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Cox, Jr.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + body {margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + .mainbody {margin-left: 10%; width: 80%;} + h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + page-break-after: avoid; } + p { margin-top: 0.75em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; padding: 0em; + text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em;} + p.modern { text-indent: 0em; font-family: arial, sans-serif; } + + hr { width: 65%; margin: 2em auto 2em auto; + clear: both; background-color: inherit;} + hr.page { color: silver;} + hr.tb {border: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; color: white;} + .iefix {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} + .pagenum { visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + right: 8px; + text-indent: 0em; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: right;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 0.75em; margin-right: 0.75em;} + .tn {margin: 4em 7em 4em 7em; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; + color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 80%; + border: dotted black 1px; text-indent: 0em;} + #tn2 {margin: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; + border: dotted black 1px; font-family: arial, sans-serif;} + #tn2 p {margin-top: 0.75em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: left;} + #tn2 .blockquot {margin-left: 1.5em; font-size: 90%;} + + .noborder {border: 0px;} + .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + .caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 90%;} + .l {text-align: left;} + .i {font-style: italic;} + .b {font-weight: bold;} + .m02 {margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + .mx0 {margin-bottom: 0em;} + .m00 {margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em;} + .m10 {margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 0em;} + .m20 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 0em;} + .m22 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + + .s1 {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 500%;} + .s5 {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 150%;} + .s8 {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 90%;} + .s9 {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 80%;} + .w300 {width: 300px;} + .w600 {width: 600px;} + + .ws2 {word-spacing:2px;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} +@media print { + a:link {color: black; background-color: inherit; + text-decoration: none;} + a:visited {color: black; background-color: inherit; + text-decoration: none;} + hr.page {visibility: hidden; margin: 0em; page-break-before: always; } + .pagenum {visibility: hidden;} } + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Impact, by Irving E. Cox + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Impact + +Author: Irving E. Cox + +Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25567] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPACT *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Andrew Wainwright and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="center"><table class="iefix" summary="title and illustration"><tr> +<td class="center"> +<p class="modern b s1 m10">IMPACT</p> + +<p class="modern s5 m02">By IRVING E. COX, Jr.</p> + +<p class="modern b s8 m22">ILLUSTRATED by GRAYAM</p> + +<div class="center"><table class="iefix w300" summary="Opening quotation"><tr><td> +<p class="modern i b ws2 s9 mx0">They were languorous, anarchic, shameless</p> +<p class="modern i b ws2 s9 m00">in their pleasures . . . were they lower</p> +<p class="modern i b ws2 s9 m02">than man . . . or higher?</p> +</td></tr></table></div> +</td><td class="center"> +<div class="figcenter"><a href="#illo"> +<img class="noborder w300" src="images/illo300.jpg" alt="Niaga by the waterfall" /></a> +</div> +</td></tr></table></div> + +<div class="mainbody"> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Page 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>Over the cabin ’phone, Ann’s voice was +crisp with anger. “Mr. Lord, I must see you +at once.”</p> + +<p>“Of course, Ann.” Lord tried not to +sound uncordial. It was all part of a trade +agent’s job, to listen to the +recommendations and complaints of the teacher. But +an interview with Ann Howard was always so +arduous, so stiff with unrelieved righteousness. +“I should be free until—”</p> + +<p>“Can you come down to the schoolroom, Mr. +Lord?”</p> + +<p>“If it’s necessary. But I told you +yesterday, there’s nothing we can do to make +them take the lessons.”</p> + +<p>“I understand your point of view, Mr. +Lord.” Her words were barely civil, brittle +shafts of ice. “However, this concerns Don; +he’s gone.”</p> + +<p>“Gone? Where?”</p> + +<p>“Jumped ship.”</p> + +<p>“Are you sure, Ann? How long ago?”</p> + +<p>“I rather imagined you’d be +interested,” she answered with smug +satisfaction. “Naturally you’ll want +to see his note. I’ll be waiting for +you.”</p> + +<p>The ’phone clicked decisively as she broke +the connection. Impotent fury lashed Lord’s +mind—anger at Don Howard, because the engineer +was one of his key men; and, childishly, anger at +Don’s sister because she was the one who had +broken the news. If it had come from almost anyone +else it would, somehow, have seemed less +disastrous. Don’s was the fourth desertion +in less than a week, and the loss of trained +personnel was becoming serious aboard the <i>Ceres</i>. +But what did Ann Howard expect Lord to do about +it? This was + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Page 8]</a></span> + +a trading ship; he had no military authority over his crew.</p> + +<p>As Lord stood up, his desk chair collapsed with a +quiet hiss against the cabin wall, and, on greased +tubes, the desk dropped out of sight beneath the +bunk bed, giving Lord the luxury of an uncluttered +floor space eight feet square. He had the only +private quarters on the ship—the usual +distinction reserved for a trade agent in command.</p> + +<p>From a narrow wardrobe, curved to fit the +projectile walls of the ship, Lord took a +lightweight jacket, marked with the tooled +shoulder insignia of command. He smiled a little +as he put it on. He was Martin Lord, trade agent +and heir to the fabulous industrial-trading empire +of Hamilton Lord, Inc.; yet he was afraid to face +Ann Howard without the visible trappings of +authority.