the end of the book, that at the world's end, plagues, hail and dishonest officials will come, and the iron men will crawl out from the underground. I have to say that every time rebellions or barbarian invasions happened in the Empire, the rebels were thought to be the iron men. However, once the rebels took power, everybody would immediately realize that they were not the iron men. As for the Earthmen — you don't grab the power and don't hang your enemies. Can't you be anybody else but the iron men?'
'The ones that crawl out from underground?'
'The ones that crawl out from the underground, eat children's brains, and carry naeve peasants and officials underground, down their bewitched halls, to inflict visions on them.'
'And how many people believe it?'
'A lot of people,' Shavash said, 'peasants, officials, artisans. Hey, I fired my secretary, Akhhar, because of that, right after our US tour.'
Bemish finally realized that Shavash was making fun of him.
'Well,' he said, smiling, 'you secretary, having flown to Earth, is unlikely to think that we crawled out of hell.'
'My friend,' Shavash said, 'Akhhar just considers it to be an allegory, the wisdom of our ancestors who possessed the hidden knowledge and warned us about the danger. You see, when you talk about science, you either understand how a nuclear reactor works, or you don't. A myth, meanwhile, is capable of joining together the most different people's groups and minds. A simple peasant understands the prophecy literally, while an educated man interprets it metaphorically.'
'And how,' Bemish asked, 'do the preachers understand the prophecy?'
'Oh, while talking to the authorities, they claim it is an allegory! Are they idiots to admit that they know the real truth about the iron men?'
'It's incredible,' Bemish muttered. 'Can't you explain to your crazies what's really going on?'
'It's impossible to explain to them, it's only possible to hang them. I think, however, that if we start hanging people for believing Earthmen to be demons, than you, the demons, will raise a horrible buzz.'
Bemish lowered his head.
'Don't feel bad. These people have a special gift of quarrelling not only with the state but also with each other. Take cars, for instance. One sect will believes that cars don't exist, that they are demonic phantoms, and that you are not moving in a car but rather are moved by a demonic force. Another one believes that the ancestors themselves sent us the cars, but the iron demons grabbed the gift on the way and used it illegally.'
Shavash picked the newspaper up, waved it at Bemish's nose and said.
'I am explaining all this to you, Bemish, so that you understand how difficult it would be for me to get an article published in Red Star, where, on the top of it, they christen me,' Shavash squinted slightly and started translating the text, 'a foul dung beetle, 'a cockroach with a sack of gold instead of the heart,' and 'the foam of sacrilege…'
Shavash paused for a moment and unexpectedly added.
'You know, what my conclusion from the article is?'
Bemish couldn't help but glance. The dirty article, as it has been mentioned, was accompanied by the picture of Shavash naked and Bemish imagined for a moment, what he would feel if he appeared on a newspaper page in such a saucy way.
'My conclusion is that I should lose some weight. It's a shame of a picture, don't you think so?'
Bemish was leaving the mansion when a dark skinned servant reported to him, bowing.
'The mistress is expecting you in the Blooming Plums Gazebo.'
Bemish walked into the garden. The woman that had withdrawn from the room before the dinner was now walking on a white garden path, overcast with sideways moon shadows, and the lace decorating her dress sleeves resembled moon rays coiling around her wrists.
Bemish bowed shyly and said.
'Believe me, I am very sorry that you didn't dine with us.'
'Men and women do not eat together,' Idari objected. 'Are you the Earthman that has been buying Assalah via DJ securities?'
'You are informed surprisingly well,' Bemish muttered abashedly, realizing that the Idari's husband is unlikely to even know that DJ securities exist.
'Well, if women eat separately from men,' Idari smiled, 'it doesn't really mean that they don't know anything. Are you married?'
'I am divorced.'
'Did your wife love you?'
'She loved my bank account.'
Idari sat down on a bench in a fluid catlike motion and Bemish heard a hydrangea bush rustle against her skirt. Idari gestured Bemish to sit next to her.
'I appreciate everything you have done for my husband,' Idari said.
'I haven't done anything for him,' the Earthman objected, 'while he has done a lot for me.'
'You are the first man from the stars that he made friends with. It's so strange that this man belongs to Ronald Travis' circle.'
And Bemish was again quite surprised by Idari's awareness.
'I thought he had Earthmen friends.'
'Yes. People who throw bombs at the supermarkets and use drugs to liberate themselves from the corrupting influence of the civilization.'
Idari and Bemish sat very close to each other. The night had descended already but the two moons shone powerfully like beacons and Bemish could clearly see Idari's profile, a small head with the black braid wrapped around the head and the hairpins glistening in the moonlight.
'My husband exerts a great influence on the Emperor,' Idari continued, 'and you may exert a great influence on my husband. It would have been very bad for my country, if Kissur had befriended, instead of you, the people he had met two years ago on Earth.'
Idari paused.
'What do you know of our history?'
Bemish flushed. His ignorance of everything related to Weian history was practically absolute, it could only compare to his ignorance of Earth history. If anything was of interest to him on this planet — it was the budget deficit size or the central bank interest rate. The central bank interest rate did not depend on history in any way.
'Is the name Arfarra familiar to you?'
Bemish faltered.
'He was the first minister…'
'He was the first minister twice. Once, before Earthmen. Second time, after them. Once the Earthmen came to Weia, the Emperor appointed a man named Nan as the first minister. Then, Nan was removed — with my husband's help.'
Bemish vaguely remembered the five-year-old scandal — since the scandal took place on Earth, not on Weia. There was something about Kissur — the Weian ex-first minister, hanging out on Earth. Or was it on Lann? Amidst terrorists and drug abusers. A stolen car, drugs, a beaten policeman, the arrest of a terrorist activity suspect, a scandal diligently stirred up by somebody, and finally Kissur's statement that Nan was the main culprit in the tragedy that happened after the hijacking of a military plane. This statement played a part in the Earthman- minister resignation.
'Afterwards, a different premier and a different program of state investment policy were instated. The taxes were high and the budget expenses were huge. The only money left in the country was that in the state treasury and in the banks with the highest officials as the stock holders. The workers were not allowed to leave the companies they worked for and to testify against their owners.'
Idari grinned and added.
Shavash was, at that time, one of the most active supporters of the state investments. He needed to clean his reputation up after his friendship with Nan and he invented all the programs for the government, where money
