1
Boris Čerin Levy
P R I š L IS O
P O M E
Spori in bitke med
Čutini in Osrini
Boris Cherin Levy
T H E Y C A M E
T O G E T M E
Battles and Conflicts between
Sensis and Acutins
Eng
lish
editi
on
Slo
vens
ka iz
daja
2
Boris Cherin Levy
THEY CAME
TO GET ME
Translated by Hugh Brown
First published 2004Copyright © Boris Čerin
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica,
Ljubljana
821.163.6-312.9(0.034.2)
ČERIN, Boris They came to get me / Boris
Cherin Levy [Elektronski vir] ; [translated by Hugh Brown]. - El. knjiga. - Ljubljana : Quark, 2014
Prevod dela: Prišli so pome
ISBN 978-961-91100-2-7 (pdf)
ISBN 978-961-91100-3-4 (ePub)
273600768--------------------------------------------
Published byQUARK d.o.o.
Lizike Jančarjeve 141000 Ljubljana
e-mail: [email protected]
Boris Čerin Levy
PRIŠLI SO POME
Udeležil sem se spopada Čutinov z
Ostrini
Lektor Ivo Antič
Prva izdajaLjubljana, 2004
Copyright © Boris Čerin
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica,
Ljubljana
821.163.6-312.9(0.034.2)
ČERIN, Boris Prišli so pome [Elektronski vir] : udeležil sem se spopada Čutinov z Ostrini / Boris Čerin Levy. - El. knjiga. - Ljubljana : Quark, 2014
ISBN 978-961-91100-6-5 (pdf)
ISBN 978-961-91100-7-2 (ePub)
273915392--------------------------------------------
Izdajatelj in založnik
QUARK d.o.o.Lizike Jančarjeve 14
1000 Ljubljanae-mail: [email protected]
3
Chapter I
I stretched out on the grass of the alpine meadow and breathed deeply. Peace, silence and the pure moun-tain air filled me with a comfortable feeling of lazy contentment, a dro-wsiness in which images of the nearby mountain peaks drifted into the foreground and then disa-ppeared again. I think I even dozed off, and then half woke up again. I was just sinking back into a deeper doze when a slight shudder shook my body. I opened my eyes but the heat of the sun soon pushed me back into my sleepy torpor. “Probably just a muscle relaxing or something,” I said to myself before yielding to drowsiness. But even as my breathing slowed and I slid back into a doze, I felt another shudder. A sense
I. poglavje
Zleknil sem se na travo
visokogorske planjave.
Mir, tišina in globoko vdi-
havanje gorskega zraka so
me navdali z ugodjem in
lenobnim zadovoljstvom,
vse do dremavega polsna,
v katerem so mi prihajali
v ospredje in spet izginjali
slikovni prikazi bližnjih
gorskih vrhov. Celo zadre-
mal sem, najbrž, se na pol
zbudil ter se ponovno
pogreznil nazaj v vse glo-
blji dremež, ko mi je rahel
drget stresel telo. Odprl
sem oči, a me je sonce s
svojo pripeko znova poti-
snilo v zaspano lenobnost.
Sprostitev mišice ali nekaj
takega je moralo biti, mi
je še preletelo zavest pred
ponovnim prepuščanjem
dremajočemu ugodju,
toda še preden se mi je
dihanje znova umirilo v
polsnu, že je spet prešel
4
of movement, of some vivid event, intruded so rapidly into my slow-mo-ving thoughts, forcing its way into the foreground of my consciousness, that I lifted myself up on my elbow and looked around. Everything seemed normal. My friends were still stretched out lazily on the grass. All except Rick and Jane, a couple of school-leavers with their final exams coming up, who were chatting quietly. It was pleasant lying here in this grassy meadow, and none of us had felt like continuing to the little mountain lodge slightly higher up, although the trail was far from arduous. The scorching heat and the fresh air made it even more inviting.I stretched out again on the grass. That strange sensation had come and gone in a flash. I grinned to myself and shook my head: it had been a hard week. I lay back. My bre-
skozme drget. Med počasi
premikajoče se misli se
mi je vrinilo tako hitro
gibanje nekega živega
dogajanja, ki mi je prav
nenavadno močno priha-
jalo v ospredje, da sem se
privzdignil na komolec in
pogledal naokrog, toda
nič posebnega ni bilo
videti. Prijatelji ob meni so
se še naprej lenobno pre-
tegovali na travi. Le Rok
in Janja, srednješolca pred
maturo, sta se pomenko-
vala. Poležavanje na travi
se nam je prileglo, pa
čeprav pot do majhnega
planinskega gostišča, pod
katerim smo si našli ta svoj
prostor, ni bila pretirano
naporna. Še posebej se je
prileglo zaradi pripeke in
svežega zraka.
Zleknil sem se nazaj na
travo. Kar preletelo je
skozme, sem ugotavljal
med nejevernim nasmi-
hanjem in odkimavanjem,
naporen teden je bil za
mano, sem pomislil. Nato
5
athing slowed and once again I slipped into a doze. Suddenly, and with incre-asing insistence, flashing outlines started appearing before my eyes. Shapes, now dark, now light, dar-ting from one side to the other. I held my breath and waited. It wasn’t anything I could put a name to, and it surely couldn’t have been anything important. I shook my head to get rid of the uneasiness I was beginning to feel. Yes: a feeling of anxiety was creeping over me. “It’s coming towards me,” I thought. It was all coming towards me. What was? There was nothing there. Nothing that could come towards me through my thoughts alone. Then the flashing outlines became a more vivid image, sped up, darted to the left, crystallised once again, traced a zigzag course and disappeared.“What on earth?” It was all much too vivid for a
sem se spet spustil na hrbet
ter med upočasnjenim
dihanjem znova prehajal
v dremež. Toda pred očmi
so se mi vse bolj vztrajno
vrivali migetajoči obrisi,
neke zdaj temne, zdaj spet
svetle oblike, premikajoče
se na eno in drugo stran.
Zadržal sem dih in malo
počakal. Nič kaj določlji-
vega ni bilo pa tudi nič kaj
pomembnega ni moglo
biti. Z odkimavanjem
sem se otresal tesnobnih
občutkov. Da, presneto,
neki občutek tesnobe se je
prikradel vame. »Približuje
se mi.« Vse skupaj se mi je
približevalo. Toda kaj se je
približevalo? Saj ničesar
ni, ničesar takega, kar bi
se mi lahko približevalo le
skozi misli. Tedaj so se mi
migetajoči obrisi sprožili
v še bolj živem prikazu, se
pospešili, zavili v levo, se
ponovno prikazali, začrtali
vijugasto pot in zginili.
»Hudir!« Vse skupaj je bilo
preveč živo za dremež.
6
dream. I propped myself up on my elbows, still unsure whether I had simply been dreaming, and scanned the peaks of the surroun-ding mountains.“Whaa…!” I gasped. The scene from my dream, or whatever it was, appea-red before me. The glea-ming surface of a disc-like object with delta wings at its sides flashed past and disappeared. Then it appeared again and turned suddenly in our direction. Judging from its speed, it would be over us in a matter of seconds. That’s all I had time to think, before something else fla-shed into view behind the craft. A triangular object. A moment later, the two objects shot off, one behind the other, jockeying for position in what appeared to be a kind of dogfight. The whole thing barely lasted a few seconds. Then the second craft was alon-gside the first, as though it had caught it. There
Naslonil sem se na
komolce, zaklel še vedno
v dvomu, ali nisem zgolj
zaspal in sanjal, ter se ozrl
naokrog po vrhovih sose-
dnjih gora.
»Uaaa!« se mu je iztrgalo iz
grla. Kazal se mi je prizor iz
sna ali dremeža ali kar koli
že je bilo. Lesketajoča se
površina diskastega pred-
meta z delta krili ob straneh
se je svetlikala in spet izgu-
bljala barvo do nevidnosti,
nato pa se nenadoma obr-
nila proti nam in bi glede
na hitrost morala biti že v
nekaj naslednjih trenutkih
nad nami. Vsaj za trenutek
sem tako pomislil, ko se je
nenadoma zabliskalo še v
ozadju tega plovila. Nekak
trikoten predmet je bil.
In hip za tem sta se oba
predmeta poganjala drug
za drugim in drug mimo
drugega v nekakšnem, po
mojem občutku, sovra-
žnem preletavanju. Toda
vse skupaj je trajalo komaj
kaj dlje kot nekaj bežnih
trenutkov. Tedaj se je
7
were some more flashes, the two craft glowed red-hot, collided and bounced back. The second explo-ded and the first, evidently damaged, spiralled down-wards, appeared to rally, lost height again, rallied once more and flew to the forest, where it landed noi-sily among the trees on the other side of the clearing. Silence fell. Everyone was staring at the place where the ship had landed. We saw a flashing light, and then all was silence.During the last few moments the noise had attracted the attention of most of the climbers scat-tered across the hillside, who were now looking in the direction of the dust cloud and wondering what had happened.“Look!” shouted a gaunt, fair-haired man a few metres away from me, pointing towards the edge of the clearing. “Is that the pilot?”
drugo plovilo znašlo ob
prvem, kot da ga je ujelo,
zleteli so bliski, zaža-
rela sta oba hkrati, trčila
skupaj, se odbila, drugo je
eksplodiralo, prvo pa se
je v krožnem letu, očitno
poškodovano, spustilo
ali, kot je bilo videti, bolj
strmoglavilo, se ponovno
ujelo, spet padalo in spet
ujelo smer, vse do gozda,
kjer je dokaj glasno, s hru-
ščem pristalo med drev-
jem na drugi strani jase.
Nastala je tišina, vsi so zrli
v kraj padca. Videti je bilo
še bliskanje neke svetlobe,
nakar je vse utihnilo.
Zadnjih nekaj trenutkov
je hrušč pritegnil poglede
večine razkropljenih pla-
nincev, da so potem pogle-
dovali v smeri prašnega
oblaka in se med seboj
spraševali, kaj se je zgo-
dilo.
»Glej!« je vzkliknil nekaj
metrov od mene slok sve-
tlolas moški koščenega
obraza z roko, iztegnjeno
proti robu jase. »Pilot ali
kaj?«
8
“Were they hit by ligh-tning?” asked John, one of the kids from our group, before shaking his head. “He looks hurt.” This triggered an avalan-che of comments, mixed with excited shouts that grew louder and louder. Suddenly everyone fell silent again. “He’s coming towards us!”It certainly looked as though the pilot was wounded. And yet he was approaching surprisingly quickly. And he seemed to be heading straight towards our group.“He’s gone past those clim-bers over there!” I said out loud.“Yes!’ confirmed my neighbour. “He’s not inte-rested in the next group either! He’s coming in this direction!”“It certainly seems to be us he’s interested in!” said the gaunt man. Eve-ryone fell silent again. The figure was coming closer
»Huh, ali jih je zadela
strela?« je začudeno ugibal
Jan, srednješolec iz naše
skupine, ter takoj zatem
že odkimal svoji razlagi.
»Videti je poškodovan.«
Nato se je sprožil cel plaz
komentarjev, pomešanih
z vse glasnejšimi vzkliki,
nakar so ponovno vsi
obmolknili.
»K nam gre!«
Vse je kazalo, da je pilot
ranjen. In vendar se je
nenavadno hitro približe-
val. Pa tudi dokaj narav-
nost proti naši skupini je
prihajal.
»Mimo planincev tam
zraven gre!« sem še jaz
glasno ugotovil.
»Hja, pa res!« mi je pritrdil
sosed. »In tudi za nasle-
dnjo skupino planincev se
ne meni! Proti nam gre!«
»Pa smo res mi zanimivi
zanj!« se je ponovno oglasil
možak koščenega obraza.
Potem so spet vsi utihnili.
Postava je prihajala bliže
9
and we could make out his unusual outfit with incre-asing clarity. It appeared to be some sort of flying suit: close-fitting and of an unusual cut, of a kind that none of us had ever seen. He seemed to be a man of about forty. Sud-denly he staggered. He had no visible wounds but he must have been injured. A few paces still separated him from the neighbou-ring group when he raised his hand in greeting and, without stopping, conti-nued past the group of tee-nagers and older climbers, and marched on with inc-reasingly frequent glances in my direction. This was becoming so evident that even the other climbers began looking at me. My only response was gro-wing astonishment and more frequent glances at the approaching figure. I shook my head in confu-sion, because the whole thing was really quite strange, and forced a
in vse razločneje je bilo
videti nenavadno oblačilo,
verjetno letalski kombine-
zon, oprijet, nenavadno
krojen, kot ga nihče še ni
videl dotlej. Možak pri šti-
ridesetih, nekaj takega je
kazal. Nenadoma se je opo-
tekel. Ran ni bilo videti,
toda moral je biti poško-
dovan. Še nekaj korakov
ga je ločilo od sosedne
skupine, ko je dvignil roko
v pozdrav in brez ustavlja-
nja nadaljeval pot mimo
fantov, deklet in starej-
ših planincev ter stopal
naprej z vse pogostejšimi
pogledi proti meni. To je
postalo tako očitno, da
so me začeli pogledovati
še planinci. Jaz pa sem se
odzival z vse večjim začu-
denjem ter vse pogostej-
šim oziranjem v prihaja-
jočega, zbegano odkima-
val z glavo, ker je bilo vse
skupaj precej nenavadno,
se prisiljeno nasmehnil in
»huuuh!« mi je ušlo iz ust,
ko sem se malo pazljiveje
zazrl v neznančev obraz in
10
smile. Then I looked more closely at the stranger’s face and into his eyes.
“Huh?” I gasped. A single moment was enough for us to exchange a series of rapid but apparently mea-ningful glances. I started in surprise. Or was it fear? The realisation that this stranger was rapidly rea-ding my thoughts made me shiver. I looked apprai-singly at the stranger once again, with a succession of rapid glances at his eyes, while at the same time trying not to meet his gaze, in an increasingly despe-rate attempt to understand the situation. The stranger was about my age and his appearance was friendly. He showed no sign of hostility as he walked up to me and said in a serious but soothing voice:“There is no time left. I know it is hard for you to trust a stranger. But you are linked to us in an important way. We
v oči. V hipu je med nama
zletelo nekaj hitrih, a zelo
zgovornih pogledov.
Narahlo sem se zdrznil.
Skoraj ustrašil. Spozna-
nje, da mi neznanec hitro
bere misli, je šlo skozme v
rahlem drgetu. Še enkrat
sem ocenjujoče premeril
tujca ter se mu nekajkrat
zapored zazrl v oči z izmi-
kanjem daljšemu srečanju
pogledov in hkrati v vse
močnejšem naprezanju
po hitrejšem dojetju polo-
žaja. Tujec je bil mojih let,
prijateljskega videza. Nič
sovražnega ni kazal, ko je
po pristopu k meni spre-
govoril v resnem, vendar
pomirjujočem tonu.
»Nič časa ni ostalo. Vem,
da vam je težko zaupati
neznancu. Toda z nami
ste v pomembni navezi.
Mi potrebujemo vas, vi pa
11
need you, and without our help you will not survive. Cooperation is our only choice. Besides, we are not so alien as one might too hastily assume. Your senses are already telling you that.”Something in the stranger’s voice inspired trust, but the circumstances were just too difficult for me to understand. “We have to move back quickly,” the stranger went on. “Just to the edge of the clearing there. After that, things will be clear enough. Yes, you must act quickly!”“Act? Act how? Why?”“Quickly! Because of the link between us.” His voice was determined, even commanding. “You know that you can trust me. You already know that. You can feel it clearly.”I looked at him doubt-fully. It was true: I did feel something like trust. I stood up slowly, still not really believing what was
brez naše pomoči ne boste
preživeli. Le sodelovanje
nam ostaja. Poleg tega
si nismo tako tuji, kot bi
lahko kdo prehitro sodil.
Iz čutnih vtisov to že lahko
razbereš.«
Prizvok v tujčevem glasu
je vzbujal zaupanje, toda
okoliščine so bile le malo
pretežke, da bi jih bilo
mogoče razumeti.
»Hitro se morate uma-
kniti,« je nadaljeval tujec.
»Le tja do roba jase. Potem
bo potek dogajanja sam po
sebi dovolj zgovoren. Da,
hitro morate ukrepati!«
»Ukrepati? Kako ukrepati?
Zakaj?«
»Hitro! Zaradi naše
naveze.«
Glas je bil odločen, celo
ukazujoč. »Veš, da mi lahko
zaupaš. Zdaj to že veš. Jasno
lahko čutiš.«
V dvomu sem ga pogle-
dal. Res sem občutil nekaj
podobnega.
Počasi sem vstal, še vedno
v nejevernem premišlja-
12
happening, but the pained, impatient expression on the stranger’s face was eloquent enough. “Right! To the edge of the clearing, then.” I raised my hand in salu-tation – or farewell – to my thoroughly surprised companions, and with a smile that was more of a grimace I set off down the hill, walking faster and faster until I was practi-cally running.The forest was only a few dozen metres away. Ten, twenty seconds at a run. Yes, just a short run. As my body started moving faster I felt the strange pressure of an instinctive impulse or a vague feeling of compulsion: a feeling that I had to do this even though I had consciou-sly made my own deci-sion that it was the right thing to do, despite all my doubts about whether it was sensible. This was what the rational part of my mind told me, but the
nju, vendar je bil boleč,
nestrpen izraz na obrazu
tujca zame že dovolj zgo-
voren. »Prav! Do roba jase
torej.«
Privzdignil sem roko v
pozdrav oziroma v slovo
svojim dodobra preseneče-
nim prijateljem in se z bolj
nakremženim nasmehom
spustil po hribu, stopajoč
z vse bolj hitrimi, potem
pa že kar bežečimi koraki.
Še nekaj deset metrov me
je ločilo od gozda, le deset,
dvajset sekund, če bi stekel.
Da, le kratek tek, v katerega
se je moje telo spustilo
ob nenadnem pritisku
nekega nagonskega vzgiba
ali nejasnega občutka pri-
sile, da moram to nujno
narediti, pa čeprav sem
zavestno sprejemal svoje
odločitve le kot nekaj, kar
je bolje, da naredim kljub
vsem dvomom o smiselno-
sti svojega početja. Razum-
sko seveda, kajti notranji
vzgib v meni je rasel z vso
odločnostjo, dokler me
13
internal impulse conti-nued to grow in force until the first pine branches bru-shed my face and two figu-res dressed like the other stranger were standing in front of me and gesturing at me to hurry up. I looked round. The wounded pilot was following me at a run. Actually he probably wasn’t a pilot at all. I half stopped, but two pairs of hands dragged me violently under the trees and pushed me forward. I thought of resisting but the two strangers weren’t even looking at me. They were staring past me. What at? I turned and looked back too. I couldn’t see anything. Or? There was a flash, and for a brief moment I caught a glimpse of a craft of some kind flying past. I looked questioningly at the two strangers. Their gestures, their expressions and a brief, urgent appeal all said the same thing: we had to get away from here, and quickly. They were
niso prve smrekove veje
ošvrknile po obrazu in sta
pred mano vstali postavi,
oblečeni podobno prej-
šnjemu neznancu, ter mi
kazali, naj pohitim. Ozrl
sem se. Tudi ranjeni pilot
je tekel za mano. Pa najbrž
sploh ni bil pilot.
Zastal sem sredi koraka, ko
sta me dva para rok silovito
povlekla pod smreke in
me potisnila naprej. Skoraj
sem se uprl, toda tujca me
sploh nista gledala. Zrla sta
prek mene. V kaj neki? Še
sam sem pogledal nazaj.
Toda videl nisem ničesar.
Ali pa? Neko bleščanje se
je kazalo in za bežen hip
sem ujel prelet nekega
plovila. Vprašujoče sem
se ozrl v neznanca. Stran,
čimprej stran so govorile
njune kretnje, njun obraz
in kratek nestrpen poziv.
Tudi onadva sta se bala.
To me je prepričalo. Stekli
smo skozi gozd, se spustili
14
afraid too. That was what convinced me. We ran through the forest, down a short slope and behind a rock in which there was a barely visible fissure. The stranger ahead of me ran towards the fissure and disappeared inside. I was just in time to catch a glimpse of his vanishing silhouette.“There, there!” The other stranger pointed towards the crack in the rock. I ste-pped into it and crawled past a rounded wall and on into a damp cave. We rea-ched a kind of open door-way and quickly stepped in. I found myself in a slightly larger cavity with coloured hieroglyphics on the walls.There were five more strangers here, and an atmosphere that was hard to define. A beautiful woman in the corner star-ted crying. She was really beautiful. Incredibly beau-tiful. I caught her glance: it was gentle, with pain
po kratki strmini in že
smo bili za skalo s komaj
opazno režo, v katero se
je usmeril neznanec pred
mano in vanjo izginil tako
hitro, da sem komaj še ujel
s pogledom njegov izginja-
joči obris.
»Tja, tja!« mi je tujec za njim
kazal z roko proti razpoki
v skali.
Stopil sem vanjo ter se
ob zaokroženi steni spla-
zil naprej skozi vlažno
jamo. Obstali smo pred
odprtimi vrati, bolje pred
nekakim vhodom, potem
pa hitro vstopili in obstali
sredi malo večje votline
z nekakšnimi barvnimi
hieroglifi na stenah.
V prostoru je bilo še pet
neznancev v nekam nena-
vadnem razpoloženju. Lepi
ženski v kotu je šlo na jok.
Res je bila lepa. Presneto
lepa. Ujel sem njen pogled,
blag, z bolečino v sebi, pa
15
tudi vprašujoč je bil. Je
kaj iskala v meni? Prijazno
sem se ji nasmehnil, ker
česa več nisem vedel nare-
diti. Sicer seveda bi kaj
storil, to je lahko razbrala z
mojega obraza. Neznanka
pa je pristopila k meni, se
oprijela moje roke in jo
narahlo stisnila, potem pa
stopila proti izhodu.
»Morda bi se morala še kaj
pogovoriti?« sem navrgel
z nakazanim nerazumeva-
njem položaja.
Prijazno, z občuteno priza-
detostjo, se mi je še enkrat
nasmehnila. »Seveda. Moje
ime je Honaja. Mi smo
Čutini iz civilizacije Čuti-
nov. Smo sicer na nekoliko
višji tehnološki ravni od
vas, vendar naj vas to nič
ne moti. Smo sosedje. Pri-
jateljski sosedje.«
Zasledil sem celo odtenek
veselja ob ponovnem sre-
čanju najinih pogledov,
nakar mi je dejala: »Prav
in it, but it was also que-stioning. What could she want from me? I gave her a friendly smile, because I didn’t know what else to do. I would have done something of course: she could read that in my face. The woman came over to me, took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze, and then walked towards the exit. “Perhaps we should talk a little?” I suggested. I wanted to try and under-stand the situation. She smiled at me again. She was friendly but clearly upset. “Of course. My name is Honaja. We are Sensins, of the civilisation of the Sensins. It is true that our level of technology is sli-ghtly higher than yours, but do not let that worry you. We are neighbours. Friendly neighbours.”I thought I caught a hint of happiness when our eyes met again. “We certainly owe you an
16
explanation,” she went on. “We realise this, and we also want to avoid misun-derstandings and unneces-sary disagreements. We have to help each other. You saw how the Acutins pursued our ship. With such persistence that we had to shoot them down. They do not know about you, but sooner or later they will find out that you are the one who is impor-tant to us at this moment. If they were to find out why, they would kill you immediately. Or rather: they already know why one particular Earthman is so important to us, at least approximately, but they cannot guess who that Earthman is, altho-ugh they will have spot-ted you escaping with us. Naturally we have made it harder for them to track us down by coming down to Earth more frequently and by constantly transporting individual Earthmen to our space station and back.
gotovo vam dolgujemo
pojasnilo. Tega se zave-
damo in tudi nesporazu-
mov z nepotrebnimi razha-
janji si ne želimo. Pomagati
si moramo. Saj ste videli,
kako so Ostrini zasledovali
naše letalo. S tako vztraj-
nostjo, da smo ga morali
sestreliti. Sicer ne vedo
za vas, toda prej ali slej bi
ugotovili, da ste vi tisti, ki
je v tem trenutku pomem-
ben za nas. Ko bi ugotovili
še razlog, bi vas takoj ubili.
Oziroma, bolje rečeno,
razlog posebne pomemb-
nosti nekega Zemljana so
že ugotovili, vsaj pribli-
žno, za katerega Zemljana
gre, pa ne morejo uganiti,
čeprav so že zaznali vaš
beg z nami. Seveda smo
jim otežili zasledovanje z
bolj pogostim spuščanjem
med Zemljane in s stalnim
prevažanjem posameznih
Zemljanov na vesoljsko
postajo ter potem nazaj, kar
opravimo dovolj obzirno,
tako da Zemljan vso vožnjo
prespi ne glede, ali je pot
17
opravljena ponoči ali čez
dan. Toda splet okoliščin
je vaš pomen še povečal.
Prav lahko bi Ostrini ubi-
jali zgolj na podlagi suma.«
Druga za drugo so mi
zastajale besede na jeziku.
Toliko pomembnih infor-
macij s težko sprejemljivo
vsebino sem dobil v tako
kratkem času, in kar je
bilo še huje, z nič kaj zane-
marljivo grožnjo. Vprašu-
joče sem se zazrl v lepo
neznanko.
»Pomen naj bi se mi še
povečal, pravite?
V kakšnem smislu? Prav-
zaprav še vedno ne razu-
mem, za kaj gre.«
Lepa neznanka se mi
je še bolj prijateljsko
nasmehnila: Dolgujemo
vam pojasnila, kot sem
dejala, seveda. Vse vam
We can do this in such a way that the Earthman sleeps the whole journey regardless of whether it is day or night. But a com-bination of circumstances have further increased your importance. And a mere suspicion could be enough to make the Acu-tins kill you.”I tried to speak but no words would come out. I had received so much important information in such a short time, all of it difficult to digest. What was worse, there also seemed to be a far from insignificant threat. I looked questioningly at the beautiful stranger. “My importance has inc-reased, you say? In what sense? Actually, I still don’t understand what this is all about.”Her smile grew even fri-endlier: “As I said, we owe you an explanation, naturally. We will explain everything to you. But since we cannot afford
18
misunderstandings, we are compelled to establish trust on the basis of reci-procal knowledge. That should not be too difficult. My feelings tell me that it will not be hard for you to accustom yourself to our environment. But now is not the time for a long discussion. We have to set off for Station ZEN1736 as soon as possible.”’ “Yes, the transport is ready,” said a stranger next to her, pointing towards the corridor. “This will be a pleasant and safe flight. At our level of technology, seri-ous technical failures no longer exist. You will simply have a little rest, a little sleep, and we will be there.”
bomo pojasnili. Toda
ker si nesporazumov ne
moremo privoščiti, smo
prisiljeni vzpostaviti zau-
panje na osnovi medseboj-
nega poznavanja. Pa to ne
bo tako velika ovira. Vsaj
po občutku sodeč, se vam
ne bo težko vživeti v naše
okolje. Toda zdaj ni časa
za daljši pogovor. Čim prej
moramo na našo postajo
ZEN1736.«
»Da, vozilo je že pripra-
vljeno,« je z roko, izte-
gnjeno v smeri hodnika,
dejal neznanec tik ob njej.
»To bo prijeten in tudi
varen let, saj na naši tehno-
loški ravni ni več usodnih
tehničnih okvar. Le malo
se boste spočili, malo
zadremali, pa bomo tam.«
19
Chapter II
The journey to the space station was over very quic-kly. In fact I had hardly settled into my reclining seat when I was woken by a light touch on my shoul-der. “Oh, was I asleep?” I asked in surprise. “We all slept for most of the flight,” came the reas-suring answer.I looked at the seats around me. The other Sensins were waking up or were already on their feet. So they really had slept thro-ughout the journey. “Yes, we slept too!”“And how long did we sleep?” I asked with an inc-redulous smile. I seemed to be having difficulty grasping even apparently simple facts. “You certa-inly have all this organised in a very practical way.”“Our transports are com-
II. poglavje
Potovanje na vesoljsko
ladjo mi je izjemno hitro
minilo. Pravzaprav sem
se komaj dobro namestil
v ležalni sedež, ko me je
predramil rahel dotik na
rami.
»Huh, kaj sem zaspal?« sem
vprašal začudeno ter takoj
dobil pomirjujoč odgovor.
»Vsi smo prespali večino
leta.«
Ozrl sem se naokrog po
sosednjih ležalnikih, v
katerih so se Čutini prebu-
jali ali pa so že vstajali. Vsaj
videti je bilo tako. Torej so
res prespali vso pot. »Da,
prespali!«
»In kako dolgo smo spali?«
sem vprašal med nejever-
nim nasmihanjem ozi-
roma bolj v smislu naka-
zanega težjega dojemanja
sicer preprostih dejstev.
»Vsekakor imate to zelo
praktično urejeno.«
20
fortable, aren’t they?” another Sensin replied. “At our level of techno-logy, transport is a remar-kably efficient operation. We also know how to take care of our passen-gers’ comfort, wouldn’t you agree? The asteroid station we are heading for isn’t actually very far away. We use it as a base during our trips to Earth. For your friends the time now is 16 minutes past 11 in the morning.” I thought about this for a moment and nodded non-committally. “Intere-sting.”“This will only be a transit station for you, since as far as I know you will soon be continuing your journey. At least according to my information. The crew for your flight is already assembled at the farewell briefing. Shall we join them? They are probably waiting for us.”
»Udobna plovila imamo,
kajne?« je na moj odziv
odvrnil neznanec. »Promet
je na naši stopnji kar dobro
urejen in tudi za dobro
počutje potnikov znamo
poskrbeti, kajne? Sicer pa
ta postajni asteroid, na
katerega smo namenjeni,
niti ni daleč, saj je name-
njen našim postankom
med poleti na Zemljo. Za
vaše prijatelje je sedaj ura
11 in 16 minut.«
Po kratkem premisleku
sem prikimal z nič kaj
določenim zaključkom.
»Zanimivo.«
»Sicer pa bo tudi za vas to
le prehodna postaja, ker
kolikor vem, boste kmalu
nadaljevali naprej. Vsaj po
meni znanih informaci-
jah. Tudi posadka za vaš
let je že zbrana na poslovil-
nem srečanju. Najbolje, da
gremo kar tja, saj nas verje-
tno že pričakujejo.«
21
* * *
The large high-ceilinged hall reminded me more than anything else of a tastefully decorated café. That was the impression I got as I walked in. So this is where we were suppo-sed to be “already assem-bled” or something like that. The relaxed atmo-sphere offered no hint of any impending risky mis-sion. It looked as though the official part of the bri-efing – speeches and that sort of thing – was already over. “Welcome!” said a female Sensin dressed in figu-re-hugging overalls with accessories of the kind usually found on women’s clothes. I couldn’t decide whether this was a desi-gner outfit based on uni-form overalls or a pair of
* * *
Velika dvorana z visokim
stropom je še najbolj spo-
minjala na lepo urejeno
kavarno. Vsaj tak vtis sem
dobil ob vstopu vanjo. Tu
naj bi torej bili »že zbrani«
ali nekaj takega. Spro-
ščeno vzdušje pa ni kazalo
na kakšno bolj tvegano
odpravo. Tudi uradni del
srečanja z nagovori je bil
verjetno že mimo.
»Dobrodošli!« me je poz-
dravila Čutina, oblečena
v oprijet kombinezon z
nekaterimi dodatki, zna-
čilnimi za ženska oblačila.
Bolj težko mi je bilo opre-
deliti, ali je ta obleka izde-
lana na podlagi uniformi-
ranega kombinezona ali
22
overalls with some of the characteristics of a desi-gner outfit. It certainly suited her. I looked around at the other Sensins. Most of them were dressed in similar fashion. This was probably their uniform. “The crew of your expedi-tion are all present and cor-rect. Let’s go over to them: I’m sure you’re anxious to meet them.”“Of course,” I replied, as though this were obvious, and then stopped, sligh-tly surprised at the spon-taneity of my response. Hmm, was it because of the friendly reception or – my doubt made me smile – could it be a sense of belonging? When we rea-ched the group this feeling grew even stronger. They all greeted me in a very friendly manner. They were pleased to see me. Some of them even called out to try and attract my attention, and I returned their greetings with a
pa je to kombinezon z
ohranjenimi značilnostmi
obleke. Zelo lepo ji je pri-
stajal. Ozrl sem se še po
okoliških Čutinih. Večina
v dvorani je bila oblečena
podobno. Verjetno je bila
to njihova uniforma.
»Posadka vaše odprave je
že v celoti zbrana. Lahko
stopiva do njih, saj jih ver-
jetno želite spoznati.«
»Seveda,« sem odvrnil
z nakazano samoumev-
nostjo te moje želje ter
potem zastal v rahlem
presenečenju nad svojim
spontanim odzivanjem.
Hja, verjetno zaradi prija-
teljskega sprejema ali pa
morda . . . nasmehniti sem
se moral v dvomu. . . pa
menda ne zaradi občutka
pripadnosti?! Po prihodu
v skupino pa se mi je ta
občutek še vse bolj krepil.
Prav prijateljsko so me vsi
pozdravljali. Razveselili so
se me. Nekateri so me celo
s polglasnimi vzkliki opo-
zorili nase, tako da sem
23
smile. One of them tapped me on the shoulder: “Now we’re all here, right?” I nodded and laughed, more out of politeness, since any other reply would have been out of place at that moment, and anyway, what else was I supposed to do? I looked around again. Most of them were already engros-sed in their own conversa-tions. My arrival had only been a temporary inter-ruption. The Sensin next to me went on:“We came for you just in time, didn’t we?”“Why?” “If we hadn’t pulled out in time it would have been all over for you.”“Why?” “Ha. Why!” The Sensin frowned, as though con-sidering what words to choose, and then stared at me: “We’ve got quite a lot in common, haven’t we?” And then, with a new gleam in his eyes, he
jim tudi sam odzdravljal
z nasmehom. Eden me je
potrepljal po rami: »Zdaj
smo kompletni, kajne?«
V smehu sem mu prikimal,
sicer bolj iz vljudnosti,
ker bi bil vsak drugačen
odgovor v tistem trenutku
nasproten pričakovanju,
pa tudi - kaj drugega naj
bi sicer naredil? Ponovno
sem se ozrl naokrog, a je
bila večina že povsem v
svojih pogovorih, ki jih je
moj prihod očitno le malo
zmotil. Čutin ob meni pa
je nadaljeval.
»Še pravi čas smo prišli po
vas, kajne?«
»Zakaj?«
»Če se ne bi pravočasno
umaknili bi bilo po vas.«
»Zakaj?«
»Hja. Zakaj!« Čutin je nagr-
bančil čelo v premišljanju,
katere besedo naj izbere,
ter se zazrl vame. »Precej
skupnega imamo, kajne?«
Nato pa je še s poživljenim
leskom v očeh dodal: »Saj
24
added: “We don’t seem particularly alien to you, do we?” “No, no,” I replied hurrie-dly. “No, not at all, altho-ugh…”“Well, yes, of course, the different level of tech-nology is something that separates us, but don’t worry: it won’t be difficult for you to adapt.”“Ah yes, the different level of technology. I’d already noticed that. And what level are our opponents at?”“Actually we’re at a simi-lar level. We probably have a slight advantage. More important than that is the current state of our mutual relations. That is a slightly more difficult situation.”I nodded slightly. “What I saw certainly looked like a more difficult situation. At least as far as I could tell. And where do I come in?”The Sensin looked at me keenly. There was some-thing else he wanted to tell me, but he couldn’t
vam ne delujemo preti-
rano tuje, mar ne?«
»Ne, ne,« sem odvrnil v
opravičujoči se naglici.
»Ne, nikakor ne, čeprav. . .«
»No, ja, seveda, različna
tehnološka raven nas
ločuje, toda nič ne skrbite,
ne bo se vam težko prila-
goditi.«
»Hja, različna tehnološka
raven, ja. To sem že opazil.
Na kakšni tehnološki ravni
pa je nasprotna stran?«
»Pravzaprav smo na pri-
merljivi ravni, verjetno
smo mi celo v prednosti.
Bolj pomembno je trenu-
tno stanje naših medse-
bojnih odnosov. Tu so pa
sedaj prisotni malo bolj
trdi pogovori.«
Narahlo sem prikimal.
»Tisto, kar sem videl, je že
bil res bolj trd pogovor. Če
sem prav razumel, seveda.
In kaj lahko pri tem storim
jaz?«
Čutin me je motril s pre-
dirnim pogledom, hotel je
sicer še nekaj povedati, pa
25
find the words. At least that was my impression. I got the feeling that he wanted to explain some-thing else to me. But what could it be, to make an individual from such a highly developed civili-sation hesitate like this? “Yes, a highly developed civilisation,” I muttered to myself. These words and their meaning conjured up a rapid succession of images as I thought about all I had seen and experi-enced since the arrival of that stranger. I still didn’t know anything about them. They were certainly a superior civilisation, with an extremely highly deve-loped intelligence. I could sense that. And yet their behaviour towards me… I tried to marshal my tho-ughts. Then it struck me: they showed me the same respect that they would show to an equal. I sensed an atmosphere of common purpose, of being toge-ther in the formation of a
so mu besede zastale. Vsaj
tako je bilo videti. Obču-
tek sem pač dobil, da mi
je želel še nekaj razložiti.
Toda kaj bi lahko bilo to,
kar spravlja posameznika
iz tako visoko razvite civi-
lizacije v obotavljanje?
»Hja, ‘visoko razvite’ civi-
lizacije,« mi je v mrmranju
prišlo iz grla. Besede z nji-
hovim pomenom so se mi
pojavile v bežnih slikah
vsega, kar sem srečeval in
doživel po tistem nenava-
dnem prihodu tujca. Prav-
zaprav še nič nisem vedel
o njih. Vsekakor so superi-
orna civilizacija, z izjemno
razumsko razvitostjo, ki
sem jo lahko občutil. Pa
vendar so se obnašali do
mene - zastal sem v preletu
misli - spoštljivo kot do
sebi enakega.
Čutil sem vzdušje skupne
pripadnosti, povezanosti
ob nastajanju skupnega
naklepa. Premišljevanje
26
common plan. I paused. That thought. Where had it come from? Why? What had prompted it? It had appeared spontaneously, as if from nowhere. Or… Were my senses playing tricks on me? All the gestures of these stran-gers, comments, hints, the way they addressed me, the way they behaved towards me. They acted in a friendly way, as though I belonged to them, as though I was theirs.No, I told myself. I couldn’t trust my power of perception to that extent. I knew too little about them to think any more clearly, or to arrive at any sort of conclusion. “I hope you are not uncom-fortable among us,” said the Sensin in a polite and reserved voice.“No, absolutely not,” I replied, with a grateful expression. They had received me in a friendly manner, that was true. And the hospitality these
mi je ob tem zastalo. Ta
misel. Od kod se mi je
rodila? Zakaj? Na osnovi
česa se je pojavila? Spon-
tano, sama od sebe, utrgala
se mi je v trenutku kot od
nikoder. Ali pa..? Razen če
me občutki niso varali? Vsi
gibi teh tujcev, pripombe,
namigi med njimi, kako so
me nagovarjali, se obna-
šali do mene. Delovali so
prijateljsko, kot da jim pri-
padam, da sem njihov.
Ne, sem si dejal. Svojemu
čutnemu zaznavanju že
nisem mogel zaupati do te
mere. Premalo sem vedel o
njih za bolj določno razmi-
šljanje ali celo sklepanje.
»Upam, da vam med nami
ni neugodno,« je z uglajeno
zadržanostjo spregovoril
tujec.
»Ne, nikakor ne,« sem odvr-
nil z izrazom hvaležnosti.
Lepo so me sprejeli, to je
bilo res, in gostoljubnost
neznancev mi je bila pri-
jetna, pa še pomembna je
bila.