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>He descended the spiral stairway to the midship +airlock, a lead-walled chamber directly above the +long power tubes of the <i>Ceres</i>. The lock door +hung open, making an improvised landing porch +fifty feet above the charred ground. Lord paused +for a moment at the head of the runged landing +ladder. Below him, in the clearing where the ship +had come down, he saw the rows of plastic prefabs +which his crew had thrown up—laboratories, +sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and Ann +Howard’s schoolroom.</p> + +<p>Beyond the clearing was the edge of the +magnificent forest which covered so much of this +planet. Far away, in the foothills of a distant +mountain range, Lord saw the houses of a village, +gleaming in the scarlet blaze of the setting sun. +A world at peace, uncrowded, unscarred by the +feverish excavation and building of man. A world +at the zenith of its native culture, about to be +jerked awake by the rude din of civilization. Lord +felt a twinge of the same guilt that had tormented +his mind since the <i>Ceres</i> had first landed, and +with an effort he drove it from his mind.</p> + +<p>He descended the ladder and crossed the clearing, +still blackened from the landing blast; he pushed +open the sliding door of the schoolroom. It was +large and pleasantly yellow-walled, crowded with +projectors, view-booths, stereo-miniatures, and +picture books—all the visual aids which Ann +Howard would have used to teach the natives the +cultural philosophy of the Galactic Federation. +But the rows of seats were empty, and the gleaming +machines still stood in their cases. For no one +had come to Ann’s school, in spite of her +extravagant offers of trade goods.</p> + +<p>Ann sat waiting, ramrod straight, in front of a +green-tinged projectoscope. She made no compromise +with the heat, which had driven the men to strip +to their fatigue shorts. Ann wore the full, formal +uniform. A less strong-willed woman might have +appeared wilted after a day’s work. +Ann’s face was expressionless, a block of +cold ivory. + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Page 9]</a></span> + +Only a faint mist of perspiration on +her upper lip betrayed her acute discomfort.</p> + +<p>“You came promptly, Mr. Lord.” There +was a faint gleam of triumph in her eyes. +“That was good of you.”</p> + +<p>She unfolded her brother’s note and gave it +to Lord. It was a clear, straight-forward +statement of fact. Don Howard said he was +deserting the mission, relinquishing his +Federation citizenship. “I’m staying +on this world; these people have something +priceless, Ann. All my life I’ve been +looking for it, dreaming of it. You wouldn’t +understand how I feel, but nothing else—nothing +else—matters, Ann. Go home. Leave these people +alone. Don’t try to make them over.”</p> + +<p>The last lines rang in sympathy with Lord’s +own feelings, and he knew that was absurd. Changes +would have to be made when the trade city was +built. That was Lord’s business. Expansion +and progress: the lifeblood of the Federation.</p> + +<p>“What do you want me to do?” he +demanded.</p> + +<p>“Go after Don and bring him back.”</p> + +<p>“And if he refuses—”</p> + +<p>“I won’t leave him here.”</p> + +<p>“I have no authority to force him against +his will, Ann.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure you can get help from +this—”<a id="tn2_15" name="tn2_15"></a> +her lip curled “—this native +girl of yours. What’s her name?”</p> + +<p>“Niaga.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes; Niaga. Quaint, isn’t +it?” She smiled flatly.</p> + +<p>He felt an almost irresistible urge to smash his +fist into her jaw. Straight-laced, hopelessly +blind to every standard but her own—what right +did Ann have to pass judgment on Niaga? It was a +rhetorical question. Ann Howard represented the +Federation no less than Lord did himself. By law, +the teachers rode every trading ship; in the final +analysis, their certification could make or break +any new planetary franchise.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>“Niaga has been very helpful, Ann; +cooperative and—”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’m sure she has, Mr. +Lord.”</p> + +<p>“I could threaten to cut off Don’s +bonus pay, I suppose, but it wouldn’t do +much good;<a id="tn2_1" name="tn2_1"></a> +money has no meaning to these people +and, if Don intends to stay here, it won’t +mean much to him, either.”</p> + +<p>“How you do it, Mr. Lord, is not my concern. +But if Don doesn’t go home with us—” +She favored him with another icy smile. +“I’m afraid I’ll have to make an +adverse report when you apply for the +franchise.”</p> + +<p>“You can’t, Ann!” Lord was more +surprised than angry. “Only in the case of a +primitive and belligerent culture—”</p> + +<p>“I’ve seen no evidence of technology +here.” She paused. “And not the +slightest indication that these people have any +conception of moral values.”</p> + +<p>“Not by our standards, no; but we’ve +never abandoned a planet for that reason +alone.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Page 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I know what you’re thinking, Mr. +Lord. Men like you—the traders and the +businessmen and the builders—you’ve never +understood a teacher’s responsibility. You +make the big noise in the Federation; but we hold +it together for you. I’m not particularly +disturbed by the superficials I’ve seen +here. The indecent dress of these people, their +indolent villages, their congenital +irresponsibility—all that disgusts me, but it has +not affected my analysis. There’s something +else here—something far more terrible and more +dangerous for us. I can’t put it in words. +It’s horrible and it’s deadly; +it’s the reason why our men have deserted. +They’ve had attractive women on other +worlds—in the trade cities, anything money could +buy—but they never jumped ship before.”</p> + +<p>“A certain percentage always will, +Ann.” Lord hoped he sounded reassuring, but +he felt anything but reassured himself. Not +because of what she said. These naive, altogether +delightful people were harmless. But could the +charming simplicity of their lives survive the +impact of civilization? It was this world that was +in danger, not by any stretch of the imagination +the Federation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>As the thought occurred to him, he shrank from it +with a kind of inner terror. It was heresy. The +Federation represented the closest approximation +of perfection mortal man would ever know: a +brotherhood of countless species, a union of a +thousand planets, created by the ingenuity and the +energy of man. The Pax Humana; how could it be a +threat to any people anywhere?</p> + +<p>“That would be my recommendation.” +Suddenly Ann’s self-assurance collapsed. She +reached for his hand; her fingers were cold and +trembling. “But, if you bring Don back, I—I +won’t report against a franchise.”