(eng) Michael Moorcock - Oswald Bastable 02 by Land Leviathan

Author:Land Leviathan [Leviathan, Land]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I commented on the massive egotism of the man. Even his namesake had somewhat nobler motives than simple vengeance in releasing his Huns upon the world.

'Certainly,' agreed Korzeniowski, 'but there is a messianic quality about Hood. He pursues the equivalent of a religious jehad against the enslavers of his people. We have had leaders like that in Poland. You would not understand such feelings, I suppose, being British, but I think I can. Moreover, whatever your opinion of his character (and we know little of that, really), you must admit that he is something of a genius. First he united a vast number of disparate tribes and countries, fired them with his ideals, and worked with amazing speed and skill to make those ideals reality.'

I said that I did not doubt his ability as a strategist or, indeed, his intelligence, but it seemed to me that he had perverted a great gift to a mean-spirited ambition.

Korzeniowski only added: 'But then, Mr Bastable, you are not a Negro.'

I hardly saw the point of this remark, but dropped the subject, since there was nothing more I had to say on it.

It was perhaps ironic, therefore, that a couple of months later, having sounded out possible 'employers', we sailed for Bantustan with the intention of joining that country's navy. Bantustan had been better known in my own world as South Africa. It had been one of the first colonies to make a bid for independence during those pre-War years when O'Bean's inventions had released the world from poverty and ignorance. Under the leadership of a young politician of Indian parentage called Gandhi, it had succeeded in negotiating a peaceful withdrawal from the British Empire, almost without the Empire realizing what had happened. Naturally, the great wealth of Bantustan - its diamonds and its gold alone - was not something which British, Dutch and American interests had wished to give up easily, yet Gandhi had managed to placate them by offering them large shareholdings in the mines without their having to invest any further capital. Since most of the companies had been public ones, shareholders' meetings had all voted for Gandhi's schemes. Then the War had come and there was no longer any need to pay dividends to the dead and the lost. Bantustan had prospered greatly during and after the War and was well on its way to becoming an important and powerful force in the post-War political game. By building up its military strength, by signing pacts with General Hood which ensured him of important supplies of food and minerals at bargain prices, President Gandhi had protected his neutrality. Bantustan was probably one of the safest and most stable small nations in the world, and since it required our experience and our ship, it was the obvious choice for us. Moreover, we were assured, we should find no racialistic nonsense there. Black, brown and white races lived together in harmony - a model to the rest of the world. My only reservations concerned the political system operating there.

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