Tower of Zanid Read Free Page B

intellectuals.”
    “I’m afraid not,” said Fallon. “The Krishnans don’t go in much for exploring the country of the mind, especially the Balhibuma, who consider ‘emselves a martial race and all that, sort of thing. The only philosopher I ever knew was Sainian bad-Sabzovan, some years ago at the court of the Dour of Gozashtand. And I never could understand him.”
    “Where is this philosopher now?”
    Fallon shrugged. “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”
    Mjipa said: “Well, I’m sure you can still show Dr. Fredro a lot of things of interest. There is one thing he’s particularly anxious to see, which ordinary tourists never do.”
    “What’s that?” asked Fallon. “If you mean Madame Farudi’s place in the Izandu…”
    “No, no, nothing like that. He merely wants you to get him into the Safq.”

Chapter II
    Fallon stared, then cried, “What?”
    “I said,” repeated Mjipa, “that Dr. Fredro wants you to get him into the Safq. You know what that is, don’t you?”
    “Certainly. But what in the name of Bakh does he want to do that for?”
    “If—if I may explain,” said Fredro. “I am archeologist.”
    “One of those blokes who digs up a piece of broken butter-plate and reconstructs the history of the Kalwm Empire from it? Go on—I rumble to you.”
    The visitor made motions with his hands, but seemed to have trouble getting the words out. “Look, Mr. Fallon. Visualize. You know Krishna is great experiment.”
    “Yes?”
    “Interplanetary Council tries to protect the people of this planet against too-fast cultural change by their technological blockade. Of course that has not worked altogether. Some Earthly inventions and—ah—customs leaked through before they gave visitors pseudo-hypnotic treatment, and others like the printing press have been allowed to come in. So today we see—how shall I say?—we witness native cultures beginning to crumble under impact of Terran cultural radiation. Is important that all information about native culture and history be got quickly, before this process runs its course.”
    “Why?”
    “Because first effect of such cultural change is—is to destroy the veneration of affected population for native traditions, history, monuments, relics—everything of that kind. But takes much longer to—ah—to inculcate in them the intellectual regard for such things characteristic of—of well-developed industrio-scientific culture.”
    Fallon fidgeted impatiently. Between the polysyllabic abstractions and the thick accent, he was not sure that he understood half of what Fredro was saying.
    Fredro continued: “As example, one nineteenth-century pasha of Egypt planned to tear down Great Pyramid of Khufu for building-stone, under impression he was being enlightened modern statesman, like commercial-minded Europeans he knew.”
    “Yes, yes, yes, but what’s that got to do with our sticking our heads into a noose by breaking into that thing? I know there’s a cult based upon alleged measurements of the interior… What’s that gang, Percy?”
    “The Neophilosophical Society,” said Mjipa, “or as the Krishnan branch calls itself, the Mejraf Janjira.”
    “What is?” asked Fredro.
    “Oh, they believe that every planet has some monument— like that Egyptian pyramid you mentioned, or the Tower of the Gods on Ormazd—by whose measurements you can prophesy the future history of the planet. Their idea is that these things were put up by some space-traveling race, before the beginning of recorded history, who knew all future history because they’d seen it by means of a time-traveling gadget. Naturally they picked the Safq for that honor on Krishna. They turn people like that loose here, and then wonder why Krishnans consider all Earthmen cracked.”
    Fallon said: “Well, I’m no scientist, Dr. Fredro, but I hardly suppose you take that sort of thing seriously. I must say you don’t look cracked, at least not on the outside.”
    “Certainly not,”