Kathryn, on the other hand, had lived in the affluent New England enclave where her grandparents owned property. “When I was in college I was uncomfortable about being so privileged,” she’d told Terry. “I didn’t want to stand out as a privately-paid student in law school—I was planning to work my way through like my friends—so Granddad arranged an anonymous scholarship. It was funded by the Foundation, though I didn’t know it at the time; all along he was preparing me to represent Maclairn when the time came for its discovery. I would have chosen to work pro bono in some urban area if he hadn’t insisted that I specialize in Colonial League law. As it was, I picked the weakest colonies to defend against League bureaucracy during the three years I practiced, but I didn’t feel I was really achieving anything.”
Terry stayed aboard Promise while Kathryn went to Los Angeles to find living quarters for the mentors, get them settled, and establish bank accounts for them, which gave Amir and Drew a week of shore leave. Then he left them in charge of the ship and joined her for a visit to her grandparents. She had not revealed that she was married when she called them after landing, for it would have raised too many questions that could not be answered on an unsecured phone.
They went to the Bramfield penthouse, which was not only in an area where there were still trees, but had a sweeping view of the ocean. Going up in the elevator, Terry was suddenly shy. Since joining Fleet he had met few civilians, not counting the Maclairnans, and the prospect of being judged by a billionaire CEO was somewhat intimidating. But when Arthur Bramfield held out his hand, he was immediately at ease. He sensed that this was an upstanding, warmhearted man despite his riches, and that he had deep love for Kathryn.
“You must be the new captain of Promise,” Bramfield said, observing Terry’s uniform. “Kathryn said she was bringing home a guest, but I hadn’t realized that my request for a Fleet crew could be fulfilled so soon. I’m tremendously glad to know it has been.”
“Terry’s more than our captain,” Kathryn announced. “He’s an official member of the family.”
“You’re married? Under League law, not just on Maclairn?”
“Well, Fleet wouldn’t let me share the captain’s stateroom unless we were,” Kathryn said, smiling. “But we didn’t put up any arguments.”
“So you’re Terry,” her grandmother said, hugging him. “We heard about little else from Kathryn the last time she was here, and we’re delighted to welcome you. I wish we could have been at the wedding.”
They had pictures of the ceremony aboard Shepard and the wedding feast on Maclairn stored in their data bracelets for transfer to the big screen. Afterward they enjoyed a celebration dinner of steak, broccoli potatoes with butter, and a fresh fruit salad, topped off by ice cream—Kathryn’s grandmother knew what would be most craved when returning from a world that lacked meat or dairy products, and could afford gourmet food such as real beef. It was a happy evening, and the guest bedroom to which they retired was more luxurious than any accommodations Terry had ever seen. He began to feel that perhaps Earth was not such a bad place after all.
But the next day, after Arthur Bramfield had listened to the letter from Jessica downloaded from Kathryn’s data bracelet, the conversation turned serious. “Jessica has a great deal to say about you,” he said to Terry, “and I see that besides the joy you have brought to my granddaughter, we’re fortunate to have you in command of Promise. More than that, you can’t know how relieved I am to have someone to whom I can speak freely going to and from League headquarters with Kathryn. You may be in a position to hear things that she does not, and—from what Jessica tells me—to sense more of what is going on in officials’ minds.”
“I can’t read thoughts people don’t want to communicate to me,” Terry protested.
“But they will want to, not knowing that you can detect their feelings. Those who hate the idea of a psi-based culture will broadcast their hatred. They will say one thing when they mean another.”
Terry frowned. “Do you think there’s real danger from such people?”
“Yes. I have spent my life awaiting the discovery of the colony established by Ian Maclairn and making plans for fulfilling the dream he expressed to my ancestors. Year by year I’ve watched opposition to such aims grow, and it’s been instigated in many cases by calculated propaganda.”
“The passengers aboard Promise said the authorities don’t want the power of individual minds to become known.”
“That’s true. It threatens not only their personal stability, but the basis of their control over the public—people aware of how much they can control with their own minds don’t like having the government tell them what they should want. As long as it was all just speculation, rejection and ridicule were the only weapons needed to suppress the evidence for it, but now . . .”
“Now there’s proof. And people committed to showing others the proof.”
“Which from the government’s standpoint, is bad news. As Kathryn must have told you, some on the committee opposed the contract at first. When they realized that word would get out unless they enforced secrecy, they switched in order to keep track of the situation. I suspect that a few of them hope to eliminate the proof, one way or another.”
“Surely they can’t attack Maclairn! If they planned to, why would they have sent a cruiser?”
“Like us, they want to keep intruding ships from revealing Maclairn’s existence. The cruiser is no problem for them since they can’t attack in a military sense anyway—there are enough who support us to prevent anything like a major strike. Admiral Frazer, the commander-in-chief of Fleet, is a strong supporter, and it would take a coup to circumvent his authority. They will use more subtle methods. They can’t take overt action against us, but they will do all they can to hurt our cause.”
