James H. Schmitz Telzey Amberdon

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to species of monkeys, otters, horses, and sequoia trees that were
"preserved in the Life Banks on Maccadon" but there is no definitive word as
to just what they were preserved from.
Out of this centuries-long, vicious war was founded the Federation of the Hub.
* * *
The Federation is big. We learn in
Legacy that there are twelve hundred and fifty-eight member worlds
(including two hundred and fourteen restricted worlds), with a combined
population of over six hundred billion. This provides Schmitz the room needed
for all sorts of disparate cultures and adventures. If that weren't enough,
there are worlds outside the Hub like Precolonial worlds, I-Fleet territories,
and the domains of various nonhuman intelligent species.
Although the sheer size of the Hub is mentioned several times, Schmitz never
tells us its precise dimensions. Instead we are given the more relevant
measure of how long it takes to travel from world to world. Some Hub planets
are mere hours apart by "subspace" FTL flight. The frontiers are much farther.
Manon is two weeks' travel from the Hub, and Nandy Cline is three.
Neither are we given a timeline for all this. Unlike most science fiction
writers who have written a large number of stories set in a single future
universe, Schmitz organized his stories "horizontally" rather than
chronologically. The majority of the stories, including all of the ones
involving Telzey Amberdon and
Trigger Argee, take place within a very short time span not more than three
years. We are given a cross-section of life in the Hub, rather than a linear
series of adventures taking place one after the other.
Almost all the Hub stories take place 200 years after the founding of the
Federation. But there are only two clues as to how far this is in our future.
One is Trigger's statement about the Old Territories being explored "eleven
hundred years ago." The other is that the dust jacket of the rare collection
A Nice Day for Screaming, and Other Tales of the Hub states that the date is
3500 A.D. But we don't know if that date came from Schmitz or the publisher.
* * *
The physical facts about the Hub are less interesting than the political
facts. But, again, the picture we get from Schmitz is impressionistic rather
than precise.
The Federation is sometimes referred to as the Overgovernment indicating that
it is indeed a
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- Chapter 29
Federation in the political sense, and not just in name. Planetary governments
take care of such things as taxes, police, courts, etc. To outward
appearances, the Federation simply handles defense, colonization, and
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relations with alien species.
But appearances are deceiving. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes.
Because of our vantage point, we get to see more than the average citizen of
the Hub. Schmitz has some exciting tales to tell, and exciting events tend to
draw in the Federation.
The Federation has several major worries. Number one is preventing the return
of the War Centuries.
Second, is protecting the Hub from hostile aliens. And number three is
advancing humanity as a species.
The Federation is ruled by the Council and the Council rules by sending out
members or deputies to direct the activity of the Departments. Telzey's
mother, Federation Councilwoman Jessamine Amberdon, is one, and is a member of
the powerful Hace Committee. (It's very interesting that this is an ethics
committee.)
Often, these officials only pop up after the action is over, and seem mostly
concerned with judging the performance of the actors. As one alien observes:
"The Federation Council, though popularly regarded as the central seat of
authority, frequently appears to be acting more as moderator among numerous
powerful departments."
These Departments include the Psychology Service, the Federation Navy,
Precolonization (or Precol), Conservation, and Outposts. Despite that fact
that Schmitz flew for the Army Air Force in WWII, he has little to say about
the armed forces of the Hub. Heslet Quillan works for Intelligence, but we
never see the organization. Trigger and Tate both work for Precol, but we see
little of that. We never learn much about any of the other Departments of the
Hub except, to a certain degree, the Psychology Service.
The pattern appears to be that each of the Departments goes about its business
as it sees fit, reporting to the Council as needed. When the Council thinks
something is important enough, they send a Deputy, or even a Council Member to
take charge, investigate, or overrule the Department.
The overall impression which Schmitz gives us is of a powerful but loosely
organized government.
Except for the complete absence of any form of hereditary privilege, the
internal structure of the
Federation seems almost quasifeudal. The Departments rule their "fiefdoms"
with great latitude, with the
Overgovernment serving as a court of last resort and occasional overseer much
as did the medieval monarchs. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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