Jack Vance - Gaean Reach 01 Read Online Free Page B

Glissam made a casual, or perhaps modest, gesture. “Nothing remarkable. I paid off the family debts, bought my sister a Cloud-hopper and put the rest out at interest. So here I am, living on a modest but adequate income.”
    “And what do you do besides just live?”
    “Well, I’ve got two or three things going on. I work for SEE, as you know, and I’m putting together a collection of Uldra war songs. They’re natural musicians and produce the most wonderful songs which don’t get half the attention they deserve.”
    “I grew up with those songs,” said Schaine. “In fact, I could sing a few blood-curdlers right now, if I were in the right mood.”
    “Some other time.”
    Schaine laughed. “I’m seldom anxious to burn my enemies, one by one, ‘with six thousand fires and six thousand pangs’.”
    “The Gray Prince, incidentally, is supposed to be here tonight.”
    “The Gray Prince—isn’t he the Uldra messiah, or rabble-rouser, or some such special agent?”
    “So I’m told. He advocates what he calls ‘Pan-Uldra’—an association of the Retent tribes, which then will absorb the Treaty tribes and ultimately eject the land-barons from Uaia. Over here he’s sponsored by the Redemptionists, which means almost everyone in Szintarre.”
    “Including yourself?”
    “Well—I don’t like to admit it to the daughter of a land-baron.”
    Schaine sighed. “I don’t really mind. I’m going back to live at Morningswake, and I’ve determined not to quarrel with my father.”
    “Aren’t you putting yourself in a very awkward position? I feel in you a certain awareness of justice and fair play—”
    “In other words, am I a Redemptionist? I hardly know what to say. Morningswake is my home, so I’ve been brought up to believe. But what if I really didn’t have any right to be there, would I still want to keep it? To be candid, I’m glad that my opinion carries absolutely no weight, so that I can enjoy going home without suffering pangs of conscience.”
    Elvo Glissam laughed. “At least you’re honest. If I were you I might feel the same way. Kelse is your brother? Who is the grim dark-haired fellow with the stomach-ache?”
    “That’s Gerd Jemasze of Suaniset, the domain next east to ours. He’s always been lofty and saturnine, ever since I can remember.”
    “I think someone said—probably Valtrina—that an erjin attacked Kelse.”
    “Yes, it was absolutely horrible, and erjins terrify me to this day. I can’t believe those great beasts are tame.”
    “There are many different kinds of human beings; maybe there are different kinds of erjins.”
    “Perhaps…When I see those great maws and awful arms, I think of poor little Kelse, all chewed and ripped.”
    “It’s a miracle he’s alive.”
    “He’d be dead except for an Uldra boy we called Muffin, who came with a gun and blew the erjin’s head off. Poor Kelse. Poor Muffin, for that matter.”
    “What happened to Muffin?”
    “It’s a long sordid story. I don’t want to talk about it.”
    For a moment the two stood in silence. Elvo Glissam said: “Let’s go out on the terrace and look over the sea—where you’ll be flying tomorrow.”
    Schaine thought this was a pleasant idea, and they walked out into the warm night. Through the campander fronds the lights of Olanje were scattered in a long irregular crescent; overhead hung the stars of the Gaean Reach, many seeming to shimmer with an extra significance for the populated worlds surrounding. *
    Elvo Glissam said: “An hour ago you were not even a name, and now Schaine Madduc is you, and I’ll be sorry to see you leave. Are you sure you prefer Uaia to Olanje?”
    “I can hardly wait to get home.”
    “Isn’t it bleak and drab and depressing?”
    “Of course not! Where have you heard such nonsense? Uaia is magnificent! The sky is so wide, the horizons are so far, that mountains, valleys, forests and lakes are lost in the landscape. Everything swims in light and air; I