WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:07.440 Divinity by William Morrison. Bradley had one fear in his life. 2 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:11.560 He had to escape regeneration. To do that, he was 3 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.359 willing to take any chance, coward though he was, even 4 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.320 if it meant that he had to become a god. 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.440 Bradley seemed to have escaped regeneration now he only had 6 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:28.480 death to worry about. Ten minutes before, he'd been tumbling 7 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:32.200 through the air head over heels, helpless and despairing. And 8 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:35.600 before that, he remembered how his heart had been in 9 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:37.719 his mouth as he crept down the corridor of the 10 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.880 speeding ship. He could hear Malevsky's voice coming faintly through 11 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.359 one of the walls, and he had been tempted to 12 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.560 run back, fearful of being shot down on the spot 13 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.719 if he were caught. He had fought back the temptation 14 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.439 and kept on. No one had seen him as he 15 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.840 crept into the lifeboat. This is your one chance, he 16 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.280 told himself. You have to take it. If they get 17 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.840 you back to port, you're finished. Luck had been with him. 18 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.719 They were broadcasting the results of the Mars earth matches 19 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.079 at the time, and most of the crew were grouped 20 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:13.159 around the visors. He had picked the moment when news 21 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:16.079 came of a sensational upset, and for a minute or 22 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:19.400 two after the lifeboat blasted off, no one realized what 23 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:23.280 had happened. When the truth did penetrate, they had a 24 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.719 hard time swinging the ship around, and by then the lifeboat. 25 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.560 Was out of radar range. He was free. 26 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:33.599 He had exulted wildly for the moment, until it struck 27 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.680 him that freedom and space might be a doubtful gift. 28 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.359 He would have to get to some civilized port, commence 29 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.480 the port authorities that he had been shipwrecked and somehow 30 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:47.040 separated from other crew members, and then lose himself quickly 31 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:48.879 in the crowd of people that he hoped would fill 32 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.840 the place. There would be risks, but he would take them. 33 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:54.159 It would be better than running out of air and 34 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.920 food in space. It had been the best possible plan, 35 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:02.480 and it had gone wrong, all wrong. He had been 36 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.000 caught before he knew it, in the gravity of a 37 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.520 planet he had overlooked. The lifeboat had torn apart under 38 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.240 the combined stresses of its forward momentum and its side 39 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.599 rockets blasting full force, and he had been hurled free 40 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:19.439 in a spacesuit, falling slowly at first then faster, faster, faster. 41 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.599 The automatic parachutes had suddenly sprung into operation when he 42 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.599 reached a critical speed, and he had slowed down and 43 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:30.879 stopped tumbling. He fell more gently, feet first, and when 44 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.599 he landed it was with a shock that jarred but 45 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:37.919 did no real damage. Slowly he picked himself up and 46 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.520 fumbled at the air valve. Something in the intake tubes 47 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.319 had jammed under the shock of landing, and the air 48 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.960 was no longer circulating properly filled with the moisture of 49 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.039 his own breath had felt hot and clammy and clouded 50 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.919 the viewplates. If he had kept all his wits about him, 51 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:55.879 he would have tried to remember before he took a 52 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:59.840 chance whether the planet had an oxygen atmosphere, and whether 53 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:04.639 the the oxygen was of sufficient concentration to support human life. 54 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:07.120 Not that he had had any real choice, but it 55 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.520 would have been good to know as it was. He 56 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.560 turned the air valve automatically and listened nervously as the 57 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.680 stale air hissed out and the fresh air hissed in. 58 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:20.319 He took a deep breath. It didn't kill him. Instead, 59 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.360 it sent his blood racing around with new energy. Slowly, 60 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.639 the moisture evaporated from his viewplates. Slowly he began to see. 61 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:33.319 He perceived that he was not alone. A group of 62 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:36.520 people stood in front of him, respectful, their own eyes 63 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.199 full of fear and wonder. Some one uttered a hoarse 64 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:43.280 cry and pointed at his helmet. The unclouding of the 65 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.280 viewplates must have stricken them with awe. The air was 66 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.280 wonderful to breathe. He would have liked to remove his 67 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.240 helmet and fill his lungs with it unhampered, exposed his 68 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.639 face to its soft caress, expand his chest with the 69 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:01.000 constriction of the suit. But these people, they must have 70 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.439 seen him tumble down from the sky and land unhurt. 