thing works.” Flandry paused. “Kossara, I’m sorry, but under any
circumstances … before I can release you, before I can even land you
again on a prime world like Terra, you’ll have to have wiped from your
memory the fact that such gadgets exist. The job will be painless and
very carefully done.”
He held out the ring. She half reached for it, withdrew her hand,
flickered her glance about till it came to rest on his, and asked most
softly: “Why do you think I’ll help you?”
“To earn your liberty,” he answered. Each sentence wrenched at him.
“Defect, and you’re outlaw. What chance would you have of getting home?
The orbital watch, the surface hunt would be doubled. If you weren’t
caught, you’d starve to death after you used up your human-type food.
“And consider Dennitza. Your kin, your friends, small children in the
millions, the past and present and future of your whole world. Should
they be set at stake, in an era of planet-smasher weapons, for a
political point at best, the vainglory of a few aristocrats at worst?
You know better, Kossara.”
She stood still for a long while before she took the ring from him and
put it on her bridal finger.
“Given the support of a dense atmosphere,” said a text, “the evolution
of large flying organisms was profuse. At last a particular species
became fully intelligent.
“Typical of higher animals on Diomedes, it was migratory. Homeothermic,
bisexual, viviparous, it originally followed the same reproductive
pattern as its less developed cousins, and in most cultures still does.
In fall a flock moves to the tropics, where it spends the winter. The
exertion during so long a flight causes hormonal changes which stimulate
the gonads. Upon arrival, there is an orgy of mating. In spring the
flock returns home. Females give birth shortly before the next
migration, and infants are carried by their parents. Mothers lactate
like Terran mammals, and while they do, will not get pregnant. In their
second year the young can fly independently, they have been weaned,
their mothers are again ready to breed.
“This round formed the basis of a civilization centered on the islands
around the Sea of Achan. The natives built towns, which they left every
fall and reentered every spring. Here they carried on sedentary
occupations, stoneworking, ceramics, carpentry, a limited amount of
agriculture. The real foundation of their economy was, however, herding
and hunting. Except for necessary spurts of activity, in their homelands
they were an easygoing folk, indolent, artistic, ceremonious,
matrilineal–since paternity was never certain–and loosely organized
into what they called the Great Flock of Lannach.
“But elsewhere a different practice developed. Dwelling on large
oceangoing rafts, fishers and seaweed harvesters, the Fleet of Drak’ho
ceased migrating. Oars, sails, nets, windlasses, construction and
maintenance work kept the body constantly exercised; year-round
sexuality, season-free reproduction, was a direct consequence.
Patriarchal monogamy ensued. The distances traveled annually were much
less than for the Flock, and home was always nearby. It was possible to
accumulate heavy paraphernalia, stores, machines, books. While
civilization thus became more wealthy and complex than anywhere ashore,
the old democratic organization gave way to authoritarian aristocracy.
“Histories roughly parallel to these have taken place elsewhere on the
globe. But Lannach and Drak’ho remain the most advanced, populous,
materially well-off representatives of these two strongly contrasted
life-orderings. When they first made contact, they regarded each other
with mutual horror. A measure of tolerance and cooperation evolved,
encouraged by offplanet traders who naturally preferred peaceful
conditions. Yet rivalry persisted, sporadically flaring into war, and of
late has gained new dimensions.
“At the heart of the dilemma is this: that Lannachska culture cannot
assimilate high-energy technology, in any important measure, and
survive.
“The Drak’ho people have their difficulties, but no impossible choices.
Few of them today are sailors. However, fixed abodes ashore are not
altogether different from houses on rafts aforetime. Regular hours of
work are a tradition, labor is still considered honorable, mechanical
skills and a generally technophilic attitude are in the social
atmosphere which members inhale from birth. Though machinery has lifted
off most Drak’hoans the toil that once gave them a humanlike libido,
they maintain it by systematic exercise (or, in increasingly many cases,