27
strangers showed me was pleasant. And that was important.The Sensin smiled. “Good. I am pleased that you are settling in well.”I returned his smile. “I don’t know much about you,” I said, unable to con-ceal my curiosity, as my brain made an effort to penetrate this unknown world, with all my conjec-tures and questions. “Naturally it will take you a little time to get accusto-med to us. Even on Earth you have problems when you move to a new town, or to another country.”I nodded. That was true, of course. But in any case I had to make a start, and my curiosity was already beginning to get the better of me. What I didn’t know, though, was where to start, although perhaps that wasn’t the most important thing. The Sensin conti-nued to gaze in front of him for a few moments, in a sort of meditative
Čutin se je nasmehnil.
»Lepo. To mi je v zadovolj-
stvo. Prav vesel sem vašega
dobrega vživljanja v našo
družbo.«
Vrnil sem mu nasmeh.
»Bolj malo vem o vas,« sem
odvrnil z nakazano rado-
vednostjo in se z mislimi
poskušal pomakniti v
meni neznan svet, skupaj
z vsemi svojimi ugibanji in
vprašanji.
»Nekaj časa je seveda
potrebno, preden se posa-
meznik vživi. Še na Zemlji
imate težave ob selitvi v
malo bolj oddaljen kraj ali
državo.«
Prikimal sem. To je bilo
seveda res. Začeti pa je
bilo vseeno treba in tudi
radovednost me je že pre-
vzemala do vznemirjenja.
Nisem pa vedel, kje naj
začnem, čeprav to morda
niti ni bilo najpomemb-
neje, najbrž. Čutin je še
nekaj trenutkov zrl predse
z neko zamišljeno odso-
28
absence, and then turned back to me.“The problem is the lack of time. We have to act immediately. We have no other choice.”I nodded intelligently. Of course. From what I had seen it wasn’t dif-ficult to understand the need for rapid action. But I was unable to arrive at any more tangible con-clusion from all of this. I still hadn’t been offered an explanation – even an approximate one – of this whole business, and I was struggling to form even a basic picture of their civi-lisation.“Actually, we are on the brink of war!” the Sensin continued. I nodded. It had to be something like that. “To put it another way,” he went on, “hostilities have commenced, and skirmis-hes, and everything except a full-scale engagement. But the marshalling of forces in order to secure an advantage has already
tnostjo, potem pa se je le
spet obrnil k meni.
»Problem je v pomanj-
kanju časa. Ukrepati pa
moramo takoj. Druge
izbire nimamo.«
Razumevajoče sem priki-
mal. Seveda, iz tega, kar
sem videl, ni bilo težko
sklepati o nujnosti hitrega
ukrepanja. Toda iz vsega
skupaj nisem mogel nare-
diti nobenega bolj oprije-
mljivega zaključka. Nisem
imel ne približne razlage
o vsem tem dogajanju ne
osnovne predstave o nji-
hovi civilizaciji.
»Pravzaprav smo na pragu
vojne!« je nadaljeval Čutin.
Prikimal sem. Nekaj
takega se je res moralo
dogajati. »Oziroma, bolje
rečeno, začele so se sovra-
žnosti, tudi spopadi, prav-
zaprav vse, le spopad z
vsemi silami je še pred
vrati. Toda razvrščanje
sil z namenom zagotoviti
29
begun.” The Sensin gave me a penetrating look. “We had the advantage. A considerable advantage. But the death of our friend means that we have almost lost it. I say ‘almost’ beca-use we can still get it back. There is only one detail left to resolve.”I suddenly realised that this problem of theirs probably contained the reason why they had come looking for me. But what could I do that they were unable to do themselves?“We are going to need your cooperation,” said the Sensin calmly after a slight pause, and smiled respectfully. “Ah,” I said, with a slight nod, “of course.” Then, after a brief reflection, I added: “It is probably also in my interest to join you, isn’t it?Something in the stranger’s voice had awa-kened doubts in me. Indi-stinct doubts and vague notions. I sensed a kind of
prednosti se je že začelo.«
Čutin se je prenikavo zazrl
vame. »Mi smo že imeli
prednost, in to znatno. S
smrtjo našega prijatelja pa
smo jo že skoraj izgubili.
Skoraj, pravim zato, ker si
jo še zmeraj lahko povr-
nemo. Le en podrobnost
nam ostaja odprta.
Utrnil se mi je preblisk,
da bo v tem njihovem pro-
blemu najbrž tisto, zaradi
česar so me poiskali. Toda
kaj bi lahko naredil jaz,
česar ne morejo sami?
»Vaše sodelovanje bomo
potrebovali,« je po krat-
kem premoru dejal tujec z
mirnim glasom in se spo-
štljivo nasmehnil.
»Aja,« sem dejal z rahlim
namigom glave, »seveda«.
Nato pa po kratkem pre-
misleku dodal: »Najbrž je
tudi zame smiselno, da se
vam pridružim?«
Nekaj v tujčevem glasu
mi je vzbujalo rahle pomi-
sleke. Nedoločene, z neja-
snimi predstavami. Obču-
til sem neko nasprotje in
30
conflict and incongruity in the vague contours of my perception. But nothing more definite, not yet.The stranger was still loo-king at me expectantly. He was probably waiting for an answer. For me to agree to cooperate. And yet it was obvious that I would cooperate. Why wouldn’t I? There was no reason not to. I thought about it. Nothing pointed to any other course of action. “I don’t know what I can do. If I can help, I will do everything in my power,” I said with a smile. “But I can’t imagine what I could possibly do better than you can do yoursel-ves.” The idea that I could do anything important for them was more than I could understand. “Naturally. I understand your doubts,” continued the Sensin calmly. “But it is not important. You will receive explanations in your group.”“All right,” I agreed. “So
neujemanje v nejasnih
obrisih zaznavanja. Toda
nič kaj bolj določenega mi
ni prišlo na misel.
Neznanec me je še vedno
motril v pričakovanju.
Najbrž odgovora. Moje
privolitve na sodelovanje.
Pa saj je vendar jasno, da
bom sodeloval. Zakaj ne
bi? Nobenega razloga ni za
to. Zamislil sem se. Nič ni
kazalo na kaj drugega.
»Ne vem, kaj lahko storim.
Če lahko pomagam,
bom že naredil po svojih
močeh. Niti približno pa
si ne predstavljam kaj bi
lahko naredil bolje od vas.«
Nejeverno sem se nasmeh-
nil. Da bi lahko jaz naredil
kaj pomembnega zanje,
je pa že presegalo moje
umske zmogljivosti.
»Seveda. Vaš dvom mi
je razumljiv. Toda to ni
pomembno. V vaši skupini
boste sproti dobivali poja-
snila,« je mirno nadaljeval
Čutin
»Lepo,« sem se strinjal,
31
this expedition will pro-bably be a war, is that cor-rect?”“Well, you could say so. Perhaps you are familiar with the concept of spe-cial forces? It is not quite the same. It involves wea-pons that are very diffe-rent from yours on Earth. The purpose is of course the same, and the indivi-duals are also trained in this sense. They are spe-cialists, yes.” For the first time the Sensin smiled with something like ani-mation. “You too will be a specialist. One of the more important ones. Do not be afraid. Everything has been carefully planned for this mission. You will not fail.”These last words were pro-nounced with something like enthusiasm. And yet his comment about a care-fully planned action by special forces nevertheless contained some uncerta-inty. I couldn’t help thin-king about the possible
»torej bo to ekspedicija,
verjetno vojna, kajne?«
»No, lahko bi tako rekli.
Vam so bolj znane enote
specialcev. Ni povsem isto.
Gre za orožja, precej dru-
gačna od vaših na Zemlji.
Namen je seveda isti in
tudi posamezniki so uspo-
sobljeni v tem smislu. So
specialisti, da.« Tujec se je
prvič malo bolj živahno
nasmehnil. »Tudi vi boste
specialist. Eden pomemb-
nejših. Naj vas ne bo strah.
Vse je dovolj dobro premi-
šljeno za ta podvig. Ne bo
se vam ponesrečil.«
Slednje je bilo že izrečeno
z nekaj navdušenja. Pri-
pomba glede dobro pre-
mišljene akcije specialcev
pa je vseeno nosila v sebi
nekaj negotovosti. Vsaj
meni so misli zastale v pre-
mišljanju o možnih tvega-
32
risks, because of course I still knew far too little about the whole business. Too little to arrive at any more definite conclusions.“According to our estima-tes the risk is quite accep-table. But it does depend on us arriving in time. Any delay, and it could become dangerous. Too dangerous, in fact. But in view of the circumstances, this risk is nevertheless vital. The unit must get under way at once. During the journey we will tell you everything about our civilisation, or at least as much as you wish to know.”“Okay,” I agreed. Eviden-tly there was no time to spare. I was eager to hear more about this civilisation of theirs, but in view of the situation, if matters stood as they said they did, we would need to hurry. Our enemies would not be idle either. That was the way of these things, I told myself. Enemies, yes, enemies…
njih, saj sem premalo vedel
o vsem skupaj. Premalo za
bolj določene sklepe.
»Tveganje je po naših
ocenah dokaj spreje-
mljivo. Pogojeno pa je s
pravočasnim prihodom.
Zato ne smemo izgubljati
časa, sicer lahko postane
nevarno. Pravzaprav pre-
nevarno. Glede na oko-
liščine pa je to tveganje
vseeno nujno. Enota mora
takoj na pot. Med potjo pa
vas bomo seznanili z našo
civilizacijo v celoti ozi-
roma kolikor vas bo zani-
malo.«
»Prav,« sem se strinjal.
Očitno se je res mudilo.
Nekaj več informacij o
tej civilizaciji bi že rad še
slišal. Glede na položaj, če
je zadeva taka, kot pravijo,
bo pač treba pohiteti. Tudi
nasprotniki ne mirujejo.
Hja, tako je vedno. Naspro-
tniki, da, nasprotniki...
33
But who were these ene-mies?The Sensin shook my hand in a friendly manner and bade me farewell.
Toda kdo hudiča so ti nji-
hovi nasprotniki?
Tujec mi je prijateljsko sti-
snil roko in se poslovil.
34
Chapter III
The pain in my chest and shoulders was accom-panied by a tremendous downwards pressure. And then an upwards pressure. Waking up suddenly, at first I couldn’t under-stand this buffeting. I gri-pped the armrests tightly and noticed with confu-sion how the straps were digging into my body. The next moment I realised that without these straps I would have been thrown out of my seat. Memories of recent events flashed through my mind, and with them a dawning com-prehension of the position. From these fragmented thoughts, I slowly formed a clearer picture of the current situation.There was a Sensin next to me. In the next seat. Bene-sens – that was his name –
III. poglavje
Bolečino na oprsju in
ramenih je spremljal
strahovit potisk navzdol,
potem navzgor, pa še pre-
metavanje, ki mu ob nena-
dnem prebujenju nisem
našel razlage, le s prsti sem
se krčevito oprijel naslo-
njala za roke in z zbeganim
pogledom zaznal, kako se
mi jermen zajeda v telo, pa
me je že v naslednjem tre-
nutku prešinilo, da bi me
brez teh jermenov odneslo
s sedeža. Skozi zavest mi
je hitro prešlo nekaj spo-
minskih vtisov iz zadnjih
dogodkov, skupaj z doje-
manjem danega položaja,
in iz razpršenih misli so
mi prišle v ospredje vse
bolj jasne in razumljive
podrobnosti trenutnih
okoliščin.
Čutin ob meni. Na sose-
dnjem sedežu. Dobročut,
tako se mi je predstavil,
35
se je oziral k meni. Na nji-
hovi ladji sem bil, v naši
misiji, z vsemi specialci.
Tako miren let je bil sprva,
potem pa nenadoma silo-
vito obračanje med pole-
tom.
»Ne sodite po tem, kar
se nam trenutno dogaja,«
mi je ohrabrujoče navr-
gel moj sosed. »To ni tako
pomembno, kot je morda
videti. Ni nevarnosti.«
Pogled skozi prednje dvaj-
setmetrsko okno mi je otr-
pnil na bližajočih se leta-
lih, s krivuljami njihovih
letov usmerjenimi narav-
nost v nas, v veliko okno
našega poveljniškega pro-
stora. Krčevito sem je opri-
jel naslonjala, hip zatem
pa nas je strahovit sunek
navzdol in vstran pognal
v hitro spiralno obračanje.
Toda spet je šlo očitno le
za las. Letala so zletela tako
blizu nas, da bi se morala
podrgniti ob našo ladjo,
pa se očitno niso, in tedaj
je za stotinko sekunde eno
was watching me. I was on their ship, on our mission, with the members of the special forces. The flight had started off so calmly, and now all of a sudden we were gyrating wildly.“Don’t judge from what is happening to us at this moment,” said my neigh-bour encouragingly. “This is not as important as it might seem. There is no danger.”The window in front of me was twenty metres wide. I stared through it, my eyes following the curving tra-jectories of the approaching ships. They were heading straight for us: straight at the enormous window of the command bridge. I gripped my armrests even tighter. A moment later a tremendous jolt hurled us off to one side in a rapid spiralling turn. Another narrow escape, apparen-tly. The craft flew so close to us as to practically skim the surface of our ship, but evidently there was no
36
od njih prekrilo skoraj vse
okno poveljniškega pro-
stora ter izginilo.
»Kako lahko letijo tako
blizu?« sem vprašal.
»Kar zadeva tehniko, smo
precej izenačeni. To ni nič
posebnega.«
»Mar še vedno vztrajate na
domnevi o nepomembno-
sti trenutnega dogajanja?«
»No, morali bi poznati
celotno dogajanje. Lahko
rečem le, da je po vsej ver-
jetnosti nepomembno.«
Nejeverno sem ga gledal.
»Po vsej verjetnosti, pra-
vite. Torej je določen dvom
vseeno prisoten.«
»Dvom že, vendar ne o teh-
niki.«
»Kako mislite - ne o teh-
niki?«
»Tako, tehnično vzeto, je
vse dovolj dobro preraču-
nano in dognano, da do
trka ne more priti, dokler
ta ni načrtovan.«
contact. Then for a hun-dredth of a second one of them filled almost the entire window of the flight deck and disappeared.“How can they fly so close?” I asked.“As far as technology is concerned, we are fairly evenly matched. This is nothing special.”“Surely you’re not still saying that this is unim-portant?”“Well, we would need to know the whole picture. All I can say is that in all probability it is unimpor-tant.”I looked at him incredulo-usly. “In all probability you say? So there is a certain amount of doubt, then.”“Doubt, yes, but not about the technical side.”“What do you mean, not about the technical side?”“Just that. Technically speaking, everything is so accurately calculated and calibrated that a collision cannot occur unless it is planned.”
37
To je bilo lepo slišati. Še
nasmehniti sem se moral.
»Recimo, da razumem. Na
Zemlji sicer nimamo vaše
tehnologije, velja pa pra-
vilo, da na nasprotnikova
letala ne streljaš brez pove-
lja za sestrelitev ali krši-
tve veljavnih pravil. Vsaj v
času pred začetkom vojne.
Toda ali ste prepričani, da
ne kršite mirnodobnih
pravil, če še niste v vojni,
kot pravite? Saj ste rekli,
da smo na nikogaršnjem
področju.«
»Tega ne vem. Po moji
oceni je tako. Res pa so
se pravila obnašanja v
zadnjem času precej spre-
menila, in to vnaša nego-
tovost.«
Tudi o njihovih vojaških
izkušnjah nisem vedel
ničesar. »Kdaj pa ste prav-
zaprav bili zadnjikrat v
vojni?« sem vprašal.
»Mi?«
V potrdilo sem molče
gledal. Nekam veliko časa
That was good to hear. I forced a smile. “Let’s assume that I under-stand. We may not have your technology on Earth, but there is a rule that you don’t fire at the enemy’s aircraft until you are orde-red to shoot them down or unless they violate the rules of engagement. At least in the period before the start of a war. But are you sure that you are not violating peacetime rules if, as you say, you are not yet at war? You did say that we were in no-man’s-land.”“I’m not sure. According to my estimate that is the case. But it is true that the rules have changed a lot recently, and that introdu-ces uncertainty.” Their military experience was something else I knew nothing about. “When were you actually last at war?” I asked.“Us?”I nodded and watched him without saying anything.
38
This Sensin seemed to need a lot of time to answer simple questions.“The answer is not so simple. What war is, that is something we know well. The problem is that we have never related this concept to our existence.”“But then you cannot know what a war is!”“Oh yes we can.” Benesens’s eyes lit up. “There are ways to know war even if you have never fully taken part in one yourself. We know this concept a lot better than you can imagine. But all of our understanding, all of our life has proceeded in the total conviction that at our level of development war is something utterly absurd, that it is some-thing that will certainly never happen to us. Most of us are still convinced of this. On the other hand logistical analysis suggest quite the opposite. That war is in fact inevitable. Some variants point to
je potreboval ta Čutin za
odgovore na preprosta
vprašanja.
»Odgovor ni tako preprost.
Kaj je vojna, nam je dobro
znano. Problem je bolj v
tem, da tega pojma nismo
nikoli povezovali z našo
eksistenco.«
»Potem ne morete vedeti,
kaj je vojna!«
»O, ja, lahko.« V Dobroču-
tovem pogledu so zaple-
sale živahne iskrice. »So
tudi poti, da spoznaš
vojno, čeprav se je nisi
sam povsem udeležil. Ta
pojem poznamo dosti
bolje kot si vi to lahko
predstavljate. Toda vse
naše razumevanje, vse
naše življenje je potekalo
v popolnem prepričanju,
da je vojna na naši stopnji
razvoja popoln absurd, da
je to nekaj, kar se pri nas
prav gotovo ne bo nikoli
zgodilo, o tem je večina
med nami še vedno pre-
pričanja. Po drugi strani
pa nam logistične analize
kažejo prav nasprotno.
39
an explosive escalation of hostilities and immediate conflict. However, even I cannot fully accept this.”“Who actually are your enemies? Did they appear suddenly?”“No, no. We have known each other a long time. We are different, but not so different that we need to go to war over it. This escalation of tension really is introducing uncertainty to this no-man’s-land. It is already quite disagree-able, isn’t it? One is filled with uncomfortable sensa-tions.”“I see.” A thought struck me. “What in your opi-nion is more likely: that you will attack first or that they will?”“There is no sure answer to that question. They have a greater propensity for war. It is possible that it will be them, although in all probability we are still at a slightly higher level of technology.”
Da je vojna namreč neiz-
bežna. Obstajajo različice
eksplozivne razširitve
sovražnosti in takojšnjega
spopada. Vendar pa
tega tudi sam ne morem
povsem sprejeti.«
»Toda kdo so pravzaprav
vaši sovražniki? Mar so
prišli kar nenadoma?«
»Ne, ne. Že dolgo se
poznamo. Smo sicer raz-
lični, ne pa tako močno,
da bi se morali zaradi tega
vojskovati. To stopnjevanje
napetosti res vnaša nego-
tovost na tukajšnje niko-
garšnje področju. Že kar
neprijetno, kajne? Nelago-
dni občutki prevevajo člo-
veka.«
»Torej tako.« Nenadoma se
mi je prikradel pomislek.
»Kaj je po vašem mnenju
verjetneje: da boste prvi
napadli vi ali oni?«
»Ni zanesljivega odgovora.
Njim je bolj do vojne.
Možno je, da bodo oni,
čeprav smo mi po vsej ver-
jetnosti še vedno na višji
tehnološki ravni od njih.«
40
“Can you predict where they will attack?”“That is clear.” Benesens smiled at me. “In the vici-nity of the Earth.”“The Earth?” “Yes. So you see, you do have a good reason to coo-perate with us.”“What are you saying? Why should they attack in the vicinity of the Earth?”“They have a reason, yes. The destruction of the Earthmen would weaken us.”“Is that the reason? That is hard for me to understand. What advantage would that give them?”“I don’t know. But judging from how they are acting, they are convinced of it. Your problem is above all your insignificance. At least with regard to the significance they attribute to their actions.”At that moment we heard a brief message giving the all clear. Lively conversa-tions immediately started up all around us and there
»Predvidevate morda, kje
bodo napadli?«
»To je jasno.« Dobročut se
mi je nasmehnil. »V obmo-
čju Zemlje.«
»Zemlje?«
»Da. Dovolj močan razlog
torej imate za sodelovanje
z nami.«
»Huh. Od kod pa zdaj to?
Zakaj naj bi napadli v
območju Zemlje?«
»Imajo razlog, da. Uniče-
nje Zemljanov bi oslabilo
nas.«
»Zaradi tega? To mi je pa
težko razumeti. Kakšno
prednost bi s tem dose-
gli?«
»Ne vem. Toda glede na to,
kako se vedejo, so o tem
prepričani. Vaš problem
je predvsem v vaši nepo-
membnosti. Vsaj glede na
pomen, ki ga pripisujejo
svojemu početju.«
Tedaj smo zaslišali kratko
sporočilo o prekinitvi
alarma, to pa je takoj spro-
žilo živahne in bolj spro-
ščene pogovore. Še sam
41
was a palpable easing of tension. Even I reconci-led myself to the fact that there was no real danger. I soon caught the cheerful mood and began engaging my companions in conver-sation in an effort to find out something more about the situation. I was, howe-ver, only partially succes-sful. As regards the tech-nical aspects, I received a number of interesting answers and explanations, but for the moment they didn’t seem interested in talking about themselves or about their civilisation. I was unable to involve any of them in a conver-sation on this topic. They weren’t in any hurry to reveal themselves to me. Nevertheless my mind kept returning to the com-ment that the destruction of the Earthmen would weaken them too. This was really important! If that’s how things really were, of course. In order to try and learn
sem se sprijaznil z dej-
stvom, da ni nobene prave
nevarnosti, in se tudi
kmalu nalezel veselega
razpoloženja ter začenjal
pogovore, s katerimi sem
želel izvedeti še kaj več o
danem položaju. Vendar
pa sem bil pri tem le delno
uspešen. Kar zadeva teh-
niko, sem sicer dobil nekaj
zanimivih odgovorov in
pojasnil, pogovor o njih
samih, o njihovi civili-
zaciji pa jih v tistem tre-
nutku ni najbolj zanimal.
Vsaj nobenega med njimi
nisem mogel zaplesti v
pogovor na to temo. Bolj
po malem so se mi razkri-
vali, da. Tudi to je bilo res.
Pripomba, da bi uničenje
Zemljanov pomenilo osla-
bitev tudi zanje, pa se mi
je vseeno pogosteje vra-
čala v ospredje. Hudičevo
pomembna je bila! Če je
zadeva res taka, seveda!
Da bi še kaj več izvedel
42
something more about them, I began studying the faces of the Sensins around me. They were still chatting away animatedly. The group I joined was tal-king about the chances of war breaking out. Some-one was saying that they had been warned of the possibility of the first real clashes, and that we would be right in the thick of it. It was even possible that we would be the trigger for hostilities to begin. A few metres away a Sensin was talking in a loud voice about some logisti-cal analysis that suggested that the Acutins were first going to try and thwart our expedition with a series of manoeuvres, after which they would destroy us. “If they knew about the Earthman, or if they knew why we need him, they would certainly have done so already.”These words reached me over the conversations going on all around me
o njih, sem zaokrožil s
pogledom po bližnjih
obrazih. Še vedno so se
živahno pomenkovali.
Skupina, ki sem se ji pri-
družil, se je pogovarjala o
možnostih izbruha vojne.
Češ da so bili opozorjeni
na možnost prvih pravih
spopadov, pri tem pa, da
bomo prav mi v središču
dogajanja. Morda bo celo
začetek vojne potekal prav
prek nas. Po nekaterih logi-
stičnih analizah, o katerih
je par metrov stran glasno
govoril neki Čutin, bodo
Ostrini poskušali najprej
z nekaj manevrskimi pote-
zami onemogočiti našo
ekspedicijo, potem pa nas
še uničiti. »Če bi vedeli za
Zemljana oziroma če bi
vedeli, zakaj ga potrebu-
jemo, bi to že prav gotovo
storili.«
Te besede skoz vrsto živah-
nih pogovorov so vame
ponovno vnesle nemir.
43
and once again made me feel uneasy. I still couldn’t imagine why my presence should be so important. I even had the sensation that they were deliberately leaving me to wander blin-dly through a labyrinth of conjecture. I looked around me. The command bridge was big enough for the entire crew. It must have been around 40 metres long and 40 metres wide, with a window of corresponding dimensions at the front.I let my eyes wander over faces and groups, and then suddenly I saw her a few metres away. It was her. In one of the groups, in the middle of an animated discussion, although she didn’t seem to be parti-cularly interested in it. At least that was the impres-sion I got. She stood there quietly with her arms folded in front of her and her head slightly to one side. She was beautiful. Too attractive for me to
Zakaj naj bi bila moja pri-
sotnost tako pomembna,
pa še vedno nisem mogel
uganiti. Dobil sem celo
občutek, da me po nepo-
trebnem puščajo tavati
po labirintu ugibanj. Ozrl
sem s naokrog. Poveljniški
prostor je bil dovolj velik
za celotno posadko, nekaj
na 40 m je moral imeti v
dolžino in širino, s skoraj
prav tako velikim oknom
v ospredju.
S pogledom sem se pomi-
kal po obrazih in skupinah,
dokler mi ni nenadoma
obstal nekaj metrov naprej.
Bila je tam. V skupini,
sredi živahnega pogovora,
čeprav je očitno, videti je
bilo tako, ni povsem pri-
tegnil. Vsaj občutek sem
dobil tak. Stala je tiho, s
sklenjenimi rokami pred
sabo in z narahlo upognje-
nim vratom. Bila je lepa.
Preveč mikavna za nepri-
44
look casually away. My breathing slowed and I felt the beginnings of desire. She had turned away and was gazing in front of her. The melancholy, anxious look in her eyes reminded me of the expression she had worn at our first mee-ting. I ran my eyes over her long, wheat-coloured hair and imagined a cares-sing hand sinking through the curls to touch her neck. A slight movement would reveal it to the touch of my lips and a tender kiss. I looked at her face again. The mood emanating from her had changed comple-tely. A slight backwards tilt of her raised head reve-aled her neck and filled me with an urge to touch her, to slide my lips down to her full breasts and then up her slender neck to her ears and her sensual mouth. She looked at me. Although we were seven or eight metres apart, our eyes met. She gave me a slight smile. Melancholy
zadet odmik pogleda od
nje. Dih se mi je upočasnil
v porajajočem se hrepe-
nenju. Obrnjena stran, je
zrla predse, in tisti otožni,
zaskrbljeni pogled ob naji-
nem prvem srečanju mi je
ponovno živo stopil pred
oči. S pogledom sem šel po
njenih dolgih, pšenično
obarvanih kodrih, skozi
katere se božajoča roka
pogrezne vse do vratu,
ki ga le rahel gib razkrije
dotiku ustnic in božajo-
čim poljubom. Ponovno
sem se zazrl v njen obraz.
Povsem drugo razpolože-
nje je zavelo iz nje. Privzdi-
gnjeno glavo je narahlo
pomaknila nazaj, da me
je ob pogledu na njen raz-
kriti vrat prevzela želja po
dotiku, po drsečem pomi-
kanju ustnic navzdol do
njenih neder, polnih dojk,
in nazaj ob njenem vratu,
tja do ušes in njenih čutnih
ust. Ozrla se je vame.
Čeprav le dobrih sedem
ali osem metrov narazen,
sta se najina pogleda ujela.
45
at first, but then her eyes seemed to light up and her smile widened. I smiled too, although I was sligh-tly confused. Once again those looks of hers seemed to speak volumes. But that was the reason I didn’t understand anything any more. Or perhaps I understood too much and nothing. So many sensa-tions were racing through me that I was unable to concentrate my thoughts. Had she seen the desire in my eyes, was that why her body language suddenly seemed so disdainful? Surely not! She couldn’t have seen that. She looked away, squeezed her arms together so that her brea-sts rose slightly, and then moved her head back, in a kind of sensual abandon, and breathed deeply. Her bare neck was revealed, as though offering itself up to adoring kisses all the way down to her sho-ulders. This excited me.
Rahlo se mi je nasmehnila.
Sprva nekoliko otožno,
potem pa ji je zaplesal v
očeh živahen lesk, ustnice
so se ji raztegnile v samo-
zavesten smehljaj. Tudi
sam sem se ji je nasmehnil,
čeprav nekoliko zmedeno.
Spet so bili ti njeni pogledi
tako zgovorni. Toda prav
zato nisem več ničesar
razumel. Oziroma - razu-
mel sem preveč in nič.
Toliko občutkov je divjalo
skozme, da nikakor nisem
mogel prav osredotočiti
svojih misli. Mar je ujela
poželenje v mojih očeh, da
je nenadoma toliko vzvi-
šenega prihajalo iz njenih
gibov? Menda vendar ne!
Saj tega ni mogla videti!
Umaknila je pogled, sti-
snila sklenjene roke, da so
se ji rahlo privzdignile prsi,
potem pa pomaknila glavo
nazaj, v nekakšni čutni pre-
danosti, in globoko vzdih-
nila. Vrat se ji je razkril kot
ob mirnem prepuščanju
božajočim poljubom vse
do njenih ramen. To me
je vznemirilo. Je to name-
46
Was this for my benefit? A demonstration of her perception? Was it an invi-tation or was she merely teasing me? I didn’t know anything about these Sen-sins. I would have to be careful. There was some-thing somehow cunning about them. It might all be a trap. If only I had at least a rough idea of who they actually were. I looked around me. I could feel someone else wat-ching me. A woman, two or three metres away, sta-ring at me with a look of melancholy yearning. She immediately looked away, with a barely perceptible glance at Honaja. I con-tinued to stare at her as she walked past me with a sensual smile. “You have wakened memories in me”, she said quietly. “Beautiful memo-ries.” And she walked off.I stood there feeling embar-rassed. That’s all I needed! Where had she come from? How could she have stood
njeno meni? Mi daje vedeti
svoje zaznavanje? Me vabi,
morda le draži? Ničesar
nisem vedel o teh Čutinih.
Paziti bi moral. Presneto
prebrisani so videti. Vse
skupaj bi lahko bila le past.
Ko bi vsaj približno vedel,
kdo so pravzaprav. Pogle-
dal sem naokrog. Še en
pogled sem zaznal. Neka
ženska, dva, tri metre
stran, je zrla vame s hre-
penečo otožnostjo. Takoj
je umaknila pogled, pri
tem pa je komaj zaznavno
pogledala Honajo, in ko
še naprej nisem odma-
knil pogleda z nje, je sto-
pila mimo mene s čutnim
nasmehom. »Vzbudili ste
mi spomine,« je dejala tiho,
»lepe spomine.« In odšla je
mimo.
Zastal sem v prav neprije-
tni zadregi. Še ta povrhu!
Kje, hudirja, se je vzela?
Kako je lahko stala tako
47
there watching me without me seeing her? How dare she? Damn! And what a piercing, sensual look she had given me.
blizu in me gledala, ne
da bi jo bil videl? Kako si
drzne? Prekleto! Pa kako
hudičevo prediren, čuten
pogled je imela!
48
Chapter IV
The next jolt pulled the floor out from under our feet and we staggered, instinctively putting our arms out to try and keep our balance. Quite a few Sensins sprawled to the floor, but then the alarm signal sent us rushing to our seats. I jumped into my own seat, pushed the safety harness button and looked around me. The Sensins were evidently no better prepared than I was, although they should have been. I found myself won-dering just how in con-trol of the situation they really were, and thought doubtfully about what the Sensin had told me a little earlier. “Well,” I muttered to myself, “at least some of that self-assurance was probably exaggerated.” The reactions of the Sen-
IV. poglavje
Naslednji sunek nam je
spodnesel tla pod nogami,
da smo si s samodejnimi
gibi rok pomagali ohra-
niti ravnotežje, kar nekaj
Čutinov je nič kaj mehko
pristalo na tleh, in že nas
je pisk alarma pognal na
sedeže. Tudi sam sem
skočil k svojemu sedežu,
pritisnil na gumb varno-
stnega pasu in se ozrl nao-
krog. Čutini očitno niso
bili nič bolje pripravljeni
na taka presenečenja,
čeprav bi morali biti. Vsaj
meni so se prikradli pomi-
sleki o njihovem obvlado-
vanju položaja, pa tudi o
tistem, kar mi je malo prej
pravil Čutin. »No,« sem se
momljaje popravil, »vsaj
nekaj tiste samozavesti je
bilo najbrž pretirane.«
Odzivi Čutinov so mi pač
49
sins seemed to confirm my doubts. Their calm complacency had been replaced by an air of panic and they stared in con-fusion, now at the main hologram display, now at the giant window of the command bridge. How this war of theirs was supposed to begin cannot have been very clear to them. “Hmm, a superior civilisation,” I murmured, looking at Benesens, who finally turned towards me. There must be a lot going on in his head, I thought cynically as I tried to inter-pret the expression on his face. But Benesens’s seri-ous response brought me back down to earth. If, as it appeared, we were in a dangerous situation, I was in the same boat as them. At least at the moment. Even a slight deviation from his confident version of events, and we would all be in the soup together.
govorili nekaj takega, saj
je njihovo umirjeno samo-
zavest zamenjalo hitenje
in begajoče oziranje zdaj
k osrednjemu hologram-
skemu prikazovalniku,
zdaj v veliko okno holo-
gramskega prostora. Kako
naj bi se ta njihova vojna
začela, jim ne more biti
pretirano jasno. »Superi-
orna civilizacija gor ali
dol,« sem zamrmral sam
zase in po malem motril
Dobročuta, ko je končno
tudi on pogledal proti
meni. Kar nekaj živahnega
premetavanja mora biti
v njegovi glavi, sem si z
malce ciničnega humorja
razlagal izraz na njegovem
obrazu. Toda zresnjeno
odzivanje Dobročuta je
streznilo tudi mene. Če
smo se znašli v nevarnem
položaju, kot je kazalo,
sem bil na istem kot oni.
Vsaj v tistem trenutku. Le
majhen odklon od njegove
pripovedi in samozavesti,
pa bi že bili vsi skupaj v
kaši.
50
“What was that?” I asked.“They are attacking us,” Benesens replied.There was silence, but ten-sion had filled the room and gripped the whole crew.“Has the war begun, then?” “No, no.” Benesens shook his head thoughtfully. “We would have been infor-med by headquarters. The Acutins have several times called for the withdrawal of both sides from this sector, but we were here before them, this is ours, and they have no right to claim it nor to try and per-suade us to leave by pro-mising that they will then leave too. They want to remove us at any cost, and I am afraid that they have begun the local war they have been threatening, although this has not yet been confirmed. We have received no notification of this, and yet it is difficult to find any other explana-tion for what is happening now.”
»Kaj je bilo to?« sem vpra-
šal.
»Napadajo nas,« mi je odvr-
nil Dobročut.
V prostoru je bilo vse tiho,
toda napetost je zajela ves
prostor, vso posadko.
»Se je torej začela vojna?«
»Ne, ne.« Dobročut je pre-
mišljujoče odkimaval:
»Saj bi nas že obvestili iz
našega poveljstva. Ostrini
so večkrat zahtevali umik
obeh strani iz tega dela
vesolja, vendar smo bili mi
tu pred njimi, to je naše,
nobene pravice si tega
nimajo lastiti niti zahtevati
od nas odhod, s ponudbo,
da bodo potem tudi oni
odšli.
Za vsako ceno nas hočejo
spraviti stran, in bojim
se, da so začeli zagroženo
lokalno vojno, kar sicer
še ni potrjeno. Nobenega
obvestila o tem nimamo,
toda za tako dogajanje je
tu že težko najti kakšno
drugo razlago.« Dobročut
51
Benesens frowned as he considered the possibi-lities. But only for a few moments. Another jolt shook the whole ship and suddenly a tremendous acceleration forced us back in our seats.“Captain to crew,” came the calm voice of the com-manding officer. “We are entering the network of protective asteroid fields. Prepare yourselves for powerful lateral g-force as we take evasive action.” A new series of explosions shook us, and then there was an enormous crash as an enemy ship slam-med into the command bridge window and the whole front section of the ship caved in. Even the window buckled inwards as far as the front row of seats. A cry escaped from my throat. The others were shouting too. But in the very fraction of a second that the whole front section and the window should have shattered to smithe-
je nagrbančil čelo ob pre-
mišljanju o odprtih možno-
stih. Pa le za nekaj trenut-
kov. Nov sunek je stresel
celotno našo ladjo in že
nas je strahovit pospešek
prilepil na sedeže.
»Kapitan posadki,« se je
zaslišal miren glas povelju-
jočega. »Vstopamo v mrežo
zaščitnih asteroidnih polj.
Pripravite se na močne
bočne pritiske v spiralnem
letu.«
Streslo nas je novo zapo-
redje eksplozij in sledil je
še strahoten pok, ko nam
je tresk letala v našo veliko
dvajsetmetrsko šipo vbočil
ves sprednji del. Tudi okno
se je zvilo in se ugreznilo
vse do prvih sedežev. Krik
mi je ušel iz grla, tudi drugi
so zakričali. V delčku
sekunde, ko bi se moral
razleteti ves sprednji del
z oknom vred, pa je vse
52
reens, everything stopped. The walls and the window hung there, as though held by opposing forces of enormous power. Eve-rything went quiet. The crumpled walls and the distorted window seemed to waver before our eyes. Everything was twisted, and so badly deformed that I found myself sear-ching for cracks in the wall. It suddenly occur-red to me that there was a danger of a vacuum. Some of the Sensins had already reached for the emergency buttons to close the secu-rity cells on their seats: airtight transparent cylin-ders that surrounded the whole seat and its occu-pant. I took all this in with lightning swiftness. My hand was already reaching for the button, but before I could press it I noticed the walls silently moving back into their original position. The window straightened itself with a loud pop. In a matter of moments it was
zastalo v strahovitem pre-
napenjanju sil, vbočene
stene in okno.
Vse je utihnilo. Pred očmi
so se nam pomikale zmeč-
kane stene in zvito vbo-
čeno okno. Vse je bilo skri-
vljeno, tako močno zmali-
čeno, da so oči samodejno
lovile preklano steno,
razpoke. V hipu me je pre-
šinila misel o nevarnosti
brezzračnega prostora.
Nekateri so že udarili po
alarmnem gumbu za zapr-
tje varnostne sedežne
celice, prozorne valjaste
tube, ki obda ves sedež z
ovojem, neprepustnim za
zrak, vse to se mi je v bli-
skovitih prizorih zvrstilo
skozi zavest. Roka se mi
je usmerila k alarmnemu
gumbu, v smrtni tišini
pa sem že tisti hip zaznal
umikanje sten v prvotno
lego. Okno se je s pokom
zravnalo, minilo je le nekaj
trenutkov - in že je stalo
na starem mestu. Niče-
53
back in its old place. No crumples, no wrinkles and above all no visible cracks. I looked incredulously at the window and the walls, and then finally turned to my neighbour. “Wow, this ship of yours really is made of good materials!”A complacent smile spread across Benesens’s face. I looked around me. The whole room filled with life and excited chatter. I looked at the window again. “That’s not made of glass, is it?”“You can see through it, but that is all that this window has in common with your glass windows on Earth.”“I had my doubts,” I admitted with a smile. “I still don’t have a very clear idea about the solidity of your materials.”
“Don’t worry. I know what they are capable of, but I don’t know if that makes me much better off. I can’t predict the power of the
sar zmečkanega, nobenih
gub, predvsem pa nobenih
razpok ni bilo videti. Neje-
verno sem gledal predse,
v okno, stene, dokler se
končno nisem ozrl k svo-
jemu sosedu. »Huh, to vaše
plovilo je pa res narejeno
iz dobrih materialov!«
Dobročutov obraz se je
razlezel v samozavesten
nasmeh.
Ozrl sem se naokoli. Ves
prostor se je napolnil z
življenjem in vzkliki. Nato
sem spet pogledal v okno.
