night time sky was a thing of harsh and terrible beauty.
These were, then, the last days.
On The World, giant machines burrowed under the deep roots of the juplee trees, lifted tree and earth to waiting cargo drivers. In orbit around the Artonuee home world, a hundred star ships waited, holds prepared, to become the home in space for a virgin forest. The World was being sacked that the Artonuee might live. And as the forests were moved, miners followed, destroying all in their path, for there was no longer need to preserve a world which was facing doom.
For those Artonuee who worked on The World, it was a traumatic experience.
The shortage of raw materials was an ever-present irritation. Rei chafed, shouted at his subordinates, drove the miners who were at last
allowed to gut the home world. The twenty-percent error in prediction of the time left meant uncertainty and terror. Even the crash program of utilizing all available materials would fall short.
The drivers which had once worked the asteroid belt, a vast fleet, were being melted down for their metals. Nothing was spared. The Evacuation Committee, headed by Argun, President of the Delanians, was assembling the land and air vehicles necessary to transport the population to the waiting star ships, and all vehicles not needed in that effort were expendable.
In Nirrar, the decorative metal fronts of government buildings were being pulled down. Monuments to past Artonuee greatness toppled from their pedestals and joined private flyers, rollers, all scrap metals in the melting vats.
Food rationing was in effect, for the vast food storehouses of the star ships were being filled. Enumeration of the population was almost complete. Each individual member of both races carried and guarded his assignment card, for it meant life. On all five of the worlds, practice evacuations were being carried out to familiarize the people with the methods of loading.
Loading would be a lengthy and complicated process. Miaree, burdened with the endless details of office and carrying, along with all her race, the sadness of the coming departure, left details of that massive operation to the Evacuation Committee. She was only one female. She could not attend personally to all details.
She thanked God for the strength and vitality of the Delanian men, for without them the work would never have been accomplished. Outnumbering Artonuee males by almost six to one, they bore the main burden of labor.
It was not a time for crisis, but then crisis has never been possessed of a conscience, and when the Delanian women began their revolt there was nothing to do but deal with it.
It began on Five. Led by Untell, who had once worked with the builder Bertt, mobs of women paraded past government houses demanding change.
Miaree considered the spokeswoman’s demands.
'For too long have we, the flower of Delanian womanhood, suffered at the hands of the shameless Artonuee females. Our men, lured into liaison with the Artonuee, have all but deserted us. We face a long journey into the unknown, and we refuse to undertake this journey in the company of Artonuee females who, because of the peculiarities of their anatomy, are such attractive temptation for our men. We demand total segregation of races aboard the star ships.'
'A bunch of featherheads,' said Argun in conference. 'This protest is an isolated event and will pass. Our races work too well together to allow a few hotheads to spoil the partnership which has developed.'
'They are your women.' Miaree said. 'I bow to your knowledge of them.'
However, as the situation worsened, she was forced to reconsider. A half-million Delanian women stormed Government Quad, threw stones through the viewers of the buildings, severely mauled members of the guard.
It was the same on all inhabited planets. Everywhere Delanian women rose up, demanding that the relationship between Artonuee females and Delanians be sundered aboard the star fleet.
'Oh, Darling.' Miaree said, in the privacy of her dwelling. 'It would mean—'
'They will not force us to part.' Rei said. 'But your own president often states that a leader cannot ask something of his people which he himself would not share. How could I tear my sisters from their lovers and, in all conscience, remain with you?'
'There will be a way,' Rei said, closing her lips with his.
To placate the Delanian women (whose activities were throwing the overall plan out of balance, delaying the plantings of the fuplee trees in their assigned ships, forcing cancellation of practice loadings) the joint governments of the two races announced that racial integrity was to be maintained aboard the fleet.
To give her forlorn sisters hope—for they were, she knew, as devastated as she—the Mother announced, 'New worlds will be found. There the two races will live side by side. In times of peace and plenty, the harsh measures required by present-day conditions will doubtless be rescinded.'
With Belle, Overlady of Outworld, Miaree considered the problem of space for the treasure stores of Artonuee art.
'Sadly,' she told Belle, 'we are forced to abandon much. For you see, the building program has been slowed by the lack of materials. The accelerated approach of the Fires has caught us short. I weep to think of the necessity to leave the paintings of Janlee and Peeri. We must pick and choose, dear Belle, and control our emotions, for is not life the important thing? Would you trade one life, say, for the jewel-sculpture portrait of Lady Andee?'
Her conference with the weeping Belle was shortened by an urgent request from one Runder, assistant to the Overlord of the Fleet, who cited urgency and priority as his reason for demanding time with The Mother.
Runder was a young male in his prime, a male who had adopted the dress fashions of the Delanians. He stood respectfully before Miaree’s desk. 'Lady,' said he, 'I am Runder. Before the time of change I worked on Flyer Haven. I had the pleasure of servicing My Lady’s personal flyer when she was but a youth.'
'You were chosen by old Beafly,' Miaree said. 'I remember.' She smiled. 'You tuned Rim Stai well.'
'Lady, I have always done my best. I have been rewarded by being allowed to perform tasks of responsibility and value. There have been no complaints. Thus, I have allowed myself the self-gratification of presuming on the Lady’s time to ask why I have been so summarily relieved of my duties. If I have presumed too much, I am sorry.'
Miaree frowned. 'My dear Runder. This office, I fear, is a demanding one. It does not lessen the importance of the position you have held when I confess that I know nothing of what you state. Could you brief me?'
'Yes, Lady.'
'First, please sit.'
'Thank you, Lady. I was appointed to my position by Overlord Bertt these six years past. Since Bertt’s primary interest was in the star fleet, the responsibility of seeing to the administrative duties of the Overlord’s office fell to me. When the honorable Bertt retired to his workshop—'
'Hold, Runder. Would you repeat that?'
'I said, ’When the honorable Bertt retired to his workshop—’ '
'It was my understanding that he was preparing for homecoming.' Miaree said.
'I am sorry.' Runder’s face was mobile, showing his sorrow. 'I did not intend to violate a confidence.'
'Then Bertt is not ready for homecoming?'
'He is well, Lady. I’m sorry that I mentioned it. However, since I have... He was tired. Since the population of Five is largely Delanian, he asked that I forego my rights of senority and allow the appointment of a Delanian Overlord. I agreed. However, events of the past days—'
'Forgive me, Runder. I am interested in Bertt. It is not like him to forsake his important duties without reason. Your thinking, please.'
'Lady, I fear that the pressure has touched Bertt. For years he has pushed himself too hard. No one can say that he did not do his assigned job well. In fact, it is my opinion, enforced by my personal observations, that Bertt should be named a Hero of the Artonuee for his administration of the building of the fleet. However, during the years of crisis, Bertt pursued his dream in addition to doing his tasks. I fear the toll on his health was too great.'
'His dream?'
'As I remember, Lady, you were present when Bertt and the Delanian woman Untell conducted tests of an altered mires expander in conjunction with the electron forces of a soft metal.'
'Yes.'
