Eric Flint - The Emancipatrix, Angielskie [EN](4)(2)
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The Emancipatrix
Homer Eon Flint
The Emancipatrix
Table of Contents
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......................................................................................................37
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.....................................................................................................................54
...........................................................................................................................59
i
The Emancipatrix
Homer Eon Flint
This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustrated title: 'The Emancipatrix' in script, over a background of a bee silhouetted against a full moon on
the horizon.]
I. THE MENTAL EXPEDITION
The doctor closed the door behind him, crossed to the table, silently offered the geologist a cigar, and waited
until smoke was issuing from it. Then he said:
"Well," bluntly, "what's come between you and your wife, Van?"
The geologist showed no surprise. Instead, he frowned severely at the end of his cigar, and carefully seated
himself on the corner of the table. When he spoke there was a certain rigor in his voice, which told the doctor
that his friend was holding himself tightly in rein.
"It really began when the four of us got together to investigate Capellette, two months ago." Van Emmon was
a thorough man in important matters. "Maybe I ought to say that both Billie and I were as much interested as
either you or Smith; she often says that even the tour of Mercury and Venus was less wonderful.
"What is more, we are both just as eager to continue the investigations. We still have all kinds of faith in the
Venusian formula; we want to 'visit' as many more worlds as the science of telepathy will permit. It isn't that
either of us has lost interest."
The doctor rather liked the geologist's scientific way of stating the case, even though it meant hearing things
The Emancipatrix
1
·
·
·
The Emancipatrix
he already knew. Kinney watched and waited and listened intently.
"You remember, of course, what sort of a man I got in touch with. Powart was easily the greatest Capellan of
them all; a magnificent intellect, which I still think was intended to have ruled the rest. I haven't backed down
from my original position."
"Van! You still believe," incredulously, "in a government of the sort he contemplated?"
Van Emmon nodded aggressively. "All that we learned merely strengthens my conviction. Remember what
sort of people the working classes of Capellette were? Smith's 'agent' was typicala helpless nincompoop, not
fit to govern himself!" The geologist strove to keep his patience.
"However," remarked Kinney, "the chap whose mind I used was no fool."
"Nor was Billie's agent, the woman surgeon," agreed Van Emmon, "even if she did prefer 'the Devolutionist'
to Powart. But you'll have to admit, doc, that the vast majority of the Capellans were incompetents; the rest
were exceptions."
The doctor spoke after a brief pause. "Andthat's what is wrong, Van?"
"Yes," grimly. "Billie can't help but rejoice that things turned out the way they did. She is sure that the
workers, now that they've been separated from the ruling class, will proceed to make a perfect paradise out of
their land." He could not repress a certain amount of sarcasm. "As well expect a bunch of monkeys to build a
steam engine!
"Well," after a little hesitation, "as I said before, doc, I've no reason to change my mind. You may talk all you
like about itI can't agree to such ideas. The only way to get results on that planet is for the upper classes to
continue to govern."
"And this is what you two havequarreled about?"
Van Emmon nodded sorrowfully. He lit another cigar absent−mindedly and cleared his throat twice before
going on: "My fault, I guess. I've been so darned positive about everything I've said, I've probably caused
Billie to sympathize with her friends more solidly than she would otherwise."
"But just because you've championed the autocrats so heartily"
"I'm afraid so!" The geologist was plainly relieved to have stated the case in full. He leaned forward in his
eagerness to be understood. He told the doctor things that were altogether too personal to be included in this
account.
Meanwhile, out in the doctor's study, Smith had made no move whatever to interrogate the geologist's young
wife. Instead, the engineer simply remained standing after Billie had sat down, and gave her only an
occasional hurried glance. Shortly the silence got on her nerves; and such was her nature, as contrasted with
Van Emmon'swhereas he had stated causes first, she went straight to effects.
"Well," explosively, "Van and I have split!"
Smith was seldom surprised at anything. This time was no exception. He merely murmured "Sorry" under his
breath; and Billie rushed on, her pent−up feelings eager to escape.
The Emancipatrix
2
The Emancipatrix
"We haven't mentioned Capellette for weeks, Smith! We don't dare! If we did, there'd be such a rumpus that
wewe'd separate!" Something came up into her throat which had to be choked back before she could go on.
Then
"I don't know why it is, but every time the subject is brought up Van makes me so WILD!" She controlled
herself with a tremendous effort. "He blames me, of course, because of what I did to help the Devolutionist.
But I can't be blamed for sympathizing with the under dog, can I? I've always preferred justice to policy, any
time. Justice first, I say! And I think we've seenthere on Capellettehow utterly impossible it is for any such
system as theirs to last indefinitely."
