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Title: Crisis!
Author: Cecil Corwin
Release date: March 16, 2024 [eBook #73178]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: Columbia Publications Inc, 1942
Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRISIS! ***
CRISIS!
By CECIL CORWIN
When the Diplomacy Bureau at home is composed
of hopeless incompetents, the Venusians are
rattling the sabre, and it looks as if an utterly
senseless war is going to result, a little
screwball stuff can be forgiven--if it works!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Science Fiction Quarterly Spring 1942.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
If the Karfiness hadn't cut herself badly while she was trimming her
chelae one morning the whole mess might never have happened. But
fashion decreed that the ropy circle of tentacles about the neck of
the female Martian would be worn short that year, and everybody in the
Matriarchy, from Girl Guide to the Serene Karfiness herself, obeyed
without question.
That was why her temper was short that morning, and why she snapped at
the Venusian Plenipotentiary who had come to chat with her concerning
the space-mining rights for the following year. The worthy lady
glowered at the gentleman from Venus and whistled: "By the Almighty, if
you fish-faced baboons so much as try to lay a flipper on a single free
electron between here and Venus I'll blow your water-logged planet out
of space!" And, unfortunately for the Venusians, she had the navy to do
it with.
The principles of compensation operated almost immediately; the
Plenipotentiary ethered back to Venus, and Venus severed diplomatic
relations with Earth. Should you fail to grasp the train of events,
stop worrying. Those are the facts; the Karfiness cut herself and Venus
made warlike noises at Earth.
Earth was in a very peculiar situation. Only a century ago it
had begun really intensive spacing, with freight-exchanges and
mining. Venus and Mars and, in a smaller way, the Jovians, had been
a space-culture for millennia. Earth did not have the elaborate
machineries of Foreign Offices and Consulates, Embassies and Delegates
and Envoys that the other planets maintained. Terra had gone into the
complicated mess of astropolitics with her eyes serenely closed and the
naive conviction that right would prevail.
* * * * *
To the cloistered Bureau of Protocol in Alaska came a message under
diplomatic seal from the Ambassador to Venus, right into the office of
Code Clerk Weems.
Carefully he scanned the tape and lead that closed the pouch. "At
it again," he said finally. "I sometimes wonder if the whole thing
wouldn't go smash if we read our own mail before every other Great
Power in space."
Dr. Helen Carewe, his highly privileged assistant, opened the pouch
with a paper knife and a shrug. "Take it easy, career man," she
advised. "Your daddy had the same trouble before they promoted him
to Washington State. We get all the dirty work here in Nome--have to
explain how and when and why the inviolable mail-sacks arrive opened
and read." She scanned the messages heavily typed on official paper.
"What," she asked, "does 'Aristotle' mean?"
"Inexcusable outrages on the dignity of a representative of Terra,"
said Weems after consulting the code book. "Sounds bad."
"It is. Oh, but it _is_! They took Ambassador Malcolm and painted him
bright blue, then drove him naked through the streets of Venusport."
"Whew!" whistled Weems. "That's an 'Aristotle' if I ever heard one!
What do we do now?" He was already reaching for the phone.
"Cut that out!" snapped Dr. Carewe. She could speak to him like
that--or even more firmly--because she was more than old enough to be
his mother. The number of career men she had coached through the Alaska
Receiving Station would fill half the consulates in space--and with
damned good men. Brow wrinkled, she brooded aloud, "While this isn't
definitely spy stuff we ought to know whether they have a line on our
phones. Don't get Washington; try Intelligence in Wyoming."
* * * * *
Meekly Weems rang the Central Intelligence Division. After a hasty
conversation he turned to Dr. Carewe: "They say that we're being
tapped--probably by Martians. What do I do?"
"Thank the man nicely and hang up." Weems obliged.
"Now," said Dr. Carewe, "the sooner Washington hears of this, the
better. And if the Martians hear of this later, _much_ better. What
we have to avoid is the Martians being able to let the Venusians know
with any degree of credibility that Earth is very, very angry about the
Aristotle. Because that will get Venus very angry and virtuous. Which
will get Earth very dignified and offensive; snotty, I might even say."
