Enders In Exile

contempt.
    "Randall Firth," he
said to the "friend" standing outside. Virlomi had said, "My friends
stand watch to protect my time," she said, "so I can meditate
sometimes." But her "friends" ate at the common table and drew their
full share at harvest, so that their service to her was, in effect,
paid. They were cops or guards, and everyone knew it. But no, the
Indians all said, they really are volunteers, they really do a full
day's labor besides.
    A full day's labor . .
. for an Indian. It gets a little hot and they go lie down when regular
fullsize people have to take up the slack for them.
    No wonder my father,
Achilles the Great, led the Chinese to conquer the Indians. Someone had
to teach them how to work. Nothing, though, could teach them how to
think.
    Inside the hut, Virlomi
was spinning yarn by hand. Why? Because Gandhi did it. They had four
spinning jennies and two power looms, and spare parts to keep them
running for a hundred years, by which time they should have the ability
to manufacture new ones. There was no need for homespun. Even Gandhi
only did it because he was protesting against the way English power
looms were putting Indians out of work. What was Virlomi trying to
accomplish?
    "Randall," she said.
    "Virlomi," he answered.
    "Thank you for coming."
    "No one can resist a
command from our beloved governor."
    Virlomi lifted weary
eyes to him. "And yet you always find a way."
    "Only because your
power here is illegitimate," said Achilles. "Even before we founded our
colony, Shakespeare declared its independence and started electing
governors to two-year terms."
    "And we did the same,"
said Virlomi.
    "They always elect
you,
"
said Achilles. "The person appointed by ColMin."
    "That's democracy."
    "Democracy only because
the deck was stacked. Literally. With Indians. And
you play this holy-woman game to keep them in your thrall."
    "You have far too much
time to read," said Virlomi, "if you know words like 'thrall.' "
    Such an easy opening.
"Why do you feel the need to discourage citizens from educating
themselves?" asked Achilles.
    Virlomi's pleasant
expression didn't crack. "Why must everything be political with you?"
    "Wouldn't it be nice if
other people ignored politics, so you could have it all to yourself?"
    "Randall," said
Virlomi, "I didn't bring you here because of your agitation among the
non-Indian colonists."
    "And yet that's why I
came."
    "I have an opportunity
for you."
    Achilles had to give
her credit: Virlomi kept on plugging away. Maybe that's one of the
attributes of Indian goddesshood. "Are you going to offer me another
placeholder job to assuage my ego?"
    "You keep saying that
you're trapped on this world, that you've never been anywhere else, so
your entire life will be lived under the dominion of Indians,
surrounded by Indian culture."
    "Your spies have
reported accurately."
    He expected her to get
sidetracked on whether her informants were spies or not, since they
were ordinary citizens who freely attended public events and then
talked about them afterward. But apparently she was as weary of that
topic as he was. And besides, she clearly had an urgent agenda.
    "A starship is arriving
here in about a month," said Virlomi. "It comes from Shakespeare
Colony, and it's bringing us several of their highly successful hybrids
and genetic alterations to augment our agricultural resources. A very
important visit."
    "I'm not a farmer,"
said Achilles.
    "When starships come
here," said Virlomi, "it's never permanent. They come, and then they
go."
    Now Achilles understood
exactly what she was offering him. If it
was
an
offer, and not an involuntary exile. "Go where?" he asked.
    "In this case, I am
assured that the pilot is taking his starship back to
Earth—well,
near
to Earth—so
that the samples from Shakespeare, along with our own poor offerings,
can be examined, propagated, studied, and shared with all the colonies.
Some may even be cultivated on Earth itself, because the high yields
and climatic adaptations are so favorable."
    "Are they naming one of
the species after you?" asked Achilles.
    "I'm offering you a
chance to go to that big wide world and see it for yourself. Indians
are only about a quarter of Earth's population at the moment, and there
are many places you can go where you'll almost never see an Indian."
    "It's not Indians that
I don't like," said Achilles blandly.
    "Oh?"
    "It's smug
authoritarian government pretending to be democratic."
    "Indians are in the
majority here.