Part 62 (1/2)
”I thought they made you be good,” Chandris said, sounding puzzled.”They don't make you do anything,” Kosta told her. ”All they do is let you be good. What I mean is that they help you turn your attention outward, toward other people, by suppressing the major factor that drives human selfishness and self-centered att.i.tudes.”
”What's that, the love of money?” Hanan suggested.
”Or basic corrupt human nature?” Pirbazari added cynically.
Kosta shook his head. ”Fear.”
There was a brief silence around the table. ”Fear,” Forsythe said, his voice flat.
”But there isn't anything evil about fear, Jereko,” Ornina protested, sounding confused.
”I didn't say it was evil,” Kosta said. ”I said it tends to focus a person's attention inward and pushes
away consideration of others. It tends to make you selfish; and selfishness, carried too far, is what
drives most of what we consider anti-social and criminal behavior.”
”Are we talking about the same thing here?” Forsythe asked, frowning. ”Fear is a perfectly normal part of the survival instinct.”
”Right, but I'm not talking about the kind of immediate danger that sends adrenaline pumping into your blood,” Kosta said. ”I don't think the angels do anything to affect that kind of physical response.”
”So what are you talking about?” Forsythe asked. ”I'm talking about the persistent, nagging little fears that clutter up our lives and influence our day-today actions,” Kosta said. ”The small fears that keep us focused on ourselves. Fear of losing your job or your friends. Fear of not having enough money if you happen to get sick. Fear of being hurt. Fear of looking foolish.”
”I know that one, all right,” Hanan murmured.
”Do you?” Kosta countered. ”Do you really? You took Chandris aboard the Gazelle knowing full well that she was there to steal from you. If she had, you'd have been the laughingstock of the Yard. Did you care?”
Hanan turned a frown toward Ornina. ”But...”
”And you were afraid to trust them,” Kosta continued, turning to Chandris. ”Right? But you did, eventually, even though you knew it would hurt your pride terribly if you found out they were conning you.”
He looked back at Forsythe. ”As for me, I eventually got to where I wasn't afraid to turn myself in as a spy.”
”So what exactly are you saying?” Pirbazari asked. ”That all we have to do is give happy pills to the whole populace and we don't need angels?”
”Happy pills dull the mind and blunt the will,” Forsythe murmured. In contrast to the others, his expression was thoughtful and reflective, as if certain things were suddenly starting to become clear. ”As Mr. Kosta has pointed out, angels don't do that.”
”They may actually help make you marginally smarter, in fact,” Kosta suggested. ”There's that small intelligence component, remember.”
”Only when they're in large groups,” Hanan reminded him.
”Or else it's only measurable in large groups,” Kosta said.
”I was just thinking about the High Senate,” Forsythe said meditatively. ”All the straight-up trades and deals I watched them make, without any of the cautious maneuvering or self-serving manipulation that's always been a staple of political life. Full cooperation, full willingness to compromise. No fear of looking foolish or being taken advantage of.”
Pirbazari shook his head. ”I'm sorry, but I still don't buy it,” he said firmly. ”Even if this effect really exists, it's not going to do much if the person in question doesn't want to be a good boy.”
”In fact, it might even make it worse,” Hanan suggested. ”Fear of getting caught is one of the things that's supposed to slow criminals down.”
”Exactly,” Pirbazari agreed. ”So why haven't there been any High Senators like that?”
”There have,” Kosta said. ”Seven of them over the past ten years.”
Pirbazari seemed taken aback. ”Where did you hear that?”
”Director Podolak told me,” Kosta said. ”She said it had been kept very quiet.”
”Well... all right, fine,” Pirbazari said. ”But there should have been a lot more than just seven who
went off the wagon. Unless you a.s.sume most people basically want to be good, which I don't believe, either.””Self-fulfilling prophecies, Zar,” Forsythe said.
”What does that mean?” Chandris asked.
”Those are predictions that come true because everyone expects them too,” Forsythe explained.
”Remember, everyone firmly believes that angels make you act ethically. Once that's been accepted, only people who really want to serve the Empyrean will go after high office. Most of the self-serving types out to line their own pockets make very sure they stay away from anything having to do with angels.”
Pirbazari shook his head. ”I still don't like it.”
”I'm not saying this is a hundred percent correct,” Kosta conceded. ”There's probably more going on
that I haven't thought of. All I'm trying to do is find a theory that fits the behavior I've seen. Plus explaining Ronyon's panic attack out at Angelma.s.s.”
”Wait a minute,” Ornina said. ”Are you saying that Angelma.s.s was attacking hunters.h.i.+ps because it
was frightened of them?””Basically,” Kosta nodded. ”If angels suppress fear, it follows that anti-angels are the essence of it.””What in the world did it have to be afraid of?” Chandris asked. ”We weren't going to hurt it. How could we hurt it?”
”Fear doesn't have to be reasonable,” Forsythe said mildly. ”In fact, for most of the fears Mr. Kosta listed earlier, it isn't reasonable at all.”
”The point of all this is that we need to understand what the angels are actually doing,” Kosta said.
”To especially understand their limitations.”He hesitated. ”Because I think you're going to have to learn to live without them.””What's that supposed to mean?” Pirbazari asked suspiciously.”That's right, you didn't hear about that,” Forsythe said, gesturing toward Kosta. ”Mr. Kosta thinks we should catapult Angelma.s.s out into interstellar s.p.a.ce where it won't be a danger to us anymore.”
Pirbazari's eyes narrowed. ”That's ridiculous. Besides, it seems to have settled down okay.”
”Only because it's chased everyone out of its immediate neighborhood,” Kosta pointed out. ”There's nothing for it to be afraid of anymore. But suppose it happens to notice Seraph someday? No, we've got to deal with it before that, or at least have a plan ready.”