‘You shall have everything you require. I shall make a formal commitment to do so,’ the President assured her. She was his only hope of getting over the impasse. ‘I give you a completely free hand.’
The first thing that Mrs Betty Han asked for was the setting up of a new organisation, of which she would be the director at the same time as carrying out the duties of vice-president. Thus the Ministry of Psychology was created.
Part Three
1.
The stadium could hold five hundred thousand people, and each seat beyond a certain distance was provided with special telescopic viewers, which allowed the audience member to see the details of the spectacle as well as the people sitting in the front rows. But the stadium was still too small to accommodate the masses who had a passion for the games. All of the television networks had also been mobilised for this event, with relays allowing the broadcasts to be distributed to all corners of the world. All the citizens of the world were therefore able to watch live the finale of the world super-wrestling team championship, which was taking place that evening.
In fact, the whole of humanity was there, or almost all of it. Those who were not among the five hundred thousand privileged ones had abandoned their occupations, their usual hobbies, to settle in front of their television sets before the start of the match, anxious at the thought of missing an exceptional part if they arrived late, or even missing the end, if it concluded with the extremely rapid victory of one team, as had happened once in the course of the semi-finals.
Mrs Betty Han had insisted on presiding over the event herself, and her entrance had prompted a show of warm sympathy for her. As soon as she appeared, surrounded by some important personalities from her ministry, the five hundred thousand spectators, who were already in their seats, stood up and applauded. Betty’s popularity was now immense. The world paid tribute to her as the woman who had dispelled their depressing melancholy, curbed the epidemic of suicides and who, gradually, by judicious means, by audacious innovations and thanks to the brainwaves of the ministry which she ran, managed to restore confidence in their egos to those unfortunate people who had lost it.
Many of her colleagues were jealous of her and did not attend this finale. But Fawell did not think in that way, as he appreciated the excellent results she had obtained, but he had refrained from attending to leave all the glory of the evening to the vice-president. Yranne was present however, together with his friend Zarratoff. He had managed to drag Zarratoff along, in spite of his hatred of all forms of games.
He had been to visit the astronomer that same morning and had found him in the familiar posture he adopted when he was not preoccupied with some problem of government. Leaning on his work table, with a sky map spread out before him, Zarratoff enjoyed speculating about the birth of other worlds and the nature of the universe. Yranne did not let himself be put off by the indignant protests which first greeted his invitation to attend the games.
‘You should be ashamed of disturbing me with that when I’m working. I refuse to devote even a minute to such a trivial spectacle.’
‘I can assure you it will be extraordinary. You must see it, if only to have good empirical reasons to criticise it.’
This argument finally convinced the astronomer, who let himself be taken to the stadium, grumbling all the way.
Many Nobels could also be seen in attendance and they seemed no less excited than the rest of the agitated crowd, waiting tensely for entertainment of exceptional quality.
Mrs Betty Han went to her seat and remained standing, motionless, facing the orchestra. The crowd copied her and the musicians launched into the world anthem, the words of which were now known perfectly by everyone but which was hummed however by many of those present.
In the form of a truncated cone, the stadium was in fact an enormous circus, the floor of which was covered with sand and formed a ring, like that used in boxing, but perfectly circular and not the usual size, which was separated from the spectators by a row of high iron bars, instead of the traditional ropes. The two teams, as well as the three referees, were now standing in the centre of the ring. Each team consisted of two men and two women and all of them wore robes. They were listening motionless to the world anthem. The circumference of the stadium was decorated with banners depicting naked truth, the shapes of which were illuminated by spotlights.
The music stopped. A few whispers arose on the terraces, and then stopped when Mrs Betty Han started to speak. She said simply:
‘I declare the final of the world championship of mixed-team super-wrestling open. My good wishes and those of my ministry go out to all the combatants. Commence, and may the best teams win.’
Then she gave the world salute, in the manner recently decreed by the government, that is by raising both arms parallel over the head, a gesture which symbolised the eternal ascent of science towards progress.
The eight wrestlers responded to her by saluting in their turn. Then Betty sat down, and the spectators did likewise. The lights on the terraces went out, leaving only the ring brightly illuminated. One of the referees introduced the teams.
‘On my right, the Alpha team, representing quantum theory. On my right, the Beta team, which champions Neo-Darwinism.’
Each team saluted again when its name was mentioned and the crowd responded with shouts and cheers. There followed the introduction of the individual athletes.
‘In the Alpha team, Miss Lovely, student of physical sciences.’
The male and female wrestlers were applauded one by one. But the cheering was most enthusiastic for Miss Lovely, a young woman who could not have been more than twenty years old. She had won the public’s hearts for several reasons: she had distinguished herself during the qualifying rounds and the semi-final as a formidable catcher, a marvel of flexibility, agility and courage. What is more there is no doubt that she deserved her pseudonym ‘Lovely’, which she had adopted, according to custom, after the crowd had nicknamed her thus. She was graceful and had a pleasant face, despite the fact that her hair was cut very short, and when she took off her robe, her body was perfectly proportioned, making a pleasing contrast with the rough and coarse figures of the other combatants. These qualities appeared to even greater advantage, for, like the other combatants, both male and female, Miss Lovely was almost nude, clothed only in the smallest of shorts.
The burst of applause which greeted the way she took off her robe, in both a noble and provocative manner, a sort of preliminary striptease which lent a little spice to the game, was as much in homage to her reputation as an athlete as her glorious breasts. It seemed as though she were offering them to everyone present when she raised both arms to the sky, saluting the world again, and turning around several times on the spot to face the five hundred thousand spectators.
‘The bout consists of one round only and ends only when one of the teams is annihilated,’ the referee added.
There was the sound of a gong being struck, and a religious silence descended all over the stadium as the champions prepared themselves for combat: from the sheathes which they wore on the belts of their shorts, they drew their daggers.
2.
The game started in an unusual way. Normally in these sorts of matches, men fought with men first and women with women. This time, one of the most famous wrestlers, a hairy giant with the torso of a gorilla called The Killer, would be grappling with Miss Lovely, whom he dominated due to his monstrous size. He and his teammates had been seen to manoeuvre themselves to make this possible, and a part of the crowd protested vigorously against what they considered an unfair tactic. Miss Lovely would have bee
n the favourite in a fight against any of the women from the Beta team, but if she were eliminated from the start (and what chance did she have against this athlete of a hundred and twenty kilos?), then the Alphas would find themselves in an inferior position straight away. A volley of whistles and boos rose from the terraces. But the main referee raised his hand to call for silence, shaking his head to indicate that none of this was against the rules. Miss Lovely accepted the challenge with a smile and turned to face her opponent.
In fact, the rules of the game stipulated that nothing was forbidden, except leaving the ring or using an weapon other than their dagger, which had to be the model specified by the super-wrestling federation. Apart from these restrictions, everything was allowed: punches, biting, fingers in the eyes, strangulation, and of course, stabbing with their daggers. The whistles gradually faded away and the spectators focused their attention breathlessly on the unequal battle.