71 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.280 They carried food and flowers, and now they were kneeling 72 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:12.800 down to him as to a Suddenly he realized to 73 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:17.040 them he was a god. The thought of it made 74 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:20.519 him weak. To Malevsky and the ship's crew, he was 75 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:24.839 a criminal, a cheap chiseler and pickpocket, almost a murderer, 76 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:27.839 escaping credit for that crime only by grace of his 77 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.439 own good luck and his victim's thick skull. They had 78 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.160 felt such contempt for him that they hadn't even bothered 79 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:36.920 to guard him too carefully. They had thought him a 80 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:41.079 complete coward, without the courage to risk an escape, without 81 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.920 the intelligence to find the opportunities that might be offered 82 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:47.800 to him. They hadn't realized how terrified he was of 83 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.120 the thing with which they threatened him. Regeneration, the giving 84 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:55.560 up of his old identity, not for him. They hadn't 85 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.360 realized that he preferred the risks of a dangerous escape 86 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:02.959 to the certainty of that. And here he was a god. 87 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:06.839 He lifted his hand without thinking, to wipe away the 88 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.800 perspiration that covered his forehead. But before the hand touched 89 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.680 his helmet, he realized what he was doing and let 90 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.360 the hand drop again. To the people watching him, the 91 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:20.319 gesture must have seen one of double significance. It was 92 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.160 at once a sign of accepting their food and flowers 93 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.319 and their offer of good will, and at the same time, 94 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:29.920 in order to withdraw, they bowed and moved backwards away 95 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.759 from him. Behind him, they left their gifts. They seemed human, 96 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:37.680 human enough for the features on the men's faces to 97 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.120 impress him as strong and resourceful, for him to recognize 98 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.199 that the women were attractive, and if they were human, 99 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.920 the food must be fit for human beings, whether it 100 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.720 was or wasn't. However, again he had no choice. He 101 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.120 waited until they were out of sight, and then stiffly 102 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:58.240 he removed his helmet and ate. The food tasted good, 103 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:00.879 and with his helmet off, with the wind in his 104 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.079 face and the woods around him whispering in his ears, 105 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:07.279 it was a meal fit for the being they thought 106 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:07.879 him to be. 107 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.079 He was a god. Possibly it was. 108 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.120 The space suit which made him one, especially the gogglied helmet. 109 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.600 He could take no chance of becoming an ordinary mortal, 110 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:20.600 and that would mean he would have to wear the 111 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.360 space suit continually, or at least the helmet. That he 112 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.160 decided was what he would do that would leave his 113 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.040 body reasonably free and at the same time impressed them 114 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:33.399 with the fact that he was different from them. By 115 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:35.360 manipulating the air valve, he would be able to make 116 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:38.959 the viewplates cloud and uncloud at will, thus giving dramatic 117 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.199 expression to his feelings. It would be a pleasant game 118 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.399 to play until he had learned something of their language. 119 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.920 It would be safer than trying to make things clear 120 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.480 to them with speech and gestures that they could not understand. 121 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:49.959 Anyway. 122 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.000 He wondered how long it would be before Malevski would 123 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.120 find the shattered lifeboat drifting in space, and then trace 124 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.199 its course and decide where he had landed. That would 125 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:04.720 be the end of his divinity. Meanwhile, until then, until then, 126 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:11.120 he was a god, unregenerated, permanently unregenerated. Holding his helmet, 127 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.600 he threw back his head and laughed loud and long, 128 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.399 and wondered what his mother would have thought. For a 129 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.639 while he was being left alone. They were afraid of him, 130 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:24.000 of course, fearful of intruding with their merely mortal affairs 131 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:28.000 upon the meditations of so divine a being. Later, however, 132 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.680 curiosity and perhaps a desire to show him off to newcomers, 133 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:35.480 might draw them back. In the interval, it would be 134 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:37.920 well to find out what sort