</p> + +<p>“You’re offering to make a deal? You +know the penalty—”</p> + +<p>“Collusion between a trade agent and the +teacher assigned to his ship—yes, I know the law, +Mr. Lord.”</p> + +<p>“You’re willing to violate it for Don? +Why? Your brother’s a big boy now; +he’s old enough to look after +himself.”</p> + +<p>Ann Howard turned away from him and her voice +dropped to a whisper. “He isn’t my +brother, Mr. Lord. We had to sign on that way +because your company prohibits a man and wife +sailing in the same crew.”</p> + +<p>In that moment she stripped her soul bare to him. +Poor, plain, conscientious Ann Howard! Fighting to +hold her man; fighting the unknown odds of an +alien world, the stealthy seduction of an amoral +people. Lord understood Ann, then, for the first +time; he saw the shadow of madness that crept +across her mind; and he pitied her.</p> + +<p>“I’ll do what I can,” he +promised.</p> + +<p>As he left the schoolroom she collapsed in a +straight-backed chair—thin and unattractive, + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Page 11]</a></span> + +like Ann herself—and her shoulders shook with +silent, bitter grief.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Martin Lord took the familiar path to +Niaga’s village. The setting sun still +spread its dying fire across the evening sky, but +he walked slowly through the deep, quiet shadows +of the forest. He came to the stream where he had +met Niaga; he paused to dip his sweat-smeared face +into the cool water cascading over a five foot +fall.</p> + +<p>A pleasant flood of memory crowded his mind. When +he had first met Niaga, almost a week before, she +had been lying on the sandy bank of the stream, +idly plaiting a garland of red and blue flowers. +Niaga! A copper-skinned goddess, stark naked and +unashamed in the bright spot light of sun filtered +through the trees. Languorous, laughing lips; +long, black hair loosely caught in a net of filmy +material that hung across her shoulder.</p> + +<p>The feeling of guilt and shame had stabbed at +Lord’s mind. He had come, unasked, into an +Eden. He didn’t belong here. His presence +meant pillage, a rifling of a sacred dream. The +landing had been a mistake.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, the <i>Ceres</i> had landed here entirely +by chance, the result of a boyish fling at +adventure.</p> + +<p>Martin Lord was making a routine tour of +representative trade cities before assuming his +vice-presidency in the central office of Hamilton +Lord, Inc. It had been a family custom for +centuries, ever since the first domed ports had +been built on Mars and Venus.</p> + +<p>Lord was twenty-six and, like all the family, +tall, slim, yellow-haired. As the Lords had for +generations, Martin had attended the Chicago +University of Commerce for four years, and the +Princeton Graduate School in Interstellar +Engineering four more—essential preparations for +the successful Federation trader. In Chicago +Martin had absorbed the basic philosophy of the +Federation: the union of planets and diverse +peoples, created by trade, was an economy +eternally prosperous and eternally growing, +because the number of undiscovered and unexploited +planets was infinite. The steady expansion of the +trade cities kept demand always one jump ahead of +supply; every merchant was assured that this +year’s profits would always be larger than +last. It was the financial millennium, from which +depression and recession had been forever +eliminated. At Princeton Lord had learned the +practical physics necessary for building, +servicing and piloting the standard interstellar +merchant ships.</p> + +<p>Martin Lord’s tour of the trade cities +completed his education. It was his first actual +contact with reality. The economy of progress, +which had seemed so clear-cut in the Chicago +lecture halls, was translated into a brawling, +vice-ridden, frontier city. In the older trade +cities, the + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Page 12]</a></span> + +culture of man had come to dominate +the occupied worlds. No trace of what alien +peoples had been or had believed survived, except +as museum oddities.</p> + +<p>This, Lord admitted to himself, was conquest, by +whatever innocuous name it passed. But was it for +good or evil? In the first shock of reality, +Martin Lord had doubted himself and the destiny of +the Federation. But only for a moment. What he saw +was good—he had been taught to believe +that—because the Federation was perfection.</p> + +<p>But the doubt, like a cancer, fed and grew in the +darkness of Lord’s soul.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>On the home trip a mechanical defect of the +calibration of the time-power carried the <i>Ceres</i> +off its course, light years beyond the segment of +the Galaxy occupied by the Federation.</p> + +<p>“We’ve burned out a relay,” Don +Howard reported.</p> + +<p>“Have we replacements?” Lord asked.</p> + +<p>“It’s no problem to fix. But repairs +would be easier if we could set the ship down +somewhere.”</p> + +<p>Lord glanced at the unknown sun and three +satellite planets which were plotted +electronically on his cabin scanning screen. His +pulse leaped with sudden excitement. This was his +first—and last—chance for adventure, the only +interstellar flight he would command in his +lifetime. When he returned to earth, he would be +chained for the rest of his days to a desk job, +submerged in a sea of statistical tables and +financial statements.</p> + +<p>“Run an atmosphere analysis on those three +worlds, Mr. Howard,” he said softly.</p> + +<p>Driven by its auxiliary nuclear power unit, the +ship moved closer to the new solar system. In half +an hour Don Howard brought Lord the lab report. +Two of the planets were enveloped in methane, but +the third had an earth-normal atmosphere. Lord +gave the order for a landing, his voice pulsing +with poorly concealed, boyish pleasure.</p> + +<p>The <i>Ceres</i> settled on a hilltop, its cushioning +rockets burning an improvised landing area in the +lush foliage. As the airlock swung open, Lord saw +half a dozen golden-skinned savages standing on +the edge of the clearing. As nearly as he could +judge, they were men; but that was not too +surprising, because a number of planets in the +Federation had evolved sentient species which +resembled man. The savages were unarmed and nearly +naked—tall, powerfully built men; they seemed +neither awed nor frightened by the ship.</p> + +<p>Over the circle of scorched earth Lord heard the +sound of their voices. For a fleeting second the +words seemed to make sense—a clear, unmistakable +welcome to the new world.