Frigid Fracas Read online

firmly and looked into Joe'sface. He had a crisp manner. "Good heavens, yes," he said. "Thatremarkable innovation of using an engineless aircraft forreconnaissance. My old friend, Marshal Cogswell, was speaking of itthe other day. I assume that in advance you purchased stock in thefirms which manufacture such craft, major. They must be booming."

  Joe grimaced wryly. "No, sir. I wasn't smart enough to think of that.Professional soldiers are traditionally stupid. What was the oldexpression? They can take their shirts off without unbuttoning theircollars."

  Philip Holland cocked his head, even as he chuckled. "I detect a noteof bitterness, major."

  Nadine said airily, "Joe is ambitious, thinking the answer to all hisproblems lies in jumping his caste to Upper."

  Joe looked at her impatiently to where she sat on a Mid-TwentiethCentury type sofa.

  Philip Holland said, "Possibly he's right, my dear. Each of us havedifferent needs to achieve such happiness as is possible to man."

  To Joe, he sounded just vaguely on the stuffy side, even through thecrispness. By nature nervous and quick moving, Holland seemed to tryand project an air of calm which didn't quite come off. Joe wonderedwhat his relationship to Nadine could be, a twinge of jealousy there.But that was ridiculous. Nadine must be in the vicinity of thirty.Obviously, she knew, and had known, many men as attracted to her aswas Joe Mauser--And men in her own caste, at that. Somehow, though,he felt Holland was no Upper. The other simply didn't have the air.

  Joe said to him, "Nadine doesn't get my point. I contend that in astrata divided society, it's hard to realize yourself fully untilyou're a member of the upper caste. Admittedly, perhaps you won't evenif you are such a member, but at least you haven't the obstacles withwhich the lower class or classes are beset."

  "Interestingly stated," Holland said briskly. He returned to his chairfrom which he had arisen to shake hands with Joe, and looked atNadine. "You said, on introducing us, that Joe would be glad to meetme, my dear. Why, especially?"

  Nadine laughed. "Because I have been practicing your arguments uponhim."

  Both of the men frowned at her.

  Nadine looked at Joe. "Phil Holland's the most interesting man I know,I do believe. He's secretary to Marlow Mannerheim, the Minister ofForeign Affairs, and simply couldn't be more privy to the innerworkings of government. It was Phil who convinced me that something iswrong with our socio-economic system."

  "Oh?" Joe said. He wasn't really interested. Let society solve itsproblems. He had his own. And they were sufficient unto themselves aswell as the day thereof. However, conversation was to be keptmoving. He needled the other. "I've heard it contended that any typeof government is good given capable, intelligent personnel to run it,or bad if not so managed. What was the example I read somewhere? Bothheaven and hell are despotisms."

  Phil Holland shrugged. "An interesting observation. However,institutions, including socio-political ones, can become outdated.When they do, no matter how intelligent, capable and honest thegovernmental heads, that socio-political system can be a hell. If, atsuch time there are capable, intelligent persons available, they willtake such measures as are necessary to change the institutions."

  Nadine had come to her feet. "The subject is my favorite, but I mustchange. Joe is taking me a-gliding, and I'm sure this frock isn't _derigueur_. You gentlemen will excuse me?" She was off before they hadtime to come to their feet.

  * * * * *

  Joe Mauser settled himself again, crossing his legs. He said, idly,"And you think our basic institutions have reached the state ofneeding change?"

  "Perhaps, although as a member of the Government Category, it shouldhardly be my position to advocate such." He seemed to switch subjects."Have you read much of the Roman _ludi_, the games as we call them?"

  "The gladiators and such?" Joe shrugged. "I've read a bit about them.It's been pointed out, in fact by Dr. Haer, among others, thatbasically our present day fracases serve the same purposes. Thatinstead of bread and circuses, provided by the Roman patricians tokeep the unemployed Roman mob from becoming restive, we give themtrank pills and Telly violence."

