05. Twilight at the Well of Souls - The Legacy of Nathan Brazil Read Online Free Page A
Author: Jack L. Chalker
somebodies, really, but I was the only one to really succeed at it."
The psychologist was interested. "Why you? And why were you successful when the others of your kind were not?"
Marquoz shrugged. "I'm not sure. In terms of getting in the right positions, well, the dominant races have psychological quirks that make them either destroy lesser races, absorb lesser races, or, in some odd and perverse tendency, to bend over backward to show that they don't consider your race lesser even if they actually do. I've always had some sort of knack for being where trouble is, even on my home world. If there was a big storm, or a fire, or some equally major event, I somehow usually wound up being there. Call it some kind of perverse precognition, I don't know what. I happened to be in a position to overhear plans for a minor but nasty rebellion and took the opportunity to report it. The Com Police crushed the rebellion, of course, and I became some sort of minor celebrity to them. From there it was easy to worm my way into the Com Police itself, not only because I delivered the goods, so to speak, but also because, as a Chugach, I would be a symbol of their liberalism. There are some mighty guilty consciences there, I suspect. That helped immeasurably. And the deeper entrenched I became, the easier it was to pick up everything, from trade to forbidden technological information, and pass it along to my own people."
The psychologist looked disturbed. "Do you think your being reborn as a Hakazit means that we are in for some particularly bad trouble?"
This race's mouth wasn't built for expression so Marquoz's sardonic smile wasn't evident to the other. "Oh, yes, I'd say so. I'd say that a catastrophe of major proportions is going to hit not only Hakazit but the whole of the Well World any minute now. I'm afraid I'm part of the cause this time, though. You see, I'm here on a mission." He tried to sound really conspiratorial.
"A mission?" the psychologist echoed, looking more and more disturbed.
Marquoz nodded gravely. "Yes. You see, I'm here to save the universe in the name of truth and purity and justice."
They kept him waiting for quite some time and he became very bored. There weren't many people to talk to, and those who did come in or out were hardly the talkative type. He knew that somewhere in this building they were arguing, discussing, deciding his fate, and that he could do little about it, at least until they made their own moves. He wished terribly that he had a cigar. The Well World was supposed to change you, even make you comfortable in your new form—and it had. A rebirth is only a rebirth, he reflected glumly, but a good cigar is a smoke.
He tried a few of his old dance moves but soon discovered that those, too, were gone for good. Ballet ill-befitted armored tanks.
Finally someone came—not the same one, he decided, who had interviewed him. He was finding it easier to tell individuals apart now, more so as he went along, although he knew that non-Hakazit might have a problem in that direction.
"Thank you for waiting," the newcomer said pleasantly, as if he had anywhere else to go. "The Supreme Lord will see you now. Follow me."
He started and almost repeated the title aloud. The supreme lord? Well, no use getting your hopes up too far, Marquoz, he reminded himself. Around here that might be the term for chief palace janitor. These folks looked like they loved titles.
It was soon apparent, though, that this was a personage of considerable rank. Not only the smartly uniformed guards along the hall attested to this, but also the hidden traps, emplacements, and other nastiness that only his trained eye could make out signified rank and importance. Finally he entered a pair of huge, ornate steel doors and found himself in a barren hall. He looked around warily. Yes, television sensors, definitely, and a lot more—but no people. The steel grid he could barely make out under the flooring probably meant the
The psychologist was interested. "Why you? And why were you successful when the others of your kind were not?"
Marquoz shrugged. "I'm not sure. In terms of getting in the right positions, well, the dominant races have psychological quirks that make them either destroy lesser races, absorb lesser races, or, in some odd and perverse tendency, to bend over backward to show that they don't consider your race lesser even if they actually do. I've always had some sort of knack for being where trouble is, even on my home world. If there was a big storm, or a fire, or some equally major event, I somehow usually wound up being there. Call it some kind of perverse precognition, I don't know what. I happened to be in a position to overhear plans for a minor but nasty rebellion and took the opportunity to report it. The Com Police crushed the rebellion, of course, and I became some sort of minor celebrity to them. From there it was easy to worm my way into the Com Police itself, not only because I delivered the goods, so to speak, but also because, as a Chugach, I would be a symbol of their liberalism. There are some mighty guilty consciences there, I suspect. That helped immeasurably. And the deeper entrenched I became, the easier it was to pick up everything, from trade to forbidden technological information, and pass it along to my own people."
The psychologist looked disturbed. "Do you think your being reborn as a Hakazit means that we are in for some particularly bad trouble?"
This race's mouth wasn't built for expression so Marquoz's sardonic smile wasn't evident to the other. "Oh, yes, I'd say so. I'd say that a catastrophe of major proportions is going to hit not only Hakazit but the whole of the Well World any minute now. I'm afraid I'm part of the cause this time, though. You see, I'm here on a mission." He tried to sound really conspiratorial.
"A mission?" the psychologist echoed, looking more and more disturbed.
Marquoz nodded gravely. "Yes. You see, I'm here to save the universe in the name of truth and purity and justice."
They kept him waiting for quite some time and he became very bored. There weren't many people to talk to, and those who did come in or out were hardly the talkative type. He knew that somewhere in this building they were arguing, discussing, deciding his fate, and that he could do little about it, at least until they made their own moves. He wished terribly that he had a cigar. The Well World was supposed to change you, even make you comfortable in your new form—and it had. A rebirth is only a rebirth, he reflected glumly, but a good cigar is a smoke.
He tried a few of his old dance moves but soon discovered that those, too, were gone for good. Ballet ill-befitted armored tanks.
Finally someone came—not the same one, he decided, who had interviewed him. He was finding it easier to tell individuals apart now, more so as he went along, although he knew that non-Hakazit might have a problem in that direction.
"Thank you for waiting," the newcomer said pleasantly, as if he had anywhere else to go. "The Supreme Lord will see you now. Follow me."
He started and almost repeated the title aloud. The supreme lord? Well, no use getting your hopes up too far, Marquoz, he reminded himself. Around here that might be the term for chief palace janitor. These folks looked like they loved titles.
It was soon apparent, though, that this was a personage of considerable rank. Not only the smartly uniformed guards along the hall attested to this, but also the hidden traps, emplacements, and other nastiness that only his trained eye could make out signified rank and importance. Finally he entered a pair of huge, ornate steel doors and found himself in a barren hall. He looked around warily. Yes, television sensors, definitely, and a lot more—but no people. The steel grid he could barely make out under the flooring probably meant the
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