XII + 

The Shadow of Niflheim + 

The sun slid lower and lower toward the horizon behind them as the aircar bulleted south along the broad valley and dry bed of the Hoork River, nearing the zone of equal day and night. Hassan Bogdanoff drove while Harry Quong finished his lunch, then changed places to begin his own. Von Schlichten got two bottles of beer from the refrigerated section of the lunch-hamper and opened one for Paula Quinton and one for himself. + 

тАЬWhat are we going to do with these geeks,тАЭтБатАФshe was using the nasty and derogatory word unconsciously and by custom, nowтБатАФтАЬafter this is all over? We canтАЩt just tell them, тАШJolly well played, nice game, wasnтАЩt it?тАЩ and go back to where we were Wednesday evening.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, we canтАЩt. ThereтАЩs going to have to be a Terran seizure of political power in every part of this planet that we occupy, and as soon as weтАЩre consolidated around and north of Takkad Sea, weтАЩre going to have to move in elsewhere,тАЭ he replied. тАЬKeegark, Konkrook, and the Free Cities, of course, will be relatively easy. TheyтАЩre in arms against us now, and we can take them over by force. We had to make that deal with Jonkvank, or, rather, I did, so that will be a slower process, but weтАЩll get it done in time. If I know that pair as well as I think I do, Jonkvank and Yoorkerk will give us plenty of pretexts, before long. Then, we can start giving them government by law instead of by royal decree, and real courts of justice; put an end to the head-payment system, and to these arbitrary mass arrests and tax-delinquency imprisonments that are nothing but slave-raids by the geek princes on their own people. And, gradually, abolish serfdom. In a couple of centuries, this planet will be fit to admit to the Federation, like Odin and Freya.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, wonтАЩt that depend a lot on whom the Company sends here to take HarringtonтАЩs place?тАЭ + 

тАЬUnless IтАЩm much mistaken, the Company will confirm me,тАЭ he replied. тАЬAdministration on Uller is going to be a military matter for a long time to come, and even the Banking Cartel and the mercantile interests in the Company are going to realize that, and see the necessity for taking political control. The Federation Government owns a bigger interest in the Company than the public realizes, too; theyтАЩve always favored it. And just to make sure, IтАЩm sending Hid OтАЩLeary to Terra on the next ship, to make a full report on the situation.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou think itтАЩll be cleared up by then? The City of Montevideo is due in from Niflheim in a little under three months.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩll have to be cleared up by then. We canтАЩt keep this war going more than a month, at the present rate. Police-action, and mopping-up, yes, full-scale war, no.тАЭ + 

тАЬAmmunition?тАЭ she asked. + 

He looked at her in pleased surprise. тАЬYour education has been progressing, at that,тАЭ he said. тАЬYou know, a lot of professional officers, even up to field rank in the combat branches, seem to think that ammo comes down miraculously from Heaven, in contragravity lorries, every time they pray into a radio for it. It doesnтАЩt; it has to be produced as fast as itтАЩs expended, and we havenтАЩt been doing that. So weтАЩll have to lick these geeks before it runs out, because we canтАЩt lick them with gunbutts and bayonets.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, how about nuclear weapons?тАЭ Paula asked. тАЬI hate to suggest itтБатАФI know what they did on Mimir, and Fenris, and Midgard, and what they did on Terra, during the First Century. But it may be our only chance.тАЭ + 

He finished his beer and shoved the bottle into the waste-receiver, then got out his cigarettes. + 

тАЬIтАЩd hate to have to make a decision like that, Paula,тАЭ he told her. тАЬThe military use of nuclear energy is the lastтБатАФwell, the next-to-lastтБатАФthing IтАЩd want to see on Uller. Fortunately, or unfortunately, itтАЩs a decision I wonтАЩt have to make. There isnтАЩt a single nuclear bomb on the planet. The CompanyтАЩs always refused to allow them to be manufactured or stockpiled here.тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt think thereтАЩd be any criticism of your making them, now, general. And thereтАЩs certainly plenty of plutonium. You could make A-bombs, at least.тАЭ + 

