Read Online Into the New Millennium: Trailblazing Tales From Analog Science Fiction and Fact, 2000 - 2010 by Penny Publications - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Penny Publications
Tags: Science-Fiction, Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Anthologies, Anthologies & Short Stories
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mood.
"Things have come up through the ice before." Harshket's voice sounded troubled.
"They have?" said K'chir in a curious tone with no trace of challenge.
"You will learn about it in Fifth School next year."
"Please, sir," said K'chir, "would you tell me about it now?"
Harshket made a throaty chirp toward the ice and said, "It happened many great-tides ago." He spoke in a distant voice. "This thing came up through a fissure—a crack in the ice after a heaven-quake. And the thing came into the world upside-down. It had four feet rather than six. The feet pointed heavenward—a clear sign that it came from the God of Evil and Ice."
Harshket chirp-mapped the thing slowly and in exquisite detail. It took Jerik's breath away. The thing from the fissure had thin legs, rodlike with pads for feet. And it had a body with more rods sticking out nonsymmetrically from all sides. It seemed alive: a small shell-like object on its head swiveled back and forth, and it virtually reeked with frenzied electromagnetic waves. All this did Harshket transmit through a chirp-map, crisp and precise as if the priest had only encountered the object at last tide.
"And it rose toward heaven," Harshket continued. "Rapidly. Aggressively. It could be nothing else but the Ice God's demon rising to challenge the Great God."
Jerik felt the shimmering currents of Harshket's shivering limbs.
"Ice God, Great God," said K'chir in a voice of ridicule. "Well, I don't believe it."
"You are flirting with sacrilege, young man," said Harshket. "You of course know that people have fallen into fissures and have been pulled down into the realm of the Ice God."
"Down into the ice. Yes."
"They never came back," said Harshket with raised front legs. "Never!
K'chir chuckled and Jerik marveled at his friend's courage—or foolishness.
"So is that what the grinding sound is?" said K'chir. "The Ice God coming to visit?"
"In a manner of speaking, it is," said Harshket. "It can only be the Antigod trying to break through because of the immorality and evil in the land."
"Well, I think," said K'chir, swirling the water with a leg, "that there's another world beneath the ice."
"Ridiculous," Harshket uttered a disdainful chirp. "You'll understand when you reach Sixth school."
"I'll never understand. I believe it is another world."
"If you are so contemptuous of philosophy, then tell me: How, other than going through a fissure, could the dead from this . . . this other world reach heaven?"
"It could be," said Jerik, attempting to gain points with both his friend and the priest, "that we're chosen by God to be the guardians of heaven."
K'chir as well as Harshket returned a dismissive chirp.
"Or," said K'chir, "maybe there is no heaven and no god."
Jerik suppressed a gasp.
"Sacrilege!" Harshket roiled the water and then paused until the currents grew calm. "I must deliberate on this," he said in a voice of cold anger. "At first tide, come to me. I believe you must be corrected for your crimes against God. Both of you come."
Without another word, Harshket turned and scuttled away.
K'chir, with an audible scowl, glided away and Jerik glided after him.
"What will he do to us?" asked Jerik.
"He'll beat us, of course." K'chir chirped toward the Rippled Wall and the two glided in that direction. "Me for sacrilege and you for hanging out with me." After a few seconds, K'chir added, "He'll beat me more than you." Jerik sensed the currents as K'chir shuddered. " Much more than you." He sped up.
"Where are we going?" Jerik struggled to keep pace.
"I'm not going to stick around and let myself be beaten in front of all the people."
"You're not going to run away to another people," Jerik called from behind, "are you? It won't really do any good. It'll be just the same." Jerik shook in the turbulence of K'chir's wake.
"No," said K'chir without slowing down. "I'm going to prove philosophy is garbage and Experimentation is truth."
"What are you talking about?"
"I will
"Things have come up through the ice before." Harshket's voice sounded troubled.
"They have?" said K'chir in a curious tone with no trace of challenge.
"You will learn about it in Fifth School next year."
"Please, sir," said K'chir, "would you tell me about it now?"
Harshket made a throaty chirp toward the ice and said, "It happened many great-tides ago." He spoke in a distant voice. "This thing came up through a fissure—a crack in the ice after a heaven-quake. And the thing came into the world upside-down. It had four feet rather than six. The feet pointed heavenward—a clear sign that it came from the God of Evil and Ice."
Harshket chirp-mapped the thing slowly and in exquisite detail. It took Jerik's breath away. The thing from the fissure had thin legs, rodlike with pads for feet. And it had a body with more rods sticking out nonsymmetrically from all sides. It seemed alive: a small shell-like object on its head swiveled back and forth, and it virtually reeked with frenzied electromagnetic waves. All this did Harshket transmit through a chirp-map, crisp and precise as if the priest had only encountered the object at last tide.
"And it rose toward heaven," Harshket continued. "Rapidly. Aggressively. It could be nothing else but the Ice God's demon rising to challenge the Great God."
Jerik felt the shimmering currents of Harshket's shivering limbs.
"Ice God, Great God," said K'chir in a voice of ridicule. "Well, I don't believe it."
"You are flirting with sacrilege, young man," said Harshket. "You of course know that people have fallen into fissures and have been pulled down into the realm of the Ice God."
"Down into the ice. Yes."
"They never came back," said Harshket with raised front legs. "Never!
K'chir chuckled and Jerik marveled at his friend's courage—or foolishness.
"So is that what the grinding sound is?" said K'chir. "The Ice God coming to visit?"
"In a manner of speaking, it is," said Harshket. "It can only be the Antigod trying to break through because of the immorality and evil in the land."
"Well, I think," said K'chir, swirling the water with a leg, "that there's another world beneath the ice."
"Ridiculous," Harshket uttered a disdainful chirp. "You'll understand when you reach Sixth school."
"I'll never understand. I believe it is another world."
"If you are so contemptuous of philosophy, then tell me: How, other than going through a fissure, could the dead from this . . . this other world reach heaven?"
"It could be," said Jerik, attempting to gain points with both his friend and the priest, "that we're chosen by God to be the guardians of heaven."
K'chir as well as Harshket returned a dismissive chirp.
"Or," said K'chir, "maybe there is no heaven and no god."
Jerik suppressed a gasp.
"Sacrilege!" Harshket roiled the water and then paused until the currents grew calm. "I must deliberate on this," he said in a voice of cold anger. "At first tide, come to me. I believe you must be corrected for your crimes against God. Both of you come."
Without another word, Harshket turned and scuttled away.
K'chir, with an audible scowl, glided away and Jerik glided after him.
"What will he do to us?" asked Jerik.
"He'll beat us, of course." K'chir chirped toward the Rippled Wall and the two glided in that direction. "Me for sacrilege and you for hanging out with me." After a few seconds, K'chir added, "He'll beat me more than you." Jerik sensed the currents as K'chir shuddered. " Much more than you." He sped up.
"Where are we going?" Jerik struggled to keep pace.
"I'm not going to stick around and let myself be beaten in front of all the people."
"You're not going to run away to another people," Jerik called from behind, "are you? It won't really do any good. It'll be just the same." Jerik shook in the turbulence of K'chir's wake.
"No," said K'chir without slowing down. "I'm going to prove philosophy is garbage and Experimentation is truth."
"What are you talking about?"
"I will
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