IV + 

If You Read It in Stanley-Browne + 

Von Schlichten and Blount entered the bar togetherтБатАФthe Broadway Room, decorated in gleaming plastics and chromium in enthusiastic if slightly inaccurate imitation of a First Century New York nightclub. There were no native servants to spoil the illusion, such as it was: the service was fully automatic. Going to a bartending machine, von Schlichten dialed the cocktail they had decided upon and inserted his key to charge the drinks to his account, filling a four-portion jug. + 

As they turned away, they almost collided with Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary and Paula Quinton. The girl wore a long-sleeved gown to conceal a bandage on her right wrist, and her face was rather heavily powdered in spots; otherwise she looked none the worse for recent experiences. + 

тАЬWell, you seem to have gotten yourself repaired, Miss Quinton,тАЭ he greeted her. тАЬFeel better, now?тБатАКтБатАж Miss Quinton, this is Lieutenant-Governor Blount. Eric, Miss Paula Quinton.тАЭ + 

тАЬDelighted, Miss Quinton,тАЭ Blount said. тАЬCarlos tells us he found you standing over poor Mohammed Ferriera, fighting like a commando. How is Mohammed, by the way? No danger, I hope; we all like him.тАЭ + 

Mohammed Ferriera was still unconscious, the girl reported; he had a minor concussion, but the medics were not greatly disturbed, and expected him to be fully recovered in a few weeks. Von Schlichten invited her and her escort to join him and Blount. Colonel OтАЩLeary was carrying a cocktail jug and a couple of glasses; finding a table out of the worst of the noise, they all sat down together. + 

тАЬI suppose you think itтАЩs a joke, our being nearly murdered by the people we came to help,тАЭ Paula began, a trifle defensively. + 

тАЬNot a very funny joke,тАЭ von Schlichten told her. тАЬItтАЩs been played on us till itтАЩs lost its humor.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, geek ingratitudeтАЩs an old story to all of us,тАЭ Blount agreed. тАЬYou stay on this planet very long and youтАЩll see what I mean.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou call them that, too?тАЭ she asked, as though disappointed in him. тАЬMaybe if you stopped calling them geeks, they wouldnтАЩt resent you the way they do. You know, thatтАЩs a nasty name; in the First Century Pre-Atomic, it designated a degraded person who performed some sort of revolting public exhibition.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬBiting off live chickensтАЩ heads, in a sideshow wild-man act,тАЭ Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary supplied. тАЬWhen you get up north, watch how the peasants kill these little things like six-legged iguanas that they raise for food.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat isnтАЩt the reason, though,тАЭ von Schlichten said. тАЬAs we use it, the wordтАЩs pure onomatopoeia. YouтАЩve learned some of the languages; you know what they sound like. Geek-geek-geek.тАЭ + 

тАЬAs far as that goes, you know what the geek name for a Terran is?тАЭ Blount asked. тАЬSuddabit.тАЭ + 

She looked puzzled for a moment, then slipped in her enunciator. Even in the absence of any native, she used her handkerchief to mask the act. + 

тАЬSuddabit,тАЭ she said, distinctly. тАЬSud-da-a-bit.тАЭ Taking out the geek-speaker, she put it away. тАЬWhy, thatтАЩs exactly how theyтАЩd pronounce it!тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd donтАЩt tell me you havenтАЩt heard it before,тАЭ OтАЩLeary said. тАЬThe geeks were screaming it at you, over on Seventy-second Street, this afternoon. Znidd suddabit; kill the Terrans. ThatтАЩs Rakkeed the ProphetтАЩs whole gospel.тАЭ + 

тАЬSo you see,тАЭ Eric Blount rammed home the moral, тАЬthis is just another case of nobody with any right to call anybody elseтАЩs kettle black.тБатАКтБатАж Cigarette?тАЭ + 

