[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
between the Heaveners and the True Worders, but had never had a chance, since the massacre had been
so fast and so complete. Godsworld would never be able to destroy Earth, but, John thought, the
corporations might be kept so busy fighting one another that they would have no chance to do
Godsworld further damage.
Why had only one corporation come to Godsworld in the first place?
There was still too much he didn't know, and the airship was settling to the ground at the head of the
gully. The first dim red light was on the eastern hills, he noticed as he emerged from the craft, and he
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had to get his men and as much material as possible out of the camp before noon; long-term plans would
have to wait.
Before the door of the airship had closed behind him he was running down into camp, shouting the alert,
rousing his men.
Chapter Sixteen
A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth."
Ecclesiastes 7:1
* * * *
Once they were all out of the gully there was no reason to hurry; John slowed his horse to a walk and
turned for a final look at the camouflaged oilcloth. A minor pang ran through him; he was going to miss
the place, miserable as most of his stay there had been. It had been his, the first place that ever truly was.
Always before, when he was in charge of a place, he had been working for someone else his father, his
uncle, the Elders someone. They had all betrayed the truth and surrendered to the enemy, though.
He had not; he would carry on fighting even now. He glanced up at the sky, wondering whether the
same airship that had picked him up would be the one to destroy the camp. He doubted that the
Heaveners had more than a handful of airships. He had wanted to pack up and carry as much as possible,
so that it was now just about noon, and the attack was due.
He never even saw what it was that did hit the camp; he glimpsed a quick flicker in the air, gone before
he could turn to look at it, and a moment later the gully erupted in flame.
The fire did not last long; within ten minutes it had died down to isolated patches of flame, leaving most
of the gully adrift with white ash.
John shook his head. Nothing on Godsworld could fight that kind of weapon; they needed outside help.
He had no illusions about what sort of help he was likely to find; whatever other corporation he could
bring in, if he could do it at all, would probably be just as unChristian, just as evil as Bechtel-Rand. He
no longer cared. The old Godsworld, where the righteous stood alone and took their strength from the
truth, was gone. He knew he could never eradicate the changes the Earthers had brought. Even if they
were driven off Godsworld forever, all of them, things had been changed. The protectorate might
survive without them; the People of the True Word and Flesh, however, would not. All the relative
strengths and military balances that John had known for years had already been thrown off irretrievably.
And the trade goods dyes, fabrics, guns, ammunition would be around for years, maybe centuries.
Beliefs would change; the Apocalypsists could no longer maintain that Earth had been destroyed, and
that the starships had been the new arks. Simply the knowledge that Earth was still out there, that people
could travel between worlds, would change how people thought. Attempts might well be made to
recover the lost arts of Earther technology, even to build new starships.
But that was all conjecture; in fact, the Earthers were not going to abandon Godsworld. All he could
hope to do would be to slow, perhaps halt, their spreading contagion. If he drove away or destroyed
Bechtel-Rand, another corporation would come that was one thing Dawes had told him that he did not
doubt at all.
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Click here to buy
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Even a delay would be welcome, though. It would give the Godsworlders time to adjust to the changes,
time to do what they could to maintain their way of life in the face of Earther encroachments. John also
thought that he would prefer that Bechtel-Rand not be the group to profit from the ruin of Godsworld. If
someone must, it need not be his personal enemies.
He turned away from the smoldering ashes in the gully and urged his mount to a trot; the way to the
Citadel by horse was long and winding.
Beside him rode three of his last handful of men and one of the two women; in these last days the camp
had only kept five horses. The rest of the band, left on foot, had scattered in all directions, with
arrangements made for meetings and contacts throughout the central part of the Heavener protectorate.
The resistance against the Earthers encroachment was not done yet.
What was that? one of his companions asked.
What was what? John replied, startled out of his thoughts.
That flash that burned the whole camp like that! The speaker was Thaddeus Blood-of-the-Lamb, one
of John's original True Worder soldiers one who had joined the retreating half and thereby survived
the massacre.
I don't know; it doesn't matter. It's just another Heavener weapon. It's not the steel of the weapons that
matters, Thaddeus, it's the steel in the man who uses them."
That wasn't steel, Captain, that was hellfire, said David Beloved-of-Jesus, one of the Chosen, on his
other side.
Just steel a machine, that's all. The Earthers are just men and women, not demons."
They're both, David insisted, and John thought better of answering. Just machines, he told himself,
designed and built by people. He wondered if his ancestors had made the right decision, abandoning
most of Earth's technology.
The image of an ordinary religious war fought with Earther weapons came to him, and he decided
quickly that the ancients had chosen wisely.
There were to be no more ordinary religious wars, though; the Heaveners didn't like them. The next war,
John hoped, was to be between corporations. He couldn't expect that all the fighting in this new kind of
war would be back on Earth; to make it worthwhile for Bechtel-Rand's opponent they would have to be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
between the Heaveners and the True Worders, but had never had a chance, since the massacre had been
so fast and so complete. Godsworld would never be able to destroy Earth, but, John thought, the
corporations might be kept so busy fighting one another that they would have no chance to do
Godsworld further damage.