</p> + +<p>But communication was inconceivable. This planet +was far beyond the fringe of the Federation. Lord +was letting his imagination run away with him.</p> + +<p>He flung out his arms in a + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Page 13]</a></span> + +universally accepted gesture of open-handed friendship. +At once the talk of the natives ceased. They stood +waiting silently on the burned ground while the men +unwound the landing ladder.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Lord made the initial contact himself. The +techniques which he had learned in the University +of Commerce proved enormously successful. Within +ten minutes rapport was established; in twenty the +natives had agreed to submit to the linguistic +machines. Lord had read accounts of other +trailblazing commercial expeditions; and he knew +he was establishing a record for speed of +negotiation.</p> + +<p>The savages were quite unfrightened as the +electrodes were fastened to their skulls, entirely +undisturbed by the whir of the machine. In less +than an hour they were able to use the common +language of the Federation. Another record; most +species needed a week’s indoctrination.</p> + +<p>Every new development suggested that these +half-naked primitives—with no machine +civilization, no cities, no form of space +flight—had an intellectual potential superior to +man’s. The first question asked by one of +the broad-shouldered savages underscored that +conclusion.</p> + +<p>“Have you come to our world as +colonists?”</p> + +<p>No mumbo-jumbo of superstition, no awe of +strangers who had suddenly descended upon them +from the sky.<a id="tn2_16" name="tn2_16"></a> +Lord answered, “We landed in +order to repair our ship, but I hope we can make a +trade treaty with your government.”</p> + +<p>For a moment the six men consulted among +themselves with a silent exchange of glances. Then +one of them smiled and said, “You must visit +our villages and explain the idea of trade to our +people.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” Lord agreed. “If +you could serve as interpreters—”</p> + +<p>“Our people can learn your language as +rapidly as we have, if we can borrow your language +machine for a time.”</p> + +<p>Lord frowned. “It’s a rather complex +device, and I’m not sure—you see, if +something went wrong, you might do a great deal of +harm.”</p> + +<p>“We would use it just as you did; we saw +everything you turned to make it run.” One +of the golden-skinned primitives made a +demonstration, turning the console of dials with +the ease and familiarity of a semantic expert. +Again Lord was impressed by their +intelligence—and vaguely frightened.</p> + +<p>“You could call this the first trade +exchange between your world and ours,” +another savage added. “Give us the machine; +we’ll send you fresh food from the +village.”</p> + +<p>The argument was logical and eventually the +natives had their way. Perhaps it was Ann +Howard’s intervention that decided the +point. She vehemently disapproved; a gift of +techniques + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Page 14]</a></span> + +should be withheld until she had +examined their cultural traditions. But Martin +Lord was a trade agent, and he had no intention of +allowing his mission to be wrecked by the +ephemeral doubts of a teacher. Here at the onset +was the time to make it clear that he was in +command. He gave the natives the machine.</p> + +<p>As the six men trudged across the burned earth +carrying the heavy apparatus easily on their +shoulders, Lord wondered if either he or Ann +Howard had much to do with the negotiations. He +had an unpleasant feeling that, from the very +beginning, the natives had been in complete +control of the situation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Less than an hour after the six men had departed, +a band of natives emerged from the forest bearing +gifts of food—straw baskets heaped with fruit, +fresh meat wrapped in grass mats, hampers of +bread, enormous pottery jars filled with a sweet, +cold, milky liquid. Something very close to the +miraculous had occurred. Every native had learned +to use the Federation language.</p> + +<p>A kind of fiesta began in the clearing beside the +<i>Ceres</i>. The natives built fires to cook the food. +The women, scantily dressed if they were clothed +at all, danced sensuously in the bright sunlight +to a peculiarly exotic, minor-keyed music played +on reed and percussion instruments. Laughing +gaily, they enticed members of Lord’s crew +to join them.</p> + +<p>The milky drink proved mildly intoxicating—yet +different from the stimulants used in the +Federation. Lord drank a long draught from a mug +brought him by one of the women. The effect was +immediate. He felt no dulling of his reason, +however; no loss of muscular control, but instead +a stealthy relaxation of mental strain joined with +a satisfying sense of physical well-being. A +subtle shifting in prospective, in accepted +values.</p> + +<p>The savage feast, which grew steadily more +boisterous, Lord would have called an orgy under +other circumstances. The word did occur to him, +but it seemed fantastically inapplicable. Normally +the behavior of his men would have demanded the +severest kind of disciplinary action. But here the +old code of rules simply didn’t apply and he +didn’t interfere with their enjoyment.</p> + +<p>The afternoon sun blazed in the western sky; heat +in shimmering waves hung over the clearing. Lord +went into the ship and stripped off his uniform; +somehow the glittering insignia, the ornamental +braid, the stiff collar—designed to be impressive +symbols of authority—seemed garish and out of +place. Lord put on the shorts which he wore when +he exercised in the capsule gym aboard ship.</p> + +<p>Outside again, he found that most of the men had +done the same thing. The sun felt warm on his +skin; the air was comfortably balmy, entirely free +of the swarms of flies and other insects + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Page 15]</a></span> + +which made other newly contacted frontier worlds so +rugged.</p> + +<p>As he stood in the shelter of the landing ladder +and sipped a second mug of the white liquor, Lord +became slowly aware of something else. Divested of +their distinguishing uniforms, he and his crew +seemed puny and ill-fed beside the natives. If +physique were any index to the sophistication of a +culture—but that was a ridiculous generalization!</p> + +<p>He saw Ann Howard coming toward him through the +crowd—stern-faced, hard-jawed, stiffly dignified +in her uniform. The other women among the crew had +put on their lightest dress, but not Ann. Lord was +in no frame of mind, just then, to endure an +interview with her. He knew precisely what she +would say; Ann was a kind of walking encyclopedia +of the conventions.