"I notice," commented Weems, "that Mars is practically out of the
picture. Except as a silent purveyor of fighting ships to both sides,
is it?"
"It is. You learn quickly and cleanly. We'll have to go to Washington
ourselves with the pouch."
"And report," said Weems, "to--oh, my God!--Osgood!"
"Exactly," said she. "Oh,-my-God Osgood."
And there was good and sufficient reason for the alarm in her voice.
* * * * *
In the chaste marble structure that housed the diminutive Foreign
Office that Terra thought it sufficient to maintain there were to be
found persons who would be kicked out of any other department of the
government in two seconds flat. But because astropolitics was something
new to Earth and because there had to be some place made for the
half-witted offspring of the great legislative families this chaste
marble structure housed a gallery of sub-normals that made Bellevue
look like the Princeton Institute for Advanced Research on a sunny day.
Or so the junior members thought. Not the least of these half-witted
great ones was Jowett Osgood, the direct superior of Weems, to whom he
would naturally report.
Weems and Carewe were announced with a strange pomp and circumstance;
they entered the big office to find Osgood rudely buried in what was
supposed to look like work. Weems stood dumbly as Dr. Carewe coughed
sharply.
"Ah!" grunted Osgood, looking up. "What is it?" He was a gross man.
"A pouch from Venus. We decoded it and we think it deserves your
immediate attention. We didn't phone the contents because of tappers on
the wires." Weems handed over the decodings, marked very prominently in
red: CONFIDENTIAL--MAKE NO COPIES.
Osgood scanned them and heaved himself to his feet. "Gad!" he
grunted. "We must brook no delay--arm to the teeth!" He turned on
his dictaphone. "Henry!" he snorted. "Listen to this! To Bureau of
Protocol--" Dr. Carewe snapped off the dictaphone and shoved him back
into his well-padded chair.
"This," she said between her teeth, "is entirely up to you. Take it
from us, immediate action is demanded to smooth over this incident.
You won't be able to pass the buck onto some other department; this
is right in your lap. And you won't be able to delay the affair until
you've forgotten it; even you can see that. Now _what are you going to
do_?"
Osgood considered the matter with great dignity for two full minutes.
Finally he announced: "I don't know."
"My suggestion is that you appoint Mr. Weems here a sort of goodwill
ambassador for special, but very vague, work. And give him an unlimited
expense account. This thing mustn't get any further. Keep it between
us three that the message arrived officially on Earth. The fiction
will be that it was lost in space and that nobody has received
official confirmation of the Aristotle. Any unofficial reports will be
considered as sensational tales concocted by newscasters. That's the
only way to keep Earth off the spot. And what a spot it is!"
"I see," said Osgood. "Be advised that I shall follow your
suggestions--as closely as is compatible with the dignity of this
Office."
Outside she informed Weems: "That last was face-saving and nothing
else. From here we go to Venus--spreading sweetness and light. Always
remember, young man, that our interceptor rockets are pretty good, but
that the Venus bombers are pretty _damned_ good."
"War," mused Weems. "Nobody wins, really--it wouldn't be nice to see
New York blown to pieces, even though we could do exactly the same to
Venusport. Sweetness and light it is."
* * * * *
Venus politics are no joke. The fish-faced little people have at
least two parties per acre and the dizziest system of alliances and
super-alliances that ever bewildered a struggling young diplomat.
Typically there were absolutely no points of agreement among any of
the parties as to foreign policy, and yet the Venusian Embassies spoke
with authority that was backed up by a united planet. Their military
forces were likewise held in common by all the countries, but there
were "state militias" engaged in intramural activities and constant
border-fighting.
Weems knew the language, and that was one very great advantage; also
he spent the long rocket trip to the foggy planet in learning what he
could of the political set-up. He arrived with a fanfare of trumpets;
at the pier he was greeted by a score of minor officials. It was a
deliberate insult from the Venusian army, for not a single high-ranking
officer was present. He glossed it over for the sake of a splendid
ovation from the populace of Venusport, who were thoroughly hopped up
with esteem for him. He was the shining young man who would assure
peace and prosperity for the two inner planets, and the populace was
all for him.
