Shadow of the giant

You can only negotiate peace when both sides want it—badly
enough to give up something in order to get it. Right now, nobody wants to
negotiate. The Indians can't— they're occupied, and their occupiers don't
believe they pose a threat. The Chinese can't—it's politically impossible for a
Chinese ruler to settle for any boundary short of the borders of Han China. And
Alai can't because his own people are so flushed with victory that they can't
see any reason to give anything up."
    "So I do nothing."
    "You organize relief efforts for the famine in
India," said Petra.
    "The famine that Virlomi is going to cause."
    Petra shrugged.
    "So I wait until everybody's sick of war," said
Peter.
    "No," said Bean. "You wait until the exact
moment when peace is possible. Wait too long, and the bitterness will run too
deep for peace."
    "How do I know when the time is right?"
    "Beats me," said Bean.
    "You're the smart ones," said Peter.
"Everyone says so."
    "Stop the humble act," said Petra. "You
understand perfectly what we're saying. Why are you so angry? Any plan we make
now will crumble the first time somebody makes a move that isn't on our
script."
    Peter realized that it wasn't them he was angry at. It was
his mother and her ridiculous letter. As if he had the power to
"rescue" the Caliph and the Chinese emperor and this brand new Indian
goddess and "set them free" when they had all clearly maneuvered
themselves into the positions they were in.
    "I just don't see," said Peter, "how I can
turn any of this to my advantage."
    "You just have to watch and keep meddling," said
Bean, "until you see a place where you can insert yourself."
    "That's what I've been doing for years."
    "And very well, too," said Petra. "Can we go
now?"
    "Go!" said Peter. "Get your evil scientist.
I'll save the world while you're out."
    "We expect no less," said Bean. "Just
remember that you asked for the job. We didn't."
    They got up. They started for the door.
    "Wait a minute," said Peter.
    They waited.
    "I just realized something," Peter said.
    They waited some more.
    "You don't care."
    Bean looked at Petra. Petra looked at Bean. "What do
you mean we don't care?" said Bean.
    "How can you say that?" said Petra. "It's
war, it's death, it's the fate of the world."
    "You're treating it like ... like I was asking advice
about a cruise. Which cruise line to go on. Or ... or a poem, whether the
rhymes are good."
    Again they looked at each other.
    "And when you look at each other like that," said
Peter. "It's like you're laughing, only you're too polite to show
it."
    "We're not polite people," said Petra.
"Especially not Julian."
    "No, that's right, it's not that you're polite. It's
that you're so much wrapped up in each other that you don't have to laugh, it's
like you already laughed and only you two know about it."
    "This is all so interesting, Peter," said Bean.
"Can we go now?"
    "He's right," said Petra. "We aren't
involved. Like he is, I mean. But it's not that we don't care, Peter. We care
even more than you do. We just don't want to get involved in doing anything
about it because...."
    They looked at each other again and then, without saying
another word, they started to leave.
    "Because you're married," said Peter.
"Because you're pregnant. Because you're going to have a baby."
    "Babies," said Bean. "And we'd like to get on
with trying to find out what happened to them."
    "You've resigned from the human race is what you've
done," said Peter. "Because you invented marriage and children,
suddenly you don't have to be part of anything."
    "Opposite," said Petra. "We've joined the
human race. We're like most people. Our life together is everything. Our
children are everything. The rest is—we do what we have to. Anything to protect
our children. And then beyond that, what we have to. But it doesn't matter to
us as much. I'm sorry that bothers you."
    "It doesn't bother me," said Peter. "It did
before I understood what I was seeing. Now I think ... sure, it's normal. I
think my parents are like that. I think that's why I thought they were stupid.
Because they didn't seem to care about the outside world. All they cared about
was each other and us kids."
    "I think the therapy is proceeding nicely," said
Bean. "Now say three Hail Marys while we get on with our limited domestic
concerns, which involve attack helicopters and getting to Volescu before he
makes another change of address and identity."
    And they were gone.
    Peter seethed. They thought they knew