Read Online The Unreasoning Mask by Philip José Farmer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Philip José Farmer
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backtracking with the hope of finding Pegasus."
He paused and said, "Or some trace of it."
A long silence, punctuated by pale faces, followed. Tenno was the first
to crack it.
"Captain, will we run away every time a Tolt ship appears?"
Ramstan did not like being questioned, but he said, "We're a scientific
mission. And we must at all costs -- almost all -- avoid anything which
might lead to war."
He scanned the faces. "All right. Normal operation."
Two ship's days passed. Ramstan was in his quarters, considering taking
the glyfa out for another effort to get it to talk, when a whistle sounded.
Ramstan spoke the code word which activated a two-way communication.
Tenno's clark-brown, slant-eyed face appeared on a screen.
"Captain, we've just rasered some debris at 45,000 kilometers. It might be
from a spaceship."
"I'll be right up," Ramstan said.
He felt cold and sick. Could it be what was left of Pegasus?
... 8 ...
When Al-Buraq caught up with the debris, she was 600,000 kilometers from
the planet Walisk. The pieces of the ship were spreading over a wide area,
though going in the same general direction. What attracted Ramstan's
attention most was a globe with a diameter of 14 meters. Ship matched
pace and path with those of the globe to catch up with it. Meanwhile,
other debris had been identified as of Raushghol origin. This was done
chiefly through furniture torn loose from the deck in the explosion
which had rent the ship. Only the Raushghol, in the Terrans' experience,
had three diamond-shaped holes in the backs of all their chairs and sofas.
A screen showed the sphere as a slowly rotating object with a surface of
black-and-white squares. Al-Buraq had transmitted signals of its own --
perhaps unintelligible to the receiver -- informing whoever was in the
globe, if there was anybody, that help was coming. No acknowledgment
had been received.
Al-Buraq jockeyed around, matched, opened a port, swallowed the globe
easily and softly, and closed the port. Air hissed into the chamber, which
held the globe in a depression fitting the lower third. Antibacterial
and antiviral gases mixed with the air for five minutes, then a spray of
weak acid washed the globe, followed by high-pressure sprays of liquid
helium and then boiling hot water. A few minutes later, crewmembers in
spacesuits entered, Toyce among them.
Toyce said, "Never saw anything like this before, sir. I can't find any
exterior mechanism to open it up for us. If there's a shet in there,
the shet will have to open it."
Shet was the Terrish nongender, singular and plural, definite and
indefinite third-person indicator, a combination of she/he/it from
English. An alaraf-drive ship, however, was referred to as shet-fim ,
fim being the female indicator.
"Can we cut into it?"
"Won't know until we try, sir."
"It's not likely, but it might contain explosive gas," Ramstan said.
"Everybody out. Let a yeoshet cut it."
The crew walked through the port into ship; a moment later, a wheeled robot
passed through. The port was shut, but the robot waited until ship had
built up armor-plated layers to enclose the chamber. When Task Completed
was flashed on the screen, the CPO directing the party gave the command.
A laser beam shot out from the tip of one of the robot's arms, and a thin
slice of the equator of the globe fell off.
"I'll be damned!" Ramstan said. "Water!"
It spurted out, then the pressure inside quickly eased off, and it flowed
down the side for a few seconds before trickling out.
"Cut out a hole at the equator," Ramstan said.
This was done quickly. More water poured out, but the flow ceased within
thirty seconds. The robot moved forward and extended an arm with a tiny
TV camera at its end through the hole. Light flared. The lower
He paused and said, "Or some trace of it."
A long silence, punctuated by pale faces, followed. Tenno was the first
to crack it.
"Captain, will we run away every time a Tolt ship appears?"
Ramstan did not like being questioned, but he said, "We're a scientific
mission. And we must at all costs -- almost all -- avoid anything which
might lead to war."
He scanned the faces. "All right. Normal operation."
Two ship's days passed. Ramstan was in his quarters, considering taking
the glyfa out for another effort to get it to talk, when a whistle sounded.
Ramstan spoke the code word which activated a two-way communication.
Tenno's clark-brown, slant-eyed face appeared on a screen.
"Captain, we've just rasered some debris at 45,000 kilometers. It might be
from a spaceship."
"I'll be right up," Ramstan said.
He felt cold and sick. Could it be what was left of Pegasus?
... 8 ...
When Al-Buraq caught up with the debris, she was 600,000 kilometers from
the planet Walisk. The pieces of the ship were spreading over a wide area,
though going in the same general direction. What attracted Ramstan's
attention most was a globe with a diameter of 14 meters. Ship matched
pace and path with those of the globe to catch up with it. Meanwhile,
other debris had been identified as of Raushghol origin. This was done
chiefly through furniture torn loose from the deck in the explosion
which had rent the ship. Only the Raushghol, in the Terrans' experience,
had three diamond-shaped holes in the backs of all their chairs and sofas.
A screen showed the sphere as a slowly rotating object with a surface of
black-and-white squares. Al-Buraq had transmitted signals of its own --
perhaps unintelligible to the receiver -- informing whoever was in the
globe, if there was anybody, that help was coming. No acknowledgment
had been received.
Al-Buraq jockeyed around, matched, opened a port, swallowed the globe
easily and softly, and closed the port. Air hissed into the chamber, which
held the globe in a depression fitting the lower third. Antibacterial
and antiviral gases mixed with the air for five minutes, then a spray of
weak acid washed the globe, followed by high-pressure sprays of liquid
helium and then boiling hot water. A few minutes later, crewmembers in
spacesuits entered, Toyce among them.
Toyce said, "Never saw anything like this before, sir. I can't find any
exterior mechanism to open it up for us. If there's a shet in there,
the shet will have to open it."
Shet was the Terrish nongender, singular and plural, definite and
indefinite third-person indicator, a combination of she/he/it from
English. An alaraf-drive ship, however, was referred to as shet-fim ,
fim being the female indicator.
"Can we cut into it?"
"Won't know until we try, sir."
"It's not likely, but it might contain explosive gas," Ramstan said.
"Everybody out. Let a yeoshet cut it."
The crew walked through the port into ship; a moment later, a wheeled robot
passed through. The port was shut, but the robot waited until ship had
built up armor-plated layers to enclose the chamber. When Task Completed
was flashed on the screen, the CPO directing the party gave the command.
A laser beam shot out from the tip of one of the robot's arms, and a thin
slice of the equator of the globe fell off.
"I'll be damned!" Ramstan said. "Water!"
It spurted out, then the pressure inside quickly eased off, and it flowed
down the side for a few seconds before trickling out.
"Cut out a hole at the equator," Ramstan said.
This was done quickly. More water poured out, but the flow ceased within
thirty seconds. The robot moved forward and extended an arm with a tiny
TV camera at its end through the hole. Light flared. The lower
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