Ben Bova - End of Exile

“But that’s not true,” Linc said. “I fixed it. I did it by myself, with my own hands.”

She shook her head impatiently. “Monel will destroy you … both of us, if we give him the chance.”

“But I saved the crops. Nobody will go hungry.”

“Which is why he’s angry.”

Linc pounded his fists against his thighs. “The people will be glad that the pump’s working again. The farmers were singing!”

Magda glared at him. “Linc, people don’t behave like machines. Don’t you see what Monel will do? He’ll say that it’s a crime to tamper with the machines, yet you went ahead and did it anyway. This time it worked, but if you’re left free to tamper again, you could destroy something and kill us all.”

Linc sank down onto his bunk. “That’s stupid.”

“But that’s just what he’ll do. And then he’ll tell me to get Jerlet to speak to us, and Jerlet will just answer with the same words he always speaks, and I’ll have to condemn you. I’ll have to!”

“I did it for you,” Linc muttered. “You wanted a miracle.”

Her look softened. “I know. But we’ve got to be careful about how we explain it to the people. You’ve got to say that the screen came on by itself, and Jerlet told you what to do.”

With a frown, Linc said, “And how do I explain why I went into the farms in the first place?”

Magda bowed her head in thought for a moment. Then she came up smiling. “Oh, it’s easy! You say that Jerlet came to you in a dream, while you were sleeping, and told you to go to the farms.”

“But that’s not true!”

She sat on the bunk beside him and put a finger to his lips. “Linc, you couldn’t have fixed the pump without Jerlet’s help. We both know that.”

“But…”

“We’ll just explain his help a little differently from the way it really happened. It’s not really lying; it’s… well, it’s bending the truth a little, so that the people won’t get frightened.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Trust the priestess,” Magda whispered. “I want to help you.”

With a shake of his head, Linc answered, “But you don’t understand what’s really important. I found out that the screens … they know how to fix things. They show you what to do. We can fix all the dead machines…”

“No!” Magda snapped. “You mustn’t say that. You’ll frighten everyone … you’ll be playing into Monel’s hands.” She got up from the bunk and started pacing the floor again.

He looked at her. “Am I frightening you?”

From the corner of the tiny compartment she returned his stare. “Yes,” she said at last, in a hushed voice. “Yes …a little.”

He reached a hand out toward her, and she rushed over and sat beside him on the bunk. She gripped his hands hard, and her fingers were ice cold.

“Magda, we can fix everything…”

“Hush.” She bent forward slightly, squeezing his hands with a strength he never knew she possessed. She pressed her eyes shut, and began to tremble wildly.

Linc had seen Magda entrance herself before. She was searching the future, trying to see what would happen, what they should do.

She stopped trembling and eased up the pressure on his hands. She straightened up and looked into his eyes. Her own deep black eyes were rimmed with red and glimmering with tears.

“Linc… you’re going to Jerlet.” Her voice was a frightened whisper. “You…you’re going to see him, talk with him. But before you do… you’ll see Peta again.”

Linc pulled his hands away from her. “That’s what you see in the future, huh? All that means is that you’re going to have me cast out, just the way you cast out Peta.”

“No—” she gasped.

He jumped to his feet. “I know how to fix the machines, but you and the others are too scared to see the noses on your faces!”

‘You think I’m wrong?” Magda’s voice went rigid; it was the priestess speaking now, not his friend.

“The screens can tell us how to fix everything—”

“It is forbidden to touch the screens, or any other machine. You have committed sins and you’re telling me that you’re not sorry about it. You’re telling me that you want to do even worse things.”

“I want to save us! If we can learn how to fix all the machines, maybe we can push the yellow star away.”

“You’ll make Jerlet angry at all of us.”

“No, I want to save us all.”

Magda walked past Linc to the door. She stopped, facing it. He could see from the stiff back, the way she held her head high, that every centimeter of her slim body was rigid with tension and anger.

She whipped around and faced him once more. “Linc, I want to help you, but you’re going against everything we know. Everything we have. So you fixed one pump. That might have been luck or even a trap…”

“A trap?”

“Yes!” she insisted. “You think you know how to fix all the machines. Suppose Jerlet is just testing you, seeing if you’ll tamper with more machines. You’re going against his rules, Linc! I can’t let you do that.”

For the first time, Linc felt anger seething inside his guts. “You just don’t believe that I can fix them. You believe all this stuff about not touching the machines, but you don’t believe me.”

“No one can fix them.”

“You’d rather just sit here and let one machine after another break down until we’re freezing and starving. You’d sit here and let the yellow star swallow us up, without even lifting a finger to try --”

“Jerlet’s rules are--”

“Don’t yammer at me about Jerlet’s rules!” he roared. “I don’t care about his stupid rules!”

Her mouth dropped open.

Forcing himself to take a deep, calming breath. Linc said more softly, “Magda, listen to me. Suppose this really is a test? Suppose Jerlet’s trying to find out if we’ll use the brains he gave us to find out how to fix the machines?”

“But his rules say we mustn’t tamper with the machines.”

“We were children when he told us that… so small we couldn’t see over the galley tables. And all the servomechs worked then. Things are different now, and Jerlet hasn’t said anything new about the machines for a long, long time.” He felt a smile trying to work its way across his face. “Remember back then? Remember how I used to boost you up, so you could reach the top buttons on the food selector?”

She grinned and looked down, so that Linc couldn’t see her • face. “Yes—”

“But then the selector broke down…and the servomechs broke down … all the machines are dying. Jerlet wouldn’t want us to sit here and die. with them. He wants us to fix them.”

“Then why hasn’t he told us so?” Magda asked.

Linc shrugged.

She came away from the door and sat on the bunk beside Linc. “And you’ve forgotten about Monel.”

“Hmp! What about him? After I’ve fixed a few more machines he--”

She touched his shoulder. “Linc, you might know about machines, but you don’t know about people. Monel won’t let you fix anything. I can see just what he’ll do.”

He took her hand, engulfing it in his own. “He won’t be able to stop me if you’re on my side. Together we can convince the people.”

“No.” Magda shook her head. “Not if you try to tell everyone that the screens speak, and you want to fix all the machines. It’s too much for them to take, all at once. Monel will turn them against you.”

“The farmers—”

“The farmers are glad the pump’s working again. But Monel can frighten them into casting you out.”

“But if I just tell them the truth—”

“If you tell them the truth, we’ll both be cast out!” Magda’s voice was iron hard now. “I want to save you, Linc, but you’ve got to help me. I will not allow Monel to become my master. I will not allow him to set up another priestess, I must be the priestess here! It’s Jerlet’s command.”