“They are the wild cards in this strange game. The Sols—the self appointed ‘star-chamber' of the entire off-Earth population—think that Outbound activities should be ended so that the moderate Upsiders are no longer seduced by the contracts they get from Earth. Then, they believe, the Upsiders would become desperate and help them overthrow the Earth Union.” Iseult shrugged. “I do not approve of their methods, but you can hardly blame them. They know what's coming.”
They know what's coming. Strange that such a simple sentence could have so ominous a sound. “They know what is coming, Dr. Iseult?”
Her fine-boned face was very grave. “War.”
“With whom?”
“Mon Dieu, can you be so blind? Why, with Earth, of course. Upsiders may resent Earth, but they work with it—and have done so for almost three centuries, now. And over that time, the Upsiders have been accumulating power, gathering the knowledge and means to independently produce technologies which will soon reduce, maybe eliminate, their dependence upon Earth. However, when that day comes—” Iseult shivered although the room was warm.
“And the Sols believe that things are getting so bad that it's better to trigger a war now, to openly engage in sabotage?”
Perlenmann volunteered the answer. “Lieutenant, even out on Callisto, we hear the protectionist rhetoric in the speeches coming out of the Steering Committee in Geneva. The Behavioral Standards Committees have even gone so far as to retroactively restrict the books that may be distributed or owned Upside, including those that will comprise the now-stunted libraries of the Outbounder colony ships we launch.
“The last century's trend toward gradual improvements in freedom of trade and information is now reversing rapidly. And the Sols are not willing to stand by and let that happen. If they are behind today's bombing, it would be to call attention to the creeping return of tighter controls and the danger of Upsider complacency in the face of a potential conflict with Earth.”
“There isn't going to be any such conflict, and the Sols know it.” Parsons' growl swelled in both volume and disdain. “Let's be realistic. You Dirtsiders know that with us already sitting on the moon, ready to pull another Heinlein ‘drop-the-rock' maneuver, you can only push us so far. The Sols are making a mountain out of a molehill. When push comes to shove, the Earth Union will back down.”
Iseult shook her head. “Before Lieutenant Kotsukov was ‘transferred' he said the same thing about Upsiders: that they would ultimately kow-tow to the Earth Union's increased restrictions because the Upsiders are simply not self-sufficient in most regards.” The doctor smiled bitterly. “Parsons, if the leaders on both sides are as hardheaded as you and Kotsukov, then there will be war.”
Parsons snorted disdain but offered no rebuttal.
Lee kept his attention focused on Iseult. “Doctor, who is Lieutenant Kotsukov, and why was he ‘transferred'?”
Another uncomfortable silence. Perlenmann ended it, his voice not much more than a murmur; “Lieutenant Kotsukov was our on-site chief of security. He was ex-Customs Patrol and was given a small detachment to help him in his duties here.”
“A detachment of Upsiders?”
“No: Dirtsiders, like him. They were drawn from the domestic security administrations of several of the nations of the Earth Union.”
Lee kept his reaction from showing on his face. “Domestic security administration” was just a nice word for the paramilitary rent-a-thugs who hunted down unlicensed inventors and roughed up dissidents. “So Lieutenant Kotsukov was a strong supporter of the Green and Neo Luddite coalition?”
“He was a god-damned Dirtsider fascist,” snarled Parsons, “He didn't give a damn about politics except in one way: that Earth was to remain the object of all human veneration and the source of all authority.” Parsons snorted. “Hell, he didn't make it any secret that in his opinion, the Greens were too soft, and the Neo Luddites too boneheaded to be trusted. That didn't go over too well with the home office, I guess.”
Lee frowned. “I'm curious, Mr. Parsons. How did the Earth Union find out about Kotsukov's political sympathies? As Mr. Perlenmann observed, this is a rather out-of-the-way facility.”
Parsons' smile was feral. “I guess some concerned citizen must have sent a complaint to his regional advocate.”
So it was Parsons himself who had been responsible for Kotsukov's “reassignment.” Interesting—and valuable cautionary information, reflected Lee as he picked up his coffee bulb.
“Okay, so you've got potentially violent extremists in both the Upsider and Dirtsider communities, resentment toward Earth, resentment toward the Outbounders, and someone sabotaged one of your quarterly cargo runs when they took over the Fragrant