Desperate Games (6 page)
Authors: Pierre Boulle
Much to their great fury, the literary
Nobels
had not always managed to win their case and it would have been inhuman to refuse them this innocent satisfaction. Besides, when the meaning of the passage from Milton had been explained to the scientists and they had thought about it, they admitted that the quotation was very relevant: Science could be considered as symbolising the spirit of Goodness, and political forces that of Satan.
Examples illustrating this point were easy to find.
…We have given you fire. It was intended to keep you warm in the winter and cook your food. You used it to forge swords and burn down villages.
We have invented machines to bring relief to humanity. You have transformed them into engines of death, on the earth, the sea and in the air.
We have given you energy in all its forms. You have used it to raze whole cities to the ground…
At the conclusion of this warning, Honoured Presidents, we take as proven that you are the least qualified to hold the reins of power in this world or in any of its parts. The depressing outcome of your reigns was that you have worn yourselves out with puerile jealousies, in sterile discussions and wretched quarrels, before destroying whole peoples in deadly wars which were contrary to the scientific spirit, wars which you regarded as being impossible to avoid, after you had done everything to provoke them by your blindness, your ignorance and your recklessness.
Thus we have arrived at the purpose of this message. Having met in a plenary session, all of us
Nobels
, the
Nobels
of science,
Nobels
of peace, and
Nobels
of literature, are
unanimous
in judging that our duty is to terminate a bizarre and dangerous situation.
We demand of you that you carry out the only action by which you can be of some use to the world: resign, relinquish all your functions and hand them over to Science, which will take on the task of running the Earth in the best interests of all. According to our judgment in fact, Science alone is qualified for this task. The clumsy experiments carried out in the past by other international organisations have all ended in failure, and it was inevitable that it should be so, for their delegates, designated by insane governments, could not help being devoid of intellect and reason.
Honoured Presidents, we, the
Nobels
, do not demand power for ourselves. We will make sure that it is entrusted to people who are young enough to demonstrate their dynamism and authority and who have shown signs of their wisdom and scientific knowledge, which we alone are qualified to judge.
After your resignation, which we would like to happen immediately on receipt of this letter, and while we wait for the government which the world feels it urgently needs, we shall play the roles of provisional guardians of the administrative organisations as they exist at present, and which you should kindly leave in place. Those chosen by us will then take charge of concentrating the present hotchpotch into a few central coherent ministries.
We have only a few further remarks to add. Though we are convinced that your conscience will have been touched by these truths and that you are prepared to retire, we have however anticipated a contrary outcome and have made the following arrangements:
1. With no consideration of our respective nationalities, we have all exchanged the results of our most recent research in our various fields. We would like to emphasise that some
of the results would be of special interest to you in the improvement of your offensive and defensive armaments. In addition we have vowed that everything discovered by one of us would be immediately communicated to all the others.
2. Please be aware also of the following fact, which will probably concern you more for the time being: that a large number of little-known scholars, enlisted by you in the service of your so-called national defence and also a considerable number of technical experts working secretly with the same goals were released by us, the
Nobels
, from their oaths of secrecy and they have agreed to follow us.
The following, Honoured Presidents, is the state of affairs at the time of writing:
Soviet scholars and technical experts not only know about the latest scientific theories developed in the United States, concerning antimatter and cosmic radiation, but also about the practical procedures for the industrial manufacture of our most secret nuclear weapons, their precise range, the precision of the most recently developed American rockets, as well as the number, extent and coordinates, almost to a metre, of their stocks.
In return, American scholars and technical experts are no less well informed about the military secrets of the Russians, even about the locations of underground shelters for the general staff and the government.
The same is true (and here we are quoting some random examples discovered by our own initiatives) of mathematicians who are specialists in Chinese numerals, who have complete knowledge of the confidential codes developed by their colleagues in other nations. Elsewhere, Israeli experts in this field are able to decipher in a few minutes the most secret Chinese messages.
