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eighty-five
full-sized tree houses a mile
from here, and I was able to grow food
synthesizers in their roots, even though plant engineering is hardly my
forte.”
“Only
eighty-five trees?” asked Guibedo, doing some quick mental calculations.
“They could produce enough food?”
“Well, I’m
afraid I had to shut down the rest of their services, Uncle Martin. I was up there a couple days ago, and everybody was gone. But the trees will
revert to their original state once the tunnel is filled in. The people will return.”
“Well, I hope
so,” Guibedo said. “I guess you got to do things like that in an emergency.
Why didn’t you tell me you made guys like Dirk, here, Heiny?”
“You’ve just
answered your own question, you damned old iconoclast.” Copernick
laughed. “You spend a half hour with my LDUs and they’ve got proper names! In a day you’d
have them demanding private rooms, time and a half for overtime, and a grievance committee!”
“Maybe not such
a bad idea, Heiny. You’d make a fortune hiring these guys out as a
construction team. You didn’t have any trouble digging that tunnel, did
you?”
“Oh, there was
some sort of a security problem once when I was gone, but the LDUs took care of
it,” Heinrich called over his shoulder as he walked toward the van.
“See!” Guibedo said.
“They’d make a good work gang.”
“I thought
about it, but there are the building people and the labor unions to contend with. And
look at all the trouble your publicity got you into. Still, lack of money is slowing us
down,” Heinrich said, getting into the driver’s seat.
“You know, Heiny,
when I was in jail, I got to thinking about catalytic extraction and refining.
We could make
a tree that could extract heavy metals from the soil…”
The two were lost in
technicalities as they drove away.
Three platoons of
LDUs left the tunnel-filling and went about special tasks.
One platoon began cutting rectangular
slabs of stone, polishing them smooth, and carving names and dates.
Another dug
rectangular holes, pleasantly arranged, on a hilltop.
The third platoon exhumed the bodies of
eighty-five families who had presented such a
security problem, who had been so unamenable to reason.
When the work had
been completed and ritual prayers had been said, Dirk thought to his brothers, It’s comforting to
know that the proper ceremonies have been com pleted.
Yes, replied Blade. It’s
important that we learn to do everything properly.
Chapter Five
JUNE 5,2001
O NE OF the surprising
things about commanding large forces is that eager, dedicated subordinates
are often more trouble than slovenly ones. You must be ever on your guard. The
slightest hint can be taken literally and blown all out of proportion.
The problem is as old
as the chain of command. A general drops a hint; a colonel makes a
suggestion; a major writes a memo; a captain gives an order; a lieutenant barks a
command; and… a corporal pulls a trigger. It happened at Corregidor — the Japanese command never
intended for the death march to occur. It happened at Mai Lai — when a town was
wiped out. And it happened all too often in the course of the Symbiotic
Revolution.
—Heinrich Copemick
From his log tape
“So what’s the
verdict, Doc?” General Hastings asked.
“You’ve got to
stop smoking, George,” Dr. Cranford said.
“Is that
all?”
“Of course not.
You really must start keeping regular hours. And cut your work week down to
sixty hours. And get out a little more. Learn to relax.”
“Look, Cranford,
work is about all I have left.”
“George, the
tragedy that took your family happened a year ago. You can’t—”
“Cut it.”
“But a man can’t
mourn forever—”
“I take it that
I’m healthy,” Hastings said.
“Yes, but you
don’t deserve to be. There’s nothing wrong with you now that a little rest and
exercise won’t cure.”
“You’ve been
telling me that every checkup for the last ten
full-sized tree houses a mile
from here, and I was able to grow food
synthesizers in their roots, even though plant engineering is hardly my
forte.”
“Only
eighty-five trees?” asked Guibedo, doing some quick mental calculations.
“They could produce enough food?”
“Well, I’m
afraid I had to shut down the rest of their services, Uncle Martin. I was up there a couple days ago, and everybody was gone. But the trees will
revert to their original state once the tunnel is filled in. The people will return.”
“Well, I hope
so,” Guibedo said. “I guess you got to do things like that in an emergency.
Why didn’t you tell me you made guys like Dirk, here, Heiny?”
“You’ve just
answered your own question, you damned old iconoclast.” Copernick
laughed. “You spend a half hour with my LDUs and they’ve got proper names! In a day you’d
have them demanding private rooms, time and a half for overtime, and a grievance committee!”
“Maybe not such
a bad idea, Heiny. You’d make a fortune hiring these guys out as a
construction team. You didn’t have any trouble digging that tunnel, did
you?”
“Oh, there was
some sort of a security problem once when I was gone, but the LDUs took care of
it,” Heinrich called over his shoulder as he walked toward the van.
“See!” Guibedo said.
“They’d make a good work gang.”
“I thought
about it, but there are the building people and the labor unions to contend with. And
look at all the trouble your publicity got you into. Still, lack of money is slowing us
down,” Heinrich said, getting into the driver’s seat.
“You know, Heiny,
when I was in jail, I got to thinking about catalytic extraction and refining.
We could make
a tree that could extract heavy metals from the soil…”
The two were lost in
technicalities as they drove away.
Three platoons of
LDUs left the tunnel-filling and went about special tasks.
One platoon began cutting rectangular
slabs of stone, polishing them smooth, and carving names and dates.
Another dug
rectangular holes, pleasantly arranged, on a hilltop.
The third platoon exhumed the bodies of
eighty-five families who had presented such a
security problem, who had been so unamenable to reason.
When the work had
been completed and ritual prayers had been said, Dirk thought to his brothers, It’s comforting to
know that the proper ceremonies have been com pleted.
Yes, replied Blade. It’s
important that we learn to do everything properly.
Chapter Five
JUNE 5,2001
O NE OF the surprising
things about commanding large forces is that eager, dedicated subordinates
are often more trouble than slovenly ones. You must be ever on your guard. The
slightest hint can be taken literally and blown all out of proportion.
The problem is as old
as the chain of command. A general drops a hint; a colonel makes a
suggestion; a major writes a memo; a captain gives an order; a lieutenant barks a
command; and… a corporal pulls a trigger. It happened at Corregidor — the Japanese command never
intended for the death march to occur. It happened at Mai Lai — when a town was
wiped out. And it happened all too often in the course of the Symbiotic
Revolution.
—Heinrich Copemick
From his log tape
“So what’s the
verdict, Doc?” General Hastings asked.
“You’ve got to
stop smoking, George,” Dr. Cranford said.
“Is that
all?”
“Of course not.
You really must start keeping regular hours. And cut your work week down to
sixty hours. And get out a little more. Learn to relax.”
“Look, Cranford,
work is about all I have left.”
“George, the
tragedy that took your family happened a year ago. You can’t—”
“Cut it.”
“But a man can’t
mourn forever—”
“I take it that
I’m healthy,” Hastings said.
“Yes, but you
don’t deserve to be. There’s nothing wrong with you now that a little rest and
exercise won’t cure.”
“You’ve been
telling me that every checkup for the last ten
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