Jesus On Mars

by Philip José Farmer

  Bronski shrugged. 'What else have we got to think about? There's nothing we can do except go along with our, uh, hosts. Anyway, points like that interest me.'

  'Yeah? Me, too, when I've got time on my hands.'

  Bronski looked around and smiled wryly. Orme burst into laughter.

  'I see what you mean. What else do we have but time on our hands, heh? Well, let me ask you. Do orthodox Jews watch TV?'

  'There's an ultraorthodox group in Israel, the Neturai Karta, who refuse to own or watch TV, or listen to radios, for that matter. They claim to be the only true Jews left in the world. They even refuse to recognise Israel as a state. But they're almost extinct, and the orthodox regard them with horror - or perhaps pity. Yes, the orthodox do watch TV, though they turn it off on the Sabbath. But the

  Martian Jews could be the Terrestrial counterpart of the Neturai Karta, though I'd doubt it.'

  Orme said, 'These people have been here for two thousand years. Surely, they've changed in that time? Even your superorthodox Jews don't stone women caught committing adultery or punch out a man's eye because he blinded someone?'

  'I wouldn't expect it. The Mosaic laws were rigorously applied when the Hebrews were nomadic tribes, wild Bedouins, in many ways. The laws were barbarically harsh, but they were necessary to keep order and to preserve the faith. Savage as they seem to us, they were more humane than the laws of their contemporaries. After the Jews settled down in Palestine and became civilised, they gradually softened the letter of the law with the spirit of humanity and in accordance with the circumstances of the times and the environment. A century before Jesu's birth, stoning as a punishment for adultery had ceased.'

  'But John says that when Jesus was in the temple some doctors of law and some Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery. They said, that Moses had laid down the law that such women were to be stoned, and they asked him what he thought about it. They hoped to frame a charge against him. Now are you saying that story wasn't true?'

  'The story may be true,' Bronski said, 'but its location could not have been Jerusalem. The incident probably took place in Galilee, where the natives were more conservative in religious matters - in some respects, anyway - and probably did stone adulterers, if they could do so without attracting the attention of the authorities. It was the law that any adulteress had to be brought to Jerusalem for judgement. There they would only have had to undergo the test of the bitter waters, and if they failed, they would have been punished - but nothing like stoning or in fact any capital punishment whatsoever. They probably would have been divorced and returned in disgrace to their family.

  'Anyway, the Martian Jews have had no alien interference or influence for two thousand years. So you can't expect them to have developed as their Earth counterparts did.'

  'No alien influence?' Orme said. 'You unpuckering me, man? What about the Krsh? I'd say they're about as alien as you can get. They're not even human!'

  'In a physiological sense, no. Otherwise, judging from our very brief acquaintanceship, I'd say they're very human.'

  He sat up in the chair and then leaned towards Orme, his hands clasped.

  'But here's what puzzles me about them. They were considerably more advanced technologically two thousand years ago than the people they picked up. In fact, they must have been more advanced than we are now. So, they were the superior species. To the humans, the Krsh must have seemed like gods. Angels, anyway. For the humans, the cultural shock would have been great. They would've been numbed.

  'Any effect would have been one-way, from the Krsh to the humans. After all, what did the Terrestrials have to offer the Krsh? Now, we know that the Krsh language is the common speech of both Krsh and humans. Greek and Aramaic have been preserved, but only among scholars, and Hebrew is mainly a liturgical language. This is to be expected.'

  He sat back but with his hands still gripping each other.

  'We would also expect that the religion of the inferior peoples - don't grimace; I use "inferior" in the sense that the humans were technologically inferior and relatively deficient in knowledge - these inferiors would have been tremendously influenced by their superiors. Just as all primitive cultures either perished or were tremendously influenced and changed by the impact of the technologically advanced Westerners. Well, that's not exactly right, since the Eastern civilisations caused less advanced societies to run, die, or change. They were every bit as ruthless, exploitative, and uncomprehending as the Western...'

  'I don't want a lecture,' Orme said.