Lastly, as a final sample of the measures we, the
Nobels
, have taken, to assure the triumph of the scientific revolution
and
to safeguard the Earth, we wish to inform you that all the studies conducted concerning chemical and bacteriological warfare have now been distributed to laboratories all over the world.
We have enclosed as attachments to this letter copies of documents considered by you to be top secret (concerning the process of industrial manufacture, the location of various stocks, confidential figures, etc.) which will show you that our assertions are in no way idle boasts.
We hope, Honoured Presidents, that both reason and our reasons will convince you at the same time of your unworthiness and of the necessity of carrying out the action which we expect, with the least possible delay.
There followed, in alphabetical order, the signatures of all living
Nobels
.
The date of the world festival was fixed for 1st August, after consultation with meteorological experts, who promised that day would bring sufficiently fine weather conditions on all the continents and glorious weather in New York, where the festival would be celebrated with the greatest pomp, in the presence of the President. Such a festival should obviously be celebrated on the same date in all the towns and villages in the world. The only problem for the scholars was that they would not be able to be everywhere at the same moment, due to the time difference.
The experts had not been mistaken. A clear sky lit up the former United Nations building when Fawell, the leader of the first world government, came out of it, escorted by several officials, and after a pause in front of the photographers, he took his seat in his car, to go and join the parade.
The world government had been operating for several months, and had at first found itself facing the problem of residence. After a few hesitations, the United Nations building, which had been emptied in a matter of days of its incompetent occupants and its unusable dusty archives, was chosen as provisional accommodation, while they were waiting for the construction of an imposing centre, worthy of providing a home for the brain and the heart of the world, and for which Fawell was preparing the plans. The choice of New York had not been criticised, as the city provided obvious facilities for communicating with the rest of the world and had long possessed quite an international character, in its population and lifestyle.
What was perhaps most surprising about the scientific revolution was the ease and rapidity of its success, to such an extent that its developers found themselves confronted sooner than expected with a mass of details which had not yet been studied. Mrs Betty Han’s prediction had been correct: at the start of the twenty-first century, more or less all over our planet, the leaders had become tired of governing, exhausted by their sterile efforts to resolve problems which were beyond their competence, and all the peoples of the world had a vague awareness of the situation. The letter from the
Nobels
arrived just at the right moment and the evidence contained in it impressed everybody. Their prestige and the weight carried by their unanimity (the internal divisions had been carefully hidden from the public) made an enormous impression. Finally, their initiative in doing away with the concept of essential secrets by bringing down scientific barriers made the positions of heads of state untenable. Almost all of them gave in and handed in their resignation immediately. A few rare ones who resisted were obliged to do the same when they were swept aside by the torrent of public opinion which imperiously demanded that they depart.
Fawell had won the competition brilliantly. Yranne and Mrs Han tied for second place. In fact the mathematician’s
composition raised him a fraction of a point above the psychologist, but the jury agreed with O’Kearn’s opinion: the psychologist deserved to have her mark raised by the same fraction, due to her decision to check herself the integrity of the envelope containing the exam topic, not trusting anyone, not even the
Nobels
. Such audacity revealed that she had character, and one should take that into account in a test intended to judge suitability to govern. With Zarratoff coming third, the promoters of the scientific world government became its principal members, which was only fair. It was left to Fawell himself to designate his vice-president. After hesitating a little, he chose Yranne, whose clarity of thought and mathematical ability to simplify things he appreciated. These qualities would be valuable in putting the world in order. He reserved the right to seek the advice of Betty often, concerning problems requiring subtlety and a keen psychological sense.
As soon as he was elected, he started to put into practice the programme which he had outlined in general terms. This started off quite well, but more slowly than he had foreseen. There was no avowed opposition but there was a certain listlessness in carrying out the plans, which worried him. As Yranne could not suggest any remedy for this apathy, he asked Betty for her opinion.
‘Lack of enthusiasm,’ she said without hesitation. ‘If you remember, I predicted it. The people certainly respect science, but they don’t have the same feeling for it as we do. The conception they have of it is not sufficient to fire their spirit momentarily and make them increase their efforts. It is necessary to excite their senses.’
