#665 You Take the High Road- Frank Herbert
Lewis Orne was on his first assignment re-discovering and re-educating a far off planet. He is to make sure there are no dangerous signs of a warring society. Without any evidence of war or armies or aggression he presses the panic button and reinforcements show up, but with no evidence, he is on the hot seat. He can’t prove that these people are violent, but he has a hunch, and has to prove that to the investigator from I-A. The I-A officer is skeptical, assuming that Orne is nothing more than a mere nervous first timer. When he asks what gave him a bad feeling, Orne responds:
“They have no spirit, no bounce. No humor. The atmosphere around this place is perpetual seriousness bordering on gloom.”
After investigating himself, the I-A team finds subtle but sure-fire evidence of military presence and Orne is validated and promoted. Would these people even know what peace was without war?
“The most important point on the aggression index: peaceful people don’t even discuss peace. They don’t even think about it. The only way you develop more than a casual interest in peace is through the violent contrast of war.”
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