way in order to achieve the calculated effect.
We walked a crooked mile, climbing some, dipping some. I confiscated George's butterfly net so as to prevent any annoying pauses as we passed by the several clover fields which lay along our route.
Walking backward through time, that's how it was-with bright birds flashing by {dare! claret), and a couple camels appearing against the far horizon whenever we topped a small rise. (Camel outlines, really, done up in charcoal; but that's enough. Who cares about a camel's expressions? Not even other camels-not really. Sickening beasts. . . .) A short, swarthy woman trudged past us with a tall jar on her head. Myshtigo remarked on this fact to his pocket secretary, I nodded to the woman and spoke a greeting. The woman returned the greeting but did not nod back, naturally. Ellen, moist already, kept fanning herself with a big green feather tri-angle; Red Wig walked tall, tiny beads of per-spiration seasoning her upper lip, eyes hidden behind sunshades which had darkened themselves as much as they could. Finally, we were there. We climbed the last, low hill.
"Behold," said Rameses.
"/A/arfre de Diosf^ said DOS Santos.
Hasan grunted.
Red Wig turned toward me quickly, then turned away. I couldn't read her expression because of the 62 ROGER ZELAZNY
shades. Ellen kept fanning herself-
"What are they doing? asked Myshtigo. It was the first time I had seen him genuinely surprised.
"Why, they're dismantling the great pyramid of Cheops," I said.
After a time Red Wig asked it.
"Why?"
"Well now," I told her, "they're kind of short on building materials hereabouts, the stuff from Old Cairo being radioactive-so they're obtaining it by knocking apart that old piece of solid geometry out there."
"They are desecrating a monument to the past glories of the human race!*' she exclaimed.
"Nothing is cheaper than past glories," I observed. "It's the present that we're concerned with, and they need building materials now."
"For how long has this been going on?" asked Myshtigo, his words rushing together.
"It was three days ago," said Rameses, "that we began the dismantling."
"What gives you the right to do a thing like that?"
"It was authorized by the Earthoffice Department of Arts, Monuments and Archives, Srin."
Myshtigo turned to me, his amber eyes glowing strangely.
"You! "he said.
"I," I acknowledged, "am Commissioner thereof
-that is correct."
"Why has no one else heard of this action of lil
3"
yours r
"Because very few people come here anymore," I explained. -"Which is another good reason for dismantling the thing. It doesn't even get looked at THIS IMMORTAL 63
much these days. I do have the authority to authorize such actions."
"I came here from another world to see it!"
"Well, take a quick look, then," I told him. "It's going away fast,"
He turned and stared.
"You obviously have no conception of its intrinsic value. Or if you do ..."
"On the contrary, I know exactly what it's worth."
". . . And those unfortunate creatures you have working down there"-his voice rose as he studied the scene -"under the hot rays of your ugly sun-they're laboring under the most primitive conditions! Haven't you ever heard of moving machinery?"
"Of course. It's expensive."
"All those men volunteered for the job, at token salaries-and Actors' Equity won't let us use the whips, even though the men argued in favor of it.
All we're allowed to do is crack them in the air near them."
"Actors' Equity?"
"Their union. -Want to see some machinery?"
I gestured, "Look up on that hill."
He did.
"What's going on there?"
"We're recording it on viewtape."
"To what end?"
"When we're finished we're going to edit it down to viewable length and run it backwards. 'The Building of the Great Pyramid,' we're going to call it. Should be good for some laughs-also money.
Your historians have been conjecturing as to exactly how we put it together ever since the day they 64 ROGER ZELAZNY
heard about it.
We walked a crooked mile, climbing some, dipping some. I confiscated George's butterfly net so as to prevent any annoying pauses as we passed by the several clover fields which lay along our route.
Walking backward through time, that's how it was-with bright birds flashing by {dare! claret), and a couple camels appearing against the far horizon whenever we topped a small rise. (Camel outlines, really, done up in charcoal; but that's enough. Who cares about a camel's expressions? Not even other camels-not really. Sickening beasts. . . .) A short, swarthy woman trudged past us with a tall jar on her head. Myshtigo remarked on this fact to his pocket secretary, I nodded to the woman and spoke a greeting. The woman returned the greeting but did not nod back, naturally. Ellen, moist already, kept fanning herself with a big green feather tri-angle; Red Wig walked tall, tiny beads of per-spiration seasoning her upper lip, eyes hidden behind sunshades which had darkened themselves as much as they could. Finally, we were there. We climbed the last, low hill.
"Behold," said Rameses.
"/A/arfre de Diosf^ said DOS Santos.
Hasan grunted.
Red Wig turned toward me quickly, then turned away. I couldn't read her expression because of the 62 ROGER ZELAZNY
shades. Ellen kept fanning herself-
"What are they doing? asked Myshtigo. It was the first time I had seen him genuinely surprised.
"Why, they're dismantling the great pyramid of Cheops," I said.
After a time Red Wig asked it.
"Why?"
"Well now," I told her, "they're kind of short on building materials hereabouts, the stuff from Old Cairo being radioactive-so they're obtaining it by knocking apart that old piece of solid geometry out there."
"They are desecrating a monument to the past glories of the human race!*' she exclaimed.
"Nothing is cheaper than past glories," I observed. "It's the present that we're concerned with, and they need building materials now."
"For how long has this been going on?" asked Myshtigo, his words rushing together.
"It was three days ago," said Rameses, "that we began the dismantling."
"What gives you the right to do a thing like that?"
"It was authorized by the Earthoffice Department of Arts, Monuments and Archives, Srin."
Myshtigo turned to me, his amber eyes glowing strangely.
"You! "he said.
"I," I acknowledged, "am Commissioner thereof
-that is correct."
"Why has no one else heard of this action of lil
3"
yours r
"Because very few people come here anymore," I explained. -"Which is another good reason for dismantling the thing. It doesn't even get looked at THIS IMMORTAL 63
much these days. I do have the authority to authorize such actions."
"I came here from another world to see it!"
"Well, take a quick look, then," I told him. "It's going away fast,"
He turned and stared.
"You obviously have no conception of its intrinsic value. Or if you do ..."
"On the contrary, I know exactly what it's worth."
". . . And those unfortunate creatures you have working down there"-his voice rose as he studied the scene -"under the hot rays of your ugly sun-they're laboring under the most primitive conditions! Haven't you ever heard of moving machinery?"
"Of course. It's expensive."
"All those men volunteered for the job, at token salaries-and Actors' Equity won't let us use the whips, even though the men argued in favor of it.
All we're allowed to do is crack them in the air near them."
"Actors' Equity?"
"Their union. -Want to see some machinery?"
I gestured, "Look up on that hill."
He did.
"What's going on there?"
"We're recording it on viewtape."
"To what end?"
"When we're finished we're going to edit it down to viewable length and run it backwards. 'The Building of the Great Pyramid,' we're going to call it. Should be good for some laughs-also money.
Your historians have been conjecturing as to exactly how we put it together ever since the day they 64 ROGER ZELAZNY
heard about it.
Similar Books
