Footfall

“Sticks and carrots,” Jenny blurted. Three large bourbons had left her light-headed. “They’ve taken to promising electricity from space. Industrialization powered from space satellites. All you have to do is surrender.”

“A big deal for the undeveloped countries,” Reynolds said.

“It could be a big deal for us one of these days,” Ransom said. “How far are we from being an undeveloped country?”

“And getting closer all the time,” Reynolds agreed.

There had been no more big rocks since the Foot, but innumerable smaller ones still fell. Their targets were carefully chosen, although there was a random element to the bombardment.

Transportation, factories, crossroads, big ocean vessels: you never knew what would be hit or when. America was slowly becoming a loose-knit chain of semi-independent feudalities, and there was nothing you could do about it.

“They hit another one today,” Jenny said. “In Chicago. An eighteen-wheeler truck carrying military uniforms. Moving. About a block from a hospital, two blocks from a big grain elevator. The center of the crater was fifteen feet from the truck. Shredded it, of course.”

“Show-offs,” Reynolds said.

“Impressive, though,” Ransom said.

“Perhaps what we need is another pep talk,” Admiral Carrell said. “The President too. What’s depressing is the stories we get out of Africa. There are people in their puppet governments who like the way things are.”

“Quislings,” Curtis said. “Vidkun Quisling was an ideologic convert to the Nazis.”

“Yeah, but what’s attractive about the snouts? Why would anybody want them in charge?” Clybourne demanded.

“Africa’s so divided you can find a group to cooperate with anything if it will put them on top,” Ransom said.

“Unity,” Sherry said. “They’ll unite us—”

“-even if it kills us,” Reynolds finished.

“Here’s to Unity!” Sherry lifted her glass in a toast.

Curtis raised a clenched fist and sang off-key. “And the Inter-nation-ale unites the hu-man race.”

Reynolds leaped on it. “More than the human race. All the sapient races. Thinkers of the galaxy, unite! You have nothing I lose but your chains.”

“Down with arboreal chauvinism!” Sherry shouted.

“And you want these guys to cheer up the President?” Jack Clybourne’s voice was dull and serious in the general laughter. “They don’t care who wins!”

“Hey!” Ransom protested.

“You didn’t see it,” Clybourne said. “I did. A huge cargo barge stuffed full of people. Just ordinary people from Kansas. Men, women, kids. Dogs. Dolls. All mashed into jelly. If you’d see it, you wouldn’t talk like this!”

“We’ve seen it,” Joe Ransom said.

“They’ve seen your ship,” Carol said. “Your ship, and the bodies in Kansas, they’ve all of them seen all of that.”

“Films? If you’d been there, if you’d smelled it, you’d hate the snouts with your minds and guts!”

“Come off it,” Curtis said.

“Hey, we’re all on the same side,” Carol said. “Come on. Have a drink.”

“Maybe we’ve all had too much,” Sherry said.

“You don’t really think we’ll surrender?” Ransom asked.

“I won’t,” Clybourne said.

“Well, we won’t either. Our problem is that we’re in here. Outside we might have something to do, some way to help rebuild the country. In here we’re useless.”

“They also serve,” Curtis muttered, “who only stand and wait. That’s our problem, Jack. We’re supposed to plan for failure. What can we do if Archangel doesn’t work? And every damn one of us knows that Archangel is it! Damn right all our eggs are in that basket. There isn’t another basket and there won’t be more eggs. So here we sit, waiting …”

“And the longer we wait,” Ransom said, “the longer it takes to finish Archangel, the better the chances the snouts will find out about it. Or drop a rock on Bellingham for the pure hell of it.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to you, Mr. Clybourne. I just hope you got all the CBs.”

“There’s another problem,” Admiral Carrell said.

“Yeah?”

“That message inviting us to discuss surrender terms. It was received here fine.”

“So?—” Ransom prompted.

Jenny felt the beginnings of a chill at the base of her spine.

“It wasn’t heard ten miles away,” Admiral Carrell said.

“Tightbeam!” Reynolds said.

“Tightbeam, direct to here,” Curtis added. “It took you a week to find out?”

“Direct to here?” Clybourne looked puzzled. “A message for the President sent here—”

“And nowhere else,” Ransom said.

“We’ve got to get the President out of here!” Clybourne shouted.

“In due time,” Admiral Carrell said. “However they got their information—”

“Quislings,” Curtis muttered.

“Perhaps. However they learned, they have had a week and more to act on their knowledge. They have not done so.”

“But we’re safe here,” Carol protested. “Aren’t we?”

“Against what?” Curtis demanded. “Nothing’s safe from another Foot.”

“They won’t do that,” Sherry protested.

“How do you know?” Clybourne demanded.

“Harpanet. They don’t attack the top leadership of a herd. If humans surrender …”

“Which we won’t,” Ransom said. He raised his glass. Curtis clinked glasses with him.