“But ‘twould be hopeless quest goin’ through them, right?” Tatiana replied.
“Yes. Especially when the hiding place could as well be far out in the desert.” Desai paused. “This is why I asked you to come here, Prosser Thane. You know your fiance. And surely you have more knowledge of the Orcans than our researchers can dig out of books, data banks, and superficial observation. Tell me, if you will, how likely would Ivar and they be to, m-m, get together?”
Tatiana fell silent. Desai loaded his cigarette holder and puffed and puffed. Finally she said, slowly:
“I don’t think close cooperation’s possible. Differences go too deep. And Ivar, at least, would have sense enough to realize it, and not try.”
Desai refrained from comment, merely saying, “I wish you would describe that society for me.”
“You must’ve read reports.”
“Many. All from an outside, Terran viewpoint, including summaries my staff made of nord writings. They lack feel. You, however—your people and the Orcans have shared a world for centuries. If nothing else, I’m trying to grope toward an intuition of the relationship: not a bald socio-economic redaction, but a sense of the spirit, the tensions, the subtle and basic influences between cultures.”
Tatiana sat for another time, gathering her thoughts. At last she said: “I really can’t tell you much, Commissioner. Would you like capsule of history? You must know it already.”
“I do not know what you consider important. Please.”
“Well . . . those’re by far our largest, best-preserved Builder relics, on Mount Cronos. But they were little studied, since Dido commanded most attention. Then Troubles came, raids, invasions, breakdown toward feudalism. Certain non-nords took refuge in Arena for lack of better shelter.”
“Arena?” Desai wondered.
“Giant amphitheater on top of mountain, if amphitheater is what it was.”
“Ah, that’s not what ‘arena’ means . . . No matter. I realize words change in local dialects. Do go on.”
“They lived in that fortresslike structure, under strict discipline. When they went out to farm, fish, herd, armed men guarded them. Gradually these developed into military order, Companions of Arena, who were also magistrates, technical decision-makers—land bein’ held in common—and finally became leaders in religious rites, religion naturally comin’ to center on those mysterious remains.
“When order was restored, at first Companions resisted planetary government, and had to be beaten down. That made them more of priesthood, though they keep soldierly traditions. Since, they’ve given Nova Roma no particular trouble; but they hold aloof, and see their highest purpose as findin’ out what Builders were, and are, and will be.”
“Hm.” Desai stroked his chin. “Are their people—these half million or so who inhabit the region—would you call them equally isolated from the rest of Aeneas?”
“Not quite. They trade, especially caravans across Antonine Seabed to its more fertile parts, bringin’ minerals and bioproducts in exchange for food, manufactures, and whatnot. Number of their young men take service with nords for several years, to earn stake; they’ve high talent for water dowsin’, which bears out what I said earlier about mutations among them. On whole, though, average continent dweller never sees an Orcan. And they do keep apart, forbid outside marriages on pain of exile, hold themselves to be special breed who will at last play special role related to Builders. Their history’s full of prophets who had dreams about that. This Jaan’s merely latest one.”
Desai frowned. “Still, isn’t his claim unique—that he is, at last, the incarnation, and the elder race will return in his lifetime—or whatever it is that he preaches?”
“I don’t know.” Tatiana drew breath. “One thing, however; and this’s what you called me here for, right? In spite of callin’ itself objective rather than supernatural, what Orcans have got behaves like religion. Well, Ivar’s skeptic; in fact, he’s committed unbeliever. I can’t imagine him throwin’ in with gang of visionaries. They’d soon conflict too much.”
Now Desai went quiet to ponder. The point is well taken. That doesn’t mean it’s true.