of place this was 135 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.879 in which he had landed. He looked around him. There 136 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:45.959 were trees with sharp green branches, sharp green twigs, sharp 137 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.839 red leaves. He shuddered as he thought what would have 138 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:50.519 happened to him if he had fallen on the point 139 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.879 of a branch. The trees seemed rigid and unbending in 140 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.800 the wind that caressed his face. There were no birds, 141 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:00.199 so that he could see small black objects bounded from 142 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:03.199 one branch to another, as if engaged in complicated games 143 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.959 of tag. He wondered if the games were as serious 144 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.199 as the one he had been playing with Malevsky with 145 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.720 himself as it there were no ground animals in sight. 146 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:17.199 If any showed up later, they couldn't be too dangerous, 147 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.439 not with the natives living here in such apparent peace 148 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:24.639 and contentment. There probably wouldn't be anything that his pocket gun, 149 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.000 which he had taken the precaution to remove from the 150 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:31.720 lifeboat before that shattered, wouldn't be able to handle. Near 151 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:35.000 him was a strange spring or little river, or whatever 152 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:38.039 you might call it. It broke from the ground, ran 153 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.759 along the hard, rocky surface for a dozen feet, and 154 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:44.240 then plunged underground again. There were other springs of a 155 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:47.440 similar nature scattered here and there, and now he realized 156 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:50.320 that their combined murmuring was the noise he'd mistaken on 157 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.279 first removing his helmet for the rustle of the wind 158 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.799 in the woods. He would have enough to drink, The 159 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:59.960 natives would bring him food. What else could any reasonable 160 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.240 man want? It wasn't the kind of life he had 161 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.480 dreamed of. No Martian whiskey, no drugs, no night spots, 162 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.799 no big time gamblers, slapping him on the back and 163 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:14.440 calling him pal no brassy blonds, giving him the eye. Still, 164 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.000 it was better than the life he actually lived. Much 165 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:22.840 better it would do, he would have to do. From 166 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:24.639 what he had seen of the natives. He liked them 167 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.320 and feared them. For all their mistaken faith in him. 168 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:32.200 They seemed to be no fools. How many times before 169 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:36.360 had men from some supposedly superior civilization dropped in upon 170 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:38.960 the people of a new world and made that first 171 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.600 impression of divinity, only to have the original attitude of 172 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:46.480 worship by the natives give way to dissolution and contempt. 173 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:49.759 Who was that fellow they told about in the history books? 174 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:53.480 He had read as a kid Cortes way back on Earth, 175 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:57.600 when that planet itself had offered unexplored territory, and later 176 00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:59.559 on it had happened on one of the moons of Jupiter, 177 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.440 and on several planets outside the system. The explorers had 178 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:06.960 been gods until they had been found out. Then they 179 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:11.279 had been savage, murderers, plunderers, devils. It would be too 180 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.720 bad if you were found out. He was one against 181 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.840 them all. He would never be able to fight off 182 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:19.080 so many enemies more than that. He was a stranger here. 183 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:23.440 He needed friends. No, he mustn't be found out. Better, 184 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:27.399 put on your helmet, dope, he told himself savagely. They'll 185 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.600 be coming back soon, and if they find you without it. 186 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.879 He put on his helmet, still muttering to himself. It 187 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:37.120 wouldn't make any difference if you were overheard. They didn't 188 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.519 know Earth language and would take his words for oracular utterances. 189 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.799 He could talk to himself all he wanted, and from 190 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.559 the looks of things, there would be no one to 191 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:49.000 understand him. He hoped he didn't grow crazy and eccentric, 192 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:51.759 like those hermits who had been lost alone in space 193 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:55.840 for too many years. The helmet was the first nuisance. 194 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:59.080 There would be others too. He couldn't even talk, and 195 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.799 would have become his new natural manner, with a wine 196 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.919 in every word, a wine that came from being treated 197 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:08.559 with contempt by police and fellow criminals alike. A god 198 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:13.000 had to speak with slow gravity, with dignity. A god 199 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.440 had to walk like a god. A god had endless 200 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.840 responsibilities here, it seemed. He thought again of his mother. 