»To pa najbrž ni iz stekla,
kajne?«
»Vidi se skozenj, da,
ampak to je tudi vse, kar
ima to okno skupnega z
vašimi steklenimi okni na
Zemlji.«
»Res sem že podvomil,«
sem smeje se priznal,
»nimam še izoblikovane
vednosti o vzdržljivosti
vaših materialov.«
»Nič zato, jaz sicer poznam
njihovo zmogljivost, pa
ne vem, ali sem zato kaj
na boljšem. Moči eksplo-
zije ne morem predvideti,
54
explosion, can I?” Bene-sens laughed lightly at his own witticism. “Both are important, you see?” “Message from the com-mander.” The amplified voice of the main compu-ter interrupted the lively chatter. “Stand by to rece-ive instructions!”The crew waited expec-tantly. Everyone had been busy speculating about the best thing to do, although most had already admitted that the lack of data made it impossible to arrive at any firm conclusion.“The Acutin fleet is astern of us. It is their advance party that has attacked us. According to a commu-nication from their com-manders, they will not permit us to pass and they are maintaining this prohi-bition despite my drawing their attention to the rules currently in force. In short, they have refused to negotiate further with me. They are threatening to stop us in the outer belt
kajne?« Dobročut se je
sproščeno zasmejal svoji
duhovitosti. »Oboje je v
igri, veste?«
»Poveljnikova beseda,« je
skozi ozvočenje presekal
živahno pomenkovanje
glas osrednjega računal-
nika. »Sprejmite navo-
dila!«
Posadka je obstala v pri-
čakovanju. Vsi pogovori
so se že bili usmerili v
ugibanje o najboljši reši-
tvi, čeprav je večina ugo-
tavljala nemoč oziroma
premalo podatkov za
dokončno sklepanje.
»Za nami je ladjevje Ostri-
nov, katerega predhodnica
nas je napadla. Po sporo-
čilu njihovega poveljstva
nam ne dovolijo prehoda
in vztrajajo na prepovedi
kljub mojemu opozorilu na
veljavna pravila. Na kratko
so zavrnili nadaljnja poga-
janja z mano. Grozijo, da
nas bodo ustavili na zuna-
njem pasu asteroidnega
55
of the asteroid cloud. If we go beyond this belt, they are ordered to act imme-diately to destroy us. Then they broke off talks. But it will not be so simple for them to destroy us. As you have seen, they have alre-ady tried and failed. They will not be able to stop us, either. Our fleet, at least as big as theirs, in quadrant XL273, can send us the protection of its roboroc-kets. We can fall back into their protective fields at any time. I have also rece-ived additional instruc-tions from headquarters. The whole fleet and all the squadrons in our vicinity have orders to support us during our breakthrough to the energy dumps and the automated production planets. Even at the cost of their own destruction. I have given the word to begin our penetra-tion through the asteroid clouds. These asteroids are rocks several kilometres in diameter, containing
oblaka, če prekoračimo ta
pas, pa jim je ukazan takoj-
šnji ukrep - naše uničenje.
Potem so prekinili pogo-
vor. Toda to naše uničenje
ne bo tako preprosto. Kot
ste videli, so že poskušali,
pa jim je spodletelo. Niso
uspeli. Tudi ustaviti nas
ne bodo mogli. Naša flota,
najmanj enaka njihovi, v
kvadrantu XL273, nam
lahko pošlje zaščito svojih
roboraket. Kadarkoli se
lahko umaknemo v nji-
hova zaščitna polja. Dobil
sem tudi dodatna navo-
dila našega poveljstva. Vsa
flota in vse eskadre v naši
bližini nas morajo podpi-
rati med našim prebojem
do energetskih skladišč in
planetov za robotizirano
proizvodnjo, tudi za ceno
lastnega uničenja.
Dal sem pobudo za naš
preboj skozi oblake aste-
roidov. Tisoče milijard
teh več kilometrov veli-
kih vodikovih, železnih in
56
hydrogen, iron and other elements. We transpor-ted trillions of them here when the Acutins were still far away on their own planet. Then we allowed them to transport their own asteroids. Now, in their arrogance, and after a somewhat superficial analysis, they see in front of them only randomly dumped material. But we can move these apparently randomly scattered aste-roids into the navigable routes through the cloud. We have this capability. It is true that they also know something about this. But thanks to our speed, they will not be able to stop us breaking through the aste-roid cloud.“The Acutins are now dis-patching units to try and outflank us with an encir-cling manoeuvre and pre-vent our retreat or escape. But the vicinity of the aste-roid haze is to our advan-tage. We will be faster but we must be ready for
drugosnovnih skal smo mi
že pripeljali sem, ko so bili
Ostrini še daleč na svojem
planetu. Potem smo jim
sicer dopustili dovoz nji-
hovih asteroidov. Zdaj pa v
svoji nadutosti in po precej
površni analizi vidijo pred
sabo le po naključju name-
tan material.
Mi pa lahko te asteroide,
na videz naključno razme-
tane, razmaknemo v preho-
dne poti. Mi to obvladamo.
Sicer nekaj tega vedo tudi
oni. Vendar zaradi naše
hitrosti ne bodo mogli
ustaviti našega preboja
skozi asteroidni oblak.
Ostrini zdaj pošiljajo spre-
mljevalne enote, ki naj bi
nas obšle v obkolitvenem
manevru ter nam onemo-
gočile umik ali pobeg, naša
prednost pa je v ugodnejši
bližini asteroidne meglice.
Hitrejši bomo. Toda pripra-
viti se moramo na zasle-
57
a pursuit. Flying through the densely packed aste-roids is extremely diffi-cult and dangerous. Our bodies will be pushed to the limit of endurance. Prepare yourselves for rapid evasive manoeuvres. Laser cannon and rocket shield crews: be ready for immediate action. Some of their fighters will pro-bably catch us before we reach the first asteroids.”The hologram display showed a countdown: the little lights went off at intervals of one second. I relaxed in my seat, rested my head on the cushioned headrest and gripped the handles positioned either side of me.“Now!” A harsh voice gave the order, and we instan-tly accelerated with such force that our faces were twisted out of shape. A few seconds later, with the ship still in its steep turn, the main computer announced the attack of the Acutin fighters. Almost at once
dovanje. Let mimo gosto
razmeščenih asteroidov je
izredno težaven in neva-
ren. Vse bo na meji vzdržlji-
vosti naših teles. Pripravite
se na hitri zavojni umik.
Posadke laserskih topov
in zaščitnih raket, bodite
pripravljene na takojšnje
delovanje, ker nas bo nekaj
njihovih lovcev verjetno
dohitelo, preden bomo
dosegli prve asteroide.«
V hologramskem prika-
zovalniku so se zasvetile
odštevalne lučke, uga-
šajoče v razmaku ene
sekunde. Sprostil sem se
v svojem sedežu, naslo-
nil glavo na oblazinjeno
zglavje in stisnil držala ob
svojem sedežu.
»Zdaj!« je odjeknil oster
glas in v hipu je na nas
deloval tako silovit pospe-
šek, da nam je skrajnostna
sila spačila obraze, nekaj
sekund pozneje, še vedno
v krožnem obračanju, pa
je osrednji računalnik
naznanil napad ostrino-
vskih lovcev in že so nas
58
their energy bolts began striking the ship. Our laser cannon opened fire at our attackers. By the time we were halfway through the turn, all the weapons on both sides of the ship were already hammering away. Now it was a question of how long our ship’s pro-tective shields and armour could hold out. The side of the hull began to glow red-hot as energy bolts continued to strike it, but then in quick succession our cannon destroyed first one, then another, then all the remaining fighters from the first small group of attackers. The armour of the robot-controlled fighters was not enough to protect them from our powerful laser cannon. But this in itself meant nothing. These robot figh-ters, though of limited power, were dangerous above all because of their great numbers. They were more like robot-controlled guided missiles. A ship
začeli zadevati njihovi
energetski izstrelki. Tudi
naši laserski topovi so
takoj udarili po napadal-
cih, tako da so na polovici
krožnega zavoja že tolkla
vsa orožja z obeh strani.
Vprašanje je bilo le, koliko
časa lahko vzdržijo zaščitna
polja in oklepi naše ladje.
Za zdaj so nam energetski
izstrelki razžarili bok, nam
pa je kmalu uspelo uničiti
najprej enega, potem dru-
gega in zatem še vse pre-
ostale iz prve manjše sku-
pine napadalcev. Robotizi-
rani lovci niso imeli dovolj
oklopljenih plovil za zava-
rovanje pred močnejšimi
topovi z laserskimi žarki.
Toda to še ni pomenilo
ničesar. Ti robotizirani
lovci, sicer manjših zmo-
gljivosti, so bili nevarni
predvsem zaradi svojega
izjemno velikega števila.
Torej naj bi bili bolj robo-
tizirano vodeni izstrelki.
59
like the GNAT could not be destroyed by a single fighter, or even by seve-ral fighters together. But a large number of them meant a constant depletion of fuel and ammunition, an exhausting chase until our energy stocks and ammunition were com-pletely used up. We were still more than ten minu-tes away from the astero-ids: the first large chasing squadron of fighters would need the same amount of time to catch us. The holo-gram display showed their position. The fighter squa-dron would catch us, that was clear. But by then we would be right on the edge of the asteroid cloud. Then we would fire our laser canons. “The enemy forces are too strong!” The main compu-ter had completed its cal-culation. Silence fell once again.“Hold your course!” came the voice of the comman-der. “We’ve done it!”
Ladje, kot je bila KOMAR,
posamezen lovec ni mogel
uničiti, tudi več lovcev
skupaj ne. Toda večje šte-
vilo je pomenilo stalno
porabo goriva in streliva,
izčrpavajoče zasledova-
nje do končne porabe
energetskih zalog skupaj
s strelivom. Do asteroi-
dov pa je bilo še dobrih
deset minut, enako, kot
je potrebovala tudi prva
večja eskadra zasledoval-
nih lovcev. Hologramski
prikazovalnik je ponazar-
jal njihov položaj. Eskadra
lovcev nas bo dohitela, to
je bilo očitno. Toda to bo
tik ob robu meglice. Tedaj
bomo sprožili svoje laser-
ske topove.
»Nasprotne sile so pre-
močne!« je podal svoj izra-
čun osrednji računalnik.
Spet je nastala tišina.
»Drži smer!« se je spet ogla-
sil poveljujoči glas. »Uspelo
nam je!«
60
The crew exchanged asto-nished glances and looked at the commander and at the holo-display. Nothing indicated that we were in the clear. Nothing on the display appeared to point to such a conclusion. “Yes: sixteen seconds before entry they will catch up with us,” continued the commander. “But at this distance the remote-con-trolled asteroids can come to our assistance. They will start to move at any moment. We will be safe in their shelter, and in any case will we be in a good position because the figh-ters will still have to encir-cle us, and that will mean losing vital time.”Everyone looked back at the main hologram dis-play, where there was still no sign of movement from the asteroids. If they were triggered too late, that could be fatal for us. I could hear the murmuring of voices growing louder and louder. “What are they
Posadka se je med začu-
denim spogledovanjem
ozirala zdaj k poveljniku,
zdaj v holi. Nič ni kazalo
na uspeh. Iz vsega prikaza-
nega se ni dalo tako skle-
pati.
»Da, šestnajst sekund pred
vstopom nas bodo dohi-
teli,« je nadaljeval povelj-
nik, »na tej razdalji pa nam
vodeni asteroidi že lahko
priskočijo na pomoč, vsak
čas se morajo začeti pre-
mikati. V njihovem zavetju
bomo varni, in tudi sicer
bomo v dobrem položaju,
saj nas bodo morali lovci
še obkoliti, to pa bo zanje
usodna izguba časa.«
Spet so se vsi zazrli v osre-
dnji hologramski prika-
zovalnik, kjer še vedno ni
nič kazalo na premikanje
asteroidov, katerih prepo-
zna sprožitev bi bila lahko
za nas usodna. Vse več
vse bolj glasnega mrmra-
nja sem lahko zaznal. »Kaj
61
waiting for?” came a shout from the background.The countdown lights appeared on the holo-dis-play: sixteen red lights for the seconds, and ten blue ones for the minutes. The murmuring stopped. The entire scene was spread out across the holo-display. Everything motionless and everything moving. The approaching fighters and our ship’s flight towards the asteroid cloud. There was still time. Ten minu-tes’ flight to the critical point, and then sixteen seconds to reach the first asteroids. We held our breath. The minutes ticked by but those blue lights went out very slowly. The last blue light was extinguished and the red ones lit up. We felt the violent discharge of our laser cannon as they fired at the approaching figh-ters. The battle had begun. Were we going to make it, or was this merely hope-less resistance in the face
čakajo, hudiča?!« je priletel
vzklik iz ozadja.
V hologramskem prika-
zovalniku so se prižgale
odštevalne lučke, šestnajst
rdečih za sekunde in deset
modrih za minute. Mrmra-
nje je utihnilo. Vse dogaja-
nje se je razgrnilo v holo-
gramskem prikazovalniku.
Vse, kar je mirovalo, in vse,
kar se je gibalo. Približe-
vanje lovcev in let našega
plovila v asteroidni oblak.
Še je bil čas. Deset minut
leta do kritične točke in
potem še šestnajst sekund
do prvih asteroidov.
V pljučih je zastajal dih.
Tiste minute so se potem
vlekle, toda njihove modre
lučke so le počasi ugašale.
Vse do zadnje, ko so se pri-
žgale rdeče sekundne, in
že smo zaznali sunkovito
energetsko praznjenje
naših laserskih topov, ki
so udarili po bližajočih se
lovcih. Boj se je začel. Nam
bo vseeno uspelo ali je
vse skupaj zgolj nesmiseln
62
of their superior strength? Then, from somewhere inside the asteroid cloud, an object appeared, some-thing long and rope-like. It flew towards us at great speed from the heart of the asteroids, curving in our direction like a long, thin snake’s tongue. It must have built up speed inside the asteroid cloud where no-one could see it. Perhaps there is still time, said the expressions in the eyes of the crew. The noise stopped. Breathing slowed. The holo-display showed the scene cle-arly: us, the fighters and the giant tongue. The red lights began to go out… seven, six, five… Now the fighters opened fire on us, several hundred at the same time, with such ferocity that our protec-tive shields disintegrated one after the other and the armour of our GNAT grew red-hot. The intense heat was vaporising the outer layers. “The armour
spopad z njihovo premo-
čjo? Tedaj se je od nekod iz
notranjosti asteroidnega
oblaka prikazal paličast
predmet dolge vrvičaste
oblike, naravnost iz ozadja
asteroidov nam je letel
nasproti z veliko hitrostjo
in se ukrivljal proti nam
kot dolg, tanek kačji jezik.
Hitrost je moral prido-
biti znotraj asteroidnega
oblaka, kjer ga nihče ni
mogel zaznati. Še je morda
čas, so govorile oči med
spogledovanjem. Hrup je
utihnil. Dihanje se je umi-
rilo. V hologramskem pri-
kazovalniku se je nazorno
kazalo dogajanje: mi, lovci
ter orjaški dolgi jezik.
Rdeče lučke so začele uga-
šati... sedem, šest, pet…
Zdaj so vžgali po nas lovci,
več sto hkrati, s tako silo-
vitostjo, da so naša zašči-
tna polja razpadala eno
za drugim in je zažarel
oklep našega KOMARJA.
Tisoče stopinj vročine je
uplinjalo zgornje plasti.
“Oklep popušča,” je odje-
63
is giving way!” somebody shouted. Another three seconds, two, one… A giant shadow flashed past and suddenly we were caught in the silence of absolute peace. We were flying along the surface of the tongue. We were safe! Yes! We were now out of range of the figh-ters’ lasers at least until we entered the asteroid cloud. Before they could fly around the tongue, we would be safe. The chase would of course continue. But we would be on our own ground. There were thousands of fighters but we could count on a enor-mous number of robot-gu-ided missiles of our own. Yes, an enormous number. Once again everyone was looking at the hologram display. “There are so many of them,” I heard over the growing buzz of conversation.The answer came imme-diately: “There will be plenty of ours too!”
knil krik... Še tri sekunde,
dve, ena… Orjaška senca je
zletela mimo in zajela nas
je tišina popolnega miru.
Zleteli smo tik ob povr-
šini jezika. Varni! Hua! Za
laserske topove lovcev
smo bili nedosegljivi
vsaj do vstopa v asteroi-
dni oblak. Preden bodo
uspeli zleteti okrog jezika,
bomo mi že na varnem.
Lov se bo seveda še nada-
ljeval. Toda to bo na
našem območju. Lovcev
je na tisoče, pa tudi mi
smo lahko računali na
veliko število naših robot-
sko vodenih izstrelkov.
Da, na veliko število.
Pogledi so spet zrli v holo-
gramski prikazovalnik.
»Hudičevo dosti jih imajo,
ti Ostrini,« sem zaslišal
glas skozi vse močnejše
mrmranje.
Toda tedaj je že priletel
odgovor: »Tudi naših bo
dosti!«
64
“There will be plenty of us on both sides!” said a red-headed Sensin next to the holo-display in an anything but triumphant voice, immediately adding with a somewhat forced cheerfulness: “But now we have a chance. It won’t be easy. We’re probably going to make it.”Then came another few moments of reflection and doubt. The danger was still pursuing us, and there was also danger in front of us, but we were flying in the safe shelter of a long shield leading into the interior of the asteroid cloud. We flew past the first aste-roids and on, along the giant tongue to its root. And then we were flying freely, past the massive bulks of asteroids mea-suring several kilome-tres across, and mist-like clouds of tiny particles that would damage the hull of our ship if we flew too close to them. These clouds were interesting to
»Na obeh straneh nas bo
veliko!« je v nič kaj zma-
goslavnem tonu dodal
rdečelasi Čutin ob holo-
gramu in se takoj dopolnil
z nekoliko prisiljeno rado-
živostjo. »Možnosti pa zdaj
le imamo. Ne bo lahko.
Najbrž nam bo uspelo.«
Sledilo je še nekaj trenut-
kov pomišljanja in pomi-
slekov v živahnih pogovo-
rih. Nevarnost nam je še
vedno sledila, bila je tudi
pred nami, a leteli smo v
varnem zavetju dolgega
ščita, speljanega v notra-
njost asteroidnega oblaka.
Zleteli smo mimo prvih
asteroidov, nato naprej
vzdolž orjaškega jezika do
njegovega korena, in že
smo bili prepuščeni pro-
stemu letu mimo masivnih
gmot z več kilometri pre-
mera ter mimo meglic iz
drobnih delcev, nevarnih
za let v njihovi bližini, ker
bi si ob njih lahko poškoda-
vali trup ladje. Na pogled
pa so bile te meglice zani-
65
see. Very interesting. The gleam of neighbouring stars fragmented into vari-ous colours on their sur-face sso that blue, green, yellow layers blended one into the other and inter-mingled to form a surpri-singly beautiful work of art that I had to look at despite all the tension, or perhaps even because of it.“Yes, this mist is in our catalogues,” Benesens explained. “It is one of the finest works of art of the builders of this asteroid cloud. I like it too.”“Interesting.” My admira-tion turned into reflection. “Art in space.” I looked at my neighbour. So now we were safe. I looked back at the mist. “Hmm, one day you Earthmen will create something like this too.” Benesens spoke with a smile, in a slightly patro-nising tone, but then the features of his face har-dened and his eyes grew
mive. Zelo zanimive. Sij
sosednih zvezd se je na
njihovi površini lomil v
raznih barvah, da so se
modre, zelene, rumene
plasti pogrezale druga v
drugo in se prepletale v
presenetljivo lepo ume-
tnino, ki sem jo moral opa-
ziti kljub vsej napetosti ali
pa morda prav zaradi nje.
»Da, ta meglica je v naših
katalogih,« mi je v poja-
snilo odvrnil Dobročut.
»Med najboljšimi umetni-
škimi deli graditeljev tega
asteroidnega oblaka je.
Tudi meni je všeč.«
»Zanimivo.« Moje občudo-
vanje se je zlilo v premi-
šljujoče pomisleke. »Ume-
tnost v vesolju,« sem pogle-
dal soseda - zdaj smo bili
torej na varnem - in znova
meglico.
»Hm, tudi Zemljani boste
nekoč ustvarjali kaj
takega.« Dobročut je govo-
ril z nasmehom v nekoliko
pokroviteljskem tonu,
potem pa so poteze nje-
govega obraza med krajšo
zamišljenostjo dobile
66
cold. “Provided, of course, that we succeed with our breakthrough and re-esta-blish a connection with our energy production fields. Failure to do so would make it difficult to predict the course of your develo-pment or, rather, your very existence.”Once again I was filled with doubts. What actu-ally were these energy production fields? And why couldn’t we get into them? Everything seemed to suggest that they were central to what was going on. And apparently I had something to do with it too. But what was this thing in which my pre-sence was so important? Extremely important, by the look of things. And then this quarrel between these two superior civili-sations. Even about that, the answers I had received were too sketchy to allow me to formulate any clear conception. Except, of course, with regard to the
ostrejše oblike, v oči pa
se mu je naselila hladna
trdota. »Seveda, če nam bo
uspelo izpeljati ta preboj
in ponovno vzpostaviti
povezavo z našimi ener-
getsko proizvodnimi polji.
V nasprotnem primeru
je težko predvideti potek
vašega razvoja ali, bolje
rečeno, kaj bo z vašim
obstojem.«
Spet se mi je porodilo kar
nekaj pomislekov. Kaj so
pravzaprav energetsko
proizvodna polja? In zakaj
ne morejo vanje? Vse je
kazalo na njihovo pove-
zavo z osrednjim dogaja-
njem. Tudi sam naj bi sodil
zraven. Toda kaj je tisto,
pri čemer bi bil jaz lahko
pomemben? Očitno zelo
pomemben. Vse tako kaže.
Pa še ta spor med tema
dvema superiornima civi-
lizacijama. Tudi glede tega
spora sem dotlej dobil
preveč skope odgovore, da
bi si lahko izoblikoval opri-
jemljivo predstavo. Razen,
seveda, glede ogroženosti
67
threat to the Earth, which was apparently facing destruction. Or was it? This was something else I was unable to puzzle out. And what if the origin of the quarrel was something else, something deeper? If the whole thing had begun for a completely different reason? Some important reason, more important than energy produc-tion fields, about which they still hadn’t told me anything. The warning that we were about to leave the shelter of the giant tongue silen-ced the cheerful enthu-siasm at our successful escape. It was hard, very hard. It had been a close shave. No more than a fraction of a second had tipped the balance in our favour, a few decisive moments, some slight inclination of fortune aga-inst the logistical precision of the enemy’s moves. But enough for a breakthro-
Zemlje, ki naj bi bila pred
uničenjem. Ali pa tudi ne?
Še tega nisem mogel raz-
vozlati. Kaj pa, če je izvor
spora med njimi kaj dru-
gega, globljega? Če je vse
skupaj sproženo iz povsem
drugega vzroka? Nekega
pomembnega vzroka,
pomembnejšega od ener-
getsko proizvodnih polj,
o katerem pa mi še niso
ničesar povedali.
Opozorilo na ponovno
pripravljenost ob izstopu
iz varne poti v zavetju
orjaškega jezika je utišalo
radoživo navdušenje nad
uspešnim izmikom. Trdo
je bilo, trdo. Le za las je
manjkalo. Nič več kot
nekaj delčkov sekunde
se je prevesilo v našo
prid, nekaj odločilnih
trenutkov, nekaj rahlega
nagiba sreče ob logistično
natančno preračunanih
potezah nasprotnika.
Toda dovolj za preboj in
68
ugh and an outburst of happiness. And at least it would be easier from now on, since we could alre-ady count on support. The Sensins returned to their seats. We would still have to fight, very hard perhaps. But they could no longer trap us in a tight blockade. We were all convinced of this. We all concentrated on the hologram display to follow the new develo-pment. A visual represen-tation of all the available data showed our flight past the densely packed asteroids and revealed our rear. This is what attracted our attention. A second cloud was sinking into the asteroid cloud. Thou-sands upon thousands of fighters from the Acutin fleet hastening in pursuit of us, in such enormous numbers that the swarms of fighters looked like an accompanying cloud. There was no end to them. I looked questioningly at the Sensins. So many!
za izbruh veselja. Vseeno
bo odslej lažje, ker smo že
lahko računali na pomoč,
kot je bilo rečeno. Čutini
so se vračali na svoje
sedeže. Boriti pa se bomo
še morali, morda bo celo
hudo. Le v tako tesno
zaporo nas ne bodo več
ujeli. Vsi smo bili prepri-
čani o tem. S pogledi smo
v hologramskem prikazo-
valniku spremljali nov raz-
plet dogajanja. Vizualna
upodobitev vseh razpolo-
žljivih informacij nam je
nakazovala naš let mimo
gosto posejanih astero-
idov in razkrivala naše
zaledje. Tja je privlačila
našo pozornost. V oblak
asteroidov se je pogre-
zal drug oblak. Tisoče, na
tisoče lovcev iz ladjevja
Ostrinov se je v tako veli-
kem številu gnalo v zasle-
dovanje za nami, da so se
nam njihovi roji kazali
v obliki spremljajočega
oblaka. Hudirjevo dosti
jih je bilo. Vprašujoče sem
se zazrl v Čutine. Tako šte-
69
Would we really get help, reinforcements to block this incredible force?The Sensins continued to observe the disposition of our pursuers, but they were no longer shouting enthusiastically. The con-centration of power must have surprised them. That was certainly my impres-sion – an impression that was growing ever stron-ger. They looked worried at the number of fighters, which clearly exceeded their notions with regard to the enemy’s forces. “What does this tell us?” I asked Benesens in an unnaturally calm voice.“Hmm.” Benesens conti-nued to stare at the holo-gram without moving.“Do you have similar forces at your disposal?” I blurted out impatiently. “Hmm.” He seemed to be having difficulty appra-
vilo! Mar bomo res dobili
pomoč, okrepitve za blo-
kado te neverjetne sile?
Čutini so še naprej, vendar
brez živih vzklikov, opazo-
vali prostorsko ponazor-
jeno razporeditev zasledo-
valcev. Koncentracija moči
jih je morala presenečati.
In jih tudi je, vsaj vse bolj
tak občutek sem dobival.
Bili so videti zaskrbljeni
nad številom lovcev, ki je
moralo presegati njihove
predstave o nasprotnih
silah.
»Kaj je možno razbrati
iz tega?« sem s prisiljeno
mirnim glasom vprašal
Dobročuta med njegovim
zavzetim opazovanjem
holijevega prikaza.
»Hm.« Dobročut je še
naprej nepremično zrl v
hologram.
»Imate tudi vi take sile na
razpolago?« mi je kar ušlo
skozi zadrževano nestr-
pnost.
»Hm.« Očitno premišljanje
o nastalem položaju zanj
70
ising the new situation. This was considerably more than a merely local matter that we were caught up in here. Nothing that they had predicted about the presence of merely local forces in this part of space applied any more. “We knew the density, strength and distribution of their armed forces. We knew about every part of the entire galaxy. But what we can see in the hologram display simply does not agree with what I know. Such a concentration of forces. Where has it come from? Movements of such large armed forces could not have passed unobser-ved. Unless…” Benesens paused. “The Acutins were not supposed to have the capability for something like this. But perhaps…” He fell silent again. “Perhaps what?” I looked at him closely as he shook his head.
ni bilo tako preprosto.
Dosti več kot zgolj lokalno
dogajanje se je tu raz-
pletalo ali, bolje rečeno,
zapletalo. Nič od tistega,
kar so predvidevali o pri-
sotnosti zgolj lokalnih
sil v tem delu vesolja, ni
moglo držati. »Poznali
smo gostoto, moč in raz-
poreditev oboroženih sil.
Za vsak del celotne gala-
ksije smo vedeli. Prikaz v
hologramskem prikazo-
valniku pa nikakor ni v
skladu z mojim vedenjem.
Taka koncentracija sil. Od
kod se je vzela? Premiki
tako velikih oboroženih
sil niso mogli biti neopa-
ženi. Ali pa…« je v odgo-
vor razmišljal Dobročut.
»Ostrini naj ne bi imeli
sposobnosti za kaj takega.
Morda pa . . .« je spet umol-
knil.
»Kaj morda?« Pazljivo sem
zrl vanj in v njegovo odki-
mavanje.
71
“I don’t know. Perhaps headquarters is no longer giving us all the informa-tion.”“What does that mean?”“Several things.”“For instance?”“That movements and new concentrations of armed forces have already been carried out throughout the galaxy. Both ours and theirs.”“And how does that change things?”“At the galactic level?” The Sensin frowned. “I doubt that it is any more than a different arrange-ment of forces. It is pro-bably nothing important. But that only applies to the arrangement at the galac-tic level.”“Why only at the galac-tic level? I asked. “What about us?”“Hmm.” “Yes, that’s a good question. It is harder to assess. I don’t like the look of it.” Benesens looked at me. “I don’t like it at all. Especially because you are aboard our ship.”
»Ne vem. Lahko, da povelj-
stva ne dajejo več vseh
informacij.«
»Kaj to pomeni?«
»Več stvari.«
»Katere?«
»Da so že bili opravljeni
premiki in nove koncen-
tracije oboroženih sil po
vsej galaksiji. Tako naših
kot njihovih.«
»In v čem je sprememba?!«
»Na globalni ravni?«
Čutin je nagrbančil čelo:
»Dvomim, da je kaj več
kot drugačna razporedi-
tev. Najbrž nič posebnega.
Toda to velja samo za raz-
poreditev na globalni
ravni, po vsej galaksiji.«
»Zakaj samo na globalni
ravni? Kaj pa mi?« sem
vprašal.
»Hm. Hja, to je pa to. Težje
je oceniti. Vse skupaj mi ni
všeč.« Dobročut se je zazrl
vame. »Niti najmanj mi to
ni všeč. Še posebej, ker ste
vi na naši ladji.«
72
“Me?”“Yes. Clearly the Acutins have guessed. That would explain it. They know of your presence here.”“Am I really so powerful that my presence could be important in all of this?”“I don’t know. We need you. I have received clear instructions about your importance to us. What I don’t know is exactly why you are important. I am still unable to compre-hend the full dimensions of your importance. Apart from that, it is also true that your are important to us as an Earthman. All Earthmen are important to us. These events, however, indicate that you are irre-placeable. Or at least diffi-cult to replace. And this is what I don’t understand.” Benesens seemed to con-sider for a moment. He looked at me and then at the hologram, and then stared fixedly ahead of him. But his gaze kept flitting somewhat absently
»Jaz?«
»Da. Očitno so Ostrini to
uganili. Da, to bo. Vedo za
vašo prisotnost tukaj.«
»Mar sem jaz taka sila, da
bi bila lahko pri vsem tem
pomembna moja priso-
tnost?«
»Ne vem. Potrebujemo
vas. Dovolj jasno mi je bilo
povedano o vaši pomemb-
nosti za nas. Ne vem pa
točno zakaj. Tudi sam si
še ne znam predstavljati
vašega pomena v celoti.
Sicer velja, da ste kot
Zemljan za na pomembni.
Vsi Zemljani so za nas
pomembni. Toda to doga-
janje kaže na vašo nenado-
mestljivost. Ali vsaj težko
nadomestljivost. Tega pa
ne razumem.« Dobročut
je po kratkem premišlja-
nju pogledal vame ter
spet v hologram, potem
pa se je zastrmel predse.
Toda pogled mu je rahlo
odsotno uhajal prek pri-
73
over the display; I could see that he was deep in thought. He was ponde-ring something.Then he turned slowly towards me, took in the expectant expression of my face and shook his head. “I do not know. But that is of no importance. It is clear, however, that the Acutins do know. And that is important.”
* * *
Our flight through the den-sely packed masses of the asteroids was a breakneck series of zigzags, and our speed was limited by the lateral inertia in the turns. Benesens was explaining the position to me. “They will soon be up
kaza; kot sem lahko videl,
je bil v zamaknjenem
premišljevanju. Nekaj je
tuhtal.
Potem se je počasi obrnil
k meni, preletel z očmi
izraz pričakovanja na
mojem obrazu ter zmajal
z glavo »Jaz ne vem. Toda
to ni pomembno. Ostrini
pa očitno vedo. In to je
pomembno.«
* * *
Vožnja mimo gosto razpo-
rejenih gmot je pomenila
vratolomno vijuganje, med
katerim so omejitev hitro-
sti postavljali bočni vztraj-
nostni pritiski v zavojih.
Dobročut mi je pojasnje-
val nastali položaj. »Kmalu
nas bodo dohiteli,« je dejal
74
with us,” he said, before going on with a confident smile: “But they are going to have other problems. This asteroid cloud con-tains a labyrinth of traps, security barriers and guided missile stations, which in normal circum-stances would certainly be enough. The problem is this incredible concentra-tion of forces.”“So what are our chan-ces?” I asked, beginning to feel anxious again.Benesens looked me up and down with an expres-sion of calm self-posses-sion. “That is something I really cannot predict now,” he replied.Everyone fell quiet. The main hologram display showed the whole of the asteroid cloud and the cha-sing fighters. In this dis-play, which ran the entire width of the command bridge window, we could see everything as though through a giant telescope.
ter nato z dokaj samozave-
stnim nasmehom nadalje-
val: »Bodo pa imeli druge
težave. V tem asteroidnem
oblaku je labirint pasti,
varnostnih zapor in posto-
jank z vodljivimi izstrelki,
kar bi nam v normalnih
okoliščinah prav gotovo
zadostovalo. Problem je
bolj v neverjetni koncen-
traciji sil.«
»In kakšne so po novem
naše možnosti?« sem vpra-
šal s porajajočim se tesnob-
nim občutkom.
Dobročut me je z izrazom
mirne prisebnosti preme-
ril s pogledom. »Tega pa
zdaj res ne morem predvi-
deti,« je odvrnil.
Vsi so utihnili. V osrednjem
hologramskem prikazo-
valniku se je kazal celo-
ten prostor asteroidnega
oblaka z zasledovalnimi
lovci vred. V tem prikazo-
valniku, prek celotnega
velikega okna v poveljni-
škem prostoru, smo vse
videli kakor skozi orjaški
daljnogled. Vse asteroide
75
We were able to see all the asteroids in our path before we got near them.The GNAT shudde-red. I caught the eye of a Sensin. “Fighters?”“Yes, they have caught up with us.”The energy bolts from the robo-fighters shook the ship in rapid succes-sion. Then our powerful laser cannon opened fire. Some of the leading figh-ters were instantly blasted into nothingness. But their places were immediately taken by others and the firing grew even more intense. It was no longer possible to save ammu-nition. Despite all the power of our laser cannon, the fighters were already starting to outflank us in a pincer movement, and even the simulated predic-tion on the main hologram display suggested the worse. Meanwhile a large swarm of fighters had appeared beneath us and
v smeri našega leta smo
lahko videli, še preden
smo se jim približali.
KOMAR se je stresel. Pogle-
dal sem Čutina. »Lovci?«
»Da, dohiteli so nas.«
Zadetki robolovcev so nas
stresali v kratkih presled-
kih. Potem so udarili po
njih naši laserski topovi,
in to z dovolj veliko močjo,
da nam je nekaj lovcev v
ospredju izginilo iz vida
v hipnem razblinjenju.
Vendar so jih takoj nado-
mestili drugi, v še bolj
besni strelski vnemi. Var-
čevanje s strelivom ni bilo
več možno. Kljub vsej moči
naših laserskih topov pa
so nas lovci že prehitevali
v obkolitvenem manevru
ob straneh in tudi simuli-
rana napoved v osrednjem
hologramskem prikazo-
valniku nam je kazala
slabo. Medtem se nam je
od spodaj prikradla večja
jata lovcev in se začela dvi-
76
was climbing to cut us off. We went into a steep climb and evaded them with a rapid change of course. We were still free but a second swarm of fighters was already right up with us on our starboard side. We spiralled away from them and flashed past a giant asteroid, and then a second and a third. Despite our successful evasive manoeuvre, the central hologram display showed the circle closing around us, leaving no escape route except per-haps in the top right qua-drant where the cloud of fighters was slightly less dense. We immediately headed in that direction, but the pursuing fighters altered course as well. All our laser cannon were now pointing forwards. We held our breath. “There are even more fighters heading to cut us off on the outside!” a Sensin by the holo-display shouted in surprise. “They
gati v presek našega leta.
Obrnili smo se navzgor,
se jim s hitro spremembo
smeri izognili, še smo bili
prosti, toda tik zraven, na
naši desni, nas je dohitela
druga jata lovcev. Uma-
knili smo se v spiralnem
letu, zleteli tik ob velikem
asteroidu, potem mimo
drugega, tretjega.
V osrednjem hologramu se
nam je kljub uspešnemu
izmikanju kazala vse bolj
sklenjena obkolitev brez
praznega prostora za nada-
ljevanje leta, razen morda
zgoraj desno, kjer je bila
nekoliko manjša gostota
lovcev. Takoj smo se usme-
rili tja, toda tudi zasledo-
valni lovci so storili enako.
Vse laserske topove smo
usmerili v smer leta.
Vsem nam je zastal dih.
»Po zunanji strani se je
še več lovcev usmerilo v
zaporo našega leta,« je pre-
senečeno vzkliknil Čutin
ob hologramu. »Tudi oni
77
must have had their own routes through the asteroid cloud!” His neighbour spread his arms helplessly: “They are so far ahead of us! But – they are almost in range of our roborockets!”“Yes, the hologram dis-play confirms it. Look, you can see it already. Help is coming. Our robo-rockets!”“It’s going to be a free-for-all. Thousands of dogfi-ghts.”“We’ll all be in it together. That is clear. Our bre-akthrough is going to be a question of millimetres.”“We can’t fly through that chaos! We’ll smash into the wreckage – theirs and ours!”“Stand by to receive orders!” Captain Harstan’s voice interrupted the spe-culations about our chan-ces. “We are about to begin our breakthrough through the weakened part of the encircling forces.”The holo-display showed
morajo imeti urejene poti
skozi asteroidni oblak!«
Njegov sosed pa je dodal
z nemočno razširjenimi
rokami: »Tako daleč naprej
so! Toda - saj to je že v bli-
žini dosega naših robora-
ket!«
»Da, hologramski prikaz to
dopušča. Da, saj se že vidi.
Pomoč prihaja. Naše robo-
rakete!«
»Nastal bo metež tisočerih
dvobojev.«
»Vsi bomo na kupu. To je
očitno. Milimetrske razda-
lje bodo odločale o našem
preboju.«
»Skozi tak metež ne
moremo leteti! Zaletavali
se bomo v njihove in naše
razbitine!«
»Povelje posadki!« je glas
kapitana Harstana pre-
sekal pogovore o naših
manevrskih možnostih.
»Začenjamo preboj skozi
oslabljeni del obkolitvenih
sil.«
V holiju se nam je kazala
78
the distribution of the fighters in the area selec-ted for the breakthrough. Everything was illustra-ted very precisely, with all distances and sizes pro-perly to scale: our ship and every fighter at an exact distance from it.“Computer, highlight the selected fighters!” ordered the captain. “Each laser canon has a precise target. By blasting away the figh-ters we will cut a way through the barricade.”The laser cannons locked onto the highlighted figh-ters, tracing a cut through the blockade on the holo-display.The visual simulations generated on the basis of the computer’s predicti-ons showed a hologram image of the GNAT at the point of intersection of all the converging flight paths: those of our ship, our roborockets, the figh-ters approaching from our flank and the pursuing fighters on our tail. This
razporeditev lovcev na
območju predvidenega
preboja. Zelo natančno je
bilo vse ponazorjeno v raz-
merju razdalj in velikosti,
naša ladja in vsak lovec v
natančni oddaljenosti od
nje.
»Računalnik naj obarva
označene lovce!« je ukazal
poveljnik. »Za vsak laserski
top je cilj točno določen. Z
razstrelitvijo lovcev bomo
presekali zaporo.«
Laserski topovi so se usme-
rili v izbrane obarvane
lovce, ki so v hologramu
začrtali rez skozi našo
zaporo.
Hologramski prikaz leta
našega KOMARJA je v
simuliranih napovedih
računalniško izračuna-
nega predvidevanja obstal
na presečišču vseh smeri:
naše, naših roboraket, z
boka prihajajočih lovcev
in zasledovalnih lovcev
tik za nami.
79
is where the impact would occur: thousands and tho-usands of individual enga-gements of uncertain out-come, a blizzard of ships in single combat, a swarm of enemies joined together in a giant conflict, and our planned breakthrough. The hologram image disa-ppeared. “Impossi-ble to predict outcome,” was the curt message from the main computer. “Silence please!” said the computer, and we heard the captain’s voice again: “Put on your spacesuits. We are going to release the air from all compart-ments because of the high likelihood of penetration of our protective fields and the ship’s armour. In all probability this will not be fatal for us. The important thing is the breakthro-ugh. Even if the whole front section of the ship is destroyed, we still have a chance, because our war-ships or robot-controlled rescue rockets will pick us up on other side.”
Na presečišču bo nastal
nalet, na tisoče spopa-
dov z nejasnim izidom,
metež dvobojev, vrvež v
orjaškem spopadu ter naš
nameravani preboj. Prikaz
holograma se je razblinil.
»Napoved nadaljnjega raz-
pleta ni možna,« je kratko
zaključil osrednji računal-
nik.
»Prosim za tišino!« se je
oglasil osrednji računal-
nik, kapitan pa je nadalje-
val: »Oblecite skafandre,
ker bomo iz vseh prosto-
rov izpustili zrak zaradi
velike verjetnosti preboja
naših zaščitnih polj in
ladijskega oklepa, kar po
vsej verjetnosti še ne bo
usodno za nas. Pomemben
je preboj. Tudi ob razbitju
vsega sprednjega dela se
lahko posadka reši, ker
nas bodo na drugi strani
že ujele naše bojne ladje
oziroma reševalne robora-
kete.«
80
“Spacesuits give us mobi-lity and enable us to fall back from a danger zone. If part of the ship is destro-yed, this becomes very important,” explained Benesens.I nodded. We were going to need them, by the look of things. I walked over to the wall. In two, perhaps three seconds ten robo-tic hands had dressed me from head to foot. “Wow, that was quick!”“Fighters within laser cannon range! Fire!” The commander gave the order. The same moment we were hit by a charge of energy. We fired at one fighter, avoided another group of attackers with a rapid diving turn round an asteroid, and suddenly an incredible scene appeared before our eyes: thousands of roborockets engaging the enemy fighters. “Our roborockets!” Help had arrived. The roborockets were attac-king the Acutin fighters.
»Skafandri omogočajo
gibljivost, umik z ogrože-
nega področja, to pa je pri
uničenju posameznega
dela ladje pomembno,« je
pojasnil Dobročut.
Prikimal sem. Potrebovali
jih bomo, vse kaže. Stopil
sem k steni, tam so me v
dveh, treh sekundah oble-
kle robotske roke, deset
rok hkrati, od nog do
glave. »Huh, to je bilo pa
hitro!« sem lahko samo še
ugotavljal.
»Lovci na dosegu laser-
skih topov! Streljaj!« smo
zaslišali poveljnikov glas.
V istem hipu nas je zadel
energetski naboj. Ustrelili
smo proti lovcu, skupini
lovcev smo se izmaknili
v hitrem zavoju mimo
asteroida, in že smo lahko
gledali veličasten prizor,
spopad tisočev roboraket
z lovci.
»Naše roborakete!« Pomoč
je prišla. Roborakete so se
spopadle z lovci Ostrinov.
Na tisoče in tisoče laser-
81
Thousands of crisscrossing laser beams, striking their targets and heating the ships’ armour until they exploded. All around us the blinding light of explo-ding fighters and robo-rockets. There were ships everywhere we looked and countless explosions, and we were flying strai-ght into the middle of this chaos. We had to break through it, but we could see no way past. We would never get through without colliding. That was the only certainty. The bolts from the laser cannon of the chasing fighters had heated our hull to an incan-descent whiteness, and an even greater danger now threatened from ahead: the front section of the hull would not be able to with-stand all the collisions.“Fall back, to the escape pods! Fire control and navigation to automatic!”We all rushed back imme-diately. It was our last
skih žarkov se je križalo,
zadevalo cilje in razža-
revalo oklepe do eksplo-
zije. Vse naokrog nas je
obdajala slepeča svetloba
razstreljenih lovcev in
roboraket, kamor koli smo
pogledali, povsod je bilo
eno samo preletavanje,
množica eksplozij, mi pa
smo leteli naravnost v ta
metež. Prebiti bi se morali
skozenj, toda nič prostega
prostora za let se nam ni
kazalo. Brez trčenja se ne
bomo prebili. Edino to je
bilo jasno. Tedaj so nam
zasledovalni lovci s streli
iz svojih laserskih topov
razžarili trup do slepečega
sija, od spredaj pa nam je
pretila še večja nevarnost,
ker sprednji del trupa ne
bo vzdržal vseh trčenj.
»Umaknimo se nazaj, v
reševalne rakete! Nadzor
nad orožjem in smerjo leta
prevzema osrednji raču-
nalnik!«
Vsi smo se takoj pognali
nazaj. Bil je zadnji čas.
82
chance. The fragments of shattered fighters and roborockets ahead of us were getting denser all the time. A powerful explo-sion shook the floor bene-ath our feet, so violently that a number of Sensins fell to the floor, while others stumbled over their sprawling comrades in their rush to escape. Just as I reached the exit I tri-pped over a Sensin on the floor and as I fell I caught a fleeting glimpse of a figh-ter crashing into the front section of the ship. An explosion ripped the walls apart. I managed to pick myself up and set off after the fleeing Sensins. There was another jolt, once again the floor was jerked out from under us and once again we stumbled, fell and picked ourselves up. Clinging desperately to the walls, I crawled along and finally reached the escape pod along with a crowd of Sensins. One after the other, we jumped aboard.
Ostanki razbitin razstre-
ljenih lovcev in robora-
ket na naši poti so bili
vse gostejši. Tedaj nam je
močna eksplozija spod-
maknila tla pod nogami,
in to tako silovito, da se je
nekaj Čutinov kar zvalilo
po tleh, medtem ko so se
drugi med begom v ozadje
spotikali ob kotaleče se
tovariše. Tik pred izho-
dom sem se še sam spota-
knil ob Čutina na tleh in
med prevračanjem lahko
le bežno zaznal, da nam je
nalet lovca v sprednji del
z eksplozijo prebil stene.
Toda uspel sem se pobrati
in pognal sem se za beže-
čimi Čutini. Sledil je nov
sunek, novo spodnašanje
tal pod nogami, spet smo
se spotikali, padali in se
ponovno pobirali. Krče-
vito sem se oprijemal sten,
se plazil in v gneči skupaj
s Čutini končno dosegel
reševalno raketo, v katero
smo takoj poskakali drug
za drugim.
83
“Ready to launch!” shou-ted a visibly shaken Sensin with his finger on the tri-gger of the rocket drive, but a shout stopped him:“Wait! Not so fast! Dama-ged or not, the ship’s armo-ured hull is still protecting us from all the flying wrec-kage. We’re in the middle of a battle!”Our escape pod, one of four, remained in readi-ness as we waited for the right moment.“The laser cannon and the main drive are out of action!” This was the voice of the main computer. “We have broken through the sector where the fighting is thickest. If you choose the optimum moment to launch, the escape pods will stand a chance of getting away. Good luck! Farewell!”I gripped the armrests of my seat. The launch would be quick. Nice of the main computer to sacrifice itself for us, I thought.We felt a violent jolt. The
»Pripravljeni za izstrelitev!«
je vzkliknil vidno pretre-
sen Čutin s prstom na spro-
žilcu raketnega pogona, a
ga je zadržal vzklik:
»Čaaakaj! Ne prehitevaj!
Razbita ali ne, z okloplje-
nim trupom nam še vedno
daje zaščito ob naletu v
razbitine. V sredini spo-
pada smo!«
Naša reševalna raketa,
ena od štirih, je obstala v
pripravljenosti na ugoden
trenutek.
»Laserski topovi in pogon
so uničeni!« To je bil glas
osrednjega računalnika.
»Prebili smo se skozi naj-
gostejši bojni metež. Pri
optimalno izbranem tre-
nutku izstrelitve je beg
naših reševalnih raket
lahko uspešen. Želim vam
srečno pot! Zbogom!«
Oprijel sem se ročaja svo-
jega sedeža. Izstrelitev bo
hitra. Lepo od osrednjega
računalnika, da se žrtvuje
za nas, sem še pomislil.
Sledil je silovit sunek.
84
whole front section of the launch bay flew off, ope-ning such a large gap that we had a view of a group of asteroids in front of us. Then the powerful acce-leration pushed me back in my seat as the escape pod launched. Within moments we were flying past broken-off sections of our ship and streaking towards a dense cluster of asteroids. The right place for our little pods. Like a little sparrow darting into a thicket to escape birds of prey. Miniature holo-grams by our seats soon showed the explosions of the pursuing craft as they smashed into the astero-ids. There now came a few nerve-racking minutes of dizzying turns that sent the blood rushing to my tem-ples, then to my feet, and back to my head again, but then the motion calmed down and we flew along more easily. We were safe. The hologram no longer showed any pursuers. We
Ves sprednji del prostora
pred reševalnimi rake-
tami je odletel v tako
velikem kosu, da se nam
je odprl pogled proti
skupini asteroidov pred
nami. Tedaj me je pritisnil
ob sedež silovit pospešek
ob izstrelitvi naše reše-
valne rakete in že smo
zleteli mimo odtrganih
kosov našega plovila ter
švignili proti gosti gruči
asteroidov. Pravi kraj za
naše majhne rakete. Tu
bo pravi prostor za beg
vrabca pred ujedami
skozi grmovje. In res smo
v majhnih hologramih
ob svojih sedežih kmalu
zaznali eksplozije pri
trčenjih zasledovalnih
letal v asteroide. Potem
je sledilo še nekaj minut
negotovosti in spiralnih
poletov z udarjanjem
krvi v glavo, pa v noge ter
spet v glavo, nakar je naš
let postajal vse bolj umir-
jeno lagoden. Bili smo
varni. Tudi v hologramu
ni bilo več videti zasledo-
valcev. Otresli smo se jih.
85
had shaken them off. At last! We cheered enthu-siastically at the sight of the clear route through the remainder of the asteroid belt. This part of the aste-roid cloud must be in the domain of the Sensins, I thought. The murmuring and exclamations subsided and we held our breath expectantly until at last we entered the wide open space on the far side of the asteroid belt.“Wow!” The scene that opened up before us was magnificent and unexpec-ted. We were surprised, at any rate. Happiness and fear disappeared from our faces. Both at the same time. Our brains raced to adapt to this new situa-tion. “Well that really is some-thing!” said the Sensin who had provided the commentary by the holo-display on the ship. “So that’s how things stand now.”His neighbour nodded.
Končno! Navdušeno smo
vzkliknili ob pogledu
na odprto pot skozi pre-
ostali del asteroidnega
pasu. Vsaj ta del astero-
idnega oblaka je moral
biti v domeni Čutinov.
Mrmranje in vzkliki so se
polegli v pričakovanju in
zadržanem dihu vse do
končnega vstopa v širok
odprt prostor na drugi
strani asteroidnega pasu.
»Uaaa!« Pred nami se je
kazal prizor, veličasten
in nepričakovan. Vseeno
nas je presenetilo. Z naših
obrazov sta izginila veselje
in strah. Oboje hkrati. Le
misli so nam letele skozi
možgane s podvojeno
hitrostjo.
»Ta je pa dobra!« je spre-
govoril Čutin, ki je izrekal
pripombe ob hologramu
na ladji. »Torej je zadeva
zdaj taka.«
Njegov sosed je prikimal.
86
“Yes!” His voice soun-ded somehow absent, but suddenly he spoke with more animation. “How, actually? What does that mean?”I was struggling to find an explanation myself. The scene that spread before our eyes was the exact opposite of what had gone before and contradicted all our expectations. No-one had mentioned this possi-bility. And yet they could have imagined it. The Sen-sins, with all their intelli-gence, could surely have predicted this. Or perhaps not? Thousands and thousands of warships floated in a variety of geometric figu-res around a giant space station bathed in an iride-scent glow. It must have measured several tens of kilometres across: a veri-table city. I caught my breath and exhaled slowly. Those were Sensin and Acutin warships, in equal numbers. At least that’s
»Da!« To je izustil bolj odso-
tno, nakar je nenadoma
prišlo iz njega še nekaj več
življenja. »Kakšna pravza-
prav? Kaj to pomeni?«
Premišljal sem v iskanju
najboljše razlage. Vse, kar
se je razgrinjalo našemu
pogledu, je bilo povsem
v nasprotju s prejšnjim
dogajanjem in pričako-
vanji. Nihče ni omenil te
možnosti. Pa vendar bi
lahko pomislili nanjo. Vsaj
Čutini bi to s svojo bistro-
stjo lahko predvideli. Ali
pa tudi ne?
Tisoče in tisoče bojnih
ladij je bilo v raznih geo-
metrijskih likih razvršče-
nih okrog orjaške vesolj-
ske postaje, razsvetljene s
prelivajočim se barvnim
sijem. Več deset kilome-
trov je morala meriti v
premeru, pravo mesto.
Zajel sem sapo in puhnil v
dolgem izdihu. Bojne ladje
tako Čutinov kot Ostrinov,
v enakem razmerju, vsaj
87
what it looked like. They lay there in perfect peace. And yet they must have been watching each other. Be that as it may, both sides had their warships moored there. In peace? There must be some kind of dialogue or conference going on between them, I thought. The pod’s hologram dis-play came to life and showed a group of Sensin commanders – so I gathe-red from the comments of the Sensins around me – with a dignified looking man in the foreground, who proceeded to address us:“Welcome! You have accomplished a succes-sful breakthrough. Con-gratulations!” A bright smile flashed spontaneou-sly across his face. “A job well done!” There was something foxy about this man, it occur-red to me. Nevertheless I was happy to share the satisfaction of the Sensins in the pod.
videti je bilo tako. Zasi-
drane so bile v popolnem
miru. In vendar se morajo
medsebojno nadzorovati.
Kakor koli, obe strani sta
imeli tam zasidrane svoje
bojne ladje. In to v miru?
Nekak dialog, nekakšno
dogovarjanje je že moralo
potekati med njimi, sem
pomislil.
V raketnem hologramskem
prikazovalniku se nam je
pokazala skupina Čutinov
iz našega poveljstva, kot
sem sklepal po pripom-
bah Čutinov, z možakom
dostojanstvenega videza v
ospredju, ki nas je nagovo-
ril:
»Pozdravljeni! Izvedli ste
uspešen preboj. Česti-
tam!« Na njegovem obrazu
je zaplesal spontano živ
nasmeh. »Dobro opra-
vljeno delo!«
Nekaj lisjaškega je na tem
možaku, se mi je utrnil
pomislek. Vseeno pa sem
rade volje delil zadovolj-
stvo s Čutini v raketi.
88
“We shall hold a dinner in your honour with lots of guests!”This met with a lively and approving response. The events we had just expe-rienced, with all the risks and the emotions that went with them, were to be fol-lowed by a social gathering and a dinner. Wonderful!“Naturally we will also have to invite the Acu-tins.”The pod fell silent. The Acutins, of course. That seemed understandable. At least given the current position.“What is actually going on?” said a voice behind me.The dignified Sensin did not appear surprised at the question, and smiled with eloquent self-assurance: “As you know, we are always trying to reach agreements on coopera-tion with the Acutins. Even now. But some things, as you yourselves have seen, go their own way, no?”
»Priredili vam bomo sve-
čano večerjo z večjim šte-
vilom gostov!«
Sledil je živ in odobravajoč
odziv. Zadnjim dogodkom,
z vsemi tveganji in s spre-
minjajočimi se občutki, bo
sledilo družabno srečanje
z večerjo. Krasno!
»Seveda bomo morali pova-
biti tudi Ostrine.«
V raketi je nastala tišina.
Ostrine, da. Delovalo je
razumljivo. Vsaj glede na
trenutni položaj.
»Kaj se pravzaprav dogaja?«
je priletel klic iz ozadja.
Dostojanstveni Čutin ni
kazal presenečenja nad
zastavljenim vprašanjem,
ko se je nasmehnil z zgo-
vorno samozavestjo: »Kot
veste, smo z Ostrini vedno
v dogovorih o sodelova-
nju. Tudi zdaj. Nekatere
stvari, kot ste sami videli,
pa gredo svojo pot, kajne?«
89
The Sensin gave a slight bow. “We shall meet at dinner!” he said by way of farewell and drew back from the holo-display.“Well, you heard,” said the talkative Sensin from the back of the pod in a loud, complacent voice. “We are back from our journey.” And everything was all right.
Čutin se je narahlo pri-
klonil. »Na svidenje na
večerji!« je še dejal v slovo
ter se umaknil iz holija.
»Kot ste slišali,« je s pou-
darjeno privzdignjenim
glasom in samovšečno
zaradi lastnega nastopa
veselo povzel zgovorni
Čutin iz ozadja naše rešilne
rakete, »se mi zdaj vračamo
s svoje poti. Sicer pa je vse
v redu.
90
Chapter V
The speech by the repre-sentative of the Sensins was respectfully offi-cial, just like the Acutin’s thanks for the invitation to the dinner. Once the intro-ductory words were over, the conversation between the Acutins and Sensins moved to the tables. I watched them with inte-rest. Both groups. A cer-tain restraint was evident. There was no laughter, but nevertheless they were chatting easily. It was the same at my table, where the Acutins even made some slightly cynical com-ments about the comfort of our journey. Conversation flowed among the Sensins themselves and with the Acutins.
Once the dinner was over, my attention was attrac-ted by a group of Sensins
V. poglavje
Nagovor predstavnikov
Čutinov je bil ob uvodnih
besedah spoštljivo uraden,
enako kot Ostrinova
zahvala za povabilo na
večerjo, takoj zatem pa se
je pogovor med Ostrini in
Čutini preselil za omizja. Z
zanimanjem sem jih opa-
zoval. Tako ene kot druge.
Videti je bilo določeno
zadržanost, brez smeha,
toda pomenkovali so se
vendarle. Tudi za mojim
omizjem, kjer smo s strani
Ostrinov dobili celo nekaj
rahlo ciničnih pripomb na
račun udobnosti našega
potovanja, je potekal
pogovor tako med samimi
Čutini kot tudi z Ostrini.
Kmalu po večerji pa je
mojo pozornost pritegnila
skupina Čutinov s svojim
91
who seemed to be looking more and more frequently in my direction. The way they bent their heads toge-ther as they talked seemed to reveal some secret pur-pose. And it must have been something to do with me, or they would not have kept looking at me. I began watching them more carefully. They noti-ced this immediately, and with slight movements of their heads seemed to be trying to indicate to me that something important was about to happen. Then one of them left the group, walked to the other side of the hall and continued walking until I lost him from view. I searched the hall but it was no good. I could no longer find him. I looked back at the origi-nal group. This friendly gathering over dinner was in all likelihood at an end. At least as far as I could tell. I looked at the Acutins again. Their conversations with the Sensins were pro-
vse pogostejšim pogledo-
vanjem proti meni. Neka
prikrita namera se mi je
razkrivala v njihovem skla-
njanju glav med pomen-
kovanjem. In prav mene
je moralo to zadevati, saj
se sicer ne bi ozirali vame,
tako da sem jih še sam začel
pazljiveje opazovati, kar so
očitno takoj zaznali in mi z
rahlimi namigi glav naka-
zovali pomembnost nadalj-
njega dogajanja. Nato pa
se je eden odmaknil od
skupine, se sprehodil na
drugo stran dvorane ter še
naokrog, dokler ga nisem
izgubil iz vida. Preletel
sem s pogledom po dvo-
rani, toda zaman. Nisem ga
več mogel najti. Ponovno
sem se ozrl v prvotno sku-
pinico. To prijateljsko sre-
čanje ob večerji je bilo po
vsej verjetnosti pri koncu.
Vsaj sodeč po tem, kar sem
lahko dojel iz vsega skupaj.
Pogledal sem še k Ostri-
nom. Njihovi pogovori s
Čutini so potekali v miru,
92
ceeding peacefully and quietly. If anything they seemed even more relaxed. That was my impression. Nothing about this eve-ning event suggested that there was a serious quarrel between them. Oh yes: that old question of this quar-rel of theirs. What was it about? Whatever it was, after everything I had just experienced on my jour-ney here, this social gathe-ring could only mean a short pause before further hostilities.Once again I looked around the hall and studied the faces of the guests. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the Sensin I had lost sight of a little earlier. He was coming towards me, although he was still looking away. I looked away too, and stared in front of me as I waited for him to approach. He stepped up to me and whispered: “We’ve done it. Everything is ready. A fast ship is already wai-
nemoteno, celo vse bolj
sproščeno, vsaj na videz.
Vtis je bil pač tak. Iz tega
večernega srečanja bi bolj
težko sklepal na hujši spor
med njimi. Hja, mi je spet
prišlo v ospredje staro
vprašanje, ta njihov spor.
V čem neki je? Kakorkoli,
po vsem, kar sem pravkar
doživel na tej poti, je to
večerno srečanje lahko
pomenilo le kratek predah
pred nadaljnjimi zaostri-
tvami.
Ponovno sem s pogledom
obšel dvorano in obraze
gostov ter s kotičkom
očesa ujel tistega Čutina,
ki sem ga malo prej izgubil
iz vida. K meni je bil name-
njen, čeprav je še zmeraj
gledal stran. Tudi sam sem
umaknil pogled od njega
in se v pričakovanju zazrl
predse, vse dokler mi ni
pristopil in šepnil: »Uspelo
nam je. Vse je pripravljeno.
Tudi dovolj hitra ladja nas
93
ting for us. Slip out unob-served and make your way towards the structure marked with a double ‘W’. One of our people will be waiting for you there.”
I nodded. It looked as though things were about to start moving again. A little too soon, perhaps, because I was keen to get into conversation with the Acutins. I needed to get to know them a little better too. The atmosphere here was just right for a spon-taneous conversation. Things were getting incre-asingly sociable, and some Acutins were already looking curiously in my direction, although their looks were slightly diffe-rent: more appraising.I stood up. I had no time left for a conversation with them, which was actually a pity. At least some of the replies of the Acutins had attracted my attention. I was already walking towards the exit when a
že čaka. Neopazno se
izmuzni skozi izhod in
naprej do zgradbe z dvoj-
nim W, kjer te bo že čakal
eden naših.«
Prikimal sem. Spet je
kazalo na hitrejši potek
dogajanja. Celo malo pre-
hiter, ker me je namreč
vleklo v pogovor z Ostrini.
Tudi nje bi moral še malo
bolje spoznati, vzdušje za
spontani pogovor je bilo
tu kar primerno, vse bolj
družabno, pa tudi nekateri
Ostrini so že prav rado-
vedno pogledovali proti
meni, čeprav je bil njihov
pogled nekoliko drugačen,
bolj ocenjujoč.
Vstal sem. Ni mi ostalo več
časa za pogovor z njimi,
kar je bilo pravzaprav
škoda. Vsaj nekateri odzivi
Ostrinov so mi vse bolj
pritegovali pozornost. Že
sem stopil k izhodu, ko se
94
smiling Acutin – about my height but of a sligh-ter build – came up to me, looked at me with curio-sity and said: “You’re not a Sensin are you?”I stopped. Outwardly the Sensins were no different from me. At least I had not noticed any notable dif-ferences. But this Acutin had guessed anyway, even though he shouldn’t have done. A remembered phrase flashed through my mind like a warning: “If the Acutins knew of your importance to us, they would have attacked us even more fiercely!”I smiled at the Acutin. “Is there something bothering you about me?”“No, no. Don’t take it the wrong way. It is merely my capacity to recognise the truth that interests me.”“And what have you lear-ned?” I asked, to avoid giving a direct answer about my connection with the Sensins.“No, no. There’s nothing
mi je približal smehljajoči
se Ostrin, približno moje
velikosti, le bolj suh, in
me med nekam zvedavim
pogledovanjem nagovoril:
»Vi niste Čutin, kajne?«
Obstal sem. Na zunaj se
Čutini niso razlikovali
od mene. Vsaj sam nisem
opazil nobene omembe
vredne drugačnosti. Ta
Ostrin pa je vseeno uganil,
čeprav ne bi bil smel. Kot
v opozorilo so mi skozi
spomin prešle besede:
»Če bi Ostrini poznali vaš
pomen za nas, bi napadli
še dosti bolj srdito!«
Nasmehnil sem se Ostrinu:
»Vas kaj moti na meni?«
»Ne, ne. Nič slabega nimam
v mislih. Zgolj moje spo-
sobnosti preverjanja me
zanimajo.«
»In kaj ste ugotovili?« sem
dejal v izogib odkritemu
odgovoru glede pripadno-
sti Čutinom.
»Ne, ne. Nič ni narobe.
95
wrong. It’s just that I know the Sensins pretty well. I have spent quite a lot of time with them, in their company. You’re an Earthman, aren’t you?”“Hmm!” I looked at him doubtfully. Was his que-stion really well intentio-ned, and was this conver-sation really so innocent?“But something must have led you to your conclu-sion,” I continued with sli-ghtly heightened curiosity, while pretending to enjoy an entertaining conversa-tion.“Of course.” The Acutin was becoming increasin-gly confident. “We Acutins respond to events more directly, more appropria-tely to the current mood.” He laughed knowingly: “Sensins are a good deal more absent in their con-versations.”“Oh yes?” “Your tradition derives from a military upbringing, but the Sen-sins are more sensuous,
Le Čutine poznam že kar
dobro. Precej časa sem
preživel z njimi, v njihovi
družbi. Vi ste Zemljan,
kajne?«
»Hm!« Pogledal sem ga z
dvomom o dobronamer-
nosti njegovega vpraša-
nja oziroma z dvomom
o nepomembnosti tega
pogovora.
»Toda nekaj vas je moralo
navesti na vašo ugotovi-
tev,« sem nadaljeval z rahlo
poudarjeno radovedno-
stjo med igranim zado-
voljstvom nad zabavnim
pogovorom.
»Seveda.« Ostrin je posta-
jal vse bolj samozavesten.
»Mi Ostrini se na dogajanja
odzivamo bolj neposredno,
bolj primerno trenutnemu
razpoloženju.« Nakar se
je zasmejal s pomenljivim
prizvokom: »Čutini so v
pogovorih dosti bolj odso-
tni.«
»Aja?« sem zategnil. »Vaša
tradicija izhaja iz vojaške
vzgoje, Čutini pa so bolj
čutni, z nekaj več umetni-
96
with something of the absentmindedness of the artist. So do I seem more combative?”“No, no, you seem perfec-tly normal.”Two Sensins standing nearby, who must have overheard our conversa-tion, moved closer. With visible briskness, or even boisterousness, one of them mentioned recent events with a hint at the “shooting match” during our encounter with their fighters, while the other chimed in cheerfully with his own acknowledgement of the Acutins’ successful introduction of martial thinking at the level of highly developed civilisa-tions. The Acutin shook his head: “With that old story about our tradition you are merely evading the issue. You can’t deceive me. There is something amiss with you, or you would not have brought this Earthman here. We
ške odsotnosti. Torej delu-
jem bolj militantno?«
»Ne, ne, delujete povsem
normalno.«
Tedaj sta se primaknila
sosednja Čutina, ki sta
morala ujeti najin pogo-
vor. Z vidno živahnostjo,
pravzaprav že kar razpo-
sajenostjo, je eden od njiju
omenil zadnje dogodke z
namigom na ‘strelsko pri-
reditev’ ob našem srečanju
z njihovimi lovci, drugi pa
se je vedro vmešal s svojim
priznanjem Ostrinom za
njihovo uspešno uvajanje
militantnega razmišljanja
na stopnji visoko razvitih
civilizacij.
Ostrin je odkimaval: »S to
vašo lajno na račun naše
tradicije se zgolj izmikate.
Ne boste me preslepili.
Nekaj vam gre narobe,
sicer ne bi pripeljali tega
Zemljana. Bomo že ugoto-
97
will find out why you need him. You have miscalcula-ted somewhere.”The Acutin moved away. In fact he had been loo-king somewhat uncomfor-table for a while, as though there was still something he wanted to say. As he looked appraisingly first at me and then at the Sensins I could clearly see that he was less and less keen to continue the conversation, before he finally took his leave.“Let’s go! They’re waiting for us,” said the Sensin next to me, looking cautiously round to see if anyone was watching, and indicating to me that we should move unobtrusively towards the exit.
vili, zakaj ga potrebujete.
Nekje ste se ušteli.«
Nato se je Ostrin uma-
knil. Sicer se je pred tem
nekam neodločno presto-
pal, kot da mu še nekaj leži
na jeziku, in pri tem oce-
njujoče pogledoval zdaj
mene, zdaj Čutina z vse
manj veselja nad nadalj-
njim pogovorom, kot sem
lahko jasno razbral, dokler
se končno ni poslovil.
»Gremo! Čakajo nas, « je
med oprezujočim ozira-
njem po morebitnih prita-
jenih pogledih dejal Čutin
ob meni ter mi z nami-
gom dal znamenje, naj se
skrivoma pomaknemo k
izhodu.
98
Chapter VI
The Sensin in front of me leaned forwards and launched himself at the hologram of the door. He flew through it in a long, easy flight, despite the gravity pulling him down. Once on the other side of the transparent barrier he stopped and floated there, making slow movements. He levelled himself sli-ghtly and then, free of gravity, descended in a circling turn towards the spiral.“This is the entrance spiral with seventy-seven doors,” explained Benesens. “All of them are opened by passwords and the solving of problems for which cer-tain skills and special kno-wledge are required.”Meanwhile the Sensin in the foreground had alre-ady come to a halt outside the first closed door and
VI. poglavje
Čutin pred mano se je
nagnil naprej in se odgnal
proti hologramu vrat, skozi
katera je zletel z dolgim,
sprva s težnostjo obreme-
njenim letom, takoj na
drugi strani hologramsko
prikazane prozorne pre-
grade pa je najprej obstal v
lebdenju z upočasnjenimi
gibi, se še nekoliko zrav-
nal ter se nato, osvobojen
težnosti, spustil v krožnem
zavoju proti spirali.
»Tu je vhodna spirala s
77 vrati,« mi je pojasnil
Dobročut. »Vsa se odpirajo
z gesli in s sprotnim reše-
vanjem zastavljenih nalog,
za katere moraš imeti tako
določene sposobnosti kot
posebna znanja.«
Medtem je Čutin v ospredju
že zastal pred prvimi zapr-
timi vrati ter nas z zama-
hom roke pozval, naj
99
was waving at us to follow him. Then, standing in a semicircle three or four paces from the door, we reported our arrival.“Welcome!” The tran-slucent hologram of a dignified-looking female Sensin greeted us. “I must draw your attention to the necessity of knowing the passwords,” she said in an official tone of voice.The Sensins nodded, and I imitated them. “Please, proceed!” The hologram doorkeeper gave a slightly condescending bow and withdrew.“Right, let’s go!” said the Sensin next to me without wasting any time, and he stepped on through the slowly opening door.I followed him, with a mixture of caution and curiosity, all the way to the next door. This had even more unusual arches of stonelike appearance, with figures carved into them, although they were of some transparent mate-
mu sledimo. Potem smo
zbrani v polkrogu, tri ali
štiri korake stran od vrat,
sporočili svoj prihod.
»Dobrodošli!« nas je poz-
dravil presojni hologram-
ski prikaz neke Čutine
dostojanstvenega videza.
»Opozoriti vas moram na
zahtevo po poznavanju
gesel,« je dejala uradno.
Čutini so prikimali in jaz
sem jih posnemal.
»Izvolite stopiti naprej!«
Nato se je ta hologramska
vratarica umaknila z rahlo
vzvišenim priklonom.
»Prav, gremo!« je brez izgu-
bljanja časa dejal Čutin ob
meni in stopil naprej skozi
počasi odpirajoča se vrata.
Sledil sem mu, oprezujoče
in zvedavo z mešanimi
občutki, vse do naslednjih
vrat s še bolj nenavadnimi
oboki, kamnitega videza, z
vklesanimi liki, čeprav so
bila iz nekega presojnega
materiala s stalno spre-
100
rial that kept changing colour. “Do these tests relate to the group as a whole or are they also individual, for each of us separately?” I asked.“Don’t worry. We have anticipated everything. Naturally the tests are quite thorough and demanding, since this is the entrance to our largest energy fields, protected by millions of colossal robot-controlled missiles, which we cannot allow the Acu-tins to reach no matter how hard they try.” The Sensin smiled slyly: “And that is of course very hard indeed.”Have they already attemp-ted it?”“Yes, of course. They don’t have an energy dump as big as this. Almost half of all our energy reserves are here. They have even got as far as the entrance. But they couldn’t get any further, because they were stopped by the secu-
minjajočimi se barvnimi
odtenki.
»Ali se to preverjanje
nanaša na vso skupino v
celoti ali tudi posamezno,
na vsakega posebej?« sem
vprašal.
»Nikar ne skrbite. Vse smo
predvideli. Seveda pa je to
preverjanje precej teme-
ljito in zahtevno, ker je
tu vhod na naša največja
energetska polja, zavaro-
vana z milijardami orja-
ških robotiziranih izstrel-
kov, do katerih Ostrinov
ne smemo pustiti, pa če si
še tako prizadevajo.« Čutin
se je prebrisano nasmeh-
nil: »To pa si seveda zelo.«
»Ali so že poskušali?«
»Hja, seveda, saj tako
velikega skladišča sploh
nimajo. Skoraj polovica
vseh naših energetskih
rezerv je tukaj. Tudi do
vhoda so se že prebili.
Naprej pa niso mogli,
ker jih je ustavil varno-
stni zaščitni sistem. Prave
101
rity system. Impassable and impenetrable shells are arranged in layers all around the energy dump. Laser cannon capable of unleashing enormous energy are positioned at various points of the shells. Anyone wanting to break through these shells would have to have at least the same energy capacities, and that is a tall order because of the colossal masses involved. Even we were restricted by them when building these energy silos. It took us a considerable time to transport all the material here.”“So how were they able to get to the entrance?” I asked.“Well, they too are at an advanced level of deve-lopment. They managed to conceal the arrival of a powerful fleet using a simple technique, one that is familiar to us, that on this occasion, as a result of a combination of circum-
neprehodne in neprebojne
lupine so v plasteh posta-
vljene okrog in okrog. Po
njih so razporejeni laser-
ski topovi silnih energij.
Kdor bi hotel prebiti te
lupine, bi moral imeti vsaj
enake energetske zmoglji-
vosti, to pa je huda zahteva
zaradi orjaških mas, ki
so tudi nas omejevale pri
izgradnji teh energetskih
silosov. Precej časa nam je
pobral tudi prevoz vsega
materiala.«
»Kako pa, da so lahko prišli
do vhoda?« sem vprašal.
»No, ja, tudi oni so na visoki
stopnji razvoja. Uspelo jim
je prikriti prihod moč-
nega ladjevja s sicer nam
znano preprosto tehniko,
ki pa se jim je zaradi spleta
102
stances, actually succee-ded. They disintegrated their ships into tiny parti-cles and, moving them in at a carefully calculated speed in order to dece-ive us, they guided them to the entrance in appa-rently random clusters. Everything was arran-ged so that they could be reintegrated at a specific moment in the vicinity of the entrance. Some par-ticles flew more slowly, others more quickly, over quite large distances. They managed to create a misle-ading exterior which con-fused our computerised analysers into seeing diffe-rent, peaceful vessels. And so their warships gathe-red outside the entrance in such great numbers that our local forces were unable to hold out against them, although they did inflict heavy losses. Then a raiding party broke thro-ugh the security system at the entrance and made their way to where we are
okoliščin celo posrečila.
Svoje ladje so, razstavljene
na izjemno majhne delce,
v zavajajočih krivuljah in
s preračunano hitrostjo
leta v navidez razpršenih
gručah usmerili pred vhod.
Vse so naravnali na sestavi-
tev v določenem trenutku
v bližini vhoda. Pri tem so
posamezni delci leteli bolj
počasi, drugi hitreje, in to
v dokaj velikih razdaljah.
Uspeli pa so predvsem z
zavajajočo zunanjostjo, ki
je naše računalniške ana-
lizatorje speljala na prikaz
drugačnih, miroljubnih
plovil. Tako so se potem
njihove bojne ladje zbrale
pred našim vhodom v
tako velikem številu, da
jih naše lokalne sile niso
mogle zadržati, čeprav so
jim vseeno nanesle krepke
izgube. Potem so z diver-
zantskim napadom vdrli
skozi varnostni sistem ob
vhodu vse do sem, kjer
103
standing now, and quite a lot further too. They got through seventy-three tests and were only four away from the control panels. We were taken by surprise. Even now we do not know how they mana-ged to get hold of all the codes and the knowledge necessary to open the doors. They almost made it.”“But surely you had secu-rity protection inside?” I asked.“We did, and that is in fact why their plan failed. They stopped outside the seven-ty-fourth door because they couldn’t get through it. There are seventy-se-ven protective doors here, but only seventy-three of them are designed to protect against a break-in from outside. The other four are to prevent abuses from our side, for a system as important as this cannot be entrusted to any one individual, no matter how distinguished and above
sedaj stojimo, in še dosti
naprej. Kar skozi 73 pre-
verjanj so se prebili in le še
štiri so jih ločila od koman-
dnih pultov. Res so nas
nekoliko presenetili, saj še
sedaj ne vemo, kako so se
dokopali do vseh teh šifer
skupaj z nujnim znanjem
za odpiranje vrat. Skoraj bi
jim uspelo.«
»Mar v notranjosti niste
imeli varnostne zaščite?«
sem vprašal.
»Smo, saj zato jim nji-
hova namera vendarle ni
uspela. Pred 74. prehodom
so obstali, ker niso prišli
skozenj. 77 zaščitnih vrat
je tukaj, toda proti zuna-
njim vdorom jih je name-
njenih samo 73. Ostala
štiri so za preprečevanje
zlorab z naše strani, ker
tako pomembnega sis-
tema ne moremo zaupati
nobenemu posamezniku,
pa naj bo še tako ugleden
104
suspicion. We also had an entire garrison stationed outside the seventy-fourth door along with their com-manders.”“And what happened to them?”“The raiding party got as far as the seventy-fourth door.”“Did they take them priso-ner? Kill them?”“Yes! They exterminated all of them.” The Sensin shook his head. It was hard for him to accept. After a brief pause for thought, I took a deep breath: “Ah. They killed them? Hmm. So then the way was open to them?”“It’s not so simple. The last four security checkpoints may have been installed to prevent possible abuse by individuals on our side, but nevertheless they were there. Anyone wanting to get through them would have to undergo authen-tication. Otherwise they would be able to get their hands on the whole com-
in neoporečen. Tudi vso
posadko z vodstvom smo
imeli nameščeno pred 74.
Vhodom.«
»In kaj je bilo z njo?«
»Diverzantski vpad je segel
vse do 74. vrat.«
»So jih zajeli? Ubili?«
»Da! Vse so pokončali.«
Nato je Čutin odkimal.
Težko sprejemljivo dejstvo
je bilo to zanj. Jaz pa sem
po kratkem premisleku
globlje zajel sapo »Hja!
Pobili? Hm. Torej so imeli
prosto pot?«
»Tako preprosto pa le ni.
Zadnji štirje varnostni
prehodi so bili sicer res
nameščeni zaradi morebi-
tne zlorabe posameznikov
z naše strani, toda kakor
koli - bili so tam. Kdor koli
bi hotel skoznje, bi moral
prestati preverjanje. V
nasprotnem primeru ima
opraviti s celotnim raču-
105
puter system controlling the energy fields and pro-duction processes that also controls the energy dumps and the production of all types of weapons and robots with powerful logi-stical capabilities for auto-nomous warfare. For mili-tary interventions these robots are on a par with us, if not even better than us. But it is only possible to take control of the whole system via the central con-trol panel. Otherwise it’s no good. The Acutins must have reconciled themsel-ves to this fact when they tried unsuccessfully to decipher the codes. Later they blamed the short amount of time available, which is only partly true. Our district units naturally responded quickly to the call for help, but neverthe-less it was quite some time before they arrived. Sub-sequent analysis revealed that before the incursion the Acutins had carried out a series of simulati-
nalniškim miselnim siste-
mom energetskih polj in
proizvodnih procesov, ki
ima nadzor tudi nad skla-
dišči in izdelavo vseh vrst
orožij ter tudi robotov z
močnimi logistično raču-
nalniškimi zmogljivostmi
za samostojno bojevanje.
Za vojaške posege so ti
roboti enakovredni nam,
če niso še boljši od nas.
Prevzem nadzorstva nad
celotnim sistemom pa je
možen le prek osrednjega
komandnega pulta. Sicer je
vse zaman. S tem so se tudi
Ostrini morali sprijazniti,
ko so se neuspešno trudili
razvozlati šifrirne kode.
Pozneje so se izgovarjali na
kratko odmerjen razpolo-
žljivi čas, kar pa je le delno
res. Naše okoliške enote
so se seveda hitro odzvale
pozivu na pomoč, vendar
je kar nekaj časa minilo do
njihovega prihoda. Kajti po
naših kasnejših analizah
so Ostrini pred vpadom
izdelali vrsto simulacij za
106
ons of their break-in to the energy fields. On the basis of these simulations they would have anticipated both the time needed for decoding and the timing of the break-in. And they actually had this time at their disposal, several times over. But they were unable to break the codes. It is impossible to know whether they would have succeeded if they had had more time, but the fact is this was a serious blow to their pride. They were convinced that they would simply waltz through our protected entrances. But it didn’t work out”.“Well they did manage to get through the first seven-ty-three doors. And from what you have said, it seems that they did so very quickly,” I said, alluding to the by no means negligible capabilities of the Acutins. But with undiminished enthusiasm at the failure of the Acutins, the Sensin continued calmly: “They miscalculated. The
vdor v energetska polja
in na njihovi osnovi pred-
videli tako čas za dešifri-
ranje kot potek vdora do
komandnih pultov. In tega
časa so pravzaprav imeli
na voljo celo kar nekajkrat
več. Dešifriranje pa jim ni
uspelo. Sicer ostaja odprto,
ali bi jim po daljšem času
to vseeno uspelo narediti
ali ne, toda dejstvo je, da
je bil to hud udarec za nji-
hovo nadutost. Neomajno
so bili prepričani o hitrem
sprehodu skozi naše varo-
vane vhode. Pa ni šlo.«
»Skozi prvih 73 vrat pa se
jim je le uspelo prebiti. In
iz tega, kar ste povedali,
sklepam, da jim je to uspelo
zelo hitro,« sem navrgel z
namigom na ne tako slabe
sposobnosti Ostrinov.
Toda Čutin je v nezmanjša-
nem navdušenju nad neu-
spehom Ostrinov mirno
nadaljeval: »Ušteli so se.
107
failure of their raid also meant the failure of their attempt to get the upper hand over us. Or to be more accurate: despite all their careful preparations, it all went wrong for them. That is the most important thing.”I looked at the Sensin with a smile. Success would have given the Acutins an enormous advantage, I concluded from the Sensin’s reply. That was the feeling I got.“Have the Acutins got pro-blems because of a lack of energy? On Earth we have seen quite significant dif-ferences over gradual or rapid transitions to war,” I said, trying to show my understanding of this quarrel between these two civilisations, about which I still didn’t know very much.The Sensin looked at me in silence and then, with a slight shake of the head, looked away: “That’s not the reason. They have a
Z neuspehom diverzant-
skega vdora jim je spodle-
tel tudi poskus prevlade
nad nami oziroma, da bom
bolj natančen, kljub vsem
skrbnim pripravam jim je
vse skupaj spodletelo. To
je tisto, kar je najpomemb-
nejše.«
Z nasmehom sem pogledal
Čutina. Hudo prednost bi
lahko tovrsten uspeh pri-
nesel Ostrinom, sem skle-
pal po Čutinovem odzivu,
tak občutek sem namreč
dobil.
»Ali imajo Ostrini težave
zaradi pomanjkanje ener-
gije? Na Zemlji smo imeli
precej občutnih razha-
janj glede postopnega ali
hitrega prehoda v vojno,«
sem dejal v smislu nakaza-
nega razumevanja spora
teh dveh civilizacij, o kate-
rem še vedno nisem vedel
prav veliko.
Čutin je umolknil, se zagle-
dal vame ter nato z rahlim
odkimavanjem umaknil
pogled: »Ni stvar v tem. Bili-
jonkratno imajo pokrite
108
billion times more than they need, almost like us. Both sides have more than enough.”“So the energy fields are not the cause of the hosti-lity between your civilisa-tions?”“The differences between us arose from the incom-prehensible desire of the Acutins for predomi-nance, despite the fact that all needs, both theirs and ours, are covered a billion times over, since here there is enough of everything. They consider themselves a superior civilisation and believe that they are enti-tled to precedence and to control us and, consequen-tly, the Earth too. Their predominance would not be very propitious for you Earthmen either, since for them you are merely beings at a lower intel-lectual level. They beli-eve that they can allow you to evolve, but you do not represent any greater value to them. They would
potrebe, skoraj tako kot
mi. Oboji je imamo več kot
dovolj.«
»Torej energetska polja
niso vzrok sovražnosti
med vašima civilizaci-
jama?«
»Razhajanja so nastala iz
že kar nerazumljive želje
Ostrinov po prevladi,
kljub bilijonkratnemu pre-
sežku vseh potreb, tako
njihovih kot naših, ker je
tu vsega dovolj. Imajo se
za večvredno civilizacijo,
ki ji po njihovem mnenju
pripada prvenstvo z nad-
zorom nad nami in posle-
dično še nad Zemljo. Tudi
za vas Zemljane ne bi bila
njihova prevlada nič kaj
ugodna, ker ste zanje le
bitja na nižji intelektualni
ravni, ki jim po svojem
prepričanju lahko dopu-
stijo evolucijski razvoj,
toda večje vrednosti zanje
ne predstavljate. Nič vas
109
not miss you if you were to disappear or be destro-yed.”“And you have a diffe-rent attitude towards us Earthmen?” I looked at the Sensin.“Fundamentally different. However things are not that simple. Without living with us, an individual would not understand us, or would very probably get the wrong impression of us. On the other hand not much time is necessary to grow a little better acqua-inted with us. Even for you a week or two should be enough. Three weeks would certainly do it. But in these circumstances, with such turbulent events occurring, any explana-tion would involve lengthy interruptions. On the other hand, you Earthmen act according to your feelings, just as we do. But for such a decision, you have been provided with a minimum amount of knowledge even now.”
ne bi pogrešali v primeru
izginotja oziroma vašega
uničenja.«
»Ali imate vi drugačen
odnos do nas Zemljanov?«
sem se zazrl v Čutina.
»Bistveno drugačen.
Vendar stvari niso tako
preproste, saj nas brez
sobivanja z nami posame-
znik ne bi razumel ozi-
roma bi nas prav verjetno
razumel napačno. Pa niti
ni potrebno tako veliko
časa za malo bolj poglo-
bljeno seznanitev z nami.
Tudi vam bi zadostoval kak
teden ali dva. Trije tedni pa
bi bili prav gotovo dovolj.
V teh okoliščinah, ob tako
burnem dogajanju, pa bi
sredi vsake razlage sledila
daljša prekinitev. Po drugi
strani se Zemljani ravnate
po občutku, tako kot mi.
Toda za tako odločanje
imate minimalno poznava-
nje zagotovljeno že sedaj.«
110
I frowned, to show that I didn’t really understand, and shook my head slowly: “I would need two to three weeks to get a basic under-standing of your civilisa-tion?” “Yes!” agreed the Sensin immediately, as he gestu-red towards the next door. “They are waiting for us.”I looked at the opening door with the three Sensins in the background. On the right stood what appeared to be a juggler, playing with balls, cubes and other objects of uncertain shape. Next to him stood a man with a top hat on his head, a long white scarf and white gloves. He looked like a circus conjurer or a magician. Over to the left, a slim girl dressed in overalls was bending for-wards like a gymnast. She clearly had a very elastic physique. With a smile, she span round on her fin-gers, bent over backwards all the way to the floor, stood on her hands and
Nagrbančil sem čelo v
znak ne najboljšega razu-
mevanja in narahlo zmajal
z glavo: »Dva do tri tedne
bi potreboval za osnovno
razumevanje vaše civiliza-
cije?«
»Da!« mi je takoj pritrdil
Čutin med pomikom roke
v smeri naslednjih vrat.
»Čakajo nas.«
Zazrl sem se v odpirajoča
se vrata s tremi Čutini v
ozadju. Na desni je bil, vsaj
videti je bilo tako, neki
žongler med poigrava-
njem s kroglami, kockami
in predmeti nedoločene
oblike. Ob njem je stal
možak s cilindrom na glavi,
z dolgim belim šalom in v
belih rokavicah, nekak cir-
kuški rokohitrc ali čarov-
nik. Povsem na levi se je
pripogibalo v kombine-
zon oblečeno dekle, vitke
postave in očitno zelo pro-
žnega telesa. Z nasmehom
se je zavrtela na prstih, se
upognila nazaj, vse do tal,
111
then dropped down into the splits.“This way please!” said the man with the top hat and white scarf. We walked on.“I’m not really cut out for acrobatics,” I said to the Sensin next to me.“It won’t be necessary. It is merely a question of verifying the coordina-tion of our movements, since the Acutins are clumsier than us in some things and have difficulty copying acrobatic dance routines. They also have problems juggling with a large number of objects, although they are capable of learning. It’s the same with conjuring tricks: they don’t come very easily to them. They are clumsier than us by nature.” “So how did they manage to get through these doors,” I asked, less than convinced by the Sensin’s self-confident smile, “all the way to the seventy-fo-urth and your garrison?”
se postavila na roke in se
spustila nazaj v raznožko.
»Izvolite za nami!« nas je
pozval možak s cilindrom
in z belim šalom.
Stopili smo naprej.
»Za cirkuške akrobacije pa
nisem najbolj primeren,«
sem dejal Čutinu tik ob
sebi.
»Saj ni potrebno. Zgolj za
preverjanje časovne uskla-
jenosti naših gibov gre, ker
so Ostrini za nekatere spre-
tnosti bolj okorni od nas
in imajo težave s posnema-
njem plesnega izražanja
ob dodatku akrobatskih
vložkov. Tudi žongliranje
z veliko predmetov jim gre
malo težje, čeprav so se ga
sposobni naučiti, enako
kot spretnosti rokohitrcev,
ki jim prav tako ne gredo
najbolje od rok. Kar malo
bolj okorne narave so od
nas.«
»In kako jim je potem
uspelo priti skozi ta vrata?«
sem vprašal z nakazanim
pomislekom glede Čuti-
novega samozavestnega
nasmeha, »tja do 74. in do
vaše posadke?«
112
“Yes, well, they also have more skilful individuals with special abilities. And they also foresaw tests of this kind.”“That might explain their successful penetration of all the barriers,” I agreed, “but are these tests merely simple verifications?”“Yes and no. In the case of a large number of requi-rements that are suffici-ently varied, the crucial ones become easier. As a rule one of these tests will cause difficulties for an individual. And the pas-sage through each succes-sive door is more difficult. At least by our standards.”“That will be a problem for me too. I won’t be up to this,” I said after a pause. “Don’t worry. In our team you have the position of energy systems manager,” said the Sensin reassurin-gly.“Energy systems mana-ger?” I had to smile.
»No, ja, imajo tudi bolj spre-
tne posameznike z nekaj
dodatnimi sposobnostmi.
Pa tudi predvideli so tovr-
stna testiranja.«
»Glede na njihov uspešni
prehod skozi vse zapore
bo že tako,« sem mu pri-
trdil, »toda to so najbrž le
preprostejša preverjanja?«
»Da in ne. V primeru
večjega števila med seboj
dovolj različnih zahtev
postajajo usodne tudi
lažje. Že kar praviloma
bo eno od teh preverjanj
posamezniku povzročalo
težave. Sicer pa je prehod
skozi vsaka naslednja vrata
na zahtevnejši ravni. Vsaj
po naših merilih.«
»To bo tudi zame problem.
Tega ne bom zmogel,« sem
navrgel po kratkem premi-
sleku.
»Ne skrbite. V naši ekipi
imate mesto upravnika
energetskih sistemov,« me
je pomiril Čutin.
»Upravnika energetskih
sistemov?« sem se moral
nasmehniti.
113
“We, and this includes you, are a special forces unit sent to re-establish the route to the control panels. And you are in our group with precisely defined tasks of your own. None of us has nor will have any more powers than those defined for him in advance.” The Sensin studied my reaction to his explanation.“Right,” I agreed, “because I have no special desire for your energy fields. Even if I found myself alone at the control panel, I would stick to the agreement.”The Sensin looked at me thoughtfully once again. “You won’t be alone at the control panel.” Some-thing in his voice seemed to betray a slight uncerta-inty. At least that was the impression I got.In the meantime the first Sensins had already walked up to the “door-keepers” and were pro-ving their identity by imi-tating all those skills one
»Mi smo, skupaj z vami,
enota specialcev, poslana
za ponovno vzpostavitev
poti do komandnih pultov,
in vi ste v naši skupini s
točno za vas določenimi
nalogami. Nihče med nami
nima niti ne bo imel nobe-
nih večjih pooblastil od
tistih, ki so vnaprej dolo-
čena zanj.« Čutin je s pogle-
dom preletel moj odziv na
njegovo obrazložitev.
»Prav,« sem se strinjal, »saj
nimam nobenih poseb-
nih želja po vaših energet-
skih poljih. Tudi če bi se
znašel sam za komandnim
pultom, bi deloval po
dogovoru.«
Čutin me je ponovno oce-
njujoče premeril. »Saj ne
boste sami za komandnim
pultom.« Toda prizvok v
njegovem glasu je izdajal
rahlo negotovost. Vsaj tak
vtis sem dobil.
Medtem so prvi Čutini
že stopili naprej do »vra-
tarjev« in s posnemanjem
vseh tistih spretnosti drug
za drugim dokazovali svojo
114
after the other. It was very interesting to watch. They were amazingly good at it. Perfectly at ease, with the tranquillity of a specia-list who trusts in his own ability, they executed all those difficult tricks and then joined the juggler in a collective juggling of all those balls, cubes and other objects, before vaul-ting over obstacles at a run and somersaulting to the floor, landing perfectly. A very different type of test awaited us at the next door. This time it consisted of apparently random requi-rements from the most diverse spheres, which somehow added up to an agglomeration of indivi-dual abilities. The Sensins satisfied all the require-ments without difficulty. And so it went on, all the way to the seventy-fourth door, where they stopped, as though they had done their part. And since they had stopped, that must mean it was my turn. Some
identiteto. Prav zanimivo
jih je bilo videti. Presneto
dobri so bili pri tem poče-
tju. Povsem brez nervoze, z
mirnostjo, kot jo lahko ima
o sebi prepričan specialist,
so izvajali vse zahtevane
trike ter se pridružili žon-
glerju v skupni igri z vsemi
tistimi kroglami, kockami
in ostalimi predmeti,
potem pa so v teku in pre-
skakovanju ovir v zaključ-
nih saltih mirno pristali na
tleh.
Pri naslednjih vratih pa nas
je čakal povsem drug način
preverjanja, z navidezno
naključnimi zahtevami z
raznih področij, znesenih
z vseh vetrov, pa vendar na
koncu zaokroženih v zbiru
posameznih sposobnosti.
Čutini so vse opravili brez
težav. Vse tja do 74. vrat,
pred katerimi so obstali,
kot da so opravili svoj del,
so prišli brez zastoja. Ker
so obstali, sem bil torej
jaz na vrsti. Eni so me celo
115
of them even patted me on the back encouragingly. A good team sticks together, their expressions told me, and it was true that I had shared their happiness at each one of the completed tasks as though it were an obstacle successfully over-come. On the other hand I was still bothered by the Sensins’ conviction that if I wanted a more in-depth conversation about their civilisation I would have to live with them for a little longer. What was it that I wasn’t supposed to be able to understand that meant that they had still not fully revealed themselves to me? Merely something about their benevolence towards us Earthmen, they had told me. That should have been at least partially clear from the whole situation. I suppose. And that the Acutins don’t need Earthmen? Perfectly possible.After passing through the seventy-third door, we
vzpodbudno potrepljali.
Dobra ekipa naj bili vsi
skupaj, so mi sporočali
njihovi zgovorni pogledi,
pa tudi sam sem se že ves
čas veselil vsakega opra-
vljenega testa kot uspešno
premagane ovire, čeprav
me je še vedno motilo pre-
pričanje Čutinov, da bi za
bolj poglobljen pogovor o
njihovi civilizaciji moral
živeti z njimi nekaj več časa.
Vrh tega pa, česa neki ne
bi mogel pri tem razu-
meti, da mi je doslej še
niso predstavili v celoti?
Zgolj o neki njihovi naklo-
njenosti do nas Zemlja-
nov so mi povedali, to naj
bi bilo iz vsega skupaj,
recimo, vsaj delno tudi raz-
brati. Recimo. In da Ostrini
ne potrebujejo Zemljanov?
Povsem možno.
Po vstopu skozi 73. vrata
smo se znašli v velikem
116
found ourselves in a large room, a hexagonal cham-ber measuring something over 50 metres across, with six archways.“Over there! Let’s go!” called a Sensin at the front of the group as he ste-pped towards an archway on the other side. It was actually the largest one, so the others must have been secondary entran-ces. This must be the most important route, the one to the control panels, I ima-gined. Then the leading Sensin stopped and turned towards me. He waited for me to come up to him and then began explaining the situation in a firm but calm voice.“The answers shouldn’t cause you any difficulty. All you need to do is relax and everything will be all right.”“Relax? What do you mean? In the sense of composure?” I asked, wondering if there were any other important deta-ils I needed to know.
prostoru, v šesterokotni
dvorani z nekaj nad 50
metri premera in s šestimi
vhodno-izhodnimi oboki.
»Tja! Gremo!« nas je pozval
Čutin v ospredju med
stopanjem k oboku na
nasprotni strani, prav-
zaprav k največjemu, vsi
ostali so morali bili stran-
ski. Skozenj naj bi peljala
najpomembnejša pot, tja
do komandnih pultov, kot
sem predvideval. Potem je
isti Čutin zastal, se obrnil
k meni, me počakal in
mi začel precej zavzeto,
vendar z mirnim glasom
razlagati:
»Odgovori vam ne bi smeli
delati težav. Le dovolj spro-
stiti se morate, pa bo vse v
redu.«
»Sprostiti? Kako to mislite?
V smislu zbranosti?« sem
vprašal z namigom na
morebitno prisotnost
še kakšne pomembne
podrobnosti.
117
“Of course. That too.” The Sensin went on with his explanation: “But unlike all the tests so far, in your case your emotio-nal response will be more important. And if you are relaxed, you will undo-ubtedly be more convin-cing.”“Well, all right. That sounds good. But why have I been selected as the most suitable? In all the tests up till now I haven’t been better than you even in the slightest detail. I wouldn’t have passed any of the previous tests.”The Sensin smiled encou-ragingly: “As I have alre-ady said, it will be very simple for you.”“Okay. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” I pushed aside my doubts and accepted the Sensin’s encouragement or task or whatever it was. I walked up to the archway and on to the now familiar door, identical to the seventy-
»Seveda. Tudi to,« je Čutin
nadaljeval začeto razlago,
»toda v nasprotju z doseda-
njimi preverjanji bo pri vas
pomembnejše čutno odzi-
vanje. In sproščenost vam
bo pri tem prav gotovo
povečala prepričljivost.«
»No, ja. Lepa reč. Po
kakšnem kriteriju pa sem
bil prav jaz izbran za naj-
primernejšega? Pri vseh
dosedanjih preverjanjih
nisem bil niti pri najmanjši
podrobnosti boljši od vas.
Nobenega od dosedanjih
preverjanj ne bi uspel
opraviti.«
Čutin se mi je ohrabrujoče
nasmehnil: »Kot sem vam
že omenil, bo zadeva za
vas zelo preprosta.«
»Prav. Najbrž veste, kaj
delate,« sem v smislu odmi-
kanja dvomov sprejel Čuti-
novo spodbudo oziroma
nalogo ali karkoli je že
bilo to, kar je govoril, ter
stopil do oboka in potem
še naprej do zdaj že znane
oblike vrat, enake vsem
118
three we had already come through. I stopped outside the door and looked up, and then to both sides. There was nothing to see. Judging from the tranquil-lity of the Sensins around me, I concluded that they were convinced about this enterprise of ours, or this system or, in other words, the success of our mission. Then the door opened, but there was no doorkeeper. There was no-one at the door. Just a room with furniture along the walls. Actually it was more like a theatre stage on which someone had placed a low table, like in a living room – a table for drinking coffee or tea while chatting to visitors, two armchairs and three more chairs that looked as though they belonged in a kitchen, because they didn’t match the style of the other furniture. It was all somehow familiar to me. Years ago, when I was a student, we had had fur-
73, skozi katere smo prišli.
Pred temi vrati sem obstal,
pogledal navzgor in še na
obe strani, pa ni bilo videti
nič posebnega. Glede na
mirnost Čutinov ob meni
sem lahko sklepal na nji-
hovo trdno prepričanje o
delovanju tega našega pod-
jetja oziroma sistema ali, z
drugimi besedami, o uspe-
šnosti naše misije. Nato so
se vrata odprla, vendar ni
bilo nikjer vratarja, se pravi
nikogar ni bilo pri vratih.
Le prostor s pohištvom ob
stenah, pravzaprav je bilo
vse skupaj bolj podobno
gledališkemu odru, na
katerega so postavili nizko
mizo, tako za dnevne sobe,
namenjeno bolj za pitje
kave ali čaja med pogovo-
rom z gosti, ter z dvema
naslanjačema in še s tremi
stoli, najbrž prinesenimi iz
kuhinje, ker vsekakor niso
bili v stilu ostalega pohi-
štva. Nekam znano mi je
bilo vse skupaj. Pred leti
smo tudi pri nas doma, v
času mojega študija, imeli
tako pohištvo. Še natanč-
119
niture like this at home. I started to look more care-fully at the room and its contents. No! This was our living room at home from when I was at secondary school. Unbelievable!I had started to inspect the cupboard when I heard the doorbell ring.“Yes!” I shouted automati-cally, and by way of a reply I heard some noisy chatter and someone commenting that parents should go away from home more often and “leave us in peace a bit more”. I hesitated. The whole thing had taken me by surprise. Then, one after the other, my friends from my school days came into the room.“Your parents have picked exactly the right time to go off on holiday. Once the girls get here it’ll be a full house. They’re coming this evening. We’ve alre-ady fixed it up,” shouted Jim above the din the others were making. They whooped enthusiastically
neje sem si začel ogledo-
vati ves prostor in seveda
vso opremo. Presneto!
Saj to je bila vendar naša
domača dnevna soba iz
mojih gimnazijskih let. Ta
je pa dobra!
Že sem si začel ogledovati
omaro, ko sem zaslišal zvo-
njenje.
»Da!« sem vzkliknil kar
samodejno ter v odgovor
zaslišal neko glasno govor-
jenje, neko komentiranje,
da bi starši morali večkrat
od doma in da bi »nam
pustili malo več miru.«
Neodločno sem obstal. Vse
skupaj me je vendarle pre-
senetilo. Tedaj pa so drug
za drugim začeli vstopati
moji prijatelji iz gimnazij-
skih let.
»Ravno pravi čas so tvoji
odšli na dopust. Še dekleta
morajo priti, pa bomo
kompletni. Zvečer pridejo.
Smo se že dogovorili,« je v
veselem razpoloženju med
hitro nastalim direndajem
sporočil Janko in v odgo-
vor dobil prav tako navdu-
šeno pritrjevanje. Mirno
120
at the news. I observed them calmly. Some went into the kitchen, others sat down in the living room. There were cards on the table. Jim took a chess set from a drawer and Matt stood in the doorway and raised a bottle of wine. Everything was happe-ning exactly as it had back in my school days. Then John and Mal had a mock fight, there was a crash, and a smashed vase lay on the floor. We all looked at them and at the shattered fragments on the floor. I remembered that vase, and the fight between John and Mal. It had happened exactly as it had before. I looked back through the door. The Sensins were still there.“He pushed me!” prote-sted Mal. John immedia-tely denied it and swore it wasn’t true. Mal continued to blame John and, exactly as before, each stuck to his story.I went to fetch a dustpan
sem jih opazoval. Eni so šli
v kuhinjo, drugi so posedli
v dnevni sobi. Na mizi so se
znašle karte, Janko je vzel
iz predala šah, Matija pa je
med vrati dvigoval stekle-
nico vina. Vse je potekalo
enako kot v tistih mojih
gimnazijskih letih. Potem
sta se Janez in Malček nekaj
ruvala, odjeknil je tresk,
na tleh je obležala razbita
vaza. Vsi smo se ozrli vanju
in v razbitine na tleh.
Tiste vaze sem se še dobro
spominjal, tudi ruvanja
med Janezom in Slavcem.
Čisto enako se je zgodilo
tokrat. Pogledal sem nazaj
skozi vrata. Tam so bili še
vedno Čutini.
»On me je sunil!« se je opra-
vičeval Slavc, to pa je Janez
takoj zanikal in zatrdil, da
ni res. Po nadaljnjem Malč-
kovem zvračanju krivde
nanj pa sta tako kot nekoč
ostala vsak pri svojem.
Šel sem po metlo in sme-
121
and brush, swept the broken fragments into a heap and wrapped them in newspaper. “I’ll take this out to the bins. You just carry on!” This was exac-tly what I had done that other time. But this time, as soon as I was out of the “front door”, I stepped over to the Sensins. “All of this is from when I was at school,” I told them. “Yes, this whole recor-ding is from that time, everything as it originally happened, except that your character has been completely deleted. It is missing and you are here to take its place.”“So I haven’t gone back in time?”“No, no. This is simply the past recorded on hologram film, and everything is computer-generated except the furniture, which is an exact copy of the origi-nals, so that you too can sit comfortably on the couch. Your friends are merely
tišnico, pometel vse na
kup ter nato še v časopisni
papir. »V smeti bom odne-
sel. Kar nadaljujte!« Tudi
takrat sem naredil enako.
Toda to pot sem takoj za
»vhodnimi« vrati stopil k
Čutinom.
»Vse to je iz mojih gimna-
zijskih let,« sem jim dejal.
»Da, ves ta posnetek je prav
iz tistega časa, vse po origi-
nalnem dogajanju, le da je
vaš lik v celoti izbrisan. Ta
manjka in vi ste tu, da ga
nadomestite.«
»Torej ne gre za časovno
premikanje v preteklost?«
»Ne, ne. Tu je samo pre-
teklost, posneta na holo-
gramski film, in vse je raču-
nalniško obdelano, razen
pohištva, ki je natančna
kopija originalov, tako da
se tudi vi lahko mirno use-
dete na kavč. Vaši prijatelji
122
hologram images. All we expect of you is to behave and respond exactly as you did back then.”“Is that it?” I looked at the smiling Sensin and then smiled myself. “I think I can manage that.”“Good. It will be hard for us to help you in this, beca-use we are missing the recording of your original responses.” The Sensin continued to look enco-uragingly at me. I conti-nued to smile at him. For the first time I had found out something more speci-fic about my tasks. “Yes, I probably will be able to this better than you could.”The Sensin nodded. “Good luck!”I went back into “my” flat and was very soon immer-sed in events of which I still had a vivid memory. Even moments I had nearly for-gotten came back to me, or at least enough for me not to cause any delays or
so le hologramski prikazi.
Vse, kar od vas pričaku-
jemo, je le enako obnaša-
nje in čutno odzivanje.«
»Nič drugega?« Zazrl sem
se v nasmehljanega Čutina
in se nato še sam nasmeh-
nil. »To bom menda že
zmogel.«
»Lepo. Pri tem pa vam
bomo bolj težko pomagali,
ker nam manjka zapis o
vašem takratnem odziva-
nju.« Čutin me je še naprej
gledal spodbudno. In tudi
jaz sem ga gledal z nasme-
hom. Prvič sem izvedel
nekaj bolj določenega o
svojih nalogah. »Hja, pa
bom res najbrž jaz to bolje
opravil, kot bi storili vi.«
Čutin mi je prikimal.
»Dobro opravite!«
Stopil sem nazaj v »svoje«
stanovanje in se prav
kmalu vživel v čas in doga-
janje, ki mi je bilo še v
živem spominu. Celo rahlo
pozabljeni trenutki so se
mi sproti obujali oziroma,
bolje rečeno, dovolj, da »v
tem dogajanj« nisem pov-
123
introduce any confusion to the “scene”, and this after all was probably the first requirement of this test. But the sensation of being thrown back to my school days, even if it was only through a hologram recor-ding, was so overpowering that I soon found myself experiencing the whole thing almost as vividly as I had experienced it back then, and this realisation actually made me even more enthusiastic. I joined in so eagerly with argu-ments and discussions that I remembered as though it were yesterday, and laug-hed so heartily along with the others that I risked overdoing it and ruining everything. A momen-tary doubt about this pos-sibility flashed through my brain. An involuntary “hey!” even slipped out. No, I thought, I must play my part according to the rules. I can do this, I felt, despite the fact that much
zročal zastojev ali kakor
koli vnašal vanj zmedo, to
pa je bila najbrž osnovna
zahteva tega preverjanja.
To, da sem bil vržen nazaj v
gimnazijska leta, čeprav le
skozi hologramski posne-
tek, pa me je kmalu tako
zasvojilo, da sem začel vse
dogajanje doživljati skoraj
enako živo, kot sem ga bil
občutil nekoč, in prav to
spoznanje me je še bolj
podžigalo. S tako vnemo
sem se vključil v sprotne,
meni sicer dobro znane
razprave in komentarje,
ter se tako živo pridruže-
val sprotnim izbruhom
smeha, da bi zadeva lahko
propadla prav zaradi
mojega preveč okreplje-
nega podoživljanja. En sam
utrinek pomisleka glede te
možnosti mi je šel v prebli-
sku skozi možgane. Celo
rahel razposajeni »heh« mi
je ušel. Kakor koli, ta del
bom opravil po vseh pra-
vilih, to bom lahko uredil,
sem čutil, pa čeprav mi
je bilo še marsikaj iz celo-
tnega dogajanja precej ali
124
was still unclear to me. And so it went on, right up to the moment when I turned round and sud-denly there was no-one in “my” room.“Let’s go! The way is clear!” Benesens was gesturing me in the direc-tion of the next door. I had done it. The smiling faces of the other Sensins con-firmed it. Another test was behind us and now there were only three doors left to go. Benesens gave me a fri-endly pat on the shoulder: “Excellent. Everything is going according to plan. Some of us had certain doubts, but I was fairly sure about you, although emotional responses are very slippery terrain with you Earthmen. Isn’t that right?” I nodded automatically. In this slightly triumphant atmosphere Benesens’s words were a perfectly appropriate and amusing pleasantry. Even I smiled.
povsem neznano. Tako je
bilo vse do konca oziroma
do trenutka, ko sem se
obrnil in nenadoma ni bilo
več nikogar v »moji« sobi.
»Gremo! Vstop je prost!«
me je med zamahom roke
v smeri naslednjih vrat
pozval Dobročut. Uspel
sem. To sem lahko razbral
tudi iz priznavajočega sme-
hljanja ostalih Čutinov. Še
ena preizkušnja je bila za
njimi in le še troje vrat nas
je čakalo.
Dobročut mi je s treplja-
njem po rami izrazil prija-
teljsko priznanje: »Odlično.
Vse gre po predvidevanjih
in načrtih. Nekateri so
sicer imeli že določene
pomisleke, sam pa sem
bil kar precej prepričan o
vas, pa čeprav so čustveni
odzivi pri vas Zemljanih
zelo drsljiv teren. Kajne?«
Samodejno sem prikimal.
V tem rahlo zmagoslavnem
vzdušju so bile Dobroču-
tove besede povsem ume-
sten in zabaven dovtip.
Še sam se je smehljal. In
125
And then he added that emotional responses were slippery terrain for them too, and that it would have been hard for them to assemble my past respon-ses without my help.“Yes, that’s true. But this was just a party, without any particularly strong emotions,” I said, before asking in a slightly more serious tone: “How come one part is missing?” “We lost it,” he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. This however rather con-tradicted my impression of the Sensins. They radi-ated such a sense of infal-libility that it was, to put it mildly, difficult for me to understand them losing something so important.“Are you forgetful too?” I asked in obvious surprise.Benesens shook his head: “It’s not that, it’s just that the combination of cir-cumstances was unfavo-urable. It’s not a question of forgetting. Technically,
potem je navrgel, kako so
čustveni odzivi tudi zanje
drsljiv teren ter da bi moje
nekdanje odzive bolj težko
ponovno sestavili brez
moje pomoči.
»Hja, to pa res. Čeprav je
bila to le ena od družab-
nih zabav, brez pretiranih
čustev,« sem rekel, nakar
sem ga vprašal v rahlo zre-
snjenem tonu: »Kako pa,
da vam en del manjka?«
»Izgubili smo ga,« je odvr-
nil z nejevoljno odsotno-
stjo in zmignil z rameni.
Vendar je to delovalo le
malo preveč v nasprotju
z mojim razumevanjem
Čutinov. Tako nezmotlji-
vost so izžarevali, da mi je
bilo izgubljanje zanje tako
pomembnih stvari milo
rečeno bolj težko razu-
mljivo.
»Ali ste tudi vi pozabljivi?«
sem vprašal s poudarje-
nim začudenjem.
Dobročut je odkimal: »Ni
stvar v tem, le splet okoli-
ščin je bil neugoden. Ne
gre za pozabljanje. Teh-
126
of course, we could have provided enough copies so that something like this couldn’t occur. But there are also principles at stake here. Important principles that we never violate, even in the case of recordings as important as the ones that are missing here.”“Principles?” He could tell from the way I looked at him that once again I was having difficulty under-standing his answers. “Well,” he went on, in view of my evident lack of comprehension, “I have already told you about the incursion of the Acu-tins to the seventy-fourth door and the slaughter of the control panel garrison. That was when the recor-dings were destroyed, although we could have stored a copy somewhere else.”“Oh yes?” This sounded a little more likely, altho-ugh I couldn’t dismiss a number of nagging doubts. I nodded and was about to
nično bi seveda lahko
zagotovili dovolj kopij, da
do česa takega ne bi moglo
priti. Toda tu so še načela.
Pomembna načela, ki jih
nikoli ne kršimo, niti ko
gre za tako pomembne
zapise, kot je na primer
tale manjkajoči.«
»Načela?« Pogledal sem ga
v priznavanju ponovnega
nerazumevanja njegovih
odgovorov.
»No,« je nadaljeval ob moji
nakazani nemoči razume-
vanja, »povedal sem vam
že o vdoru Ostrinov do
74. vrat in poboju posadke
nadzornih komandnih
pultov. Takrat je prišlo
do uničenja teh zapisov,
čeprav bi kakšno kopijo
lahko imeli spravljeno še
kje drugje.«
»Aja?« To mi je zvenelo
malo bolj možno, vendar
ob nekaterih težje spreje-
mljivih pomislekih. Zato
sem mu po rahlem priki-
mavanju hotel zastaviti še
127
ask him why they hadn’t done so, but he went on:“Look! Here is the next door. In all probability this test is going to be more demanding.”“Will it be me again?” I asked.“Most likely.” Benesens considered for a moment before going on: “But with a little composure you will cope with every task, as long as you don’t get confused. After what you have demonstrated so far, I can conclude this with a considerable degree of certainty.”As he was talking we had come up to the next entrance and, following the usual presentation and the invitation to enter the testing room, we stopped expectantly outside a per-fectly normal, terrestrial wooden door. It looked quite familiar, and all the Sensins were looking at me too. Clearly it was my turn again. We exchanged glances and then I ste-
vprašanje, kako to, da tega
niso storili, a je nadaljeval:
»Glejte! Tu so zdaj nasle-
dnja vrata in po vsej ver-
jetnosti bo preverjanje na
zahtevnejši ravni.«
»Bom spet jaz na vrsti?«
sem vprašal.
»Najbolj verjetno.« Pravčut
je nekoliko pomišljal ter
nadaljeval: »Toda z nekaj
zbranosti boste kos vsem
nalogam, če se le ne boste
pustili zmesti. Po tem, kar
ste pokazali doslej, tako
sklepam že z dokajšnjo
gotovostjo.«
Medtem smo že prispeli
pred naslednji vhod ter po
že utečeni predstavitvi in
vabilu, naj vstopimo v pro-
stor za preverjanje, zastali
v pričakovanju pred lese-
nimi vrati, povsem nava-
dnimi, zemeljskimi. Precej
domača so se mi zdela,
in tudi Čutini so se ozrli
vame. Jaz sem bil na vrsti,
očitno. Izmenjali smo si
še nekaj pogledov, potem
128
pped forward alone, as the others around me nodded affirmatively. I hesitated briefly outside the door and then went in. “Hey!” came a voice from inside the room. “I’ll be right with you. Come into the kitchen a moment!”It was a woman’s voice. I didn’t recognise it but something seemed to spark in my memory. The hall I was in didn’t seem very familiar. Neither did the kitchen. “Did you get it?” The same voice again.I mumbled something indistinct by way of reply. There was no way I could remember what I was supposed to be bringing.“Did I tell you I nearly got a distinction in the exam? In the end he gave me a ‘good’. Not bad, huh?”“Yes, well done.” Hang on a minute, isn’t that... what was her name? I remembe-red the face but I couldn’t think of her surname. If I had ever known it. She
pa sem ob pritrjevalnem
kimanju vseh naokoli zako-
račil naprej, pred vrati še
nekoliko postal, ter nato
vstopil.
»Hej!« sem zaslišal iz sobe.
»Takoj pridem. Kar v kuhi-
njo stopi za ta čas!«
Ženski glas je bil to, in
čeprav mi ni bil znan, se
mi je nekaj majhnih pre-
bliskov le utrnilo skozi
spomin. Predsoba pa mi
ni bila pretirano znana. In
tudi kuhinja ne.
»Si dobil?» sem spet zaslišal
isti glas.
V odgovor sem nekaj neraz-
ločno zamomljal. Nikakor
se nisem mogel spomniti,
kaj naj bi takrat prinesel.
»Sem ti povedala, da sem
izpit opravila skoraj z
odličnim? Na koncu mi je
dal trojko.V redu, kajne?»
»Da, dobra si.» Pa menda ni
to tista… kako ji je že ime,
obraza sem se spomnil,
priimka pa nikakor ne. Če
sem ga sploh kdaj vedel.
Verjetno mi ga je bila pove-
129
had probably told me. Pro-bably. It was the mad girl! That time in the mounta-ins, that party in the log cabin a friend of mine had rented for a week, that was when I had met her. We were both in the first year at university, but she was from some other town. We weren’t made for each other. At least as far as my feelings for her were concerned. Or in any other way. Actually she was a bit crackbrained. I had met her for the first time that evening. While we were preparing dinner, which was supposed to be our job, we suddenly seemed to click. Then we had dinner, and then there was music, a party atmo-sphere. After two or three hours people were already pairing off on couches or in corners. Each couple separately, of course. Us too. But by the next day we had already started to split up. We didn’t get on. And then she suddenly
dala. To že, najbrž. Krava
zmešana! Na srečanju v
Kranjski Gori, z zabavo v
leseni koči, ki jo je najel
moj prijatelj za en teden,
sem se spoznal z njo. V prvi
letnik fakultete sva hodila,
le da je bila ona iz drugega
mesta, čeprav je študi-
rala v Ljubljani. Nisva bila
za skupaj. Vsaj po mojih
nagnjenih do nje ne. Pa
tudi sicer. Dejansko je bila
malo prifliknjena. Tistega
večera sem jo šele spoznal.
