as well. I don't suppose you have any advice for me
concerning him?"
"No, Mr.
President."
"Very well. Thank
you, Citizen General." The President raised his right hand, palm
outward in a salute. "The People."
Sagan raised his right
hand. The screen was dimming rapidly. The scrambler carried his last
words, but not the image of the curled lip or the flare of contempt
in the man's eyes.
"The People."
Chapter Seven
Whereto answering, the
sea, Delaying not, hurrying not,
Whisper'd me through
the night, and very plainly before daybreak,
Lisp'd to me the low
and delicious word death . . .
Walt Whitman, "Out
of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"
Oha-Lau was one of two
planets belonging to a small star located in Sector X-24 on the very
fringes of the galaxy. The star was noted on the great interstellar
space maps by the configuration of QWW31648XX, this indicating its
position in the galaxy, the number of planets with some type of life
forms, the type of the life forms, and so forth. In point of fact,
this number told anyone who knew how to interpret it that this was a
star of very little importance. Of its two planets, only one
contained life, and it had nothing that would benefit the galaxy at
large. The planet's climate was tropical, the land overrun with flora
and fauna so varied that botanists had given up categorizing it once
they discovered most of it was inedible. (Some of it, in fact, had
eaten the botanists.)
The natives of the
planet of QWW31648XX, were human and, so scientists believed, had
arrived on the planet centuries before during the second Dark Ages,
one of Earth's early colonization periods. That they had come here by
accident was almost certain, for why should anyone come on purpose?
It was presumed that, sick and tired of wandering among the stars,
they had landed their craft here and obliterated all traces of the
repressive civilization they had been fleeing.
In essence—as
Sagan told Captain Nada, who did not understand the literary
reference—the sailors threw the breadfruit trees overboard and
went native. They named their planet Oha-Lau, which means
"Forgotten." It is presumed the name did not apply so much
to those early travelers themselves as to their attitude toward where
they'd originated.
Safe from the ravages
of galactic progress, the descendants of those early immigrants led a
peaceful existence. They lived in harmony with the lush tropical
environment, hunted strange beasts with spears and bows, and dwelt in
huts made of woven grass. They danced and feasted and sought, always,
to appease the glittering lights in the night sky. For there was a
legend, ancient as the dimmest memory of their ancestors, that out of
the glittering lights would come doom for the people of Oha-Lau.
Therefore, when
anyone—man or alien, scientist, soldier, or smuggler—landed
on Oha-Lau in his fire-tailed bird, the natives treated him with
respect, fulfilled his every wish, and hustled him off their planet
as speedily as possible. There were few extraterrestrial visitors to
Oha-Lau, but on occasion the outside universe did make its presence
known. The scientists, of course, spent time on Oha-Lau when its
intelligent life-forms were first discovered. Every type of - ologist known to man arrived, confounding the innocent natives with their
light-blinking boxes and questions that seemed to mostly concern the
coming of age of young women. A military patrol landed once, but
promptly left upon ascertaining that these people weren't interested
in fighting each other, much less anybody else. And no planet, no
matter how insignificant, is ever below the notice of—as they
deemed themselves— interplanetary entrepreneurs.
Oha-Lau did possess one
thing of value—to the jewelers if not to the scientists or the
military. This was moonrith—a semiprecious gem, much prized in
the galaxy for its soft, translucent beauty. Any daring, enterprising
businessman who happened to find his
concerning him?"
"No, Mr.
President."
"Very well. Thank
you, Citizen General." The President raised his right hand, palm
outward in a salute. "The People."
Sagan raised his right
hand. The screen was dimming rapidly. The scrambler carried his last
words, but not the image of the curled lip or the flare of contempt
in the man's eyes.
"The People."
Chapter Seven
Whereto answering, the
sea, Delaying not, hurrying not,
Whisper'd me through
the night, and very plainly before daybreak,
Lisp'd to me the low
and delicious word death . . .
Walt Whitman, "Out
of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"
Oha-Lau was one of two
planets belonging to a small star located in Sector X-24 on the very
fringes of the galaxy. The star was noted on the great interstellar
space maps by the configuration of QWW31648XX, this indicating its
position in the galaxy, the number of planets with some type of life
forms, the type of the life forms, and so forth. In point of fact,
this number told anyone who knew how to interpret it that this was a
star of very little importance. Of its two planets, only one
contained life, and it had nothing that would benefit the galaxy at
large. The planet's climate was tropical, the land overrun with flora
and fauna so varied that botanists had given up categorizing it once
they discovered most of it was inedible. (Some of it, in fact, had
eaten the botanists.)
The natives of the
planet of QWW31648XX, were human and, so scientists believed, had
arrived on the planet centuries before during the second Dark Ages,
one of Earth's early colonization periods. That they had come here by
accident was almost certain, for why should anyone come on purpose?
It was presumed that, sick and tired of wandering among the stars,
they had landed their craft here and obliterated all traces of the
repressive civilization they had been fleeing.
In essence—as
Sagan told Captain Nada, who did not understand the literary
reference—the sailors threw the breadfruit trees overboard and
went native. They named their planet Oha-Lau, which means
"Forgotten." It is presumed the name did not apply so much
to those early travelers themselves as to their attitude toward where
they'd originated.
Safe from the ravages
of galactic progress, the descendants of those early immigrants led a
peaceful existence. They lived in harmony with the lush tropical
environment, hunted strange beasts with spears and bows, and dwelt in
huts made of woven grass. They danced and feasted and sought, always,
to appease the glittering lights in the night sky. For there was a
legend, ancient as the dimmest memory of their ancestors, that out of
the glittering lights would come doom for the people of Oha-Lau.
Therefore, when
anyone—man or alien, scientist, soldier, or smuggler—landed
on Oha-Lau in his fire-tailed bird, the natives treated him with
respect, fulfilled his every wish, and hustled him off their planet
as speedily as possible. There were few extraterrestrial visitors to
Oha-Lau, but on occasion the outside universe did make its presence
known. The scientists, of course, spent time on Oha-Lau when its
intelligent life-forms were first discovered. Every type of - ologist known to man arrived, confounding the innocent natives with their
light-blinking boxes and questions that seemed to mostly concern the
coming of age of young women. A military patrol landed once, but
promptly left upon ascertaining that these people weren't interested
in fighting each other, much less anybody else. And no planet, no
matter how insignificant, is ever below the notice of—as they
deemed themselves— interplanetary entrepreneurs.
Oha-Lau did possess one
thing of value—to the jewelers if not to the scientists or the
military. This was moonrith—a semiprecious gem, much prized in
the galaxy for its soft, translucent beauty. Any daring, enterprising
businessman who happened to find his
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