Seed of Stars (21 page)

"That seems like a good idea," agreed Magnus. "The only drawback is that, after he has made such a selection, it will take some time to arrange for the subjects concerned to be made available for examination," Kido pointed out

"We can wait, Mr. President," Magnus said smoothly.

As he listened to the terrible intelligence brought to him by Doctor Sato, Kido's mind was already planning and discarding, considering probabilities coolly, unhampered by anything but practical considerations. Sato, he was already aware, was an idealist, predictable, well-meaning. But then Sato could afford such luxuries—a second-generation professional man, who had never known hunger and want, who had been sheltered from all the invaluable formative influences which had forged the character of Kido. Sato could talk, giving way to unseemly emotion, as he spoke of the second monster bora to his unfortunate daughter, could indulge in breast-beating self-condemnation of his own mistakes . . . but in the last resort it must be the man who kept his head, who chose unemotionally between the various courses of action who survived . ..

and Kido was in no doubt about the identity of that man.

On the face of it, there seemed a possibility that a disclosure of this kind might well cause Magnus to change his mind about granting independence to Kepler III, despite his professed favorable opinion. But even if that happened, there seemed no reason why the situation could not be handled to Kido's advantage— he had, after all, managed very well as president of the colonial government for the last nine years. The people were more interested in independence from a symbolic point of view than any practical advantage. True, there were likely to be certain economic benefits accruing from a freely negotiated transport contract with the corporation, and the standard of life for the average Keplerian could be expected to rise—but for Shanon Kido the matter was purely an academic one, provided he remained in power—and of his ability to maintain this condition he had little doubt.

"My dear Sato, calm yourself," he said. "This whole affair is unfortunate—but we shall, with careful deliberation, find a way out."

Sato, haunted eyes deep-set in his lined, bony face, raised his hands in despair. "The Lord Buddha grant that you are right, Mr. President—but at the moment I can see nothing ahead but the extinction of all our hopes, all our dreams. It has been said, truly, that the future of a planet lies in its children—if the very seed of our loins is poisoned, then what future can there be?"

"But surely that only applies to those people who have suffered from Johannsen's disease," Kido said. "Was it not you who urged that with the help of the Corps medical staff from
Venturer Twelve
the disease could be completely eradicated from our planet within a few months?"

"That still remains true," Sato said. "But those measures will do nothing to reverse the genetic effects of the disease on the reproductive cells of those who have already been infected. Such people can produce nothing but monstrous mutations of the kind with which we are already familiar."

Kido spread his hands. "Then they must not be allowed to breed. A simple program of selective sterilization ..."

"But it is a terrible step to take," protested Sato. "To rob perhaps twenty percent of our adult population of their God-given power to procreate..."

"Have you any other alternative to offer?"

"Well, no... but—"

"Then that is what must be done," said Kido. "It will be necessary to throw ourselves on the mercy of Magnus, to explain the entire situation to him, and tell him the practical steps we intend to take. In the face of such sacrifice, he could hardly refuse to grant us his full cooperation."

"Even though we have deliberately deceived him?" said Sato.

"Yes, even that, if the circumstances of the deception are made sufficiently clear," Kido said. "Charles Magnus is a just man."

After the vidphone call was finished, Tana Sato went straight back to the guest room, where Mia and Piet Huygens were waiting.

"That was the hospital," she said.

"News of Yoko's baby?" Mia said.

Tana frowned. "No—nothing. Apparently there's been some delay, and Kenji has decided it would be best if I were there after all. I can't understand why he didn't call me himself..."

"Perhaps he is helping with the delivery," suggested Piet, comfortingly.

"Yes ... I suppose that's it," said Tana, nodding. "Anyway, I shan't have to drive myself. They're sending a fast hopper over from the hospital to take me right there."

"Is there anything I can do?" Mia asked, beginning to rise.

"No, no, my dear child," Tana said. She smiled at the young couple. "Just take care of each other while I'm away. And keep indoors. Remember the police are still searching."

Piet nodded. "We'll do that, Tana ... on one condition ..."

"Condition?"

"That you promise to call us the very moment Yoko's baby is born," he said, gendy.

"Surely she should have been back by now, or at least have called us and told us what is happening?" said Mia, on the second morning following Tana's departure for the hospital.

"We shall hear, all in good time," Piet said, putting on his clothes. "Now you just stay right where you are, and I'll fix you something. What'll it be—eggs?"

She shook her head, smiling sleepily. "Do you know what I'd
really
like?" she said, raising herself on one elbow.
*'A
couple of slices of that rock-hard, protein-enriched, soy-bread toast smeared with algae-processed margarine and flavor-bud-tickling yeast concentrate, like we used to get in the crew mess back on
Vee Twelve."

"Ugh!" Piet grimaced. "You have a pretty gruesome taste in dainties."

"Maybe it's not me," she pointed out. "Young Piet is making his presence felt physically these days; could be he's begun dictating the menu as well."

"In that case, you can tell his lordship he's having eggs, whether he likes it or not," Piet said. "Time to start throwing his weight about when he can talk for himself." He walked through to the kitchen, flipped on the TV for the morning news, and began to prepare breakfast. Supplies were getting low, he reflected, as he cracked the last three eggs into a bowl. If Tana didn't get back soon, he would have to go out on a grocery-buying expedition, despite the risk. But maybe ...

His train of thought broke off as the voice of the TV news reader broke through.

