Chessman said absently, as he watched, "When the Spanish got to Mexico
they didn't understand what they saw, being musclemen rather than
scholars. And before competent witnesses came on the scene, Aztec
society was destroyed. The conquistadors, who did attempt to describe
Tenochtitlan, misinterpreted it. They were from a feudalistic world and
tried to portray the Aztecs in such terms. For instance, the large
Indian community houses they thought were palaces. Actually, Montezuma
was a democratically elected war chief of a confederation of three
tribes which militarily dominated most of the Mexican valley. There was
no empire because Indian society, being based on the clan, had no method
of assimilating newcomers. The Aztec armies could loot and they could
capture prisoners for their sacrifices, but they had no system of
bringing their conquered enemies into the nation. They hadn't reached
that far in the evolution of society. The Incas could have taught them a
few lessons."
Plekhanov nodded. "Besides, the Spanish were fabulous liars. In Cortez's
attempt to impress Spain's king, he built himself up far beyond reality.
To read his reports you'd think the pueblo of Mexico had a population
pushing a million. Actually, if it had thirty thousand it was doing
well. Without a field agriculture and with their primitive transport,
they must have been hard put to feed even that large a town."
A tall, militarily erect native strode from one of the streets that
debouched into the plaza and approached to within twenty feet of the
space boat. He stared at it for at least ten full minutes then spun on
his heel and strode off again in the direction of one of the stolidly
built stone buildings that lined the square on each side except that
which the pyramid dominated.
Cogswell chirped, "Now that he's broken the ice, in a couple of hours
kids will be scratching their names on our hull."
* * * * *
In the morning, two or three hours after dawn, they made their
preparations to disembark. Of them all, only Leonid Plekhanov was
unarmed. Joe Chessman had a heavy handgun holstered at his waist. The
rest of the men carried submachine guns. More destructive weapons were
hardly called for, nor available for that matter; once world government
had been established on Earth the age-old race for improved arms had
fallen away.
Chessman assumed command of the men, growled brief instructions. "If
there's any difficulty, remember we're civilizing a planet of nearly a
billion population. The life or death of a few individuals is
meaningless. Look at our position scientifically, dispassionately. If it
becomes necessary to use force--we have the right and the might to back
it up. MacBride, you stay with the ship. Keep the hatch closed and
station yourself at the fifty-caliber gun."
The natives seemed to know intuitively that the occupants of the craft
from the sky would present themselves at this time. Several thousands of
them crowded the plaza. Warriors, armed with spears and bronze headed
war clubs, kept the more adventurous from crowding too near.
The hatch opened, the steel landing stair snaked out, and the hefty
Plekhanov stepped down, closely followed by Chessman. The others brought
up the rear, Watson, Roberts, Stevens, Hawkins and Cogswell. They had
hardly formed a compact group at the foot of the spacecraft than the
ranks of the natives parted and what was obviously a delegation of
officials approached them. In the fore was a giant of a man in his late
middle years, and at his side a cold-visaged duplicate of him, obviously
a son.
Behind these were variously dressed others, military, priesthood, local
officials, by their appearance.
Ten feet from the newcomers they stopped. The leader said in quite
understandable Amer-English, "I am Taller, Khan of all the People. Our
legends tell of you. You must be from First Earth." He added with a
simple dignity, a quiet gesture, "Welcome to the World. How may we serve
you?"
Plekhanov said flatly, "The name of this planet is Texcoco and the
inhabitants shall henceforth be called Texcocans. You are correct, we
have come from Earth. Our instructions are to civilize you, to bring you
the benefits of the latest technology, to prepare you to enter the
community of planets." Phlegmatically he let his eyes go to the
pyramids, to the temples, the large community dwelling quarters. "We'll
call this city Tula and its citizens Tulans."
Taller looked thoughtfully at him, not having missed the tone of
arrogant command. One of the group behind the Khan, clad in gray flowing
robes, said to Plekhanov, mild reproof in his voice, "My son, we are the
most advanced people on ... Texcoco. We have thought of ourselves as
civilized. However, we--"
Plekhanov rumbled, "I am not your son, old man, and you are far short of
civilization. We can't stand here forever. Take us to a building where
we can talk without these crowds staring at us. There is much to be
done."