‘I agree with you completely. We will never achieve anything great without passion, and that is what seems to be lacking. But do you know of any means of arousing such fervour?’
‘There are very simple means.’
And she mentioned several initiatives which, from her experience, ought to be effective. She thought that enthusiasm for a
world state could be provoked by a world anthem, a world flag and a world festival of music, a parade and a fireworks display. These measures were discussed during a council of ministers and adopted after a long debate, despite opposition by Zarratoff who disapproved of such childishness.
As the festival was to be celebrated in all the cities of the world, the members of the government had gone to the main ones to preside over the ceremonies. In New York, the official procession with Fawell at its head made its way first towards Science Square. Washington Square, at the end of Fifth Avenue, had been renamed thus, and it was here that the parade was to take place.
Almost all over the world other Science Squares had appeared, at famous sites whose famous names had been mercilessly sacrificed: Red Square in Moscow, Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris, and Trafalgar Square in London. They were the starting places for all of the events. On each of them a grandiose monument was to be set up, in memory of the great victories of the human mind. The plans had been drawn up but, as the festival could not be postponed, provisional installations had been put in their place, an archway of greenery, made of intertwined olive branches, at the request of the peace
Nobels
. The procession stopped at the base of this arch. Flanked by O’Kearn and Sir Alex Keene, who had insisted on keeping close to the President, Fawell placed a simple crown of laurel in front of a column dedicated to the martyrs of science. Betty had suggested this ceremony, which would create an atmosphere of reverence, suitable for preparing the crowd for the emotions which would be skilfully evoked at intervals throughout the day. Then he withdrew while the orchestra struck up the world anthem.
The composition of this anthem had caused quite a lot of discussion among the members of the government. Some of them were of the opinion that there was already an international song, and that it was only necessary to adapt this ‘Internationale’,
modifying a few phrases to make them express the glory of science. But the opposing opinion prevailed. The majority were of the opinion that the spirit of revolution was not that of the proletariat, and that, even if some passages could be made use of, by adopting it they would be tactlessly reawakening political feelings which no longer made sense and which, on the contrary, the scholars wanted to stifle.
It was therefore decided to compose a new song, but so as not to puzzle people too much, who could still remember having their own national tones in their ears, and again on Betty’s advice, it was to be inspired just as much by the music as by the words of the national anthems of the now defunct countries.
It was the first time for it to be played in public and Fawell listened to it with curiosity and a little apprehension. The greatest composers of the time had worked on the music. They had succeeded quite well in the exceptional achievement of blending together into an almost harmonious whole rhythms in which, by turns, one could recognise ‘God Save the King’, ‘La Marseillaise’, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, ‘The Internationale’, and not forgetting Thailand’s ‘Sansoen Phra Barami’, Turkey’s ‘Istiklal Marsi’, India’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’, and many other former national melodies.
The words provided the greatest difficulty. The government scholars had at first come to an agreement about having a text to the glory of science according to their own instructions but the
Nobels
, who considered this to be an extremely important decision, demanded that they be consulted. When they were shown the rough draft, many of them considered it far from satisfactory. The peace
Nobels
demanded that the emphasis should be more on their speciality. The literary
Nobels
saw before them nothing more than the work of a versifier. So each of them set about proposing corrections, only to end up finally with a composition in which there was no mention of the scientific ideal and which was unanimously turned down. The need
to match the words with the variations in rhythm only added to the difficulty of the task.
Finally however a text appeared with which everyone could agree. It started in the following way, based on a melody inspired by
God Save The King
, and which was selected as a solemn overture by the musical experts for its almost religious quality:
Ra-di-ant un-i-verse,
We are your chil-dren
All your chil-dren.
The music then followed the rhythm of the former ‘Internationale,’ with the following words:
We’re thirst-ing after much know-ledge,
We want to pe-netrate its laws,
And find the se-cret of its birth,
And the cen-tre of our faith.