Why had only one corporation come to Godsworld in the first place?
There was still too much he didn't know, and the airship was settling to the ground at the head of the
gully. The first dim red light was on the eastern hills, he noticed as he emerged from the craft, and he
a
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T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
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B
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Click here to buy
Click here to buy
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c
.
.
.
.
A
A
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r r
had to get his men and as much material as possible out of the camp before noon; long-term plans would
have to wait.
Before the door of the airship had closed behind him he was running down into camp, shouting the alert,
rousing his men.
Chapter Sixteen
A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth."
Ecclesiastes 7:1
* * * *
Once they were all out of the gully there was no reason to hurry; John slowed his horse to a walk and
turned for a final look at the camouflaged oilcloth. A minor pang ran through him; he was going to miss
the place, miserable as most of his stay there had been. It had been his, the first place that ever truly was.
Always before, when he was in charge of a place, he had been working for someone else his father, his
uncle, the Elders someone. They had all betrayed the truth and surrendered to the enemy, though.
He had not; he would carry on fighting even now. He glanced up at the sky, wondering whether the
same airship that had picked him up would be the one to destroy the camp. He doubted that the
Heaveners had more than a handful of airships. He had wanted to pack up and carry as much as possible,
so that it was now just about noon, and the attack was due.
He never even saw what it was that did hit the camp; he glimpsed a quick flicker in the air, gone before
he could turn to look at it, and a moment later the gully erupted in flame.
The fire did not last long; within ten minutes it had died down to isolated patches of flame, leaving most
of the gully adrift with white ash.
John shook his head. Nothing on Godsworld could fight that kind of weapon; they needed outside help.
He had no illusions about what sort of help he was likely to find; whatever other corporation he could
bring in, if he could do it at all, would probably be just as unChristian, just as evil as Bechtel-Rand. He
no longer cared. The old Godsworld, where the righteous stood alone and took their strength from the
truth, was gone. He knew he could never eradicate the changes the Earthers had brought. Even if they
were driven off Godsworld forever, all of them, things had been changed. The protectorate might
survive without them; the People of the True Word and Flesh, however, would not. All the relative
strengths and military balances that John had known for years had already been thrown off irretrievably.
And the trade goods dyes, fabrics, guns, ammunition would be around for years, maybe centuries.
Beliefs would change; the Apocalypsists could no longer maintain that Earth had been destroyed, and
that the starships had been the new arks. Simply the knowledge that Earth was still out there, that people
could travel between worlds, would change how people thought. Attempts might well be made to
recover the lost arts of Earther technology, even to build new starships.
But that was all conjecture; in fact, the Earthers were not going to abandon Godsworld. All he could
hope to do would be to slow, perhaps halt, their spreading contagion. If he drove away or destroyed
Bechtel-Rand, another corporation would come that was one thing Dawes had told him that he did not
doubt at all.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
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P
m
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r
r
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B
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B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
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o
o
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w
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c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
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B
r r
Even a delay would be welcome, though. It would give the Godsworlders time to adjust to the changes,
time to do what they could to maintain their way of life in the face of Earther encroachments. John also
thought that he would prefer that Bechtel-Rand not be the group to profit from the ruin of Godsworld. If
someone must, it need not be his personal enemies.
He turned away from the smoldering ashes in the gully and urged his mount to a trot; the way to the
Citadel by horse was long and winding.
Beside him rode three of his last handful of men and one of the two women; in these last days the camp
had only kept five horses. The rest of the band, left on foot, had scattered in all directions, with
arrangements made for meetings and contacts throughout the central part of the Heavener protectorate.
The resistance against the Earthers encroachment was not done yet.
What was that? one of his companions asked.
What was what? John replied, startled out of his thoughts.
That flash that burned the whole camp like that! The speaker was Thaddeus Blood-of-the-Lamb, one
of John's original True Worder soldiers one who had joined the retreating half and thereby survived
the massacre.
I don't know; it doesn't matter. It's just another Heavener weapon. It's not the steel of the weapons that
matters, Thaddeus, it's the steel in the man who uses them."
That wasn't steel, Captain, that was hellfire, said David Beloved-of-Jesus, one of the Chosen, on his
other side.
Just steel a machine, that's all. The Earthers are just men and women, not demons."
They're both, David insisted, and John thought better of answering. Just machines, he told himself,
designed and built by people. He wondered if his ancestors had made the right decision, abandoning
most of Earth's technology.
The image of an ordinary religious war fought with Earther weapons came to him, and he decided
quickly that the ancients had chosen wisely.
There were to be no more ordinary religious wars, though; the Heaveners didn't like them. The next war,
John hoped, was to be between corporations. He couldn't expect that all the fighting in this new kind of
war would be back on Earth; to make it worthwhile for Bechtel-Rand's opponent they would have to be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]