тАЬThere isnтАЩt anybody here who even knows how to make one. Most of our nuclear engineers could work one up, in about three months, when weтАЩd either not need one or not be alive.тАЭ + 

тАЬDr.┬аGomes, who came in on the Pretoria, two weeks ago, can make them,тАЭ she contradicted. тАЬHe built at least a dozen of them on Niflheim, to use in activating volcanoes and bringing ore-bearing lava to the surface.тАЭ + 

Von SchlichtenтАЩs hand, bringing his lighter to the tip of his cigarette, paused for a second. Then he completed the operation, snapped it shut, and put it away. + 

тАЬWhen did all this happen?тАЭ + 

She took time out for mental arithmetic; even a spaceship officer had to do that, when a question of interstellar time-relations arose. + 

тАЬAbout three-fifty days ago, Galactic Standard. TheyтАЩd put off the first shot, six bombs, before I got in from Terra. I saw the second shot a day or so before I left Niflheim on the Canberra. Dr.┬аGomes had to stay over till the Pretoria to put off the third shot. Why?тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you run into a geek named Gorkrink, while you were on Nif?тАЭ he asked her. тАЬAnd what sort of work was he doing?тАЭ + 

тАЬGorkrink? I donтАЩt seem to remember.тБатАКтБатАж Oh, yes! He was helping Dr.┬аMurillo, the seismologist. His year was up after the second shot; he came to Uller on the Canberra. Dr.┬аMurillo was sorry to lose him. He understood Lingua Terra perfectly; Dr.┬аMurillo could talk to him, the way you do with Kankad, without using a geek-speaker.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, but what sort of workтБатАКтБатАжтАК?тАЭ + 

тАЬHelping set and fire the A-bombs.тБатАКтБатАж Oh! Good Lord!тАЭ + 

тАЬYou can say that again, and deal in Allah, Shiva, and Kali,тАЭ von Schlichten told her. тАЬEspecially Kali.тБатАКтБатАж Harry! See if you can get some more speed out of this can. I want to get to Konkrook while itтАЩs still there!тАЭ + 

It was full dark when Konkrook came in view beyond the East Konk Mountains, a lurid smear on the underside of the clouds, and, at Gongonk Island and at the Company farms to the south, a couple of bunches of searchlights fingering about in the sky. When von Schlichten turned on the outside sound-pickup, he could hear the distant tom-tomming of heavy guns, and the crash of shells and bombs. Keeping the car high enough to be above the trajectories of incoming shells, Harry Quong circled over the city while Hassan Bogdanoff talked to Gongonk Island on the radio. + 

The city was in a bad way. There were seventy-five to a hundred big fires going, and a new one started in a rising ball of thermoconcentrate flame while they watched. The three gun-cutters, Elmoran, Gaucho, and Bushranger, and about fifty big freight lorries converted to bombers, were shuttling back and forth between the island and the city. The Royal Palace was on fire from end to end, and the entire waterfront and industrial district were in flames. Combat-cars and airjeeps were diving in to shell and rocket and machine-gun streets and buildings. He saw six big bomber-lorries move in dignified procession to unload, one after the other, on a row of buildings along what the Terrans called South Tenth Street, and on the roofs of buildings a block away, red and blue flares were burning, and he could see figures, both human and Ulleran, setting up mortars and machine-guns. + 

Landing on the top stage of Company House, on the island, they were met by a Terran whom von Schlichten had seen, a few days ago, bossing native-labor at the spaceport, but who was now wearing a majorтАЩs insignia. He greeted von Schlichten with a salute which he must have learned from some movie about the ancient French Foreign Legion. Von Schlichten seriously returned it in kind. + 

тАЬEverybodyтАЩs down in the Governor-GeneralтАЩs office, sir,тАЭ he said. тАЬYour office, that is. King KankadтАЩs here with us, too.тАЭ + 

He accompanied them to the elevator, then turned to a telephone; when von Schlichten and Paula reached the office, everybody was crowded at the door to greet them: Themistocles MтАЩzangwe, his arm in a sling; Hans Meyerstein, the Johannesburg lawyer, who seemed to have even more Bantu blood than the brigadier-general; Morton Buhrmann, the Commercial Superintendent; Laviola, the Fiscal Secretary; a dozen or so other officers and civil administrators. There was a hubbub of greetings, and he was pleased to detect as much real warmth from the civil administration crowd as from the officers. + 

