Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 71 — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE LITTLE CORPORAL who would get any satisfaction from sitting on top of a world, having everyone run to do as I told them? Reaching that position, yes. 1 was made to build empires—or pull them down. But it’s too easy being a successful dictator. Look back on history. The dictators all decayed in suc- cess, becausethe comparatively easy business of keeping an empire was no outlet for the driving force needed to win _ it. No, I’m no emperor, Jim. _ Making empires is my game.” “So you want to make a new empire—just to break it down again?” asked Win- ter ironically. “Not quite. I want to make a new empire, yes. But Vil have to let someone else break it down. The L.P. again.” Barker was beginning to make sense—dcangerous sense. Winter fought against reason. “The history books are already admitting that I helped human civilisation on a thous- and years,”’ said Barker. “They don’t admit I meant to do it, because they don’t know. When I built the Venusian Empire, there was only one 25 way to do it—to write its” constitution in blood. If I hadn’t done it, it would have taken at least a thousand years before anything like the Earth-Venus Alliance came about. “I couldn’t sail straight to my goal, of course. I had to go away off at a tangent, and Jet I.P. complete the curve.” “And forty million me died.” : “More,” said Barker blandly. “Far more. Forty million died in the war itself. But another twenty million at least died in the building of the empire. I don’t think men ever died more valuably. It. was worth every million.” It was sledge-hammer sense. Inhuman sense. The Earth- Venus Alliance was the most beautiful thing in history. It was something that could not fail. It was hope for thousands of years. Its perfection put an edge in Winter’s voice as he asked: “And what do you want to do now—break it up again?” “Oh, no,” said Barker mildly. “Earth-Venus is per- fect. But Mars isn’t. I want to bring Mars in, too.” Conmiclhoolksxconn =