</p> + +<p>Lord slid out of sight in the shadow of the ship, +but Ann had seen him. He turned blindly into the +forest, running along the path toward the village.</p> + +<p>In a fern-banked glen beside the miniature +waterfall he had met Niaga.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>No woman he had ever known seemed so +breathtakingly beautiful. Her skin had been +caressed by a lifetime’s freedom in the sun; +her long, dark hair had the sheen of polished +ebony; and in the firm, healthy curves of her body +he saw the sensuous grace of a Venus or an +Aphrodite.</p> + +</div><div class="figcenter"><a id="illo" name="illo"></a> +<img class="w600 noborder" src="images/illo.jpg" alt="In a fern-banked glen beside a +miniature waterfall, Martin Lord first saw Niaga." /> +<p class="center caption">In a fern-banked glen beside a +miniature waterfall, Martin Lord first saw Niaga.</p> +</div><div class="mainbody"> + +<p>She stood up slowly and faced him, smiling; a +bright shaft of sunlight fell on the liquid bow of +her lips. “I am Niaga,” she said. +“You must be one of the men who came on the +ship.”</p> + +<p>“Martin Lord,” he answered huskily. +“I’m the trade agent in +command.”</p> + +<p>“I am honored.” Impulsively she took +the garland of flowers which she had been making +and put it around his neck. When she came close, +the subtle perfume of her hair was +unmistakable—like the smell of pine needles on a +mountain trail; new grass during a spring rain; or +the crisp, winter air after a fall of snow. +Perfume sharply symbolic of freedom, heady and +intoxicating, numbing his mind with the ghosts of +half-remembered dreams.</p> + +<p>“I was coming to your ship with the +others,” she said, “but I stopped here +to swim, as I often do. I’m afraid I stayed +too long, day-dreaming on the bank; time means so +little to us.” Shyly she put her hand in +his. “But, perhaps, no harm is done, since +you are still alone. If you have taken no one +else, will I do?”</p> + +<p>“I—I don’t understand.”</p> + +<p>“You are strangers; we want you to feel +welcome.”</p> + +<p>“Niaga, people don’t—that is—” +He floundered badly. Intellectually he knew he +could not apply the code of his culture to hers; +emotionally it was a difficult concept to accept. +If his standards were invalid, his definitions +might be, too. Perhaps this society was no more +primitive than—No! A mature people + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Page 16]</a></span> + +would always develop more or less the same mechanical +techniques, and these people had nothing remotely +like a machine.</p> + +<p>“You sent us a gift,” she said. +“It is only proper for us to return the +kindness.”</p> + +<p>“You have made a rather miraculous use of +the language machine in a remarkably short period +of time.”</p> + +<p>“We applied it to everyone in the village. +We knew it would help your people feel at ease, if +we could talk together in a common tongue.”</p> + +<p>“You go to great pains to welcome a shipload +of strangers.”</p> + +<p>“Naturally. Consideration for others is the +first law of humanity.” After a pause, she +added very slowly, with her eyes fixed on his, +“Mr. Lord, do you plan to make a colony +here?”</p> + +<p>“Eventually. After we repair the ship, I +hope to negotiate a trade treaty with your +government.”</p> + +<p>“But you don’t intend to stay here +yourself?”</p> + +<p>“I couldn’t.”</p> + +<p>“Have we failed in our welcome? Is there +something more—”</p> + +<p>“No, Niaga, nothing like that. I find your +world very—very beautiful.” The word very +inadequately expressed what he really felt. +“But I’m not free to make the +choice.”</p> + +<p>She drew in her breath sharply. “Your +people, then, hold you enslaved?”</p> + +<p>He laughed—uneasily. “I’m going home +to manage Hamilton Lord; it’s the largest +trading company in the Federation. We have +exclusive franchises to develop almost five +hundred planets. It’s my duty, Niaga; my +responsibility; I can’t shirk it.”</p> + +<p>“Why not—if you wanted to?”</p> + +<p>“Because I’m Martin Lord; because +I’ve been trained—No, it’s something +I can’t explain. You’ll just have to +take my word for it. Now tell me: how should I go +about negotiating a treaty with your +people?”</p> + +<p>“You spoke of the government, Martin Lord; I +suppose you used the word in a symbolic +sense?”</p> + +<p>“Your chieftain; your tribal +leader—whatever name you have for them.”</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Her big, dark eyes widened in surprise. +“Then you meant actual men? It’s a +rather unusual use of the word, isn’t it? +For us, government is a synonym for law.”</p> + +<p>“Of course, but you must have leaders to +interpret it and enforce it.”</p> + +<p>“Enforce a law?” This seemed to amuse +her.<a id="tn2_2" name="tn2_2"></a> +“How? A law is a statement of a truth +in human relationship; it doesn’t have to be +enforced. What sane person would violate a truth? +What would you do, Martin Lord, if I told you we +had no government, in your sense of the +word?”</p> + +<p>“You can’t be that primitive, +Niaga!”</p> + +<p>“Would it be so terribly wrong?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Page 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>“That’s anarchy. There’d be no +question, then, of granting us a trade franchise; +we’d have to set up a trusteeship and let +the teachers run your planet until you had learned +the basic processes of social organization.”</p> + +<p>Niaga turned away from him, her hands twisted +together. She said, in a soft whisper that was +flat and emotionless, “We have a council of +elders, Martin Lord. You can make your treaty with +them.” Then, imperceptibly, her voice +brightened. “It will take a week or more to +bring the council together. And that is all to the +good; it will give your people time to visit in +our villages and to get better acquainted with +us.”</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Niaga left him, then; she said she would go to the +village and send out the summons for the council. +By a roundabout path, Lord returned to the +clearing around the <i>Ceres</i>. The forest fascinated +him. It was obviously cultivated like a park, and +he was puzzled that a primitive society should +practice such full scale conservation. Normally +savages took nature for granted or warred against +it.