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after the seedings?
Page 191
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
That is one of the first indigens. I preserved him myself.
Like the pteridons, if you turned the crystals off& ?
The poor thing would be frightened and try to run. Asulet sniffed. Timid
sorts, really. Took years to breed in more aggressiveness. We needed that to
get the expansion and the ability to herd. Cattle, very important sources of
methane. They came from the aurochs, the cattle did.
If& you turned the crystals off, could you turn them back on?
Oh, yes. Several times. Once or twice we have had to replace things. The
switches are Talent-hidden, on the right.
Dainyl extended his Talent and let it sweep over the hidden controls,
verifying what Asulet had said.
Now here, this is what the grasslands looked like just before we released the
indigens.
Before looking at the next recess, Dainyl turned to the older alector. How&
how did you& could you& ?
In essence, we mixed together the smallest components parts of cells, if you
will taken from ourselves, from samples of steers on Ifryn, and from one of
the life-forms existing here. We kept at it until it worked. It was hard on
us, and harder on the brood mothers.
Brood mothers?
Ulasya was one of them. Those condemned on Ifyrn were allowed a second chance
here. For her services, she has every comfort Lyterna has to offer. She is a
server by choice. She says that she can meet people that way.
Dainyl turned his eyes on the next recess. The greenish grass was sparse, with
open patches of dirt and sand, and he could see a grass snake, clearly
stalking some rodent.
Slowly, he made his way down the line of preserved exhibits.
This was what it looked like after the first three hundred years, explained
Asulet, gesturing to a scene that showed a snowy tundra with grayish flowers
protruding from an icy expanse. That is a summer scene, by the way.
The last recess showed a pool surrounded by snow and ice, a faint hint of
steam rising from it. The only vegetation seemed to be lichens on the rocks
closest to the water.
That was what it was like in full summer when we began.
Even with the crystal field, the chill seemed to reach out and sink into
Dainyl s very bones. He shivered.
That was also close to the equator, added Asulet. This world would never
have developed life, not our kind of life, without our efforts.
I thought it did have life. What about the so-called ancients?
They were dying out back then. It was getting too cold for them, and there
wasn t enough lifeforce. They re no different from us, really. They need
lifeforces to exist, and they weren t getting enough. Their only city was
Dereka&
That was theirs?
We had to rebuild it, but it was abandoned before we ever made full-body
translations to Acorus.
How& If there wasn t intelligent life to build a Table?
Asulet laughed, harshly. Blind translations are possible. I know. The success
rate is less than five percent. It took five hundred to get the first forty of
us here, carrying what little we could, and there were only twenty alive when
we cobbled together the first receptor Table.
Dainyl turned and looked into Asulet s violet eyes, a violet so deep that it
was almost black. He couldn t imagine attempting that kind of blind
translation.
I was brilliant and arrogant, Submarshal. Much like you. I paid, and so will
you.
I m scarcely brilliant, Dainyl protested. It has taken me more years than
most to become a submarshal.
Asulet laughed. You may deceive Marshal Shastylt, because he is far more
arrogant than either of us, and the arrogant too often see what they wish to
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
see in their subordinates. You may even deceive Zelyert. You cannot deceive
me. I would venture to say that your progress has been slow because you do not
see things in quite the same fashion as most other alectors. It has also been
slow because you have recognized that quality within yourself, and it has made
you most cautious. Your shields are among the strongest I have seen, and you
show no sign of Talent. That is not possible. That can only mean great Talent,
and the ability to listen with both Talent and ears.
Dainyl managed to keep a pleasant smile upon his face. You re most
complimentary, but I m afraid you do me too much honor.
Asulet laughed easily once more. I have little interest in who becomes the
Marshal of Myrmidons, or the High Alector of Justice. My interest is in seeing
Acorus blossom. It will not blossom if too much intellect and Talent, and too
much lifeforce, are spent in determining who rules. Already, we run close to
the ragged edge. Each time we move to a new world, a little more is lost. More
knowledge, more understanding, is lost because some of the brightest are lost,
one way or another. Once we could fashion the very cells of our being. Here,
we managed to mix together cells to create the life we needed, and that took
long years. I have tried to impart my knowledge to a score of those who have
come here to learn, and not one has learned all that I have to share. Always,
the question is how can that knowledge be used for power. And so, with each
transfer of the master scepter, there is more arrogance, more squandering of
lifeforce, and fewer alectors. It cannot continue, or we will not continue.
That is why I look for strong and cautious alectors. They can be far bolder
when necessary and seldom waste energies. Asulet paused. Do you know why you
have seen this? He gestured back toward the crystal recesses.
I doubt I understand all of it, but you are suggesting that life has a much
more fragile hold on Acorus than most alectors imagine, and that the effort
taken to allow life is far greater than anyone can acknowledge, and has taken
far longer than we are told.
Exactly.
How long? m
Almost five thousand years. fl
You& ? J|
Asulet laughed. I did not live all those years. Many wersHj spent in those
recesses, once we set them up. We alternated for centuries, tens of
centuries.
Dainyl looked to the frozen recess, then back to the older alector. He could
sense the absolute truth of the other s words, and that chilled him more than
the cold of the preserved past.
75
, By the second glass of the afternoon on
Londi, Fifteenth Company was set up behind a stone fence, and in the trees of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
after the seedings?
