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of our journey on foot. Therefore, with thanks, we return to you the pulpuls we have ridden. Say to your lord that we have greatly enjoyed his company and that we thank him and you for the protection he has given on our homeward journey." Russell dismounted carefully realizing that it would bring great loss of face if he were to fall off a pulpul and helped Anna to dismount from her beast. "Lord Russell," said one of the warriors, "we hear you and obey. But know that our sept lord commanded us to see you safely to your keep, and it will go ill with us if harm should come to you because we have not discharged this task." "No harm will come to us," said Russell. "But say to the lord Absu that I commanded you to return at this point." The warriors saluted, slapping their hands upon the blades of their weapons. "By the sacred robe it shall be. Farewell." "In the name of the white queen and the black," replied Russell gravely, exercising his small knowledge of the strange idiom, "go safely." The warriors swung their pulpuls round, the two riderless creatures following them obediently, and cantered off back along the route they had recently taken. Russell and Anna began to walk forward, hand in hand. It was a hot afternoon and there was plenty of time before sunset, so they were not inclined to hurry. After a time, the greenness of the savannah and the still-ness of the air filled them with lassitude. They found a knoll on which the grass was comparatively short and sat down to rest. They lay there for a while, gazing at the blue sky and a few fleecy and thoroughly normal-looking clouds. Anna was the first to speak. "Russell. Last night. . . Did you did you fraternize with that attractive little savage?" He gazed at her in bewilderment. "Do you know, I really can't remember. How odd!" Anna smiled. "I think she would not have been easy to forget." "I still can't remember ... That red spice and water com-bination makes a hundred and forty proof Polish white spirit seem like lemonade ... And you, Anna. Did you er frater-nize with Absu?" She looked at him calmly. "I, too, don't know ... But there were signs that... Well, I think I may have done ... That red spice was certainly powerful." Russell burst out laughing. "All I remember is that you called him a lot of terrible names and then fell flat on your face." Anna reddened. "I am trying to be serious," she said stiffly. "If either of us did, there may be certain genetic possibilities." Again Russell laughed. "Don't, you are putting me on heat... I'm sorry, my dear. I'll try to be serious." "It is not a subject for laughing at," she pointed out. "I know ... But it's a hot day, we've had a crazy adven-ture, we are near home, and you look delicious." He placed his hand on her breast. Her nose wrinkled. "Shall we fraternize?" she asked solemnly. "Sweetheart, let us do that thing." Then, without any further need for conversation, and amid the great green silence of the savannah, they made love. Presently, they picked themselves up and strolled lazily back to the Erewhon Hilton. It had been a day to remember. CHAPTER FOURTEEN that evening, Russell called a general meeting in the hotel dining room. He told his companions all that had happened, omitting only the pleasant little interlude with Anna shortly before journey's end. Everyone was amused and intrigued by their experiences; and before any serious discussion began there was a barrage of ribald comments and questions. When it eventually died down, John Howard raised the conversation to a more con-structive level. "I take it you think we ought to consider our situation in the light of recent events," he said. Russell nodded. "We still know very little, and not enough to make much sense; but I think we ought to put our heads together and see if we can't come up with a few reasonable deductions. After all, it begins to look as if we may be here one hell of a long time; and our survival or otherwise may depend on how we react to the information we have acquired so far." Marion Redman said: "You think these people really are human beings, Russell?" Russell shrugged. "How does one define human beings, Marion? Are they creatures who live only on Earth I should say our Earth? If so, then Absu mes Marur and com-pany are not human beings. But their appearance and my instinct tell me that they are definitely human. Non-terres-trial human, certainly. But still human. Which, of course, evades the question." "Perhaps Anna will be able to enlighten us in nine months," suggested Mohan das Gupta solemnly. "Point taken." Russell winked at Anna. "But what if the baby looks like a British left-wing politician?" Simone Michel suddenly threw in a novel thought. "Sup-pose they don't exist?" she said. "Suppose we are having a mass hallucination, or something like that?" "Suppose, also, that we are all still on the plane from Stockholm to London," observed John Howard drily. "We are all taking part in a cosy communal dream, but presently we shall be passing through the Customs at Heathrow ... No, once we start this line of thought, we can admit all kinds of extravagant notions." "It is possible," persisted Simone, tossing her long dark hair. "I know it is crazy. But then everything that has hap-pened to us is crazy. Therefore it is possible." "Simone has a thought," said Paul Redman. "Driven home with some wonderfully refutable Gallic logic," added John. "No. I think that with so many impon-derables we must apply the principle that the simplest ex-planation is most probably the correct one. So ... We were physically removed from the jet, the surroundings in which we find ourselves are real, the things that have happened to us are real and let us not forget that Gunnar and Marina are dead and the people we have met are real. From that base we can begin to draw conclusions." "Let's not forget the People of the River," said Robert Hyman. "Or the metal spiders," added Selene Bergere, shivering. "Or Paul's fairies," said Tore Norstedt. "Who, please, has taken my bottle of whisky ?" "Order, ladies and gents all," said Russell. "This discus-sion is in danger of disappearing in a singular fashion ... John, you have the look of somebody who has something to say. So how about giving us your interpretation of events?" John smiled. "It won't take as long as you think, because really I am just as baffled as everyone else. But we do have some facts and a few interesting theories, so perhaps the time for speculation is ripe. Until something better comes along, the zoo theory is the best we have. So let's accept it for the time being. Now, who runs the zoo? We don't know. We know that robots are involved because we have evidence. I cannot believe that these robots are anything more than comparatively simple servants of the people or creatures who put us here. Maybe these spider robots are controlled by more complex machines, and it's even possible that the whole exercise is computer-controlled with a degree of sophistica-tion that we can't begin to imagine. But, again, I prefer the simpler explanation that the project is the work of a bio-logical species and not, as it were, an electromechanical species." "I think my fairies are our overlords," said Paul Redman seriously. His suggestion was greeted by a burst of laughter. Ner-vous laughter. "I'll come to that in a minute," said John. "And I, person-ally, don't think the idea is as crazy as most of you do. But bear with me for a few more minutes ... We know that we are being watched, but we have no contact with the watchers. This could mean that they are naturally secretive, that direct contact with us [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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