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you're essentially the only person hi the world I can talk to on the level, so to speak? With everyone else, I have to remember Fm the Empress. But it's not even that so much as having to put myself in the balance sometimes against everyone around me when it comes to making decisions. Every so often, all the advice I get is one-sided; and sometimes I have to brace myself to turn it all down and go just the opposite way, because when it gets down to it I have to trust my own decision more than all of theirs or else I'm not a fit ruler." "I know what you mean," I said. "Sure you do." She glanced at me for a moment, then looked ahead the way we were walking. "You can't take on responsibility without taking on everything else that goes with it" Page 163 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html She stopped and turned to face me. I stopped also, necessarily, and turned toward her. "That's why it would mean so much to have you with me, Marc," she said. "I know you've got your own work with the time storm. I've only just begun to realize these last few days how important that is. But what you're needed more for, now, is to help me unify this torn-up Earth we've got and put it on a single, working community basis. That's your higher responsibility, at the moment." "And if I'm not with you, I'm against you?" ' "Oh, Marc!" she said, sadly. "I'm not a monster." I felt slightly ashamed of myself. It was a fact that, so far, I had seen nothing hi her that was not reasonable to the point of being admirable. The only evidence I had ever had that contradicted this was contained in the large body of rumor about her; and I bad some experience with rumors, having heard some of the ones that circulated about me. "Well," I said, "how much time are you asking me to invest?" "A couple of years at the most." She looked sideways at me as we walked. "Certainly no more than that" **You think you can take over the world in two years? That's better than Alexander's record, and he was only thinking about the Asian continent.'1 "There arent that many people nowadays. You know that as well as I do," she said. "And it's a matter of contacting just the large population centers. Once those are organized, the small communities in each area and the individuals will want to adjust to the situation on their own." "Two years..." I said. All at once, it seemed like a long time away from here, away from toe library and Porni-arsk*s workroom. "Look," she said, stopping again. Once more we faced each other and, for the first time since I had known her, she touched me, putting a hand lightly on my arm. "Let*s forget about it for today. Why don't we do something different? You let me entertain you for a change." "HowT "We'll fly to my base camp and have lunch there. You can see for yourself what my regular soldiers are tike and why I think it won't take even two years to bring order to the world," "I don't know," I said. *The others may worry.. ,." "Even if they do, it'll do them good," she said. "When they see you coming back safe and sound after going off alone with me, they'll understand I'm no one to be afraid of." "All right" We went back up to the palace. I did not quite feel like telling Ellen or Marie I was taking a solo jaunt into Paula's armed camp, so I looked for Bill or Doc. Doc was the one I found first; and he took the idea of my going calmly enough. In fact, it seemed to me his eyes even lit up a bit at the idea. "Want me to come?" he asked. Page 164 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "It's not necessary-" I checked myself. "Come to think of it, why not? You may be able to see some things there I won't" I sent him to tell Bill we were both going and went back to explain to Paula that there would be two of us, feeling somewhat smug with the notion that I had taken some of the force out of the objections the others would have to my going entirely alone. "Of course, bring him," said Paula graciously, when I mentioned that I couldn't come after aH, unless I bad someone like Doc along with me. It had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |