Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke [44]
And the plate began to move.
When it came to rest again, there was a brief pause; then Ruth asked, in a puzzled voice;
"What does NGS 549672 mean?"
She got no reply, for at the same moment George called out anxiously;
"Give me a hand with Jean. I'm afraid she's fainted."
Chapter 9
"This man Boyce," said Karellen. "Tell me all about him."
The Supervisor did not use those actual words, of course, and the thoughts he really expressed were far more subtle. A human listener would have heard a short burst of rapidly modulated sound, not unlike a high-speed Morse sender in action. Though many samples of Overlord language had been recorded, they all defied analysis because of their extreme complexity. The speed of transmission made it certain that no interpreter, even if he had mastered the elements of the language, could ever keep up with the Overlords in their normal conversation.
The Supervisor for Earth stood with his back to Rashaverak, staring out across the multicoloured gulf of the Grand Canyon.
Ten kilometres away, yet scarcely veiled by distance, the terraced walls were catching the full force of the sun. Hundreds of metres down the shadowed slope at whose brim Karellen stood, a mule-train was slowly winding its way into the valley's depths. It was strange, Karellen thought, that so many human beings still seized every opportunity for primitive behaviour. They could reach the bottom of the canyon in a fraction of the time, and in far greater comfort, if they chose. Yet they preferred to be jolted along tracks which were probably as unsafe as they looked.
Karellen made an imperceptible gesture with his hand. The great panorama faded from view, leaving only a shadowy blankness of indeterminable depth. The realities of his office and of his position crowded in upon the Supervisor once more.
"Rupert Boyce is a somewhat curious character," Rashaverak answered. "Professionally, he's in charge of animal welfare over an important section of the main African reservation. He's quite efficient, and interested in his work. Because he has to keep watch over several thousand square kilometres, he has one of the fifteen panoramic viewers we've so far issued on loan-with the usual safeguards, of course. It is, incidentally, the only one with full projection facilities. He was able to make a good case for these, so we let him have them."
"What was his argument?"
"He wanted to appear to various wild animals so that they could get used to seeing him, and so wouldn't attack when he was physically present. The theory has worked out quite well with animals that rely on sight rather than smell-though he'll probably get killed eventually. And, of course, there was another reason why we let him have the apparatus."
"It made him more co-operative?"
"Precisely. I originally contacted him because he has one of the world's finest libraries of books on parapsychology and allied subjects. He politely but firmly refused to lend any of them, so there was nothing to do but to visit him. I've now read about half his library. It has been a considerable ordeal."
"That I can well believe," said Karellen dryly. "Have you discovered anything among all the rubbish?"
"Yes-eleven dear cases of partial breakthrough, and twenty-seven probables. The material is so selective, however, that one cannot use it for sampling purposes. And the evidence is hopelessly confused with mysticism-perhaps the prime aberration of the human mind."
"And what is Boyce's attitude to all this?"
"He pretends to be open-minded and sceptical, but it's clear that he would never have spent so much time and effort in this field unless he had some subconscious faith. I challenged him on this and he admitted that I was probably right.
"He would like to find some convincing proof. That is why he is always carrying out these experiments, even though he pretends that they are only games."
"You are sure