But, he knew very well, if one nasty word came from Earth, officially
recognizing the Aristotle, their mood would change suddenly and
savagely. And that was what he had to be ready for. He didn't trust the
fat-headed Osgood.
From city to city he made a grand tour, speaking with very little
accent before huge audiences of the little people and meeting few
really high-up officials. Everywhere he went he met with disapproval
from the public officers.
"How," he complained to Dr. Carewe, "they get together on a complicated
issue like disliking me, I don't understand."
With a grim look about the hotel room she explained: "It's the army.
They must be partly in the pay of Mars. You're the finest thing that's
happened in the way of friendly relations between Earth and Venus. If
you take root long enough to get your message over they won't be able
to pounce on Earth, to the benefit of nobody except the red planet. So
they're trying to cool things off." Again the nervous glance around the
room.
"What's that for?"
"Dictaphones. But I don't think there are any. So at the risk of
getting mushy I'm going to tell you just what I think of your job.
I think you're working like a madman, with some of the finest,
single-hearted devotion to the cause of peace that I've ever seen.
If you keep this up and handle the rest of your life the way you're
handling this part you won't be immortal--not the way Osgood is going
to be--with a bust in the rotunda of the Capitol and a chapter in the
history books.
"No, you're going to be something different. There are going to be
Venusians--and Martians and Earthmen--who'll talk about you many, many
years from now. About how their fathers and grandfathers stood in the
rain to hear you talk." She looked over her spectacles. "Which reminds
me--get out on that balcony and don't make any slips."
He pressed the very old, very great lady's hand silently, then, mopping
his brow, stepped out to the ledge beyond his window. It was in the
twilight zone of perpetual rain, and the crowd of white pates and faces
before him was hardly visible through the wisps of steam. He looked
about uneasily as he turned on the fog-piercing lights that flooded him
with a golden glow, so that the Venusians could see their superman. As
he began to speak into the mike at his lips there was a hoot of reproof
from the crowd. And then there were others. Something was going the
rounds; he could feel it.
Very distinctly there was a shrill cry from the sea of faces: "_Liar!_"
And others echoed it, again and again. He tried to speak, but was
howled down. A firm hand snapped off the lights and closed the window;
Dr. Carewe dropped him into a chair, limp and shocked. She handed him a
slip of paper that had just been delivered.
With her lips tightly compressed she said: "They knew before we did.
Osgood spilled it--all."
* * * * *
They shot to Mars before assassins could take any tries at them. Weems
was completely washed up and discredited on Venus; knew it and felt
like it. What had his fine words been in the face of a stern, righteous
declaration from the Foreign Office on Earth to the Foreign Office on
Venus--gleefully published far and wide by the Mars-bribed officers
in the latter--hurling the most frightful accusations of violating
diplomatic immunity?
God only knew, brooded Weems, why Osgood had chosen precisely that
moment to sound off. He had said fighting words, too--"back up our
determination to shield the weak with deeds as well as--" Ugh! What was
the matter with Osgood? The Martians couldn't touch Earth's Foreign
Office; they bred them dumb but honest there. Why had Osgood--? Did
he want to be an Iron Man? Did he think he could get further faster
in time of war? Or did he actually, honestly believe that by this
half-witted note insulting a friendly planet on account of a mere
violation of etiquette he was striking a blow for justice and equality?
It probably was just that, Weems decided. And Dr. Carewe agreed.
When they landed on the red planet Weems felt very low, and was
scarcely given a new lease on life by the warm reception he received
from Martian notables. He was welcomed Earth fashion, with a band and
speeches from a platform to twenty thousand cheering Martians. They
could afford to treat him kindly; he'd failed utterly and miserably
from blocking a new, magnificent source of income to Mars--the
on-rushing Earth-Venus war.
Mars wouldn't get into it. Oh, no! Mars didn't need colonies or
prestige. When you have a navy like the Martian Matriarchal Fleet
you don't need colonies or prestige. You just sit tight and sell the
scrappers your second-rate equipment at premium prices.
