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immediately to your signal or messenger."
"We sincerely appreciate your attitude," Mrs. Ellend said with a smile that warmed him. What a gracious lady she
was! "If you will also limit your initial exploration to an hour, this will serve as another safeguard."
"One hour." Brother Paul set the counter on his watch. "I'd like to take one further precaution. Because we are
concerned with objective reality here, I have been provided with electronic units to enable me to communicate with
persons outside of the Animation area. I propose to leave a transceiver with you, so that we will be in touch." He
drew a wand from his pocket. "These are activated by pressure; just squeeze between thumb and forefinger to
broadcast, and release to receive."
"I am familiar with the type," Pastor Runford said, taking the unit. "Back on Earth, we used these to coordinate our
membership drives. An excellent precaution."
Membership drives. Yes, the Jehovah's Witnesses were the most persistent of recruiters, carrying their message and
literature to every household. They believed the end of the world was near, and the advent of mattermission had
intensified that belief. Brother Paul was not about to argue the case. "Also," he continued, "I have been cautioned
against attempting to Animate the Major Arcana, but I cannot do much more with Tarot symbols like swords and
cups than I have already witnessed. I would like to Animate more complex images that are still circumscribed by
existing standards. It occurs to me that the picture symbolism of the Minor Arcana in the so-called Waite pack of
cards "
"You are a thoughtful man," Mrs. Ellend said. "Please accept my deck for this purpose. It is the standard Rider-Waite
Tarot." She extended it.
"Thank you." Brother Paul took the deck, faced north, and started walking. The four colonists stood where they were,
watching silently.
Actually he felt a bit guilty, for he had not informed them of the significance of the bracelet he wore. Yet it still
seemed best merely to let this secret recorder record, and to ignore it meanwhile; it would represent the final
evidence, back on Earth, of the truth of his discoveries. He could not play back its record here on Planet Tarot, so in
that sense it really was irrelevant.
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He wondered where the other three observers were the ones inside the Animation region. Were they hiding? He
really would not mind having them present; an objective experiment should be valid regardless of the audience, and
the Animation effect did not seem to be publicity-shy. Maybe they were waiting under that tree thirty meters distant...
It was a magnificent tree, possibly seventy-five meters tall, and thus larger than most that remained on Earth. The
leaves formed so dense a canopy that the shade beneath it was like night. Pretty Tarot Bubbles clustered in that
nocturnal shelter, exceptionally large; some were up to ten centimeters in diameter. A haze of blossoms coated the
outer fringe of the upper region of the tree, and their odor drifted sweetly down to him. Could this be the source of
Animation, the fragrance of the trees? No; surely anything so obvious would have been discovered long ago by the
colonists. Flowers were seasonal, so the effect would be limited to springtime, and from all he had heard, Animation
occurred at all seasons and in all places, though most frequently during storms and in Northole. Also, if Animation
derived from the Tree of Life (assuming that this tree was a representative of that species) and remained associated
with the wood, the effect would be strongest in the houses of the village. Since it was weakest there, and did not
develop as the wood was being burned in winter, the Tree was an unlikely source.
The watchers were not by the tree. Brother Paul halted, physically and mentally, and pondered. "This seems like a
good place to begin, nevertheless," he murmured. If this were an individual Tree of Life, allowed to stand because it
was in the Animation area, it was a fitting setting for his experiment. If there were an entire forest of giants like this [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]