Med pripravljanjem
večerje, midva naj bi jo
naredila, sva se kar na hitro
zapletla. Potem smo večer-
jali, sledila je glasba, bilo
je kar zabavno vzdušje, po
dveh ali treh urah pa smo
se že začeli v parih razgu-
bljati po kavčih ali kotih.
Vsak par posebej, seveda.
Tudi midva. Toda že nasle-
dnjega dne sva se že začela
razhajati. Nisva se ujela. In
nato jo je kar nenadoma
nekaj pičilo. Dobila je
napad igralskega zanosa
130
started acting all offen-ded. She was overcome by a sudden urge to put on a performance for us, a stupid one, and ended up in the arms of one of my acquaintances and while dancing with him began egging him on as though trying to get us to com-pete for her attentions. He probably wasn’t any keener on her than I was. But anyway she mana-ged to create this whole circus – which actually ended up as an argument with Ben. We nearly came to blows over her. What an idiot. And now after all this time I was going to have to play the same role again, with the right timing and the same emo-tional responses, just like at the previous door with the hologram recording. But this was going to be harder, because as far as I could remember my fee-lings on that occasion were very muddled, and then there was that fight with Ben too. And of course
oziroma nam je kar upri-
zorila neko predstavo, tra-
pasto, ter pristala v naro-
čju mojega znanca in med
plesom z njim začela nape-
ljevati, kako da se midva
s tem znancem potegu-
jeva zanjo. Pa najbrž tudi
znancu ni bilo kaj dosti
več do nje kot meni. Toda
cirkus ji je vseeno uspelo
narediti, pravzaprav spor
z Benom, kajti skoraj bi
se celo stepla zaradi nje.
Prava avša. In zdaj po toli-
kem času bom moral tako
kot pri prejšnjih vratih v
hologramskem posnetku
ponovno odigrati svojo
vlogo, z ustreznimi časov-
nimi in čustvenimi odzivi.
Toda to bo bolj težko, ker
kolikor sem se lahko spo-
mnil, sem tistikrat imel
pravo zmešnjavo občut-
kov, potem je prišlo še do
ruvanja z Benom. Nekaj
131
the excessive quantity of wine I had drunk had pro-bably contributed a little too, or perhaps not such a little. The whole thing was really quite confused.“Here I am!” she called as she came through the door. Damn. It was really her! I don’t think I’ve ever met such an idiot. Zaza – that’s what they called her. I couldn’t remember her real name. She looked around and went over to the window. “They’re not here yet.”“They’ll be here. Jim shouted from the cable car that we should go on. He said he’d follow later,” I replied, just like I had back then. That was something I could still remember.“Okay. Who needs them anyway?” Zaza giggled.I laughed too, just as I had that day when we first met. It was actually mere chance that we were alone together. I tried to collect my thoughts. To begin with we had got along fine. Not
malega, morda tudi ne tako
malega, pa je prispevalo še
preveč popitega vina. Vse
skupaj je bilo dokaj zme-
deno.
»Sem že tukaj!» je zaklicala
med vstopanjem skozi
vrata. Prekleto, res je bila
ona! Tako zmedene avše
pa še ne!
Gica, tako so jo klicali, pra-
vega imena se nisem več
spomnil, se je ozrla nao-
krog ter se primaknila k
oknu. »Ni jih še.«
»Bodo že prišli. Janko mi
je z vlečnice zaklical, naj
kar gremo naprej, da bo že
prišel za nami,« sem odvr-
nil tako kot nekoč. Tega
sem se lahko še spomnil.
»Prav, saj jih niti ne pogre-
šava,« se je zahihitala Gica.
Tudi sam sem se zasmejal
tako kot tistega dne med
najinim začetnim spozna-
vanjem. To je bilo namreč
naključje, da sva bila sama.
Poskušal sem se zbrati. Na
začetku sva se namreč kar
132
especially intimate, but I could still remember that conversation. “What year are you in?” I asked her.“First year. You too, right?”“Yes. Law. You’re stu-dying drama aren’t you?”“How did you know?”“Earlier when we were having tea you were saying something about it.” Actually she had put on a whole performance about the course at the drama faculty.“Were you listening to me?”I nodded. If I’d known then what I knew now I would probably have told her that actually no-one in our group had had much choice. It was a real performance, like in the theatre, when the spec-tators aren’t supposed to talk among themselves. But back then her fon-dness for extemporane-ous acting at the slightest provocation still seemed quite amusing. Less so
lepo razumela, sicer brez
močnejše intimnosti, toda
tistega pogovora sem se
še spominjal. »V katerem
letniku si?« sem jo vprašal.
»V prvem. Ti tudi, kajne?«
»Da. Na pravno hodim. Ti
pa na igralsko.«
»Kako veš?«
»Prej si ob čaju govorila
nekaj v tem smislu.« Prav-
zaprav je imela celo pred-
stavo o študiju na njihovi
fakulteti.
»A si me poslušal?«
V odgovor sem ji prikimal.
Takole nazaj, z vsem seda-
njim vedenjem, bi ji najbrž
odvrnil, da pravzaprav
nihče iz tiste skupine ni
imel nobene druge možno-
sti. Saj je imela kar pravi
nastop, podobno kot v
gledališču, ko medsebojni
pogovori gledalcev niso
zaželeni. Toda tedaj je bilo
zame njeno veselje do spro-
tnih igralskih nastopov ob
vsakem malo močnejšem
preblisku v njeni glavi še
dokaj zabavno. Pozneje
133
later, of course. “I get the impression that appearing on stage or in front of a camera isn’t a problem for you. Or shouldn’t be, if my impression is right.”“Are you saying I’m a born actress?”“There might be some-thing in that,” I said, flat-teringly. Although in fact she was so obviously expecting me to agree with her that there wasn’t much else I could have said. At least that’s how it had been then, and it was my job to repeat the whole thing as faithfully as possible. After that things seemed to proceed fairly smoot-hly. Just like that evening, although I had already for-gotten quite a lot about it. Actually the only thing I could remember with any clarity was her throwing herself at my friend later on. That must have been over an hour later. That was supposed to really bother me. And then there was that guy with the glas-
seveda manj. »Zdi se mi, da
ti nastopi na odru ali pred
kamero ne delajo težav.
Vsaj po mojem občutku
sodeč, ti ne bi smeli.«
»Mar me imaš za rojeno
igralko?«
»Nekaj je že na tem,« sem ji
polaskal. Pa tudi sicer mi
ob njenem tako očitnem
pričakovanju moje pritrd-
tve ni ostalo nič drugega.
Vsaj takrat je bilo tako in
sedaj naj bi to vse skupaj,
kolikor je mogoče zvesto
ponovil. Potem se je nadalj-
nje dogajanje odvijalo brez
večjih zastojev. Enako kot
tistega večera, pa čeprav
sem vse skupaj že precej
pozabil. Pravzaprav sem
se močneje spomnil le nje-
nega kasnejšega objemanja
z mojim znancem. Dobro
uro pozneje naj bi bilo.
Tedaj naj bi bil jaz zaradi
tega zelo prizadet. Potem
pa je bil tam še tisti tip z
134
ses. That’s right, I’d almost forgotten about him, beca-use I never met him again after that. But he was the one she had come with – just for the skiing. Nothing else, as she later explained as she pressed herself aga-inst me. Actually she had treated him in exactly the same way she treated me later. The more he looked at her, the more she pres-sed herself against me, wrapping herself round my neck.“Have you noticed how he’s watching us?” she whispered.I threw a glance at him and caught a glimpse of his face and was about to carry on when I couldn’t help remembering what my situation would be an hour later, when I would find myself in a very simi-lar position. Except that then that acquaintance of mine would beam with happiness, because in his imbecilic opinion she had made a fool of me, which
očali, saj res, nanj sem že
skoraj povsem pozabil, ker
ga pozneje nisem nikoli
več srečal. Toda prav z njim
se je ta avša prišla oziroma
se je pripeljala na smu-
čanje, in na nič drugega,
kot mi je pozneje poja-
snila med prižemanjem
v mojem objemu. Pravza-
prav je z njim delala enako
kot pozneje z mano. Bolj
ko jo je tisti tip gledal, bolj
se je prižemala k meni in
se mi ovijala okoli vratu.
»Si opazil, kako naju gleda?«
mi je pošepnila.
Vrgel sem pogled na tistega
tipa in ošinil še njegov
obraz ter že mislil nada-
ljevati, ko se mi je nehote
vrinil utrinek iz spomina
na moj položaj dobro
uro pozneje, v katerem
se bom sam znašel v zelo
podobnem položaju. S to
razliko, da bo potem tisti
moj znanec kar žarel od
veselja, ker mi jo je po nje-
govem bebastem mnenju
speljal, kar pa sploh ni
135
in fact wasn’t true at all. But he was convinced of it. That was her fault and it was all I could do to stop myself giving her a kick up the backside. The silly cow! My blood boiled. After so many years I felt such indignation as she embraced me that without meaning to I pushed her away.“Funny, isn’t it?” she went on, smiling. And automa-tically I replied: “What’s funny?”At that moment the room suddenly went completely dark and then the lights came back on. Everything had disappeared. “Oh no!” I gasped. “Back then I responded with a laugh.”The Sensins ran up to me. “What happened? Why didn’t it work?” I spread my arms helples-sly: “I made a mess of it.”“How?” The Sensins were looking at me with evident disappointment. Clearly because of my mistaken
bilo res. Ampak tisti tip
je bil o tem prepričan do
onemoglosti. To je bilo
njeno maslo in toliko, da
je nisem sunil v rit. Krava
prifliknjena! Kar kri mi je
zavrela v glavi. Po toliko
letih mi je ob njenem obje-
manju privrel iz spomina
tak gnev, da sem jo nehote
odrinil od sebe.
»Smešno, kajne?« je smeje
se nadaljevala. In meni
je kar samodejno ušlo z
jezika: »Kaj je smešno?«
V tistem trenutku se je
prostor najprej povsem
zatemnil, nato pa ponovno
razsvetlil. Vse je izginilo.
»Hudirja!« mi je še enkrat
nekontrolirano ušlo z
jezika. »Takrat sem se
odzval s smehom.«
Pritekli so še Čutini. »Kaj
je bilo? Zakaj ni šlo?«
Nemočno sem razširil
roke: »Polomil sem ga.«
»Kako?« Čutini so me
gledali z vidnim razoča-
ranjem. Očitno zaradi
mojega napačnega odziva,
136
response, and so I started apologising. “I remembered how that scene developed, “ I said, “and a detail that happe-ned a good hour later came back to me with such force that I suddenly got upset. For a moment my compo-sure abandoned me.” The Sensins shook their heads in silence. The moment seemed to last an eternity. But then they started focusing on the question of how to pro-ceed. What could we do? The seventy-fourth door remained closed.I was filled with a feeling of guilt. How could I have forgotten myself like that? I had to say something by way of apology.“Without getting into the spirit of the situation you can’t respond emotionally. That’s why I tried to relive it as faithfully as possible. I tried really hard. But that whole business was just a muddle, with silly play-ac-
tako da sem se začel opra-
vičevati.
»Spomnil sem se nadalj-
njega poteka tistega
dogajanja,« sem dejal, »in
podrobnost, ki se mi je
zgodila dobro uro pozneje,
mi je oživela iz spomina
s tako močjo, da sem se
nenadoma vznemiril. Za
trenutek mi je popustila
zbranost.«
Čutini so molče zmajevali
z glavami, in to najbrž ne
pretirano dolgo, čeprav so
se zame tisti trenutki vlekli
v nedogled. Potem pa so se
osredotočili na vprašanje,
kako naprej oziroma, kaj
lahko storijo. Prehod skozi
74. vrata je ostal zaprt.
Obšel me je občutek
krivde. Da sem se mogel
tako spozabiti! Nekaj bi
moral reči v opravičilo.
»Brez vživetja v dogaja-
nje se ne moreš čustveno
odzvati. Zato sem se spu-
stil v čim bolj zvesto podo-
življanje. Prav trudil sem
se. Toda tisto dogajanje je
bilo v celoti ena sama zme-
šnjava z neverjetno tra-
137
ting and stupid situations. That woman was capable of being extremely cun-ning, despite all her sil-liness. I think she had a kind of fixed idea that she was appearing on a stage, or even in a film…” I stopped in mid-sentence. When it came down to it, she was right: it was all being recorded. On a holo-gram film complete with emotions. Wow. But that was something different. She couldn’t have known that. “All this confusion, after it all came true, she actu-ally really enjoyed it. She really enjoyed the circus she had triggered with her intrigues.”Benesens patted me reas-suringly on the shoulder: “It’s all right. No-one is accusing you of anything. We would just like to find a solution. We will have another chance in thirty-three days’ time. Till then the best thing will be to think over the whole thing
pastimi sprenevedanji in
situacijami. Tisto je bila na
trenutke do skrajnosti pre-
brisana ženska, kljub vsej
njeni prifliknjenosti. Po
moje je tedaj imela fiksno
idejo, da nastopa na gleda-
liškem odru, če že ne na
filmu.« Zastal sem z zadr-
žano besedo na jeziku.
Saj je na koncu koncev res
bilo vse posneto. In to na
hologramski film s čustvi
v red. Presneto. Toda to
je nekaj drugega. Tega ni
mogla vedeti.
»Vsa ta zmešnjava, potem
ko je to res postala, ji je
bila celo zelo všeč. Da,
prav uživala je v cirkusu,
ki ga je sprožila s svojimi
intrigami.«
Dobročut me je pomirje-
valno potrepljal po rami:
»Je že v redu. Nihče vam nič
ne očita, le rešitev bi radi
našli. Naslednjo možnost
imamo čez 33 dni. Do
tedaj pa bo najbolje vse
skupaj še enkrat premisliti
138
again and try and envisage possible slips during the next attempt.”“Even that won’t be so easy. That constant feigning innocence of hers.” I con-sidered for a little while, weighing up my doubts, and went on: “Actually she was more preten-ding than acting, and that complicated things even further. Forgotten deta-ils were coming back to me. If I could just spend a little time with her again it would be easier for me to remember details of what happened back then. And of course all of her other bright ideas. But the next attempt would still be quite risky.”Benesens listened in silence and after a brief pause said: “That could be arranged, although it won’t be so simple. But there is enough time. A journey to the Earth and back is possible. With a certain amount of risk, of course.”
in predvideti morebitne
spodrsljaje pri naslednjem
poskusu.«
»Tudi to ne bo tako prepro-
sto. To njeno neprestano
sprenevedanje.« Še neko-
liko sem se zamislil ob
tehtanju svojih pomisle-
kov ter nadaljeval: »Prav-
zaprav se je bolj sprene-
vedala. kot pa igrala, in to
je še dodatno zapletlo vso
zadevo. Res pa se mi vra-
čajo v spomin pozabljene
podrobnosti. Če bi bil
vsaj nekaj časa ponovno
z njo, bi se laže spomnil
posameznih podrobnosti
iz takratnega dogajanja.
In seveda tudi vse drugih
njenih domislic. Tako bo
pa tveganje pri naslednjem
poskusu ostalo še naprej
kar močno.«
Dobročut me je molče
poslušal ter po krajšem
premisleku dejal: »To bi se
dalo urediti, čeprav ne bo
tako preprosto. Vendar je
časa dovolj. Pot do Zemlje
in nazaj je možna. Z nekaj
tveganja, se razume.«
139
“A certain amount of risk?” I said, emphasising the last word. “We set off for here, as you say, with a negligible amount of risk. But in the end we were lucky to survive – in fact we almost didn’t.”“Well, yes. But we are on the brink of war with the Acutins and in such con-ditions surprises are more frequent. But your kno-wledge of the current con-ditions should tell you that we will not expose you to risk unnecessarily. If you manage to meet this… what do you call her?”“Idiot.”“Right. As I say, if mee-ting her again would make it easier for you to remem-ber what happened back then and all the details of your experience, we will take you to her and bring you back.”I considered this. My suggestion that meeting her again would help jog my memory had actually been more of an excuse,
»Z nekaj tveganja?« sem
zategnil s pomenljivim
naglasom. »Sem smo se
odpravili, kot pravite, z
zanemarljivo majhnim tve-
ganjem. Preživeli pa smo
s kar precej sreče, in še to
komaj.«
»No, ja. Z Ostrini smo pač
na pragu vojne in presene-
čenja so v tako napetih raz-
merah pogostejša. Da vas
po nepotrebnem ne bomo
izpostavljali tveganju, pa
lahko že sami dovolj zane-
sljivo sklepate iz vsega
vašega poznavanja nasta-
lih razmer in dogodkov.
Če bi vam uspelo srečanje
s to… kako ji pravite?«
»Avša prifliknjena.«
»Ja, če bi ob ponovnem sre-
čanju z njo lažje obudili v
spomin tisto dogajanje in
vse podrobnosti iz tega
vašega doživetja, vas odpe-
ljemo do nje in nazaj.«
Nekoliko sem še pomi-
šljal. To o nujnosti ponov-
nega srečanja zaradi laž-
jega obujanja spomina
sem sicer navrgel bolj kot
140
but the more I thought about the more it made sense. Especially since she was quite unpredictable. Then there was the fact that I myself had changed a lot since that time, so that it would be impossible for me to react spontaneo-usly, without preparation, in exactly the same way as back then. Especially when faced with one of her sudden outbursts.“Then use her to jog your memory, if that is the best solution. A few meetings with her, a little conversa-tion, perhaps while taking a stroll or over dinner. We can arrange that. That wouldn’t be difficult, since talking to her can’t be too much of a problem for you.”“No, no. After all, she’s not stupid, or ugly. I could even call her pretty. But you’d be hard put to find anyone as crazy as her.”“So if I have understood correctly, you did not find her disagreeable at first? It
izgovor, vendar se mi je
ob ponovnem premisleku
kazalo precej smiselno. Še
posebej, ker je na trenutke
nastopala precej nepredvi-
dljivo, sam pa sem se v tem
času že zelo spremenil,
tako da se povsem spon-
tano, brez predhodne pri-
prave, ne bi mogel odzvati
povsem enako kot tisti-
krat. Še zlasti ne ob tistih
njenih nenadnih izpadih.
»Potem pa ob njej obu-
dite svoj spomin, če je to
najboljša pot. Nekaj sre-
čanj z njo, malo pogovora,
morda med sprehodi ali
ob večerji, lahko uredimo.
To ne bi bilo težko, saj za
vas pogovor z njo ne more
biti preveč moteč.«
»Ne, ne. Saj ni neumna ne
grda. Celo med čedne bi
jo lahko prištel. Ampak na
tako prifliknjeno pa zlepa
ne naletiš.»
»Torej, če sem prav razu-
mel, vam sprva niti ni bila
zoprna. Le vaši čustveni
141
is merely that your emoti-onal responses when you met differed quite consi-derably from your later emotional responses when you parted. But during the test you must not mix up these different emoti-onal states. It has already happened once, and by the look of things this lapse could happen again.”“That’s for sure. Because in this game of hers it’s not easy to know when she’s being serious and when she’s faking.” I was beginning to feel more and more confused. My failure, though not forgot-ten, had at least been put to one side. And the only possibility we had left was to make sure that we had the best possible starting-point for the next attempt.“Okay. So be it,” I said resignedly. “Perhaps this time your assessment that there is little risk involved in the journey to Earth and
odzivi ob vajinem spozna-
vanju so se precej razliko-
vali od kasnejših med raz-
hajanjem. Vi pa med prever-
janjem ne smete mešati teh
različnih čustvenih stanj.
Enkrat se nam je že pone-
srečilo in, kot vse kaže, se
nam spodrsljaj prav lahko
ponovi.«
»To pa prav gotovo. Ker pri
tej njeni igri zlepa ne ugo-
toviš, kdaj misli resno in
kdaj se spreneveda.« Obha-
jali so me vse bolj mešani
občutki. Moj neuspeh je
bil, če že ne pozabljen, pa
vsaj odmaknjen na stran.
In nič drugega nam tudi
ni ostalo kot odločna
usmeritev v zagotavljanje
čim boljšega izhodišča ob
ponovnem poizkusu.
»Prav. Naj bo,« sem se vdal.
Morda bo to pot vaša
ocena, da gre le za majhno
tveganje na poti do Zemlje
142
back will be more accu-rate than the ‘guaranteed safe journey’ we had on the way here.”
in nazaj, bolj natančna
od tiste tako imenovane
zagotovljene varne poti do
sem.«
143
Chapter VII
The first part of the jour-ney, as far as the space sta-tion that we had secretly left that evening during the get-together with the Acutins, was as peace-ful as predicted, with no attacks by Acutin rockets or pursuits by their ships. The landing itself attrac-ted no attention. I would later learn that meetings between the Sensins and the Acutins were very common – one of the Sen-sins told me they were organised by pacifists on either side – and it turned out that we were to attend a reception hosted by the Acutins that very evening. The theory was that more frequent meetings would diffuse tension and streng-then efforts to find mutu-ally acceptable solutions. But in Benesens’s opinion there was far too little of
VII. poglavje
Prvi del poti, vse do vesolj-
ske postaje, iz katere
smo skrivoma zapustili
tisto večerno srečanje z
Ostrini, je potekel v pred-
videnem miru brez napa-
dov ostrinovskih raket ali
obletavanja njihovih letal,
pa tudi sam pristanek je
minil povsem neopazno.
In ker so se srečanja med
Čutini in Ostrini, kot sem
pozneje izvedel, dogajala
zelo pogosto, po bese-
dah enega od Čutinov jih
organizirajo mirovniki z
obeh strani, smo se še isti
večer tudi sami udeležili
sprejema pri Ostrinih.
Pogostejša srečanja naj bi
zmanjševala napetost in
krepila prizadevanja po
iskanju dogovornih reši-
tev. Toda po Dobročuto-
vem mnenju je bilo tega
daleč premalo za nekoliko
144
this to have any serious effect, let alone to prevent the outbreak of war. The two sides apparently allo-wed these meetings as an excuse for their intransi-gence with regard to their own demands, while at the same time appealing to the need to defend themselves and placing the blame for the situation on the other side.Together with my Sensin friends – or perhaps after everything that had happe-ned it would be more appropriate to call them comrades in arms – I sat down at a large round table with a mixed company of Sensins and Acutins. I soon observed that a lively discussion was in pro-gress. There was quite a lot of laughter to be heard, and I found myself glan-cing increasingly frequen-tly round the table. There was something slightly unspontaneous if not even forced about that laughter. But since both sides were
resnejši vpliv, kaj šele za
preprečitev izbruha vojne.
Obe strani naj bi ta sreča-
nja dopuščali kot izgovor
za svojo nepopustljivost
in za svoje potrebe, ob
hkratnem sklicevanju na
nujnost lastne obrambe in
zvračanju krivde za nastalo
zaostritev na nasprotno
stran.
Skupaj s prijatelji Čutini
ali soborci, slednja oznaka
je bila po vsem, kar se je
zgodilo, že skoraj bolj pri-
merna, sem se usedel za
24-sedežno okroglo mizo
z mešano družbo Čutinov
in Ostrinov, kjer je, vsaj kot
sem lahko kmalu opazil,
potekal živahen pogovor.
Precej smeha je bilo slišati,
tako da sem se vse pogo-
steje oziral v navzoče,
čeprav mi je ta smeh učin-
koval nekam nespontano,
če že ne prisiljeno. Toda
ker je obojestranska spod-
145
making a conscious effort to contribute to the cheer-ful atmosphere, it seemed to work. Cross-table con-versations kept starting up and those around me had to raise their voices to be heard. Those from my side of the table joined in with cries of agreement or jocular denial, depen-ding on the point that was being made or the clever-ness of the comment. Dia-logues like this must have been quite common thro-ughout the hall. I looked around appraisingly, my eyes wandering over the tables and beyond them. I couldn’t actually see the far walls, partly because of the decorative fountains and the stairs by the colu-mns containing the lifts. Crowds of figures were strolling among the tables. At that moment I was dis-tracted by a slightly louder shout, which I ignored, assuming it was nothing to do with me. At the next
buda prispevala h krepi-
tvi veselega vzdušja, je
vseeno delovalo. Pogovori
so se sproti vzpostavljali
navzkrižno čez omizje
ter neposredno bližino
pritegovali h glasnejšemu
sodelovanju. Še od mojega
omizja so se pridružili s
posameznimi pritrjeval-
nimi klici ali z nasmejanim
odkimavanjem, odvisno
od navzkrižnega razmišlja-
nja ali bistroumnosti pri-
pombe. Tako vzpostavljeni
dialogi so morali biti kar
pogosti po vsej dvorani.
Ocenjujoče sem se spre-
hodil s pogledom naokrog
in več deset metrov mimo
omizij, do koder mi je segel
pogled, saj oddaljenih sten
pravzaprav sploh nisem
mogel videti, delno tudi
zaradi okrasnih vodnja-
kov in stopnišč ob stebrih
z dvigali. Videl sem pravo
gnečo sprehajalcev med
omizji. Tedaj me je zmotil
malo glasnejši klic, na kate-
rega se nisem odzval, ker
nisem pričakoval nobe-
nega znanca. Po nasle-
146
shout I looked round and spotted a smiling Acutin, two tables away. His arm was raised in greeting and he was trying to attract my attention. It was the Acutin I had been talking to that time before our journey to the energy dump – when I was forced to interrupt what promised to be an interesting conversation. I returned his greeting by slightly raising my hand. He beckoned me to come and sit by him, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. After all, the Acutins were the Sensins’ enemies: deadly serious enemies. The Sensins wouldn’t exactly be happy about me going over to him. I looked round. Benesens was sha-king his head, as though to confirm my doubts.“It is difficult to know what the Acutins are up to,” he said. “They are past masters at feigning ignorance and at leading innocent conversations in the direction they want,
dnjem klicu pa sem se le
ozrl in zagledal smehljajo-
čega se Ostrina; dve omizji
naprej me je s privzdigom
roke v pozdrav opozoril
nase. Prav tisti Ostrin je
bil, s katerim sem med
potjo v energetska skladi-
šča moral prekiniti dialog
kljub nakazanemu zanimi-
vemu pogovoru. Še sam
sem mu odzdravil z rahlim
dvigom roke, Ostrin pa mi
je namignil, naj prisedem
k njim, a to je bilo zame
vseeno malo težje sprejeti.
Ostrini so bili vendarle
nasprotniki Čutinov, in to
presneto resni, moje spre-
hajanje k njim bi Čutini
težko sprejeli. Zastal sem
ob Dobročutovem pritr-
jevalnem odkimavanju
mojim pomislekom.
»Težko je ugotoviti, kaj
imajo Ostrini za bregom,«
je dejal. »Pravi mojstri so
tako v sprenevedanju kakor
v speljevanju pogovorov z
neresno tematiko v želeno
smer s povsem določenim
147
for a clearly defined pur-pose and with an objective that they are able to achi-eve through skilful mani-pulation. We must not talk to them about our mis-sion, or they will attack us with redoubled zeal. The balance of power that has been established is still the best guarantee of peace and if we do not soon re-establish the connection with the communications centre in our largest energy reservoir, some Acutins might start to think that they have the upper hand. As you can see, even now quite a number of them are convinced of their superi-ority. Too many of them, perhaps.”“That’s very possible,” I began, intending to men-tion my theory about sudden outbreaks of war, when I was interrupted by a light touch on my shoul-ders.“Hey, I heard you were back.” The smiling face of the beautiful Honaja
namenom in ciljem, ki ga
znajo doseči s spretno igro
besed. O naši misiji pa jim
ne moremo govoriti, ker bi
nas potem napadli s pod-
vojeno vnemo.
»Vzpostavljeno ravnotežje
sil je še najboljši garant
miru in če v dovolj kratkem
času ne bomo ponovno
sprostili prehoda do komu-
nikacijskih pultov našega
največjega energetskega
bazena, bi se nekaterim
Ostrnom že lahko utrnila
misel o njihovi premoči.
Saj, kot vidite, jih je že zdaj
kar precej prepričanih o
svoji premoči. Če jih ni že
celo preveč.«
»Tudi to je prav možno,«
sem mu pritrdil, z name-
nom navreči svoje ugiba-
nje o nenadnih izbruhih
vojne, ko me je prekinil
mehak oprijem mojih
ramen.
»Hej, slišala sem za vašo
vrnitev.« Smehljajoči se
obraz lepe Honaje se je
148
was bent towards me. She was even more beautiful than at our first meeting. She was also dressed sli-ghtly more provocatively, in a manner more suita-ble for an evening func-tion, although the military overalls she was wearing that first time had also suited her very well. This time she was in a happier mood. Without that hint of pain in eyes that were slightly red from crying. All I could sense in her was a kind of exuberance. She made no effort to hide her happiness at seeing me again.“I heard that things got off to a good start,” she said. “And then there some pro-blems, right?”“Yes. It worked for a while, until…”“It’s all right. You proved yourself enough. Our efforts have now been confirmed, that’s the most important thing. It is enough to know that it
narahlo sklanjal k meni.
Zdaj se mi je zdela še lepša
kot ob najinem prvem sre-
čanju. Pa še napravljena je
bila malo bolj izzivalno,
povsem primerno večer-
nim prireditvam, četudi
ji je njen takratni vojaški
kombinezon prav tako
zelo lepo pristajal. Bila pa
je tokrat bolj veselo raz-
položena. Brez tiste zadr-
ževane bolečine v rahlo
objokanih očeh. Le igrivo
razposajenost sem lahko
zaznal v njih, brez skri-
vanja veselja nad najinim
ponovnim srečanjem.
»Slišala sem za uspešni
uvod,« je dejala. »Potem so
nastale težave, kajne?«
»Hja, nekaj časa je šlo, vse
dokler. . .«
»Je že v redu. Dovolj ste se
izkazali. Naša predvideva-
nja so zdaj potrjena, to je
najpomembnejše. Dovolj,
da zadeva deluje. Tudi
149
works. You’ll be able to do the rest, too. I know you will.”That was nice to hear. “Thanks for the encoura-gement.” I nodded at the Sensins round the table. “My friends think so too.”“I know it better than your friends do,” she answered with a self-assured smile. “Believe me.” Now it was her turn to nod towards the table: “A lot better than they do.”I smiled back her, feeling slightly embarrassed as I wasn’t really sure what she meant – although I had nothing against her having such confidence in me or indeed in her abi-lity to judge the situation. But the more I looked at her beautiful face, turned towards me, the more I felt an unusually strong connection to her. For her part – and this was strange and pleasant at the same time – she was gazing at me, now with tenderness
ostalo boste zmogli. Jaz že
vem.«
To je bilo prijetno slišati.
»Hvala za spodbudo,« sem
namignil na Čutine ob
mizi, »tudi moji prijatelji so
prepričani o tem.«
»Jaz vem to bolje od vaših
prijateljev,« mi je odvrnila
med samozavestnim sme-
hljanjem, »lahko mi ver-
jamete.« Ponovila je moj
namig na omizje: »Precej
bolje od njih.«
Vrnil sem ji nasmeh, sicer
z rahlo zadrego zaradi tež-
jega razumevanja njenih
besed, čeprav nisem imel
nič proti tako prepriča-
nemu zaupanju vame in
očitno tudi v njene spo-
sobnosti ocenjevanja. Toda
bolj ko sem gledal njen
lepi obraz, primaknjen
k meni, bolj sem občutil
nenavadno močno naveza-
nost nanjo, ona pa je, kar
je bilo nenavadno in pri-
jetno hkrati, gledala vame
zdaj z mehkobo, zdaj spet
150
and now with a sly teasing look, apparently convin-ced of the obviousness of our belonging together. The strange thing was that I felt the same, which was funny in a very strange way. “That crazy woman has got you all confused again!” she said with a tea-sing giggle. But I sensed so much understanding in her and at the same time an unconcealed revulsion at the mention of “that crazy woman” that I was confused for a moment.“You know a lot about it,” I commented after a brief pause in which I looked at her with curiosity. “Did they tell you everything?” “They have to tell me.” She carried on smiling that mysterious smile that I didn’t quite understand – because I didn’t know the background or something like that; that was the only explanation that occurred to me.“Are you married?”
s prebrisano nagajivostjo,
vse z nakazanim prepri-
čanjem o samoumevnosti
najine medsebojne pripa-
dnosti. Pa tudi sam sem
enako občutil, in to je bilo
zabavno na prav nenava-
den način.
»Tista avša pa vas je le
spet zmedla!« me je med
hehetanjem rahlo podra-
žila. Vendar je prišlo iz
nje toliko razumevanja
in hkrati še neprikritega
odklanjanja ob besedi
‘avša’, da mi je razmišljanje
celo za hip zastalo.
»Precej veste,« sem pripo-
mnil po kratkem molku
med pogledovanjem vanjo
z dokajšnjo radovednostjo.
»So vam vse povedali?«
»Meni že morajo.« Še
naprej se je smehljala s
skrivnostnim nasmehom,
ki ga nisem povsem razu-
mel zaradi nepoznavanja
ozadja ali nekaj takega;
tako sem ugibal v prepletu
raznih pomislekov.
»Ste poročeni?« mi je ušlo
iz ust.
151
She shook her head slowly. “I was. Unfortunately I lost him.” We exchanged glances and for a moment I caught a glimpse of her inner pain. “My husband, I mean.”‘Yes, of course.’ I was alre-ady regretting my over-ha-sty curiosity. “Actually, they killed him. He was one of the super-visors of the energy fields. When the Acutins broke in, he was with the gar-rison behind the seventy-third door. He was killed in the fight with the Acu-tins.”“Oh!” I said in surprise, but Honaja went on: “He was the one who set up the coded protection that is causing us problems now.”“That was him? Oh!” That was an even bigger sur-prise. At least for me. “So he…” I stopped. Several things occurred to me all at once. “So he was the one who got me invol-ved in this business?” I
Narahlo je odkimala. »Bila
sem. Na žalost ga ni več.«
Med živahnimi pogledi se
mi je za trenutek razkrila
njena notranja bolečina.
»Mojega moža, mislim.«
»Da, da, seveda.« Pomišljal
sem nad svojo prenagljeno
radovednostjo.
»Pravzaprav so ga ubili. On
je bil eden od zaupnih nad-
zornikov energetskih polj.
Prav ob preboju Ostrinov
je bil skupaj s posadko v
prostorih za 73. vrati. Padel
je v boju z Ostrini.«
»Ou!« sem zategnil vidno
presenečen, Honaja pa je
nadaljevala: »On je posta-
vil to šifrirno zaščito, ki
nam zdaj dela težave.«
»On? Huh!« To je bilo pa
še večje presenečenje.
Vsaj zame. »Torej je… » sem
zastal sredi stavka. Nekaj
pomislekov mi je spodbu-
dilo domišljijo. »Torej me
je on vpletel v to zadevo?«
152
asked finally, and after a pause, in which she remai-ned silent too, I looked at Honaja, who nodded.“And he chose me?”“Yes. He knew you very well!”“How do you mean ‘knew me’? Where from?“He monitored you.”“Monitored me? Wow!” I took a deep breath.“It wasn’t intrusive. Of course he didn’t interfere with you in any way, at least not deliberately. It’s not allowed. And he cer-tainly wouldn’t have done anything bad to you.” Honaja looked at me affec-tionately. “He actually grew very attached to you. Very strongly. You meant a lot to him. Actually you were a very dear friend to him.” Honaja was get-ting excited. “He wasn’t your biological clone, and you weren’t his either, if that’s what you are thin-king. And we do not have the ability to travel thro-ugh time either. There is
sem na koncu vprašal in
se po premolku, tudi ona
je ostala tiho, zagledal v
Honajo, ki mi je prikimala
v odgovor.
»In izbral je mene?«
»Da. Zelo dobro vas je
poznal!«
»Kako - poznal? Od kod?«
»Spremljal vas je.«
»Spremljal? Huh!« Po glo-
bokem vdihu sem zastal s
polnimi pljuči.
»Saj ni bilo moteče. Prav
gotovo vas ni z ničimer
prizadel, vsaj hote ne. Tudi
dovoljeno ni. On pa vam
še posebej ne bi naredil
nič žalega.« Honaja me je
gledala s toplo naklonje-
nostjo. »Še celo navezal
se je na vas. Zelo močno.
Veliko ste mu pomenili.
Pravzaprav ste mu bili zelo
drag prijatelj.« Honaja se je
še sama vznemirila. »Ni bil
vaš biološki klon, pa tudi vi
niste njegov, če ste morda
pomislili na to možnost. In
tudi skozi čas se ne znamo
sprehajati. Nič iz priho-
153
nothing from the future or the past here.” Honaja gri-pped my hand with a kind of urgent intimacy. “All of us Sensins have frien-dly ties to Earthmen, so for us your collaboration with us in this business is something quite natural. You don’t mean anything to the Acutins. They would happily sacrifice you, since for them you are merely beings at some primitive level of develo-pment, too low down on the evolutionary spiral for them to give you any serious consideration. We, however, see things quite differently, and this is also the origin of the conflict between the Acutins and us. We nurture very bene-volent feelings towards you.”“I’m happy to hear it,” I replied, under the influence of her humorous playful-ness. I could sense consi-derable emotional benevo-lence in the way she looked at me, and at a deeper level
dnosti ali preteklosti ni
tu prisotno.« Honaja se je
oprijela moje roke s čutno
intimnostjo. »Vsi Čutini
smo dovolj prijateljsko
navezani na Zemljane, zato
je vaše sodelovanje z nami
v tej zadevi za nas precej
samoumevno. Ostrinom
nič ne pomenite, mirno bi
vas žrtvovali, ker ste zanje
le bitja na določeni pri-
mitivni razvojni stopnji,
preveč nizko na evolucij-
ski spirali, da bi vas resno
upoštevali. Mi pa razmi-
šljamo povsem drugače,
in prav tu je tudi zametek
spora med nami in Ostrini.
Do vas gojimo zelo naklo-
njena čustva.«
»To mi je všeč,« sem odvr-
nil še sam pod vplivom
njene humorne igrivosti. V
njenih pogledih vame sem
občutil precej čustvene
naklonjenosti, in to celo
globlje, ne zgolj spoštljive,
154
than just respect. It was the same thing that I felt when I looked at her. Yes, I couldn’t be mistaken. On the other hand she wasn’t doing anything to hide her feelings towards me, which were surely more than just a vague benevo-lence. Quite a lot more, if I wasn’t mistaken. Meanw-hile, my feelings were gro-wing stronger too.“Come on, let’s go and dance,” she said, offering me her hand. My neigh-bour, Benesens, was in the middle of a lively con-versation with an Acutin from the next table. I looked at the others. They were talking among them-selves. No-one was paying any attention to Honaja or me. Right then, I thou-ght to myself, and slowly stood up and walked with Honaja to the dancefloor. I still didn’t know very much about these Sensins, I thought with a grin, and shook my head. They were
ampak enake moji ob
pogledu nanjo. Da, nisem
se mogel motiti. Pa saj tudi
ni kaj dosti skrivala teh
svojih nagnjenj do mene,
ki so morala biti več kot
le zgolj rahlo naklonjena
čustva. Precej več, če se
nisem motil. Pa tudi moja
čustva so ob tem postajala
še močnejša.
»Pridi, greva plesat,« me
je povabila s ponujeno
roko. Dobročut ob meni
je bil v živahnem pogo-
voru z Ostrinom od sose-
dnje mize, pogledal sem
še ostale, pa so se tudi ti
pomenkovali med sabo,
brez kakršnega koli zani-
manja za Honajo ali zame.