At his first official reception he stood nervously among the ladies of
the court. He had just received news from the Earth diplomatic colony
that Venus had replied to Earth with a note just as stiff, charging
that Earth was impeaching the authority of the Venusian Foreign Office
with respect to its planetary jurisdiction. In plain language that
meant: "Our army is bigger and better than yours. Knock this chip
off--if you dare!"
One of the elegant ladies of the Matriarchal court sidled up to him.
"We were presented to each other when you landed," she said in French.
"Of course," he said delightedly. "I remember you perfectly!" But all
Martians still looked alike to him.
"I was wondering, Mr. Weems, whether you would care to attend a party
I'm giving tomorrow evening. I feel there would be features extremely
entertaining to you."
"Delighted, Madame!" He beckoned over Dr. Carewe.
"Your social secretary?" asked the Martian lady. "I'll give her the
details."
Then the Karfiness entered regally and all the ladies of the court
twiddled their curtailed chelae with deep veneration as she folded up
in a basket-like affair.
"Mr. Weems," she said graciously. He advanced and bowed, Earth fashion,
for all of his encumbering furs. "Mr. Weems, we are delighted to see
you here. Such a refreshing change from those slimy little Venusians!"
Her English was perfect, though lispy.
"And I, Madame, am delighted to attend. If there is any message I can
take back to Earth from you--any word of friendship, you have only to
say it."
She regarded him amiably. "The people of Earth know well that the
people of Mars are wholly committed to a policy of amicable industrial
cooperation. Nothing will please me more than to reassure my friends of
the third planet that there is no end of this policy in sight."
What did that mean? wondered Weems. Was she playing with him?
"I trust," he said, "that you are wholeheartedly working in the
interests of peace among the planets?"
"So I have said," she replied simply. "So I shall always say."
Incredible! Did she take him for an imbecile? Or--or--?
"Thank you for this kind assurance," he said, bowing again and retiring.
When he had cornered Dr. Carewe he said agitatedly: "I don't get it at
all. I simply don't understand. Is she lying into my teeth? The least
she could have done would have been to turn aside the questions. I
never dreamed I'd get an answer at a time like this!"
"Neither did I," she said slowly. "Something is rotten in the
Matriarchy, and it isn't the customary scent of senile decay peculiar
to dictatorships. The biology of the Martians demands a dictatorship,
what with their weird reproductive methods. Unless there were a strong
and centralized authority they'd slump back into barbarism after a few
thousand years of unrestricted matings. Here's one dictator who's
loved by the dictatees."
She was silent a moment, then said: "To change the subject, I have
the place and time for tomorrow's party. The lady is--I knew you
couldn't tell one from another--director of a munitions and fabrication
syndicate."
"Thanks," he said vaguely, taking the memo. "That's the perfect spot of
irony to top off the evening--in fact this whole damned mission that
failed."
* * * * *
He went to the party with Dr. Carewe, both thoroughly wrapped up in fur
and wool against the Martian ten-below temperature. And they carried
thermos flasks full of hot coffee for an occasional warming nip in a
dark corner. Anything but that would be unmannerly.
His hostess presented Weems to her husband-brother-nephew, an example
of the ungodly family relationships into which their anatomy naturally
led. The creature was very much smaller than the female, and spoke only
Martian, which the Earthman could not handle except sparingly. He got
the idea that they were talking about auriferous sand, but how they got
onto the subject he did not understand. He excused himself as quickly
as he could and retreated for some of the steaming coffee.
"Earthman, of course!" said a hearty voice.
He turned to see a curious, stubby person, quite human in his
appearance, but with a somehow distorted look--as though he had
been squeezed in a hydraulic press. And the person wore elaborately
ornamental trappings of a blackish-silver metal.
"You must be a Jovian," he said, corking the thermos. "I've never seen
one of your people before. You're more--ah--human than these others."
"So they say. And you're the first Earthman I've ever seen. You're
very--ah--_long_." They both laughed; then the Jovian introduced
himself as a pilot on the regular Io-Mars freighters. He waved off
Weems' introduction. "Don't bother, Weems," he said. "I know of you."