201 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:23.879 Ever since he could remember, it had been Georgie, wipe 202 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.399 your nose, and Georgie keep your fingers out of the cake, 203 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.919 and Georgie, do this and don't do that. A fine 204 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.919 way to speak to a god. Even after he had 205 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.080 grown up, his mother had continued to treat him like 206 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.120 a baby. She had never got over examining his face 207 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.360 and ears and his fingernails to make sure that he 208 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.159 had cleaned them properly. He couldn't so much as comb 209 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:46.519 his hair to suit her. All through his aboardive attempt 210 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.240 at college and later at a job, she had done 211 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.360 it for him, But she had been a lioness in 212 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.279 his defense later on, when he had given way to 213 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.240 that first irresistible impulse to dip his fingers in the 214 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:00.720 tail and get away with what he thought would be unnoticed, 215 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:04.080 petty cash. It had been her fault that the thing 216 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:06.919 had happened. Of course, she could have given him a 217 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:09.480 decent amount of spending money instead of doling it out 218 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.360 to him from his own wages, as if she were 219 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.720 giving money for candy to a schoolboy. She could have 220 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.879 treated him more like the man he was supposed to be. Still, 221 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.320 he couldn't complain. She had stuck to him all the 222 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:26.360 way through whatever the charges against him. When that lug 223 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.480 of a traveling salesman had accused her Georgie of picking 224 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:33.240 his pockets, and that female refugee from a TV studio 225 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.960 had charged poor, harmless Georgie was slugging her. It was 226 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:39.440 his mother who had stood up in court and denounced them, 227 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:42.799 and solemnly told judge and jury what a sweet, kind, 228 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.240 helplessly innocent lamb her Georgie was. It wasn't her fault 229 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:50.759 if no one had quite believed her. Now he was 230 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.159 on his own, without any possibility of help from her, 231 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.320 and in what the ads called a responsible position that 232 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:04.360 she had never so much as dreamed he could fill. Unfortunately, 233 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:06.679 now that he had reached so exalt at a level, 234 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:11.000 there seemed to be few possibilities of promotion. There appeared 235 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.960 only the chance, on the one hand, that the natives 236 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.559 would find him out and slaughter him, and on the 237 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:18.799 other that Malevsky would track him down and bring him 238 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:20.120 back to Earth for the punishment. 239 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:20.679 He dreaded. 240 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.320 It was a good thing he had put on his helmet. 241 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:26.960 Not far away, a group of the natives was approaching, 242 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:30.360 laden with more food and flowers. It was larger than 243 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:34.320 the previous group. Evidently, as he had anticipated, they were 244 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:38.120 showing him off to newcomers. He came to a stately 245 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.240 hall and waited for them to approach. He could see 246 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.000 the surprise on their faces as they noted his change 247 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.639 of costume, and he watched nervously as they stopped to 248 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:50.960 whisper among themselves. It would be too bad for him 249 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:54.480 if they didn't like it, but they didn't seem to mind. 250 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.639 One of them, a very impressive old man with green 251 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.519 hair flecked with red, stepped in in front of the 252 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.440 others and made a speech, A melodious speech full of 253 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.919 liquid sounds that were neither quite vowels nor consonants. He 254 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:11.320 didn't have the slightest idea of what the individual words meant, 255 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:14.440 but the significance of the speech as a whole was 256 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.600 clear enough. As it came to an end, they presented 257 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:22.799 him with more food and flowers. Bradley cleared his throat, 258 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.559 and then, with as deep and impressive a voice as 259 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:29.480 he could manage, she said, ladies and gentlemen, it gives 260 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:33.759 me great pleasure to accept your nomination. I promise you that, 261 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.720 if elected, I shall keep none of my promises. It 262 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:40.759 was his first speech to them, and he enjoyed making 263 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:42.639 it so much that every time he saw them. During 264 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.240 the next few days, they settled down to coming twice 265 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.120 a day morning. At night, he made it again, with variations, 266 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:51.440 listing the wonderful things he would do for them if 267 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:55.320 elected