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opinion of themselves. The inscription on the pedestal was the motto of the
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cult.
It read:MEN LIKE GODS.
Lapthorn had studied the statue and the inscription with all due seriousness
when we first landed, and I could tell that he was impressed. But he was of
asthenic rather than athletic build, and never put on weight no matter how
much he ate. It would take a lot more than healthy exercise and clean living
to turn him into a reasonable imitation of a superman. This, mercifully,
prevented him from becoming involved with the culture and philosophy of the
world, and the way that the inhabitants went to great lengths to insult us
soon drove out any least vestige of admiration which he might have harboured
for them.
Hence, when temptation struck me, as it occasionally did, he was unable to
muster sufficient disapproval to counsel caution. One night - the last of our
intended stay
- I, with Lapthorn as accessory before and after the fact, did wilfully and
maliciously deface the sacred statue.
I inserted the wordDON'T into the inscription.
I thought it was funny.
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ABC Amber LIT Converter http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
So did Lapthorn.
They threw us in jail for ninety days (local). Fortunately, the world turned
on its axis faster than most.
Until I landed on Rhapsody, that was the only time I was ever in jail. It may
seem peculiar that a career so long and checkered as my own should not have
resulted in other periods of incarceration, but it was a fact. My innate
cautiousness and honesty had conspired to keep me safe from the versatile arm
of the Law of New Rome, and simple diplomacy had sufficed to keep me out of
trouble on a purely local scale.
That single episode had instilled into me a healthy regard for the dangers of
trespassing on other people's idiosyncrasies. It also added fuel to my strong
dislike for those of definite and exclusive faith. I actually remembered and
rehearsed that incident as
I approached Rhapsody, but I make no claim to a prophetic gift. I was as
surprised as anyone else when we were jumped as soon as the drive-unit was
cooled.
I had taken off the hood, and was relaxing in the cradle with my eyes shut. It
hadn't been a difficult approach and landing at the speed I'd elected to adopt
- as evidenced by the fact that I'd been able to reflect on old times - but
there are proprieties to be observed. A space pilot should always look as if
he's been through hell and a half to get where he is.
Charlot and Nick had gone down to attend to the passengers, and Eve was
disconnecting my electrodes with one hand and preparing my shot with the
other. We weren't in any hurry, and while we exchanged a few innocuous and
irrelevant remarks some fifteen or twenty minutes crept by. I would have been
moderately content, in fact, to stay on board for the duration. We need our
terra firma, of course - as I've said - but we prefer it accompanied by air
and sky and sunlight.
I heard the inner lock swing shut with an unusually loud thump. I presumed, of
course, that somebody was getting out. But a few seconds later, an anonymous
figure in a surface-suit scrambled into the cabin with an indecent amount of
haste.
He was waving a gun.
At first I thought it was Johnny, because he was the only person I knew who
habitually waved guns for no good reason. Then I realised that it wasn't one
of our suits, and I knew we'd been jumped.
I couldn't see his face because of the black glass visor in his helmet, but I
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could imagine him watching me like a hawk. All-seeing and predatory.
He pointed the gun at me and said, 'Get out of the chair.'
Strangely enough, that order made me feel better. No spaceman would refer to
the cradle as a 'chair'. Ergo, I conclusion-jumped, he hadn't come to steal my
ship. It was me he wanted.
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ABC Amber LIT Converter http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
I disentangled myself from the straps, and stood clear of the cradle.
'Right,' he said. 'Now, one at a time, get down the ladder. Put your suits on
slowly.'
The others were already being shipped through the lock, two at a time. There
was another heavy with a gun at the bottom of the ladder. They had already
seized such of our armoury as was accessible without grubbing in the hold. Eve
and I donned our suits with dramatic care. Remembering what conditions on the
world were liable to be like I took a flashlight and secured it inside the
suit. The gunman didn't object.
I was the last to leave. One gunman went out with Eve, the other with me.
There was a third waiting outside, and that was all. They had apparently been
given no trouble at all. I was very grateful that Johnny hadn't been inspired
by our numerical superiority to put up a fight. The
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