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‘I think, actually, that we could make them swallow any kind of nonsense with a bit of skill, but I don’t think it would be good politics. A threat of this kind would discredit us in the eyes of the world, or rather of the people, and we need their support, or at least their benevolent neutrality. They would accuse us of wanting to install a dictatorship. This is not the way we should proceed.’
‘So how then?’
The Chinese woman kept silent, screwing up her beautiful slanting eyes a little.
‘Our strength lies in our reputation for wisdom. We must preserve and reinforce this reputation at all costs… What we need is a revolution supported by everyone. No, don’t protest. I believe that it is extremely easy to achieve, much easier than your ultimatum accompanied by threats. It’s sufficient to persuade all the leaders of government to give up their power.’
‘Sufficient! They’ll never agree to it.’
‘They will agree to it,’ Betty asserted, ‘and the people of the world will be on our side if our plan is presented with skill and supported by irreproachable authorities. After the initial surprise and the first bad-tempered reactions, I am convinced that not only will they accept our plan but that they will be grateful to us for freeing them
of an unbearable burden, and of duties which have become disproportionate, and only overwhelm them.’
‘It is certainly clear,’ commented Fawell, ‘that a change seems to have taken place during recent years within some political factions. A certain apprehension about power has become apparent and at the same time leaders have become vaguely conscious of their mediocrity and incompetence when faced with the problems of our times. I can recall two cases in different parts of the world where there were difficulties in electing a head of state. Candidates hesitated to put themselves forward, and those who finally did so lacked enthusiasm.’
‘So you see: if we offer them the chance to disappear with dignity, they won’t pass it up. And we will have public opinion on our side. As a result of a long, sad series of experiences, which now appear to them in their true light, as catastrophes, the people of the world are also starting to realise that they have always been governed by incompetent people. However, I repeat that we have to act skilfully and leave nothing to chance.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I consider there to be at least two conditions essential for our success. The first is that the project should be under the patronage of and presented by undisputedly important scientists. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying…’ At this point Mrs Betty Han made a pause, and then continued, lowering her voice a little. ‘By this I mean people who are not only scholars but celebrities. Men whose value the world no longer needs to affirm, because both for the peoples of the world and for their leaders, their status is synonymous with knowledge and wisdom… I have no wish to offend you, Fawell, nor you Yranne. I know that you are as bright as those persons I am alluding to, and more so than many of them, but you have no chance of gaining general support if you present the project for a world government as being your own. Only they are capable of succeeding.’
Her words were received with a long reflective silence.
‘I understand,’ Zarratoff murmured finally.
‘Me too,’ said Fawell. ‘You are referring to the Nobels.’
‘Precisely. We must have them on our side and even persuade them to take the initiative on the project. Without them we can achieve nothing; with them we can achieve everything.’
‘Yes, the Nobels are a condition for its success,’ murmured Fawell pensively. ‘Psychology has its good points.’
After a further period of reflection all were of the same opinion. Mrs Betty Han continued, ‘So our course of action is clear. Fawell, you have kept in contact with the most famous and most influential of them. It’s O’Kearn that you must contact and convince first.’
The physicist did not hesitate and got up.
‘I’ll take a plane to New York tonight,’ he said. ‘I’ll see O’Kearn tomorrow morning. But he mustn’t think this is the whim of one isolated individual. You must come with me.’
After some further discussion it was decided that a delegation would present itself to the senior Nobel: Fawell, Yranne, Mrs Betty Han and Zarratoff. These four carried enough weight and represented a sufficiently wide and varied range of the sciences, to be able to speak on behalf of all of them. Having decided this, Fawell asked Betty another question: ‘You spoke to us of two conditions which are essential for success, Betty. What, in your opinion, is the second?’
‘Enthusiasm. It will be necessary to create a surge of passion about our plan…’
They all looked at her with curiosity. The reason was that Mrs Betty Han had a rather unique way of speaking about enthusiasm and passion. She did it with the calm of a mathematician demonstrating a geometric theorem. She continued, ‘The competition organised by the Nobels has made a move in the right direction. But I doubt if that will be enough.’
‘So?’
‘So later we’ll seek means of provoking it. They are available.’
As they separated to go about their preparations, Fawell noticed the absent-minded expression on the face of the mathematician Yranne, which was in contrast to the animation of his colleagues.
‘Something not right?’ he asked him. ‘Don’t you agree that we should make an appeal to O’Kearn and the Nobels?’
The other shook his head.
‘It’s just a simple, bizarre idea. I can make neither head nor tail of it. It’s hardly worth dwelling on.’
‘But?’
‘After listening to your story, I suddenly found myself asking if it wouldn’t be preferable to make an appeal to Joë.’
