The Swords of Zinjaban
L. Sprague de Camp & Catherine Crook de Camp
Introduction
The Swords of Zinjaban is the latest in our series laid on the planet Krishna, an Earthlike satellite of the star Tau Ceti. Krishna harbors an intelligent species of humanoids enough like Earthmen so that an enterprising member of one race can disguise himself as a member of the other. The Terrans who live on Krishna must cope with cultures that range from primitive to medieval and with an interplanetary organization that forbids the introduction of 22nd-century technology into this comparatively primitive world.
An earlier novel, The Hostage of Zir, introduces Fergus Reith, a travel agent who, though inexperienced, finds himself shepherding a dozen erratic sightseers on the first guided tour of Krishna. Along the way the Regent of Dur, a quasi-medieval state, traps Reith for political reasons into marriage with a native princess. From the clutches of the Regent and the embraces of his bride, Reith escapes and returns to Novorecife, the Terran spaceport and complex.
In the following novel, The Prisoner of Zhamanak, the Terran community is aroused by the news that a social scientist, Dr. Alicia Dyckman, has been imprisoned by a Krishnan ruler. Alicia, beautiful and brilliant but headstrong and hot-tempered, is rescued by Percy Mjipa, a Terran consular employee of African origin. When the fugitives finally reach Novorecife, Alicia meets Fergus Reith, and the two fall precipitately in love.
The Bones of Zora opens over a year later when, after a passionate but stormy marriage, Reith and Alicia are newly divorced. Reith undertakes to assist a French paleontologist on Krishna's first fossil-hunting expedition; while, unknown to Reith, Alicia is guiding a rival scientist to the same area. Thrown together, Reith and Alicia become lovers. Each contemplates remarriage; but Alicia's contentiousness causes so many quarrels and problems that in the end, Reith sadly decides that they would have no chance of happiness together. Grieving, Alicia departs for Earth, planning to undergo drastic 22nd-century psychotherapy to improve her tempestuous personality.
The present story begins twenty Terran years later. Reith, now a well-established tour manager, has aged but little, because medical science has tripled the human life span. Alicia, seeming not to have aged at all, returns to Krishna as a motion-picture executive, to assist in making the first feature film on the planet.
While the Terrans on Krishna are of various national origins, the official language of the Viagens Interplanetarias, the Brazilian-dominated interstellar transport system, is Portuguese. For those interested in pronunciation, we have placed a short scholium at the end of the novel, explaining our suggested renderings of some of the exotic names in the story.
—L. Sprague de Camp Catherine Crook de Camp
I – Fergus Reith
The Pará set down on a pillar of flame. Long, lean, and auburn-haired, Fergus Reith waited at the lower end of the ramp as the interstellar travelers straggled down to set foot on the soil of the planet Krishna. Beside him stood a stripling, with hair as carroty red as his own had been twenty Terran years ago.
A group consisting of two men and a woman emerged from the crowd. These, Reith decided, might be his new clients from Cosmic Productions. But as they came into full view, Reith's jaw went slack. The concrete of the spaceport seemed to vanish beneath his feet, leaving him in free-fall. For the woman in the lead was Dr. Alicia Dyckman, the eminent xenanthropologist—who, a score of years before, had been Mrs. Fergus Reith.
As she approached, lithe in a blue-and-gold-jumper that matched her sapphire eyes and smooth blond hair, Reith experienced a dizzying sense of time travel. He knew that he had aged during the intervening years. Despite the longevity pills that tripled the normal human life span, the passage of time had marked him. And here came Alicia, looking no older than the day when, twenty Terran years ago, she had mounted the ramp to the Juruá, weeping because Reith, the husband whom she had deserted and divorced, would not take her back. She was the same tallish, slender, animated, golden woman, with delicate features and a tip-tilted nose. The illusion of fragility still clung to her; although Reith knew full well that, physically and mentally, she was as strong as a man and as tough as nails.
Reith also knew that the cause of this apparent anomaly in their ages lay in the relativistic effects of space travel. For two decades, Reith had plied his trade as a tour guide on Krishna; and for him, time had plodded by at its normal rate. Alicia, on the other hand, had spent most of that interval journeying between Krishna and their home planet Earth, at a velocity close to the speed of light. For her, time had slowed to a crawl, and the transit from planet to planet seemed little more than a fortnight.
As the trio completed their descent, Reith pulled himself together and stepped forward. "Hello, Alicia!" he said with a casualness that disguised the painful pounding of his heart. "Are you and these gentlemen my new clients from Cosmic Productions?"
Alicia's sky-blue eyes widened. "Fergus Reith! Is it really you?"
"I—I'm ..."
"You look so different, somehow, in spectacles. And your hair's darker—a nice auburn instead of that fiery red."
A trifle self-consciously, they shook hands. With a self-deprecating grin, Reith murmured: "Well, I haven't gotten any younger in twenty years, Earth time." To avoid an awkward pause, he turned with forced cordiality to the two men. "Welcome to Krishna! I'm Fergus Reith, your guide, interpreter, and general trouble-shooter."
With a visible effort, Alicia regained her composure. "This is Cyril Ordway, production manager for Cosmic Productions; and Jacob White, the location manager. I'm the assistant production manager."
Murmuring amenities, the newcomers shook hands with Reith. Ordway, he saw, was a pudgy individual with a sandy mustache and a mottled complexion. Little red veins gave his thick snub nose a roseate hue. White, slight of build, seemed a nervous person, who repeatedly combed his thinning black hair across a balding scalp. Glancing from Reith to Alicia, Ordway said, in a concise Londonese accent, "I take it you two know each other already?"
"Yes," said Reith shortly. "And this is my son Alister; Doctor Dyckman, Mr. Ordway, Mr. White. Let's move along to Baggage Claim, so as not to hold up the line."
As the youth pushed ahead, followed by Ordway and White, Alicia whispered: "Your son looks so like you! Your wife must be proud of him."
Reith shook his head. "No wife. I'll tell you about it later." Raising his voice, he said: "Here's Baggage Claim, gentlemen. When you've located your luggage, I'll take you through Customs and Security and help you get settled." He turned to his son and dropped his voice again. "I'll see you back home in time for dinner, String. Tell Kardir to set an extra place."
Young Alister disappeared. An hour later, Reith and his party headed for the Visitors' Building in the Novorecife compound, behind a burly Krishnan who wheeled a laden baggage cart. They traversed an aggregation of massive concrete structures, their starkness slightly relieved by touches of ornamentation in Krishnan style on roofs and doorways.
Reith stowed his clients and their baggage in their respective rooms, leaving Alicia and her possessions to the last. When the porter had departed, Reith said: "Look, Lish, as soon as I arrange for your colleagues' dinners, why don't you come out to my place? My Krishnan cook makes meals at the Novo cafeteria look like cold slumgullion."
The term "Lish" evoked a fleeting smile from Alicia; Reith had always called her that when they were on friendly terms. "Where is your place?" she asked.