тАЬWell, IтАЩm glad to be back with you,тАЭ he replied, generally. тАЬAnd let me present Colonel Paula Quinton, my new adjutant; Hid OтАЩLearyтАЩs on duty in the north.тБатАКтБатАж Them, this was a perfectly splendid piece of work here; you can take this not only as a personal congratulation, but as a sort of unit citation for the whole crowd. YouтАЩve all behaved simply above praise.тАЭ He turned to King Kankad, who was wearing a pair of automatics in shoulder-holsters for his upper hands and another pair in cross-body belt holsters for his lower. тАЬAnd what IтАЩve said for anybody else goes double for you, Kankad,тАЭ he added, clapping the Kragan on the shoulder. + 

тАЬAll he did was save the lot of us!тАЭ MтАЩzangwe said. тАЬWe were hanging on by our fingernails here till his people started coming in. And then, after you sent the Aldebaran.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬWhere is the Aldebaran, by the way? I didnтАЩt see her when I came in.тАЭ + 

тАЬBased on KankadтАЩs, flying bombardment against Keegark, and keeping an eye out for those ships. Prinsloo caught the De Wett in the docks there and smashed her, but the Jan Smuts got away, and we havenтАЩt been able to locate the Oom Paul Kruger, either. TheyтАЩre probably both on the Eastern Shore, gathering up reinforcements for Orgzild,тАЭ MтАЩzangwe said. + 

тАЬOur ability to move troops rapidly is whatтАЩs kept us on top this long, and OrgzildтАЩs had plenty of time to realize it,тАЭ von Schlichten said. тАЬWhen we get Procyon down here, IтАЩm going to send her out, with a screen of light scout-vehicles, to find those ships and get rid of them.тБатАКтБатАж HowтАЩs Hid been making out, at Grank, by the way? I didnтАЩt have my car-radio on, coming down.тАЭ + 

That touched off another hubbub: тАЬHavenтАЩt you heard, general?тАЭтБатАКтБатАж тАЬOh, my God, this is simply out of this continuum!тАЭтБатАКтБатАж тАЬWell, tell him, somebody!тАЭтБатАКтБатАж тАЬNo, get Hid on the screen; itтАЩs his story!тАЭ + 

Somebody busied himself at the switchboard. The rest of them sat down at the long conference-table. Laviola and Meyerstein and Buhrmann were especially obsequious in seating von Schlichten in Sid HarringtonтАЩs old chair, and in getting a chair for Paula Quinton. After a while, the jumbled colors on the big screen resolved themselves into an image of Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary, grinning like a pussycat beside an empty goldfish-bowl. + 

тАЬWell, what happened?тАЭ von Schlichten asked, after they had exchanged greetings. тАЬHow did Yoorkerk like the movies? And did you get the Procyon and the Northern Lights loose?тАЭ + 

тАЬYoorkerk was deeply impressed,тАЭ OтАЩLeary replied. тАЬHis story is that he is and always was the true and ever-loving friend of the Company; he acted to prevent quote certain disloyal elements unquote from harming the people and property of the Company. ProcyonтАЩs on the way to Konkrook. IтАЩm holding Northern Lights here and Northern Star at Skilk; where do you want them sent?тАЭ + 

тАЬLeave Northern Star at Skilk, for the time being. Tell the CompanyтАЩs great and good friend King Yoorkerk that the Company expects him to contribute some soldiers for the campaign here and against Keegark, when that starts; be sure you get the best-armed and best-trained regiments he has, and get them down here as soon as possible. DonтАЩt send any of your Kragans or KaramessinisтАЩ troops here, though; hold them in Grank till we make sure of the quality of YoorkerkтАЩs friendship.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, general, I think we can be pretty sure, now. You see, he turned Rakkeed the Prophet over to me.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬWhat?тАЭ Von Schlichten felt his monocle starting to slip and took a firmer grip on it. тАЬWho?тАЭ + 