</p> + +<p>He came upon a brown gash torn in a hillside above +the stream, a place where natives were apparently +working to build up the bank against erosion. In +contrast to the beauty that surrounded it, the +bare earth was indescribably ugly, like a livid +scar in a woman’s face. In his mind Lord saw +this scar multiplied a thousand times—no, a +million times—when the machines of the galaxy +came to rip out resources for the trade cities. He +envisioned the trade cities that would rise +against the horizon, the clutter of suburban +subdivisions choking out the forests; he saw the +pall of industrial smoke that would soil the clean +air, the great machines clattering over asphalt +streets.</p> + +<p>For the first time he stated the problem honestly, +to himself: this world must be saved exactly as it +was. But how? How could Lord continue to represent +Hamilton Lord, Inc., as a reputable trade agent, +and at the same time save Niaga’s people +from the impact of civilization?</p> + +<p>It was sunset when he returned to the <i>Ceres</i>. On +the clearing the festivities were still going on, +but at a slower pace. Ann Howard was waiting for +Lord at the door of his cabin. She registered her +official disapproval of the revelry, which Lord +had expected, and then she added,</p> + +<p>“We can’t make a treaty with them; +these people have no government with the authority +to deal with us.”</p> + +<p>“You’re wrong, Ann; there’s a +council of elders—”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Page 18]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I beg to differ, Mr. Lord.” Her lips +made a flat, grim line against her teeth. +“This afternoon I made a point of talking to +every native in the clearing. Their idea of +government is something they call the law of +humanity. Whether it is written down or not, I +have no way of knowing; but certainly they have no +such thing as a central authority. This rather +indicates a teacher trusteeship for the planet, I +believe.”</p> + +<p>“You’ve made a mistake, Ann; +I’ll have to check for myself.”</p> + +<p>Lord and Ann Howard moved together through the +clearing and he began to talk to the natives. In +each case he elicited the same information that +Ann had given him. The mention of a governing +council seemed to amuse the savages. Lord and Ann +were still conducting their puzzling inquest when +Niaga returned from the village. She said that the +council had been called and would meet within a +week.</p> + +<p>“There seems to be some difference of +opinion,” Ann told her coldly, +“between you and your people.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” Lord added uncertainly, +“I’ve been asking about the council +and—”</p> + +<p>“But you didn’t phrase your question +clearly,” Niaga put in smoothly. +“We’re not quite used to using your +words yet with your definitions.” To make +her point, she called the same natives whom Ann +and Lord had questioned, and this time, without +exception, they reversed their testimony. Lord was +willing to believe the language had caused the +difficulty. Niaga’s people were entirely +incapable of deception; what reason would they +have had?</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>From that hour, the clearing was never altogether +free of native guests. They deluged Lord’s +crew with kindness and entertainment. Lord never +left the ship, day or night, without having Niaga +slip up beside him and put her arm through his. +Because Ann Howard had made her objections so +clear, the native women, in an effort to please +the teacher, had taken to wearing more clothing +than they were accustomed to. But they rejected +the sack-like plastics which Ann dispensed in the +schoolroom and put on the mist-like, +pastel-colored netting which they used normally to +decorate their homes. If anything, the addition of +clothing made the women more attractive than ever.</p> + +<p>The scientists among Lord’s men analyzed the +planetary resources and found the planet +unbelievably rich in metals; the botanists +determined that the seeds for the exotic fruits +and flowers were exportable. All told, +Niaga’s world could develop into the richest +franchise in the Federation.</p> + +<p>Niaga took Lord to visit the villages which were +close to the landing site. Each town was exactly +like its neighbors, a tiny cluster of small, +yellow-walled, flat-roofed houses nestled among +the tall trees close to a cleared farmland which +was worked co-operatively by everyone in the +village. No single town was large, yet judging +from the number that he saw, Lord estimated the +planetary population in the billions.</p> + +<p>Continuously Niaga tried to persuade him to stay +and build a colony in the new world. Lord + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Page 19]</a></span> + +knew that the other natives were being as persuasive +with the rest of the crew. And the temptation was +very real: to trade the energetic, competitive, +exhausting routine that he knew for the quiet +peace and relaxation here.</p> + +<p>As the days passed the rigid scheduling of +exploratory activities, always practiced by a +trade mission, began to break down. The charming +savages of this new world put no monetary value on +time, and something of their spirit began to +infect Lord’s crew. They stopped bucking for +overtime; most of them applied for accumulated +sick leave—so they could walk in the forest with +the native women, or swim in the forest pools. +Even Lord found time to relax.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, after a swim with Niaga, they lay +in the warm sun on the grassy bank of a stream. +Niaga picked a blue, delicately scented water +lily, and gently worked it into his hair. Slowly +she bent her face close until her lips brushed his +cheek.</p> + +<p>“Must you really go away when the treaty is +made?”</p> + +<p>“I’m a Lord, Niaga.”</p> + +<p>“Does that matter? If you like it +here—”</p> + +<p>“Niaga, I wish—I wish—” He shrugged +his shoulders helplessly.</p> + +<p>“Why is it so important for you to build +your trade cities?”</p> + +<p>As he sought for words to answer her question, the +spell of her presence was broken. He saw her for +what she was: an extremely beautiful woman, +sensuously very lovely, yet nonetheless a +primitive—a forlorn child without any conception +of the meaning of civilization. “We keep our +union of planets economically sound,” he +explained patiently, “and at peace by +constantly expanding—”</p> + +<p>“I have visited the schoolroom your teacher +has put up beside the ship. I have seen her models +of the many machines your people know how to +build. But why do you do it, Martin Lord?”</p> + +<p>“The machines make our lives easier and more +comfortable; they—”</p> + +<p>“More comfortable than this?” She +gestured toward the stream and the cultivated +forest.</p> + +<p>“Your world moves at the pace of a walk, +Niaga; with our machines, you could rise above +your trees, reach your destination in +minutes—when now it takes you days.”