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diff --git a/78935-0.txt b/78935-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..296fd47 --- /dev/null +++ b/78935-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,367 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78935 *** + + + + + Day’s Work + + By Noel Loomis + + + + + =He came striding across the galaxies with feet that spanned eons as + well as parsecs, and with a goal in his mind--the goal of a creation + forbidden by members of the Council of the Gods. He wanted to create + a certain kind of biped!= + + + + +Two of the gods had been arguing all morning. A galactic morning, that +is--one sixth of the time it took Betelgeuse to complete its orbit +around the circumference of a cross-section of the spiral whorl of the +sprawling IX Galaxy--some four hundred and twenty thousand years. + +And the fury of the last nova explosion indicated that Mogar, ranking +member of the IX Galactic Council, was becoming annoyed over his +failure to browbeat Dalen, who had come up from the LIII Constellation +Committee only a few eons before. + +But finally, just before noon, Mogar’s tremendous thought-force +thundered at the younger god out of the Lesser Magellanic Cloud and +rolled across ninety thought light-years of space to the constellation +Bootes, where Dalen was trying to settle a territorial dispute between +two solar system deputies who had been involved for eighteen centuries +over the jurisdiction of a newly formed binary system. + +Mogar’s thought-force said: “Your theories are preposterous and +repellent. No entity in physical shape can ever learn to live a useful +life. For one thing, they seldom evolve the quality of infinite age. +And records will show that in all the II Supergalaxy no species of +biped with an opposed thumb has ever been able to live peacefully with +itself. All such species are self-destructive.” + +A great rumbling came from the Cloud, accompanied by trillion mile +streams of sullen fire, and then Mogar’s thought-force, muttered but +still understandable at that distance, came again: “When you have +been in the Council long enough to become oriented, you will see that +these ideas of yours are nothing but sentiment, and have no place in a +council of the gods.” + +The energy-nucleus that was Dalen absorbed these thoughts, and at +length sent his answer back to the Cloud: + +“Sire, your venerable age and your seniority on the Galactic Council +cause me to answer you with deep respect, but I find it impossible to +agree.” + +Mogar’s thought returned like cosmic lightning: “Then you will, I +suppose, appeal to the Supergalactic Conference.” + +Dalen evaded this trap. His answer swept back across the light-years of +the galaxy’s length quietly but strongly: + +“Sire, I do not think that is necessary.” + +And of course it was not necessary. While all the nine gods in the +Galactic Council had authority in any part of the galaxy, and even +certain rights anywhere in the Milky Way Supergalaxy, in practice each +member of the council ruled a particular sphere of the galaxy, and by +unwritten law might do anything he wished in that region as long as he +did not upset the dynamic balance of neighbor regions. + +That was where Mogar came in, and why it was necessary to secure +his approval before actually beginning the experiment. For Mogar’s +ancient seniority on the council and his resultant familiarity with +all conditions in the Galaxy of Orion (the IXth) had made him a sort +of deputy of the Supergalactic Conference, and they had actually given +him a temporary appointment as Director of Creation in the IX Galaxy. +Temporary, though he had already held it for several ages. The higher +gods were very conservative. + + * * * * * + +So it was most desirable to secure Mogar’s approval on any project +involving creation, for creation involved the welfare of neighboring +regions. But Mogar, long embittered by his own failure to advance +beyond the Galactic Council, valued the small eminence his appointment +gave him, and had adopted a policy of conservatism as his best means of +preserving it. Therefore he could be expected to oppose on principle +any experiment the failure or success of which might upset the dynamic +balance of the galaxy and throw a shadow on his judgment, and the +successes of which could only react favorably to the god who should +bring it about. + +Dalen considered Mogar’s opposition for the century-long space of a +galactic heart-beat. This wasn’t a good start for Dalen to make in the +council. + +It was well known throughout the entire IV Universe that Mogar was old +and crotchety, perhaps even vindictive. Those very weaknesses had long +ago cost Mogar a seat in the Supergalactic Conference, but that wasn’t +the worst of it. If Mogar had progressed in the usual fashion from the +last Beginning, he would by now have had a seat in the mighty Cosmic +Chamber. + +So the situation exhibited still more serious aspects. Mogar, having +seen many younger gods pass him in the long climb upward through the +several eternities from the last Beginning, consistently delighted in +showing younger gods their place, and under the Laws of Hierarchy, +a younger god who lost face would be relegated to some quiet +Constellation Committee until the next End and reorganization of the +Cosmos. Mogar was known to throw obstacles in the way of every young +and ambitious god, and then watch them sharply for a chance to catch +them off-guard. + +Dalen knew these things. He had been warned by his friend, the +middle-aged god Lennat, who had been one of Mogar’s early victims. +Lennat had lost a test of strength with Mogar and had been assigned to +the obscure constellation, Tracho, where there had not been even a nova +explosion for more eons than Dalen could remember. + +Dalen considered these things, and he knew what billions of years of +inactivity could do to a god’s mind. Even now he felt the lightly +restraining touch of Lennat’s