Part 30 (2/2)

Shanlee laughed in real amusement

”Oh, Brother!” he reproved, in his former pious tones ”You distrust your fellow man; that is a sin”

He rose slowly, the bathrobe flapping at his bare shi+ns, and sat down across the table froht,” he said ”I'll tell you about it I'll tell you the truth, which will be so of a novelty all around”

Shanlee puffed for a ood after his long abstinence

”You knoere really caught off balance when the War ended It even caught Merlin short; infor, of course The whole Alliance caved in all at once Well, we fed Merlin all the data available, and analyzed the situation Then we did so we really weren't called upon to do, because that was policy-planning and wasn't our province, but ere going to move an occupation army into Syste that would embarrass the Federation Government later We fed Merlin every scrap of available information on political and econo-tereneral effects of the War

”The extrapolation was supposed to run five hundred years in the future It didn't It stopped, at a point a trifle over two hundred years from noith a statement that no computation could be made further because at that point the Terran Federation would no longer exist”

The others, who had taken chairs facing hie Ledue asked incredulously ”Why, the Federation, the Federation”

The Federation would last forever Anybody knew that There just couldn't be no ht,” Shanlee said ”We had trouble believing it, too

Remember, ere Federation officers The Federation was our religion Just like patriotism used to be, back in the days of nationalism We checked for error We ain It was no use

”In two hundred years, there won't be any Terran Federation The Governrate

Planets and systems will lose touch with Terra and with one another

You knohat it was like here, just before the War? It will be like that on every planet, even on Terra Just a slow cruone; then every planet will start sliding back, in isolation, into barbarism”

”Merlin predicted that?” Kurt Fawzi asked, shocked

If Merlin said so, it had to be true

Shanlee nodded ”So we ran another conosis You know, Merlin can't predict what you or I would do under given circuroup behavior with absolute accuracy If we nosis, the end would come, not in two centuries but in less than one, and it wouldn't be a slow, peaceful decay; it would be a bomb-type reaction Rebellions Overthrow of Federation authority, and then revolt and counterrevolt against planetary authority

Division along sectional or class lines on individual planets

Interplanetary wars; e fought the Alliance to prevent Left in ignorance of the future, people would go on trying to make do hat they had But if they found out that the Federation was doo to snatch what they could, and end by sht be a planet here and there that would keep enough of the old civilization to serve, in five or so centuries, as a nucleus for a new one Inforo down together in the saht of barbarism for no one knolike that to happen!” Tohtened voice

”Then pull everybody out of here and blow the place up, Merlin along with it,” Shanlee said

”No! We'll not do that!” Fawzi shouted ”I'll shoot the man dead who tries it!”