Пол Андерсон: Orbit 1

They walked on unspeaking, till they reached the Center. It was a village within the village, clustered around the tower. Thence had sprung the maser beams, up through the sky to the relay satellite, and so to those on Earth who wondered what the universe was like. No more, Thrailkill thought. Dust will gather, nightcats will nest in corroding instruments, legends will be muttered about the tall strangers who built and departed, and one century an earthquake will bring down this tower which talked across space, and the very myths will die.

On the far side of the Mall, close to the clear plash of Louis’ Fountain, they stopped. There lay Thrailkill’s house, long and solid, made to endure. His grandfather had begun it, his father had completed it, he himself had wanted to add rooms but had no reason, for he would be allowed only two children. The windows were aglow, and he heard a symphony of Mithran voices.

“What the devil!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got company.” He opened the door.

The fireplace danced with flames, against the evening cold. Their light shimmered off the beautiful grain of wainscoting, glowed on patterned rugs and the copper statue which owned one corner, and sheened along the fur of his friends. The room was full of them: Strong-tail, Gleam-Of-Wings, Nightstar, Gift-Of-God, Dreamer, Elf-In-The-Forest, and more and more, all he had loved who could get here quickly enough. They sat grave on their tails, balancing cups of herb tea in their hands, while Leonie attended to the duties of a hostess.

She stopped when Thrailkill and Kahn entered. “How late you are!” she said. “I was growing worried.”

“No need,” Thrailkill replied, largely for Kahn’s benefit. “The last prowltiger hereabouts was shot five years ago.” I did that. Another adventure — hai, what a stalk through the folded hills! (The Mithrans didn’t like it. They attached some kind of significance to the ugly brutes. But prowltigers never took a Mithran. When the Harris boy was killed, we stopped listening to objections. Our friends forgave us eventually.) He looked around. “You honor this roof,” he said with due formality. “Be welcome in good cheer.”

Strongtail’s music was a dirge. “Is the story true that you can never return?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Thrailkill said. Aside to Kahn: “They want us to stay. I’m not sure why. We haven’t done anything in particular for them.”

“But you tried,” said Nightstar. “That was a large plenty, that you should care.”

“And you were something to wonder at,” Elf-In-The-Forest added.

“We have enjoyed you,” Strongtail said. “Why must you go?”

“We took council,” sang Gift-Of-God, “and came hither to ask from house to house that you remain.”

“But we can’t!” Leonie’s voice cracked.

“Why can you not?” responded Dreamer.

It burst upon Thrailkill like a nova. He stood in the home of his fathers and shouted aloud: “Why not? We can!”

The meeting hall in Treequad was so big that the entire human population could gather within. Mounting the stage, Kahn looked between gaily muraled walls to the faces. The very graybeards, he thought, had an air of youth which did not exist for any age on Earth. Sun and wind had embraced them throughout their lives. They had had a planet to wander in, the like of which men had not owned since Columbus.

He turned to Thrailkill, who had accompanied him. “Is everybody here?”

Thrailkill’s gaze swept the room. Sunlight streamed in the windows, to touch women’s hair and men’s eyes with ruddiness. A quiet had fallen, underscored by rustlings and shufflings. Somewhere a baby cried, but was quickly soothed.

“Yes,” he said. “The last field expedition came in two hours ago, from the Icefloe Dwellers.” He scowled at Kahn. “I don’t know why you want this assembly. Our minds are made up.”

The spaceman consulted his watch. He had to stall for a bit. His men would not get down from orbit for some minutes yet, and then they must walk here. “I told you,” he said. “I want to make a final appeal.”

“We’ve heard your arguments,” Thrailkill said.

“Not formally.”

“Oh, all right.” Thrailkill advanced to the lectern. The amplifiers boomed his words forth under the rafters.

“The meeting will please come to order,” he said. “As you know, we’re met for the purpose of officially ratifying the decision that we have reached. I daresay Captain Kahn will need such a recorded vote. First he’d like to address you.” He bowed slightly to his guest and took a chair. Leonie was in the front row with Vivian; he winked at them.

Kahn leaned on the stand. His body felt heavy and tired. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “you have spent many hours this past night talking things over in private groups. Quite an exciting night, no? I have asked you to come here after sleeping on the question, because your choice should be made in a calmer mood, it being irrevocable.

“Hardly any of you have agreed to leave with us. I wonder if the majority have considered what their own desires mean. As was said long ago, ‘Il faut vouloir les consequences de ce que l’on veut.’“ Blankness met him, driving home how far these people had drifted from Earth. “I mean you must want the results of what you want. You are too few to maintain a culture at the modern level. True, your ancestors brought along the means to produce certain amenities, and you have a lot of information on microtape. But there are only so many heads among you, and each head can hold only so much. You are simply not going to have enough engineers, medical specialists, psychopediatricians, geneticists. . every trained type necessary to operate a civilization, as opposed to a mere scientific base. Some of your children will die from causes that could have been prevented. Those who survive will mature ignorant of Earth’s high heritage.

“A similar thing happened before, on the American frontier. But America was close to Europe. The new barbarism ended in a few generations, as contact strengthened. You will be alone, with no more than one thin thread of radio, a lifetime passing between message and answer. Do you want to sink back into a dark age?”

Someone called, “We’ve done okay so far.” Others added remarks. Kahn was content to let them wrangle; thus he gained time, without drawing on his own thin resources. But Thrailkill hushed them and said:

“I believe we’re aware of that problem, Captain. In fact, we’ve lived with it during the whole existence of this. . colony.” There, Kahn thought, he had spoken the word. “We haven’t really been bothered. From what we hear about Earth, we’ve gained more than we’ve lost.” Applause. “And now that you’ve made us realize this is our home, this is where we belong, why, we won’t stay small. For purely genetic reasons we’ll have to expand our population as fast as possible. My wife and I always did want a houseful of kids. Now we can have them.” Cheering began. His reserve broke apart. “We’ll build our own civilization! And someday we’ll come back to you, as visitors. You’re giving up the stars. We’re not!”

They rose from their chairs and shouted.

Kahn let the noise surf around him. Soon, he begged. Let it be soon. Seeing that he remained where he was, the crowd grew gradually still. He waited till the last one had finished talking to his neighbor. Then the silence was so deep that he could hear the songbirds outside.

“Very well,” he said in a dull tone. “But what is to become of the Mithrans?”

Thrailkill, who had also stayed on his feet, said rapidly, “You mentioned that to me before, Captain. I told you then and I tell you now, the planet has room for both races. We aren’t going to turn on our friends.”