Beyond Another Sun (1971) by Tom Godwin

Author:Tom Godwin [Godwin, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780502071296
Publisher: Curtis
Published: 1971-09-15T05:00:00+00:00

IT WAS early. It was dawn when he lifted the ship the next morning. He made a quick preliminary inspection of the work going on down the length of the valley, to give him the general picture, and that afternoon he set down at the camp beside the bay.

It was already a fair-sized camp, despite an insufficient supply of logs. Those not engaged in beginning the actual ship-building were at work with the trail crews, widening the steep trail leading down from Mezat so increasingly larger loads of logs could be brought. Within a few days, when a sufficient supply of logs could be delivered each day, the camp would be many times larger.

It was there one of the workmen asked him the question he had known would eventually be asked.

"Why are we doing all this work when you could make a few hundred trips with your ship and within a few weeks have all the Vala moved to south of the Barrier?"

The fundamental answer was the Vala would appreciate the southland more if they had to work for it than if it was handed to them on a silver platter. At the same time they would be more willing and eager to develop the land they had struggled to reach than if they acquired it without effort. But such an answer would be far more honest than tactful. Instead, he gave an explanation that was true—except regarding the ship's fuel—and much more diplomatic.

"My ship doesn't have enough fuel to do that and still go on to the next world from here. Also, my ship wasn't built to carry loads of scared buffalo—and on top of that, you will have to have ships in the future, after I'm gone, for contact between those of you in the southland and those who will want to stay in the valley."

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.