the impression he's pushing adulthood very hard and I remember, when I was his age, that fifteen-year-old girls were beneath contempt, especially if they were-'
Insigna said bitterly, 'I understand. Especially if they are short, plump, and plain. Does it matter that she's highly intelligent?'
'To you and to me? Certainly. To Aurinel, certainly not. If necessary, I'll talk to the boy. You talk to Marlene. Tell her the idea is ridiculous, that it isn't true, and that she must not spread disturbing fairy tales.'
'But what if it is true?'
'That's beside the point. Look, Eugenia, you and I have concealed this possibility for years, and it would be better if we continued to conceal it. If it gets around, it will be exaggerated, and there will be rising sentiment about the matter - useless sentiment. It will only distract us from the job that has occupied our time ever since we left the Solar System, and which will continue to occupy us for generations, perhaps.'
She looked at him - shocked, unbelieving. 'Have you really no feeling for the Solar System, for Earth, the world on which humanity originated?'
'Yes, Eugenia, I have all sorts of feelings. But they're visceral and I can't let them sway me. We left the Solar System because we thought it was time for humanity to spread outward. Others, I'm sure, will follow; maybe they are already doing so. We have made humanity a Galactic phenomenon and we mustn't think in terms of a single planetary system any more. Our job is here.'
They stared at each other, then Eugenia said, with a touch of hopelessness, 'You'll talk me down again. You've talked me down for so many years.'
'Yes, but next year I'll have to again, and the year after. You won't stay down, Eugenia, and you tire me. The first time should have been enough.' And he turned away, back to his computer.
Chapter 2. Nemesis
4
The first time he had talked her down had been sixteen years ago in the year 2220, that exciting year in which the possibilities of the Galaxy had opened up for them.
Janus Pitt's hair was a dark brown then, and he was not yet Commissioner of Rotor, though everyone spoke of him as the up-and-coming man. He did head the Department of Exploration and Commerce, however, and the Far Probe was his responsibility, and, to a large extent, the result of his actions.
It was the first attempt to push matter through space with a hyper-assisted drive.
As far as was known, only Rotor had developed hyper-assistance and Pitt had been the strongest proponent of secrecy.
He had said at a meeting of the Council, 'The Solar System is crowded. There are more space Settlements than can easily be found room for. Even the asteroid belt is only an amelioration. It will be uncomfortably crowded soon enough. What's more, each Settlement has its own ecological balance and we are drifting apart in that respect. Commerce is being throttled for fear of picking up someone else's strains of parasites or pathogens.
'The only solution, fellow Councillors, is to leave the Solar System - without fanfare, without warning. Let us leave and find a new home, where we can build a new world, with our own brand of humanity, our own society, our own way of life. This can't be done without hyper-assistance - which we have. Other Settlements will eventually learn the technique and will leave, too. The Solar System will be a dandelion gone to seed, its various components drifting in space.
'But if we go first, we will find a world, perhaps, before others follow. We can establish ourselves firmly, so that when others do follow and, perhaps, come across us in our new world, we will be strong enough to send them elsewhere. The Galaxy is large and there are bound to be elsewheres.'
There had been objections, of course, and fierce ones. There were those who argued out of fear - fear of leaving the familiar. There were those who argued out of sentiment - sentiment for the planet of birth. There were those who argued out of idealism - the desire to spread knowledge so that others might go, too.
Pitt had scarcely thought he would win out. He had done so because Eugenia Insigna had supplied the winning argument. What an incredible stroke of luck it was that she had come to him first.
She was quite young then, only twenty-six, married but not yet pregnant. She was excited, flushed, and laden down with computer sheets.