Page 191
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
That is one of the first indigens. I preserved him myself.
Like the pteridons, if you turned the crystals off& ?
The poor thing would be frightened and try to run. Asulet sniffed. Timid
sorts, really. Took years to breed in more aggressiveness. We needed that to
get the expansion and the ability to herd. Cattle, very important sources of
methane. They came from the aurochs, the cattle did.
If& you turned the crystals off, could you turn them back on?
Oh, yes. Several times. Once or twice we have had to replace things. The
switches are Talent-hidden, on the right.
Dainyl extended his Talent and let it sweep over the hidden controls,
verifying what Asulet had said.
Now here, this is what the grasslands looked like just before we released the
indigens.
Before looking at the next recess, Dainyl turned to the older alector. How&
how did you& could you& ?
In essence, we mixed together the smallest components parts of cells, if you
will taken from ourselves, from samples of steers on Ifryn, and from one of
the life-forms existing here. We kept at it until it worked. It was hard on
us, and harder on the brood mothers.
Brood mothers?
Ulasya was one of them. Those condemned on Ifyrn were allowed a second chance
here. For her services, she has every comfort Lyterna has to offer. She is a
server by choice. She says that she can meet people that way.
Dainyl turned his eyes on the next recess. The greenish grass was sparse, with
open patches of dirt and sand, and he could see a grass snake, clearly
stalking some rodent.
Slowly, he made his way down the line of preserved exhibits.
This was what it looked like after the first three hundred years, explained
Asulet, gesturing to a scene that showed a snowy tundra with grayish flowers
protruding from an icy expanse. That is a summer scene, by the way.
The last recess showed a pool surrounded by snow and ice, a faint hint of
steam rising from it. The only vegetation seemed to be lichens on the rocks
closest to the water.
That was what it was like in full summer when we began.
Even with the crystal field, the chill seemed to reach out and sink into
Dainyl s very bones. He shivered.
That was also close to the equator, added Asulet. This world would never
have developed life, not our kind of life, without our efforts.
I thought it did have life. What about the so-called ancients?
They were dying out back then. It was getting too cold for them, and there
wasn t enough lifeforce. They re no different from us, really. They need
lifeforces to exist, and they weren t getting enough. Their only city was
Dereka&
That was theirs?
We had to rebuild it, but it was abandoned before we ever made full-body
translations to Acorus.
How& If there wasn t intelligent life to build a Table?
Asulet laughed, harshly. Blind translations are possible. I know. The success
rate is less than five percent. It took five hundred to get the first forty of
us here, carrying what little we could, and there were only twenty alive when
we cobbled together the first receptor Table.
Dainyl turned and looked into Asulet s violet eyes, a violet so deep that it
was almost black. He couldn t imagine attempting that kind of blind
translation.
I was brilliant and arrogant, Submarshal. Much like you. I paid, and so will
you.
I m scarcely brilliant, Dainyl protested. It has taken me more years than
most to become a submarshal.
Asulet laughed. You may deceive Marshal Shastylt, because he is far more
arrogant than either of us, and the arrogant too often see what they wish to
Page 192
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
see in their subordinates. You may even deceive Zelyert. You cannot deceive
me. I would venture to say that your progress has been slow because you do not
see things in quite the same fashion as most other alectors. It has also been
slow because you have recognized that quality within yourself, and it has made
you most cautious. Your shields are among the strongest I have seen, and you
show no sign of Talent. That is not possible. That can only mean great Talent,
and the ability to listen with both Talent and ears.
Dainyl managed to keep a pleasant smile upon his face. You re most
complimentary, but I m afraid you do me too much honor.
Asulet laughed easily once more. I have little interest in who becomes the
Marshal of Myrmidons, or the High Alector of Justice. My interest is in seeing
Acorus blossom. It will not blossom if too much intellect and Talent, and too
much lifeforce, are spent in determining who rules. Already, we run close to
the ragged edge. Each time we move to a new world, a little more is lost. More
knowledge, more understanding, is lost because some of the brightest are lost,
one way or another. Once we could fashion the very cells of our being. Here,
we managed to mix together cells to create the life we needed, and that took
long years. I have tried to impart my knowledge to a score of those who have
come here to learn, and not one has learned all that I have to share. Always,
the question is how can that knowledge be used for power. And so, with each
transfer of the master scepter, there is more arrogance, more squandering of
lifeforce, and fewer alectors. It cannot continue, or we will not continue.
That is why I look for strong and cautious alectors. They can be far bolder
when necessary and seldom waste energies. Asulet paused. Do you know why you
have seen this? He gestured back toward the crystal recesses.
I doubt I understand all of it, but you are suggesting that life has a much
more fragile hold on Acorus than most alectors imagine, and that the effort
taken to allow life is far greater than anyone can acknowledge, and has taken
far longer than we are told.
Exactly.
How long? m
Almost five thousand years. fl
You& ? J|
Asulet laughed. I did not live all those years. Many wersHj spent in those
recesses, once we set them up. We alternated for centuries, tens of
centuries.
Dainyl looked to the frozen recess, then back to the older alector. He could
sense the absolute truth of the other s words, and that chilled him more than
the cold of the preserved past.
75
, By the second glass of the afternoon on
Londi, Fifteenth Company was set up behind a stone fence, and in the trees of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]