to office. After a while, as he began to 268 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:58.200 enjoy the ceremony for its own sake, he didn't mind 269 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:00.480 at all putting the helmet on for two short periods 270 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:03.360 every day. Having so little contact with him, he could 271 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:06.600 learn their language only very slowly. He could distinguish the 272 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.639 words for flowers from that for food, although he himself 273 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.480 could pronounce neither. He knew the names of a few plants, 274 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.159 a few parts of the body, and he learned a 275 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:21.879 few names of people. The red, green haired old man 276 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.600 was as close as he could make. The sounds yan you. 277 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.720 He took the trouble to notice the prettiest girl was 278 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:34.000 oh Ya. At first, everything had been exceedingly peaceful, But 279 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.960 about a week after his arrival he couldn't be exactly 280 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.919 sure how many days had passed because he hadn't kept count. 281 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.240 He learned of some of the dangers they faced. It 282 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.799 was while they were holding the morning ceremony that the 283 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.679 thing came out of the forest At first, he thought 284 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:53.600 that a tree had moved. It was green, with reddish blotches, 285 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.279 like clusters of needle leaves, and it seemed to ooze 286 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.879 forward toward them from among the trees. Ah Ya noticed 287 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.840 it first and pointed and screamed. It was the size 288 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:06.279 of a tiger, thought Bradley, and might even be more dangerous. 289 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:09.480 He had difficulty keeping his eyes on the rapidly moving 290 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:12.559 creature through the goggles of his helmet. He was aware 291 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.919 of gleaming eyes, of two rows, of dull green teeth, 292 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:20.559 and of muscles that rippled under the green fur. Several 293 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.639 of the men had little blowpipes through which they released 294 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.240 a shower of darts, but the darts bounced off the fur, 295 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.519 and the thing came on. Bradley fumbled for his gun 296 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.759 and almost dropped it in his excitement. When he finally 297 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:36.159 brought it up to aiming position, his hand was trembling 298 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.159 and his finger could hardly catch the trigger. The thing 299 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:41.960 leaped into the air at the old man Yanu. Just 300 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.320 as the gun went off, the body vaporized first, leaving 301 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.440 for a fraction of a second the fierce head and 302 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.279 the powerful legs, apparently supporting themselves in the air. Then 303 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.120 part of the head went and the rest fell to 304 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.159 the ground, but sheer momentum carried the green, smoky vaporns 305 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.000 that had surrounded the old man. Then several of the girls, 306 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.440 and after them Bradley himself. They were all yelling, all 307 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:06.119 but Bradley, who put away his gun and muttered to 308 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.279 himself in relief. And then the wind began to dissipate 309 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:11.920 the vapor, and on the ground there was left only 310 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.480 part of a head and six torn legs. They were 311 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:18.400 bowing to him and raising their voices high in thanks. 312 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.839 It was easy, thought Bradley. Really it was a cinch 313 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:24.279 to be a god. The beasts that were such great 314 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:27.759 dangers to them were mere trifles to him. To him 315 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:31.400 with a gun loaded with a thousand thermal charges, each 316 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.880 of which was capable of blasting armor plate, the thing 317 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:38.079 wouldn't even have come close if he himself hadn't been 318 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:41.960 such a timid, cowardly fool. Put Malevsky in his place, 319 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.880 and the detective would have gotten the creature as it 320 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.799 came out of the trees. He wasn't Malevsky. It was 321 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:49.599 a good thing for him that they couldn't know that. 322 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:54.680 Now his position was completely secure. Now he could relax 323 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:59.359 and enjoy his divine life. He didn't realize that a 324 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.240 much greater danger was yet to come. He found that 325 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.880 out after the evening ceremony. The group that came to 326 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:10.279 see him this time was bigger than ever. Evidently to 327 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:13.559 honor him, they had dropped all other work. Yenu seemed 328 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:18.119 to have constituted himself Bradley's priest. He made a tremendously 329 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.599 long and rhapsodic sounding speech, but at the end there 330 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:25.039 was no donation of the usual food and flowers. Instead, 331 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.559 Yanyu backed away, all the others doing the same and 332 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.559 looking at Bradley as if expecting him to follow them. 333 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:37.599 He followed in this manner, with his worshippers, walking respectfully backwards. 