Then suddenly the tones of
La Marseillaise
burst forth:
Oh sac-red love of Sci-ence,
You alone shall guide our minds,
You alone can make us live in hope
For but one world full of peace,
For but one world full of peace…
However this text was not deemed satisfactory by everyone, and a commission was appointed to perfect it. On that day of the first world festival, the music was satisfactory and suitable. This was Fawell’s opinion, who, after giving a fleeting glance at the crowd, felt that there was an impression of harmony becoming manifest, which was giving rise to a certain emotion.
He got back into his car, and, still standing, and making a gesture of response to the cheering, he slowly drove up part of Fifth Avenue, to take his place on the official platform set up at Madison Square.
While twice smiling and gesturing benevolently at the crowd, he looked with a critical eye at the double line of new banners which decorated the avenue.
The matter of world banners had been the subject of debates just as lively as those about the anthem. The usual loud colours of the flags of former days were excluded, as being too evocative of the nationalist past. A plain white material symbolising peace was judged to be too simplistic and unsuitable for exciting the least emotion. So someone suggested that the banner should bear the portrait of a scholar who personified the greatest development in ideas. The idea seemed to be an interesting one, and the clan of physicists very quickly agreed on Einstein. Fawell approved of this choice, and it seemed to him no serious scientific objection could be made to it. What is more, the great scholar had the advantage of being known to people due to innumerable images of him. His face, with its deeply marked features, framed by the famous halo of untidy hair, was well suited to arouse a romantic enthusiasm, if the image was created by a talented artist.
Alas, this proposal immediately rekindled the rivalry between the physicists and the physiologists among the
Nobels
. After furious protests the plan had to be abandoned, and as none of the names proposed subsequently could satisfy all the scholars, Fawell had to give up the idea and look for another emblem.
This time it was Yranne who found, with the perfect logic of a mathematician, a solution acceptable to all.
‘We are quarrelling about our differences,’ he said, ‘but we should do the opposite. You know, there is one point on which all the scientists agree. We essentially have the same ideal. The central focus of all our efforts, our research, is the truth.’
A murmur of approval greeted his words, as hopes arose of getting out of the tricky situation which they had got bogged down in.
‘Therefore the world banner should symbolise truth. What’s more, the minds of ordinary people should be able to understand it clearly.’
‘We are agreed on these general points,’ the scholars responded, ‘but how can we devise a symbol of truth which is understandable to ordinary minds?’
‘We don’t have to devise it at all,’ cut in Yranne. ‘It already exists. The symbol of truth, for everyone in the world, is a naked woman coming out of a well.’
Quite a long silence greeted this conclusion. Matured by years of patient studies, and frequently reaching the point where they had to consider apparently crazy things, (the results of their experiments), it was not the scholars’ practice to reject
a
priori
an unusual proposition, however bizarre it might appear at first sight. They always made it a rule to analyse the content. So they reflected before expressing their opinion. And having thought about it, they felt forced to conclude that it was the only suggestion which would get them out of an awkward situation.
‘It’s an idea which is brilliant in its marvellous simplicity, and I can recognise in it the force of mathematical reasoning,’ was O’Kearn’s comment when he was informed of it.
They consulted the
Nobels
again, who followed the same intellectual train of thought and all finally agreed. A prototype of the banner was immediately created by a renowned painter. An actress famed for her beauty allowed her body to be used as a model, and the first version was accepted with unanimous enthusiasm.
Thus it came about that Fawell went up Fifth Avenue between two lines of banners representing Truth, completely naked, to which a light breeze lent graceful and at times sensual undulations. At the same time in Moscow, Yranne, whose task was
to preside over the ceremony there, was studying Red Square, which was decorated with the same emblems, while Mrs Betty Han, who was in Paris for the same purpose, was assessing the effect produced on the Champs-Elysées. Fawell was trying to read in the eyes of the crowd their reactions to the symbol on the new flag. To tell the truth, it seemed to him that he could detect a feeling that resembled more astonishment than emotion. He was upset, but consoled himself with the thought that some time was needed to become accustomed to the innovations of progress.
