[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"She's not a spy, she's an archeologist. Wouldn't she know of the Hur'rikku?"
Truzenzuzex turned blazing compound eyes on Flinx and considered his words.
Page 89
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The hand relaxed; the concealed weapon in the pouch never emerged.
All at once, Hasboga came out of her moment-long trance. She turned her gaze
to the floor, saw and remembered what had happened. Suddenly she was
scrambling to retrieve her precious tapes.
Occasionally she would glance back at the watchful Truzenzuzex, aware that
something had upset him, but she never suspected that the old insect had been
prepared to kill her simply on the basis of her reaction to what he had told
Flinx.
"You are not a spy," he decided, the fire fading from his eyes. "I see that
now."
"Me?" She looked back in confusion. "A spy? Spy, for whom?"
"I will tell you in time," he murmured. "When you indicated a familiarity with
the Hur'rikku I ...
file:///D|/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20End%20of%20The%20M
atter.txt (65 of 93) [2/9/03 10:29:58 AM]
file:///D|/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20End%20of%20The%20M
atter.txt
Excuse me." He executed a thranx gesture of apology seasoned with contrition
at his own stupidity.
"Too many deaths are already involved in this matter. Bran and I can take no
chances. The
Commonwealth and the Church are already suspicious of our actions, and they
dislike having others inquire into matters they consider wasteful. Then there
are those who would like to see the rogue proceed unchallenged on its course
of destruction."
"Who or what are the Hur'rikku?" Flinx was still a bit shaken from the
severity of the kindly philosoph's murderous reaction to Hasboga's knowledge.
His antennae still aquiver, Truzenzuzex proceeded to explain. "The Hur'rikku
are the half-
legendary race who, scientists postulate, erupted from the region near the
galactic, center some nine hundred and fifty thousand years ago."
"They weren't half legendary," argued Hasboga. "They were completely
legendary. Myths about then exist, but no physical proof has ever been found
for which alternate explanations couldn't be provided."
"No physical proof, this is so," admitted Truzenzuzex. "But they frightened
the ovipositors of the
Tar-Aiym." His mandibles clicked in thranx laugher. "Of the Tar-Aiym we do
have physical proof."
Flinx knew the truth of that statement from his experiences of over a year
ago.
"We know that about the time the Hur'rikku are rumored to have begun their
expansion outward from the galactic center, this entire section of space was
dominated by the Tar-Aiym. Roughly half a million Terran years ago, the
indomitable Tar-Aiym were thrown into a racial panic. It seems reasonable to
assume that the Hur'rikku were the cause of this."
Hasboga made a derisive sound. Truzenzuzex ignored her and continued on. "The
Tar-Aiym scientists constructed numerous new weapons to counter the Hur'rikku
threat. One was the defensive weapon known as the Krang. Another was a simple
plague. That destroyed not only the Hur'rikku but the
TarAiym themselves, and all life in the region we know today as the Blight,
before finally destroying itself.
"At this point in time the Hur'rikku are mostly a legend. They exist because
your friend Ab sings of them." A truhand gestured to where the alien was
delightedly juggling a dozen rocks. "The
Hur'rikku are like the rogue. Like it, we have no direct perception of
existence. But we can see how it acts upon other objects. Similarly, we know
the Hur'rikku existed because we know of their effect upon the Tar-Aiym. In
fact, that is all we know so far of the Hur'rikku- that they existed.
Page 90
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
That and the fact that perhaps they may have found a way to counter the danger
posed by a wandering collapsar- and a few other less-impressive myths."
"But you need physical proof!" Hasboga objected.
"Evidence need not be physical," was the insect's calm reply.
"You philosophical scientists are all the same," she said in exasperation.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]