Uller Uprising

d It in St

ion of a First Century New York nightclub. There were no native servants to spoil the illusion, such as it was: the service was fully automatic. Going to a bar

irl wore a long-sleeved gown to conceal a bandage on her right wrist, and her face was ra

ton," he greeted her. "Feel better, now?... Miss Quinton, t

you standing over poor Mohammed Ferriera, fighting like a commando

nd expected him to be fully recovered in a few weeks. Von Schlichten invited her and her escort to join him and Blount. Colonel O'L

g nearly murdered by the people we came to

ichten told her. "It's been playe

l of us," Blount agreed. "You stay on this

m geeks, they wouldn't resent you the way they do. You know, that's a nasty name; in the First Century

i O'Leary supplied. "When you get up north, watch how the peasants kill

use it, the word's pure onomatopoeia. You've learned some of

what the geek name for a Terran

n her enunciator. Even in the absence of any na

." Taking out the geek-speaker, she put it away

were screaming it at you, over on Seventy-second Street, this afternoon. Z

this is just another case of nobody with any right

being a principle you'd like me to bear in mind at the polar mines, when I see, let's say, some labo

are treated at home. Mostly they're serfs hired from the big landowners; it's a fact you can easily verify that permission to join the labor-companies at the polar mines is regarded as a privilege, granted a

workers to handle contragravity power-equipment. I won't deny that there's a lot of unnecessary brutality on the part of the native foremen

atives, never on the gentle and kindly Terrans," she replied. "That'

lichten objected. "The Company employs quite a few ge

. Except that I don't think it's right to employ any people with silic

hi O'Leary declared. "I did a two-year hitch there, w

Federation Space Navy discovered and explored both Uller and Niflheim, which made both planets public domain. The Company was originally formed to exploit Uller alone, but the Federation insisted that both planets wou

ran supervision. We use them because they have four hands, and in the power-driven contragravity armor that's necessary there, they can manipulate more controls and do more things at once than we can. Here on Uller, at the polar mines, there

o months out of the year-mid-September to mid-November at the Arctic, and mid-March to m

es? Aren't there mineral deposits in pl

boils away completely by the middle of the summer. There will be violent circular storms of hot wind, blowing away the light sand and dust and leaving the heavier particles of metallic ores and metals behind. Then, when the winds fall, we move in for a couple of months. It isn't really mining, or even quarrying; we just scoop up ore f

what the native reaction would be," von Schlichten told her. "Independently hired free workers can make themselves rich, by native st

this native, Rakkeed, the one you call the Mad Prophet, is able to find su

ed pretty badly, like the horse-breeders and harness-manufacturers on Terra by the invention of the automobile, or the coal and hydroelectric interests when direct conversion of nuclear energy to electric current was developed, or the railroads and steamship lines at the time of the discovery of the contragravity-field. Naturally, there's a lot of ill-feeling on the part of merchants and artisans who weren't able or willing to adapt themselves to changi

, neither caravan-driving nor caravan-raiding has been a paying business, and our air-patrols have made caravan-raiding suicidal as well. So the Zirks don't like us. The only thing they know or are willing to learn is handlin

ior rank, picked them up; after a good-natured wrangle wit

Firkked's afraid his feudal nobility is going to try to force a Runnymede on him, so he's been currying favor with the urban merchants; that makes him as pro-Rakkeed and as anti-Terran as they are. At Krink, King Jonkvank

i O'Leary said, pausing on his way from the table. "He's as bloody-mind

ad, of course. The Kragans are the only real friends we have on this planet." He thought for a moment. "Miss Quinton, are you doing sociographic research-work here, in addition to your Ex-Rights work?" he asked. "Well, let me advise you to pay some attention

r. Paula Quinton objected. "You find races like that all

ary, returning with the jugs, wanted to

ng that thing of Stan

with Stanley-Brow

u read it in Stanley-Browne, it's wrong. You know, I don't think she's run in

ook, you're going to Skilk, in the next week, aren't you? Well, do you think you could get all y

e I coul

g. Suppose we leave here in my command-car, go to Kankad's Town, and wait there till the Aldebaran gets in. That would give us about two to three hours. If you think the Kragans are 'pathetic cu

rving as mercenary soldiers for

. We fought a little war with them, beat them rather badly in a couple of skirmishes, and then made a deal with them. That was before my time, when old Jerry Kirke was Governor-General. He negotiated a treaty with their King, bought their rievers'-forts

cheme to indoctrinate me with the Uller Company's side of the case and blind me

, or impair your ability to observe and draw accurate conclusions. Just stay scientific about it and I'll

and they had taught Paula Quinton some twenty verses of The Heat