тАЬPay me, Them; he didnтАЩt drop it,тАЭ Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary said. тАЬWhy, Rakkeed the Prophet. Yoorkerk was holding our ships and our people in case we lost; he was also holding Rakkeed at the Palace in case we won. Of course, Rakkeed thought he was an honored guest, right up till YoorkerkтАЩs guards dragged him in and turned him over to us.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬThat geek,тАЭ von Schlichten said, тАЬis too smart for his own good. Some of these days heтАЩs going to play both ends against the middle and both endsтАЩll fold in on him and smash him.тАЭ A suspicion occurred to him. тАЬYou sure this is Rakkeed? It would be just like Yoorkerk to try to sell us a ringer.тАЭ + 

OтАЩLeary shook his head solemnly. тАЬI thought of that, right away. This is the real article; KaramessinisтАЩ Constabulary and Intelligence officers certified him for me. What do you want me to do, send him down to Konkrook?тАЭ + 

Von Schlichten shook his head. тАЬGet the priests of the locally venerated gods to put him on trial for blasphemy, heresy, impersonating a prophet, practicing witchcraft without a license, or any other ecclesiastical crimes you or they can think of. Then, after heтАЩs been given a scrupulously fair trial, have the soldiers of King Yoorkerk behead him, and stick his head up over a big sign, in all native languages, тАШRakkeed the False Prophet.тАЩ And have audiovisuals made of the whole business, trial and execution, and be sure that the priests and YoorkerkтАЩs officers are in the foreground and our people stay out of the pictures.тАЭ + 

тАЬSoap and towels, for General Pontius von Pilate!тАЭ Paula Quinton called out. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs an idea; I was wondering what to give Yoorkerk as a testimonial present,тАЭ Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary said. тАЬA nice thirty-piece silver set!тАЭ + 

тАЬQuite appropriate,тАЭ von Schlichten approved. тАЬWell, you did a first-class job. I want you back with us as soon as possibleтБатАФincidentally, youтАЩre now a brigadier-generalтБатАФbut not till the situation at Grank-Krink-Skilk is stabilized. And, eventually, youтАЩll probably have to set up permanent headquarters in the north.тАЭ + 

After Hideyoshi OтАЩLeary had thanked him and signed off, and the screen was dark again, he turned to the others. + 

тАЬWell, gentlemen, I donтАЩt think we need worry too much about the north, for the next few days. How long do you estimate this operation against KonkrookтАЩs going to take, to complete pacification, Them?тАЭ + 

тАЬHow complete is complete pacification, general?тАЭ Themistocles MтАЩzangwe wanted to know. тАЬIf you mean to the end of organized resistance by larger than squad-size groups, IтАЩd say three days, give or take twelve hours. Of course, thereтАЩll be small groups holding out for a couple of weeks, particularly in the farming country and back in the forest.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬWe can forget them; thatтАЩs minor-tactics stuff. WeтАЩll need to keep some kind of an occupation force here for some time; they can deal with that. WeтАЩll have to get to work on Keegark, as soon as possible; after weтАЩve reduced Keegark, weтАЩll be able to reorganize for a campaign against the Free Cities on the Eastern Shore.тАЭ + 

тАЬBegging your pardon, general, but reduce is a mild word for what we ought to do to Keegark,тАЭ Hans Meyerstein said. тАЬWe ought to raze that city as flat as a football field, and then play football on it with King OrgzildтАЩs head.тАЭ + 

тАЬAny special reason?тАЭ von Schlichten asked. тАЬIn addition to the Blount-Lemoyne massacre, that is?тАЭ + 

тАЬI should say so, general!тАЭ Themistocles MтАЩzangwe backed Meyerstein up. тАЬBob, you tell him.тАЭ + 

Colonel Robert Grinell, the Intelligence officer, got up and took the cigar out of his mouth. He was short and round-bodied and bald-headed, but he was old Terran Federation Regular Army. + 

