The Disestablishment of Paradise Read Online Free Page B

was little to say and no new messages had arrived. ‘So I wanted to talk to everyone. Get some feedback from you on how we ought to deal with
this. We’ve faced emergencies before, and come out all right, but this is a bit more radical. Obviously, the first thing we need to do is get more info on what the proposal actually is. We
don’t know what we are fighting until we know exactly what those monkeys on the Economic Subcommittee are suggesting.’ There was a murmur of agreement from round the table.
‘Right. But we must not just stand back and wait until they respond. We know enough already. We know the kinds of minds we are dealing with. We know that we are not loved by those who cannot
see the trees for the timber. And if Ahab is right, we only have a few weeks, and that means that someone is manipulating the timetable behind the scenes. We’re on a war footing from now on,
lads and lasses. We are going to need all the friends in high places we can get, so get your address books out. And let’s not be downhearted – we’ve fought ba les before, and have
won, and we do have plenty of friends. So. OK. Any comments?’
    For most of the people at the table the news was such a shock that they were having trouble getting their heads round it. They sputtered rather than fired.
    ‘Surely what they are doing is unconstitutional,’ said Tania Kowalski, a tough-looking biochemist who had seen action among the dying sequoia of northern California, and who knew all
about legal battles.
    ‘I doubt it,’ replied Hera. ‘These are the ones who write the rules. They’re all lawyers and accountants. They’ll be working within guidelines. The most we might be
able to do is challenge those guidelines. But that takes time.’
    ‘Well, lodge a protest anyway,’ said Tania. ‘Let them know they’re in for a fight. We’ll sort out the details later.’
    ‘Point taken. Make a note, Hemi.’
    Peter Knight, a young specialist in land reclamation who had only been part of the ORBE team for a few months, raised his hand. ‘Can’t we get them out here? Just show them what we
are doing. Take them round. Show them the Largo Archipelago where the MINADEC chemical dump was. What you’ve done there is fantastic. Get them to see it. Once they see what we are doing
they’ll change their minds. We did that on Mirabai when we had a funding crisis and it worked.’
    Hera smiled a weary smile. ‘They’ll have done their homework, Peter. They’ll know all about Paradise. To them the situation is cut and dried. They’ll have looked at how
much the Paradise colony costs in subsidies and maintenance. They’ll have weighed those against alternative demands for capital investment – new planets waiting to be opened up –
and against the income and advantage derived from the present investment in Paradise. And that’s it. As far as they are concerned this planet is in deficit. A generation or two ago this would
not have happened.’ She looked round the room and those who had spent longest working on Paradise, and knew its history, nodded. ‘But now?’ Hera looked at Peter Knight.
‘Here’s an irony for you, Dr Knight. The ORBE project owes its existence to a resolution passed by that same Economic Subcommittee almost thirty years ago.’ Peter’s surprise
showed on his face. ‘Yes. Its origin was not to do with ecology – that was the slant that Prof Shapiro gave it. Originally the ORBE project was created to solve the problems that were
developing in Paradise’s agro-economy. And that is why the Econ Com lawyers always think of us as troubleshooters – green marines, forest fixers, you name it.’ Hera gestured to
the sky in disgust. ‘And you are absolutely right, Peter: they don’t know the full story about what we do on Paradise, but that’s not for lack of us trying to explain. We’ve
had delegations and fact-finding missions by the bucketload. The last was just eight months ago.’
    One of the ORBE