To Open the Sky by Robert Silverberg

Author:Robert Silverberg [Silverberg, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 1966-12-31T21:00:00+00:00

Five

There was no blackness quite like the black of the night sky of Venus, Martell thought. It was like a layer of wool swathing the vault of the heavens. Not a hint of a star, not a flicker of a moonbeam cut through that arch of darkness overhead. Yet there was light, occasional and intermittent: great predatory birds, hellishly luminous, skewered the darkness at unpredictable moments. Standing on the rear veranda of the Harmonist chapel, Martell watched a glowing creature soar past, no higher than a hundred feet up, near enough for Martell to see the row of hooked claws that studded the leading edges of the curved, back-swept wings.

"Our birds have teeth as well," said Christopher Mondschein.

"And the frogs have horns," Martell remarked. "Why is this planet so vicious?"

Mondschein chuckled. "Ask Darwin, my friend. It just happened that way. You've met our frogs, then? Deadly little beasts. And you've seen a Wheel. We have amusing fish, too. And carnivorous fauna. But we are without insects. Can you imagine that? No land arthropods at all. Of course, there are some delightful ones in the sea—a kind of scorpion bigger than a man, a sort of lobster with disturbingly large claws—but no one goes into the sea here."

"I understand why," Martell said. Another luminescent bird swooped down, skimmed the trees, and rocketed away. From its flat head jutted a glowing fleshy organ the size of a melon, wobbling on a thick stem.

Mondschein said, "You wish to join us, after all?"

"That's right."

"Infiltrating, Martell? Spying?"

Color came to Martell's cheeks. The surgeons had left him with the flush reaction, although he turned a dull gray when affected now. "Why do you accuse me?" he asked.

"Why else would you want to join us? You were haughty about it last week."

"That was last week. My chapel is closed. I saw a boy who trusted me killed before my eyes. I have no wish to see more such murders."

"So you admit that you were guilty in his death?"

"I admit that I allowed him to jeopardize his life," Martell said.

"We warned you of it."

"But I had no idea of the cruelty of the forces that would strike at me. Now I do. I can't stand alone. Let me join you, Mondschein."

"Too transparent, Martell. You came here bristling with the urge to be a martyr. You gave up too soon. Obviously you want to spy on our movement. Conversions are never that simple, and you're not an easily swayed man. I suspect you, Brother."

"Are you esping me?"

"Me? I don't have a shred of ability. Not a shred. But I have common sense. I know a bit about spying, too. You're here to sniff."

Martell studied a gleaming bird high against the dark backdrop. "You refuse to accept me, then?"

"You can have shelter for the night. In the morning you'll have to go. Sorry, Martell."

No amount of persuasion would alter the Harmonist's decision. Martell was not surprised, nor greatly distressed; joining the Harmonists had been a strategy of doubtful success, and he had more than half expected Mondschein to reject him.

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