"Indeed?" There was a pause. With the diplomatic instinct to avoid
embarrassment whenever possible, the Earthman asked: "Why don't your
people appear more often on Earth? You could chuck some of that osmium
you have to wear here on Mars."
"This?" The Jovian gestured at his trappings. "A mere drop in the
bucket. I have a hundredweight in each shoe. But the reason is that
Earth is relatively undeveloped in its space-culture--though, of
course, much better developed than Jupiter. There are so few of us ...
fifty millions on the whole planet." He shrugged whimsically. "We're
growing, of course. There was a polygamy decree a few years ago--did
you hear of it?"
"No--I'm sorry to say I know nothing at all about your planet. I'm in
the diplomatic service. Studying Venus, mostly."
"So? Perhaps you are the wrong man to come to, then. We know nothing
about these matters. Is there a person more appropriate to whom I ought
to broach the idea of a rapprochement between our two worlds?"
* * * * *
Weems was rocked back on his heels. Unheard of! Diplomacy as casual
as this was tantamount to an interplanetary incident. The Jovian
continued casually as before: "You see, we've no navy and don't need
space-rights. It's strictly commercial, so we haven't got any Foreign
Office. We hardly trade at all with Venus and Earth, and our Mars
relations are settled by treaty once every four of the Mars years."
"Excuse me," said Weems abruptly. He had just caught a high-sign from
Dr. Carewe, who was holding a flimsy like a dead rat. He sidled over to
her inconspicuously.
"Well--what turned up?"
"The chip," she said breathlessly, "has been knocked off. I just got
this from our Embassy--messenger. It's a copy of the note the Earth
F. O. just sent to Venus. The Earth F. O. assures Venus that not only
does Earth impeach the Venus F. O. but that she is prepared to put its
jurisdiction to trial." She handed him the flimsy.
He scanned it almost unbelievingly. "The so-and-so's," he commented
inaudibly. "That about fixes our little red wagon, doc. Though we have
an ally. Jupiter wants its place in the sun."
As the woman stared with amazement he introduced the Jovian to her and
explained the situation. The squat man listened with increasing anxiety
as he dilated on the relations that would exist between the two worlds.
"Will we really," he asked at length, "need all those men--actually
twenty-five on our end!--to handle a little thing like a military
alliance?"
"Lord, yes!" breathed Weems. "Code clerks, secretaries,
sub-secretaries, second-sub-secretaries--lots more."
"May I ask," said the woman, "why this sudden interest in protocol and
procedure has come up on Jupiter?"
The Jovian looked a little embarrassed. "It's a matter of pride," he
explained. "The three other planets have their own secret codes and
messages. We're the only planet that hasn't got sealed diplomatic
pouches absolutely inviolable in any jurisdiction! And so our Executive
Committee decided that if it's good enough for them it's good enough
for us."
"I see," said Weems thoughtfully. "But how is it that you, the A pilot
on a freighter, are their Plenipotentiary without even identification?"
"As a matter of fact," confessed the Jovian with some hesitation, "I
was given a note, but it seems to be lost. Do things like that really
matter?"
"They do," said Weems solemnly. "But you were saying--?"
"Yes. They chose a freight pilot to avoid taking a man off real work.
It's our principle of the Economization of Kinesis. Without its
operation we'd have all sorts of superfluous men who did only half a
man's work. And do not forget that to a people of only fifty millions
that is no small matter. We need every man all the time."
"As to the treaty necessary," said the woman, "would you prefer it to
be secret or published?"
"Secret," promptly replied the Jovian. "It'll be more fun that way."
Up dashed a very young sub-attache from the Earth Embassy. "Excuse me,"
he shrilled, his voice breaking. "But you have to come at once. It's
important as--as the very devil, sir, if you will excuse--" He found
himself addressing empty air and an amused Jovian. The two Earthpeople
had flown to their sand car. They had been waiting for the summons.
* * * * *
The Ambassador was waiting for them, grim and white. He was no fool,
this Ambassador; his punishment for that was the dusty job on Mars
instead of an office on Terra. He had just removed the ear-phone
clamps, they saw; the diplomatic receiver set was on his desk.
Without waiting for a question from them he said: "The good word
is--_ultimatum_."