тАЬThank you.тАЭ She leaned toward the lighter-flame OтАЩLeary had snapped into being. тАЬI suspect that of being a principle youтАЩd like me to bear in mind at the polar mines, when I see, letтАЩs say, some laborer being beaten by a couple of overseers with three foot lengths of three-quarter-inch steel cable.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, you could also remember that a nativeтАЩs skin is about half an inch thick, and a good deal tougher than a humanтАЩs,тАЭ von Schlichten told her. тАЬAnd it wouldnтАЩt hurt any if you found out how these laborers are treated at home. Mostly theyтАЩre serfs hired from the big landowners; itтАЩs a fact you can easily verify that permission to join the labor-companies at the polar mines is regarded as a privilege, granted as a reward or denied as a punishment. And most of the geek landowners are bitterly critical of the way we treat our labor at the mines; they claim we make them dissatisfied with the treatment they get at home.тАЭ + 

тАЬOf course, theyтАЩre always glad to have the peasants taken off their hands during a slack agricultural season,тАЭ Blount added, тАЬand we train workers to handle contragravity power-equipment. I wonтАЩt deny that thereтАЩs a lot of unnecessary brutality on the part of the native foremen and overseers, which weтАЩre trying, gradually, to eliminate. YouтАЩll have to remember, though, that weтАЩre dealing with a naturally brutal race.тАЭ + 

тАЬOf course, mistreatment of native labor is always blamed on other natives, never on the gentle and kindly Terrans,тАЭ she replied. тАЬThatтАЩs been S.O.P. on every planet our AssociationтАЩs had any experience with.тАЭ + 

тАЬNow look; you just came here from Niflheim,тАЭ von Schlichten objected. тАЬThe Company employs quite a few geeks there; how much brutality did you run into there?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, I must admit, the Ullerans who work there are very well treated. Except that I donтАЩt think itтАЩs right to employ any people with silicone body-tissues where theyтАЩre going to breathe fluorine-tainted air.тАЭ + 

тАЬNobody ought to be employed on that planet!тАЭ Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary declared. тАЬI did a two-year hitch there, when I was first commissioned in the Company service.тАЭ + 

тАЬI put in two years there, too,тАЭ Blount supported him. тАЬAnd I might add that thatтАЩs a year longer than any Ulleran native is ever allowed to spend on Niflheim. You know what the setup is, there, donтАЩt you? The Terran Federation Space Navy discovered and explored both Uller and Niflheim, which made both planets public domain. The Company was originally formed to exploit Uller alone, but the Federation insisted that both planets would have to be franchised to the same company. They wanted Niflheim exploited, mainly because of the uranium-deposits there. As it turned out, the CompanyтАЩs making as much money out of Niflheim as we are out of Uller.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat you miss is this,тАЭ von Schlichten pointed out. тАЬOn Niflheim, there are about a thousand Terrans, and not more than five hundred geeks, all employed on construction-work and in the mines, on the planet itself, working directly under Terran supervision. We use them because they have four hands, and in the power-driven contragravity armor thatтАЩs necessary there, they can manipulate more controls and do more things at once than we can. Here on Uller, at the polar mines, there are about ten thousand geeks working under five hundred Terrans, and most of the latter are engineers or technicians who donтАЩt do supervisory work. So we have to use native foremen, and theyтАЩre guilty of what mistreatment the workers suffer.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd remember, too,тАЭ OтАЩLeary added, тАЬwork at the polar mines can only go on for about two months out of the yearтБатАФmid-September to mid-November at the Arctic, and mid-March to mid-May at the Antarctic. Naturally, things have to be done in a hurry and under pressure.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, why do you work mines at the poles? ArenтАЩt there mineral deposits in places where you can work all year тАЩround?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot as rich, or as accessible,тАЭ Blount said. тАЬYou know what the seasons are like, at the poles of this planet. The temperature will range from about two-fifty Fahrenheit in midsummer to a hundred and fifty below in winter. ThereтАЩs the most intense sort of thermal erosion you can imagineтБатАФthe icecap melts in the spring to a sea, which boils away completely by the middle of the summer. There will be violent circular storms of hot wind, blowing away the light sand and dust and leaving the heavier particles of metallic ores and metals behind. Then, when the winds fall, we move in for a couple of months. It isnтАЩt really mining, or even quarrying; we just scoop up ore from the surface, load it onto ore-boats, and fly it down to Skilk and Krink and Grank, where itтАЩs smelted through the winter. The natives run the smelters; use the heat to thaw frozen food for themselves and their livestock while theyтАЩre melting the ore. In the north, metallurgy and food-preparation have always been combined that way.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, if you think the natives who work at the mines feel themselves ill-treated, you might propose closing them down entirely and see what the native reaction would be,тАЭ von Schlichten told her. тАЬIndependently hired free workers can make themselves rich, by native standards, in a couple of seasons; many of the serfs pick up enough money from us in incentive-pay to buy their freedom after one season.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, if the CompanyтАЩs doing so much good on this planet, how is it that this native, Rakkeed, the one you call the Mad Prophet, is able to find such a following?тАЭ Paula demanded. тАЬThere must be something wrong somewhere.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs a fair question,тАЭ Blount replied, inverting a cocktail jug over his glass to extract the last few drops. тАЬWhen we came to Uller, we found a culture roughly like that of Europe during the Seventh Century Pre-Atomic, or, more closely, like that of Japan before the beginning of the First Century P. A. We initiated a technological and economic revolution here, and such revolutions have their casualties, too. A number of classes and groups got squeezed pretty badly, like the horse-breeders and harness-manufacturers on Terra by the invention of the automobile, or the coal and hydroelectric interests when direct conversion of nuclear energy to electric current was developed, or the railroads and steamship lines at the time of the discovery of the contragravity-field. Naturally, thereтАЩs a lot of ill-feeling on the part of merchants and artisans who werenтАЩt able or willing to adapt themselves to changing conditions; theyтАЩre all backing Rakkeed and yelling тАШZnidd suddabit!тАЩ now. You know, itтАЩs a shame that geek messiah isnтАЩt a smart crook, instead of an honest fanatic; he could take in the equivalent of a couple of million sols a year off the North Uller merchants and the Equatorial Zone shipowners. But it is a fact, which not even Rakkeed can successfully deny, that weтАЩve raised the general living standard of this planet by about two hundred percent.тАЭ + 

