Jesus On Mars by philip Jose Farmer

Author:philip Jose Farmer [Farmer, philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sf

13

The sky was a great light show.

Orme, looking out of the window, saw that the blue had become spectra. Horizontal bands of bright and flashing purples, blues, oranges, red, greens, yellows, whites, and blacks were spread around the dome. Here and there, gold, indigo, scarlet, and silver stars were born, expanded, and exploded. Variously- shaped clouds of different colours and hues sprang from scattered points, swelled, raced writhing across the sky, and the starbursts momentarily met, coalesced, glowed, pulsed then faded away.

'Hey, Avram, come look at this!'

Bronski joined him, and his eyes grew large.

'It makes me shiver.'

'I wonder how they do that?' Orme said. 'The whole dome must be set with electronic devices.'

'No, I don't think so. You forget how far ahead of us they are. I'll wager that they use some principle unknown to us. Anyway, that's a small item to consider today. Forget you are an engineer, Richard. At least for today.'

The people were coming out of their houses. They were dressed in their best, both sexes clad in long silky robes of many colours, wearing flowers in their hair. They were laughing and skipping, many hand in hand. Orme opened the door and stepped outside. Now he could hear music from a distance, many bands playing: drums beating, trumpets blaring, flutes and fifes shrilling, harps twanging, cymbals crashing.

Abruptly a voice spoke from behind them. Orme turned to see Bronski gesturing for him to come back in. He did so and found the holograph image of a smiling Hfathon before the set.

'We expect you at the square in an hour,' he said. 'You'd better start out at once. It won't be easy to get through the crowds.'

Orme looked at his wristwatch.

'Yes, we know. Couldn't you send someone to drive us there?'

'The only one who rides today is the Messiah,' the Krsh said. 'Last night everybody drove or walked in and set up camp or stayed with relatives or friends. Perhaps I should have told you you'd be expected to walk. Please hurry. May he smile upon you. Shalom.'

His image blinked out.

Orme looked at Bronski, shrugged his shoulders, and said, 'You'd think they'd give us special treatment. After all, we are their guests. And part of this is for our benefit.'

The Frenchman looked at the gloriously pulsating sky.

'You still suspect that this is a hoax?'

'Now, I didn't say that!' Orme said. 'It's just that I have to keep a tight rein on my emotions.'

'You're not the only one,' Bronski said. 'Well, we'd better get going.'

They went out of the house again. Orme thought of how nice it was that he didn't have to lock the door. Then he thought, that was an irrelevant thought. Or was it? I've been trying all this morning to think of irrelevant things. To get my mind away from... Him. But it's like trying not to think about a hippopotamus.

They went out into the street, which was by then empty of Martians. Shirazi, looking pale and grim, stepped out of the house directly opposite theirs.

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