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a line of splendid floats appeared ahead, easily as large and as rich of foliage as those they
had left. Sklar Hast would have preferred to sail on another week, but the folk among the
coracles were fervent in their rejoicing, and he clearly would have encountered near-
unanimous opposition. So the flotilla landed upon three closely adjoining floats, drove
stakes into the pad surface, tethered the coracles.
Sklar Hast called an informal convocation. "In a year or two," he said, "we can live lives as
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comfortable as those we left behind us- But this is not enough. We left our homes because
of King Kragen. who is now our deadly enemy. We shall never rest secure until we find a
means to make our- selves supreme over all the kragen- To this purpose we must
172
Jack Vance
live different lives ihan we did in the old days until King Kragen is killed. How to kill King
Kragen? I wish 1 knew. He is a monster, impregnable to any weapon we now can use
against him. So this must be our primary goal: weapons against King Kragen." Sklar Hast
paused, looked around the somber group. "This is my personal feeling. I have no authority
over any of you, beyond that of the immediate circumstances, which are transient. You have
a right to dis- credit me, to think differently in which case I will muster those who feel as I
do, and sail on to still another float, where we can dedicate ourselves to the killing of King
Kragen. If we are all agreed, that our souls are not our own until King Kragen is dead, then
we must formalize this feeling. Author- ity must be given to some person or group of
persons. Responsibilities must be delegated; work must be organized. As you see I
envision a life different to the old. It will be harder in some respects, easier in others. First of
all, we need not feed King Kragen. ..."
A committee of seven members was chosen, to serve as a temporary governing body until
the needs of the new commu- nity required a more elaborate system. As a matter of course
Sklar Hast was named to the committee, as well as Phyral Berwick, who became the first
chairman, and also Mem Cagno the Scrivener. The captured Intercessors sat aside in a
sullen group and took no part in the proceedings.
The committee met for an hour, and as its first measure, ordained a census, that each
man's caste and craft might be
noted. After the meeting Meth Cagno took Sklar Hast aside.
"When you captured Barquan Blasdel, you brought his books."
"True." "I have been examining these books. They are a set of me
Ancient Dicta."
"So I understand."
"This is a source of great satisfaction to me. No one except the Scrivener reads tile Dicta
nowadays, though every- one professes familiarity. As the generations proceed, the
THE KRAGEN 173
lives of our ancestors and the fantastic environment from which they came seem more like
myth than reality."
"I suppose this is true enough- I am a Hoodwink by trade and only know Hoodwink
configurations. The Dicta are writ- ten in ancient calligraph, which puzzles me."
"It is difficult to read, that I grant," said Cagno. "How- ever, a patient examination of the
Dicta can be profitable. Each volume represents the knowledge of one of our ances- tors, to
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the extent that he was able to organize it. There is also a great deal of repetition and
dullness; our ancestors, whatever their talents, had a few literary skills. Some are
vainglorious and devote pages to self-encomium. Others are anxious to explain in
voluminous detail the vicissitudes which led to their presence on the Ship of Space. They
seem to have been a very mixed group, from various levels of society. There are hints here
and there which I, for one. do not understand. Some describe the Home World as a place of
maniacs. Others seem to have held respected places in this society until, as they explain it,
the persons in authority turned on them and instituted a savage persecution, ending, as we
know. in our ancestors seizing control of the Ship of Space and fleeing to this planet."
"It is all very confusing," said Sklar Hast, "and none of it seems to have much contemporary
application. For instance, they do not tell us how they boiled varnish on the Home World, or
how they propelled their coracles. Do creatures like the kragen infest the Home World? If so,
how do the Home Folk deal with them? Do they kill them or feed them sponges? Our
ancestors are silent on these points."
Meth Cagno shrugged. "Evidently they were not overly concerned, or they would have dealt
with these matters at length. But I agree that there is much they fail to make clear. As in our
own case, the various castes seemed trained to explicit trades. Especially interesting are
the memoirs of James Brunei. His caste, that of Counterfeiter, is now extinct among us.
Most of his Dicta are rather conventional exhortations to virtue, but toward the middle of the
book he says this." Here Cagno opened a book and read:
*' 'To those who follow us, to our children and grandchil-
174 Jack Vtince
dren, we can leave no tangible objects of value. We brought nothing to the world but
ourselves and the wreckage of our lives. We will undoubtedly die here a fate probably [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]