The Forgotten Planet
Page 13
_EPILOGUE_
The survey-ship _Tethys_ made the first landing on the forgotten planet,and the _Orana_ followed, and some centuries later the _Ludred_. Thenthe planet was forgotten until the _Wapiti_ arrived. The arrival of the_Wapiti_ was as much an accident as the loss of the punched card whichcaused the planet to be overlooked for some thousands of years.Somebody had noticed that the sun around which it circled was of a typewhich usually has useful planets, but there was no record that it hadever been visited. So a request to the sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ hadcaused them to turn aside. They considered, anyhow, that it would beinteresting to land on a brand-new world or two. They considered itfascinating to find human beings there before them. But they could notunderstand the use of such primitive weapons or garments of suchbarbaric splendor. They had trouble, too, because in forty-oddgenerations the speech of the universe had changed, while Burl and Sayaspoke a very archaic language indeed.
But there was an educator on the _Wapiti_. It was quite standardapparatus,--simply basic-education for a human child, so that one'sschool-years could be begun with a backlog of correct speech, andreading, with the practical facts of mathematics, sanitation, and thegeneral information that any human being anywhere needs to know.Children use it before they start school, and they absorb itsinformation quite painlessly. It is rare that an adult needs it. ButBurl and Saya did.
Burl was politely invited to wear the head-set, and he politely obliged.He found himself equipped with a new language and what seemed to him anastonishing amount of information. Among the information was the itemthat he was going to have--as an adult--a severe headache. Which he did.Also included was the fact that the making of records for such educatorswas so laborious a process that it took generations to compile onemaster-record for the instruments.
Burl, with a splitting headache, nevertheless urged Saya to join him ingetting an education. And she did. And thereafter they were able toconverse with the sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ comfortably enough,--exceptfor their headaches.
And all this led to extremely satisfactory arrangements. Sportsmencould not but be enthusiastic about the hunting of giant insects withdogs and spears. The sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ wanted some of that kindof sport. Burl's fellow-tribesmen were delighted to oblige,--though theyhad not quite the zest of Burl. They had to acquire educations in theirturn, so they could talk to their new hunting-companions. But thehunting was magnificent. The _Wapiti_ abandoned its original plans andsettled down for a stay.
Presently Burl's casual talk of the lowlands produced results. Anatmosphere-flier came out of the ship's storage-compartments. Andthrough the educator Burl was now a civilized man. He had not thespecialized later information of his guests, but he had knowledge theycould not dream of, and which it would take much of a century to put inrecordable form for an educator.
So an atmosphere-flier went down into the lowlands through thecloud-banks. There were three men on board. They had good hunting.Magnificent hunting. Even more importantly, they found another clusterof human beings who lived as fugitives among the insect giants. Theybrought them to the plateau, a few at a time. Sportsmen stayed in thelowlands with modern weapons, hunting enthusiastically, while thetransfer took place.
In all, the _Wapiti_ stayed for two months Earth-time. When it left, itssportsmen had such trophies as would make them envied of all otherhunters in three star-clusters. They left behind weapons andatmosphere-fliers and their library and tools. But they took with thementhusiasm for the sport on the once-forgotten planet, and rather warmfeelings of friendship for Burl.
They sent their friends back. The next ship to come in found a smallcity on the plateau, with a population of three hundred souls,--allcivilized by educator. Naturally, they'd had no trouble buildingcivilized dwellings or practising sanitation, or developing a neatlyadapted culture-pattern for their particular environment. This secondship brought more weapons and fliers and news from the first partyabout commercial demand for the incredibly luxurious moth-fur, to befound on only one planet in all the galaxy.
The fourth ship to land on the plateau was a trading-ship anxious toload such furs for recklessly bidding merchants in a dozeninterplanetary marts. There were then nearly a thousand people living onthe plateau. They had a natural monopoly,--not of moth-fur andbutterfly-wing fabric, and panels of irridescent chitin for luxuriousdecoration, but--of the strictly practical and detailed knowledge ofinsect-habits which made it possible to obtain them. Off-planet visitorswho tried to hunt without local knowledge did not come back from thelowlands. In time, Burl firmly enacted a planetary law which forbade theinexperienced to go below the cloud-layer.
Because, of course, a government had to be formed for the planet. Butmen with the basic education of citizens everywhere did not fumble it.They had a job to do which was more important than anybody's vanity. Itwas a job which gave deep and abiding satisfaction. When naked,trembling folk were found in the mushroom-jungles and brought to theplateau, they had one instant, feverish desire as soon as they got overthe headache from the educator.
They wanted to go back to the lowlands. It was profitable, to be sure.But it was even more of a satisfaction to hunt and kill the monstersthat had hunted and killed men for so long. It felt good, too, to findother humans and bring them out to sunshine.
So nowadays the forgotten planet has ceased to be forgotten. It ishardly necessary to name it, because its name is known through all theGalaxy. Its population is not large, so far, but it is an interestingplace to live in. In the popular mind, it is the most glamorous of allpossible worlds,--and for easily understandable reasons. The inhabitantsof its capital city wear moth-fur garments and butterfly-wing cloaks forthe benefit of their fellows in the lowlands. There is no day butfliers take off and dive down into the mists. When human hunters are inthe lowlands, they dress as the lowlanders they used to be, so thatlowlanders who may spy them will be sure that they are men, and friends,and come to them to be raised to proper dignity above the insects. It isnot unusual for a man to be brought up to sunshine, and have his sessionwith the educator, and be flying his own assigned atmosphere-flierwithin a week, diving back above what used to be the place where he washunted, but where he has become the hunter.
It is a very pleasant arrangement. The search for more humans in thelowlands is a prosperous business, even when it is unsuccessful. Thewings of white Morpho butterflies bring the highest prices, but even acommon swallow-tail is riches, and the fur of caterpillars--dulyprocessed--goes into the holds of the planet-owned space-line ships withthe care given elsewhere to platinum and diamonds.
And also it is good sport. The planet is a sportsman's paradise. Thereare not too many visitors. Nobody may go hunting without an experiencedhost. And off-planet sportsmen tend to feel somewhat queasy after asession as guest of the folk who have made Burl their planet-president.Visitors are not so much alarmed at fighting flying beetles in mid-air,even though the beetles may compare with the hunters' craft in size andare terrifically tenacious of life. The thing that appalls strangers isthe insistence of Burl's fellow-citizens--no longer only tribesmen--uponfighting spiders on the ground. With their memories, they like it thatway. It's more satisfactory.
Not long ago the Planet President of Sumor XI was Burl's guest for ahunt. Sumor XI is a highly civilized planet, and life there has becometame. Its president is an ardent hunter. He liked Burl, who is still allhard muscle despite his graying hair. He and Saya have a verycomfortable dwelling, and now that their children are grown they haveroom in it even for a planet president, if he comes as a sportsmanguest. The Planet President of Sumor XI even liked the informalatmosphere of a house where pleasantly self-possessed dogs curl upcomfortably on rugs of emperor-moth down that elsewhere are beyondprice.
But the President of Sumor XI was embarrassed on his visit. He and Burlare both hunters, and they are highly congenial. But the President ofSumor XI was upset on his last flight to the lowlands. Burl got out ofthe atmosphere-flier alone, and for pure deep personal satisfac
tion hefought a mastodon-sized wolf spider with nothing but a spear.
He killed the creature, of course. But the President of Sumor XI wasembarrassed. He wouldn't have dared try it. He felt that, howeversporting it might be, it was too risky a thing for a Planet President todo.
But Saya took it for granted.
* * * * *
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