But before she could follow up her point the door opened and the doctor returned with her husband. Kinney
did not allow any tension to develop; instead, he said briskly:
"There's only a couple of hours remaining between now and dinner time; I move we get busy." He glanced
about the room, to see if all was in place. The four chairs, each with its legs tipped with glass; the four
footstools, similarly insulated from the floor; the electrical circuit running from the odd group of machinery
in the corner, and connecting four pair of brass braceletsall were ready for use. He motioned the others to
the chairs in which they had already accomplished marvels in the way of mental traveling.
"Now," he remarked, as he began to fit the bracelets to his wrists, an example which the rest straightway
followed; "now, we want to make sure that we all have the same purpose in mind. Last time, we were simply
looking for four people, such as had view−points similar to our own. To− day, our object is to locate,
somewhere among the planets attached to one of the innumerable sun−stars of the universe, one on which the
conditions are decidedly different from anything we have known before."
Billie and Van Emmon, their affair temporarily forgotten, listened eagerly.
"As I recall it," Smith calmly observed, "we agreed that this attempt would be to locate a new kind ofwell,
near−human. Isn't that right?"
The doctor nodded. "Nothing more or less"speaking very distinctly "than a creature as superior as we are,
but NOT IN HUMAN FORM."
Smith tried hard not to share the thrill. He had been reading biology the previous week. "I may as well
protest, first as last, that I don't see how human intelligence can ever be developed outside the human form.
Notpossibly!"
Van Emmon also was skeptical, but his wife declared the idea merely unusual, not impossible. "Is there any
particular reason against it?" she demanded of the doctor.
"I will say this much," cautiously. "Given certain conditions, and inevitably the human form will most
certainly become the supreme creature, superior to all the others.
"However, suppose the planetary conditions are entirely different. I conceive it entirely possible for one of
the other animals to forge ahead of the man−ape; quite possible, Smith," as the engineer started to object, "if
only the conditions are different ENOUGH.
"At any rate, we shall soon find out. I have been reading further in the library the Venusians gave us, and I
assure you that I've found some astonishing things." He fingered one of the diminutive volumes. "There is
one planet in particular whose name I have forgotten, where all animal life has disappeared entirely. There
are none but vegetable forms on the land, and all of them are the rankest sort of weeds. They have literally
The Emancipatrix
3
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl upanicza.keep.pl
The Emancipatrix
Homer Eon Flint
The Emancipatrix
Table of Contents
..............................................................................................................................................1
.....................................................................................................................................1
...........................................................................................................1
...........................................................................................................................5
.............................................................................................................8
.....................................................................................................................11
........................................................................................................................14
.....................................................................................................................18
.............................................................................................................21
............................................................................................................................................25
.........................................................................................................................................30
.............................................................................................................................33
......................................................................................................37
.........................................................................................................42
............................................................................................................................47
.....................................................................................................................54
...........................................................................................................................59
i
The Emancipatrix
Homer Eon Flint
This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustrated title: 'The Emancipatrix' in script, over a background of a bee silhouetted against a full moon on
the horizon.]
I. THE MENTAL EXPEDITION
The doctor closed the door behind him, crossed to the table, silently offered the geologist a cigar, and waited
until smoke was issuing from it. Then he said:
"Well," bluntly, "what's come between you and your wife, Van?"
The geologist showed no surprise. Instead, he frowned severely at the end of his cigar, and carefully seated
himself on the corner of the table. When he spoke there was a certain rigor in his voice, which told the doctor
that his friend was holding himself tightly in rein.
"It really began when the four of us got together to investigate Capellette, two months ago." Van Emmon was
a thorough man in important matters. "Maybe I ought to say that both Billie and I were as much interested as
either you or Smith; she often says that even the tour of Mercury and Venus was less wonderful.
"What is more, we are both just as eager to continue the investigations. We still have all kinds of faith in the
Venusian formula; we want to 'visit' as many more worlds as the science of telepathy will permit. It isn't that
either of us has lost interest."
The doctor rather liked the geologist's scientific way of stating the case, even though it meant hearing things
The Emancipatrix
1
·
·
·
The Emancipatrix
he already knew. Kinney watched and waited and listened intently.
"You remember, of course, what sort of a man I got in touch with. Powart was easily the greatest Capellan of
them all; a magnificent intellect, which I still think was intended to have ruled the rest. I haven't backed down
from my original position."
"Van! You still believe," incredulously, "in a government of the sort he contemplated?"
Van Emmon nodded aggressively. "All that we learned merely strengthens my conviction. Remember what
sort of people the working classes of Capellette were? Smith's 'agent' was typicala helpless nincompoop, not
fit to govern himself!" The geologist strove to keep his patience.
"However," remarked Kinney, "the chap whose mind I used was no fool."