“Send small ships to Maclairn disguised as pirates maybe, thinking we’ll be intimidated if they can do enough damage?”
“Possibly. We don’t know what they’ll try. All we can do is stay alert, and identify which officials aren’t to be trusted so we can watch them.”
“I’ll do my best,” Terry vowed. “If only I hadn’t lost Picard, which I now see more than ever that we need—I suppose Jessica told you about it?”
“She told me that you lost it through an act of heroism that you have no cause to regret. However, it’s true that an interplanetary patrol in Maclairn’s system would be useful, if only to make plain that we are on guard. You should continue that, Terry. Promise will be at Maclairn for thirty days between trips, and there’s no reason why you should keep it in a holding orbit all that time—though presumably you’ll want to spend part of each layover with my granddaughter.”
“Can we use Promise?” Terry exclaimed in surprise. “Captain Vargas never suggested that we could,”
“He wouldn’t have, since Promise is owned by the Foundation. Hand me your bracelet and I’ll give you authorization here and now.”
“Thank you, sir,” Terry said, torn between eagerness for the added responsibility and a touch of apprehension. This meant that he’d be in a position to sense the presence he had before, the thing he couldn’t define. Could a ship be lurking in Maclairn’s system, a disguised government ship maybe, that was conducting ongoing surveillance? If so he should do something about it. Yet he was not sure enough of his perception to warn Fleet, or even to mention it to Arthur Bramfield.
~ 33 ~
That evening Terry and Kathryn visited Corwin and Kamila at the health club that had been established for them to work in—the first of many that were being financed by Bramfield from his personal fortune, ostensibly as a legitimate business investment. It was located in a low nondescript building like so many others that cluttered Earth, but on the inside it was luxurious, with a pool, hot tubs and saunas, exercise facilities, and a number of private rooms with neurofeedback equipment. As on Titan, neurofeedback was offered to everyone as a stress-reduction therapy, and no one noticed that some clients were offered other forms
of training for which they were not charged. Kathryn’s aunt and uncle, who had previously returned from Maclairn, served as managers, and they arranged staff scheduling so that the mentors were on night shifts when few others were around.
“It’s risky,” Kathryn said, “because it all depends on people referring friends they trust, and the wider the circle spreads, the more danger there is that someone will invite the wrong person. They don’t know about Maclairn, of course—they’re told only as much as you were on Titan. And they aren’t informed about the psi aspect unless they develop conscious awareness that they’re acquiring such capabilities. Some meetings are held on the side, though, to attract the minority interested in speculating about the paranormal.”
Corwin greeted Terry and Kathryn warmly, surprised and pleased to learn that Terry had become captain of Promise and that they were married. “Things have worked out better than we could have hoped,” he said. “Arthur didn’t wholly trust the former captain’s discretion; that was why he encouraged him to retire. Having the two of you handle all communication with Maclairn will take a load off his mind.”
“You look tired,” Kathryn said, noticing the change in Corwin. “Are you happy here?”
“As happy as can be expected, considering that we’re watching a civilization on the verge of self-destruction. Kamila and I were appalled at first by what we saw. We knew in theory what Earth is like, but to be surrounded by crowds of people—billions, if you count the population of the whole planet—most of whom have no real connection with each other and no notion of their own capabilities, or any interest in humanity’s future . . . and who take out their lack of fulfillment in rage against the rest of society. We’re used to sensing people’s feelings, after all, and here we have to avoid it to keep from being totally overwhelmed.” He sighed, adding, “Just being among so many weighs us down.”
“This isn’t a very good neighborhood,” Terry said, frowning. “I’m wondering if it’s safe.”
“What neighborhood is?” Kathryn said. “Short of locating in a secured high-rise where too many questions would be asked about late-night clients, any place Granddad chose would have been just as vulnerable. We have to be able to reach a wide range of supporters.”
“And we’re reaching them,” Corwin declared. “I don’t mean to sound discouraged. Our trainees are enthusiastic, and they’re gaining more inner freedom than the average citizen of Earth has ever imagined. What’s more they’re beginning to sense others’ feelings and getting together in homes to talk about things they can’t discuss in the public club. In time the new view of human relations will spread. That won’t happen overnight, or even within our lifetime. But we’re accomplishing what we came here for.”
“We’re taking positive steps toward reversing the trends that are leading Earth to ruin,” Kathryn agreed.
“Reversing them for humankind, yes. But as Jessica has recognized all along, it’s too late for Earth. The people we train and their descendants will go to the colonies, and eventually found new ones of their own. It has to start here to achieve a widespread transformation. The society of Earth itself, though, won’t recover. There’s no way we can influence a large enough percentage of the population to have a significant impact on this world’s collective unconscious.”
“Oh, Corwin.” Terry sensed the mentor’s sorrow.
“We’ve always known this, Terry—Ian knew from the beginning. But we’re achieving something vital to future generations. I grieve for Earth’s civilization only because of the present frustration and the centuries of past tradition that are dying out.”