  'Sorry. What I started to say was that the humans should have been completely assimilated in culture. But they weren't. Why? Was it because the Krsh were dealing with orthodox Jews, who are peculiarly resistant, extremely stubborn, when it comes to their religion? It was an historical accident that the Krsh picked up people from this one group. Of course, I'm not saying that the Jews are the only group who've stubbornly clung to their religion. Take the Parsis, for instance, They...'

  'You're doing it again, Avram. Look, I find all this interesting, but just now I'd like to stick to the essentials.'

  'Very well. On the other hand, even if the Jews should refuse to convert to the Krsh religion, providing they had one, why would the Krsh, who're not even Homo sapiens, and were thousands of years ahead of the Jews in science and God knows what else... why should they take up Judaism?'

  'Christianity.'

  'That remains to be proved. These people are Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. So your saying Christianity, in the sense you use it, isn't valid. At least, I don't think so. However, it's incredible that the Krsh should convert to a faith that, from their view-point, would have been no better than some Old Stone Age faith to us. Actually, there are many elements in the Judaism of that time which did derive directly from the Palaeolithic. The use of flint knives in circumcision when iron was available, the dietary taboos, which have their corollary in other preliterate and ancient cultures, their...'

  Orme shook his head. 'You should've been a rabbinical scholar.'

  'My father was.'

  'Well, how do you account for the Krsh converting?'

  'That remains to be learned.'

  A voice spoke from the TV. Orme turned to see Hfathon's 'image in the box. He spoke to Avram, who looked astonished. The Frenchman replied rapidly - his Greek was improving - and Hfathon, looking grave, vanished.

  Avram said, 'He asked me if Madeleine and Nadir were married. I said that Nadir had a wife, but she, Madeleine, had no spouse. He seemed upset at that, but he wouldn't tell me why.'

  'Why would they care?'

  Bronski twisted his lips to the right. 'I could speculate, but I don't want to.' He shook his head.

  'No, it's unthinkable.'

  6

  The next day, Orme spoke immediately after their teachers entered.

  'Why did you ask us if Shirazi and Danton were married?'

  The six looked surprised. Their captive had spoken in Greek.

  Hfathon replied in the same language, and Orme was lost. He had made Bronski teach him the phrase, but after that he had to depend on the Frenchman. However, he had wanted to fire the question himself to impress them with his concern.

  The Krsh and Bronski exchanged some sentences. Then the latter said in English, 'They'd assumed Danton and Shirazi were married because they found them unchaperoned in the ship. But the first night in their quarters they were observed sleeping in separate rooms. It was assumed that the woman was menstruating and thus unclean. But the following night the two slept together, and there was no evidence that the woman had been bleeding.

  'Women were sent in to examine her, and they found that she had had intercourse during the night. She was questioned through the man, but his Hebrew is so faulty that he didn't seem to understand. Or perhaps, Hfathon says, he was deliberately pretending not to understand.

  'In any case, Hfathon called us up last night and questioned me about them. I told him the truth, but if I'd sus
pected what they were after I would have lied. Though it would have done no good in the end. They would have found out.'

  Orme would have laughed if Bronski's expression had not told him that this was a serious situation.

  'Madeleine and Nadir? But they've never shown any signs of sexual interest in each other! I don't believe it!'

  Bronski made an impatient gesture.

  'After all this time, don't you feel horny? And if you were imprisoned and scared and lonely, wouldn't you turn to a woman? Or, if you were a woman, to a man?'

  Orme said, 'I might, but I'd never been unfaithful to my wife, my ex-wife, I mean, and believe me, I'd had plenty of chances. Still if this enforced celibacy went on long enough, I suppose...'

  'Yes, and you're a devout Christian. Anyway, what you or I might do has nothing to do with it.'

  'Yes, but Madeleine! She isn't a bad-looking woman, but she is so cool and detached!'

  'The longer the volcano is quiet, the more the pressure builds up. The point is that the Mosaic law against adultery still holds.'