"Nor was Billie's agent, the woman surgeon," agreed Van Emmon, "even if she did prefer 'the Devolutionist'
to Powart. But you'll have to admit, doc, that the vast majority of the Capellans were incompetents; the rest
were exceptions."
The doctor spoke after a brief pause. "Andthat's what is wrong, Van?"
"Yes," grimly. "Billie can't help but rejoice that things turned out the way they did. She is sure that the
workers, now that they've been separated from the ruling class, will proceed to make a perfect paradise out of
their land." He could not repress a certain amount of sarcasm. "As well expect a bunch of monkeys to build a
steam engine!
"Well," after a little hesitation, "as I said before, doc, I've no reason to change my mind. You may talk all you
like about itI can't agree to such ideas. The only way to get results on that planet is for the upper classes to
continue to govern."
"And this is what you two havequarreled about?"
Van Emmon nodded sorrowfully. He lit another cigar absent−mindedly and cleared his throat twice before
going on: "My fault, I guess. I've been so darned positive about everything I've said, I've probably caused
Billie to sympathize with her friends more solidly than she would otherwise."
"But just because you've championed the autocrats so heartily"
"I'm afraid so!" The geologist was plainly relieved to have stated the case in full. He leaned forward in his
eagerness to be understood. He told the doctor things that were altogether too personal to be included in this
account.
Meanwhile, out in the doctor's study, Smith had made no move whatever to interrogate the geologist's young
wife. Instead, the engineer simply remained standing after Billie had sat down, and gave her only an
occasional hurried glance. Shortly the silence got on her nerves; and such was her nature, as contrasted with
Van Emmon'swhereas he had stated causes first, she went straight to effects.
"Well," explosively, "Van and I have split!"
Smith was seldom surprised at anything. This time was no exception. He merely murmured "Sorry" under his
breath; and Billie rushed on, her pent−up feelings eager to escape.
The Emancipatrix
2
The Emancipatrix
"We haven't mentioned Capellette for weeks, Smith! We don't dare! If we did, there'd be such a rumpus that
wewe'd separate!" Something came up into her throat which had to be choked back before she could go on.
Then
"I don't know why it is, but every time the subject is brought up Van makes me so WILD!" She controlled
herself with a tremendous effort. "He blames me, of course, because of what I did to help the Devolutionist.
But I can't be blamed for sympathizing with the under dog, can I? I've always preferred justice to policy, any
time. Justice first, I say! And I think we've seenthere on Capellettehow utterly impossible it is for any such
system as theirs to last indefinitely."
But before she could follow up her point the door opened and the doctor returned with her husband. Kinney
did not allow any tension to develop; instead, he said briskly:
"There's only a couple of hours remaining between now and dinner time; I move we get busy." He glanced
about the room, to see if all was in place. The four chairs, each with its legs tipped with glass; the four
footstools, similarly insulated from the floor; the electrical circuit running from the odd group of machinery
in the corner, and connecting four pair of brass braceletsall were ready for use. He motioned the others to
the chairs in which they had already accomplished marvels in the way of mental traveling.
"Now," he remarked, as he began to fit the bracelets to his wrists, an example which the rest straightway
followed; "now, we want to make sure that we all have the same purpose in mind. Last time, we were simply
looking for four people, such as had view−points similar to our own. To− day, our object is to locate,
somewhere among the planets attached to one of the innumerable sun−stars of the universe, one on which the
conditions are decidedly different from anything we have known before."
Billie and Van Emmon, their affair temporarily forgotten, listened eagerly.
"As I recall it," Smith calmly observed, "we agreed that this attempt would be to locate a new kind ofwell,
near−human. Isn't that right?"
The doctor nodded. "Nothing more or less"speaking very distinctly "than a creature as superior as we are,
but NOT IN HUMAN FORM."
Smith tried hard not to share the thrill. He had been reading biology the previous week. "I may as well
protest, first as last, that I don't see how human intelligence can ever be developed outside the human form.
Notpossibly!"
Van Emmon also was skeptical, but his wife declared the idea merely unusual, not impossible. "Is there any
particular reason against it?" she demanded of the doctor.
"I will say this much," cautiously. "Given certain conditions, and inevitably the human form will most
certainly become the supreme creature, superior to all the others.
"However, suppose the planetary conditions are entirely different. I conceive it entirely possible for one of
the other animals to forge ahead of the man−ape; quite possible, Smith," as the engineer started to object, "if
only the conditions are different ENOUGH.
"At any rate, we shall soon find out. I have been reading further in the library the Venusians gave us, and I
assure you that I've found some astonishing things." He fingered one of the diminutive volumes. "There is
one planet in particular whose name I have forgotten, where all animal life has disappeared entirely. There
are none but vegetable forms on the land, and all of them are the rankest sort of weeds. They have literally
The Emancipatrix
3
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]