334 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:39.960 They arrived at what seemed to Bradley to be an 335 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.599 ordinary small hut. Outside the hut was what he took 336 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:47.480 for a curiously shaped log of wood. The inside of 337 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.480 the hut was in shadow, but as his eyes became 338 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.359 accustomed to the dimness, he saw something in one corner. 339 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:57.359 It was a weird looking head, also of wood. Then 340 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:01.240 it struck him the log of wood been the old god, 341 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:04.559 good enough to worship until he had come along and 342 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:07.799 showed them what a god could really do. Now it 343 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:12.400 had been contemptuously deposed and decapitated, the hut was a shrine. 344 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:13.759 It was all his. 345 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.640 He had been promoted after all. The thought didn't please 346 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.640 him in the least. Suppose he failed them too, and 347 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.119 that was very possible, for he had no idea of 348 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.960 what miracles they expected of him. Then he would be deposed, 349 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.160 and he gagged at the thought, But he knew that 350 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:35.640 he had to finish it decapitated. But for the moment 351 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.519 there was no thought of deposing him. The gifts they 352 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:41.519 offered were more lavish than ever, and in addition to 353 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.720 the food and flowers, there was something new, a jug 354 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.559 filled with a warm Swedish smelling liquid. He could get 355 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.079 the odor faintly through the intake valve of his helmet. 356 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:53.759 Later on, when his worshippers were gone and he had 357 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.480 its helmet off, he realized that it smelled up the 358 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:01.039 entire hut. Couldn't be harmful. Nothing that they had offered 359 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:04.400 him so far was harmful. He took a sip and 360 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.880 sighed with content. This was one of the few things 361 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.200 he had been lacking. There was alcohol, and there were 362 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.960 flavors and essences that reminded him of the drinks he 363 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:17.319 had encountered on a dozen planets. But this was first 364 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:20.880 class stuff, not diluted or adulterated with one thousand and 365 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:23.519 one synthetics that were put in to stretch a good 366 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.960 thing as far as it could go. Without realizing the danger, 367 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:29.799 he downed the entire contents of the jug. 368 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:31.759 He felt good. 369 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:34.759 He hadn't felt so good in years, not since his 370 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:36.960 mother had made him a special cake for his birthday 371 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.680 when he was let me see now, was it eight 372 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.680 or nine? No matter, it had been many years ago, 373 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.079 and the occasion had been notable for the fact that 374 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:47.400 she had let him drink some of the older people's punch, 375 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:50.839 maybe with a tiny bit of some alcoholic drink. He 376 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.880 felt very good. He picked up his helmet and put 377 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.119 it on his head and stuck the stem of a 378 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.160 green flower rakishly through the exit valve of the helmet, 379 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:01.839 so that the flower seemed to dance every time he 380 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.839 exhaled and staggered out of his hut. He was fortunate 381 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.799 that it was dark. I'm drunk, he told himself. Never 382 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:14.319 been so drunk in my life, never felt so good. Mother, 383 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:19.319 never felt so good. Malevski never felt so good. He 384 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.240 passed his shadowy figure in the dark and said, Hi, 385 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:25.880 a friend and worshiper. Ever see a god drunk before? 386 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.720 The figure bowed and kept its head lowered until he 387 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:34.359 had moved on. Drunk or sober, I'm still divine, he 388 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.119 said proudly, and he began to sing loudly and impressively, 389 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.480 his voice orchestral in his own ears, within the confines 390 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:45.720 of his own helmet, all lives high, and she used 391 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.799 to be, and which she used to be. The words 392 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.880 came easily, and as it seemed naturally, to his lips. 393 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:57.319 After a while, however, he tired of them. After a while, 394 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.799 he found that his legs had tired of them. He 395 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:02.880 sat down with a thump under a spiky tree and said, solemnly, 396 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.200 never felt so good in my life, never felt so happy. 397 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:13.559 It's a lie. I don't feel good. He didn't, not anymore. 398 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.160 He felt sick to his stomach. A touch of sober 399 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.160 thought had corroded the happiness of his intoxication, and he 400 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.319 was sick and afraid. Today their god was a hero. 401 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:25.319