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they?
    Q. We’re asking the questions. (pause) Why don’t you believe they’ll simply bombard us from orbit?
    A. They need the Inner Planets. They need our industrial might in order to keep their fleet in being. Thus, ground troops will have to land to secure these things. That’s when we fight them.
    Q. But orbital bombard—
    A. Will give them great advantages for a time, granted. We’ll have to develop better beam and missile batteries to drive the Doom Stars away from near-Earth orbit and better point defense systems to destroy any orbital debris they rain upon us. Still, the essential point is attrition. If they want North American Sector, for instance, they will have to land troops and take it. We will of course fight them on the ground, in the cities, under the cities. Then, once they hold North American Sector, we will continue the struggle via guerrilla warfare, political assassination, terrorism—
    Q. And once they own all Earth, General?
    A. No. I’m not suggesting that.
    Q. Perhaps I missed something then. You’ve implied they will beat us wherever we stand and fight. For how otherwise will they take North American Sector?
    A. Initially, they will be victorious, yes. But you said two million soldiers before, Director. Two million soldiers cannot control forty billion people. Don’t forget that they must man their space fleet at the same time. After the first few victories and once their men are garrisoning what they’ve won, then we can overwhelm them here and there. We can assassinate a lone Highborn who visits a prostitute, say. Attrition, Directors. Bleeding the enemy to death one attack at a time. That’s why our space units must flee. An existing fleet, which we’ll have if we keep our ships, means the enemy will still have to worry about them.
    Q. Yes, I’m beginning to see your strategy. But one thing worries me, General. Won’t they recruit, well, regular people into their armed forces?
    A. Unquestionably.
    Q. Then your entire theory is destroyed.
    A. I don’t believe so. Because now we will operate in an area of our advantage.
    Q. Which in your opinion is?
    A. Secret police ruthlessness and superior political theory.
    Q. Perhaps you’d better explain that, General.
    A. In a word, egalitarianism. Modern Social Unity philosophy teaches us that one man is as good as the next. The Highborn have exactly the opposite view. They are an elite, a master race, if you will. (pause)
    Q. Yes?
    A. If you will permit one last historical example.
    Q. Make your point, General Hawthorne.
    A. Nazi Germany preached a racial superiority philosophy in the middle of the Twentieth Century. They invaded Socialist Russia—a precursor to our own political system, I might add—and won titanic battles. Yet the Nazi political philosophy insured the hatred of the people. The people were treated as inferiors even though the Germans were no different in terms of real ability versus the Russians.
    In our day the Highborn actually are superior. No doubt, this will cause them to act arrogantly, especially as they rub shoulders with the conquered peoples. The masses will learn to hate the Highborn. What men fear they hate, and when a man is looked down upon, he hates that even more. Added to this is our modern thinking. People will become incensed at the idea that someone actually could be better. That, Directors, is one of our key advantages. Secondly, military governments seldom produce as ruthless a secret police as a one party political government. The Prussian General Staff thought they could outfox and be more ruthless than Lenin and his Bolsheviks back in World War One—
    Q. We perceive your point, General. And that point really amounts to kill them on the ground.
    A. Yes.
    Q. But it entails risk.
    A. Great risk. For their battle-skills may prove superior to our political skills. War hysteria and extreme paranoia of the supermen must be drummed into everyone until all Inner Planets hate the Highborn. We must ensure