Both Zeke and Teucer gawked at him. Though both wore the evidently universal tunic which came down, kilt- like, to approximately the knees, in other respect they could hardly have been much different. Zeke was a dark man, gruff and unhappy. Teucer was overly thin, pale of face, quick in nervous movement. They wouldn’t have impressed one as being a team.
Guy waited for their comment.
Zeke came to his feet, his face unbelieving, crossed to a niche set into the stone wall and brought forth a flask and three glasses. He brought the things back and set them on the table. He poured three drinks.
“Wine,” he said. He took his up. “Who could it have been?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Guy said reasonably. “A footpad? A common stickup man? But the thing is, he tried to kill me, not just roll me for my money.”
Teucer was shaking his head. “I’ve read about how things are on Earth, but there’s not what you’d call stickup men here in Themiscyra. For all practical purposes, there’s no crime. It’s all one big crime, maybe, but —”
Zeke cut in. “The thing is,” he told Guy, “that there’s no money. Not like you know it. So it’s not much use being a footpad, or whatever it was you called him. All he could get from crisping you would be your watch, your ring. It’s not worth it.”
Guy didn’t like this. It added a factor that simply shouldn’t have been here. It worried him. He said, “How many knew I was coming?”
Zeke scowled at him. “How do you mean? Nobody knew you were coming. How could we know you were coming?” Sarpedon had no way of getting a message back to us.”
Guy said, “Look. Let’s start at beginnings. Tell me, briefly, your position. I say briefly, because, of course, I heard your Sarpedon’s story.” He took up his glass and took a swallow. The wine was excellent, clean and fruity and similar to a Soave from that area of Earth once known as Italy.
Zeke took a deep draught of his own winea wiped his mouth with the back of a beefy paw and said, “All right. Here we go. It’s got to the point on Amazonia where we can’t stand it any longer, understand? Men I mean. You get to the point finally where you can’t stand it any longer, right?”
Guy said, “Go on.”
“All right. A guy here, a guy there, began talking, began studying up on history, especially the history of revolts, revolutions, armed rebellions. The mopsies can’t hide it all. If they want to be educated themselves, they’ve got to run the chance of us getting educated too. It’s too hard to hide books and reading tapes. Anyway, it started with a single man here and there and began to grow. The message began to spread. Then, suddenly, almost overnight, we found ourselves with an organization, and underground, the Sons of Liberty. It’s spread. It’s spread all over, not only in Paphlagonia but Lybia. The men over there are as fed up as we are here.”
“And how’s the movement going?” Guy said carefully.
“It’s all set to blow. There’s only one thing. Precious few men ever get the chance to work out with weapons, guns, explosives, that sort of thing.”
Guy Thomas thought of Podner Bates and nodded understanding.
“The moment our underground stuck its head up, it’d be a bloodbath. Well, I guess that part of it’s already obvious to you. At any rate, we decided to send a representative to United Planets. It wasn’t easy. It’s practically impossible for a man to leave Amazonia.”
“So I understand,” Guy nodded, sipping at the wine again.
Teucer filled all three of the glasses again. He began to say something but Zeke held up a hand.
“Sarpedon was one of our best. He was, well, one of the top male athletes in Paphlagonia—they let us participate in some sports.” He grunted disgust. “At any rate, he was tops. He and Damon were kind of like brothers. I knew him myself. He was our best.” He paused momentarily and bit out, “The bitches, oh the bitches!”
“Go ahead,” Guy said.
“Well, the way we did it, we smuggled him out to the artificial satellite where the United Planets embassy is. We plotted it thoroughly, taking lots of time, and we finally made it. Hippolyte’s gang never found out.”
“You’re lucky,” Guy said evenly, “the embassy didn’t turn him back to the authorities.”
“Why should they? That satellite embassy is United Planets territory. He demanded political refuge.”
“It’s not ordinarily the sort of thing you can claim from UP,” Guy said. “Amazonia is a member planet herself. It’s not as though Sarpedon was claiming political refuge from Avalon or some other sovereign world. But go on.”
Zeke snorted. “Most of the personnel on that satellite are
Guy Thomas was shaking his head. “He didn’t make his destination. The United Planets Assembly, which, of course, is composed of delegates from every member planet, never heard his plaint.”
Teucer, indignant, shrilled, “How come?”
Guy looked at him. “Sarpedon appeared at the Octagon in Greater Washington. He was turned over to the Interplanetary Department of Justice which listened to his story and decided against letting him speak before the Assembly. He gave us your passwords, and where we could make contact with you. He turned over charts and city plans of Themiscyra. Of course, when I was given this assignment, I memorized them. We located him in an apartment, with the intention of keeping him in Greater Washington until we could look further into his complaint. Frankly, he was a hot potato. A few days later, he disappeared, leaving most of his effects, even personal ones, in the apartment. Needless to say, we suspected the worst. There is no possible way to exist on Earth as it is today, without such things as credit cards. Even the credit card we had issued him had been left behind.”
“What I don’t get,” Zeke said lowly, “is the Octagon and this Department of Interplanetary Justice getting in his way to speaking his piece in front of the Assembly. That would’ve given us a chance.”
Guy looked at him in silence for a long moment, his mouth pursed in perplexity, as though wondering how to phrase what he had next to say.
Finally, “Zeke, Teucer, don’t read more into the United Planets than is there. It’s a very loosely knit organization and practically powerless. It isn’t and was never meant to be a super-government. If it attempted to be, the member planets would drop away until for all practical purposes Earth would stand alone as a member.”
They were frowning unhappily at his words, unhappily and half unbelievingly.
He shook his head. “In actuality, most planets join the orgaization to be assured of
They were uncomprehending.
Guy sighed. “I thought every schoolkid learned them by heart. They go like this. Article One:
“You mean,” Teucer accused, “you’re’ not allowed to help us?”
Guy shook his head. “Not by United Planets law. What happens on Amazonia is strictly the business of Amazonia and nobody else’s. If we employees of UP began to stick noses in the affairs of the Hippolyte, she’d simply drop out of the organization and if we continued to interfere it would mean war. And, I assure you, a thousand other member planets who don’t wish their internal affairs to be pried into, would take a very dim view of the UP Space Forces being aggressors against a planet which has shown no hostility to any other worlds.”
Zeke blurted hotly, “Then what do you do? What good is the nardy organization?”
Guy Thomas waited for him to cool off before going on. “We explore and patrol space. We try to promote trade and foster progress. If the medical researchers of one planet discover an improved cure for cancer, or whatever, we make every effort to spread the new discovery, avoiding, of necessity, such planets as Eddy, which
