teach our specialized colonists âtheir tricksâ. Yes, that is how we talked. There is no point in blushing for it now. Canopus steadily, kindly, gently, resisted us. It was not possible, they said. We saw in the refusal niggardliness; saw in it reluctance to help Sirius to advance beyond Canopus â saw in it everything but what was there. Formal application had been made to Canopus for this âloanâ and it was the main item on the agenda, and the chief topic of all the informal discussions during the conference. There wasill-feeling on our side. Resentment. As usual.
The general atmosphere of the conference was low and dispirited. Canopus had been shaken by the Rohanda failure, and was made miserable, as they freely confessed, because of the fate of the unfortunate Planet 8, which they now could not save and which, even as the conference took place, was being abandoned, with loss of life and potentiality. And we Sirians were low, too, because of Rohanda. I cannot in fact remember a conference that had so little of the energy that comes from success; though of course it did not lack purpose and determination for the future.
For me personally the conference was important because it was there I first saw Klorathy, who led their team. It was he who supplied the occasion with what vitality it could aspire to. I liked him at once. He was â and is â a vigorous, abrasive, sardonic being who can always be counted on to alleviate the torpors and languors that attend even the best conferences. We were attracted, told each other so, in the way of course appropriate to our life-stages: both of us had our breeding-bond phases behind us. Ambien I also liked him, and we all three looked forward to many pleasant and useful encounters.
It was Klorathy who had to carry the burden of refusing us the Giants, and I recall his patience as he over and over repeated: But, you see, it is not possible ⦠while we
didnât
see.
I can do no better than to get down the main points of the agenda as it related to Rohanda, in order to illustrate points of view then and now.
1 The Canopean-Rohandan Lock had failed â the basic fact.
2 That degeneration of various kinds must be expected â which we had already experienced.
3 That Canopus intended to maintain their link with Rohanda, some sort of skeleton staff, in order to maintain the flow at a steady minimum level.
4 As far as could be seen, the cosmic alignments that had caused this Disaster would not reverse for severalhundred thousand years, after which there would be no reason Rohanda could not revert to its flowering flourishing
healthy
condition.
5 That (and this was to them â to Canopus â the most important factor in this summing up) Shammat of Puttiora had discovered the nature of the Canopus-Rohandan bond, and was tapping strength from it. And was already waxing fat and prosperous on it.
I can only say that, reading these words now, and remembering what I saw in them then, I have to marvel at my blindness.
Again, resentment was partly the cause. And also fear: There was much talk about the Shammat âspiesâ, which Canopus claimed they had known nothing about. We did not believe this. But could not pursue it, for fear our own spying would come to light â¦
It will be seen from these brief remarks that this was an uncomfortable, unsatisfactory conference. When it was dissolved, I could see nothing positive in it except my meeting with Klorathy, and since he was to stay on Colony 10 to assist the Giants in their painful period of waiting, and I was to return to Sirius, we had nothing much to hope for, at least immediately.
Sirius had not abandoned the idea of using Rohanda for experiments. It was a question of finding ways of doing this without harm to ourselves. A joint committee Canopus/Sirius was set up at the conference for this purpose. Again I was assigned to Rohanda, at my request, and with instructions by Canopus â
The general atmosphere of the conference was low and dispirited. Canopus had been shaken by the Rohanda failure, and was made miserable, as they freely confessed, because of the fate of the unfortunate Planet 8, which they now could not save and which, even as the conference took place, was being abandoned, with loss of life and potentiality. And we Sirians were low, too, because of Rohanda. I cannot in fact remember a conference that had so little of the energy that comes from success; though of course it did not lack purpose and determination for the future.
For me personally the conference was important because it was there I first saw Klorathy, who led their team. It was he who supplied the occasion with what vitality it could aspire to. I liked him at once. He was â and is â a vigorous, abrasive, sardonic being who can always be counted on to alleviate the torpors and languors that attend even the best conferences. We were attracted, told each other so, in the way of course appropriate to our life-stages: both of us had our breeding-bond phases behind us. Ambien I also liked him, and we all three looked forward to many pleasant and useful encounters.
It was Klorathy who had to carry the burden of refusing us the Giants, and I recall his patience as he over and over repeated: But, you see, it is not possible ⦠while we
didnât
see.
I can do no better than to get down the main points of the agenda as it related to Rohanda, in order to illustrate points of view then and now.
1 The Canopean-Rohandan Lock had failed â the basic fact.
2 That degeneration of various kinds must be expected â which we had already experienced.
3 That Canopus intended to maintain their link with Rohanda, some sort of skeleton staff, in order to maintain the flow at a steady minimum level.
4 As far as could be seen, the cosmic alignments that had caused this Disaster would not reverse for severalhundred thousand years, after which there would be no reason Rohanda could not revert to its flowering flourishing
healthy
condition.
5 That (and this was to them â to Canopus â the most important factor in this summing up) Shammat of Puttiora had discovered the nature of the Canopus-Rohandan bond, and was tapping strength from it. And was already waxing fat and prosperous on it.
I can only say that, reading these words now, and remembering what I saw in them then, I have to marvel at my blindness.
Again, resentment was partly the cause. And also fear: There was much talk about the Shammat âspiesâ, which Canopus claimed they had known nothing about. We did not believe this. But could not pursue it, for fear our own spying would come to light â¦
It will be seen from these brief remarks that this was an uncomfortable, unsatisfactory conference. When it was dissolved, I could see nothing positive in it except my meeting with Klorathy, and since he was to stay on Colony 10 to assist the Giants in their painful period of waiting, and I was to return to Sirius, we had nothing much to hope for, at least immediately.
Sirius had not abandoned the idea of using Rohanda for experiments. It was a question of finding ways of doing this without harm to ourselves. A joint committee Canopus/Sirius was set up at the conference for this purpose. Again I was assigned to Rohanda, at my request, and with instructions by Canopus â
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