Joe Chessman was at the controls of the space lighter. At his side sat
Leonid Plekhanov and behind them the other six members of their team.
They had circled Texcoco twice at great altitude, four times at a lesser
one. Now they were low enough to spot man-made works.
"Nomadic," Plekhanov muttered. "Nomadic and village cultures."
"A few dozen urbanized cultures," Chessman said. "Whoever compared the
most advanced nation to the Aztecs was accurate, except for the fact
that they base themselves along a river rather than on a mountain
plateau."
Plekhanov said, "Similarities to the Egyptians and Sumerians." He looked
over his beefy shoulder at the technician who was photographing the
areas over which they passed. "How does our geographer progress,
Roberts?"
Natt Roberts brought his eyes up from his camera viewer. "I've got most
of what we'll need for a while, sir."
[Illustration]
Plekhanov turned back to Chessman. "We might as well head for their
principal city, the one with the pyramids. We'll make initial contact
there. I like the suggestion of surplus labor available."
"Surplus labor?" Chessman said, setting the controls. "How do you know?"
"Pyramids," Plekhanov rumbled. "I've always been of the opinion that
such projects as pyramids, whether they be in Yucatan or Egypt, are
make-work affairs. A priesthood, or other ruling clique, keeping its
people busy and hence out of mischief."
Chessman adjusted a speed lever and settled back. "I can see their
point."
"But I don't agree with it," Plekhanov said ponderously. "A society that
builds pyramids is a static one. For that matter any society that
resorts to make-work projects to busy its citizenry has something
basically wrong."
Joe Chessman said sourly, "I wasn't supporting the idea, just
understanding the view of the priesthoods. They'd made a nice thing for
themselves and didn't want to see anything happen to it. It's not the
only time a group in the saddle has held up progress for the sake of
remaining there. Priests, slave-owners, feudalistic barons, or
bureaucrats of a twentieth-century police state, a ruling clique will
never give up power without pressure."
Barry Watson leaned forward and pointed down and to the right. "There's
the river," he said. "And there's their capital city."
The small spacecraft settled at decreasing speed.
Chessman said, "The central square? It seems to be their market, by the
number of people."
"I suppose so," Plekhanov grunted. "Right there before the largest
pyramid. We'll remain inside the craft for the rest of today and
tonight."
Natt Roberts, who had put away his camera, said, "But why? It's crowded
in here."
"Because I said so," Plekhanov rumbled. "This first impression is
important. Our flying machine is undoubtedly the first they've seen.
We've got to give them time to assimilate the idea and then get together
a welcoming committee. We'll want the top men, right from the
beginning."
"The equivalent of the Emperor Montezuma meeting Cortez, eh?" Barry
Watson said. "A real red carpet welcome."
The _Pedagogue's_ space lighter settled to the plaza gently, some fifty
yards from the ornately decorated pyramid which stretched up several
hundred feet and was topped by a small templelike building.
Chessman stretched and stood up from the controls. "Your anthropology
ought to be better than that, Barry," he said. "There was no Emperor
Montezuma and no Aztec Empire, except in the minds of the Spanish." He
peered out one of the heavy ports. "And by the looks of this town we'll
find an almost duplicate of Aztec society. I don't believe they've even
got the wheel."
The eight of them clustered about the craft's portholes, taking in the
primitive city that surrounded them. The square had emptied at their
approach, and now the several thousand citizens that had filled it were
peering fearfully from street entrances and alleyways.
Cogswell, a fiery little technician, said, "Look at them! It'll take
hours before they drum up enough courage to come any closer. You were
right, doctor. If we left the boat now, we'd make fools of ourselves
trying to coax them near enough to talk."