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Fantascience Digest, v. 2, issue 5, July-September, 1939
Page 5
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FANTASCIENCE DIGEST Page 5 REY PAUSED ON the barren soil of Zitra, the planet he and his companion had come so far to explore, and pointed with his Y-rod. "Look, Jon!" he exclaimed. "There it is -- the city!" "By Ammok!" swore Jon, grounding his Y-rod also and peering in the direction Rey indicated. "You're right." He smiled briefly. "Well, it was worth crashing to discover that the the old legends are true! Old Zak was right, eh? The city of our remote ancestors!" "The city," mused Rey in a reverend tone, "from whose lofty battlements were launched the vessels which carried the seeds of our forefathers to Llyria. Here we stand, after a lapse of tens of centuries, looking at it. Queer it had to be us, isn't it?" His companion nodded soberly. "Yes, but small good it'll do us if we aren't able to report to Zak the Sage about it." Rey ignored the pessimism. "It was from this same city," he continued quietly, "from which, milleniums ago, they fired across the vastness of space those rockets which made it possible for our race to perpetuate itself, and then those brave men who remained died of suffocation in the devitiated atmosphere. They were heroes!" Jon grunted. "Sure they were. Dead ones. And so will we be. Our rocket is buried twenty feet deep, utterly ruined, and we're marooned. The Emperor's Sage is the only man who knows where we are, and he can't very well tell our august ruler that a Plus-Commander and a Sub-Commander of Fleet took unofficial leave of absence -- with his assistance, mind you -- to visit Zitra. Why, he'd be slain for a heretic, Sage or not! The priests of Ammok would tear him limb from limb for even daring theorize that our race sprang not from Ammok's brain, panapolied for war, but from Zitra's bosom. Oh, damn Ammok! It makes me sick to think of Llyria's millions going on worshipping a blood-thirsty false god, when we stand upon the very site which proves that falsity, and have no way of letting the world know of our proof." Rey grinned cheerfully, "We're not dead yet, fellow. Maybe we can rig up something to get us away. Maybe -- maybe Zak can send a secret rescure expedition." Jon grunted sceptically. "Some chance! That old man has known for years that Zitra was the cradle of our race. He wasn't afraid to believe what he saw in his telescope but he hunted for a long time before he found two men willing to go against religion and the Emperor's edict just for the sake of science. He won't find anybody who'll chase after us in a hurry! And if you hadn't been sure of being sent to the Sub-Marshes for treason -- when they found you out -- you wouldn't have consented to come yourself." Rey slapped his metal-clad hand on Jon's brawny shoulder. "No, and if you hadn't been the best friend a man ever had, you wouldn't have come with me. You know my friendship with Jared isn't treason, though. But when they read Jared's mind down at the Threshold of Execution they won't hesitate to blast any of his friends. The Emperor hates his nephew's very insides! Oh, well, here we are.
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FANTASCIENCE DIGEST Page 5 REY PAUSED ON the barren soil of Zitra, the planet he and his companion had come so far to explore, and pointed with his Y-rod. "Look, Jon!" he exclaimed. "There it is -- the city!" "By Ammok!" swore Jon, grounding his Y-rod also and peering in the direction Rey indicated. "You're right." He smiled briefly. "Well, it was worth crashing to discover that the the old legends are true! Old Zak was right, eh? The city of our remote ancestors!" "The city," mused Rey in a reverend tone, "from whose lofty battlements were launched the vessels which carried the seeds of our forefathers to Llyria. Here we stand, after a lapse of tens of centuries, looking at it. Queer it had to be us, isn't it?" His companion nodded soberly. "Yes, but small good it'll do us if we aren't able to report to Zak the Sage about it." Rey ignored the pessimism. "It was from this same city," he continued quietly, "from which, milleniums ago, they fired across the vastness of space those rockets which made it possible for our race to perpetuate itself, and then those brave men who remained died of suffocation in the devitiated atmosphere. They were heroes!" Jon grunted. "Sure they were. Dead ones. And so will we be. Our rocket is buried twenty feet deep, utterly ruined, and we're marooned. The Emperor's Sage is the only man who knows where we are, and he can't very well tell our august ruler that a Plus-Commander and a Sub-Commander of Fleet took unofficial leave of absence -- with his assistance, mind you -- to visit Zitra. Why, he'd be slain for a heretic, Sage or not! The priests of Ammok would tear him limb from limb for even daring theorize that our race sprang not from Ammok's brain, panapolied for war, but from Zitra's bosom. Oh, damn Ammok! It makes me sick to think of Llyria's millions going on worshipping a blood-thirsty false god, when we stand upon the very site which proves that falsity, and have no way of letting the world know of our proof." Rey grinned cheerfully, "We're not dead yet, fellow. Maybe we can rig up something to get us away. Maybe -- maybe Zak can send a secret rescure expedition." Jon grunted sceptically. "Some chance! That old man has known for years that Zitra was the cradle of our race. He wasn't afraid to believe what he saw in his telescope but he hunted for a long time before he found two men willing to go against religion and the Emperor's edict just for the sake of science. He won't find anybody who'll chase after us in a hurry! And if you hadn't been sure of being sent to the Sub-Marshes for treason -- when they found you out -- you wouldn't have consented to come yourself." Rey slapped his metal-clad hand on Jon's brawny shoulder. "No, and if you hadn't been the best friend a man ever had, you wouldn't have come with me. You know my friendship with Jared isn't treason, though. But when they read Jared's mind down at the Threshold of Execution they won't hesitate to blast any of his friends. The Emperor hates his nephew's very insides! Oh, well, here we are.
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