And the generations had passed by, and the nomes forgot everything except that the Thing was very important.
That was enough for one head to carry, Masklin thought. But it wasn't the most important bit, it wasn't the bit that made his blood fizz and his fingers tingle.
This was the important bit. The big ship, the one that could fly between stars, was still up there somewhere. It was tended by machines like the Thing, patiently waiting for the nomes to come back. Time meant nothing to them. There were machines to sweep the long corridors, and machines that made food and watched the stars and patiently counted the hours and minutes in the long, dark emptiness of the ship.
And they'd wait for ever. They didn't know what Time was, except something to be counted and filed away. They'd wait until the sun went cold and the moon died, carefully repairing the ship and keeping it ready for the nomes to come back.
To take them Home. And while they waited, Masklin thought, we forgot all about them, we forgot everything about ourselves, and lived in holes in the ground.
He knew what he had to do. It was, of course, an impossible task. But he was used to them. Dragging a rat all the way from the wood to the hole had been an impossible task. But it wasn't impossible to drag it a little way, so you did that, and then you had a rest, and then you dragged it a little way again... The way to deal with an impossible task was to chop it down into a number of merely very difficult tasks, and break each one of them into a group of horribly hard tasks, and each one of them into tricky jobs, and each one of them...
Probably the hardest job of all was to make nomes understand what they once were and could be again.
He did have a plan. Well, it had started off as the Thing's plan, but he'd turned it over and over in his mind so much he felt it belonged to him. It was probably an impossible plan. But he'd never know, unless he tried it.
Gurder was still watching him cautiously.
'Er,' Masklin said. 'This plan...' 'Yes?' said Gurder.
'The Abbot told me that the Stationeri have always tried to make nomes work together and stop squabbling,' said Masklin.
'That has always been our desire, yes.' 'This plan will mean they'll have to work together.' 'Good.' 'Only I don't think you're going to like it much,' said Masklin.
That's unfair! How can you make assumptions like that?' 'I think you'll laugh at it,' said Masklin.
'The only way to find out is to tell me,' said Gurder.
Masklin told him. When Gurder was over the shock, he laughed and laughed.
And then he looked at Masklin's face, and stopped.
'You're not serious?' he said.
'Let me put it like this,' said Masklin. 'Have you got a better plan? Will you support me?' 'But how will you - how can nomes is it even possible that we can-?' Gurder began.
We'll find a way,' said Masklin. With Arnold Bros (est. 1905)'s help, of course,' he added diplomatically.
'Oh. Of course,' said Gurder weakly. He pulled himself together.
'Anyway, if I'm to be the new Abbot I have to make a speech,' he said. 'It's expected. General messages of goodwill and so on. We can talk about this later. Reflect upon it at leisure in the sober surroundings of-' Masklin shook his head. Gurder swallowed.
'You mean now? he said.
'Yes. Now. We tell them now.'
8
i. And the leaders of the nornes were Assembled, and the Abbot Gurder said unto them, Harken to the Words of the Outsider; ii. And some waxed wroth, saying, He is an Outsider, wherefore then shall we harken to him? iii. The Abbot Gurder said, Because the old Abbot wished it so. Yea, and because I wish it so, also.
iv. Whereupon they grumbled, but were silent.
v. The Outsider said, Concerning the Rumours of Demolition, I have a Plan.
vi. Let us not go like Woodlice fleeing from an overturned log, but like Brave Free People, at a time of our choosing.
vii. And they interrupted him, saying, What's Woodlice? Whereupon the Outsider said, All right, Rats.
viii. Let us take with us the things that we need to begin our life anew Outside, not in some other Store, but under the sky. Let us take all nomes, the aged and the young, and all the food and materials and information that we need.
ix. And they said, All? And he said, All. And they said unto him, We cannot do this thing...
From The Book of Nome, Third Floor v.I-IX 'Yes, we can,' said Masklin. 'If we steal a lorry.' There was a dead silence.
The Count de Ironmongri raised an eyebrow.
'The big smelly things with wheels at each corner?' he said.
'Yes,' said Masklin. All eyes were on him. He felt himself beginning to blush.
The nome's a fool!' snapped the Duke de Haberdasheri. 'Even if the Store was in danger, and I see no reason, no reason I say, to believe it, the idea is quite preposterous.' 'You see,' said Masklin, beginning to blush, 'there's plenty of room, we can take everyone, we can steal books that tell us how to do things-' 'The mouth moves, the tongue waggles, but no sense comes out,' said the Duke. There was nervous laughter from some of the nomes around him. Out of the corner of his eye Masklin saw Angalo standing by his father, his face shining.
'No offence to the late Abbot,' said one of the lesser lords hesitantly, 'but I've heard there are other Stores Out There. I mean to say, we must have lived somewhere before the Store.' He swallowed. 'What I'm getting at, if the Store was built in 1905, where did we live in 1904? No offence meant.' 'I'm not talking about going to another Store,' said Masklin. 'I'm talking about living free.' 'And I'm listening to no more of this nonsense. The old Abbot was a sound man, but he must have gone a little funny in the head at the finish,' snapped the Duke. He turned and stormed out noisily. Most of the other lords followed him. Some of them quite reluctantly, Masklin noticed; in fact, a few hung around at the back, so that if asked they could say that they were just about to leave.
Those left were the Count, a small fat woman who Gurder had identified as the Baroness del Icatessen, and a handful of lesser lords from the sub-departments.
The Count looked around theatrically. 'Ah,' he said. 'Room to breathe. Carry on, young man.' 'Well, that's about it,' Masklin admitted. 'I can't plan anything more until I've found out more things. For example, can you make electric? Not steal it from the Store, but make it?' The Count stroked his chin.
'You are asking me to give you departmental secrets?' he said.
'My lord,' said Gurder sharply, 'if we take this desperate step it is vital that we are open with one another and share our knowledge.' 'That's true,' said Masklin.
'Quite,' said Gurder sternly. 'We must all act for the good of all nomes.' Well said,' said Masklin. 'And that's why the Stationeri, for their part, will teach all nomes who request it to read.' There was a pause. It was broken by the faint wheezing noise of Gurder trying not to choke.
'To read-!' he began.
Masklin hesitated. Well, he'd gone this far.
Might as well get it over with. He saw Grimma staring at him.
Women too,' he said.
This time it was the Count who looked surprised. The Baroness, on the other hand, was smiling. Gurder was still making little mewling noises.
There's all kind of books on the shelves in the Stationery Department,' Masklin plunged on.
'Anything we want to do, there's a book that tells us how! But we're going to need lots of people to read them, so we can find out what we need.' 'I think our Stationeri friend would like a drink of water,' observed the Count. 'I think he may be overcome by the new spirit of sharing and co-operation.' 'Young man,' said the Baroness, 'what you say might be true, but do these precious books tell us how one may control one of these lorry things?' Masklin nodded. He had been ready for this one. Grimma came up behind him, dragging a thin. book that was nearly as big as she was. Masklin helped her prop it up so they could all see it.