Kathryn downloaded Corwin’s letters from Jessica and his friends from her data bracelet, then went to talk with Kamila, who was just finishing a session with a trainee, and deliver hers. Terry remained, raising a question that had been troubling him. “Corwin,” he said, “things have been happening to me so fast, I don’t know what to think. . . . When I was promoted and made captain, it was a direct result of my having lost Picard, which only happened because my crew was endangered—and I felt guilty because I’d benefited from those things. But now Arthur Bramfield feels what I’m doing on Promise is more important to Maclairn than staying with Picard would have been. So what I’m wondering is, why did it happen—landing just where there was about to be an earthquake, I mean? Did some sort of unconscious precognition influence where I chose to land? And did it tell me that the crew would survive, or did I risk their lives to get where I am now?”
Corwin shook his head. “You can’t answer questions like that, Terry. You’ll go insane if you even ask them. Why does fate ever work out the way it does? If you want me to tell you precognition plays no part in it, I won’t, because I don’t know and neither does anyone else. But I can say that you have nothing to feel guilty about. You did not consciously choose to expose your crew to undue risk, and conscious choices are the only ones for which we’re morally responsible.”
“That’s all very well in theory. But I need to know what part precognition plays in my choices because I keep sensing something strange near Maclairn, as if there’s a ship where reason says there couldn’t be, and Tristan agreed that I can’t just ignore it.”
Slowly Corwin said, “I think that if a time comes when you should take action, you will know. Don’t shut your perceptions out, but don’t worry about them, either. We can’t live our lives on the basis of vague feelings that might or might not be precognition—just about any feeling could be put in that category. To be consciously psi-gifted means to live with uncertainty, which is one reason why most people fear it so deeply.”
“Oh.” He had not seen it in that light, Terry realized. He had not understood that he too was subject to such fears. ”You did warn me,” he recalled, “when you told me psi sensitivity could be a burden.”
“There’s got to be a balance between rationality and psychic intuition. That’s what we’ve been aiming for on Maclairn—it’s necessary to have a culture based on combining psi with technology as a base from which to spread new capabilities. In the past, when only isolated individuals developed them, they often failed to integrate them with ordinary living. Sometimes they lost touch with reality. That’s not going to happen to you because you have an active life as a Fleet officer and pilot that there’s no danger of your rejecting.”
“Are you saying not everyone can handle such capabilities?”
“I’m careful who I train here, yes. Even control over unconscious physical functions is not safe for everyone who has grown up on a planet where a supporting collective unconscious hasn’t developed. Which is the underlying reason why nothing we can do will save this world.”
Terry thought about this when, several days later, he looked back at Earth from Promise, shining blue and white—there were few traces of green left on it—with no hint of the ruination of its once-thriving civilization. He had been born there, and despite his departure for Fleet and his new love for Maclairn, he did not like to think that its living conditions would continue to get worse. His mother was there—he hadn’t contacted her to tell her about his marriage because she believed him to be away on a long cruiser mission and he couldn’t say otherwise without revealing the existence of a secret. He supposed that things wouldn’t change much within her lifetime—the mentors took a very long-range view. Still, he felt sadness.
~ 34 ~
His mood didn’t improve when they reached League headquarters on the moon. He had known Kathryn wouldn’t be treated like an ambassador when her status was secret, but the coldness of their reception dismayed him. They were kept waiting for a long time in the office she visited under the guise of legal consultation about New Tahitian affairs, but when she was finally shown in it didn’t take long to conclude her business. The commissioners had accepted the dispatch from Jessica she carried, she said, but had showed little interest in it. Terry could sense their hostility even through the wall of the waiting room. They did not want to be reminded that Maclairn existed.
> He had promised Arthur Bramfield that he would try to identify officials who couldn’t be trusted, and it seemed to him they couldn’t be sure of any of them. Not that they would all be willing to use underhanded methods to weaken Maclairn or discourage the sending of mentors, but they wouldn’t support it, either, according to Kathryn’s impressions. And he did not see how he would ever have opportunity to judge them individually. “It’s just a matter of staying alert,” she’d told him, “alert to anything we sense or overhear that might suggest trouble.” Then, as they were leaving, the possibility of trouble became all too clear.
Kathryn came out of the office with a short, stout man who looked like a typical bureaucrat, the sort who in Fleet would have stayed behind a desk telling active officers how to do a job they knew much more about than he did. Terry rose to meet them. “Commissioner Hiller, may I present Lieutenant Commander Terry Radnor, captain of our ship Promise,” she said.
“Oh yes, Admiral Frazer authorized a Fleet crew for that ship,” said the official. “But that’s awkward when it’s privately owned. I’m thinking that it should be transferred to Fleet.”
My God, thought Terry, if they do that they’ll assign the crew through Fleet’s bureaucracy and I’ll be removed. What’s worse, the Foundation will lose control of it. They’ll be able to cut back the number of trips.
The Rising Flame: Box Set: Defender of the Flame + Herald of the Flame Page 21