"God!" said Dr. Carewe, her old face quite white.
"When?" snapped Weems, taking out pencil and paper.
"Note delivered to Venus F. O.--that's the note from Earth--and ten
minutes or so later lynching of Venusians on the staff of the Earth
Embassy by an outraged populace. Foolish defense by Earthmen attached
to the Embassy. Several of them killed. Stronger note from Earth. Why
didn't Venus F. O. notify immediately and offer indemnities? _Very_
strong reply from Venus F. O.--chip on the shoulder. Earth knocks off
chip. That's the last you saw at your party. Then ultimatum from Venus
giving Earth twelve _dicenes_ to apologize profoundly and offer an
indemnity in good faith."
"And when is the time up?"
"The twelve _dicenes_ will come to an end--" the Ambassador consulted
his watch "--about forty-eight hours from now."
There was a long pause, broken at last by a muffled groan from the
Ambassador. "Damn it--oh, damn it!" he wailed. "Why do the idiots have
to fight? There's trade enough for everybody, isn't there?"
"And, of course," said Weems, "Earth will never back down. Not in a
million years. They're built like that. And if they did back down Venus
would be sure of herself and force a war."
"Well," said the woman quietly. "Are you just going to _sit_ here?"
"Suggestions are in order," said the young man unhappily.
"You'll have to work like hell to stave this off," warned the woman.
"Ready and willing, doctor. Tell me what to do."
* * * * *
Considering that the art of diplomacy is, ultimately reduced, the
system found most practical in actual use when stalling for time to
rush ahead with military expansion, it is not very remarkable that
the two roving delegates did what they did with such neatness. The
machinery was there for them to use.
Use it they did, to the fullest extent. They shot ethers through
to most of the crowned heads of the inner planet; radioed Earth
confidentially meanwhile to stand by for the answers from Venus;
contacted the Martian Protocol Division regarding an alliance for trade
purposes alone.
They were so thoroughly efficient in their functioning that after ten
hours of this the bureau chiefs back on earth fell to their knees and
prayed for a let-up of this lunatic barrage of red-tape that came,
unasked and unanswerable, from a minor Embassy on Mars.
Venus was bally well baffled. At first they made some pretense of
replying stiffly to the muted threats from the Embassy on Mars, then
gave up and hung onto the ropes, trying to decode the weird messages.
It _must_ be code, they decided. How could a message like: "Advise your
F. O. investigate frog-ponds for specious abnormalities" be anything
but an uncrackable cipher? They set their experts to work. The experts
decided that the message meant: "All Earthmen on Venus are advised to
sabotage production machinery and destroy records." But they were wrong
as they could be, for the message meant just what it said. Its value
was on its face.
The consulate and the staff were drafted by the Embassy to aid in
the good work of confusion; the Ambassador himself sat for ten hours
writing out messages to be sent officially which bore absolutely no
relation to each other or the world at large. And if you think that
sounds easy--try it!
Meanwhile the inseparables, Mr. Weems and Dr. Carewe, had been
separated. The woman was gathering data from the Martian libraries and
Weems was paying social calls at the Palace, interviewing secretaries
without number. Meanwhile, authentic, distressing news-releases
kept rushing to him, causing him great pain. First thing after the
ultimatum he heard was that Earth had called in all spacers except
those related to navigation--fueling stations, etc. Venus retaliated in
like, and furthermore towed out the gigantic battle-islands, used to
fuel fighting ships. Earth retaliated in like, and furthermore began
skirmishing war games around mid-way between Terra and Luna.
By the time the ten hours of lunatic messages were elapsed the two
great fleets of Earth and Venus were face to face mid-way between the
planets, waiting for orders from the home-planets to fire when ready.
"For the love of Heaven," he pleaded with a secretary to the Karfiness,
"they won't even wait for the ultimatum to elapse. There's going
to be a space-war in two hours if I don't get to see her Serene
Tentaculosity!" The title he bestowed on her was sheer whimsy; he
wasn't half as upset as he was supposed to be. It was all for effect.
