The World Swappers Read Online Free PDF Page A

pilot desk; now he turned the chair to face the others, and Counce made a small movement that accepted him into the discussion.
    “Where precisely did we go wrong?” Ram inquired. “We followed you on the screen, of course, but there’s certain information–atmosphere, if you like–which doesn’t come through.”
    Counce spread his hands helplessly. “Mainly, I think we failed to realize just what an intelligent man Bassett is. And by intelligent, I mean adjusted to facts as they present themselves. His selective inattention level must be incredibly low.”
    “I wish we could give him the facts,” Falconetta said musingly. “He is the sort of man we need.”
    “Not quite. If intelligence were enough, we could appeal to him–intelligence is logical, after all. It’s pride and self-esteem that present the difficulties, and Bassett has plenty of those.” Counce punched fist into palm. “We need him and what he can do for us. He needs us too, though he doesn’t know what for, wouldn’t admit it if he did–and in any case we can’t tell him. Paradoxical, isn’t it?”
    Ram exhaled with a gusty sigh. “Yes,” he said. “Like most very intelligent men, he is expert at looking after himself. Which implies that you and I would not rate very high on any scale of practical intelligence.”
    “Because we spend a stupidly large amount of time worrying about other people?” Falconetta suggested.
    “Exactly. Check the school records over the centuries –the infant geniuses have gone on to become business giants and administrators, not social reformers, artists, poets. Intelligence manifested as common sense.”
    “Not quite,” objected Counce. “Common sense ought to prevent Bassett from doing as he intends to do. If his plans materalized, the thing that would please him most would be that he was the man who opened up the outworlds, who made the outworlds other Earths. And that’s the most dangerous fiction of all, because they aren’t! An outworlder is a human being, but he’s not an Earthman, and Bassett would treat him as if he were. You can’t reduce millions of unique individuals to a single common pattern; if they’re all being made to behave according to a norm, most of them are being driven to act in ways more or less foreign to their nature. Can you imagine people on Boreas, Astraea, Ymir, everywhere, all being hammered into a mold meant for Earthmen? That’s what Bassett would do, and the results would be terrifying!”
    Falconetta shuddered. “I know. And yet he isn’t what you’d call an evil man.”
    “No. Just inexperienced.”
    The robot operating the transfax gave them a polite warning, and the cabin filled with a flash of brilliant light as something materialized on the platform. Frowning, Counce picked it up–a single sheet of paper with a brief message on it. He scanned it, and then deliberately folded it up before looking at the others.
    “What’s the most disastrous thing you can conceive happening in the immediate future?” he asked.
    “Bassett ignoring our intrusion?” suggested Falconetta with a frown. “After all, he now knows there’s someone in the galaxy with a workable matter transmitter, which is the worst mistake we’ve made in years. What that may do to his thinking–”
    “Bad,” conceded Counce. “But not the worst. We could always assassinate him if we were driven to it. Ram?”
    “Discovery of Ymir by the Others,” the old man said, and Counce nodded emphatically.
    “Very bad indeed. You’ve more or less bracketed what has actually happened. This note is from Wu on Regis–the Others visited it before we got there. They’ve dug up proof.”
    Their faces reflected their dismay. “That’s awful,” whispered Falconetta. “And coming on top of what Bassett did …”
    “You already have an idea,” said Ram, scrutinizing Counce’s face keenly. “Saïd, you have one of the keenest minds in the galaxy; let us hear what your suggestion