know that they have
records across a million years?”
“So I have
heard,” said Traz sourly.
“Before the
Chasch came,” said Anacho, “the Pnume ruled everywhere. They lived in villages
of little domes, but all trace of these are gone. Now they keep to caves and
passages under the old cities, and their lives are a mystery. Even the Dirdir
consider it bad luck to molest a Pnume.”
“The Chasch
then came to Tschai before the Dirdir?” Reith inquired.
“This is
well-known,” said Anacho. “Only a man from an isolated province-or a far
world-could be ignorant to the fact.” He gave Reith a quizzical glance. “But
the first invaders indeed were the Old Chasch, a hundred thousand years ago.
Ten thousand years later the Blue Chasch arrived, from a planet colonized an
era previously by Chasch spacefarers. The two Chasch races fought for Tschai,
and brought in Green Chasch for shock-troops.
“Sixty
thousand years ago the Dirdir arrived. The Chasch suffered great losses until
the Dirdir arrived in large numbers and so became vulnerable, whereupon a
stalemate went into effect. The races are still enemies, with little traffic
between them.
“Comparatively
recently, ten thousand years ago, space-war broke out between the Dirdir and
the Wankh, and extended to Tschai when the Wankh built forts on Rakh and South
Kachan. But now there is little fighting, other than skirmishes and ambushes.
Each race fears the other two and bides its time until it can expunge all but
itself. The Pnume are neutral and take no part in the wars, though they watch
with interest and take notes for their history.”
“What of men?”
asked Reith guardedly. “When did they arrive on Tschai?”
Anacho’s
side-glance was sardonic. “Since you claim to know the world where men
originated, this information should be in your possession.”
Reith refused
to be provoked and made no comment.
“Men
originated,” said the Dirdirman in his most didactic manner, “on Sibol and came
to Tschai with the Dirdir. Men are as plastic as wax, and some metamorphosed,
first into marsh-men, then, twenty thousand years ago, into this sort.” He
pointed toward Traz. “Others, enslaved, became Chaschmen, Pnumekin, even
Wankhmen. There are dozens of hybrids and freakish races. Variety exists even
among the Dirdirmen. The Immaculates are almost pure Dirdir. Others exhibit
less refinement. This is the background for my own disaffection: I demanded
prerogatives which were denied me, but which I adopted in any event...”
Anacho spoke
on, describing his difficulties, but Reith’s attention wandered. It was clear,
to Reith at least, how men had come to Tschai. The Dirdir had known
space-travel for more than seventy thousand years. During this time they
evidently had visited Earth, twice at the very least. On the first occasion
they had captured a tribe of photo-Mongoloids; on the second occasion, twenty
thousand years ago, according to Anacho-they had collected a cargo of
proto-Caucasoids. These two groups, under the special conditions of Tschai, had
mutated, specialized, remutated, respecialized to produce the bewildering
diversity of human types to be found on the planet.
So then: the
Dirdir undoubtedly knew of Earth and its human population, but perhaps reckoned
it still a savage planet. Nothing could be gained by advertising the fact that
Earth was now a spacefaring world; indeed Reith could envision calamity arising
from the knowledge. There were no clues aboard the space-boat to point to
Earth, except possibly the corpse of Paul Waunder. In any event the Dirdir had
lost possession of the space-boat to the Blue Chasch.
Still
unanswered was the question: who had fired the torpedo that destroyed the Explorator
IV ?
Two hours
before sundown the Green Chasch broke camp. The high-wheeled wagons milled in a
circle; the warriors mounted on monstrous leap-horses, lunged and bounded; then
at some imperceptible signal-perhaps telepathic, reflected Reith-the
records across a million years?”
“So I have
heard,” said Traz sourly.
“Before the
Chasch came,” said Anacho, “the Pnume ruled everywhere. They lived in villages
of little domes, but all trace of these are gone. Now they keep to caves and
passages under the old cities, and their lives are a mystery. Even the Dirdir
consider it bad luck to molest a Pnume.”
“The Chasch
then came to Tschai before the Dirdir?” Reith inquired.
“This is
well-known,” said Anacho. “Only a man from an isolated province-or a far
world-could be ignorant to the fact.” He gave Reith a quizzical glance. “But
the first invaders indeed were the Old Chasch, a hundred thousand years ago.
Ten thousand years later the Blue Chasch arrived, from a planet colonized an
era previously by Chasch spacefarers. The two Chasch races fought for Tschai,
and brought in Green Chasch for shock-troops.
“Sixty
thousand years ago the Dirdir arrived. The Chasch suffered great losses until
the Dirdir arrived in large numbers and so became vulnerable, whereupon a
stalemate went into effect. The races are still enemies, with little traffic
between them.
“Comparatively
recently, ten thousand years ago, space-war broke out between the Dirdir and
the Wankh, and extended to Tschai when the Wankh built forts on Rakh and South
Kachan. But now there is little fighting, other than skirmishes and ambushes.
Each race fears the other two and bides its time until it can expunge all but
itself. The Pnume are neutral and take no part in the wars, though they watch
with interest and take notes for their history.”
“What of men?”
asked Reith guardedly. “When did they arrive on Tschai?”
Anacho’s
side-glance was sardonic. “Since you claim to know the world where men
originated, this information should be in your possession.”
Reith refused
to be provoked and made no comment.
“Men
originated,” said the Dirdirman in his most didactic manner, “on Sibol and came
to Tschai with the Dirdir. Men are as plastic as wax, and some metamorphosed,
first into marsh-men, then, twenty thousand years ago, into this sort.” He
pointed toward Traz. “Others, enslaved, became Chaschmen, Pnumekin, even
Wankhmen. There are dozens of hybrids and freakish races. Variety exists even
among the Dirdirmen. The Immaculates are almost pure Dirdir. Others exhibit
less refinement. This is the background for my own disaffection: I demanded
prerogatives which were denied me, but which I adopted in any event...”
Anacho spoke
on, describing his difficulties, but Reith’s attention wandered. It was clear,
to Reith at least, how men had come to Tschai. The Dirdir had known
space-travel for more than seventy thousand years. During this time they
evidently had visited Earth, twice at the very least. On the first occasion
they had captured a tribe of photo-Mongoloids; on the second occasion, twenty
thousand years ago, according to Anacho-they had collected a cargo of
proto-Caucasoids. These two groups, under the special conditions of Tschai, had
mutated, specialized, remutated, respecialized to produce the bewildering
diversity of human types to be found on the planet.
So then: the
Dirdir undoubtedly knew of Earth and its human population, but perhaps reckoned
it still a savage planet. Nothing could be gained by advertising the fact that
Earth was now a spacefaring world; indeed Reith could envision calamity arising
from the knowledge. There were no clues aboard the space-boat to point to
Earth, except possibly the corpse of Paul Waunder. In any event the Dirdir had
lost possession of the space-boat to the Blue Chasch.
Still
unanswered was the question: who had fired the torpedo that destroyed the Explorator
IV ?
Two hours
before sundown the Green Chasch broke camp. The high-wheeled wagons milled in a
circle; the warriors mounted on monstrous leap-horses, lunged and bounded; then
at some imperceptible signal-perhaps telepathic, reflected Reith-the
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