A shimmering belt ran through the forest almost at right angles to
their line of flight. They dropped into the sylvan canyon to examine
it. Underwood halted just above the surface. Then he leaned over and
touched it.
* * * * *
Dreyer looked at his puzzled face without halting the column of cigar
smoke. "Glass, eh?"
"Looks and feels like it, but a glass highway--!"
"Limitation of materials," said Dreyer. "The moon obviously is
lacking in mineral resources, being composed chiefly of nonmetallic
silicates. The glass knife our friend used on the corpse indicates
metal starvation; this highway clinches it because it shows they
have a highly developed technology of glass-working. Therefore, we
are very definitely not in the presence of a primitive civilization
as we supposed. We'd better watch our step because our friend seemed
disillusioned about our failure to save his injured companion."
They chose a direction along the highway and pursued it a few feet
above the surface. They traveled for twenty minutes or so with no break
in the forest about them or the shining highway below.
Then abruptly a figure came into view in the distance. It was moving
rapidly. Terry squinted and suddenly exclaimed, "We come how many light
years to find a super-civilization, and we find bike riders!"
Phyfe said, "I don't see anything strange in it. Certainly the bicycle
is an obvious mode of locomotion in a moderately mechanical culture. It
may or may not imply a lack of self-propelled mechanisms."
"Recognize that fellow?" asked Underwood.
They drifted forward as the rider approached rapidly. Finally they
could see his features plainly and recognized him as the rebellious one
of their morning encounter.
"I wonder if he is on his way back to see us again," said Terry.
"Our meeting is fortunate," said Dreyer. "I want to know what he did
with that organ he removed from the corpse. I've never come across
anything quite like that in all my ethnological studies. I suspect it
may be some rite associated with the belief in that organ as the seat
of life, just as the heart was once regarded among us."
They slowed as they came to the man--for so they had come to think of
him in their own minds. He halted also and regarded them balefully.
Then furious speech came to his lips. "_Shazer na jourli!_"
Dreyer frowned and muttered a few syllables slowly. The stranger
repeated the furious assertion.
* * * * *
"He says that we are not gods," said Dreyer.
"We could have told him that much," said Underwood drily.
The conversation in the unknown tongue continued until Dreyer turned
again to his companions. "The fellow calls himself Jandro, and the fact
that we have metals still doesn't convince him that we are gods, an
opinion which contradicts those of his fellows. Does that make sense to
you?"
Phyfe exclaimed, "It makes wonderful sense! A planet devoid of metals,
yet inhabited by a highly intelligent race. They make the best possible
technological use of materials at their command, but they know somehow
of the existence and properties of metals. What is more natural than
for them to build a religion about the more fortunate metal-using
gods?"
Dreyer said to Jandro, "We are not gods. We did not come to you as
gods, but as visitors. We are from a place called Earth."
The admission seemed a great shock to Jandro, for his expression
changed markedly. "I am sorry," he said, "if I have accused you of a
claim you have not made. But I do not understand what you say. If you
come from the Heaven World, take me there and help me return with the
secrets to lift my people."
"Heaven World?" Dreyer frowned.
Jandro pointed toward the horizon where the planet of the Dragbora hung
like a silver disk.
"Why do you call it Heaven World?"
Jandro looked up with both longing and bitterness before he spoke. "You
did not come from there?"
"No."
"But you can go there in your metal?"
"Yes."
"Will you take me?"
"That is not for me to say, but perhaps I can influence the others.
Tell me why you want to go and why you call it Heaven World."
"Long ago," said Jandro, "before men lived on Trear, they lived with
the gods on Heaven World, but for rebellion and disobedience they
were thrown down and exiled. Trear was a barren moon without life or
materials. After many _dekara_ man succeeded in expanding the tiny
seeds of life he had brought and grew the great forests. That gave us
wood, and the deserts gave us glass. So we have built a world on the
barren Trear, and have looked to the time when the gods shall lift us
again to Heaven World.
"That is the story the fathers have told, but I do not believe it,"
Jandro finished. "I do not know what to believe, except that I want the
heritage of our home world to be restored to us."
Dreyer related the story to his companions. "It sounds very much as if
Jandro's ancestors were some refugee group that fled the planet before
the destruction that consumed the atmosphere."
"So he wants to go with us," Underwood said. "I wonder if he could be
of any use to us in unraveling the secrets of the planet."
"I'd like to use the request to bargain with him," said Dreyer. "I very
much want to know why he cut out that organ and what he did with it.