  "Um-m-m," Holland nodded, "but that isn't the point I was making rightnow. What I was thinking was that at first the Roman games wereathletic affairs without bloodshed. It wasn't until 264 B.C. thatthree pairs of slaves were sent in to fight with swords. By 183 B.C.the number had gone up to sixty pairs. By 145 B.C. ninety pairs foughtfor three days. But that was just the beginning. They really got underway with the dictators. Sulla put a hundred lions into the arena, butJulius Caesar topped that with four hundred and Pompey that with sixhundred, plus over four hundred leopards and twenty elephants.Augustus beat them all with three thousand five hundred elephants andten thousand men killed in a series of games. But it was the emperorswho really expanded the ludi. Trajan had ten thousand animals killedin the arena to celebrate his victory over the Dacians, not to mentioneleven thousand people.

  "Are you surprised at my memory? The subject has always fascinated me.For one thing, I am a great believer in the theory that historyrepeats itself. As time went on, arenas were built all over theempire, even small towns boasted their own. In Rome, the number ofthem grew so that eventually an avid follower could attend every day,the year around. And as they increased in quantity they also had togrow more extreme to hold the fan's attention. The Emperor Philip, incelebrating the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome, hadkilled a thousand pair of gladiators, a rhinoceros, six hippopotami,ten hyenas, ten giraffes, twenty wild asses, ten tigers, ten zebras,thirty leopards, sixty lions, thirty-two elephants, forty wild horses.I am afraid I forgot the rest."

  Joe stirred in his chair. The other's personality grew on him. Thecrisp voice had a certain magnetic quality that made what he saidimportant, somehow. However, Joe's interest in Roman history wasn'texactly paramount.

  Holland said, "You wonder at what I am driving, eh? Do you realize theexpense involved in getting a rhinoceros to Rome in those days? Not tospeak of hippopotami, tigers, lions and leopards. Few people realizethe extent to which the Romans went to acquire exotic animals to beslaughtered for the edification of the mob. They penetrated as farsouth as Kenya, there are still the ruins of a Roman fort there; asfar east as Indonesia; as far north as the Baltic, and there is evenevidence that they brought polar bears from Iceland."

  Philip Holland snorted, as though in contempt. "But the mob wearied ofeven such spectacle as giraffes being killed by pigmies from theIturbi forest. The games had started as fights between skilledswordsmen, being observed by knowledgeable combat soldiers of awarrior people. But as the Romans lost their warlike ardor and becamea worthless mob performing no useful act for either themselves or theState, they no longer appreciated a drawn-out duel between equals.They wanted quick blood, and lots of it, and turned to mass slaughterof Christians, runaway slaves, criminals and whoever else they couldfind to throw to the lions, crocodiles or whatever. Even this becameold hat, and they turned increasingly to more extreme sadism. Childrenwere hung up by their heels and animals turned loose to pull themdown. Men were tied face to face with rotting corpses and so remaineduntil death. Animals were taught to rape virgins."

  Joe Mauser stirred again. What in Zen was this long monologue on theRoman games leading to?

  Holland said, "By the way, contrary to some belief, the games didn'tend upon Christianity becoming the dominant faith and finally theState religion. Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 A.D. but itwasn't until 365 that Valentinian passed a law against sacrificinghumans to animals in the arena and the gladiator schools remained inoperation until 399. The arenas were finally closed in 404 A.D. but bythat time the Roman Empire was a mockery. In all they last more thanhalf a millennium, but things move faster these days."

  The tone of voice changed abruptly and Holland snapped a question atJoe. "By your age, I would imagine you've participated in the presentday fracases for some fifteen years. How have they changed in thattime?"

  Joe was tak
en aback. "Why ..." he said, hesitated as he got theother's point, then went on, nodding. "Yes. They used to be companysize--a few hundred lads involved. After a while, a battalion sizefracas became fairly commonplace, then about ten years ago acorporation of any size had to be able to put at least a regiment intothe field and the biggies had brigades."

  "And now?" Holland urged.

  "Now a divisional size fracas is the thing."

  "Yes, and if a corporation isn't among the top dozen or so, a singledefeat can mean bankruptcy."

  Joe nodded. He had known of such cases.

  Holland leaned back in his chair, as though all his points had