</p> + +<p>“And miss all the beauty on the way. What +point is there in saving time, and losing so much +that really matters? Do your machines give you +anything—you as a person, Martin Lord—that you +couldn’t have here without them?”</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The question was unanswerable. It symbolized the +enormous gulf that lay between Niaga and himself. +More than that, Lord saw clearly that the trade +cities would destroy her world utterly. Neither +Niaga nor her way of life could survive the impact +of civilization. And the exotic charm, the +friendly innocence + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Page 20]</a></span> + +was worth saving. Somehow Lord had to find a way to do it.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Lord was by no means surprised when the first +three men jumped ship and went to live in one of +the quiet villages. Subconsciously he envied them; +subconsciously he wished he had the courage to +make the same decision. Although Ann Howard +demanded it, Lord couldn’t seriously +consider taking measures to stop further +desertions.</p> + +<p>When Don Howard jumped ship, he brought the issue +to a head. Ann maneuvered Lord so that he would +have to take a stand. What and how, he +didn’t know.</p> + +<p>It was the first time since the landing that Niaga +had not been waiting outside the ship for Lord. At +his request she had gone to the village to find +what progress had been made in calling the council +of elders. Lord knew where to find her, but after +his talk with Ann he walked slowly along the +forest path. He stopped to dip his face into the +stream where he had first met Niaga. Anything to +put off the showdown. Lord was trying desperately +to understand and evaluate his own motivation.</p> + +<p>He accepted the fact that he had not stopped the +desertions because, if enough men jumped ship, the +<i>Ceres</i> would be unable to take off again. Lord +could then have embraced Niaga’s temptation +without having to make the decision for himself. +But that was a coward’s way out and no +solution. There would always be people like Ann +Howard who would not accept the situation. They +would eventually make radio communication with the +Federation, and the location of Niaga’s +world would no longer be a secret.</p> + +<p>Fundamentally that was the only thing that +counted: to preserve this world from the impact of +civilization.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly, as he listened to the music of the +stream, Lord saw how that could be done. Ann +Howard had offered him a deal; she would keep her +word. Everything hinged on that.</p> + +<p>Don Howard had to be brought back—if persuasion +failed, then by force.</p> + +<p>Martin Lord ran back to the clearing. From a +supply shed he took a pair of deadly atomic +pistols. Their invisible, pin-point knife of +exploding energy could slice through eighteen feet +of steel, transform a mountain into a cloud of +radioactive dust.</p> + +<p>He ran through the forest to the village. As +usual, the children were playing games on the +grass, while the adults lounged in front of their +dwellings or enjoyed community singing and dancing +to the pulsing rhythm of their music. The sound of +gaiety suddenly died as Lord walked between the +rows of houses.</p> + +<p>Strange, he thought; they seemed to guess what was +in his mind. Niaga ran from the quiet crowd and +took his hand.</p> + +<p>“No, Martin Lord; you must not +interfere!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Page 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Where’s Howard?”</p> + +<p>“He is a free man; he has a right to +choose—”</p> + +<p>“I’m going to take him back.” He +drew one of his guns. She looked at him steadily, +without fear, and she said,</p> + +<p>“We made you welcome; we have given you our +friendship, and now you—”</p> + +<p>He pushed her aside brutally because her +gentleness, her lack of anger, tightened the +constriction of his own sense of guilt. Lord fired +his weapon at the trunk of a tree. The wood flamed +red for a moment and the sound of the explosion +rocked the air, powdering the grass with black +ash.</p> + +<p>“This is the kind of power controlled by +men,” he said. His voice was harsh, shrill +with shame and disgust for the role he had to +play. “I shall use this weapon to destroy +your homes—each of them, one by one—unless you +surrender Don Howard to me.”</p> + +<p>As he turned the pistol slowly toward the closest +yellow wall, Niaga whispered, “Violence is a +violation of the law of humanity. We offered Don +Howard sanctuary and peace—as we offer it to all +of you. Stay with us, Martin Lord; make your home +here.”</p> + +<p>He clenched his jaw. “I want Don and I want +him now!”</p> + +<p>“But why must you go back? Your world is +powerful; your world is enormous with cities and +machines. But what does it hold for you as a man, +Martin Lord? Here we give you the dreams of your +own soul, peace and beauty, laughter and +dignity.”</p> + +<p>“Surrender, Don!” Although he was +vaguely aware of it, he had no time to consider +consciously the strangely sophisticated wording of +her argument. When she continued to talk in the +same gentle voice, the temptation caressed his +mind like a narcotic; against his will, the +tension began to wash from his muscles. Driven by +a kind of madness to escape the sound of her +voice, he pulled the trigger. The yellow wall +exploded. Concussion throbbed in his ears, +deafening him—but he still heard her whisper in +the depths of his soul, like the music of a forest +stream.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Then, at the end of the village street, he saw Don +Howard coming out of one of the houses with his +hands held high.</p> + +<p>“You win, Lord; leave them alone.”</p> + +<p>It was victory, but Lord felt no triumph—only a +crushing bitterness. He motioned Howard to take +the path back to the ship. To Niaga he said,</p> + +<p>“If your council of elders ever gets around +to meeting, you might tell them that, as far as +I’m concerned, you’ve already signed +the trade treaty with me. We’re leaving in +the morning to register the franchise.”</p> + +<p>“You’d break your own law? You said +the negotiations had to be—”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Page 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Our men will come shortly to build the +first trade city. I advise you not to resist them; +they’ll be armed with guns more powerful +than mine.”</p> + +<p>She reached for his hand, but Lord turned away +from her quickly so that she could not again open +the raw wound of shame in his soul. He followed +Don Howard into the forest.