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warriors become unstoppable soldiers, and the workers become uncomplaining
servants? Open your eyes, boy it's not an accident, it's what nature
intended.Evolution made Mandasars into perfect infantry, perfect strategists,
perfect civilian support... with an iron-willed queen at the top to dictate
what everyone else should be doing. That's the natural state of the Mandasar
world, Jetsam: a crystal-clear division of duty."
"No," Festina said quietly, "that's onlyone natural state of the Mandasar
world. Evolution also provided the other paradigm: castes mingling with each
other, their pheromones balancing each other's personalities. Less aggressive
warriors, less slavish workers, less tunnel-visioned gentles. Not as
ruthlessly efficient, but a way of life where everyone has more breathing
space."
"A way of life where everyone is weak," my father sneered. "Easy prey the
moment some other Mandasar tribe goes onto a segregated military footing."
Festina said, "Really? If turning militaristic was always stronger, wouldn't
evolution get rid of the other possibility after a while? But Mandasar
pheromones are tuned to make both ways of life possible: segregatedand
unified. Historically, I'm sure Mandasars sometimes needed to abandon
everything else and gear up for war... but they also had to be prepared for
peace. Otherwise, what would they do when they'd defeated all their available
enemies?"
"There are always more enemies," my father replied dismissively.
"Maybe," Festina admitted, "if you go out and look for them. But to do that,
you have to invent the peaceful art of boat-building. And navigation. And
cartography. And systems of government that hold your empire together when
your queen is too far away to make every decision for you." She shook her
head. "Success in war always leads to the demands of peace, Admiral. Suppose
tens of thousands of years ago, the Mandasarsdid have a subspecies one hundred
percent devoted to fighting; that breed didn't survive, did it? Either they
killed each other in some prehistoric Armageddon, or they starved to death
because the workers became too bored and stupid to plant crops properly.
Modern Mandasars Mandasar sapiens came out on top because they weren't
one-trick ponies."
She peered up intently at the glass-chested man on the battlements. "Glorify
war if you want, Admiral York. A lot of people do, especially since the League
has made armed conflict so rare. When no one's seen combat for a long time,
some folks get the idea they're missing a primal source of energy. But
fighting is only part of the story for any species, and the other parts are
just as important."
"Other parts only become important after the fighting stops," my father
retorted. "Kill or be killed, Ramos; that's the fundamental issue, and
everything else comes after, if you can spare the time. Don't go writing
poetry until you're sitting on your enemies' bones."
He waved his hand out beyond us, toward the approaching Black Army. They'd
reached the last canal now, the one surrounding the palace like a moat. Soon
they'd be driving their way across, breaching the palisade and storming onto
the palace grounds. My father smiled. "This is what it always comes down to,
Ramos. Naked aggression: might against might. You can rhapsodize about art and
science and anything else you think is a great accomplishment, but nature
doesn't respect that superficial crap. Death is the one reality our universe
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truly acknowledges. That's why Sam and I chose to start a war; I've devoted
myself to life's one overwhelming imperative."
"Killing those who threaten you?" Festina asked.
"Yes."
"Eliminating those who are dangerous to you?"
"Right."
"The strong subjugate the weak?"
"Correct." He lifted his foot, then set it down on Plebon's face again. "You
have ten seconds to surrender or I'll show you how ugly war can be."
"Imay have ten seconds," Festina answered coldly, "but you don't. You're a
dangerous non-sentient, threatening to kill a sentient being... and any nearby
sentients have an absolute duty to stop you. You're also a pompous jerk-off, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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