They had some trouble from Horng on any mind-probing. The Hirlaji among some of the out on the Flat, where the and against the walls, them and rounded. The these in some of repair, and there was a garden of the planet’s dark, plant life. As Rynason and Mara the they passed of the creatures; one or two of them and the with eyes, and on slowly through the shadows.
They Horng at the of the of buildings, out over the Flat toward the low which black against the of the sky. Rynason the from his and approached him.
The no motion of when Rynason up the interpreter, but when the Earthman the to speak, Horng’s voice spoke in the of the thin air and the machine’s out, THERE IS NO PURPOSE.
Rynason paused a moment, then said, “We’re almost with our reports. We should today.”
THERE IS NO PURPOSE MEANING QUEST.
“No purpose to the report?” Rynason said after a moment. “It’s to us, and we’re almost finished. There would be less purpose in stopping now, when so much has been done.”
Horng’s large, toward him and Rynason the creature’s on him like a shadow.
WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO THAT.
“We don’t think alike,” Rynason said to him. “To me there is a purpose. Will you help me once more?”
There was no answer from the alien, only a slow of his to one side, which Rynason took for assent. He Mara to set up the telepather.
After their last Rynason the creature’s to continue. Perhaps his that there was no purpose to the Earthmen’s sense—for the of the history of a much to its last members? Probably they didn’t care; they walked slowly through the of their world and all around them fading, and the past in their minds must be only one more thing that was to disappear.
And Rynason had not the of which had at him in Horng’s mind—nor had Horng, he was sure.
Mara the leads of the while the sat motionlessly, his dark only occasionally either of them. When she was Rynason for her to the linkage.
Then there was the of Horng’s mind upon his, the thought-streams closer, the images and over him, and in a moment he his own with them, the of his own with that of Horng. They were together; they were almost one mind.
And in Horng he the of distrust, of fear, and the of that which had at him once before. But they were in the background; all around him here on the surface was a of … uselessness, resignation, almost of unreality. The which he had noted in Horng had been and turned, and in its place was this of hopelessness.
Tentatively, Rynason for the memories in that mind, Horng’s own him. He them, of of unknown still alive here, the pictures and of thousands of years past. He among them, looking again for the memories of Tebron … and what he was for.
He was Tebron, across that Flat which he had before, the alive around him among the of his army. He the of his tight with weariness, and the of the air as he in long gasps. He was still hours from the City, but they would dawn….
Rynason among those memories, moving in them, and was aware of Horng him. There was still the in his mind, and a of anxiety, but it was by the he had seen. He in the memories, and….
The temple-guard in the shadows, and one of his own to his weapon. The of the guard’s rolled three, four, five of the steps of the Temple, and stopped. His on that for only a moment, and then he and up to the entrance.
There was a of pain, or of fright, in his head; he was only aware of it. He walked into the of the and paused. But only for a moment: there was no movement inside, and he forward, one step into the interior.
Screams through the and of the Temple—high and piercing, in as they echoed, him almost into unconsciousness. He they were from Horng, but he them, his own steps across the dark room. He was Tebron Marl, king ruler of all Hirlaj, in the Temple of Kor, and he the solid his feet. Sweat out on his back—his own, or Tebron’s? But he was Tebron, and he the blast of in his mind as though it were a for his very identity. He was Tebron.
The faded, and he in the Altar of Kor.
So this is the source, he thought. For how many days had he toward this? It was to remember; the of his were enough, and the scar-tissue that the movement of one shoulder. If he those he would again the of enemy minds his, and he had had of that. This was the goal, and it was his; there need be no more such killing.
He opened his mouth and spoke the which he had learned so many years before, his in the Region of Mines. The of the Temple were always in the spoken language; Kor it, and only the priest-caste these words, for they were so old that their had almost by the time his people had and speech; they were not to the of the people.
“I am Tebron Marl, king leader of all Hirlaj. I your orders guidance.”
He knelt, according to ritual, and up at the altar. The Eye of Kor there, a small circle of light in the dark room. The was but massive; its columns, upon the lines, supported the weight of the Eye. He its slow and waning, and waited; him, Rynason’s mind stirred.
