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Heller called for a cymbal clash for silence. "I know," he said, "that His Majesty wishes to begin his reign in an atmosphere of peace. It is his dearest wish that his subjects be happy and content and no longer disrupted by oppression and turmoil. "Therefore, I propose, for this fourth proclamation, an amnesty. First, I think we should include all the peoples of Calabar and anyone co
He gave a signal and the trumpets and cymbals went. It took a while before he could speak apin. "Then I propose," he said, "that any ex-Apparatus perso
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"And I was going to add, 'And to protect people's homes, the Army is to assist the police until they are reorganized and public calm prevails,'" Heller said quickly. The Army looked surprised, then purposeful. The Domestic Police, all too aware of their shattered condition, looked suddenly pleased. Heller knew he had the table now: that left the people in the streets and homes that were watching. He lifted his head. The cameras were upon him. "His Majesty was very unwilling to.begin his reign with any of his subjects in trouble. There will be plenty of work for everyone rebuilding buildings and parks that have been damaged. Why, I should think Calabar alone could absorb any person unemployed or newly released into the world: every city there needs to be rebuilt, quite in addition to all the construction that will be needed on every other planet in the Confederacy. His Majesty, I know, wishes to lift his whole domain of 110 planets to a grandeur never before known. "Every person who accepts this amnesty must be told that he owes this chance to Mortiiy and that all he requires from them in return is their loyalty and their help to make this a better nation." The crowds in the streets began to cheer. The cameras were not now on him. He wiped his face with his redstar engineer's rag. It had been close. He'd tell the police and Army later that in situ simply meant "on the spot" and in flagrante delicto only meant "caught in the act," if he remembered rightly. At least he had now prevented further riots. Beneficial in its own right and necessary, it happened to be vital, if his luck held, that the name of Earth did not crop up again because of continued battling with the Apparatus: they would be utterly desperate if they thought they would be going back to prison. Four down. Two to go. The next one would have to be quite clever. The last one, if things went wrong, would be awful.
Heller heard someone back of his chair. It was the Countess Krak. She whispered, "Hightee says to tell you to stall all you can. They are in short time." He nodded. The fourth proclamation wasn't back to him yet. He wondered how he could stall further. Krak said, "I heard that measure. Why did you let all the criminals loose?" "Gris wasn't the only person with a blackmail hoard. It prevents Apparatus officers from starting up in the crime business." She didn't make too much sense out of his reply; she also detected an evasion. "You must have had another reason than that." "Be quiet." "But you released several million criminals on the society. Why?" "The state has been corrupt and justice slipshod." He turned and looked at her steadily. "All right. Remember, you asked for it. You might not be the only Lissus Moam." She caught her breath. He was alluding to herself having been a falsely condemned nonperson until just today. Tears started into her eyes. "You did it for me. To celebrate my repining citizenship." "Go away. You don't like softhearted people." "I am ashamed. I love you, Jettero!" "Well, don't hang around here being mushy. Go help Hightee and maybe we can save our friends. A forlorn hope, but maybe." She suddenly kissed him. "May the Gods bless you, Jettero." The crowds cheered. The kiss had been camera'd on Homeview. The Countess Krak was gone. Heller muttered, to the monitors across the room, "You wouldn't be cheering if you knew I was trying:o save your favorite enemy, Earth. Well, it's all up to mathematics now." The fourth proclamation had been handed to the derk for recording. He had stalled all he could. He stood up and signalled for a cymbal clash. "Gentlemen, we earlier passed an informal resolution to outlaw psychology and psychiatry. I wish to incorporate that in the fifth formal proclamation which we are now about to take up. His Majesty has stated that he does not wish to hear of Earth again. If we put these subnets in a public proclamation, we will have to mention Earth and it could come to his attention. Furthermore, the names have already appeared in newssheets. "It would seem to me that this is best covered by acceding to a demand made by the publishers who wish to be protected against things such as lying stories and that other Earth development, PR." There was a snarl from the conference table. They were avid to suppress anything co