Pioneers

 Preface   Chapter 1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42 

Paul lay in a cold sweat staring up at the alien moons. The alien wind moved about him and through him as if he were suddenly lacking all substance. And he did lack all substance. Despoused, he had no soul anymore.

At first his thoughts whirled about. They revolved slower and slower. At last his thinking was nearly as still and cold as the bright revolving constellations above.

Conquest. SheuXe’s enigmatic, smiling face appeared before him. Paul stared into the memory bitterly. For the first time he saw SheuXe not as his benevolent, wise friend, but as a brilliant and heartless schemer. An Aerie man.

Aerie law. Paul gripped his head in final immense realization. He had been trying to create a non-Aerie by Aerie rules. Conquest, SheuXe had insisted. So unlike SheuXe. And yet maybe truly SheuXe, ultimately. Aerie law was harsh and arbitrary, but necessary for survival. Harsh unequivocal laws served best to deal quickly with crises, in a world where crisis was frequent and almost always fatal.