The Stones of Nomuru
- Автор: Де Камп Лайон Спрэг
- Серия: Viagens Interplanetarias #7
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Stones of Nomuru». Краткое содержание книги:
Mild-mannered Terra archeologist Keith Salazar was just minding his business, digging up the alien past on an out-of-the-way site on the planet Kukulcan, when suddenly he was beseiged by intruders on his scholarly peace: hostile natives, an indifferent ex-wife, and a demon developer with rapacious eyes glued on both his site and his true love.
In the course of protecting his dig, regaining his loved one and vanquishing his rival, Salazar will fight a giant reptilian predator bare-handed, leap into snake-filled pits, engineer the planet's first imperial conquest, lead and train a battalion of alien riflemen, and hold a séance. Pretty exciting work--but then maybe Keith Salazar wasn't such a milquetoast after all...
"Yes." Aside, he added to Kara: "Here's an exception to my rule, I do believe. He actually has curiosity."
The Kook continued: "My parents have told me that Terrans have no sexual morals. Whenever a male and female of your species are alone together, they go to it at once, like other lower animals. Tell me, then, how often do you copulate?"
A sputter of suppressed laughter told Salazar that Kara had caught the drift of the conversation. He said: "That must forever be a secret among Terrans. If I told you, I should shrivel up and blow away. May you be in good health!"
X – THE COUNCIL
At the morrow's meeting, Minister-General Shta arose from his cushion, declaiming in rhythmic, rhyming Feënzuo: "I will accept, provisionally, that the words of our honorable Terran guest are true and his intentions honest. I concede that we are threatened by the Chosha invaders and that we shall be hard pressed to repel them.
"But in accepting Terran instruments of war, we are defeating the lesser evil by exposing ourselves to the greater. I have learned how Terrans act on their own world." He held up a Kukulcanian book in its glass-fronted wooden frame. "This is one of ten scrolls comprising the Terran History of Civilization, composed by a Terran named Dikran Gregorian. My colleague, Minister Gakki, has translated it.
"I was struck by the extraordinary variability of this species; individuals differ far more widely, one from another, than do we. One meets a Terran who speaks to him fair and uses him with probity; so he thinks, all Terrans must be worthy beings. He meets another Terran, who lures him to destruction by crafty, perfidious treacheries. How can an honest human being, like one of us, distinguish one land from the other? Neither size, nor shape of skull, nor texture of hair, nor color of skin provides a clue. By the time one has come to know a Terran well enough to judge its character, it is too late to escape the toils of an evil alien.
"A second trait is the extraordinary ferocity that Terrans display when roused. They are incredibly emotional. We are not a species of pacifists, as witness the coming struggle with the Choshas. But when the battle is over and the dead are buried, we put hostilities behind us. Not so the Terrans! When two groups claim possession of a single patch of land, they foster a mutual hatred that forces them to fight for centuries. The young grow up possessed by these bitter hatreds and with them infect the minds of their children and grandchildren.
"Finally, they are restless and unstable, lacking respect for the customs of their forebears. Hence their culture changes with dizzying rapidity. Gregorian tells us that Terrans were a relatively stable folk until a few centuries ago, when the growth of technology became a self-powered engine of change. We human beings have so far kept this mighty force within bounds, by limiting innovations. If we permit random changes to take root at the whim or by the greed of the innovator, we shall develop social pathologies like theirs.
"To accept this martial material, therefore, is to expose ourselves to the disasters that have befallen Terrans of conservative cultures when confronted by persons in possession of deadlier methods of war and conquest, whereby whole continents have been subdued."
Salazar interrupted: "Your Honor refers to events of centuries past. In recent times, we have learned to do things in a more peaceful and orderly way, better to protect weak groups and individuals against the strong."
"Aye?" said Shta. "When I believe that, I shall also believe that Terran tale of a prophet who walked on water. To continue: Terrans, to aggravate matters, have a compulsion to force their beliefs and customs upon those within their power, with no regard for the suitability of such ideas and usages. Many Terrans, for example, believe that their world is ruled by one or more Great Spirits, who require constant flattery. Terrans initiate bloody wars to set-tie the question of which spirit is supreme and what form of ritual flattery it demands. For a while the followers of the spirit Kraista fought those of the spirit Muhamma; then the followers of Kapitara fought those of Komiunisma. Demands for conformity to the ideas of the dominating group extend to such paltry matters as the design of the coverings wherewith they drape themselves in lieu of painted insignia. They even dispute which bodily parts may properly be exposed.
"For centuries, Terrans have been burning one another alive, feeding one another to flesh-eating beasts as a form of public entertainment, and otherwise ingeniously disposing of those with whom they disagreed over some abstract doctrinal question. Baneful effects of such Terran thinking have already transpired on our world. Chief Kampai bothered no one until a Terran preacher convinced him that his nomadic way of life was the only proper one, and that all those who refused to adopt it should die. Today we must cope with the results of this conversion."
"That is not quite correct," ventured Salazar. "The Reverend Ragnarsen preached peace and love, but Kampai distorted his teachings."
"So?" said Shta. "Teachings so easily bent to destructive ends—"
The Empress broke in: "Minister Gakki, you stated that you also wished to speak. Pray do so now."
"Your Imperial Majesty and honorable fellow ministers," began Gakki, the female Minister of Culture. "I am in accord in general with Minister Shta. We agreed that he should present the case against the Terran guns, and I should speak against Terran devices for electrical communication.
"Our scientists are not unfamiliar with electricity. They know, for example, that the force that causes a little flash and click when certain substances are rubbed and brought into near-contact is the same as that which causes lightning and thunder. They know, too, that electricity is somehow connected with magnetism, which makes a compass needle align itself.
"Long before these facts were known, however, we human beings realized that lightning destroys the spirits of our ancestors. Every year, we estimate, hundreds of these spirits are thus disintegrated. While most spirits prudently avoid storm clouds, accidents will happen. It is my understanding that Terran communication devices employ electricity to send out invisible rays, and similar devices to receive these rays. Since such phenomena are like unto those brought about by lightning, albeit on a smaller scale, ancestral spirits near such devices would be pained and distressed if not slain outright. If we so harm our ancestral spirits, they may leave this land and settle in a clime that is innocent of these inventions. Then who would counsel us in dreams?"
Salazar whispered to Kara, to whom he had been giving a running translation: "How do I answer that? If I say the spirits don't exist, we shall be thrown out or worse."
"I'm getting an idea," she murmured. "See if the Empress won't call time out."
"Your Imperial Majesty," said Salazar, "may my colleague Miss Sheffield and I have a recess to formulate our argument?"
"Very well," said the Empress, rising. "We shall reassemble in one hour."
Alone in their spacious two-room apartment, Salazar asked, "What's your idea, Kara?"
"A year ago," she replied, "I wrote for the News a series of exposes of mediums and occultists in Henderson and Suvarov. I learned some of their tricks; for instance, you can grip the leg of a light table with your toes and rock it to give off raps. You can make vaguely comforting prophecies that will bring in the money. And when things don't work out, you can blame the skeptics in the audience, whose presence offends the spooks."
"I must have missed that story," said Salazar, "although I read most issues of the News."
"Only one installment appeared. Then all the mediums and their clients made a fuss, and McHugh cancelled the series. That made me furious, and now I'm trying to persuade Knebel to bring it out as a book."