And Kor spoke.
Remain motionless. Do not go forward.
He a child as a of spread through all of his skin and his organs for a moment. Then it was true: in the Temple of Kor, the god leader did speak.
“I words.”
The Eye his almost in the dimness. The voice in the room. The of your lead you to extinction. The knowledge offered to me by your make it clear that a hundred years your will its planet. You must not go forward, for that way the of all your race.
His mind swam; this was not what he had expected. The god leader Kor had always his people in their sciences; in the knowledge word they reported to the Eye the results of their studies, and often, if asked properly, the god leader would which they faced. But now he ordered an to quests. This was unthinkable! Knowledge was godhood; was knowledge, of the essence; the was understanding. To him, to his people, it was a unity—and now that itself. Faintly in the he again screaming.
“Are we to all progress? Are the so dangerous?”
The wish of progress must die your people. There must be no purpose in any of knowledge. You must motionless, what you have, and live in peace. The Eye in the larger and the longer he looked at it; all else in the room was darkness. The are not dangerous, but there is a which with you, and it more rapidly. Should you into the you will only meet that sooner, and they will be stronger. They are more than your people; already you are of peace, and that must be your aim. Remain on your world; consolidate; the fruits of your as it is, but do not go forward. In that way, you will have five thousand years that you, and if you are no threat to them they will not you.
He a anger in him as the god leader’s came to him in the dark room, and a that deeper. He was a warrior, and a … how he give up all such pursuits, and how he be to all his people to do the same? There would be no wish of advance, no … no purpose.
“Is this other so much more than we are?” he asked.
He a low from the and the Eye again. They are not so much ahead of you now … but they are more warlike, and will therefore more quickly. In your races, is a which you use as a for what is in you. Your and your are the same thing … you must both. They are discontentment, and you will that only in peace, if at all.
He his to one side, a of or agreement. He couldn’t argue with the god leader Kor, and he had been to think of it.
“How am I to the race? Is it possible to each of them of the for all questing?”
The Eye hummed, and against the of the it, but it was some time Kor spoke again. It would be to every one. The must be from them, and from the memories; you must not my knowledge in any way. Consolidate your power, peace upon them and lead them into acceptance. The knowledge can be to die them. Remember that there will be no purpose … in that they must contentment.
The king leader of all Hirlaj waited a moment, and was to and when the Eye spoke again.
You must the priesthood. The knowledge which I have to you must die when you die.
He waited for a long time in the dim, cold for the god leader to speak again, then slowly rose and walked to the door, the image of the Eye of Kor still in his vision. He stopped the doorway, the soft wind of the city slowly past the above him. One of his out and touched his mind tentatively, but he his and the steps past them.
The of the wind above him rose to a screaming, and it was as though he were the entire length of the stairway, of sky and and past in a kaleidoscope, and the all around him. He almost for his bludgeon, but then he that he was not Tebron Marl … he was Lee Rynason, and the was Horng and he was being out of those thoughts, through a thousand memories so fast he not any one of them.
He from Horng’s mind as though from a nightmare; he aware of his own body, in the of Hirlaj, and he opened his and to Mara to the connection.
When she had done so he slowly sat up and his head, waiting for it to clear. For he had been an king of Hirlaj, and it took some time to return to the present, to his own consciousness. He was aware of Mara him, but he couldn’t make out her at first.
“Are you all right? Are you sure? Look up at me, Lee, please.”
He himself to her, and then he saw the on her and the last of from his mind. There were in her eyes, and he touched the of her with his hand and said, “I’m all right. But why don’t you me or something?”
She did, but Rynason himself in it she away and said, “You must have had a time with him! It was as though you were dead.”
He a and said, “Well, it was engrossing. You’d the beast; he had a time of it too.”
Mara rose and the from Horng gingerly. Rynason sitting; some of the meaning of what he had just was to him now. It why the Hirlaji had passed from their into peace, and why the memories had been blocked. But he those memories of a voice of an god?
And in the at the of the Hirlaj plain the full came to him, as it not when he had been Tebron. Not only the Temple, but the Altar of Kor itself had been the of the Outsiders.