тАЬRakkeed is a Zirk,тАЭ von Schlichten said. тАЬTheyтАЩre the nomads who hire out to the northern merchants as caravan-drivers, and also prey, or used to prey, on the caravans as brigands. Since our air-freighters got into operation, neither caravan-driving nor caravan-raiding has been a paying business, and our air-patrols have made caravan-raiding suicidal as well. So the Zirks donтАЩt like us. The only thing they know or are willing to learn is handling these six-legged riding- and pack-animals we call hipposaurs. We employ a few of them as cavalry, and a few more of them work as the local equivalent of gauchos, and the rest just sit around and listen to RakkeedтАЩs sermons.тАЭ + 

Both jugs were empty. Colonel OтАЩLeary, as befitted his junior rank, picked them up; after a good-natured wrangle with von Schlichten, Blount handed the colonel his credit-key. + 

тАЬThe merchants in the north donтАЩt like us; beside spoiling the caravan-trade, weтАЩre spoiling their local business, because the land-owning barons, who used to deal with them, are now dealing directly with us. At Skilk, King FirkkedтАЩs afraid his feudal nobility is going to try to force a Runnymede on him, so heтАЩs been currying favor with the urban merchants; that makes him as pro-Rakkeed and as anti-Terran as they are. At Krink, King Jonkvank has the support of his barons, but heтАЩs afraid of his urban bourgeoisie, and we pay him a handsome subsidy, so heтАЩs pro-Terran and anti-Rakkeed. At Skilk, Rakkeed comes and goes openly; at Krink he has a price on his head.тАЭ + 

тАЬJonkvank is not one of the assets we boast about too loudly,тАЭ Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary said, pausing on his way from the table. тАЬHeтАЩs as bloody-minded an old murderer as youтАЩd care not to meet in a dark alley anywhere.тАЭ + 