  'Well, ask him!'

  Bronski spoke, listened to Hfathon, then said, 'If Nadir is truly contrite, that is, repents, and he promises not to commit this sin again, and if his wife forgives him, then there will be no punishment.'

  'Which would be what?'

  'A sentence to hard labour for six months digging out a hollow in the rock. And perhaps a public shaming.'

  'And Madeleine?'

  'The same. As it is, the case is being considered by the judges now. There's a chance that neither will be sentenced, since this involves an unprecedented case. Until now, they've not had to deal with goyim criminals.'

  'You tell them that they're acting mighty-god-awful arrogant! Their laws don't apply to us. Under our laws, those two have committed no crime!'

  A minute later, Bronski said, 'He says that they can't permit anybody, even aliens, to break their laws. If a person comes here, he is under the jurisdiction of this land.

  'He also says that Nadir has been taken to another prison so that the two won't be tempted to sin again. Nadir, by the way, is unclean until evening. Any man who has an emission of semen is unclean until evening comes.'

  Orme threw his hands up.

  'What next? Well, you tell him-'

  'No,' Bronski said. 'I'll tell him nothing. We're completely in their power. We don't want to antagonise them.'

  Hfathon rumbled something.

  Bronski said, 'We're to start the lessons and cut out this nonsense.'

  'Is nonsense his word or yours?'

  'Cool down, Richard. There's nothing to be gained by losing your head.'

  'I haven't lost it. But it is pretty hot.'

  When the session was broken for the lunch-hour, Orme asked Bronski to ask Hfathon when the most recent case of adultery had been tried in court.

  'He says it was two years ago.'

  Orme grunted. 'And you say these people are human?'

  Hfathon spoke to Bronski, and the six filed out.

  'There won't be any more lesson today. They have other business, and Sabbath starts at evening. They won't be seeing us tomorrow, either.'

  'Dawn' came but without the people streaming from the houses to work. Except for some farm animals in the distance, not a living being was to be seen.

  'Everybody will be slaying home to meditate and pray,' Bronski said. 'Later, however, they attend the synagogues. These have to be within a limited distance of the houses. It is forbidden to travel more than a certain distance from the residence on the Sabbath. And they must walk, not ride horses or vehicles.'

  Orme turned on the set, but no images sprang forth.

  'Looks like they can't watch TV either. Hmm. I wonder if they're watching us, though?'

  'I don't know. If they're really strict, no.'

  'You know,' Orme said slowly, 'if everything's shut down on the Sabbath, that'd be the day to make a break for it.'

  'First, you'd have to find out how to raise the wall.'

  'I think it's done by an outside operator or automatic machinery. Have you noticed that just before the wall goes up, Ya'aqob puts his hand inside his robe? I think he's got an activator in an inside pocket.'

  'How are you going to get it away from him?'

  Orme didn't reply. He was imagining picking the man's pocket. If he could substitute something that felt like the activator so Ya'aqob wouldn't miss the real device... but the transfer would have to be made just after Ya'aqob had pressed its button. That would cut it close, and his attention, the attention of the others, too, would have to be diverted. If Bronski would co-operate to make a scene, it could be done.

  However, if the device had to be activated to make the wall slide back down, then Ya'aqob would discover at once that he'd been slipped a fake. It seemed probable that this was the way it was done. Unless the wall slid down after a preset time without another wave-emission. No, that was too much to hope for. Though their captors usually walked out as soon as the wall rose high enough, there had been one time when they'd stood talking for at least ninety seconds.

  Now, if he could determine that the other five also carried activators or that at least one other did, then he could make two dummies. But that involved picking two pockets. It also required that he cause the wall to come down at the same time that Ya'aqob pressed the button - or whatever he did.

  How to make the counterfeits? He had no materials to carve one and no knife. Beside, they'd be watched on TV, which meant he'd have to escape the eyes of the monitors when he stole the devices, and he'd have to do the carving in the bedroom where, presumably, he wasn't being watched.

