[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
new ones could do the job, now that I've prepared the way. My first report has already done the
damage. I'd know I was responsible for what happened."
"I suppose you'd better go, then, and warn the Bands-"
"Which would mean treason to my species."
She frowned. "I appreciate the problem, Ronald. Still, I'm proud of you for becoming aware of it.
Other species do have rights, especially the right to exist. Maybe you could warn the Bands away, so
we could take the Ancient Site without hurting them. That's not ideal, but maybe practical."
"They won't move. Can't move. They travel on magnetic lines of force that are strung out around their
home system. They'd rather disband than move over."
"They prefer to die rather than compromise? That isn't reasonable."
"Bands aren't reasonable by our lights. They don't understand our imperatives. And they don't mind
dying, because of their foolish mythology of the afterlife. They regard disbanding as the proper way
to counter aggression. You can't fight a creature who suicides first. They are the ultimate pacifists."
"Yet it would be less drastic to move than to die, and pacifists should not object to that course."
"I told you, they can't move. If Solarian ships do their usual survey on Planet Band, detonating shells
on the surface and all that, the Band equipment that generates all the lines will be destroyed. All the
lines will vanish. Without the lines, all Bands everywhere will perish, most within minutes, the rest
within hours. There are no longer enough natural lines to support their population."
"Like returning mankind to stone-age technology, stranding us out here on the planetoid," she agreed.
"We'd soon perish without our technology. But I'm still pleased you appreciate their position."
Ronald's growing frustration vented itself on her, Monster-fashion. "Well, maybe you'll also be
pleased to know I married a Band female there. How's that for appreciation?"
Helen paused, but managed to take this in stride. "Fidelity was never a requisite of our marriage.
When in Transfer, you are expected to do as the hosts do. It's essential to your missions. And of
course you had lost your memory. It is virtually a contradiction in terms to be unfaithful to a faith that
is not in your mind. Since it may have been politically or socially necessary to align yourself with one
of the local-"
"You're thinking like a Monster. There are no politics and no social necessities, other than leaving
others alone and helping those in need. I married Cirl because I loved her."
"Yes, of course," she said, her tone showing she did not believe it for a moment. "It is always best to
do these things for ethical reasons. But now your memory has returned-"
"And I'm still a Band at heart. A Band in Monster form. I didn't realize that at first, but I know it now.
And you-you're a gross, fleshy, liquid-filled-eyeballed female Monster. I can't stand you!"
Then both were silent, shocked at what had come out. What a can of worms he had overturned! For he
had spoken the truth, though he had not realized it was truth until it pressured its way out. He really
did remain a Band in outlook, rather than a Solarian. And that meant-
What did it mean? What could it mean? Objectively, he knew he was a Solarian. He had been born
and raised Solarian, in this Solarian System of Sirius, in the heart of Sphere Sol. He had spent a short
time, relatively, in Transfer as an alien, and then reverted back to his proper host. The computer had
passed him as normal, and the computer did not make mistakes of that nature. Unless the computer
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
happened to have a grudge against some other responsible party, so was messing up the Transfer
approvals-no, ridiculous! Rondl-Ronald was Solarian! He had to be.
"Helen, I apologize," he said quietly. "I must be overtired, or not properly acclimatized. Funny things
happen when a person's aura is out of phase. No fault of yours."
She recovered her composure in the efficient way she had. "I understand. And I'm interested. Do you
really love this alien creature?"
"I don't want to discuss that. I don't even want to think about it."
"And that expletive-liquid-filled-eyeballed?-That's beautiful!"
"You're being very polite. Bands have no eyeballs, no liquid in their bodies. No soft flesh. They're just
hard rings, metallic, with no moving parts except a fringe of tendrils that hardly count. Their nervous
systems are wholly magnetic-like printed circuitry, transistor diodes, semiconductors. Only they're a
good deal more sophisticated than that. They can alter currents by applying magnetism, without
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]