Prav, sem si mislil in počasi
vstal ter stopil ob Honaji
do plesišča. Še vedno
nisem vedel kaj dosti o teh
Čutinih, nejeverno sem
se nakremžil med rahlim
zmajevanjem z glavo, prav-
155
in fact revealing themsel-ves to me gradually, but all things considered they now seemed stranger or perhaps more mysterious than at our first encoun-ter. Nevertheless some things didn’t quite add up, or at least that was my sensation. Even the explanation of how her husband had apparently been monitoring my life was quite strange in itself. I was unable to form a more definite view of it, and meanwhile Honaja was acting towards me as though I were…as though I…a comparison had just formed in my mind but I was somehow reluctant to put it into words. Then I had to smile. At times she really did react as though she saw her husband in me. Where did that impression come from? After all, she had explained that it was nothing to do with time travel, which was some-
zaprav so se res sproti raz-
krivali, vendar so se mi
zdeli po vsem skupaj še
bolj nenavadni, če že ne
skrivnostni, kot ob prvem
srečanju. Kljub vsemu se
mi nekateri pogledi niso
povsem ujemali, vsaj po
občutku sodeč ne, ker je
bila tudi razlaga o spre-
mljanju mojega življenja,
kar naj bi izvajal njen mož,
že sama po sebi dovolj
nenavadna. Niti vsaj malo
bolj določene predstave
o takem početju si nisem
mogel ustvariti, Honaja pa
se je obnašala do mene,
kot da bi bil jaz . . . ozi-
roma, kot da sem . . . prav-
kar porojena primerjava
se mi nikakor ni hotela
zaokrožiti v zaključno ugo-
tovitev. Nato sem se moral
sam zase nasmehniti. Na
trenutke se je res odzivala,
kot da vidi v meni svojega
moža. Presneto, da so se
mi porajali taki vtisi. Sicer
mi je lepo razložila, da ne
gre za sprehajanje skozi
čas, tega naj tudi oni ne bi
156
thing they were apparently not capable of, and that I was not a clone of her hus-band either. So what was behind it? What was the basis on which all of this was happening?Honaja stopped at the edge of the dancefloor. “Let’s go over there,” she said, poin-ting to where there were slightly fewer dancers. I led her across the middle of the dancefloor, past the dancing couples. As we moved to the rhythm of the music, her arms around my neck and mine around her waist, I whispered into her ear: “There’s a nice atmosphere here.” She was all mine. With her entire being and her sensual abandon, she was becoming more and more part of me. But then she gave a kind of sigh and I found myself imagi-ning her dancing with that husband of hers. She must have loved him. But she
bili sposobni početi, in jaz
naj ne bi bil niti biološki
klon njenega moža. Toda
kaj je potem v ozadju? Na
kakšni podlagi vse to sploh
poteka?
Honaja je obstala pred ple-
siščem. »Greva tjale,« mi je
dejala med namigom na
malo manj nagnetene ple-
salce, kamor sem jo nato
odpeljal mimo plešočih
parov prek osrednjega
dela plesišča.
Ob prepuščanju plesnemu
ritmu, ko sva se prižela v
objemu, z njenimi rokami
okrog mojega vratu in
z mojimi ovitimi okrog
njenih ledij, sem ji zaše-
petal na uho: »Prijetno
vzdušje je tukaj.« Vsa je
bila moja. Z vsem svojim
bitjem in s svojim čutnim
predajanjem se je vse bolj
vraščala vame. Pa vendar
sem zaznal še nekakšen
zadržan vzdih, ob katerem
so se mi med misli vrivali
namišljeni prikazi nje-
nega plesa s tistim njenim
možem. Rada ga je morala
157
was also fond of me, here and now: I could sense it. Every movement of her hands, draped gently around my neck, told me this. Then she gave me a slight shake. “Look. They are calling us. It must already be time for you to go.”I glanced over to where she was looking. The Sen-sins were surreptitiously signalling to me that it was time to leave and that I should get away without attracting attention.I pressed Honaja closer to me and we exchanged elo-quent glances. I squeezed her hand and our fingers brushed together. Then I left the dancefloor and walked towards our group. When I reached them I sto-pped and we exchanged a few words so as to maintain the impression of a relaxed gathering. Then I set off after the others, who were already making their way towards the exit in twos and threes, at brief inter-
imeti. Toda tudi mene
mora imeti rada, in to prav
zdaj, to sem dobro čutil.
Vsak gib njenih rok, mehko
ovitih okoli mojega vratu,
mi je to govoril. Tedaj me
je narahlo stresla. »Glej,
kličejo naju. Verjetno boš
moral že iti.«
Ozrl sem se v smeri nje-
nega pogleda. Čutini so
mi prikrito, z rahlimi gibi,
kazali na odhod in da naj
čim bolj neopazno zapu-
stim te prostore.
Stisnil sem Honajo v rahlo
močnejšem objemu, si z
njo izmenjal še nekaj pri-
jetno zgovornih pogledov
ter se po rahlem stisku
rok in zadržanem prepletu
najinih prstov podal s ple-
sišča, najprej do naše sku-
pine, ob kateri sem se usta-
vil, izmenjal nekaj povsem
nepomembnih besed, bolj
zaradi vzbujanja vtisa spro-
ščenega vzdušja, nakar
sem se podal za ostalimi,
ki so se že drug za drugim
v kratkih časovnih razmi-
158
vals, and then following a path lined with ornamen-tal shrubbery to the next building, whose ground-floor rooms appeared to contain several groups of Sensins and Acutins. Our group quickly re-assem-bled and we were given a short briefing. Then we set off in the direction of the test range, from where we were apparently going to continue our jour-ney. Once again in small groups and at carefully-timed intervals. The rest of us spread out so that we were still within sight of each other and waited for the signal to move towards the ship. But before it was my turn to embark (I was already looking out for the signal to move), a Sensin from our group hurried up. He passed along the line, pausing momentarily to give a short message to individual Sensins from our unit: “Six tables of Acutins got up from their places
kih po dva ali trije odpra-
vljali k izhodu in potem po
poti skozi okrasno grmi-
čevje do sosednje zgradbe
s številnimi skupinami
Čutinov in Ostrinov v pri-
tličnih prostorih. Tam se je
naša skupina kar hitro zbi-
rala in se nato po kratkem
sprejetju navodil usmerjala
proti poligonu, od koder
naj bi takoj nadaljevali pot.
Spet v majhnih skupinah
in v časovnih presledkih.
Ostali smo se razmaknili
na medsebojno vidno raz-
daljo ter se po komaj opa-
znih namigih sprehodili
proti našemu letalu. Toda
še preden je prišla vrsta
name (že sem se spogledo-
val v pričakovanju namiga
na moj odhod), je prihi-
tel Čutin iz naše skupine
in se v mimohodu komaj
opazno zadržal s kratkim
sporočilom ob posame-
znih Čutinih naše enote:
»Šest omizij Ostrinov je
takoj po našem odhodu
159
as soon as we left. I have just received the message that they are heading for their pursuit ships. They suspect something, altho-ugh they do not know the true importance of our flight to Earth. Therefore we should not discuss this, not even amongst oursel-ves.” The Sensin looked at me very earnestly and after my muttered “okay” he moved on to the next trio from our unit.With a sense of foreboding at this new turn of events I turned towards my neigh-bour: “What does this actually mean?”“That they are going to follow us,” came the answer. “And probably you too, or rather you in particular. That’s my impression. In any case they will want to monitor us closely to ensure that their forecasts are as exact as possible. Yes, it looks as though that’s the main thing. They want to get to the bottom of the whole
zapustilo svoja mesta.
Pravkar pa sem dobil spo-
ročilo, da živahno tekajo
k svojim zasledovalnim
letalom. Nekaj slutijo,
čeprav ne poznajo pravega
pomena našega leta na
Zemljo. Zato naj bi se mi
ne pogovarjali o tej temi,
tudi med sabo ne.« Čutin
se je ob tem povsem zre-
snjeno zazrl vame ter se po
mojem nakazanem strinja-
nju s pritrdilnim »v redu«
podal naprej do sosednje
trojice iz naše enote.
Z nič kaj prijetnimi občutki
ob zaostritvi našega polo-
žaja sem se nagnil k svo-
jemu sosedu: »Kaj pa to
pravzaprav pomeni?«
»Da nas bodo zasledovali,«
mi je ta odvrnil v poja-
snilo. »In verjetno tudi vas,
morda vas še posebej, tako
se mi vse skupaj pač doz-
deva. Vsekakor pa si bodo
želeli izboriti to bližnje
spremljanje za čim natanč-
nejše predvidevanje. Da,
predvsem to, kot vse kaže.
In razkriti vso zadevo v
celoti ter nenadno ukre-
160
business and then take decisive action. It appears that your presence is star-ting to disquiet them more and more.” I smiled: “They won’t succeed in assembling the missing details on their own. I am sure of it. You weren’t able to either, not on your own and not with me. My crazy friend simply let herself go that evening. There was no logic in her behaviour. Or to put it another way, whe-never she lost the thread, she improvised by putting on an act. I don’t believe that even she knew where her emotional outpourings actually came from. And as far as I have been able to remember so far, my emotions that evening were almost as confused as everything else.” It occurred to me that there might be a compa-rison here between Acu-tins and Sensins, but I was unable to reach any more definite conclusions about their abilities.
pati. Vaša prisotnost jih,
kot vse kaže, že vse bolj
vznemirja.«
Narahlo sem se nasmeh-
nil: »Manjkajočih podrob-
nosti že ne bodo uspeli
sami sestaviti. O tem sem
prepričan. Saj jih tudi vi
niste, ne sami in ne skupaj
z mano. Moja avšasta prija-
teljica se je tistega večera
preprosto sproščala, brez
logike v obnašanju. Ozi-
roma, kadar koli je zgubila
nit dogajanja, je improvizi-
rala z igralskim nastopom.
Po moje še sama ni vedela,
iz kakšnega nagiba izvira
njen posamezni čustveni
izliv. In kolikor sem se
uspel doslej spomniti, so
bila tisti večer tudi moja
čustva skoraj tako zmešana
kot vse takratno dogaja-
nje.« Potem se mi je vsilila
še primerjava med Ostrini
in Čutini, pa glede njiho-
vih sposobnosti nisem
mogel narediti nobenega
bolj določenega sklepa.
161
“Those Acutins seem quite self-confident in their dea-lings with you,” I said.“Ha! Self-confident? Arro-gant, you mean! The most suitable word for their character is arrogance.” But then the Sensin drew himself up slightly and, with a slightly absent look in his eyes, conti-nued: “Well, perhaps for us, here, this arrogance of theirs is actually desirable. We welcome it. At least I do. Because if their arro-gance didn’t make them believe that they had an advantage over us in fore-casting events, they would have already attacked us.”“With weapons?” I asked.“Yes, with weapons too.” The Sensin continued to stare in front of him with an absent look in his eyes, but even so he flinched slightly under my steady gaze.“So the safety of this flight is actually slightly more conditional?” I said slowly, with an emphasis
»Se pa Ostrini precej samo-
zavestno vedejo do vas,«
sem dejal.
»Hja! Kaj samozavestno!
Naduto! Najprimernejša
beseda za njihov značaj
je nadutost.« Toda tudi
Čutin se je pri tem vzrav-
nal v malo bolj vzvišeno
pozo ter z rahlo odsotnim
pogledom nadaljeval raz-
mišljanje: »No, ja, morda
je za nas tukaj ta njihova
nadutost celo zaželena.
Prav dobrodošla nam je.
Vsaj po moje, kajti če ne bi
zaradi nadutosti verjeli v
svoje prednosti pri predvi-
devanju dogajanja, bi nas
že napadli.«
»Z orožjem?« sem vprašal.
»Da, tudi z orožjem.«
Čutin je pri tem gledal
bolj predse z odmaknjeno
odsotnim pogledom, a se
je vseeno rahlo zdrznil ob
mojem vztrajnem strme-
nju vanj.
»Torej je varnost tega
poleta vendarle malo bolj
pogojna?« sem počasi pri-
pomnil s poudarkom na
162
on the questionability of the notion of conditiona-lity.“Well, that’s not exac-tly it. We are also able to predict their intentions, and, as you have already had the chance to see, in these minor skirmishes we are more than a match for them, don’t you agree? Even in a conflict involving all our forces, we believe that we would have more chances than them.”Naturally the fact that my life appeared to depend on how each side predicted the actions of the other was not the most encoura-ging news, but I didn’t tell the Sensin that. It probably wasn’t appropriate.Then the Sensin who had just arrived summoned us, waving his arms, all attempt at concealment abandoned. “Let’s go! To the asteroid belt as quickly as possible!” he shouted. After waving his arm in the direction of our ship he broke into a run, and
vprašljivosti pojma pogoj-
nosti.
»No, ni čisto tako. Tudi
mi znamo predvideti nji-
hove namere in, kot ste že
lahko spoznali, se v takih
manjših spopadih kar lepo
kosamo z njimi, kajne? In
tudi v spopadu vseh obo-
roženih sil bi po našem
mnenju imeli mi nekaj več
možnosti kakor oni.«
Seveda pa mi dejstvo, da je
moje življenje odvisno od
tega, kako bodo oni med
sabo predvideli dejanja
drug drugega, ni bilo naj-
bolj všeč, vendar mu tega
nisem omenil, ker najbrž
ne bi bilo primerno.
Tedaj nas je brez prikriva-
nja in z odločnimi zamahi
rok pozval Čutin, ki je
pravkar pritekel. »Gremo!
Z vso naglico do aste-
roidnega pasu!« nam je
zaklical ter se po zamahu
roke v smeri našega letala
pognal v tek, mi pa za njim
163
we followed him in a stra-ggling column. But before we had gone more than a few hundred metres, to my surprise, our ship took of and flew towards us. It paused in mid-air above our heads and started suc-king us up into itself, one by one. Or at least that’s what it looked like. “Wha…!” I said in sur-prise, and suddenly found myself being pulled verti-cally up into the air. I ran to my seat and gazed out through the big window.“That was quick,” I said to Benesens, with a glance at the other Sensins who all appeared completely unruffled. “We’re in a hurry. We must get to the asteroid belt before them, and then we will probably have to talk a little more seriously about this pursuit.” Our ship rose up into the air and accelerated rapidly, banking steeply towards the exit corridor and then heading at full speed in
v sproti izoblikovani raz-
potegnjeni koloni. Toda
po nekaj sto metrih nam
je, na moje presenečenje,
priletelo naproti naše
letalo, obstalo nad nami
ter nas, vsaj kot je bilo
videti, enega za drugim kar
posesavalo vase, tako da
sem potem tudi jaz lahko
spravil iz sebe samo malo
presenečeni ‘huh’, ko me
je povleklo navpično nav-
zgor. Hitro sem stekel do
svojega sedeža in se zazrl
skozi veliko sprednjo šipo.
»To je šlo pa hitro, kajne?«
sem ob pogledu na povsem
neprizadete bližnje Čutine
navrgel Dobročutu, ki mi
je z rahlo zategnjenimi
ustnicami dejal: »Mudi se.
Vsaj do asteroidnega pasu
moramo priti pred njimi,
potem pa se bo verjetno
treba malo bolj resno
pogovoriti o tem zasledo-
vanju.« Tedaj smo po dvigu
s silovitim pospeškom zle-
teli v ostrem loku proti
izhodnemu koridorju in
se pognali z vso močjo
164
the direction of the aste-roid belt I already knew so well.Through the window I could see two more of our ships in the foreground, and the hologram dis-play showed our imme-diate vicinity. There was no sign of any pursuing ships. Or was there? Yes, I could make out six Acutin ships within visible range, caught in the holo-display. I tried to estimate their speed and whether they would catch us up, but our speeds were too evenly matched for me to tell. I beckoned Benesens over to the holo-display: “Will they be able to catch us?”He shrugged his shoulders: “They are probably plan-ning something else. There are many possibilities.” Benesens considered for a moment. “At the galac-tic level, by which I mean all planets, both natural and artificial, a kind of trial of strength is taking place. At every step a new
motorjev v smer meni že
dobro znanega asteroi-
dnega pasu.
Skozi veliko okno sem med
tem spremljal v ospredju
še dve naši letali in v holo-
gramskem prikazovalniku
prikaz naše neposredne
bližine. Nikjer ni bilo
zasledovalnih letal. Ali
pač. Da, šest letal Ostrinov
sem lahko zaznal na vidni
razdalji, zajeti v holijevem
prikazu.
Skušal sem oceniti hitrost
in morebitno dohitevanje
zasledovalcev, pa zaradi
prevelike izenačenosti
nisem mogel presoditi.
Namignil sem Dobročutu,
naj pogleda v hologram:
»Ali nas lahko prehitijo?«
V odgovor je zmignil z
rameni: »Najbrž načrtujejo
nekaj drugega. Marsikaj
je možno.« Dobročut se
je zamislil. »Na globalni
ravni, po vseh planetih,
tako naravnih kot umetnih,
poteka nekakšno merjenje
moči. Na vsakem koraku
se vzpostavlja ravnovesje,
165
balance is established, with an increasing amount of brute force. Wherever there is any gathering of forces of whatever kind – military, energy produc-tion or intellectual – and for whatever reason, that is a sufficiently strong reason for the other side to do exactly the same. And this is what is causing this confusion now. Seen from this point of view, this Acutin pursuit is perfectly normal behaviour, or, to put it another way, it could be perfectly normal. The same thing happens eve-rywhere where no-man’s-land has, up until now, been used for free passage by both sides. This pursuit could actually have the same origin as all actions of this type, couldn’t it?” Benesens looked at me with a smile. I didn’t know what to say.“Or perhaps they have already worked out what’s going on. That is also a possibility.”
in to z vse več brutalne
sile. Kjer koli, ne glede na
razlog, je že samo zbiranje
kakršnih koli sil, vojaških,
energetskih ali intelektu-
alnih, dovolj močan razlog
za enako delovanje naspro-
tnih strani. In prav to je
zdaj tisto, kar vnaša zmedo.
Zasledovanje Ostrinov je v
tej luči povsem normalno
obnašanje ali, bolje rečeno,
lahko bi bilo povsem nor-
malno, kot je povsod, kjer
je nikogaršnji prostor,
doslej namenjen prostemu
prehodu obeh strani. To
zasledovanje bi prav lahko
izviralo iz enakega razloga
kot vsa tovrstna dogajanja,
kajne?« Dobročut se je z
nasmehom zazrl v vame,
ki si tako na hitro nikakor
nisem mogel vzpostaviti
nobenih bolj določenih
predstav.
»Lahko pa so v tem času že
tudi kaj razvozlali. Tudi to
je možno, kajne?« Dobro-
166
Benesens smiled as though admitting that despite all his cleverness this que-stion was too much for him, and went on: “But as you have seen, the asteroid belt is dotted with a great many asteroids, both ours and theirs. Quite a number of them are space stations, despite their convincingly asteroid-like exterior. That is where we shall see what importance these Acutins actually attribute to our group and to your pre-sence among us.”“And how will you know that?” I asked.“For now I can only guess. It will probably all depend on the extent and intensity of the intervention of their forces in the asteroid belt in order to halt our flight, or indeed to destroy us. And as you can probably imagine, the forces gathe-red here are considerable.”“Could our clashes with their forces along our route to the Earth merely be part of the ongoing
čut se je nasmehnil v pri-
znanju, da kljub vsej svoji
bistroumnosti ni kos temu
vprašanju ter nadaljeval:
»Toda kot ste videli, je aste-
roidni pas posejan tako
z našimi kot z njihovimi
asteroidi. In kar dobršen
del so to vesoljske postaje,
kljub vsej svoji prepri-
čljivo asteroidni zunanjo-
sti. Tam bomo šele videli,
kak pomen pravzaprav ti
Ostrini dajejo naši skupini
in vaši prisotnosti med
nami.«
»In po čem boste to spo-
znali?« sem vprašal.
»O tem lahko za sedaj
samo ugibam. Najbrž bo
vse odvisno od obsega in
intenzivnosti udeležbe nji-
hovih sil na asteroidnem
pasu z namenom zausta-
vitve našega leta, če že ne
našega uničenja. In kot
verjetno domnevate, je tu
zbranih kar precej sil.«
»Ali bi lahko bili tisti naši
spopadi z njihovimi silami
na poti od Zemlje zgolj
zaradi sprotnega dokazo-
167
mutual demonstrations of strength?”“Yes, of course. Because of the major redistributions of forces and the power-ful military concentration in this part of the galaxy, even in the case of minor skirmishes all the armed forces from the surroun-ding area are immediately involved.”“I see. After everything we managed to survive on the way here, I really don’t want to have go through anything like that on the way back, despite my con-fidence in your technical abilities and the accuracy of the computerised gui-dance systems. But from what you say…” I paused. Benesens raised his eye-brows. Then with a gesture of his head, a slow move-ment of his arm and finally two spread palms, he indi-cated his belief in the need to accept the facts as they were. He ran an appraising eye over me: “Perhaps after this new redistribu-
vanja ob stalnem medse-
bojnem merjenju moči?«
»Da, seveda, ker so zaradi
velikih prerazporeditev
in močnega osredotoče-
nja vojaških sil v tem delu
vesolja tudi ob manjših
spopadih takoj na kupu
vse oborožene sile iz oko-
lice.«
»Huh. Po vsem, kar nam
je uspelo preživeti, si
prav gotovo ne želim več
podobnega dirkanja nazaj
grede, in to kljub zaupanju
v vaše obvladovanje teh-
nike z natančnim računal-
niškim vodenjem. Po vaših
besedah pa nam sledi . . .«
Zastal sem v razmišljanju,
Dobročut pa je zmignil z
obrvmi, nato še z glavo, in
s počasnim gibom roke ter
z razprtimi dlanmi nakazal
svoje prepričanje o nujnem
sprejemanju nastalih dej-
stev, nato pa me je ocenju-
joče preletel s pogledom:
»Morda pa se je po tistem
168
tion of forces things will have calmed down again. That is very possible.”Yes, of course. But I was far from reassured by his reflections on the proba-ble risk of our flight past Acutin gun emplacements disguised as asteroids.
novem razporejanju sil vse
skupaj ponovno umirilo,
to je prav možno.«
Hja, seveda, le da jaz nisem
bil nič kaj ravnodušen ob
njegovem razmišljanju o
verjetnem tveganju našega
leta mimo strelnih gnezd z
asteroidno zunanjostjo.
169
Chapter VIII
When we reached the aste-roid belt the pursuing ships moved in closer and flew along in formation like an escort. Then they banked steeply to circle around the first asteroids – or what looked like asteroids from the outside. We did the same, so that after flying past the first enormous mass the ship turned on its longitudinal axis and the straight line of our course to the asteroid belt became an ever tighter spiral. Sud-denly the asteroid in front of the Acutins opened like an umbrella – an umbrella several kilometres across – and forced us into a sharp turn. Somehow we mana-ged to avoid it but then the next asteroids began ope-ning too. We were going to be trapped inside a kind of giant shell. At that moment
VIII. poglavje
Ob prihodu v asteroidni
pas so se nam zasledo-
valna letala približala na
vzporedno spremljanje,
takoj zatem pa so v ostrih
lokih zaokrožila okoli
prvih asteroidov, ki so to
bili videti po svoji zuna-
njosti. In tudi sami smo
storili enako, tako da se
nam je po letu mimo prve
masivne gmote letalo zavr-
telo okoli vzdolžne osi in
se nam je ravna črta leta do
asteroidnega pasu spreme-
nila v zbito vijačnico z vse
bolj vozlasto obliko, aste-
roid pa se je pred Ostrini
razprl kakor avtomatski
dežnik z več kilometrskim
premerom ter nas prisilil
v oster zavoj, ki nam ga je
še uspelo zvoziti. Zatem
pa so se začeli razpirati še
naslednji asteroidi, tako da
je že kazalo, da bomo zajeti
znotraj orjaške lupine, ko
170
we picked up a signal from an asteroid that had sud-denly appeared in front of us. A split second was enough for us to exchange coded light impulses: yes, it was one of ours, come to rescue us. The asteroid would carry us through the shell. We immediately changed course and turned in a short arc towards the entrance that had been indicated to us. The bar-riers were still lifting as we flew through them towards a runway several hundred metres long, with the arches of an enormous vault curving over it. I looked at Benesens: “How are we going to get out of this?”“The shell is probably too thin to resist an asteroid as big as this,” explained the Sensin as he watched the hologram display of our asteroid’s progress towards the shell-like covering of this cage that had suddenly formed to trap us.Automatically I gripped
smo dobili pozivni znak iz
nenadoma priletelega aste-
roida, s katerim smo si v
trenutku izmenjali šifrirne
svetlobne impulze. Da,
eden naših nam je priskočil
na pomoč. Prenesel nas bo
skozi lupine, nam je sporo-
čil. Takoj smo se usmerili
k njemu in v kratkem loku
zavili proti nakazanemu
vhodu ter nato skozi še
vedno dvigajoče se zapore
proti več sto metrov dolgi
pristajalni stezi, prek
katere so se napenjali loki
stometrskega svoda. Pogle-
dal sem Dobročuta: »Kako
pa se mislimo prebiti?«
»Najbrž je lupina pretanka
za tako velik asteroid,« je
pojasnil Čutin med opa-
zovanjem hologramskega
prikaza naleta našega aste-
roida iz notranje strani v
lupinasti ovoj naše nena-
doma nastale kletke.
Samodejno sem se oprijel
171
the handle on my seat. What would such a colli-sion mean? The asteroid might even explode. Did these Sensins really know what they were doing? “So we are going to crash into it?” I said.Benesens turned excite-dly from the big frontal window to the hologram display of the computer’s simulation of our current position: “They’re not going to let us through!”I continued to observe our approach to the shell in the holo-display. There was a bright gleam as the giant masses came into con-tact and the whole of the asteroid started shaking. Through the window we could see the quivering of the walls and the bending of the giant arches above the hangar into which we had retreated. After this violent buckling, howe-ver, the ceiling arches immediately straighte-ned themselves again. All eyes turned to the three-
držaja svojega sedeža. Kaj
pa lahko pomeni tako trče-
nje? Še asteroid se lahko
razleti. Ali Čutini res vedo,
kaj delajo? »Torej bomo
trčili,« sem dejal.
Tudi Dobročut je vznemir-
jeno pogledoval zdaj skozi
veliko čelno okno, zdaj
spet v hologramski prikaz
računalniške simulacije
trenutnega položaja. »Ne
bodo nas spustili skozi!« je
dejal.
V hologramskem prikazu
sem opazoval naše bliža-
nje lupini, vse dokler se
ni zalesketalo ob stičišču
orjaških mas in se je stre-
sel ves asteroid skozi vso
svojo notranjost, da smo
še skozi okno lahko videli
drhtenje sten in upogi-
banje orjaških lokov nad
pristajalnim hangarjem,
v katerega smo se uma-
knili. Toda po silovitem
upogibu so se stropni loki
ponovno zravnali. Takoj
so se vsi pogledi usmerili
v tridimenzionalni prikaz
172
dimensional display of the computer simulation. The asteroid was sinking deeper and deeper into the collapsing shell, crushing it and pushing the shat-tered fragments ahead of it. It looked as though we were going to make it, and the crew responded with mounting enthusiasm. We were through!“The asteroid will carry us part of the way. Remain in readiness!” The commander’s voice cut through the noisy shouts. Once again we all looked at the holo-display, which showed our asteroid’s path through the smaller barri-ers put up by the Acutins. These were probably capa-ble of stopping smaller vessels, but they were too small for asteroids as big as ours. It looked as though this was merely a routine operation by the Acutins, more to do with their con-stant measuring themsel-ves against the Sensins than with the importance
računalniške simulacije
položaja. Asteroid se je vse
bolj in bolj pogrezal v vda-
jajočo se lupino ter drobil
in potiskal predse odletele
kose. Vse je kazalo na uspe-
šen preboj, tudi posadka se
je začela vse bolj živahno
odzivati. Prebili smo se.
»Asteroid nas bo prenesel
še del poti. Ostanite v pri-
pravljenosti!« se je skozi
vse glasnejše vzklike zare-
zal kapitanov glas.
Spet smo se vsi ozrli v holo-
gram, kjer se nam je kazal
let našega asteroida skozi
manjše zaporne pregrade
Ostrinov, verjetno uspe-
šne pri ustavljanju manj-
ših plovil, za asteroide, kot
je bil naš, pa premajhne.
Vse je tudi kazalo na bolj
rutinsko delovanje Ostri-
nov, bolj v smislu stalnega
merjenja moči s Čutini kot
zaradi pomena naše misije.
173
of our mission. But when we found ourselves tra-pped for a second time by the automatic opening of those giant umbrellas, our fresh attempt to break through the shell revealed a very different situation. The shell simply would not break and we were unable to split it open. Like a parachute covering the head of a parachutist who has just landed, it hung over our asteroid and prevented it from moving. An alarm sounded. The danger was visible on the holo-display in the form of a multitude of tiny moving dots that we immediately identified as landing craft. Other, larger ships, with more powerful weaponry also appeared. The whole area around our asteroid was filled with teeming movement. It was an inva-sion.“Battle stations, eve-ryone!” ordered the com-mander. “We are caught in a flexible shell which for
Toda po ponovnem zajetju
s tistim njihovim sprožlji-
vim odpiranjem dežnikov
v zaporne lupine je pri
našem poskusu preboja
lupine nastal povsem spre-
menjen položaj. Lupina se
nikakor ni hotela zdrobiti
niti je nismo uspeli raz-
klati. Kot padalsko krilo,
poveznjeno na glavo prav-
kar pristalega padalca, je
obvisela na našem astero-
idu ter nam onemogočila
let. Opozoril nas je alarmni
pisk. Nevarnost se nam je
kazala skozi hologramski
prikaz v velikem številu
majhnih premikajočih
se pikic, iz katerih smo
takoj lahko razbrali plo-
vila za spust posameznih
skupinic. Pokazala pa so
se tudi večja, z močnejšo
oborožitvijo. Ves prostor,
vse okoli našega asteroida,
se je napolnil z njihovim
živim premikanjem. Prava
invazija.
»Vsi na bojne položaje!«
je rezko ukazal kapitan.
»Zajeti smo v prožno
174
the time being is obstruc-ting the view of our rapid intervention forces on the outside. We will have to rely on our own strength for a little while at least. The holo-display already shows the enemy landing on the surface of our aste-roid and the first clashes between the attackers and the robots of our asteroid’s garrison.”“Zoom in on the fighting!” the commander ordered the computer display. It showed us the surface of the asteroid and such a violent turmoil of fighting between the robots of both sides that I was seized with anxiety as I watched these implacable humanoid machines engage each other in single combat. Projectiles of every kind, from metal bullets to fla-shing energy bolts lit up the whole area like fire-works, and metal hands, feet, heads and body parts flew through the air. Yet although these explosions
lupino, ki sedaj zakriva vpo-
gled našim zunanjim silam
za hitro posredovanje. Vsaj
nekaj časa se bomo morali
boriti z lastnimi močmi. Iz
prikaza v holiju že lahko
razberemo spuščanje na
površino našega astero-
ida in prve spopade napa-
dalcev z roboti posadke
našega asteroida.«
»Približaj spopade!« je
kapitan ukazal računal-
niškemu prikazovalniku.
Pokazala se nam je povr-
šina asteroida s tako silo-
vito razvnetim bojnim
metežem med roboti obeh
strani, da so me zajeli
tesnobni občutki ob gle-
danju teh neizprosnih dvo-
bojev med stroji s člove-
ško zunanjostjo. Izstrelki
vseh vrst, od kovinskih do
bliskajočih energetskih so
razsvetljevali ves prostor
do pravega ognjemeta, le
da so tu letele po zraku še
kovinske roke, noge, glave
in deli trupa. Toda čeprav
so te eksplozije dovolj raz-
175
revealed the metal struc-ture of the robots, much of their bodies looked remar-kably similar to living, human flesh. They were probably made of some kind of plastic, or perhaps even from living muscle and skin grown in labora-tories. Everything was in movement, including my thoughts and emotions. My heart in my throat, I watched the attackers penetrate our first line of defence. It was not only the human exterior of these robots and their relen-tless mutual destruction; the presence of a power-ful intellect and a deci-sive mind was evident in the rapid transitions from chaos to order, on both sides. When the attacking groups of robots pierced the asteroid garrison’s defensive line, our robots immediately formed a new line. Once again the attackers broke through,
krivale kovinsko sestavo
robotov, je bil dobršen del
njihovega telesa videti pre-
sneto podoben živemu,
človeškemu. Najbrž so bili
iz neke plastike, morda
celo iz živih, v laborato-
rijih vzrejenih mišic in
kože. Vse je bilo v gibanju,
tudi moje misli, skupaj
z občutki, ki so se mi ob
nenadnem preboju napa-
dalcev skozi obrambne
črte povzpeli prav do grla.
Pa ne le človeška zuna-
njost teh robotov in neiz-
prosno medsebojno uni-
čevanje, ampak tudi priso-
tnost mogočnega razuma
s trdno odločenostjo je
bilo zaznati v hitrih pre-
hajanjih iz kaotičnega v
urejeno premikanje, tako
na eni kot na drugi strani.
In ko so napadalne diver-
zantske skupine robotov
prebile obrambno črto
posadke asteroida, so naši
roboti takoj vzpostavili
naslednjo obrambno črto.
In spet je sledil preboj
napadalcev, kar sem
176
something I perceived as the inexorable advance of the entire civilisation of the Acutins. At the sight of the asteroid’s garrison fal-ling back ever more rapi-dly, even my Benesens, who until now had been calmly observing the bat-tles of the robots and the individual advances of the enemy forces in individual sectors, began shifting in his seat with growing ner-vousness, staring now at the holo-display and now at me. Then something lifted our ship and twisted it round with such force that I was thrown into the air and then back into my seat. The Sensins standing by the holo-display were all knocked off their feet. An explosion had pier-ced the wall. Everything happened very quickly, and as I turned to look at the sprawling Sensins I noticed out of the corner of my eye a powerful flash of light from the frontal window and, immedia-
zaznal kot trdo napredo-
vanje celotne civilizacije
Ostrinov. Še moj Dobro-
čut, ki je dotlej z mirno
zavzetostjo opazoval
tako dvoboje robotov kot
posamezna napredovanja
nasprotnih sil na posame-
znih odsekih, se je ob tem
vse hitrejšem umikanju
posadke našega asteroida
začel čedalje bolj nelago-
dno presedati in ozirati
zdaj v hologramske pri-
kaze, zdaj v vame. Tedaj pa
je nenadoma tako silovito
dvignilo in zasukalo naše
letalo, da me je vrglo v
zrak ter takoj zatem nazaj
na sedež in spet skoraj
z njega, Čutine, stoječe
ob holijevem prikazoval-
niku, pa je kar pometlo po
tleh. Eksplozija je prebila
našo steno. Vse se je zgo-
dilo v hipu, in še preden
se mi je pogled ustavil na
kotalečih se Čutinih, sem
s kotički očesa zaznal iz
smeri velikega čelnega
okna močne svetlobne
bliske ter takoj zatem še
177
tely afterwards, a number of small craft firing at us. A moment later they were scattered by bolts from our cannon. Even before the last of the attacking trio had been shot down, a fresh group of vessels had begun its attack. These vessels were much larger, more numerous and of various kinds, as though designed for different pur-poses. Some fired their cannon at our ship and pierced its hull with their energy bolts. The others flew rapidly past and immediately reappeared behind us. Slowing down, they lowered groups of robots to the ground, and then returned to the attack with rockets powerful enough to pierce our hull. At last the Sensins mana-ged to shoot them down, one by one. Meanwhile the robots had already taken shelter behind the hangar’s giant pillars. They divided themselves into several groups and set off in vari-ous directions.
majhna plovila z odprtim
ognjem v nas, ki pa so se
že naslednji hip razletela
od zadetkov naših topov.
Še pred sestrelitvijo
zadnjega iz napadalne
trojice pa nas je že napa-
dla nova skupina plovil,
neprimerno večja, številč-
nejša, in tudi različna, za
posebne namene. Ena so
udarjala s svojimi topovi
po naši vesoljski ladji in ji
z izstrelki prebijala trup,
medtem ko so se druga
po hitrem letu mimo nas
takoj prikazala zadaj ter
med upočasnitvijo spu-
ščala na tla skupine robo-
tov, nakar so se takoj obr-
nila v napad z raketnimi
izstrelki, dovolj močnimi
za preboj ladijskega trupa.
Toda Čutinom jih je na
koncu le uspelo stolči dru-
gega za drugim. Vsa letala
so sproti stolkli. Spuščeni
roboti pa so si med tem že
poiskali zatočišča za orja-
škimi stebri ter se, razde-
ljeni v več skupin, poga-
njali v razne smeri.
178
I watched the erection of a barrier on the site of the shattered doors of our lan-ding bay. It was too late for that, though. Before it was finished, the Acutins attacked once again with astonishing speed, brea-king through as far as the barrier builders and attac-king them. Our exit was blocked. I looked at the commander, who had also been observing the group of robot engineers. He stood up. The same tho-ught must have occurred to him. He raised his hand and we all fell silent.“We can’t hold out here,” he said briefly. “We must retreat into the interior of the asteroid and we must do so without delay. One group of robots has alre-ady broken through to our exit door. Arm yourselves with high-powered wea-pons to hold the robots in the corridors!” He then walked over to a wall decorated with engra-vings of historical motifs
Zazrl sem se v postavljanje
zapore na mestu razbitih
vrat našega pristajališča,
kar pa bi morali storiti že
prej, ker so nas Ostrini
ponovno presenetili s
svojo hitrostjo in prebojem
do naših graditeljev zapore
ter z napadom nanje. Naš
izhod je bil blokiran. Vpra-
šujoče sem se ozrl v kapi-
tana, ki ga je ob zavzetem
motrenju te robotske sku-
pine inženircev verjetno
prav to spoznanje dvignilo
s sedeža. Dvignil je roko.
Vsi smo utihnili.
»Tu ne bomo zdržali,« je dal
kratko oceno. »Umakniti
se moramo v notranjost
asteroida. In to takoj, ker
se je ena skupina robotov
že prebila do naših zadnjih
izhodnih vrat. Vzemite
orožje z močnejšimi ener-
getskimi naboji za zadrže-
vanje robotov na hodni-
kih!«
Nato je stopil k steni z gra-
viranimi reliefnimi podo-
bami zgodovinskih moti-
179
that were probably terre-strial in origin: medieval knights in armour, Roman legions, heroes from Anci-ent Greek and Hebrew mythology, such as a youth holding a shepherd’s sling and, in the background, the figure of a giant. At least this was the associa-tion suggested to me by the relief, although in them-selves the lines and inci-sions were only enough to create a faint impression. They were not distinct enough to form a clear picture. On slightly closer observation, however, the motif became sufficiently recognisable.“Our escorting forces on the outside are on constant alert and ready to inter-vene, with weapons if need be. And now this situation has arisen. They will soon discover that we have been captured, but of course the Acutins are aware of this too. That is why they are in such a hurry. They made preparations for a
vov, najbrž zemeljskih, s
srednjeveškimi vitezi v
oklepih, z rimskimi legi-
jami, z junaki iz starogrške
in izraelske mitologije, npr.
mladenič v zamahu s sta-
rodavno pračo za metanje
kamnov in v ozadju neka
orjaška postava. Vsaj asoci-
acijo na ta motiv je vzbujal
relief, čeprav so vse črte
in vrezi zadostovali le za
rahel vtis, sicer pa niso bili
dovolj razločni za jasno
predstavo. Toda ob malo
natančnejšem opazovanju
je motiv le postal dovolj
razpoznaven.
»Naše zunanje sile nas
spremljajo v stalni pri-
pravljenosti na poseg,
tudi z orožjem, v primeru
potrebe. In zdaj je nastal
tak položaj. Kmalu bodo
odkrili naše zajetje, toda
tudi Ostrini se tega zave-
dajo. Zato sedaj tako hitijo.