</p> + +<p>“You won’t get away with it, +Lord,” Howard said grimly. “No trade +agent can impose a treaty—”</p> + +<p>“Would a trusteeship be any better?”</p> + +<p>“Lord, no!”</p> + +<p>“There are only two alternatives, and a +Hamilton Lord trade city is by far the +better.”</p> + +<p>“Yes—for Hamilton Lord.”</p> + +<p>“No, for these people. Don’t forget, +I’ll be running Hamilton Lord. The exclusive +franchise will keep out the other traders, and I +can see to it that our trade city does no harm. +We’ve a thousand planets in the Federation; +who’s going to know if one of the cities +doesn’t really function?”</p> + +<p>“I get it. But why the hell did you have to +bring me back?”</p> + +<p>“To make a deal with—with your wife.”</p> + +<p>After a long pause, Don Howard said wearily, +“If Hamilton Lord can sacrifice the richest +franchise in the galaxy, I suppose I can do my +bit, too.”</p> + +<p>At dawn the <i>Ceres</i> departed. Lord drove his men +to work throughout the night stowing the prefabs +and the trade goods aboard the ship. Just before +the power tubes stabbed the launching fire into +the earth, a delegation of villagers came into the +clearing. Niaga led them and she spoke to Lord at +the foot of the landing ladder.</p> + +<p>“We still want you to stay among us, Martin +Lord; we have come again to offer—”</p> + +<p>“It is impossible!”</p> + +<p>She put her arms around his neck and drew his lips +against hers. The temptation washed over his mind, +shattering his resolution and warping his reason. +This was what he wanted: the golden dream of every +man. But for Lord only one idea held fast. +Niaga’s primitive, naive world had to be +preserved exactly as it was. If he gave in to the +dream, he would destroy it. Only in the central +office of Hamilton Lord could he do anything to +save what he had found here. He wrenched himself +free of her arms.</p> + +<p>“It’s no use, Niaga.”</p> + +<p>She knew that she had lost, and she moved away +from him. One of the other golden-skinned savages +pushed a small, carved box into his hands.</p> + +<p>“A parting gift,” Niaga said. +“Open it when you are aboard your ship, +Martin Lord.”</p> + +<p>Long after the <i>Ceres</i> had blasted off, he sat +alone in his cabin looking at the box—small, +delicately carved from a strange material, like a +soft plastic. It seemed somehow alive, throbbing +with the memory of the dream he had left behind.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Page 23]</a></span></p> + +<p>jWith a sigh he opened the box. A billow of white +dust came from it. The box fell apart and the +pieces, like disintegrating gelatine, began to +melt away. A printed card, made of the same +unstable material, lay in Lord’s hand.</p> + +<p>“You have three minutes, Martin Lord,” +he read. “The drug is painless, but before +it wipes memory from the minds of you and your +crew, I want you to understand why we felt it +necessary to do this to you.</p> + +<p>“When you first landed, we realized that you +came from a relatively immature culture because +you made no response to our telepathy of welcome. +We did our best after that to simplify your +adjustment to our way of life, because we knew you +would have to stay among us. Of course, we never +really learned your language; we simply gave you +the illusion that we had. Nor is there any such +thing as a council of elders; we had to invent +that to satisfy you. We truly wanted you to stay +among us. In time you could have grown up +enough—most of you—to live with us as equals. We +knew it would be disastrous for you to carry back +to your world your idea of how we live. We are the +tomorrow of your people; you must grow up to us. +There is no other way to maturity. We could not, +of course, keep you here against your will. Nor +could we let you go back, like a poison, into your +world. We could do nothing else but use this drug. +The impact of civilization upon a primitive people +like yours....”</p> + +<p>The words hazed and faded as the note +disintegrated. Lord felt a moment of desperate +yearning, a terrible weight of grief. With an +effort he pushed himself from his chair and pulled +open the door into the corridor. He had to order +the ship back while he could still remember; he +had to find Niaga and tell her ...</p> + +<p>... tell her. Tell whom? Tell what? Lord stood in +the corridor staring blankly at the metal wall. He +was just a little puzzled as to why he was there, +what he had meant to do. He saw Ann Howard coming +toward him.</p> + +<p>“Did you notice the lurch in the ship, Mr. +Lord?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I suppose I did.” Was that why +he had left his cabin?</p> + +<p>“I thought we were having trouble with the +time-power calibration, but I checked with Don and +he says everything’s all right.” She +glanced through the open door of his cabin at the +electronic pattern on the scanning screen. +“Well, we’ll be home in another twenty +hours, Mr. Lord. It’s a pity we didn’t +contact any new planets on this mission. It would +have been a good experience for you.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I rather hoped so, too.”</p> + +<p>He went back to his desk. Strange, he +couldn’t remember what it was he had wanted +to do. He shrugged his shoulders and laughed a +little to himself. It definitely wouldn’t +do—not at all—for a Lord to have lapses of +memory.</p> + +<p class="modern s8 b m20">THE END</p> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tn" id="tn2"> +<h2 class="s5">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> + +<p>This etext was produced from Amazing Science +Fiction Stories, January 1960. Extensive research +did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. +copyright on this publication was renewed.</p> + +<p>The following corrections have been applied to the +text:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><a href="#tn2_1">Page 9</a>: money has no meaning +to these people and, +if Don intends to stay here, it won’t mean +much to him,{superfluous quotation mark removed} +either.”</p> + +<p><a href="#tn2_15">Page 9</a>: “I'm sure you can get help from +this--” her{original had Her} lip +curled{original had a period here} “--this +native girl of yours. What's her name?”</p> + +<p><a href="#tn2_16">Page 13</a>: Lord answered,{original omitted this +comma} “We landed in order to repair our +ship, but I hope we can make a trade treaty with +your government.”</p> + +<p><a href="#tn2_2">Page 16</a>: “How?{superfluous +quotation mark removed} A law is a statement of a +truth in human relationship;</p> +</div></div></div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Impact, by Irving E. 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