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By Root 1250 0

Let me say at once that I do not fear wars between any government represented here today, nor do I fear revolution. The presence of that great revolutionary hero, Chairman Fu of the People’s Republic of Xanadu, shows that revolutions are perfectly able to create strong governments. What we must unite to prevent are half-baked revolts which might give desperadoes access to those doomsday machines and bottled plagues which stable governments are creating, not to use, but to prevent themselves from being bullied by equals. No land today lacks desperadoes, brave greedy ignorant men who can no longer be sent to work in less busy parts of the world and are too ambitious to join a regular police force. No modern state lacks irresponsible intellectuals, the enemies of strong government everywhere. Both types seem anxious to break the world down into tiny republics of the prehistoric kind, where the voice of the dull and cranky would sound as loud as the wise and skilful. But a reversion to barbarism cannot help us. The world can only be saved by a great enterprise in which stable governments use the skills of institutional knowledge with the full backing of corporate wealth. Council, institute and creature everywhere must work together.

“The fuel supply of the present planet is almost exhausted. The food supply is already insufficient. Our deserts have grown too vast, our seas are overfished. We need a new supply of energy, for energy is food as well as fuel. At present, dead matter is turned into nourishment by farming, and by the consumption of uneducated people by clever ones. This arrangement is a failure because it is inefficient; it also puts clever people into a dependent position. Luckily our experts will soon be able to turn dead matter directly into food in our industrial laboratories—if we give them access to sufficient energy.

“Where can this energy be found? Ladies and gentlemen, it is all around us, it streams from the sun, gleams from the stars and sings harmoniously in every sphere. Yes, Mr. Kodac! It is time for me to admit that sending ships into space is not just an adventure but a necessity. That greater outer space is not, we now know, a horrid vacuum but a treasure house which can be endlessly, infinitely plundered—if we combine to do it. Once again the secretaries of the sky will be our leaders. We must build them a high new platform, a city floating in space where the clever and adventurous of every land, working in a clean, nearly weightless atmosphere, will reflect heat and sunlight down to the powerhouses of the world.

“It has been suggested we call this enterprise New Frontier or Dynostar. I suggest the Laputa Project….”

Monboddo’s speech had hypnotized Lanark. He listened openmouthed, nodding in the pauses. Whenever he understood a sentence it seemed to say everything was inevitable and therefore right. Yet his body grew less and less easy; his head buzzed; when Monboddo said “a high new platform, a city floating in space,” he seemed to hear another voice, harsh and incredulous, say, “The man’s a lunatic.”

Even so, he was appalled to find himself standing and shouting “EΧΕΧΕΧΕΧΕΧΕΧΕΧ” at the top of his voice. Powys and Odin gripped his wrists, but he wrenched them free and yelled, “EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME but Lord Monboddo lied when he said all the delegates agreed to manage things through open, honest debates! Or else he has been lied to by other people.”

There was silence. Lanark watched Monboddo watching him woodenly. Weems stood up and said quietly, “As host of this gathering I apologize to Lord Monboddo and the other delegates for … for Provost Lanark’s hysterical outburst. He is notorious for his lack of control in civilized company. I also demand that Provost Lanark take back these words.”

“I’m sorry I said them,” said Lanark, “but Lord Monboddo has deliberately or ignorantly told us a lie. I pissed off a bridge, but I should not have been locked up before I had spoken for Unthank! Unthank is being destroyed with no open agreement at all, jobs and homes are being destroyed, we’ve begun hating