He rushed away, distrait by the information that he couldn't possibly
see the Karfiness and aware that the munitions interests of Mars would
by now be rubbing their chelae with glee.
He reached a phone and rang up the Ambassador. "Okay," he informed
him. "Stop short!" The Ambassador, badly overworked and upset, stopped
short with the messages. Venus and Earth were baffled again, this
time because there was nothing to be baffled by. The strange silence
that had fallen on the F. O.'s was alarming in its implications. The
diplomatic mind had already adjusted itself to the abnormal condition;
restoration of normality created almost unbearable strain. Messages
rushed to the Embassy; the Ambassador left them severely alone and
went to bed. From that moment anybody who touched a transmitter would
be held for treason, he informed his staff. It was as though the Mars
Embassy had been blown out of the ground.
"They are now," brooded Weems, "ready for anything. Let us hope that
Venus hasn't lost her common sense along with her temper."
With that he set himself to the hardest job of all--waiting. He got a
couple of hours of sleep, on the edge of a volcano, not knowing whether
the lined-up Venus fleet would fire on the opposite Earth fleet before
he woke. If he did it would be all over before he really got started.
* * * * *
Even Weems hadn't imagined how well his plan was taking root. Back on
Earth the whole F. O. had gone yellow, trembling at the gills lest they
should actually have to fight. And it was perfectly obvious that they
would, for when planetary integrity directs no mere individual might
stand in the way.
There was a great dearth of news; there had been for the past few hours
of the crisis. Since that God-awful business from the Mars Embassy
stopped and the entire staff there had--presumably--been shot in the
backs while hard at work fabricating incredible dispatches there was a
mighty and sullen silence over the air, ether and sub-etheric channels
of communication.
On Venus things were pretty bad too. A lot of Earthmen had been
interned and the whole planet was sitting on edge waiting for something
to happen. It did happen, with superb precision after exactly seven
hours of silence and inactivity.
There was a frantic call from--Jupiter! _Jupiter claimed that the whole
business was a feint and that the major part of the Earth fleet was
even now descending on the Jovians to pillage and slay._
The official broadcast--_not_ a beam-dispatch--from Jupiter stated
this. Earth promptly denied everything, in a stiff-necked communique.
Venus grinned out of the corner of its mouth. In an answering
communique she stated that since Venus was invariably to be found on
the side of the underdog the Venus Grand Fleet would depart immediately
for Jupiter to engage the enemy of her good friends, the Jovians.
Earth, to demonstrate her good faith, withdrew her own fleet from
anywhere near the neighborhood of Jupiter, going clear around to the
other side of the Sun for maneuvers.
Lovers of peace drew great, relieved sighs. The face-to-face had been
broken up. The ultimatum had been forgotten in Earth's righteous stand
that she had _not_ invaded Jupiter or intended to. This made Venus
look and feel silly. This made the crisis collapse as though it had
never been there at all.
And just after the Venus fleet had reported to its home F. O.--this was
three hours after the ultimatum had elapsed without being noticed by
anybody--there were several people in the Earth Embassy on Mars acting
hilariously. There was a Jovian who gurgled over and over:
"I didn't know it would be this much fun! We would have got into the
game years ago if we'd known."
"And I," said the Ambassador, "have the satisfaction of knowing that
I've given a pretty headache to the best code experts in the system.
And all by the simple expedient of sending a code message that means
just what it says."
"And I," said Weems, upending a glass, "have aided the cause of peace
between the planets. If I can get to the Karfiness and let her know
that she's being played for a sucker by the munitions people--"
"Let it come later," said Dr. Carewe. "I wish I could live another
eighty years to read in the history books. But it really doesn't
matter, because they'll say something like this:
"'Toward the end of this year there arose a crisis between Earth and
Venus, seemingly over matters of trade. It actually reached a point of
ultimatums and reprisals. Fortunately the brilliant, calm and efficient
work of the Hon. Secretary of Recession, Jowett Osgood, saved the day.
He contracted a defensive alliance with Jupiter, the combined might of
the Earth-Jovian fleet crushing any idea of victory that may have been
the goal of the Venusians.'"
Dr. Carewe laughed loud and raucously as she refilled her glass.
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