I Speak for Earth Read Free

enough. I also know the feeling of coming out of the old world to the new, for I was born one of eight children on an under-mechanized farm, and when I was five years old I knew better how to plant rice in a paddy than how to speak my language. But I say it is not enough. We must also weigh other factors. There is—for one example—civilized behavior. There is etiquette. There is language. There is the question of the social graces. These are the things which make men tolerable to one another. They are not superficial; they are the insulation which we have to prevent us from knocking against others and doing damage by which anger and revenge may be called forth.”
    Briaros nodded. He said, “I think we have an impossible task, friends. I do not know of anyone on Earth who is fit to be chosen. Except possibly—yourself.”
    “You flatter me,” said Wang Tong. “And, I may say, you are also in error. Forgive the bluntness of an old man. But I am old, and I have grown blunt and intolerant by my own standards. How then shall I pass the exacting test of those in the Federation of Worlds?”
    “Don’t underestimate the importance of simple survival,” said Prince Naborit of Thailand suddenly. “After all, GyulKodran did mention that as the prime qualification our representative must possess.”
    Ksesshinsky of the USSR chuckled into the silence that followed the Prince’s dampening remark. He said, “I apologize for ill-timed laughter. But it has just occurred to me what my predecessors might have said on this subject—that of course any citizen of the post-state society would be fit to undertake this task. Indeed, what we are looking for is the man defined as the end-product of Marxist evolution.”
    Ward, who had not spoken since his question launched the discussion, unexpectedly cracked an answering smile. “And I’m pretty sure that
my
predecessors would also have had an answer,” he said. “They’d have insisted upon our selecting one with the indomitable pioneering spirit and the urge to get ahead.”
    The relaxation was spreading. Mrs. Marchbanks said, “Without wishing to usurp any place in the sun for my own people, I’d venture to suggest that if our Chinese colleague is right, an English type would be ideal—with his stiff upper lip, his lack of emotion and his formal manners. Of course,” she added, “you could make out an equally good case for Mr. Katinga, who has had the right kind of experience, or for anyone here at all.”
    “I keep worrying about another point Gyul Kodran made,” said Duleira of Brazil. “Prince Naborit has reminded us that survival ability is at a premium, in Gyul Kodran’s opinion. He also told us, though, that the nature of our choice would indicate a good deal to the Federationers about us.
    “A good point,” said Briaros. “Let us then try and stress what we are rather than what we have been. What are the achievements we regard as our highest, aside from the reforms we’ve made in our social order?”
    People looked dubious. “The matter of medicine?” suggested Mrs. Marchbanks. “Specifically, the regrowth of lost limbs and the use of prosthetic organs?” “Biology, then,” said Briaros, making a note on a pad.
    “I beg your pardon” said Wang Tong softly. “But these prosthetic organs are rather a triumph of engineering than of medicine.”
    “How about the building of our starship?” Ward proposed. “I think that’s important; Gyul Kodran said it wouldprobably be successful.”
    “Engineering, then,” Briaros said.
    “Not just engineering,” said Ksesshinsky. “It’s applied physics, that starship. More to the point, perhaps, they say that pure mathematics is the highest creative activity of our intelligence.”
    “Physics and pure mathematics, then,” agreed Briaros.
    “I don’t think we can altogether sidestep our social reforms,” said Heirach. “We must admit that our advances in this respect are due to our growing knowledge of