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."Much too small to see, but there they are!Five, right?"-to Chybee.Ugant and her friends had briefed Chybee carefully."Only four.What theythought was a fifth turned out to be last year's red comet on its way tO US.""I made contact with the folk on that comet!" the other girl declared.How can anyone be so crazy as to believe that comets are inhabited?But Chybee kept such thoughts to herself as far as her exudants allowed;at least the all-pervading pheromones masked most of them."Well, if your budder is Whelwet," the first girl said, "I know who'llfile:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt (437 of557) [2/14/2004 12:25:09 AM]file:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt want totalk to you.Come with us.We're on our way to a meet withAglabec himself!"Oh, NO.tBut there was no gainsaying them; they fell in on either side like an escortand swept her along.VIIAt least the leaves Glig had provided were working.Chybee had no idea whatthey were, but the scientists of Slab had many secrets.Not only did theyprotect against the terrifying pheromones surrounding her; they seemed also tomask her own exudations.And that too was terrifying, in a way.It was apopular pastime for younglings at Hulgrapuk and elsewhere to reenact storiesfrom the legendary past, but only the very young couldso far submerge themselves in a false identity as to make each other and theiraudience believe in the r61es they were playing.As soon as they started tosecrete adult odors, the illusion waned.But suppose adults too.could fake such a transformation.Suppose, forinstance, Aglabec had figured out a way.9She wanted not to think about him, for fear of betraying her imposture, buther companions kept chattering on with mad enthusiasm, saying how he must bethe greatest male teacher since Awb.Privately, Chybee did not believe Awb hadever existed.She had often been punished by her parents for saying so.If shewere to voice a similar opinion right now, though, she could surely lookPage 270ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlforward to something worse than the penalties meted out to a budling.What ifAglabec were to recognize her from thefile:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt (438 of557) [2/14/2004 12:25:09 AM]file:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt meeting atUgant's? She could only reassure herself that there had been230THE CRUCIBLE OF TIMEtOO many people present for anybody to single out one person's trace, andtry and believe that he would have refused on principle to register whatshe said.Struggling to divert the conversation along another path, she demandedwhat the trio's names were.The replies added to her dismay."I'm Witnessunbride," stated the first girl."And I, Cometaster!" declared the other.While the boy said, as though it were the most natural thing in theworld, "Startoucher!" He added with curiosity, "Do Chybee and Whelwetand Yaygomitch have arcane meanings? At Slah we discard our old namesafter entering the knowledge state."But before Chybee could reply, Witnessunbride rounded on him."Andi!ii your new one is ridiculous! I could cite five-score of us who know morefile:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt (439 of557) [2/14/2004 12:25:09 AM]file:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time.txt"i;about what goes on under other stars than you do! Don't take him seriously,:'Chybee! But how and why did you choose your new name?"Chybee was briefly at a loss.Then inspiration struck.She said with, contempt she did not need to feign, "Some of us, including me and myparents, felt no call to change our names, because they turned out to havesignificance in the speech of other worlds."Impressed, Cometaster said, "And yours means.?",,.,!'".,., With stiff dignity, Chybee answered, "Those who attain enlightenmentwill recognize its purport in due time.".Page 271ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html' The other three exchanged glances.i': "Aglabec is going to be very interested in you," said Witnessunbride."He's the only other person I ever heard say anything like that.And theiiiii,.I, only other person so advanced he can contact other planets withoutneeding file:///G|/rah/John%20Brunner%20-%20The%20Crucible%20of%20Time [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]