That surgical skill he exhibited didn't come instinctively."
"It's all right with me," assented Underwood.
* * * * *
Dreyer addressed Jandro again. "It is that you may go to the planet
with us. There's only one thing we'd like in return--information as to
why you opened the corpse and removed the organ."
"For the _discara_, of course. Oh! You mean you wish to present the
apologetics?" Sudden expressions of understanding and of extreme
puzzlement conflicted on his face.
Dreyer fumbled an instant. "The apologetics? Yes, of course! We wish to
present the apologetics."
"Very well. You are guests of my house. My father will be pleased."
Jandro wheeled his bicycle about and sped down the road. Dreyer told
the others what had happened and set his scooter in motion in the
direction taken by the stranger.
Terry was explosive in comment. "What the devil are the apologetics?"
he demanded. "We don't know how to offer them or who to offer them to.
You're going to get us in a jam if we poke into the religious rites of
these amateur surgeons!"
_CHAPTER TWELVE_
Underwood speculated about Dreyer. Behind the passive exterior of the
man was a brain whose incessant activity often flowed in the most
devious channels. What motivated this interest in the peculiarities of
the alien culture? Underwood was sure there was more than appeared on
the surface.
There was the fact that every organ presents a vulnerable point to the
proper weapon. Was it Dreyer's idea to determine the properties of the
unknown organs in the hope of finding weapons to which they would be
vulnerable?
The forest gave way to green and they were in a clearing that shone in
the sunlight like a pool of soap bubbles.
The houses, like the streets, were of multicolored glass that sparkled
as if with light of their own. The Earthmen knew then for certain that
they were not in the presence of any primitive people, for the city was
arranged with the artistry of a giant crown of jewels.
There were many of the tall, copper people in the streets and in the
parkways. Seeing them together in their own setting, Underwood was
impressed with their grace and simple beauty. Serenity and contentment
were in their features and in the grace of their carriage.
* * * * *
The Earthmen, astride the scooters, riding mysteriously above the
surface of the road, soon attracted attention. Cries rose into the air,
and scores of the people prostrated themselves in the road.
Jandro stopped and motioned the men to halt. Then he addressed his
people in speech that was too rapid even for Dreyer's understanding.
Dreyer managed to glean only that Jandro was saying the men had come to
offer the apologetics to his father and that Jandro had been chosen to
go to Heaven World for his people.
There were some who seemed to regard Jandro with astonished disbelief,
and others who bowed before him as before the Earthmen. But when the
group began moving forward again, the people rose and stood in silence
and awe.
They stopped before a large, one-story cube of orange hue. Jandro
dismounted and stood aside for them to enter.
"You do my house honor," he said.
Underwood strained to pick up some of the language, but he could only
guess at it. Phyfe and Terry Bernard were getting much of it, but not
with Dreyer's facility. The semanticist walked toward the building
confidently, then stopped at the entrance and regarded his cigar
doubtfully. It was impossible to toss it aside upon the immaculate
gardens or walkways. He finally put it out against his shoe and stuffed
the shredded remains in his pocket.
The interior of the house was fitted with simple luxury. Abundant light
streamed from colored prisms which brought in flooding beams of natural
light from outside the decoratively translucent panels that formed the
walls.
Almost at once, two others, women, entered from the opposite doorway
into the room. One was elderly, but the other was younger than Jandro
in appearance.
Then the Earthmen recognized them--the same who had been at the ship
with Jandro that morning.
They gave involuntary cries at the sight of the Earthmen. Quickly,
Jandro explained their presence and their denial of being gods.
Gradually, the excitement of the two women abated and Jandro introduced
them to Dreyer, who relayed the introductions.
"They will prepare our meal before we go," said Jandro, "but now you
wish you view my father's _discara_ and offer the apologetics. Come
this way."
He led the way through the house to another room with a closed door.
Even Dreyer's calm was deserting him as he wondered what would happen
if he could not grasp instantly what was expected of him.
Jandro suddenly flung the door wide and ushered them in. "You will wish
to be alone," he said. "I will await you."
He closed the door.
* * * * *
None of them had any preconceived idea of what they might see, nor
could they have imagined the sight that met their eyes. The room was
large and the walls were lined with shelves from floor to ceiling, like
a fantastic library.
It was the objects on those shelves that held their attention. Square
glass jars, completely identical, filled the spaces, and in each jar
was a reddish-brown organ exactly like that taken from the corpse
aboard their ship by Jandro. A clear, transparent preservative liquid
surrounded the specimens, and the containers were sealed.
