Island Worlds by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani Read Free Book Online Page B

manifesto from his pocket and handed it to Fu. "This is what the Earth Firsters are going to put before the U.N. and the Space Council in a few days. They asked that we refrain from showing this around before they go public, but screw 'em. I don't owe them any favors." He found himself telling Fu the whole story; about his plans, the party, his talk with Bob and his revelatory viewing of holo programs that day. There was no real reason for saying all this, except that he had to talk to somebody, and he sensed a kindred spirit in Fu.
    Fu handed the paper back. "I've been wondering when it'd come to this. It's been in the air a long time. It's only the first move, you know."
    "I got that impression. Carstairs referred to it as an 'opening campaign.' What I can't figure is why the McNaughtons are backing it."
    "I can't help you there. Big-business practice isn't my field. My field is media history and trend, and I know that the fastest way for a government to bring any medium to heel is to threaten to yank its broadcast license. That's the history of control, my friend. Once you control licensing, everything else falls right into your hands." He surveyed the litter of empty plates and bottles atop the table. "I think we've done all the damage we're going to do here. Do you feel up to some slumming or are you too tired?"
    "I'm up to it," Thor said. "Are you offering to be my guide?"
    "I can save you a lot of time. I'll steer you to just the kind of place your friend Robert Ciano would consider to be most educational. And all of it free, gratis."
    "Then lead on." They walked back to his rented vehicle and Fu twirled his walking stick like a baton. The streets were as crowded as ever. Thor looked up and could not see a single star. The air of Los Angeles was clean these days, but it was so ablaze with light around the clock that on the clearest night it was difficult to see a full moon.
    Fu examined the battered little electrocar with a critical eye, poking it here and there with his stick. "Good choice," he pronounced at last. "Very inconspicuous. What do you usually drive?"
    "'A 2045 Porsche."
    "I might've known. Manual drive?"
    "The works. I even brake it manually. Or should I say pedally?"
    Fu climbed into the vehicle and propped his stick between his knees. He leaned forward and keyed a destination into the dash control. '"Our first stop will be the Watts development. Ever been there?" Thor shook his head. "Well, it can be a rough place. If we should run into trouble, just remember: take no prisoners, call no cops and just walk away from it if you're in any condition to walk. That is, unless you feel like spending the next few months in the never-never-land of the L.A. court system."
    "It's that bad?" Thor asked.
    "My, my," Fu shook his head in wonderment, "you have been out of touch!"
    Thor leaned back in his seat and watched the cityscape go by. All of the most splendid buildings were old ones. With their nighttime illumination, they gave the skyline a fairyland look. But Thor knew that, close up, most of them would be shabby and dilapidated.
    "How about you?" Thor asked. "How did you come to do a study on changing attitudes toward the push into space?"
    "Changing popular attitudes," Fu corrected. "The attitudes of people who think seriously about it have changed little if at all, for or against. People who take the trouble to study, to read and keep track of developments, usually form their own opinions. Popular opinion, mass culture, that's something completely different and that's where holovision comes in. The vast majority of people in the First World and much of the Third get virtually all of their information about the world around them from the holos. It's the most effective propaganda tool ever invented." He was gesticulating enthusiastically, clearly onto his pet subject.
    "It's replaced virtually all other media. Radio is gone except for intervehicular communication. Television is obsolete because holo is so much