thought-force, a little dulled by long +disuse. He felt grateful for Lennat’s interest, and yet he had an idea +that was more than just that--it was an ideal. + +Dalen wanted to see a species evolve that could temper intelligence +with sentiment. + +Dalen’s belief was that intelligence alone, even the unusually high +forms developed by certain Arachnids and some Centipods, was not the +most pleasing form of life. He believed that sentiment--even though +unsupported in logic--had a definite place in the cosmic aim of finally +conjunctive symbiosis, because it provided the most comfortable form of +relationship, and there no longer was any argument even among the gods +that comfort was the Ultimate Aim. + +So Dalen wished to give such an entity an opportunity to evolve. He +knew there would be definite limitations. For one thing, there could be +only two forms: avian or mammalian. + +The birds and the mammals were the only two forms that developed a +great deal of conjunctive feeling, and so his choice was necessarily +limited to them. He preferred avian for its ability to leave a solid +surface, but he liked mammalian for its inevitable eagerness to develop +an opposed thumb. And the opposed thumb, Dalen believed, was the +quickest answer to any sort of technical progress. + +Some of the gods held that technical progress was undesirable, that any +form of life would more quickly evolve into the abstract forms such as +pure energy, thought-force, and so on, if they should lack technical +ability. But Dalen saw desirable things in technics, as he saw +desirable things in sentiment, and he had been determined for several +ages that he would some day put his theory into effect. + +Just now Dalen hesitated, not because he was afraid, but from caution +stirred by his knowledge of Mogar’s ancient shrewdness. Mogar mistook +his hesitation for weakness, and his next thought rolled powerfully and +triumphantly from the Magellanic Galaxy, across the intervening vacuum, +back to the IXth and through its length to Bootes again: + +“Then, perhaps, you will challenge me.” + +Dalen perceived the note of condescension. He knew that Mogar had +challenged many ambitious young gods, and had never lost a test, but +still Dalen did not rise to the taunt. + +“No, sire, I am not at this time going to challenge you,” Dalen +answered evenly. + +Mogar’s guffaw thundered across the intergalactic void. + + * * * * * + +But Dalen had not been elected to the council from the committeeship +of the Constellation Hercules for his caution. At once he reached out +to the other galaxy with his sensitive perceptory faculties and probed +lightly at Mogar’s mind. + +Dalen recently had begun to suspect that the elder god had retained +some of the lower mind-centers that were distinctly ungodlike. Now +was a chance to find out. But almost as soon as Dalen tried, he was +chagrined. He touched one of the intricately convoluted hyper-centers, +but it was shielded. + +That was embarrassing. Mogar would know that he had tried, and by +evening every god on the council would know that the newcomer from the +LIII Constellation Committee had tried to probe old Mogar’s mind and +had failed. But Dalen was not a god to back away from his chosen course. + +He felt that his power was somewhat diminished by the unusual distance, +for Mogar was visiting outside his own galaxy today. Dalen channeled +his energy through the fifth-dimension space-warp, which offered zero +resistance, and in traversing the long parsecs of the galaxy, he gained +six years in time before he reached the point in the galaxy nearest +Mogar in the Cloud. There he halted and struck suddenly and with all +the normal power of his faculties at the depths of Mogar’s mind. + +He hit first the reflexive center, but there he met a solid wall of +force, and then, because he could shift his probing lance faster than +Mogar could erect shields, he stabbed at what would have been Mogar’s +instinctive level. He was astounded to find that, too, protected. + +Dalen had expected to find the lower centers unguarded, because it +required untold trillions of macro-ergs of energy to erect a single +shield, and Mogar would spend centuries replenishing that energy from +atomic dissolution. But also because attempting to probe an elder god’s +mind was an audacious thing, and Dalen had not expected Mogar would +anticipate it. + +But Mogar had, and was taking no chance. Dalen did not hesitate. He had +committed himself, so he stabbed again, and this time with tremendous +power. He funneled his probing force through the spiral timewarp of +the sixth dimension, to give it infinitely compounded power, and with +all this inconceivable kinetic momentum he stabbed repeatedly at +successively lower layers of the elder’s mind, far past the instinctive +and even into the inanimate--but without success. + +By now he was ashamed. The newcomer was now only a smart aleck. But +Dalen had not finished. How the elder god at his age could endure the +awful energy-drain of completely shielding himself was more than Dalen +could understand. What Dalen did understand by now was that Mogar +definitely would not allow anyone to penetrate his mind. + +That was a shock as Dalen realized the implications. Why should a god +shield his mind-centers at such a frightful cost of energy? There could +be but one answer, and it frightened Dalen a little. It meant that +Mogar _did_ have disjunctive thoughts and perhaps even feelings. It +meant that even if Mogar should withdraw his opposition nominally, he +would be glad to see the experiment fail, and he might even help it to +fail. + +That would be a vicious handicap for Dalen. The evolution of a race was +subject to many perils; evolving a particular species was a hot-house +sort of process that would take several billion years and much careful +nurturing. If another god should be opposed, he could destroy the +entire experiment, for instance, by dropping a spore of some malignant +virus into the midst