He had managed to stand, and cover himself with kelp, and walk a full quarter of a mile inland, when he came upon people. Three of them to be exact, two men and a woman. Wilder looking people Manuel men and a woman. Wilder looking people Manuel couldn’t imagine: the men had beards that had never been cut, and arms like Laeghr’s. The woman looked exactly like his miniature portrait of Saint Anna, until she got closer and he saw that she was dirty and her teeth were broken and her skin was brindled like a dog’s belly. He had never seen such freckling before, and he stared at it, and her, every bit as much as she and her companions stared at him. He was afraid of them.
“Hide me from the English, please,” he said. At the word English the men frowned and cocked their heads. They jabbered at him in a tongue he did not know. “Help me,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re saying. Help me.” He tried Spanish and Portuguese and Sicilian and Arabic. The men were looking angry. He tried Latin, and they stepped back. “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and in all things visible and invisible.” He laughed, a bit hysterically. “Especially invisible.” He grabbed his medallion and showed them the cross. They studied him, clearly at a loss.
“Tor conaloc an dhia,” he said without thinking. All four of them jumped. Then the two men moved to his sides to hold him steady. They chattered at him, waving their free arms. The woman smiled, and Manuel saw that she was young. He said the syllables again, and they chattered at him some more. “Thank you, Laeghr,” he said. “Thank you, Anna. Anna,” he said to the girl, and reached for her. She squealed and stepped back. He said the phrase again. The men lifted him, for he could no longer walk, and carried him across the heather. He smiled and kissed both men on the cheek, which made them laugh, and he said the magic phrase again and started to fall asleep and smiled and said the phrase. Tor conaloc an dhia. The girl brushed his wet hair out of his eyes; Manuel recognized the touch, and he could feel the flowering begin inside him.
Acknowledgments
“Venice Drowned” © 1981 by Terry Carr. Universe 11
“Mercurial” © 1985 by Terry Carr. Universe 15
“Ridge Running” © 1984 by The Mercury Press, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“The Disguise” © 1977 by Damon Knight. Orbit 19
“The Lucky Strike” © 1984 by Terry Carr. Universe 14
“Coming Back to Dixieland” © 1976 by Damon Knight. Orbit 18
“Stone Eggs” © 1983 by Terry Carr. Universe 13
“Black Air” © 1983 by The Mercury Press. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
THE PLANET ON THE TABLE
Copyright © 1986 by Kim Stanley Robinson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
First printing: July 1986
A TOR Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
49 West 24 Street
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN: 0-312-93595-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 85-52258
Printed in the United States
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