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"You could show his men the politeness they deserve, and gain friends," Pradjung said, glancing at the
full purse.
"Of course."The storyteller raised his wineskin."Your very good health, sir." He took a long drink and
hung the skin on his back.
"What of our story?" cried some rustic, too indignant to remember Pradjung's knife.
"I fear I am interrupted," said the stranger.
The crowd made a sullen way. Pradjung was feeling surly enough himself, now, but held his peace. Wait
till they came to Sumu.
The great man dwelt in a wooden house unpretentious on the outside, except for its dimensions and the
scarfaced guards at every door. But the interior was so full of furniture, drapes, rugs, incense burners,
caged songbirds, aquaria, and assorted crockery that you could easily get lost. The harem wing was said
to possess a hundred inmates, though not always the same hundred. What most impressed a visitor was
the air conditioning system, bought at fabulous expense in the palace section of town.
Sumu lolled in a silkite campaign chair, riffling through some papers with one hand and scratching his
belly with the other. A pot of sweet black herb tea and a bowl of cookies stood in easy reach. Two
daggermen squatted behind him, and he personally packed a gun. It was an archaic snubnosed chemical
weapon throwing lead slugs, but it would kill you as dead as any blaster.
"Well?" Sumu raised his bulldog face and blinked nearsightedly.
Pradjung shoved the storyteller forward with a rough hand. "This outland sarwin has been narrating on
Indramadju for two days, tuan. See how plump his purse has grown! But when I asked him tocome pay
his respects to my noblest of masters, he refused with vile oaths until I compelled him at dagger point."
Sumu peered at the stranger and inquired mildly, "What is your name, and where are you from?"
"Dominic is my name." The tall man shifted in grip, as if uneasy.
"A harsh sound.But I asked where you were from."
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"Pegunungan Gradjugang-ouch!-It lies beyond the Tindjil Ocean."
"Ah.So." Sumu nodded wisely. One knew little about the dwellers on other continents. Their overlords
sometimes came here, but only by air and only to visit the overlords of Kompong Timur. Poor folk rarely
traveled far. One heard that strange ways of life had grown up under alien conditions. Doubtless
generations of poor diet and insufficient sunlight had bleached this man's people. "Why did you not seek
me out as soon as you arrived? Anyone could have told you where I live."
"I did not know the rule," said Dominic pettishly. "I thought I was free to earn a few honest coins."
"More than a few, I see," Sumu corrected. "And is it honest to deny me my right? Well, ignorance may
pass for an excuse this time. Let us count what you have gotten thus far today. Then we can decide on a
proper weekly sum for you to contribute, as well as the fine for not reporting immediately."
Pradjung grinned and snatched after Dominic's purse. The tall man stepped back and cast it himself into
Sumu's lap. "Here, tuan," he exclaimed. "Don't trust this ugly man. He has reptile eyes. Count the coins
yourself. But this is not one day's take.It's two days, yes, and a good part of one night. Ask in the square.
They'll tell you how long I worked."
"Will they tell how much else you have hidden, begetter of worms?" sneered Pradjung
"Off with your garments! A fortune could lie in that turban."
Dominic backed further. Pradjung signaled to the daggermen, who closed in on the storyteller and seized
his arms. As he went to his knees, lest bones break, Pradjung kicked him in the stomach. "Strip," said
Pradjung. Sumu continued sorting coins into his sarong.
Dominic groaned. There proved to be nothing in his kilt except himself, but wound into the turban was a
package. Pradjung unfolded it before Sumu's eyes. An awed silence fell on the room.
The wrapping was a blouse: some fabric hitherto unheard of, colored like the palest dawn, fine enough
to fold into cubic centimeters but utterly wrinkleproof. Inside the package lay a multiple-dialed watch of
incredibly beautiful workmanship, and a wallet not made from leather or any recognized plastic. The
wallet held cards and money, whose papery substance was equally strange, whose engraving was lovely
but whose legends were in a peculiar form of the alphabet and an altogether foreign language.
VII
Sumu made a sign against evil. "Nine sticks of incense to the gods at Ratu Temple!" He swung on
Dominic, who had been released and knelt shuddering. "Well?"
"Tuan!"Dominic flopped on his face. "Tuan, take all my cash!" he wailed. "I am a poor man and the
humblest of your slaves. Give me back those valueless trinkets bequeathed me by my poor old mother!"
"Valueless, I think not." Sumu mopped the sweat of excitement from his forehead. "We shall have a little
truth out of you, storyteller."
"Before the Three HeadedOne himself, you have the truth!"
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"Come now," said Sumu in his kindliest tone. "I am not cruel. I should not like to have you questioned.
Especially since I would have to entrust the questioning to Pradjung, who seems to have taken a dislike
to you."
Pradjung licked his lips. "I know these stubborn cases, mighty master," he said. "It may take me a while.
But he will still be able to talk when he decides to. Come along, you!"
"Wait, wait, wait," said Sumu. "Not that quickly. Give him a few swats of the cane across his feet and
see if his tongue loosens. Every man deserves a chance to be heard, Pradjung." Dominic beat his brow
against the floor. "It is a family secret, nothing but a family secret," he begged. "Your nobleness could not
profit by hearing it."
"If that is so, rest assured I shall keep your secret inviolate," promised Sumu magnanimously. "Anyone
here who cannot keep a secret goes straight into the canal."
Pradjung, who saw an opportunity slipping past, seized the bastinado and applied it. Dominic cried out.
Sumu told Pradjung to stop, and offered Dominic wine.
Eventually the story came out.
"My brother George found the ship," Dominic said between gulps for air and gulps of drink. His hands
trembled. "He was a timber cruiser, and often went far into the mountains. In one deep, misty ravine, he
found a spaceship."
"A ship from the stars?"Sumu made violent signs and promised another dozen joss sticks. He had heard
of the Betelgeuseans, of course, in a vague way, and even seen a few of their goods. But nonetheless he
bore a childhood of myth about the Ancestors, the Stars, and the Monsters, which a sketchy education
had not removed.
"Just so,tuan . I do not know if the vessel came from the Red Star, whence they say Biocontrol receives
visitors on certain nights, or from some other. It might even have been from Mother Terra, for this shirt
fits me. It must have crashed out of control long ago, long ago. Jungle had covered it, but could not
destroy the metal.Wild animals laired within. Doubtless they had eaten the bones of the crew, but they
could not open the hatches to the holds. Those were not locked, however, only dogged shut. So my
brother George went down and saw wonders beyond reckoning-"
It took half an hour to elaborate on the wonders.
"Of course, he could not carry such things on his back," said Dominic. "He took only these articles, for
proof, and returned home. It was his thought that he and I should raise enough money somehow for
vehicles to get the cargo out. How, I knew not, for we were poor. But surely we would never tell our
overlord, who would take all the treasure for himself! Long we discussed the matter in secret. George
never told me where the ship lay." Dominic sighed. "He knew me well. I am not a resolute man. The
secret was safest with him." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]