A Slave is a Slave | Page 7

planet under the Emperor, they may do
so. If not, we will make an end of them and set up a new government
here."

He paused. Chmidd and Hozhet were looking at one another in shocked
incredulity.
"Tchall, they mean it," Chmidd said. "They can do it, too."
"We have nothing more to say to you slaves," he continued. "Hereafter,
we will speak directly to the Lords-Master."
"But.... The Lords-Master never do business directly," Hozhet said. "It
is un-Masterly. Such discussions are between chief-slaves."
"This thing they call the Convocation," Shatrak mentioned. "I wonder if
the members have the business done entirely through their slaves."
"Oh, no!" That shocked Chmidd into direct address. "No slave is
allowed in the Convocation Chamber."
He wondered how they kept the place swept out. Robots, no doubt. Or
else, what happened when the Masters weren't there didn't count.
"Very well. Your people have recorders; are they on?"
Hozhet asked Chmidd; Chmidd asked the herald, who asked one of the
menials in the rear, who asked somebody else. The reply came back
through the same channels; they were.
"Very well. At this time tomorrow, we will speak to the Convocation of
Lords-Master. Commodore Shatrak, see to it that Colonel Ravney has
them in the Convocation Chamber, and that preparations in the room
are made, so that we may address them in the dignity befitting
representatives of his Imperial Majesty." He turned to the Adityan
slaves. "That is all. You have permission to go."
They watched the delegation back out, with the honor-guard following.
When the doors had closed behind them, Shatrak ran his hand over his
bald head and laughed.
"Shaved heads, every one of them. That's probably why they thought I
was your slave. Bet those gorgets are servile badges, too." He touched

the Knight's Star of the Order of the Empire at his throat. "Probably
thought that was what this was. We would have to draw something like
this!"
"They simply can't imagine anybody not being either a slave or a
slave-owner," Erskyll was saying. "That must mean that there is no free
non-slave-holding class at all. Universal slavery! Well, we'll have to do
something about that. Proclaim total emancipation, immediately."
"Oh, no; we can't do anything like that. The Constitution won't permit
us to. Section Two, Article One: Every Empire planet shall be
self-governed as to its own affairs, in the manner of its own choice, and
without interference."
"But slavery.... Section Two, Article Six," Erskyll objected. "There
shall be no chattel slavery or serfdom anywhere in the Empire; no
sapient being of any race whatsoever shall be the property of any being
but himself."
"That's correct," he agreed. "If this Mastership intends to remain the
planetary government under the Empire, they will be obliged to abolish
slavery, but they will have to do it by their own act. We cannot do it for
them."
"You know what I'd do, Prince Trevannion?" Shatrak said. "I'd just
heave this Mastership thing out, and set up a nice tight military
dictatorship. We have the planet under martial rule now; let's just keep
it that way for about five years, till we can train a new government."
That suggestion seemed to pain Count Erskyll almost as much as the
existing situation.
* * * * *
They dined late, in Commodore Shatrak's private dining room. Beside
Shatrak, Erskyll and himself, there were Lanze Degbrend, and Count
Erskyll's charge-d'affaires, Sharll Ernanday, and Patrique Morvill and
Pyairr Ravney and the naval intelligence officer, Commander Andrey

Douvrin. Ordinarily, he deplored serious discussion at meals, but under
the circumstances it was unavoidable; nobody could think or talk of
anything else. The discussion which he had hoped would follow the
meal began before the soup-course.
"We have a total population of about twenty million," Lanze Degbrend
reported. "A trifle over ten thousand Masters, all ages and both sexes.
The remainder are all slaves."
"I find that incredible," Erskyll declared promptly. "Twenty million
people, held in slavery by ten thousand! Why do they stand for it? Why
don't they rebel?"
"Well, I can think of three good reasons," Douvrin said. "Three square
meals a day."
[Illustration]
"And no responsibilities; no need to make decisions," Degbrend added.
"They've been slaves for seven and a half centuries. They don't even
know the meaning of freedom, and it would frighten them if they did."
"Chain of command," Shatrak said. When that seemed not to convey
any meaning to Erskyll, he elaborated: "We have a lot of dirty-necked
working slaves. Over every dozen of them is an overseer with a big
whip and a stungun. Over every couple of overseers there is a guard
with a submachine gun. Over them is a supervisor, who doesn't need a
gun because he can grab a handphone and call for troops.