". . . representatives of all media were called to the presidential palace for an emergency press conference at twenty-seven hundred hours last night. After a brief introduction by his public relations officer, President Kido made a statement..."

The screen dissolved to a close shot of the round, Buddalike features of the president.

"My friends, I have called you here at this last hour to inform you of a matter of the gravest import. You all know that it has been my policy, and that of your government, to cooperate to the fullest extent with the Explorations Division officer in charge of the independence investigation. It is now my distasteful duty to tell you that contrary to all my directives a serious breach of that cooperation has been made by a high-ranking and trusted official of your government. Mr. Magnus has already been informed of the complete nature of this breach and he will no doubt be making a statement himself when he has had time to consider its implications fully. We can only hope that he will in his wisdom refrain from punishing us all for the ill-considered actions of the person responsible. In the meantime, you, the people, have the right to know the facts which have been brought to my notice.

"As you all know, the independence investigation is a complex operation, covering all aspects of our existence here on Kepler III. In all departments, save one, your ministers have cooperated willingly and frankly with the Explorations Division investigators, and that exception, which has been brought to my notice, is in the important sector of public health..."

Abandoning his task, Piet moved across the kitchen and turned up the volume as the president continued.

"For reasons best known to himself, Doctor Sato, your Minister of Health, has withheld information and made false statements to the independence investigation team. In particular, he has deliberately concealed the facts about the incidence in our population of an infectious illness known as Johannsen's disease. While this disease is not serious in itself, there are certain unpleasant side effects when it is contracted by women in the state of pregnancy, and this has, as many of you may know already, resulted in an increase in the number of still and malformed births. However, there is no need to be alarmed about this situation—I am assured that the Corps doctors aboard
Venturer Twelve
will be able to wipe out the disease completely within a very short time, because they have at their disposal all the necessary drugs and serums required for such an operation.

"Even so, I would be failing in my duty if I were to minimize the gravity of the possible effects of these revelations on the outcome of the independence investigations—it may well be that Doctor Sato's misguided actions will be the cause of our being denied that liberty for which we have worked so many years."

The president raised his hand dramatically to quell the angry murmurs growing around him. "Please, my friends, I beg you to remember that Mr. Magnus has shown sympathy and understanding towards our aspirations every since he has been on our planet, and that there is every likelihood that he will continue to do so. As for Doctor Sato, who is not here to defend his actions, I can only say that during my years of association with him, I have always considered him a sincere, hard-working government servant, zealous to the point of fanaticism in his pursuit of what he considered to be the common good. It may have been this fanaticism which led him, in addition to the falsification of vital records, to take the dreadful step of personally destroying those unfortunate creatures born of mothers who had suffered from Johannsen's disease during pregnancy, which were being cared for in an Intensive Care Unit near the northern mountains. Whatever the reason for this action, I beg of you, do not condemn Kenji Sato as a mass-murderer, but rather think of the good things that he has done in the service of our people. And now, my friends ..

Bitter disgust filling his mouth like bile, Piet switched down the sound and turned deliberately away from the wall screen. It was quite clear to him that Sato, wherever he was, had been made the scapegoat in a situation that threatened to get out of control. He himself had heard from Sato, in this very house, the facts of the case—the truth that Sato himself was worried about the situation, but had withheld the information about the incidence of Johannsen's disease from the investigating team on the direct orders of President Kido himself. Sato would say these things, when he appeared to defend himself, no doubt—or would he? In some respects Kido's assessment of Sato's character had been a true one—the good doctor was indeed possessed of a certain kind of stubborn fanaticism. If he came to the conclusion that he might harm the cause of his people by defending himself, then he would be just as likely to allow himself to be sacrificed as a scapegoat without a murmur of protest.

"You've been a long time, love." Mia, a green silk robe thrown over her shoulders, appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, Mia," he said, turning to meet her. "There was a presidential statement on ..."

The expression on Mia's face stopped him in mid-sentence. She stared past him, looking at the TV screen, one small fist balled and crammed tight against her mouth.

He turned to see the cause of her horror, and found himself looking directly into a close-up shot of the dead faces of Kenji and Tana Sato. The two white-robed bodies lay side by side on a stone slab, and as Piet moved across and turned up the sound, the news reader's voice was saying: "... at the Akuno Temple, in an inner chamber, where the Minister and his dutiful wife committed hara-kiri during the early hours of this morning. Doctor Sato, for many years a respected member of the government service, was named in a statement last night by President Kido as ..."

"Kenji-san and Tana, both dead. Oh, Piet, what can it mean?" sobbed Mia, as he helped her from the kitchen back to their room.

"For us, it means that we must leave here at once," he said. "Tana's car is in the garage. We must take it and get as far away as we can, as quickly as possible."

As the picture on the TV screen dwindled to a white dot and then disappeared, Charles Magnus turned to Ichiwara.

"Hara-kiri?"

Ichiwara's face was solemn. "Such a course would, under the circumstances, be quite a logical one for the unfortunate Doctor Sato. He has failed, and has been shown publicly to have done so."

Tom Bruce stopped in the act of lighting a long, thin cigarillo, and grunted: "The old escape clause."

Ichiwara's eyes moved sharply behind his pebble-thick glasses. "With respect, Commander, not altogether so simple. Hara-kiri, unlike your Western concept of suicide, is not usually considered as a way of evading one's responsibilities. It is a positive, rather than a negative, gesture. There are times when a man is placed in such a situation that there is no other honorable course open to him."