Chee Lan's Loyalty

Satan's World.

The contradictions continue:

"The builders were not unlike Shenna." (XXIII, p. 572)

"...the Shenna, altogether distinct in appearance and culture..." (p. 573)

Not unlike but altogether distinct?

Van Rijn, in his radio message, has ordered Falkayn and Chee Lan, if they are on Dathyna, to return immediately to the Solar Commonwealth to warn of the imminent Shenn attack. Falkayn accepts this order whereas Chee Lan insists on rescuing her shipmate, Adzel. She adds:

"'And van Rijn, no doubt.'" (p. 576)

- but then adds to that:

"'We have to pick up Adzel, you know.'" (ibid.)

This is an important piece of xenopsychology. Chee Lan's loyalty and perceived duty is:

not to van Rijn as a fellow rational being;
not to van Rijn as a citizen of the Solar Commonwealth or as a member of Technic civilization;
not even to van Rijn as her own employer;
but only to Adzel as her shipmate.

She is descended from predators who hunted alone or in small groups and who built treetop trade routes but not territorial nation-states. Her strong sense of duty stops with kin and friends and does not extend to any universal altruism.

Can rational beings be like this? Hopefully, we will find out what they can be like. I was brought up to believe that the morality that I was taught would be universal but obviously it cannot be as simple as that. "Thou shalt not steal" applies only to beings who (i) are capable of formulating a concept of private property; (ii) have reached a stage in their development where they are able to implement such a concept.

Richard Dawkins has convinced me that we have been naturally selected to help others (when I tripped and fell on the street, a lot of people ran forward to help me up) either because they bear the same genes or because they might help us in return and that we experience this latter motivation not as calculating self-interest, which is what it sounds like when expressed in purely biological terms, but as compassion/charity/solidarity etc. Might there be rational beings who do not share this motivation? Anderson imagines t'Kelans and Cynthians.

To settle their argument, Chee Lan pulls a gun on Falkayn and threatens to tie him up and rescue Adzel (and van Rijn) on her own, although with less chance of success. Falkayn laughs and gives in to her blackmail. In Falkayn's shoes, I would have:

wanted to obey van Rijn's order;
accepted Chee Lan's blackmail but not laughed about it.

Obeying orders is kind of important, to avoid chaos. I would never, except in extremely exceptional circumstances, join any military organization where I might potentially be ordered to "Fire!" at living human targets. However, I once attended a trade union conference where it was announced that there was a bomb alert and that everyone should leave the building. As we were leaving, the Union General Secretary, who had been chairing the session and had announced the bomb alert, said, "I can see some people at the back of the hall flapping their arms at me as if to say that the alert is over but I have not yet been told this by anyone from Security so can everyone please continue to leave the building." Almost immediately, he said, "I have now been told by Security that the alert is over. Can everyone please return to their seats?" Needless to say, I followed his directions, not those of people taking it upon themselves to flap their arms about!

On another occasion, returning home, I was faced with a situation where one neighbor was cavorting around brandishing what looked like a bread knife while another, clutching his side, addressed me with, "Get the police, will you!" Needless to say, I did not stop to ask questions but went straight into the house to make an emergency call for the police. This was before mobile phones and it would have been advisable to enter the house before making the call in any case. The decision to call the police, whether appropriate or not, was not mine. I merely implemented it.

If someone is going to cavort about with a bread knife, then I am going to send a uniformed policeman in there before I go in. In fact, the mere sight of an approaching police car was enough. "The pigs are coming." Instant disappearance of perp. I do not live on a street where such incidents are frequent. Once, long ago, two white youths insulted and upset an Asian girl. The girl's father and elder brothers besieged the youths' house and (fortunately) were unable to break down the door. The police came and were thoroughly unhelpful. A City Councillor, who was a street resident, asked the police sergeant to take the two youths into custody for their own protection. The police reply was: "Those two youths are causing no problems. You people are, by gathering and shouting on the street. Go back to your homes." Question: "What should we do if the youths come out and shout more abuse?" Answer: "Call us out." Reply: "But we did call you out and you are blaming us." Fortunately, the two youths left the street soon after and other racists have had the good sense either to stay away or to keep quiet. My involvement: Sheila woke, said, "Something is happening on the street," got dressed and went out to investigate. I slept through it.

Not really a digression: Chee Lan's response to Adzel's (and van Rijn's) plight has caused me to revisit a wide range of relevant experiences.