Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [192]
She didn’t respond.
“Well,” he said, “nevertheless, you won’t come away empty-handed. By no means. We’ll be making a public announcement shortly, and I’ll see that you’re suitably recognized.”
“Another medal,” she said.
“Yes. The Premier’s Medal is in order this time, I would think. That’s quite an honor. It would of course depend on your cooperation.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“It carries with it a considerable stipend. And you’ll be able to name your price for speaking engagements.”
“Eventually,” she said, “we’re going to encounter these creatures. How are you going to deal with that?”
“To be honest, Kim, I hope we’ve seen the last of the celestials. I don’t like them, they’re lost out there somewhere, and we should have no real trouble staying out of their way. Traffic is extremely rare in the Alnitak area. In fact, we’ve done a study. How many ships do you think have been out there during the last century, other than the survey and several visits by Kile Tripley? And your own, of course?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“The answer is zero. Nobody. So we probably don’t have a problem unless we invite one.”
“You’re simply going to ignore the fact there’s another civilization in the region? This whole thing is just going to disappear!”
“Kim, I’m surprised at your change of heart. A few days ago you would have been happy to send the fleet after them.”
“You know why I changed my mind.”
“The Kane statement.”
“It tells me we can deal with these creatures, Canon.”
“Oh, I’m sure we can. After an initial period of instability. Risk. Uncertainty. Who knows what sort of effect interaction with a strange culture might bring? We live quite well; there are no problems. The status quo is rather nice, don’t you think? Everybody lives a good life. It seems to me we’ve nothing to gain and perhaps everything to lose by pursuing this.”
“I don’t think that’s exactly the spirit that brought us out from Earth.”
“Kim, be realistic. Have you given any thought to what contact might mean? Even assuming these creatures are not malevolent, although I’d have to say that remains open to question, think about the potential for mischief. It’s quite likely your celestials are far ahead of us technologically. What happens when cultures of unequal capabilities encounter each other? What happened to the South Sea Islanders? The Aztecs? Or, if you prefer, reverse the coin. If we have superiority, they will be damaged. And that principle seems to be operative regardless of the intentions of the superior society.”
“We can take precautions against that.”
“Can we? I doubt it.”
“Canon, this is a chance to get a whole new perspective from an intelligent species. The potential for new knowledge is unlimited. But even that’s not the point. They’re like us in some very significant ways. We know that now—”
“We don’t really know anything, Kim. Look, I’m not saying you’re not right. I’m saying, we don’t know. Why take the risk?”
“We’ve an obligation,” she said, “at the very least, to say hello. We’re the part of the universe that thinks. How can we fail to act simply because we want to eliminate risk? You’re talking about the status quo. Is that really what we’re about?”
“That’s all a trifle abstract for me.” Woodbridge sighed. “This would be so much easier if you were a bit more practical, Kim. Nevertheless, maybe history, in its very long view, will demonstrate that you’re right and I’m wrong. Or maybe not. For the moment at least, life is quite pleasant in the Nine Worlds, and this thing in Orion is a very large unknown. We are therefore going to try to keep it at a safe distance.”
“You understand,” she said, “this breaks our agreement. I no longer feel bound to remain silent.”
He shrugged. “This,” the microship, “changes the equation. I’m sure the government will be making an announcement within the next few days.”
The train slowed to navigate a long curving defile.
“You’re going to make it public?” she asked. “Why?”
“Oh, there’s no way to keep this sort of thing quiet. Once we begin bringing people in to look at it, the story