor Ussher Peladeen. It was his hope that the spirit, at least, of the Republic might one day be resurrected through the Phoenix.” He smiled faintly as Alexand’s eyebrows came up.

“Perhaps I’ve underestimated the last Lord of Peladeen all these years.”

“He has been too often underestimated in our histories. The other founders of the Phoenix were nearly all Republicans, and most of them scientists and scholars. They recognized the inevitability of the Republic’s defeat and formed the Society and, with Lord Elor’s help, set up the facilities to carry out their work and maintain themselves in secrecy. The Phoenix has many purposes, and one is the preservation and expansion of knowledge, with particular emphasis on various aspects of sociology. Their work is phenomenal, Alex. They have data gathering systems the Concord can’t begin to equal, and everything is grist for their computer mills from the cost of a kilo of wheat to House alliances to the armament status of Confleet. They have experts in everything from technosociology to psychohistory to correlate the information and pinpoint trends and patterns. It’s like a giant biomonitor; they measure the vital signs of the whole complex of the Concord.”

Alexand found himself smiling at Rich’s enthusiasm, yet it gave him a profound sense of solitude.

“Why the concern for the Concord’s vital signs?”

“Well, to continue the medical analogy, one must understand a patient’s disease before attempting to cure it. And that’s our ultimate purpose, Alex, to cure the Concord’s illnesses, to save its life.”

“And that might involve radical surgery?”

“In one form or another. I’d prefer to say radical
treatment
. Certainly the patient will have to undergo serious changes, and here the analogy begins to fail. What I’m talking about are major alterations in a societal power structure.”

Alexand leaned back against the railing; its light was fading slowly with the brightening light of the sky.

“Rich, the other night you talked about my potential as a new Mankeen.”

“You’re wondering if the Society was the source of that idea? They didn’t introduce me to it, but they ran some extrapolation sequences that put it in a more objective framework.”

Alexand’s mouth tightened. “Why is the Phoenix interested in me as a new Mankeen?”

“Not to encourage you in that direction. Alex, you’re rated CP-One. That’s our top ‘Critical Potential’ rating, and it means you’re considered very dangerous as a disruptive factor; dangerous to the Concord and the goals of the Phoenix. If you think you might make another Mankeen of yourself, I warn you the Phoenix will do everything it can to stop you.” He paused, then, “You doubt that?”

“If their purpose is to change the existing power structure, I’d think they’d welcome a new Mankeen.”

Rich shook his head. “No. Those ex seqs lead to war and total anarchy on almost every variant. That’s what we’re trying to avoid—not foster. If it were necessary, the Phoenix would destroy you before letting you become a new Mankeen. I don’t mean destroy you literally; we don’t employ methods of that sort, and we’d be reluctant to weaken DeKoven Woolf. But we’d stop you.”

Alexand felt that as an almost personal threat, and from Rich it was deeply disturbing. But the pronoun “we,” he realized, was only a measure of Rich’s identification with the Phoenix.

“What do you mean by saying the Phoenix would be reluctant to weaken DeKoven Woolf?”

“One of our functions is to bolster the more liberal Houses; Woolf falls into that category. Usually it’s a matter of getting the right information to the right people at the right time. Sometimes overt action is necessary—and I can’t explain that further.”

“Then let’s get back to general terms. The Phoenix intends to bring about change in the existing power structure. How can it hope to accomplish that
without
revolution?”

Rich took a deep breath and looked out at the city. “We
must
accomplish it without revolution. This patient won’t survive that kind of cure. The Society has worked out what it calls the General Plan. It has three major phases. We’re still working toward Phase I, and the immediate goal is to establish a foothold within the Concord hierarchy, necessarily at the level of the Court of Lords to be effective.” He paused, and Alexand didn’t understand his abstracted frown until he went on. “Unfortunately, Phase I can’t be accomplished without bloodshed, and in a way it will be a revolution, but a limited and controlled one that will
not
involve the general populace and, above all, not the Bonds. In the General Plan ex seqs it’s referred to as a military offensive or engagement.”

