The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire

KLORATHY TO JOHOR FROM VOLYEN.

Since I last reported, I have (a) visited Ormarin on Volyendesta, now out of hospital; he is recovered and ready for the future, which he is preparing himself for by a judicious and sober study of the histories of certain of our planets; (b) flown over Volyenadna, large areas of which show a reddish tinge; and (c) been travelling Volyen from end to end.

Incent sent me a message saying that he was feeling well enough to leave his retreat: he wanted to test himself. He too has been wandering over Volyen. I have encountered him twice.

First, in a small town where there was unrest, rioting: immigrants, settled there from PE 70 and PE 71, were clashing with the locals. As you will have heard, these two planets have thrown off Volyen rule, and by the processes of logic usual in primitive minds, the unfortunate immigrants, who have been happy and loyal Volyen citizens for a long time, were suddenly designated Sirians and possible traitors by the mobs.

I was there with 33, 34, 37 and 38, summoned from their work on Volyendesta, to do what we could to mitigate the worst excesses of the mobs. We were of course in disguise, and I was not recognized by Incent, who was seated on an embankment above the rioters, watching. His very presence could have been taken as an incitement. Sombre, white-faced, tragic in mien, but above all merely an onlooker – it would have taken only an unlucky chance to make him a target. I assigned 33 to watch him, unobserved. Then I sent him a message suggesting that he might care to join me and others in real, responsible work. To this I received no reply. The next time I saw him was yesterday, here in Vatun. Again it was a mob scene. Streets of houses were burning, and a small army of mostly young Volyens were destroying everything in their way, with screams of 'Down with..." To the fire with...' The names were those of local shopkeepers, mosdy immigrant Volyenadnans. Incent leaped from among them onto a low bridge that crossed the street where houses were burning on either side. Smoke, the tossing flames, the seething crowds beside themselves with rage – and there was our hero, shouting – or, rather, screaming – to make himself heard. 'You have to realize... no, listen to me... you are betraying everything that makes you real, responsible individuals, no, you must listen... You are at this moment at the mercy of your animal brains... Did you know that...' Below him the front ranks of the mass stopped momentarily to stare up, their mouths agape, arrested by astonishment, bewilderment – but above all by this check on the flood of their emotions. The shadows of the flames and smoke darkened the mass of faces. For a moment there was a near-silence, in which flames roared and some people at the back chanted, 'Down with... we'll bring him down...' 'Every man of you has in your head two brains, well, more actually, but one is an animal brain, and when that gets control then you become like animals, and that is what you are now, you are a herd of...' The mass screamed with derisive laughter. 'If we wanted a lesson in biology, we'd ask you,' screamed back our 37, from among them, to deflect their rage. As the mass turned to see who it was speaking for them, in terminology certainly not possible to them at this time, 38 ran out to grasp Incent, who was in danger of toppling forward into the crowds, who would have torn him apart. 'Listen,' Incent was shouting, 'listen to me... you are all under the control of your primitive brains, can't you see that? You have regressed a million years and...' At this he was hauled back onto the bridge by the resourceful 38 and husded along to where I was. We grasped him by the arms and ran him out of sight along a street the mob had not reached.

'But it's true,' Incent was reiterating as we ran.

We left him in a small bar that was empty, telling him to stay there till we got back, and at once went out to see what we could usefully do. It was all very bad. The noting, looting, fighting went on, and when I got back to the bar it was closed, with no sign of Incent.

Do not be too discouraged about Incent! I can feel that he is actually mending and is no longer an open channel for the depredations of Krolgul.