of the species--a virus for which the race would +be unprepared and against which it would have no resistance. That was +only one of infinite ways to eliminate an undesirable species. + +So now it was obvious to Dalen that his only recourse was to break down +the barriers to Mogar’s mind. He had not intended this, but Mogar was +forcing it. If he did break through the shields, then Mogar himself +would be relegated, for the entire supergalaxy would know it instantly. + +So now Dalen, having unintentionally worked himself into a spot where +it was relegation for one or the other, gathered his energy. There +was one way in which he felt positive that he could break through +Mogar’s protection, even at this great distance. This was by way of the +ninth-dimension elliptical spiral. Dalen had never used it, for it was +prohibited to any god below the council, but if he could manipulate it +into operation he could combine it with the sixth and his infinitely +compounded power would be also infinitely squared. + +There was one drawback. According to Dalen’s calculations, a +combination of the sixth and the ninth would require an output on +Dalen’s part of power to the extent of something like 8.4 times ten to +the twentieth power macro-ergs-and that would be Dalen’s last effort. +He would have to rest for a while after that. If it didn’t succeed, he +reflected, there would be eternities to rest. + + * * * * * + +He concentrated his energy facilities and spiraled them to full power, +sucking the last quantum of pure energy from every available atom, even +stripping binding energy, and poured it all into his utilization of +the two dimensions. Dalen was a young god and a strong god, and it was +utterly inconceivable that any god could stand up against that enormous +combination of power. + +By now the entire IV Universe knew that he and Mogar were fighting +it out. Tightness pervaded Dalen’s thought-force which was flung out +along the edge of the galaxy. The mighty power of the two dimensions +swirled together and lashed out across the interstellar void, gathering +momentum as it traveled in ever-increasing spurts. + +Perhaps the very first tongue of this energy touched Mogar, when +unexpectedly his chuckle--a little forced, it seemed to Dalen--rolled +back across the void. He said, as if amused: + +“Where do you propose to hold this experiment?” + +Dalen relaxed gratefully and allowed the controls to ease from his +mind-centers. So Mogar had enough. Mogar had backed down. Only an old +god of long seniority could do that without losing face, and also, +Dalen understood, that was Mogar’s only way out. Dalen knew now that he +would have broken through, and in a way he wished he had. It would have +eliminated Mogar’s future unofficial opposition. But Mogar had chosen +to break the deadlock, and that was Mogar’s right, so Dalen accepted +the gesture. + +“I intend to develop a new solar system, to be known as the XXXVI, out +on the fringe of the galaxy, and attached for administrative purposes +to my home Constellation Hercules. I will choose one of those planets, +sire, to be populated.” + +Mogar snorted so loudly it could be heard in the VIII Galaxy. “It will +take you two billion years to get a biped. I say give the planet a +shower of germanium isotope rays and everything but insects will kill +themselves off quickly. Then in a few million years you will have an +insect civilization to be proud of.” + +But Dalen was firm in his answer. “No, sire. I believe the +opposed-thumb biped may prove to be a very desirable life-form. +This planet will be only one of ten quadrillion in the Milky Way +Super-Galaxy. I think it is not too extravagant to use it as an +experiment. It is under the jurisdiction of my home constellation, +sire,” he said pointedly. + +Now Mogar grumbled, and a billion cubic parsecs of cosmic dust exploded +before his ire and streamed into the vacuum of intergalactial space. +“Very well, then. I withdraw my opposition. But you will see that I am +right, and at next week’s meeting I shall expect a report from you on +the outcome.” + +“Yes, sire,” Dalen said respectfully. He turned in the space between +two stars, and began traveling back toward Hercules. He felt now the +astonishment in the minds of Lennat and the seven members of the +council. Yes, Dalen was audacious. He was young and perhaps impetuous, +to brave the wrath of a god like Mogar. Dalen knew now that the other +members of the council felt as he did, that Mogar would go to any +length to prevent Dalen’s success with the experiment. + + * * * * * + +Dalen resolved more firmly that it should succeed, but it was a heavy +load that he bore as he made arrangements for two stars to meet in +the outer void of the IX Galaxy. His realization of the difficulties +ahead was lightened by only one thought: If he could create the race +he wanted, he would be very proud. Even without Mogar’s opposition, +the odds were heavy against him. The gods did not like to see their +precedents broken. + +But the one thought lightened Dalen’s mind: if he should succeed, +he would be very proud. No doubt it would mean his elevation to the +Supergalactic Conference and perhaps even to the Dioclave. So Dalen’s +mind-force was busy with ideas and plans. In fact, he realized a little +wryly, he was almost exuberant. He had even selected a name for his +experimental species. He would call it “Man,” and by this time next +week the entire Supergalaxy would know whether an opposed-thumb biped +could be a desirable entity. + +This was a good day’s work. + + + + + Transcriber’s note: + + + This etext was produced from Rocket Stories, September 1953 (Vol. 1, + No. 3.). Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. + + Obvious errors have been silently corrected in this version, but + minor inconsistencies have been retained as printed. + + New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the + public domain. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78935 *** |