01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
danger. He showed her bodies caked with red dust and sweat. He showed her the ice caps at
the poles and the two moons. She couldn't understand the moons.
"What are they - do they give heat like the Lynxe-star?"
She was alive with curiosity, all the reticence and shyness had evaporated.
"Look into my mind and picture them."
He thought hard of Phobus and Deimos, those little, sterile chunks of rock, hurtling above
the Martian's heads. He visualised them again, as little silver orbs, chasing each other across a
clear sky. He saw them for her, from the control cabin of a Planet Hopper, as it comes into the
atmosphere. He thought how beautiful she was and desirable. He thought how much he
would like to kiss her.
She blushed slowly and edged away.
"Did you see the moons, Hara?"
She hesitated.
"I saw a lot of things - It grows late and you must start early tomorrow when you go to the
Place of Worship. Take great care, my Lord."
She was away before he could answer. He raged at himself for his lack of control. She had
read his carnality. He thought about their Gift and decided that it would have one hell of an
inhibiting effect on their relationships. A young fellow wouldn't dare think some of the things
a normal, lusty male ought to be able to think. The girl would either slap his face, run a mile,
or lead him to some secluded spot before he could collect his wits.
He re-entered the house and bade his host and hostess goodnight. He had a desperate
homesickness, all the talk of Mars during the evening, had intensified his longing to go back
to his own kind. Sleep eventually came and it seemed too short. Jabez roused him very
early and they ate breakfast before the dawn. Jabez explained that first he would show him
the Holy Place and then go on to his duties for the Thane.
They left soon after, together with the remainder of the community who set off in another
direction. They didn't seem interested in the change to routine. As always, they were polite
but kept aloof from their strange visitor.
It looked as if the Place of Worship was only used for special occasions. The whole
question of worship, in any shape or form, was a curiosity. On Mars, and everywhere else
within the Confederation of New Earth, there was no formal worship. From time to time there
were outbursts of religious revival, which usually got out of hand and had to be put down by
Security. It was fortunate that they were few and far between. Man had got out of the habit of
worshipping gods, great or small.
They took the path which led through the cultivated fields close to the community houses.
He took a good look at the crop. It was a little disappointing, a nondescript, dull olive-green
in colour, with large fleshy, veined leaves issuing from a central stem. It stood about the
height of a man and was cultivated in rows which allowed for easy walking between. Jabez
explained what it was.
"This is the Oil-Plant, Lord It is the crop which supplies our lamp oil and is also used as a
lubricant."
Steve opened his ears wider, this was the first suggestion of anything mechanical.
"Have you no generating power?"
"That is a term I do not understand, Lord."
He sounded as if he expected Steve to blast him to ashes. He had no concept of electrical
power or turbines. They climbed up the side of one of the low, rounded hills which were a
main feature of the terrain. This one didn't drop away to another gully on the far side. Instead
it abutted on to a rocky hillside that led higher still. Even in the early hours, it was hot work.
The surface was loose and stones clattered down with every step. Steve was sweating
profusely by the time they reached the top. Jabez was hardly winded.
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