  And even if he did succeed in this elaborate plan, he still wouldn't know where to go or what to do once he got free. He had no idea where the tunnels were that led to the lander. Besides, their entrance would be guarded. These guys weren't stupid.

  What about the Sabbath? Wouldn't the sentinels be home on that day? Maybe. Even if they were, there would be automatic alarm equipment. Considering the difficulties, he had to admit that Bronski was probably right. Escape seemed impossible. However, if they should be allowed out of their prison, they would, even if guarded, have a much better chance.

  Bronski, who had been sitting wordless, his eyes rolling slowly, abruptly broke his silence.

  'I've got it!'

  'What?'

  'I've been calculating. Today will also be the Sabbath in Israel. It could be just coincidence, but I don't think so.'

  Bronski looked as pleased as Moses must have been when his spies brought word that Palestine, land of milk and honey, was ripe for the plucking.

  'Interesting,' Orme said, 'but I wish you'd bring that great intellect to bear on getting out of here.'

  'It'd be a nice exercise of the mind but practically unfeasible. Anyway, if you want the truth, Richard, I don't think I'd leave if I could. There's too much to learn.'

  'What if I ordered you to do so?'

  Bronski shrugged. 'You're the captain.'

  He rose slowly and strolled to the window-wall.

  'Here they come for the sun ceremony.'

  After the ritual, or public prayer, or whatever it was, the crowds broke up into smaller masses, each of which went into a wide building on top of a low hill of stone, ascending by twelve broad steps cut into the stone.

  'Synagogues,' Bronski said. 'The architecture is interesting. They have twelve sides, and the inner parts of the roof fold or slide in to expose the interior to the sunlight. The corners of the roof turn up. The carvings at the ends look like symbolic hands. They're not really representations, but they do suggest folded hands, praying hands.'

  The rest of the day passed with Bronski stationed like a sentinel against the wall, except that he had pulled up a chair to sit in, commenting aloud. Orme occasionally went to the wall when Bronski pointed out something interesting, such as the children playing outdoors after the noon meal. But his thoughts were mainly on getting away. If they could seize one of tho
se ground vehicles at night, they could speed to wherever the tunnel entrance was. There were cars all over the place. From what he could observe when the six drove off, they had no keys. Apparently, the Martians didn't worry about theft.

  Their supper was especially large and varied, and they ate the roast beef, baked fish, beans, lettuce, onions, gravy, and fruit salads with gusto. What surprised them were the roasted ears of maize, Indian corn, still wrapped in their husks.

  'Corn certainly wasn't included in the diet of the Old World ancients,' Bronski said. 'The Krsh must have picked up specimens of vegetable life from all over Earth before they left.'

  'You can see fields of wheat and barley from here,' Orme said. 'But no maize. They must grow it in other caves.'

  'Or in fields so far away we can't see them.'

  The next day was Sunday or yarn shamash, as it was called. Bronski had expected that it would be a normal workday. But as on the shabbat, no one went to work, except for the farmers, and they just fed the animals and fowl. There were three attendances at the synagogue, but the children played outdoors between the services. The greatest difference was the length of the noon outdoor ceremony. He'd timed the previous ones at ten minutes. Today's lasted twenty- four. During twelve of these, the crowd was silent while a cantor sang. The prisoners could hear and see everything clearly. The TV set was on. Bronski theorised that this was so that the sick and the very aged could watch it. The whole ritual was conducted in Hebrew.

  'If I didn't know better, I'd swear they were worshipping the sun,' he said. 'I'll have to wait for an explanation. Still, the Essene sect had its hymn to the sun. Maybe this is something like that.'

  Orme wondered why Hfathon hadn't told them they wouldn't be teaching on this day, too. But half an hour after the crowd broke up. Hfathon drove up with Zhkeesh.

  When he entered, he greeted them with the usual 'Shalom aleikhum,' and then said, 'My colleagues are home with their families. Our children are grown up and so are with their children. But tonight we are having a big family gathering, so we must leave early to be with the head, of the family, my great-grandfather.'