Alexand folded his arms under his cloak, tensing with the inner alarm of suspicion, yet it was quieted by the regret he read in Rich’s eyes; he waited silently for him to explain.

“The military phase will be brief, ideally consisting of one massive attack in a limited area, and our primary objectives will be Concord military and police facilities. It will be a small war, but that won’t make it less a war, nor less tragic to those affected by it. Nor less distasteful to us. But we must have Phase I, the foothold in the Concord hierarchy, because we’ll have to work through the existing power structure to bring about the reforms we consider vital to the Concord’s survival. Ultimately, we’ll get that foothold by bargaining for it, and that’s the real purpose of the military phase. That’s the only way we can force the Concord to the bargaining table.”

Alexand nodded. “In other words, you must—again—make the Concord aware of your existence in terms it can understand.”

Rich smiled at that, but only briefly.

“Yes. We have to force them to take us seriously. And believe me, Alex—you
must
believe this—the Society’s leaders are reluctant to accept the necessity of even a limited war, but it’s the only alternative, and that’s not just opinion; that’s based on ex seqs drawn by experts over decades. We’ve had to accept the necessity, because if we fail, the only other alternative for the Concord is a third dark age. We’ve had to compare the casualties that will result from our war with those that will result from the collapse of our civilization.”

That created a silence, and Alexand knew Rich was considering those casualties, looking back with the cognizant perception of a historian on the last civilizational collapse.

“What happens after Phase I?”

“A lot happens after Phase I—we hope. First, we’ll use that foothold to bring about a gradual process of reform, working through established channels. Our objectives will be to break down the feudalistic system and spread the power base into the middle class, as well as developing a literate lower class and relaxing the barriers between all classes. The dynastic House system will be maintained, but the concentration of power within them reduced. In this phase there will be a very real danger of revolt—
true
revolt—of two kinds: reactionary revolt among conservative Lords, or a liberal revolt fostered by an impatient middle class. Maintaining a balance between stability and reform will be difficult, but if that can be managed, we’ll be ready for Phase II. That begins with the establishment of electoral processes. That is, when individuals are given a voice in their government by vote. These elections will be limited at first and will probably evolve from the Guilds; they already use majority vote to some degree within their membership. The right to vote will be progressively extended to all adult citizens, and at the same time the issues decided by election will be enlarged until finally we each our ultimate goal—Phase III, the establishment of a true democratic republic. It might be a form of monarchal republic; there are advantages in maintaining vestiges of the hereditary system. But it must be—in the words of our Charter—‘a form of government that will provide a maximum of individual choice, opportunity, and judicial equality within the limits of a stable system.’ ”

Alexand listened attentively through this, and Rich’s calm tone made it all sound imminently reasonable, almost inevitable. But a mental backwash soured the hope when he stopped.

“We used to dream of such things, Rich, talking into the small hours of the nights, solving humanity’s problems with all our adolescent erudition. But the ideal is a long way from the real.”

“Yes, it is,” Rich said softly. “The ideal envisioned by the Phoenix is at least five and possibly seven generations from the real.”

Alexand’s head came up, and it took him a moment to focus on Rich’s transcendentally composed features.

“Five to seven . . .
generations
?”

“Yes. Phase I
must
be accomplished in the near future, or there’ll be no power structure to work through or save, but Phase II and III . . .” He smiled. “As you said, evolution is a slow process.”

Alexand needed a moment to digest that. He found it difficult to sort his thoughts from his emotions, from a hope he kept trying to put down.

“Rich, the plans might be practicable, but to see that they aren’t lost or betrayed over that many generations—”

“The chances of failure have been calculated. Assuming Phase I is accomplished within the next ten years, there’s approximately a fifty percent chance of achieving Phase III.”