"And you think Peter's the man."
"He has the ambition you lack."
"And the humanity?"
Rackham shook his head. "Don't you know by now how human you are?"
Bean wasn't going to go down that road. "Why don't you and Graff just leave the human race alone? Let them go on building empires and tearing them down."
"Because the Hive Queens aren't the only aliens out there."
Bean sat up.
"No, no, we haven't seen any, we have no evidence. But think about it. As long as humans seemed to be unique, we could live out our species history as we always had. But now we know that it's possible for intelligent life to evolve twice, and in very different ways. If twice, then why not three times? Or four? There's nothing special about our corner of the galaxy. The Hive Queens were remarkably close to us. There could be thousands of intelligent species in our galaxy alone. And not all of them as nice as we are."
"So you're dispersing us."
"As far and wide as we can. Planting our seed in every soil."
"And for that you want Earth united."
"We want Earth to stop wasting its resources on war, and spend them on colonizing world after world, and then trading among them so that the whole species can profit from what each one learns and achieves and becomes. It's basic economics. And history. And evolution. And science. Disperse. Vary. Discover. Publish. Explore."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," said Bean. "How noble of you. Who's paying for all this now?"
"Bean," said Rackham. "You don't expect me to tell you, and I don't expect you to have to ask."
Bean knew. It was America. Big sleepy do-nothing America. Burned out from trying to police the world back in the twenty-first century, disgusted at the way their efforts earned them nothing but hatred and resentment, they declared victory and went home. They kept the strongest military in the world and closed their doors to immigration.
And when the Buggers came, it was American military might that finally blew up those first exploratory ships that scoured the surface of some of the best agricultural land in China, killing millions. It was America that mostly funded and directed the construction of the inter-planetary warships that resisted the Second Invasion long enough for New Zealander Mazer Rackham to find the Hive Queen's vulnerability and destroy the enemy.
It was America that was secretly funding the I.F. now, developing new ships. Getting its hand into the business of interstellar trade at a time when no other nation on Earth could even attempt to compete.
"And how will it be in their interest for the world to be united, except under their leadership?"
Rackham smiled. "So now you know how deep our game has to be."
Bean smiled back. So Graff had sold his colony program to the Americans--probably on the basis of future trade and a probable American monopoly. And in the meantime, he was backing Peter in the hope that he could unite the world under one government. Which would mean, eventually, a showdown between America and the Hegemon.
"And when the day comes," said Bean, "when America expects the I.F., which it's been paying for and researching for, to come to its aid against a powerful Hegemon, what will the I.F. do?"
"What did Suriyawong do when Achilles ordered him to kill you?"
"Gave him a knife and told him to defend himself." Bean nodded. "But will the I.F. obey you? If you're counting on the reputation of Mazer Rackham, remember that hardly anybody knows you're alive."
; "I'm counting on the I.F. living up to the code of honor that every soldier has drummed into him from the start. No interference on Earth."
"Even as you break that code yourself."
"We're not interfering," said Rackham. "Not with troops or ships. Just a little information here and there. A dollop of money. And a little, tiny bit of recruitment. Help us, Bean. While you're still on Earth. The minute you're ready to go, we'll send you, no delays. But while you're here..."
"What if I don't believe Peter's as decent a man as you think he is?"
"He's better than Achilles."
"So was Augustus," said Bean. "But he laid the foundation for Nero and Caligula."