They are one of the top five industrial powerhouses in the System.”
“Not so. They are currently number nine in total revenues.”
“You’re splitting hairs. Let’s just say they’re big. You know the saying, there’s no such thing as an unbreakable contract. Well, with the clout that they have, there’s no such thing as a guaranteed lease, either. You are an individual. They are a quarter of a million employees, a hundred lobbyists, and a thousand attorneys.”
Bat did not move, but Magrit knew from experience that he heard, understood, and evaluated every word spoken to him. At last he said, “Why Pandora?”
“I asked the Ligon representatives the same question. Sorting through the bullshit, it’s not hard to understand. Ligon won’t admit it, but they lost a fortune on the initial Starseed contract because the Jupiter gravity well was too much for the Von Neumanns. They’ve accepted the Phase Two option, but they intend to mine helium-three for Starseed-Two from Saturn. For that, they need a base of operations. You can imagine how their thinking went. The nine major moons all play roles in general Outer System development. Not even Ligon has the clout to over-rule that, and anyway all those moons are inconveniently far from Saturn. They need a base outside the rings, but not too far out.
“So they said to themselves, what about the lesser satellites? There are five attractive possibilities: Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, and Janus. The last two are already locked up by Ex-Im Mining, who have as much money and influence as Ligon. Ex-Im also has a lease on Prometheus and all the co-orbiters. That leaves just Atlas and Pandora. But Atlas serves as a government-controlled Saturn observation and weather station, and the red tape to do anything to change that would take years. So we are down to Pandora. All they need to do there is put enough pressure on one defenseless and small — I use the term figuratively — individual.”
Bat shrugged. “Assume that I stand firm. What can they do?”
“Let’s begin with the legal options. They can try to persuade Outer System authorities that Pandora access is essential to the success of Starseed-Two, and that Starseed-Two is at the highest priority level for the human expansion imperative.”
“Could they succeed?”
“They might. There’s centuries of legal precedent for that sort of thing. It’s called eminent domain. Using it, authorities back on Earth were permitted to make forced purchase of properties that happened to be in the way of a planned road or airport. But we’re just getting started. They could make personal attacks on your character and competence. They would argue that no one of sound mind would choose to live alone on Pandora, avoiding all human contact.”
“The attack ad hominem was tried against me many years ago. You will recall that the team of psychologists engaged to probe my rationality was utterly routed.”
“It doesn’t mean it can’t be tried again; and last time, no one was angling the case toward a judge who could be bribed.”
“This is intolerable.’’ Bat sat up and inflated his chest, so that the fabric of his too-small shirt stretched balloon-tight. “Are you telling me that such tactics might succeed?”
“Those tactics, or others.” Magrit knew her man. Bluster and threat would never work with Bat. Logic would never fail. “I said I would start with the legal methods they might use. But the Ligon people have a reputation for playing hardball. They’ll get impatient pretty quick if you won’t cooperate. Forget leases, here’s another fact of life: there’s no such thing as an unbreakable head. Maybe they’ll decide that it’s easier and cheaper to kill you. You know from past experience that paid assassins are not hard to find. And you are even easier to find, because you never go anywhere. You would only be safe if you went into hiding.”
Magrit watched the fat cheeks puff out. Finally Bat nodded. “Let me summarize what you have told me. Ligon Industries want access to Pandora, badly enough to do whatever they decide is necessary. In order for them to have my home, in any negotiation with them I must agree to leave Pandora. On the other hand, if I refuse to deal with them, my life will be in danger. In order to enjoy any measure of safety it would be necessary for me to hide away. Which means I would have to leave Pandora. Since either cooperation or defiance involves my leaving here, the former is clearly the preferred option. This, I assume, is the deduction toward which you have carefully been leading me.”
“Maybe. Do you see any other options?”
“No. On the other hand, I have had scant opportunity to seek them. What promises did you make to the person who contacted you from Ligon?”
“Persons. There were two of them. I promised only to get back to them. I said I could not make a decision for you.”
“Very well. Tell them that you have spoken with me, and that I have authorized you to open negotiations on my behalf.”
Magrit couldn’t believe agreement had come so easily. “You just want me to make the best deal I can, and you’ll sign off on it?”
“If you choose to think of it that way. I have only one other request, and then I must attend to important work which cannot be delayed.” Bat’s dark eyes almost closed, so that Magrit could read no expression there. “I know that you have both the talent and the temperament for hard negotiation. Make this a tough one.”
“Bat, do you think it’s just you who hates people pushing you around? Come take a look at the color of my guts. I hate these bastards, and I don’t even know them. Trust me, I’ll give them a tough negotiation. And if you can find anything to give me leverage, don’t wait. I’ll have your call as top priority.”
Bat’s early employment evaluations had been replete with terms such as “dirty,” “gluttonous,” “arrogant,” “slovenly,” “disobedient,” and “indolent.” Bat regarded those evaluations as unjust and scurrilous. He was not indolent.
As soon as Magrit was gone, he went through to the kitchen stores and returned with loaded dishes of peppermint candy, orange jujubes, marzipan, and Turkish delight. This was sure to be a long session.
He set parameters, provided the authorization for unlimited expenditures, and initiated a search of the Seine.
Before a man could fight back, he needed weapons. Long before Magrit concluded any negotiation, Bat intended to know more about Ligon Industries than any other human in the solar system. A large organization, like any other large structure, possessed a weakest point. Bat intended to find that point for Ligon Industries.
And what would he do then? Bat did not know. He operated using an ancient dictum: It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. But he was going to do something.
10
D-V-I. Detect, Verify, Interpret. Those were the three legs on which SETI rested. Without all three, any effort was flawed. Fail to detect, and you had nothing. Fail to verify what you thought you had found, and you still had nothing.
The most galling experience, however, would be success at detection and verification, followed by a long- term failure to interpret. You knew you had a signal, you knew it was artificial, you knew it came from far outside the solar system. But what, for Heaven’s sake, did it mean? If you couldn’t answer that question, you had better be ready for a lot of skepticism.
“We’ve detected a signal from the stars.”
“Really? What does it say?”
“We have no idea.”
“Oh. Thank you. Let us know when you do.”
That was interpretation, something far in the future. Milly, in her first rush of innocent enthusiasm, had believed that great future might not be far away, since detection was over and done with. Now she was learning the extent of her error.
Jack Beston had assembled five people for the meeting. One was the enigmatic Zetter, who as usual seemed to prefer silence to speech. Milly had seen the others around the L-4 Station, but had never been introduced to them. In fact, in her absorption with her own work she had barely noticed them. She was certainly noticing them
