The Bromeliad 1 - Truckers by Terry Pratchett

Author:Terry Pratchett [Pratchett, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: sf

8

i. And the leaders of the nornes were Assembled, and the Abbot Gurder said unto them, Harken to the Words of the Outsider; ii. And some waxed wroth, saying, He is an Out­sider, wherefore then shall we harken to him? iii. The Abbot Gurder said, Because the old Abbot wished it so. Yea, and because I wish it so, also.

iv. Whereupon they grumbled, but were silent.

v. The Outsider said, Concerning the Rumours of Demolition, I have a Plan.

vi. Let us not go like Woodlice fleeing from an overturned log, but like Brave Free People, at a time of our choosing.

vii. And they interrupted him, saying, What's Woodlice? Whereupon the Outsider said, All right, Rats.

viii. Let us take with us the things that we need to begin our life anew Outside, not in some other Store, but under the sky. Let us take all nomes, the aged and the young, and all the food and materials and information that we need.

ix. And they said, All? And he said, All. And they said unto him, We cannot do this thing...

From The Book of Nome, Third Floor v.I-IX 'Yes, we can,' said Masklin. 'If we steal a lorry.' There was a dead silence.

The Count de Ironmongri raised an eyebrow.

'The big smelly things with wheels at each cor­ner?' he said.

'Yes,' said Masklin. All eyes were on him. He felt himself beginning to blush.

The nome's a fool!' snapped the Duke de Haber­dasheri. 'Even if the Store was in danger, and I see no reason, no reason I say, to believe it, the idea is quite preposterous.' 'You see,' said Masklin, beginning to blush, 'there's plenty of room, we can take everyone, we can steal books that tell us how to do things-' 'The mouth moves, the tongue waggles, but no sense comes out,' said the Duke. There was nerv­ous laughter from some of the nomes around him. Out of the corner of his eye Masklin saw Angalo standing by his father, his face shining.

'No offence to the late Abbot,' said one of the lesser lords hesitantly, 'but I've heard there are other Stores Out There. I mean to say, we must have lived somewhere before the Store.' He swal­lowed. 'What I'm getting at, if the Store was built in 1905, where did we live in 1904? No offence meant.' 'I'm not talking about going to another Store,' said Masklin. 'I'm talking about living free.' 'And I'm listening to no more of this nonsense. The old Abbot was a sound man, but he must have gone a little funny in the head at the finish,' snapped the Duke. He turned and stormed out noisily. Most of the other lords followed him. Some of them quite reluctantly, Masklin noticed; in fact, a few hung around at the back, so that if asked they could say that they were just about to leave.

Those left were the Count, a small fat woman who Gurder had identified as the Baroness del Icatessen, and a handful of lesser lords from the sub-departments.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.