тАЬWe can turn our backs on him and not expect a knife between our shoulders, anyhow,тАЭ von Schlichten said. тАЬAnd we can believe, oh, up to eighty percent of what he tells us, and thatтАЩs sixty percent better than any of the other native princes, except King Kankad, of course. The Kragans are the only real friends we have on this planet.тАЭ He thought for a moment. тАЬMiss Quinton, are you doing sociographic research-work here, in addition to your Ex-Rights work?тАЭ he asked. тАЬWell, let me advise you to pay some attention to the Kragans. YouтАЩll only find them treated at any length at all in that compendium of misinformation, Willard Stanley-BrowneтАЩs Short Sociographic History of Beta Hydrae II, and ninety percent of what Stanley-Browne says about them is completely erroneous.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, but theyтАЩre just a parasite-race on the Terrans,тАЭ Dr.┬аPaula Quinton objected. тАЬYou find races like that all through the explored galaxyтБатАФpathetic cultural mongrels.тАЭ + 

Both men laughed heartily. Colonel OтАЩLeary, returning with the jugs, wanted to know what heтАЩd missed. Blount told him. + 

тАЬHa! SheтАЩs been reading that thing of Stanley-BrowneтАЩs,тАЭ he said. + 

тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter with Stanley-Browne?тАЭ Paula demanded. + 

тАЬStanley-Browne is one author you can depend on,тАЭ OтАЩLeary assured her. тАЬIf you read it in Stanley-Browne, itтАЩs wrong. You know, I donтАЩt think sheтАЩs run into many Kragans. We ought to take her over and introduce her to King Kankad.тАЭ + 

Von Schlichten allowed himself to be smitten by an idea. тАЬBy Allah, so we had!тАЭ he exclaimed. тАЬLook, youтАЩre going to Skilk, in the next week, arenтАЩt you? Well, do you think you could get all your end-jobs cleared up here and be ready to leave by 08:00 Tuesday? ThatтАЩs four days from today.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm sure I could. Why?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, IтАЩm going to Skilk, myself, with the armed troopship Aldebaran. WeтАЩre stopping at King KankadтАЩs Town to pick up a battalion of Kragan Rifles for duty at the polar mines, where youтАЩre going. Suppose we leave here in my command-car, go to KankadтАЩs Town, and wait there till the Aldebaran gets in. That would give us about two to three hours. If you think the Kragans are тАШpathetic cultural mongrels,тАЩ what youтАЩll see there will open your eyes. And I might add that the nearest Stanley-Browne ever came to seeing KankadтАЩs Town was from the air, once, at a distance of four miles.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, they live entirely by serving as mercenary soldiers for the Uller Company, donтАЩt they?тАЭ + 

тАЬMore or less. You see, when we came to Uller, they were barbarian brigands; had a string of forts along caravan-roads and at fords and mountain-passes, and levied tolls. They raided into Konkrook and Keegark territory, too. Well, we had to break that up. We fought a little war with them, beat them rather badly in a couple of skirmishes, and then made a deal with them. That was before my time, when old Jerry Kirke was Governor-General. He negotiated a treaty with their King, bought their rieversтАЩ-forts outright, and paid them a subsidy to compensate for loss of tolls and raid-spoil, and agreed to employ the whole tribe as soldiers. WeтАЩve taught them a lotтБатАФyouтАЩll see how much when you visit their townтБатАФbut they arenтАЩt cultural mongrels. YouтАЩll like them.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, general, IтАЩll take you up,тАЭ she said. тАЬBut I warn you; if this is some scheme to indoctrinate me with the Uller CompanyтАЩs side of the case and blind me to unjust exploitation of the natives here, I donтАЩt propagandize very easily.тАЭ + 

тАЬFair enough, as long as you donтАЩt let fear of being propagandized blind you to the good weтАЩre doing here, or impair your ability to observe and draw accurate conclusions. Just stay scientific about it and IтАЩll be satisfied. Now, letтАЩs take time out for lubrication,тАЭ he said, filling her glass and passing the jug. + 

Two hours and five cocktails later, they were still at the table, and they had taught Paula Quinton some twenty verses of The Heathen Geeks, They Wear No Breeks, including the four printable ones. + 