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into the niche provided by the human body.
"I got the basics on this from Dors sharp lady, " Yugo said. "Watch this
data-flash. " Curves, 3D projections, sliding sheets of correlations.
The collision between biological science and human culture was always intense,
often damaging. It usually led to a free-market policy, in which parents could
select desirable traits for their children.
Some opted for longevity, increasing to 125, then even 150 years. When a
majority were long-lived, such planetary societies faltered. Why?
"So I traced the equations, watching for outside influences, " Yugo went on.
Gone was the fevered Dahlite; here was the brilliance that had made
Hari pluck Yugo out of a sweltering deep-layer job, decades ago.
Through the equations' graceful, deceptive sinuosity, he had found a cu-
rious resonance. There were underlying cycles in economics and politics, well
understood, of about 120 to 150 years.
When the human lifespan reached those ranges, a destructive feedback
"There's great social pressure against it. Now we know where it comes from. "
"Still... I'd like to have a centuries-long, productive life. "
Yugo grinned. "Look at the media plays, legends, holos. The very old are
always ugly, greedy misers, trying to keep everything for themselves. "
"Ummm. True, usually. "
"And myths. Those who rise from the dead. Vampires. Mummies.
They're always evil. "
"No exceptions?"
Yugo nodded. "Dors pulled some really old ones out for me. There was that
ancient martyr Jesu, wasn't it?"
"Some sort of resurrection myth?"
"Dors says Jesu probably wasn't a real person. That's what the scat-
tered, ancient texts say. The whole myth is prob'ly a collective psycho-
dream. You'll notice, once he was back from the dead, he didn't stay around
very long. "
"Rose into heaven, wasn't it?"
"Left town in a hurry, anyway. People don't want you around, even if you've
beaten the Reaper. "
Yugo pointed at the curves, converging on disaster.
"At least we can understand why most societies learn not to let people
voice that slipped by, whispering, like a shadowy figure on a foggy street....
Hari shook himself. "Good work, this. I'm considerably impressed. Pub-
lish it. "
"Thought we were keepin' psychohistory quiet. "
"This is a small element. People will think the rumors are tarted-up ver-
sions of this. "
"Psychohistory can't work if people know. "
"It's safe. The longevity element will get plenty of coverage and stop
speculation. "
"It'll be a cover, then, against the Imperial snoops?"
"Exactly. "
Yugo grinned. "Funny, how they spy even on an 'ornament to the Impe-
rium' that's what Cleon called you before the Regal Reception last week. "
"He did? I didn't catch that. "
"Workin' too much on those Boon Deeds. You got to hand off that stuff. "
"We need more resources for psychohistory. "
"Why not just get some money funneled through from the Emperor?"
"Lamurk would find out, use it against me. Favoritism in the High Coun-
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cil proceedings and so on. You could write the story yourself. "
"Um, maybe so. Sure would be a whole lot easier, though. "
"The idea is to keep our heads down. Avoid scandal, let Cleon do his
hear the capital letters. The phalanx of Specials around Hari did not intimi-
date this fellow; he wondered if anyone could.
"Look, " he said to Dors, "there's a bit of time before the meeting. Let's eat
a bit at the High Reception. "
She bristled. "You're not going in?"
"I thought you understood. I have to. Cleon's called this meeting "
"At Lamurk's instigation. "
"Sure, it's about this Dahlite business. "
"And that man I knocked down at the reception, he might have been in-
stigated to do it by "
"Right, Lamurk. " Hari smiled. "All wormholes lead to Lamurk. "
"Don't forget the Academic Potentate. "
"She's on my side!"
'She wants the ministership, Hari. All the rumor-mills say so. "
"She can damn well have it, " he grumbled.
"I can't let you go in there. " [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]