272/977 G.E.
From: BuOuProv
To: AdHQ-Ceph18
Subject: OuProv Project 2910; Birth rate of non-Humans on Cepheus 18, Investigation of.
Reference:
(a) AdHQ-Ceph18 letr. AA-LNmn, dated 272/977 G.E.
1. With reference to Enclosure 1 of reference (a), five thousand fluoro-globes have been allocated for shipment to Cepheus 18, by the Department of Trade.
2. It is instructed that AdHQ-Ceph18 make use of all methods of appeasing non-Humans’ dissatisfaction, consistent with the necessities of obedience to Imperial proclamations.
C. Morily, Chief, BuOuProv
283/977 G.E.
V
The dinner was over, the wine had been brought in, and the cigars were out. The groups of talkers had formed, and the captain of the merchant fleet was the center of the largest. His brilliant white uniform quite outsparkled his listeners.
He was almost complacent in his speech: ‘The trip was nothing. I’ve had more than three hundred ships under me before this. Still, I’ve never had a cargo quite like this. What do you want with five thousand fluoro-globes on this desert, by the Galaxy!’
Loodun Antyok laughed gently. He shrugged, ‘For the non-Humans. It wasn’t a difficult cargo, I hope.’
‘No, not difficult. But bulky. They’re fragile, and I couldn’t carry more than twenty to a ship, with all the government regulations concerning packing and precautions against breakage. But it’s the government’s money, I suppose.’
Zammo smiled grimly. ‘Is this your first experience with government methods, captain?’
‘Galaxy, no,’ exploded the spaceman. ‘I try to avoid it, of course, but you can’t help getting entangled on occasion. And it’s an abhorrent thing when you are, and that’s the truth. The red tape! The paper work! It’s enough to stunt your growth and curdle your circulation. It’s a tumor, a cancerous growth on the Galaxy. I’d wipe out the whole mess.’
Antyok said, ‘You’re unfair, captain. You don’t understand.’
‘Yes? Well, now, as one of these bureaucrats,’ and he smiled amiably at the word, ‘suppose you e)fplain your side of the situation, administrator.’
‘Well, now,’ Antyok seemed confused, ‘government is a serious and complicated business. We’ve got thousands of planets to worry about in this Empire of ours and billions of people. It’s almost past human ability to supervise the business of governing without the tightest sort of organization. I think there are something like four hundred million men today in the Imperial Administrative Service alone, and in order to coordinate their efforts and to pool their knowledge, you must have what you call red tape and paper work. Every bit of it, senseless though it may seem, annoying though it may be, has its uses. Every piece of paper is a thread binding the labors of four hundred million humans. Abolish the Administrative Service and you abolish the Empire; and with it, interstellar peace, order, and civilization.’
‘Come—’ said the captain.
‘No. I mean it.’ Antyok was earnestly breathless. ‘The rules and system of the Administrative set-up must be sufficiently all-embracing and rigid so that in case of incompetent officials, and sometimes one is appointed – you may laugh, but there are incompetent scientists, nd newsmen and captains, too – in case of incompetent officials, I say, httle harm wili be done. For, at the worst, the system can move by itself.’
‘Yes,’ grunted the captain, sourly, ‘and if a capable administrator should be appointed? He is then caught by the same rigid web and is forced into mediocrity.’
‘Not at all,’ replied Antyok, warmly. ‘A capable man can work within the limits of the rules and accomplish what he wishes.’
‘How?’ asked Bannerd.
‘Well . . . well—’ Antyok was suddenly ill at ease. ‘One method is to get yourself an A-priority project, or double-A, if possible.’
The captain leaned his head back for laughter, but never qmte made it, for the door was flung open and frightened men were pouring in. The shouts made no sense at first. Then:
‘Sir, the ships are gone. These non-Humans have taken them by force.’
‘What? All?’
‘Every one. Ships and creatures—’
It was two hours later that the four were together again, alone in Antyok’s office now.
Antyok said coldly, ‘They’ve made no mistakes. There’s not a ship left behind, not even your training ship, Zammo. And there isn’t a Government ship available in this entire half of the Sector. By the time we organize a pursuit they’ll be out of the Galaxy and halfway to the Magellanic Clouds. Captain, it was your responsibility to maintain an adequate guard.’
The captain cried, ‘It was our first day out of space. Who could have known—’’
Zammo interrupted fiercely, ‘Wait a while, captain. I’m beginning to understand. Antyok,’ his voice was hard, ‘you engineered this.’
‘I?’ Antyok’s expression was strangely cool, almost indifferent.
‘You told us this evening that a clever administrator got an A-priority project assigned to accomplish what he wished. You got such a project in order to help the non-Humans escape.’
‘I did? I beg your pardon, but how could that be? It was you yourself in one of your reports that brought up the problem of the failing birth rate. It was Bannerd, here, whose sensational articles frightened the Bureau into making a double A-priority project out of it. I had nothing to do with it.’
‘’You suggested that I mention the birth rate,’ said Zammo, violently.
‘Did I?’ said Antyok, composedly.
‘And for that matter,’ roared Bannerd, suddenly, ‘you suggested that I mention the birth rate in my articles.’