тАЬWell, general, weтАЩve been finding out quite a bit about the genesis of this business, lately,тАЭ he said. тАЬFrom up north, it probably looked like an all-Rakkeed show; thatтАЩs how it was supposed to look. But the whole thing was hatched at Keegark, by King Orgzild. WeтАЩve managed to capture a few prominent KonkrookansтАЭтБатАФhe named half a dozenтБатАФтАЬwhoтАЩve been made to talk, and a number of others have come in voluntarily and furnished information. Orgzild conceived the scheme in the beginning; Rakkeed was just the messenger-boy. My face gets the color of the Company trademark every time I think that the whole thing was planned for over a year, right under our noses, even to the signal that was to touch the whole thing off.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬThe poisoning of Sid Harrington, and our announcement of his death?тАЭ von Schlichten asked. + 

тАЬYou figured that out yourself, sir? Well, that was it.тАЭ Grinell went on to elaborate, while von Schlichten tried to keep the impatience out of his face. Beside him, Paula Quinton was fidgeting, too; she was thinking, as he was, of what King Orgzild and Prince Gorkrink were doing now. тАЬAnd I know positively that the order for the poisoning of Sid Harrington came from the Keegarkan Embassy here, and was passed down through Gurgurk and Keeluk to this geek here who actually put the poison in the whiskey.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes. I agree that Keegark should be wiped out, and IтАЩd like to have an immediate estimate on the time itтАЩll take to build a nuclear bomb to do the job. One of the old-fashioned plutonium fission A-bombs will do quite well.тАЭ + 

Everybody turned quickly. There was a momentary silence, and then Colonel Evan Colbert, of the Fourth Kragan Rifles, the senior officer under Themistocles MтАЩzangwe, found his voice. + 

тАЬIf thatтАЩs an order, general, weтАЩll get it done. But IтАЩd like to remind you, first, of the Company policy on nuclear weapons on this planet.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm aware of that policy. IтАЩm also aware of the reason for it. WeтАЩve been compelled, because of the lack of natural fuel on Uller, to set up nuclear power reactors and furnish large quantities of plutonium to the geeks to fuel them. The Company doesnтАЩt want the natives here learning of the possibility of using nuclear energy for destructive purposes. Well, gentlemen, thatтАЩs a dead issue. TheyтАЩve learned it, thanks to our people on Niflheim, and unless my estimate is entirely wrong, King Orgzild already has at least one First-Century Nagasaki-type plutonium bomb. I am inclined to believe that he had at least one such bomb, probably more, at the time when orders were sent to his embassy here, for the poisoning of Governor-General Harrington.тАЭ + 

With that, he selected a cigarette from his case, offered it to Paula, and snapped his lighter. She had hers lit, and he was puffing on his own, when the others finally realized what he had told them. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs impossible!тАЭ somebody down the table shouted, as though that would make it so. AnotherтБатАФone of the civil administration crowdтБатАФalmost exactly repeated Jules KeaveneyтАЩs words at Skilk: тАЬWhat the hell was Intelligence doing, sleeping?тАЭ + 

тАЬGeneral von Schlichten,тАЭ Colonel Grinell took oblique cognizance of the question, тАЬyouтАЩve just made, by implication, a most grave charge against my department. If youтАЩre not mistaken in what youтАЩve just said, I deserve to be court-martialed.тАЭ + 

тАЬI couldnтАЩt bring charges against you, colonel; if it were a court-martial matter, IтАЩd belong in the dock with you,тАЭ von Schlichten told him. тАЬIt seems, though, that a piece of vital information was possessed by those who were unable to evaluate it, and until this afternoon, I was ignorant of its existence. Colonel Quinton, suppose you repeat what you told me, on the way down from Skilk.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, general, donтАЩt you think we ought to have Dr.┬аGomes do that?тАЭ Paula asked. тАЬAfter all, he constructed those bombs on Niflheim, and itтАЩll be he whoтАЩll have to build ours.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs right.тАЭ He looked around. тАЬWhereтАЩs Dr.┬аLouren├зo Gomes, the nuclear engineer who came in on the Pretoria, two weeks ago? Send out for him, and get him in here at once.тАЭ + 

There was another awkward silence. Then Kent Pickering, the chief of the Gongonk Island power-plant, cleared his throat. + 

тАЬWhy, general, didnтАЩt you know? Dr.┬аGomes is dead. He was killed during the first half hour of the uprising.тАЭ + 