"I still say you l—you are misinformed," said Zhewha."Even before we drove the treacherous rabble of your ancestors into cowardly flight, the Sveho Tract was included in our boundaries."
"It was not. It was ours!"
"It was so. It was ours!"
"It was ours!"
"It was ours!"
"IT WAS OURS!"
The yelling began again until the argument was quieted. Brisson interjected:
"You are both making strong statements, but on what evidence? Neither of you could have been alive then."
"True," said Zhewha, "but my great-grandfather was, and from him the story has come down through the generations. I can produce as many witnesses as you like to prove that such is the tradition."
"We can do better than that," retorted Horko."Not only do the Znaci have a tribal tradition giving the tract to us in former times, but we have left tangible proof of our occupancy in the form of the great black statue near the city of Sveho."
"Oh!" said Brisson, who had been waiting for this."Do you claim your people made Ozymandias?"
"Certainly, though not under that ridiculous earthly name. That is a statue of Uyedna the Fourth, chief of the Znaci in the days of the Hrata Empire."
Horko swept his glance around the ruins of the Hrata capital.
"And so," said Brisson, "you are employing your alleged authorship of this monument to persuade the chiefs to back you in this matter, while simultaneously using your possession of the female of Chief Holm to induce him to accede to your claim. Is that correct?"
"That is right."
"Then, chiefs, may I say a word? Good. Most of you have, I suppose, seen this statue. Perhaps you noticed that it was carved of a single piece of a notably hard, dense, heavy rock. Perhaps it occurred to you to wonder how the makers succeeded in hauling it up an almost vertical slope, several times the height of a full-grown Kteremian, to the top of that spire or natural pedestal on which it stands."
The assembled chiefs squatted silent and watchful.
"Perhaps you even wondered how that pinnacle happened to grow in just the right size and shape to serve as a base for the statue," Brisson continued."Perhaps my good friend Horko can explain these things. How did your people get the statue up there, Horko?"
Horko's incisors clicked wordlessly. At last he said: "How should I know? I am no earthman."
"Come, come! Did they equip it with wings so that it could soar to its present position?"
"Do not mock me! I suppose they plaited ropes of grass or hide and stood on the top to haul it up."
"Have you measured that top? I have, and I assure you that it would not accommodate one-hundredth the number of Kteremians needed to haul that weight into position. Well?"
Horko muttered: "The Hrata kings had some powerful magicians. Maybe one of these put a spell on it."
"Oh, now really! If the Hrata kings had possessed the powers your myths attribute to them, the Znaci and their allies could never have overthrown the Hrata Empire, now could they?"
"Well, you insolent earthman, have you an explanation?"
"Certainly. I examined the statue just before I came here, and I can give you a good idea of how it originated. It was built, not by the Znaci or any other present-day people, but by the Doznyi; and it was erected not a few hundred years ago, but hundreds of thousands or even millions of years ago."
The audience gave a slight whistling gasp. Brisson, suppressing a grin, hurried on:
"The quarry from which this statue was dug still exists in the hills flanking Sveho Valley. I went over the valley carefully, and found indications that back before Doznyi times it was not just a valley but a lake. The streams flowing into this lake laid down a deposit of sandstone. Then the outlet eroded its way down until the lake-water ran out, leaving this flat sandstone surface dry save for the Sveho River.
"Then the Doznyi civilization rose. The Doznyi carved this statue of some king or god—we shall never know which—and hauled it across the level valley on sleds or rollers to its present site, then on a level with the rest of the valley floor. In later ages the valley rose and erosion came into play. The Sveho river cut down through the sandstone into the softer strata beneath, and the downpours of the rainy season washed away the topsoil—except where this statue stood. Protected by the monument, the sandstone under the statue remained in place while that all around was broken up and washed away. So now the statue stands on the pedestal it made for itself. If it were not of a fine-grained and extremely hard rock it would long since have disappeared too, and as things are it is badly worn.
"Therefore, you see, this statue could never have been built by the Znaci, because they could not have raised it to its present height. And so I fear I must tell you that my friend Horko, no doubt from the most praiseworthy motives, is a liar and a fraud, who has tried to draw you into dangerous conflict with the earthmen in order to satisfy his inordinate ambition.
"Now, since there is no reason for you to back his demand upon Sveho, his whole plan falls to the ground. There is therefore no further excuse for his holding this female earthman, thus straining the relations between our two peoples."
As he spoke, Brisson walked calmly to where Euphemia Holm sat. He held out a hand to her, hauled her roughly to her feet, and started for the exit, saying:
"Friend chiefs, this has been a most interesting session. Any time you wish some such puzzling question solved, drop in on me at Sveho for a consultation. Good-bye."
He walked briskly, dragging Euphemia almost at a trot. Behind him, after a moment of stunned silence, a violent squabble broke out among the chiefs. A backward glance showed Brisson that a couple of them were holding the struggling Horko. The tame Kteremian joined the terrestrials. As soon as the shattered walls and pillars of Gdoz hid the conference, Brisson said:
"Run!"
"But—"
"Run like anything! If we can get a good start, we might just beat them to my helicopter!"
They ran, like anything.
FIVE days later Ricardo Holm met Amaury Brisson and Euphemia Holm (more adequately clad) at the little airport outside Sveho. He pecked his wife's cheek, wrung Brisson's hand, and gave them a ride to the gubernatorial mansion. Again Brisson repressed a grimace at the sight of the scores of archaeological objects serving as mere decorations.
The governor rummaged in his desk and came up with a bottle."Here," he said, "is real honest-to-God earthly champagne. Practically priceless, and I've been saving it for some such occasion."
He poured and they drank appreciatively while Brisson and Euphemia told of their experiences. Brisson noticed that Euphemia said very little about Ivan Dolgoruki, whose part in this affair remained curiously vague. Finally Brisson looked at his watch and said:
"I must pick up my gear and get to the airport."
"Are you leaving for earth?" asked Holm.
"Yes; I am already far behind my schedule. So if you will please sign my exit permit..."
"Oh, what's your hurry? Stay over till the next ship."
"I'm sorry, but the next ship doesn't leave for forty-three days, and I have professional business to attend to back on earth. Will you please sign, governor?"
Holm looked at him through narrowed lids."Now, wait a minute, pal. I said I wouldn't sign unless you got Euphemia back, but I didn't say I would sign when you did."
"Oh, you fibber! You said as plainly as you are speaking now—"
"Whatever I said then, it's what I'm saying now that counts. I still expect courtesy for courtesy."
"You mean you're still trying to rob me of my specimens?"
"I wouldn't put it that way, but I do expect something for my consideration of your interests. Just let me pick half; you can keep the rest."