Jerlet’s face filled the screen, huge, dominating the whole assembly, bigger than Linc’s own height, mighty and powerful.
He was old, far older than anyone in the Living Wheel. His face was strong and square, with deep creases around the eyes and mouth. His hair was long and thick, streaked with gray as it curled over his ears and down to his shoulders. His voice was a thundering command, saying the words of the law just as he always said them:
“I’ve tried to set you kids up as well as possible. The servomechs ought to last long enough for you to grow up enough to take care of yourselves. There’s nobody left now except me… and all of you. I can’t stay any longer, but I think you’ll be okay. You can make it. I’m sure of it.”
Most of the people sitting on the floor were mouthing the ancient words along with Jerlet’s image on the screen. Everyone knew the words by heart, they had heard them so often since childhood.
“I’ll come back whenever I can to see how you’re doing… and I’ll watch you on the TV intercom. But I’ve got to get up to the zero-g section now. My heart can’t take any more of this load.”
Linc had to shift his position on the floor to see around Magda. She sat transfixed on the desk top, her slim body a dark silhouette against the massive presence of Jerlet.
“Now remember,” Jerlet was saying, “all the rules I’ve set down. They’re for your own safety. Especially, don’t mess around with the machines that I haven’t shown you how to handle. Let the servomechs take care of the machines; that’s what they’re for. You’ll only hurt yourselves if you touch the machines. It’s going to be tough enough for you, alone down here, without fooling around with the machinery.
“And above all—don’t hurt each other. Violence and anger and hate have killed almost everybody on this ship. You’re the only chance left for survival. Don’t throw everything away… everything that we’ve worked for, for so many generations. You have a tough road ahead of you. Violence will make it tougher… you could easily wipe yourselves out. So…” his eyes squeezed shut, as if he were in sudden pain, “…above all… don’t hurt one another. Violence is the greatest enemy you face. Never hurt one another. Never!”
The image disappeared, leaving only an empty glowing screen. Linc heard a few of the girls crying softly in the crowd.
“Jerlet has spoken,” Madga said.
“But—” Peta found his voice. “But, that’s what he always says—”
Magda nodded gravely. “He has not changed his rules for you, Peta. There is no forgiveness for the sin of violence. You must be cast out.”
Peta tried to scramble to his feet. The guards grabbed him roughly and he screamed out, “No! Please!”
Linc yelled at Magda, “Show him mercy!”
“He deserves none,” Magda said, her gaze flicking from Linc to Monel and back again. Peta was standing now, no longer struggling, head down. The two guards had a firm grip on his arms.
“But,” Magda went on, “we have never seen the sin of violence before, and it would take even more violence to cast Peta into the outer darkness. That is the nature of the sin; violence breeds more violence.”
Linc wondered what she was leading up to.
“Therefore,” she said, “Peta will not be pushed through the deadlock into outer darkness. Instead, he will be given enough food and water for three meals, and sent into the tube-tunnel to seek Jerlet’s domain. Let Jerlet take him and make the final judgment.”
The crowd was stunned. No one moved.
Magda uttered the magic words that made her decision finaclass="underline"
“Quod erat Demonstrandum.”
4
Slowly everyone left the meeting room, leaving only Magda and Linc there.
He walked up and stood beside her. She touched the control button that turned off the wall screen, then put down her symbols and let her robe slip off her shoulders.
Linc didn’t try to touch her, even though she was now no longer acting in her office as priestess.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Nodding. “Yes…”
“For sure?”
“Well,” she smiled and the room seemed to glow brighter, “it always shakes me when Jerlet speaks to us. His voice… I have dreams about it sometimes.”
“That’s why you’re the priestess.”
With the two of them alone in the big empty room, with no one and nothing there except the few remaining books on the bare shelves, Magda was less the priestess and more of a normal human being.
She looked up at Linc, her dark eyes questioning. “Are you angry with me?”
“Angry? Why?”
“You wanted me to show mercy to Peta.”
Linc felt his teeth clench slightly. Peta. I’d nearly forgotten about him. A few moments alone with her and I forget everything.
“Jerlet will take him,” Linc said.
“But you think I should have gone easier on him.”
Is she trying to start a fight? “You could have, if you wanted to. Peta isn’t really a violent person.”
“No; I could see that he acted out of panic.”
Linc felt puzzled. “Yet you sent him out into the tubes. He might never make it as far as Jerlet’s domain. The rats, and who knows what else—”
“Do you know why I had to send him away?”
Linc shook his head.
“Because of Monel,” Magda admitted.
“You thought he was right and I was wrong.”
She laughed suddenly, and reached out to touch Linc’s cheek. “No, you silly fool! And stop looking so grim. I wanted to let Peta go free. It would have been fun to watch Monel turn purple. And besides—”
Linc waited for her to go on. When she didn’t, he asked, “Besides…?”
She walked away a few steps, toward the room’s big double doors. “Besides, it would have pleased you.”
Linc rocked back on his heels. Magda turned away from him and hurried toward the door.
“Hey… wait. Magda!” He raced across the worn floor tiles after her. His long legs gobbled the distance in a few strides, and he jumped in front of her, leaning his back against the closed doors.
“You wanted to please me?”
“Yes.”
Truly puzzled, he asked, “Then… why didn’t you? Why cast Peta out? Why ask Jerlet to speak? You knew he’d just say the same old things… he never says anything else.”
Her smile faded and the troubled look returned to her eyes. “Linc.,. Monel wants power. He’s a bully. I’m sure he frightened Peta terribly; why else would the poor boy strike one of his guards? Peta never harmed anyone in any way before.”
“But then—”
She put a finger over his lips, silencing him. “Hear me. The real reason why I’m priestess is that I’m sensitive to the way people think. Monel wants to rule. He wants to be the leader and tell everyone what to do. He would make a terrible leader; he would hurt people. So I’ve got to stay ahead of him. I’ve got to make sure that he doesn’t gain more power.”
Linc felt as fluttery inside as he did up on the second level, where the gravity was lower. But now it wasn’t a happy feeling.
“Monel wants… how do you know…?”
She shrugged her slim shoulders. “I know. I can hear him thinking about it. I can smell his hunger.”
Linc muttered, “Monel likes to boss people around.”
“He’s made it clear that he’d love to have an alliance with me. I stay priestess and he tells me what to do.”
In his mind, Linc saw himself facing Monel, and for the first time in his life he wanted to be violent.