To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [18]
So our ancestors came after, on the word of the scouts, and settled there, giving thanks for the kindliness of the climate and the fertile land.” He paused in the telling, all eyes on him. Not one of his auditors disturbed the perfect silence of the room by so much as the clink of a glass being set down on the sleek tabletop. Meeran Okosa seemed pleased by such attention and went on: “But surfaces deceive and the warmest smile tells nothing of the heart beneath. Time revealed what the scouts could not have known: The ground of Ashkaar shook with the writhings of unquiet spirits, it split apart the pleasant fields, cast up poisonous vapors, and in the end drove our fathers and mothers back into the black sky-sea. In their lone ship they sought another lafid and found it in the blessed sun’s fifth daughter, which they named Ne’elat, which means the new sustainer. Ne’elat was no golden land. It wanted the warmth of Ashkaar, but it also lacked Ashkaar’s evil eruptions. To live here would take work, but our ancestors did not fear that. What they feared was that the world we had left would not know what had become of them. And so our fathers and mothers took council and said, ‘Let us send our starship home again to tell our kin that we have chosen a different world, and also to bring us back what aid they can, for we lost much when we left Ashkaar, and Ne’elat demands more to sustain us until we have learned her ways.’” He took a breath and concluded, “So the ship was sent, and the ship was lost, and with it the homeworld and all help except what came from the gods.” He laid his hands palms down on the table.
“You see how it was, Captain Picard.” Udar Kishrit resumed control of the meeting. “When their ship did not return and when no word came from the homeworld, our ancestors realized that they were truly on their own. Building a new ship was out of the question. They had left S’ka’rys seeking a simpler life, as you say. No one with the knowledge for building starships would join such an expedition. Likewise they lacked the materials and the means to obtain them. Apart from all this, they had to devote all their efforts to the more immediate problems of survival on a hostile world.” “I’d say they more than succeeded,” Captain Picard remarked, sipping his drink. It was tart on the tongue, though it had an almost honey-like bouquet.
“A limited success. There are some who say that we have betrayed the dream of our ancestors.” Udar Kishrit gave Meeran Okosa a look short and sharp as a dagger blade. “But what choice did we have? A simpler life requires a kinder land. Could we stand by and watch our children die from cold and hunger and sickness when we had the knowledge to prevent it?” The council historian snorted scornfully. “You mouth one of the nine deaths of S’ka’rys, Udar Kishrit. The teachings recall that our fathers and mothers left the homeworld precisely because they were surrounded by too many people speaking the same evil.” “Our ancestors were surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds in the universe,” Udar Kishrit replied hotly. “The teachings themselves speak of the discoveries and inventions, the pure knowledge that S’ka’rys brought into the light!” “Into the darkness, you mean. The teachings do not mention S’ka’rys for praise, but to give us warning.
They held themselves too high, the