“I wonder? Maybe you could be the first of many, Rosala.”
“You mean I might persuade other Petrans to follow my example? But they would lack my motive.”
She kissed him tenderly.
“Thanks for the compliment, darling,” he said. “But our kind of love isn’t unique. A Petran must always love a non-Petran. There are other Sherrets, other Lees in this wide world. At least, go and talk to your people. It might lead to something—perhaps the first worthy stock arising on Amara. Frankly, I see little other hope.
“Consider. With very few exceptions, Lee’s people are soft, selfish, unenterprising. They’ve sunk into a torpor. The first contingent of mankind to reach this planet has failed to adjust; it’s finished. It’ll be a long time before we can hope for anything better from my world, falling to pieces under Goffism. The Three-people have branched off into a ghastly psycho-biological cul-de-sac. The Paddies and Jackies seem to be poetic visionaries, inspired, maybe, but as practical as a mad March hare. You’re our only hope, my dear.”
She was lost in thought for a time.
Then she said, “It’s nice to feel I may be important— or, at any rate, be of some little significance. But, actually, I’m still dependent—on you. Nothing will mean anything if I can’t do it with you.”
“Then we’ll make it a joint enterprise. We’ll try to found a new race. What greater adventure could there be? Hell, when I look back, I see I’ve been little more than a child crying in the dark. I thought Reparism was something, but it was only a refuge. I was frightened of this unpredictable universe. When you get that scared, when you can’t control the circumstances of your existence, you cling to the proven and familiar. Then you try to kid yourself you’ve licked life. You were right, Rosala. I needed a lot of people around me to hold me up. But not any more. I know the stuff I’m made of now—good and bad. It’s a crazy mixture, like a witch’s brew. But I think I can handle it now, instead of it handling me.”
She smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
They walked, arm in arm, along the valley.
He said, “There’s some woods we’ll have to go through beyond the pass.”
“Yes, I know, Sherry. I came through them on the way.”
“You were lucky to get through alive. There’s a nasty breed of creatures living in them called—”
“The Creedos? Lee had told me all about them. I knew what to do. I came up through the stream, all the way. That’s the way we’ll have to go back.”
“Damn you, woman, I don’t seem able to tell you anything you don’t already know. Oh, well, we live and learn.”
“Isn’t that what we’re here for?” she asked.
—«»—«»—«»—
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The Three Suns of Amara Page 9