But in a small space before them a table stood, and on it rested a
single jar with a fresh-looking specimen. Instinctively, they knew it
was the one they had seen excised that morning.
Terry expelled a lungful of air. "Well, this _is_ something. A morgue
for extinct livers, kept by an amateur surgeon who rides a bike to
work. What the devil do you make of it?"
Illia was examining the specimens closely. "All of them weren't as good
surgeons as Jandro. Most of these look as if they'd been out with a
meat axe. Some of them look as if they've been here since the beginning
of time."
"Some sort of ancestor worship," said Underwood. "The apologetics must
be some form of social rite offered to the ancestors of a friend, all
of it interesting but quite useless for our purposes at the moment."
"It's not that simple," said the semanticist. "Consider the fact that
even though Jandro understands we are from another world, he believes
us familiar with all of this. He therefore believes these things
familiar to all humanoid beings. There could be a scientifically valid
reason behind it."
"What?" said Underwood.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
Jandro was waiting for them when they emerged. He showed them to the
table where a meal was prepared and waiting.
For Underwood and Illia it was a strange meal, for they could not
communicate with their hosts in the slightest degree. Phyfe and Terry
were entering gradually into the interchange.
There was awkwardness due to the oversize furniture and eating
equipment, but tolerant allowances were made on both sides. The two
women had difficulty in dropping their stiff reserve, but by the end of
the meal they seemed to have forgotten that the men were anything but
old acquaintances in for a visit.
It was then that Jandro said, "I suppose you would like to see our
_resa_ and the installation of the _abasa_?"
Without a sign of incomprehension, Dreyer repeated the question.
"I'm willing to see anything there is to see," said Underwood. Though
he was restless, he knew they must give more time for the Terrestrian
fleet to get away.
They left the house and crossed the city afoot, Jandro leading the way
toward one of the major jewels in that sparkling city. It was a large
building of blood-red glass standing apart from other structures.
"I should have explained," said Jandro. "This is where my duties are
performed. I am an installer. Today I am not working, but operations
are being performed, so that you will be able to witness our methods
as well as the mother-flesh of the _abasa_."
He led them through the winding corridors of the magnificent structure
of glass. By some means, Underwood observed, the glistening floors
had a high friction co-efficient without losing any of their sheen.
Abruptly, they came into a chamber that formed a small amphitheater,
similar in some respects to the operating amphitheaters of Terrestrian
hospitals. With something of a shock, they discovered that was exactly
what it was.
They took seats by the protective railing. Below them, on a table
where a pair of surgeons worked, an infant lay with a large abdominal
incision. One of the surgeons lifted a small, fleshy object from a
nearby bath and skillfully inserted it through the incision. They
watched in spell-bound amazement as the organ was sutured into place,
tiny blood vessels were spliced and nerves from adjacent organs were
slit and led into the new mass.
* * * * *
Illia clutched Underwood's arm. She whispered, "They're _grafting_ in
those strange organs we haven't identified. They aren't born with them
at all!"
"But where do they get them?" Terry muttered. "Maybe that's why they
take them out after death--to use them over again. But that couldn't
be because they pickle them. I give up. This is too much for me."
Illia's eyes were only for the skilled hands below that were working
such miracles with living tissue. Once she looked aside at the calm
features of Jandro and recalled his passing remark that he was an
"installer." If this was the sort of thing he did, he could stand with
the greatest of Earth's surgeons.
The operation was a long one. When the two surgeons finally closed the
incision, they began a similar operation at the base of the brain,
grafting in a fragment of shapeless flesh there.
The Earthmen could not comprehend how the infant could stand the shock
of such radical surgery, yet if they were to believe the evidence, this
was performed on every child born on the moon.
Jandro said, "You have seen our technique. How does it compare with
yours?"
Dreyer nodded noncommittally. "Very similar, except that we have found
it advisable to delay the brain operation. It relieves shock and
appears to help recovery."
"The _tri-abasa_, you mean? So that is the explanation. I will be
frank. I've been attempting to detect your _epthalia_ since your
arrival. I have wondered about your reasons for concealment, but of
course that is your own concern. It seemed impossible, however, that
you should prevent me from detecting."
"Yes," Dreyer replied sagely. He reported the double talk to his
companions. "I don't think we can keep this up much longer, and I don't
believe it would be a good idea to disclose our lack of these organs.
Jandro assumes all humanoid life requires it. He would be likely to
consider us sub-human if he knew."
* * * * *