Vse so pripravili za blisko-
180
lightning attack after clo-sing all the sections of the shell to form a giant egg-shaped cage with flexible walls. First our asteroid, then the ship, and now us, every one of us. Or at least him…” The commander looked at me and I felt the eyes of the whole crew on me. He went on: “And so when we leave the ship we are going to take particular care of him. The groups of robots around him will be reinforced. In view of the Acutins’ recent behaviour, it is impossible to predict whether they intend to take him alive, because they suspect that his pre-sence is necessary at the entrance to the energy fields, or whether they have also been ordered to destroy him if they fail to seize him.”There was a moment’s silence. They were all still looking at me as I shook my head and swallowed nervously. This was a far
vit napad po sklenitvi vseh
delov lupine v orjaško jaj-
často kletko s prožno raz-
tegljivimi stenami. Najprej
na naš asteroid, potem
na ladjo in zdaj že narav-
nost na nas, na vsakega
posameznika. Ali pa vsaj
nanj…« Kapitan se je ozrl
vame, pogledi vse posadke
so obviseli na meni, ter
nadaljeval: »Zato bomo ob
izpadu iz letala še posebej
pazili nanj. Tudi robotske
skupine okoli njega bodo
okrepljene. Iz vsega obna-
šanja Ostrinov v zadnjem
času pa ne moremo pred-
videti, ali ga nameravajo
zajeti živega zaradi suma
o njegovi nujni prisotno-
sti na vhodu v energetska
polja ali pa imajo že tudi
povelje za njegovo uniče-
nje v primeru neuspele
ugrabitve.«
Nastal je trenutek tišine. Še
vedno so vsi zrli vame in v
moje komaj vidno odki-
mavanje z občasnim poži-
ranjem povečane sline v
181
cry from the safe jour-ney I had been promised, although I had had my reservations about that from the beginning. As far as I could make out, the best thing to do from the Acutins’ point of view would be to eliminate me. This thought paralysed me even more than the commander’s words had done.“Some of their robots have probably managed to break through in our rear, perhaps even as far as the corridors along which we are planning to retreat. But there is no doubt that we have superior numbers of combat robots. Are there any questions?” The commander looked at the crew in front of him, and then back at me. I con-tinued to listen in silence. Then he ordered us to arm ourselves and to prepare for our sortie. A crowd immediately formed by the wall where the wea-pons were stored, and then
grlu. To je bilo sedaj nekaj
povsem drugega od zago-
tovljene mirne poti, čeprav
sem si pri svoji oceni var-
nosti že na začetku vzel
dokaj pridržka. Po tem, kar
sem iz vsega skupaj lahko
dojel, bi bila za Ostrine še
najbolj smotrna moja izlo-
čitev iz dogajanja. Ob tem
pomisleku pa mi je zastal
pretok misli še močneje
kot ob kapitanovih bese-
dah.
»Nekaterim njihovim
robotom je verjetno uspel
preboj v naše ozadje, prav
možno, da celo do hodni-
kov, po katerih se name-
ravamo umakniti v notra-
njost. Toda število naših
bojnih robotov za spopad z
njimi je prav gotovo večje.
Še kakšno vprašanje?«
Kapitan je s pogledom pre-
letel posadko pred sabo, še
enkrat pogledal vame, ki
sem ga ves čas molče poslu-
šal, ter nam nato ukazal,
naj se oborožimo in pri-
pravimo za izpad. Takoj je
nastal pravi vrvež ob steni
za dvig orožja, zatem pa še
182
again at the exit. At the back of the ship a column was forming, consisting of ranks of three robots and two more along each side for protection. The two ends of the column were reinforced by additional robots. A red light star-ted flashing and the upper section of the wall opened outwards and lowered itself to the ground to form a ramp. We ran down it, first the robots and then the rest of us, and hurried in the direction of the corri-dor leading to the interior, scanning the surrounding walls as we ran.The Acutins’ robots had to be somewhere nearby. Every movement of the Sensins showed that they were expecting an attack. I could sense it too, as I gri-pped my laser rifle, ready to open fire immediately. We were all on the loo-kout. After such a compre-hensively planned attack, they were not going to let us simply escape into the
pred izhodom, v ozadju
ladje pa se je izoblikovala
kolona s po tremi roboti
v vrsti in s po dvema za
zaščito na vsaki strani. Na
začelju in na koncu kolone
smo postavili še dodatno
okrepitev z roboti. Tedaj je
začela utripati rdeča lučka
v ospredju in stena pred
njimi se je odprla na zgor-
njem delu ter se po spustu
do tal razprla v izhodni
most. Stekli smo čezenj,
najprej roboti, za njimi pa
še ostali, ter se v teku in
med stalnim oziranjem po
okoliških stenah usmerili
v hodnik proti notranjim
prostorom.
Toda roboti Ostrinov so
morali biti nekje v bližini.
Vsak gib Čutinov je kazal
na pričakovanje napada. In
tudi sam sem čutil povsem
enako med stiskanjem
laserske puške v stalni pri-
pravljenosti na takojšnji
strel. Vsi smo prežali. Po
tako obsežno zastavlje-
nem napadu nam že ne bi
pustili prostega pobega v
183
interior of the asteroid. No way. My brain struggled to make sense of the situ-ation, but the only thing that was certain was that the next stage was going to be hellishly difficult.Our corridor was a little over ten metres wide and about the same in height, with numerous exits on two upper levels as well as on the ground level. After less than a hundred metres it suddenly widened out and we found ourselves in an enormous hall with several exits, some of them with round arches twenty metres across and twenty metres high in the centre. The largest of them, of almost double the diame-ter, was at the opposite end of the hall to where we stood. “There!” shouted our commander. He ordered the robots to set up a pro-tective cordon to the exit tunnel and they imme-diately dashed forwards. But before the cordon had
notranjost asteroida. Tega
že ne. Nikakor. Druga za
drugo so se mi misli vrtele
okoli te ugotovitve in le
ena, namreč da bo preboj
hudirjeva zadeva, je vodila
k nadaljevanju.
Po slabih sto metrih se
je naš, nekaj nad deset
metrov širok in prav toliko
visok hodnik s številnimi
izhodi v obeh zgornjih
nadstropjih in pritličju
nenadoma razširil v stome-
trski prostor z več izhodi,
nekaterimi tudi večjimi,
z dvajsetmetrskimi kro-
žnimi loki in s skoraj enako
sredinsko višino. Prav na
našem nasprotnem koncu
je bil največji, s skoraj pod-
vojenim premerom.
»Tja!« se je glasil poziv
našega poveljnika, po
katerem je sledilo še pove-
lje robotom, naj vzposta-
vijo zaščitni kordon do
izhodnega tunela, in tja
so se takoj zagnali. Toda
tik pred končno vzposta-
184
reached the exit towards which we were now moving, at least a hun-dred robots poured from the neighbouring door-ways, firing at our robots and rushing at them in a concerted effort to shatter their ranks.“Run!” shouted the com-mander. The attempt to break through had begun. The only question now was the actual balance of forces. Robots from the rear ran to help the unit that was under attack, hitting the enemy in the flank at the last moment. A slightly stronger coun-terattack would suffice to repel the attack, and we still had a reserve group of robots in readiness. But before they could engage the enemy the Acutins’ forces also received rein-forcements. The waves of reinforcements, first from one side, then from the other, merged into each other. Then the Acu-tins’ robots struck out
vitvijo kordona do našega
izhodnega oboka, proti
kateremu smo se pomikali,
je iz sosednjih vhodov zle-
telo vsaj sto robotov ter se
med sprotnim streljanjem
v naše robote pognalo z
vsemi silami v razbijanje
njihovih vrst.
»Teci!« je zavpil poveljnik.
Pričakovani preboj se je
začel in vprašanje je bilo
le še dejansko razmerje
sil. Naši roboti iz ozadja
so tekli na pomoč napa-
deni enoti v ospredju in
še zadnji hip udarili napa-
dalcem v bok. Samo malo
močnejši protinapad bi
zadostoval za zavrnitev
napada, pripravljeno pa
smo imeli še rezervno sku-
pino robotov. Toda prav
pred njihovo vključitvijo v
spopad so dobili okrepitve
tudi napadalci Ostrinov.
Kar druga v drugo so se
pogrezale vse okrepitve,
zdaj z ene, zdaj z druge
strani. Tedaj so roboti
Ostrinov udarili še po sre-
185
across the centre of the giant hall, straight for our column and the protective escort on our flanks. Our robots immediately enga-ged them, in four close ranks, side by side, their laser rifles aimed at the attackers. The first rank was shattered immedi-ately. It was almost the same with the second: the attackers passed through it with barely a pause. The third rank at least slowed down the attackers, and managed to stop them some of them, while the fourth offered stronger resistance. I had to strain every muscle to keep up with the fleeing column of Sensins. Just a few metres away I saw one of the Acu-tins’ robots break through our defences and pounce on the nearest Sensin. One of our robots immedia-tely rushed at it with such force that the next moment they were both rolling on the ground, each beating its metal hands against the
dini te orjaške hale, in to
naravnost v našo kolono,
v naše zaščitno spremstvo
ob straneh, v naše robote,
ki so se v štirih strnjenih
vrstah, drug ob drugem, z
laserskimi puškami usmer-
jenimi proti napadalcem,
takoj spopadli z njimi. Toda
njihova prva vrsta je bila
takoj prebita. Skoraj enako
tudi druga, napadalci so
šli skoznjo brez izgublja-
nja časa. Tretja vrsta pa je
napadalce vsaj upočasnila,
in delno tudi ustavljala.
Četrta se je še upirala. S
skrajnim naporom svojih
mišic sem vzdrževal hitrost
bežeče kolone Čutinov. In
le nekaj metrov stran sem
lahko videl, kako se je eden
od ostrinovskih robotov
prebil skozi našo zaščito
ter se že zagnal proti naj-
bližjemu Čutinu, ko se mu
je naš robot zaletel v bok s
tako silo, da sta se v nasle-
dnjem trenutku skupaj
zavalila po tleh med udar-
janjem kovinskih rok ob
prav tako kovinski oklep
186
metal armour of its oppo-nent. Another Sensin ran up and fired an energy bolt that blew off the attacking robot’s head, thus freeing our robot, which immedi-ately dived back into the fray. I looked once again in the direction of our exit, at the protective cordon and the clashing robots. Their metal bodies cra-shed together. The robots raised themselves up in the air and threw them-selves at their opponents. A little further away two robots were wrestling on the ground. Just beyond them I saw a small group of robots break through the ranks of our defen-ders as far as the Sensins, who immediately opened fire with their laser rifles. One robot was destro-yed instantly, a second was damaged, but a third managed to grab one of the Sensins around the waist and lift him up high, onto his shoulders. With a great leap, he jumped
nasprotnika. Priskočil je še
eden od Čutinov in s stre-
lom energetskega naboja
odbil napadajočemu
robotu glavo ter tako spro-
stil našega robota, da se je
lahko pognal takoj nazaj
v boj. Ponovno sem se
ozrl naprej v smeri našega
izhoda, v zaščitni kordon
in žvenketajoče spopade
robotov. Železna telesa
so udarjala drugo ob dru-
gega, roboti so se dvigali
v zrak in metali v naspro-
tnike, malo stran sta se po
dva ruvala na tleh, nekaj
naprej se mi je spet kazal
preboj manjše skupine
robotov skozi vrste naših
branilcev in vse do Čuti-
nov, ki so takoj udarili po
njih s svojimi laserskimi
puškami. Enega robota so
takoj uničili, še drugega
poškodovali, tretjemu pa
je uspelo ujeti enega od
Čutinov okrog pasu, ga
dvigniti, visoko, že kar
na ramena, ter se s svojo
žrtvijo v orjaškem skoku
187
over the duelling robots and disappeared with his victim into the rear of his own side. “They are taking priso-ners!” cried Benesens. “Why?” I asked. Benesens merely shook his head uncertainly. “Why indeed? Perhaps they want to find out more about our mission.”“Ah. So that means that we might survive?”“It is going to take them some time to destroy our robots.”Once again I was nagged by unpleasant doubts. The Sensins could not simply surrender me to the Acu-tins. And they would not. Even they would rather see me dead than alive in the hands of the Acutins. An awkward situation. But what other option did they have? This could get dangerous. In the end I wouldn’t know who to be afraid of. My attention was attrac-ted by a confused jostling
pognati nazaj prek boju-
jočih se dvojic v zaledje
lastne strani.
»Ugrabljajo!« je vzkliknil
Dobročut.
»Zakaj pa?« mi je ušlo.
Toda Dobročut je v odgo-
vor le neodločno odkimal.
»Hja, zakaj. Morda želijo
zvedeti kaj več o naši
misiji.«
»Aja. To bi pomenilo, da
bomo morda preživeli?«
»Toda preden jim bo uspelo
uničiti naše robote, bo še
minilo nekaj časa.«
Spet so me obšli tisti nič
kaj prijetni pomisleki.
Čutini me ne morejo pre-
pustiti Ostrinom kar tako.
In me tudi ne bodo. Še oni
bi me verjetno raje videli
mrtvega kot živega v rokah
Ostrinov. Presneto zagu-
ljeno. Vprašanje je, ali jim
sploh ostaja kaj drugega
kot taka opredelitev do
mojega obstoja. To bi šele
bilo nevarno. Na koncu
sploh ne bom vedel koga
naj se bojim.
Pogled mi je pritegnila
gneča, nejasno preriva-
188
in the foreground. Just in front of the archway of our exit, the situation had dege-nerated into confusion and chaos. Our whole column had come to a halt. Then we heard shouts warning us that the Acutins’ robots had broken the column right next to the corridor that was our intended line of retreat.“Robot guard detachments from the rear to the front, now!” ordered our com-mander.Benesens and I looked at each other. Did that mean that the rear of our column would remain unprotec-ted? The situation must have been desperate if this was the only possibility left to us.“The rear of the column will defend itself!” came the next order.I looked at Benesens. “Are we going to fight the robots ourselves?” I asked.“Yes. I had not counted on such an escalation,” he replied gravely. “Or
nje v ospredju. Tik pred
obokom našega izhoda
se je vse skupaj sprevr-
glo v nepregleden vrvež.
Vsa kolona se nam je usta-
vljala. Potem smo zaslišali
vzklike, da so nam roboti
Ostrinov prebili kolono
tik ob hodniku, skozi kate-
rega smo se nameravali
umakniti.
»Zaščitni oddelki robotov
iz zaledja takoj na čelno
stran!« je poveljeval naš
kapitan.
Z Dobročutom sva se spo-
gledala. Bo zadnji del naše
kolone ostal nezaščiten?
Nam pa mora res slabo
kazati, če nam ne ostane
nič drugega.
»V ozadju kolone poskrbita
za lastno zaščito!« se je gla-
silo naslednje povelje.
Pogledal sem Dobročuta.
»Ali se bomo sami spopa-
dali z roboti?« sem vprašal.
»Da. Nisem računal na tako
hitro zaostritev,« je odvrnil
z resno zategnjenimi ustni-
cami. »Pa še tako ostro.«
189
such ferocity.” He leaned towards me: “Although it is my opinion that they do not intend to kill you, it would nevertheless be better for you to move towards the middle. Leave the fighting to us. In this unit we have been well trained for it.” “Our battleships have penetrated the walls of the cage.” The message spread like a wave from the rear. “Help is coming. Landing craft are already heading for our asteroid. Hold on!” This boost to our morale had not yet subsided when we were struck by an even more powerful wave of hostile robots, both from the front and on both flanks at the same time. The ranks of our robots, inclu-ding the last ones from the defensive cordon, disappe-ared under the advancing Acutin robots. Now the first Sensins threw them-selves into the counterat-tack, joining battle with the hostile robots without
Nato se je nagnil k meni:
»Čeprav vas po mojem
mnenju ne nameravajo
ubiti, bo vseeno bolje, da
se pomaknete proti sre-
dini. Boj prepustite nam.
V naši enoti smo dobro
usposobljeni zanj.«
»Naše bojne ladje so že
prebile stene naše lupi-
naste kletke,« nas je kot
val prešlo sporočilo iz
začelja. »Pomoč prihaja.
Pristajalna letala so že
usmerjena na naš asteroid.
Vzdržite!« Toda živahni
vzpon upanja se še ni niti
polegel, ko je udaril v nas
še močnejši val sovražnih
robotov, in to tako spredaj
kot tudi v bok naše kolone,
z vseh strani hkrati. Vrste
naših robotov, tudi zadnje
iz zaščitnega kordona, so
izginjale pod napredu-
jočimi roboti Ostrinov.
V protinapad so se vrgli
tudi prvi Čutini. Zdaj so
še sami sprejeli boj od
blizu s sovražnimi roboti
190
the protective barrier of our own robots. They were incredibly brave, and surprisingly success-ful. Their laser rifles were fitted with special barrels for firing energy bolts, and these bolts were power-ful enough to blow off the robots’ heads, arms and legs and shatter their bodies. More and more of the Acutins’ robots were rapidly converted into scrap metal. But this didn’t seem to make any diffe-rence to their numbers. If anything, the opposite was true: they kept on coming and they were pushing us into a circle that was gro-wing tighter by the minute. I looked at the robots and then back at the Sensin defenders. They were inc-redibly courageous and also extremely skilful. Suddenly I realised some-thing – something that the various explosions and flying fragments of shat-tered robots had prevented me from noticing before:
brez zaščitne pregrade
naših robotov. Neverjetno
pogumno, in tudi uspe-
šno. S svojimi laserskimi
puškami s posebno cevjo
za energetske naboje so
jih lahko uničevali. Dovolj
močni so bili ti njihovi
energetski naboji, da so
odbijali robotom glave,
roke, noge in jim razstre-
ljevali trupe. Vedno več nji-
hovih robotov je bilo kar
na hitro spremenjenih v
kose železja. Toda videti je
bilo, kot da se to njihovem
številu nikakor ne pozna.
Celo prav nasprotno, bilo
jih je zmeraj več, in tudi
stiskali so nas v vse bolj
zategnjen obroč. Gledal
sem zdaj vanje, zdaj spet
v pogumno izpostavljanje
Čutinov pri teh spopa-
dih. Izredno drzni in tudi
izjemno spretni so bili
ti Čutini. Toda tedaj sem
zastal ob nenadnem spo-
znanju, ki se mi je zaradi
številnih eksplozij in lete-
čih delov razbitih robotov
izmaknilo prvotni zaznavi.
191
it was true that the robots were pushing us into an ever tighter circle, but they were not killing the Sen-sins. They were simply moving forwards, dodging the Sensins’ energy bolts and – this was the sur-prising thing – capturing individual Sensins in their steel embrace. They could have crushed them but they didn’t. Our power-lessness was becoming clearer and clearer: at any moment they could shat-ter our resistance. Some individual Sensins reali-sed this and began to fall back, while their comra-des kept up their frenzied firing. But the robots were seizing more and more of them. Suddenly we heard a pier-cing whistle. The robots stopped. A transparent craft came to a halt some metres away. It was a kind of saucer with a transpa-rent dome, and there appe-ared to be Acutins in it. We all looked at them.
Res, da so nas roboti poti-
skali v vse ožji krog, toda
Čutinov niso ubijali. Samo
pomikali so se naprej in se
izmikali strelom ter, to me
je presenečalo, s svojimi
jeklenimi rokami posame-
zne Čutine samo zajemali v
jeklen objem. Lahko bi jih
zdrobili, a jih niso. Bolj in
bolj pa je postajala očitna
nemoč našega odpora, ki
bi ga lahko vsak hip zlomili.
Tudi posamezni Čutini so
to sprevideli in se začeli
umikati, medtem ko so nji-
hovi tovariši še vedno prav
besno streljali. Vendar so
jih roboti vseeno uspevali
vse pogosteje zajeti v svoje
objeme, in to že kar mno-
žično.
Tedaj nam je prešel skozi
ušesa prediren pisk. Roboti
so se ustavili. Nekaj deset
metrov stran je obstalo
prozorno plovilo, neka-
kšna plošča s presojno
kupolo, in kazalo je, da so
v njem Ostrini. Vsi smo se
zazrli vanje.
192
An amplified voice began speaking: “Sensins, figh-ting with such fury against robots is irrational at our level of civilisation. We do not wish to kill you, or we would have already done so. That is not our inten-tion. We only wish to talk to you.”“The war between us has not yet begun, nor has it been declared. What you are doing goes against all the agreements between us,” said our commander, stepping to the front. “You have no right to attack us and you have no chance of concealing this attack. Our forces are already on their way to this asteroid. Outside, our battleships are in complete readiness. There is no way for you to get out of this situation, whatever you do. The best thing would be to let us go while there is still time.”
“That is not a problem. It is true that these clashes between robots have pro-
»Gospodje Čutini,« smo
zaslišali zvočno okrepljen
glas. »S toliko besa se boriti
z roboti je vendar nerazu-
mno za našo civilizacij-
sko raven. Saj vas vendar
ne želimo pobiti, sicer bi
vas že. To ni naš namen.
Le pogovoriti se želimo z
vami.«
»Vojna med nami se še ni
začela, ni bila napovedana.
To, kar počnete, je proti
vsem dogovorom med
nami,« se je oglasil naš
kapitan med stopanjem
v ospredje. »Nobene pra-
vice nas nimate napadati
in tudi nobene možnosti
prikrivanja tega napada.
Naše sile že prihajajo na ta
asteroid, zunaj pa so naše
bojne ladje v popolni pri-
pravljenosti. V nobenem
primeru se ne boste izvle-
kli, ne glede, kaj naredite.
Raje nam pustite prost
izhod, dokler je še čas.«
»To ni problem. Res, da je
nastalo kar nekaj odpadne
kovine po vseh teh spo-
193
duced quite a quantity of scrap metal, but you are as used to this as we are,” the Acutin on the flying saucer continued calmly. “And you are also used to discussions with us, are you not?” This was said in a sligh-tly cynical tone, and our commander bristled visi-bly. “What do you want?” he asked, with the measu-red voice of an equal even though, as far as I could judge, he was already a prisoner, just like all the other Sensins and me.“We shall interview each one of you separately.”“I will not permit any que-stioning of individuals.”“As far as permission is concerned, our robots have already reached agre-ement. That is sufficiently clear, is it not?”“With force, then. I will not allow it! That will be war!”“Arrogance is of little use to you here. It is true that we prevented the robots
padih robotov, toda tega
ste vajeni tako kot mi,« je
mirno nadaljeval Ostrin
na leteči polkrogli. »Pa
tudi pogovora z nami ste
vajeni, kajne?«
To pa je bilo izrečeno že
z rahlo ciničnim prizvo-
kom, ob katerem se je naš
kapitan vidno vznemiril.
»Kaj želite?« je vprašal z
odločnim glasom enako-
pravnega sogovornika,
čeprav je bil, vsaj po moji
presoji, že ujetnik, tako kot
vsi ostali Čutini z mano v
red.
»Z vsakim posameznikom
se bomo posebej pogovo-
rili, z vsakim od vas.«
»Nobenega izpraševanja
posameznikov ne dovo-
lim.«
»Glede dovoljenja so se že
naši roboti dogovorili. In
to dovolj nazorno, kajne?«
»S silo torej. Tega vam ne
dovolim! To bo vojna!«
»Nadutost vam tu bolj
malo zaleže. Robotom smo
resda prepovedali stre-
194
from firing at you, but not because of fear. It simply was not necessary. How they would act in the face of stronger resistance, however, we can only guess.” The Acutin gave a cynical laugh: “Or rather, you can only guess.” “You may be able to kill us,” replied the comman-der sternly, “but you will not get away with it. You may have surrounded our crew, but our ships have surrounded this asteroid, and that includes you. You cannot evade them. You cannot escape. If you kill us, you too will soon become victims.”“So be it. We shall take your warning into consi-deration.” The Acutin’s tone was still cynical, but now there was also a mixture of inso-lence and satisfaction in his voice as he gave orders to the robots. “Be as gentle as possible as you take away these Sensins…or whatever I
ljati na vas, toda ne zaradi
bojazni. To preprosto ni
bilo potrebno. Kako bi
ravnali v primeru moč-
nejšega odpora, pa lahko
le ugibamo.« Ostrin se je
spet cinično zasmejal: »Ali,
bolje rečeno, ugibate.«
»Pobijete nas res lahko,«
je trdo odvrnil kapitan,
»toda možnosti nekazno-
vanega odhoda nimate.
Enako kot ste vi obkolili
našo posadko, so naše
ladje obkolile ta aste-
roid, in s tem tudi vas.
Ne morete se jim izma-
kniti. In tudi skoznje se
ne morete izmuzniti. Če
nas pobijete, boste tudi vi
kmalu postali žrtve.«
»Prav, vaše opozorilo
bomo upoštevali.« Ostri-
nov prizvok v glasu je še
naprej ostal ciničen, le da
je bilo v njem zaznati še
neko mešanico nesramno-
sti in zadovoljstva med
ukazovanjem robotom.
»Čim bolj nežno odne-
site te gospode Čutine.
. . ali kako naj že temu
195
should call them.” The Acutin gave a low chuckle that seemed to contain a great deal of malevolence. “As gently as possible,” he went on, “and no more, isn’t that right, Sensins? As much in fact as we can afford. Naturally you will not be able to refuse to talk to us. That is proba-bly already clear. At least I hope so.”The Sensins glanced quic-kly at each other. “They want him,” said the commander, indica-ting me. “They are going to question him.” Then he moved over to Benesens. “Explain to him,” he said, “that he must delay them for as long as possible. It is true that the Acutins’ speed has taken us by sur-prise, but we are capable of something similar our-selves.” Benesens continued to stare at the floating tran-sparent disc with a glassy look in his eyes, and then turned to me: “You must
rečem,« se je Ostrin pridu-
šeno zasmejal, po mojem
mnenju s kar precej zlobe.
»Nežno, kolikor je možno,«
je nadaljeval, »nič več,
kajne, gospodje Čutini?
Kolikor si pač lahko privo-
ščimo. Pogovora nam pa
seveda ne morete odreči,
to je najbrž že jasno. Vsaj
upam.«
Čutini so se hitro spogle-
dali. »Njega hočejo,« je dejal
kapitan in namignil name.
»Izprašali ga bodo.« Nato
se je pomaknil do Dobro-
čuta. »Razloži mu,« je dejal,
»naj čim bolj zavlačuje.
Res, da so nas Ostrini pre-
senetili s svojo hitrostjo,
toda tudi mi smo zmožni
česa takega.«
Dobročut je zastal s srepo
uprtim pogledom v tisto
lebdečo prozorno kroglo
ter se po krajšem opa-
zovanju ponovno obrnil
196
not let them take you in. Do not believe them. They will try and get as much information out of you as they can. Tell them eve-rything except about the seventy-fourth door and our abortive attempt to get through it. Putting off tel-ling you about our civilisa-tion was a great error. But bear in mind one thing…” Before he could finish, the steel hand of an Acutin robot seized his forearm, pushed him easily for-wards as though he wei-ghed nothing, and then led or rather dragged him away. Other robots did the same with the other Sen-sins, and then it was my turn. Except that after a few steps the robot pushed me out of the column and towards the floating disc, which in the mean-time had descended to the ground, just over twenty metres away. I tried in vain to wrest myself from its steel grip. Twisting round, I could see three Acutins
k meni: »Ne smete jim
nasesti. Ne verjemite jim.
Ko bodo želeli čim več
izvleči iz vas, jim povejte
vse, razen o zadnjih 74.
vratih in o ponesrečenem
poskusu prehoda skoznje.
Veliko napako smo nare-
dili s prelaganjem pred-
stavitve naše civilizacije.
Toda zapomnite si eno. . .«
Tedaj ga je sredi besede
prijel za laket ostrinovski
robot s svojo jekleno roko
ter ga z lahkoto, kot da nima
opravka z nobeno težo ali
močjo, porinil predse in
ga odpeljal, bolje rečeno
odvlekel, kot so okoliški
roboti počeli z ostalimi
Čutini in takoj zatem še z
mano. Le da je robot mene
po nekaj korakih potisnil
stran iz kolone in proti tisti
lebdeči polkrogli, ki se je
medtem že spustila na tla,
le dobrih dvajset metrov
stran. Poskusil sem se še
izviti iz jeklenega objema,
a zaman. Sem pa med
svojim obračanjem lahko
videl, kako so iz prozorne
kupole stopili trije Ostrini
197
stepping out of the transpa-rent dome. They walked forward a few paces and stopped. The robot placed me on the floor in front of them and, at an order from the Acutin in the middle, released me from its grip. “Welcome!” said the Acutin, smiling. “Do not be afraid of us. We are not your enemies. Certainly not in the way that these Sensins have told you.”I returned his greeting with a slight nod of the head and then raised my eyes. I looked at the middle Acutin, then at his two neighbours, then back at him.“You are an Earthman?”“Yes.”The Acutin smiled. “Are you fighting on the side of the Sensins?”I remained silent. I couldn’t think of a suitable answer. The Acutin seemed quite friendly. There was nothing harsh in his voice
ter se po nekaj korakih
ponovno ustavili. In prav
prednje me je na tla posta-
vil robot ter me na ukaz
srednjega Ostrina spustil
iz svojega jeklenega pri-
jema, v katerega sem bil
vklenjen.
»Pozdravljeni!« me je sme-
hljaje se nagovoril srednji
Ostrin, »nikar se nas ne
bojte. Mi vam nismo sovra-
žni. Prav gotovo pa ne tako
kot so vam natvezli tile
gospodje Čutini.«
Z rahlim naklonom glave
sem vrnil pozdrav ter nato
privzdignil pogled, najprej
k sredinskemu Ostrinu,
potem pa še k njegovima
sosedoma in ponovno
nazaj k sredinskemu.
»Vi ste Zemljan?«
»Da.«
Ostrin se je nasmehnil.
»Na strani Čutinov se boju-
jete?«
Ostal sem tiho. Nisem se
mogel domisliti smisel-
nega odgovora. Ostrin je
bil videti precej prijazen,
brez ostrine v svojem
glasu in tudi brez pri-
198
and there was none of the arrogance I had expec-ted. No aggressiveness. Even the condescension I had noticed during those receptions seemed to be absent. Actually I was sli-ghtly surprised by their friendliness. Or whatever it was that this unexpec-tedly friendly reception demonstrated.I smiled back at him.“But are you sure that you are not mistaken in this?” The Acutin smiled patronisingly. Despite the ambiguity of the situa-tion, or perhaps because of it, I continued to smile and shrugged my shoul-ders as if to ask what else I could do in my situation. Just as I was on the point of asking him if there was anything strange or unexpected about this, we were distracted by sudden cries and a commotion in the column opposite us. One of the Sensins
čakovane nadutosti v
nastopu. Nobene napa-
dalnosti. Celo vzvišeno-
sti, ki sem jo lahko zaznal
med tistimi sprejemi, ni
bilo na njem. Pravzaprav
so me kar malo presene-
tili s to svojo prijaznostjo.
Ali kar koli je že to bilo,
kar se mi je kazalo pri
tem nepričakovano prija-
znem sprejemu.
Vrnil sem mu nasmeh.
»Pa ste prepričani, da glede
tega niste v zmoti?« Ostrin
se je nasmehnil s pokrovi-
teljskim nasmehom, jaz pa
sem kljub nastali nejasno-
sti oziroma prav zaradi nje
še naprej ohranjal rahel
nasmeh, zmignil z glavo in
nato še z rameni, kot češ,
kaj drugega pa naj bi bilo
na mojem mestu sploh
smiselno. In ko sem ga že
nameraval vprašati, kaj bi
lahko bilo na tem nenava-
dnega, nepričakovanega
ali kaj takega, so nas zmo-
tili nenadni klici in takoj
nato še neko premetavanje
v koloni nasproti nas, iz
199
had managed to extricate himself from the arms of his captor. Dodging the outstretched arm of the next robot he ran straight towards us, coming to a stop between the three Acutins and me. “Let him go!” he said loudly and, it seemed to me, with a somewhat exa-ggerated self-assurance that would achieve him nothing under the circum-stances. Everything was in the hands of the Acutins.The Acutins looked at each other and smiled conde-scendingly. “But we mean him no harm. Not only that,” – the middle Acutin stepped towards him – “but this should already have become clear, even to you.”“You have no right to interfere in our connec-tions with the Earthmen, nor in our discussions with them. This has always been the way. You are about to violate one of the fundamental tenets of the
katere se je uspelo iztrgati
enemu od Čutinov; stekel
je, se izmaknil stegnjeni
roki naslednjega robota
ter se pognal naravnost k
nam, dokler se ni ustavil
med tistimi tremi Ostrini
in mano. »Pustite ga!« je
dejal s privzdignjenim
glasom ter, po moji bežni
zaznavi, z nekam pretirano
samozavestjo, s katero v
tistih okoliščinah ni mogel
ničesar doseči. Saj je bilo
vse v rokah Ostrinov.
Ostrini so se spogledali
med vzvišenim posmiha-
njem. »Saj mu nič nočemo.
Poleg tega,« srednji Ostrin
je pristopil k njemu, »pa
je to vendar že tudi vam
moralo postati jasno.«
»Ne v naše naveze z
Zemljani ne v naše pogo-
vore z njimi se nimate pra-
vice vtikati. Doslej je vedno
bilo tako. Eno temeljnih
določil spoštovanja med-
sebojnih izvirnih poseb-
nosti, tako vaših kot naših,
200
mutual respect that until now, despite your impu-dence, you have always maintained. We shall not allow this. You are provo-king war.”“We shall not argue about this. Robots, take him away! Now is really not the time for discussions of this sort.”The Acutin took a step back, gestured to the robots to remove the Sensin and waited for his order to be carried out. The Sensin tried to resist but a robot quickly seized him with its steel fingers and dragged him away by the fore-arm. Suddenly our ears were assailed by a terrible crackling, crashing sound from the opposite side of the giant hall. Something was tearing the wall open from top to bottom. Thro-ugh the yawning gap we saw a mass of Sensin ves-sels of various types, some similar to those used by the Acutins in their attack, judging from their external
ki ste se jih kljub vsej svoji
nesramnosti doslej vseeno
držali, boste prekršili.
Tega vam ne bomo dopu-
stili. Vojno izzivate.«
»O tem se ne bomo prepi-
rali. Roboti, odstranite ga!
Zdaj res ni čas za tovrstne
razprave.«
Ostrin je stopil korak
nazaj, z migom roke naka-
zal, naj Čutina odstranijo,
ter počakal na izvršitev
ukaza, ki se mu je Čutin
hotel upirati, pa ga je robot
kar hitro ujel za laket s svo-
jimi jeklenimi prsti in ga
odvlekel. Tedaj pa nam je
preparalo ušesa straho-
vito hreščanje, pokanje z
nasprotne strani naše orja-
ške večstometrske hale.
Nekaj je trgalo steno po
vsej dolžini, dokler ni zazi-
jala ogromna odprtina,
skozi katero smo zagledali
pravo množico čutino-
vskih plovil, razna letala,
za različne namene, precej
podobne tistim ob napadu
Ostrinov, vsaj na zunaj so
imeli podobno tehniko.
201
appearance. The flashes we could see along the hulls of the vessels in the rear probably meant that there were more Acutin battleships out there, but the main part of this con-flict, at least judging from the flashes of the explo-sions, was taking place in the background, out of sight. Meanwhile, the Sensin craft that had already managed to penetrate our hall were beginning to dis-embark new detachments of their – our – robots. Immediately, however, a number of Acutin ships arrived with their own robotic reinforcements. As soon as the robots were landed they threw themselves into battle, supported by their heavily armed ships and a variety of flying self-guided laser cannon.“You could lose your head in such chaos, no matter which side you’re on,” I commented, with a look
In ko se je zalesketalo po
trupih teh plovil v ozadju,
je to verjetno pomenilo še
dodatno prisotnost bojnih
letal Ostrinov, vendar se
je glavnina tega spopada,
vsaj po svetlikanju eksplo-
zij sodeč, razširila v meni
skrito ozadje.
Plovila Čutinov, ki se jim
je že uspelo prebiti v našo
halo, pa so medtem začela
spuščati nove oddelke
svojih, torej naših, robo-
tov. Toda takoj zatem so
priletela noter še letala
Ostrinov s svojimi okrepi-
tvami robotov. In vsi ti so
se takoj po pristanku spu-
stili v medsebojni boj ob
podpori svojih oborože-
nih letal in raznih letečih,
samodejno vodenih laser-
skih topov.
»V takem metežu pa izgu-
biš glavo, ne glede, na
kateri strani si,« sem izvr-
gel med pogledovanjem v
202
at the Acutin in front of me. The fighting was spre-ading very quickly in our direction. At any moment it would reach us. The Acutin did not reply. It was though he were stun-ned by the violence of the fighting. The expression on his face reminded me of our commander’s reac-tion to the Acutins’ attack. So the Sensins had mana-ged to strike back… Each side was capable of surpri-sing the other with these sudden and rapid incur-sions, and with such a concentrated attack that it was difficult to understand how they had managed to conceal the mustering of their forces that must have preceded it. Now, however, it was the Sen-sins who had once again taken the initiative, or so it seemed. I wondered whe-ther the Acutins had any more forces in reserve. I looked at the three Acu-tins in front of me. They were still watching the
Ostrina pred sabo, ker se
je ta spopad zelo hitro širil
v našo smer. Vsak čas nas
je moral zajeti. Ostrin ni
odvrnil ničesar. Kot da bi
ga silovitost spopada pre-
senečala. Še njegov izraz
na obrazu je spominjal na
odziv našega kapitana ob
nenadnem preboju Ostri-
nov. Torej je Čutinom res
uspelo vrniti udarec. Drug
drugega so sposobni prese-
netiti s temi nenadnimi in
hitrimi vpadi, in to s tako
osredotočenim napadom,
da je bilo že kar neverje-
tno, kako so lahko prikrili
poprejšnje zbiranje svojih
sil. Pobudo pa so to pot,
vsaj tako je vse kazalo,
ponovno prevzeli Čutini.
Toda ob vsem tem dogaja-
nju sem moral pomišljati
še na možne rezerve Ostri-
nov.
Zazrl sem se v svoje sogo-
vornike, ki so še vedno
strmeli v tisti napredujoči
203
Sensins’ advance. Their units were unable to stop them. The Acutins looked at each other. The one on the right, slightly taller than the others and with sharper features on his elongated face, looked at me and then at his two companions. “Where are our forces? How can they have secu-red such superiority? But this is nothing. Our outside forces will not abandon us to these foolish Sensins.”“The matter is becoming clear,” replied the Acutin on his right. “Our plan has affected them considera-bly. We appear to have hit a soft spot, since otherwise they would not have reac-ted so furiously. They are hiding something.” The Acutin turned towards me, still calm and compo-sed, although the Sensins’ robots had already broken through the hastily placed barriers made of material from the shattered walls and the supporting arches
napad Čutinov. Njihove
enote jih niso mogle usta-
viti. Ostrini so se spogle-
dali. Desni, nekoliko višji
in bolj ostrih potez na
podolgovatem obrazu, je
pogledal še mene ter nato
spet ostale Ostrine: »Kje so
naši? Take premoči si prav
gotovo niso mogli zagoto-
viti. To ni res. Naše zuna-
nje sile nas že ne bodo
prepustile tem bebavim
Čutinom.«
»Zadeva postaja jasna, « mu
je odvrnil Ostrin na nje-
govi desni, »naša namera
jih je zelo prizadela. Najbrž
smo jih zadeli v živo, ker
se sicer ne bi tako besno
odzivali. Nekaj skrivajo.«
Ostrin se je z umirjeno
zbranostjo obrnil k meni.
Roboti Čutinov so se
medtem že prebili skozi
hitro vzpostavljene zapore
iz odpadlih materialov od
razbitih sten in nosilnih
stropnih lokov, skozi že kar
204
of the ceiling, and were almost through the forti-fied line that the Acutins’ robots were still con-structing. They launched themselves at the robots guarding the Sensin pri-soners who, on being rele-ased, rushed to rejoin the action. Some joined the robots, while a second, larger group ran towards the transparent disc and the Acutins standing next to me. “Is everything all right?” one of the Sensins asked me, looking first at me and then at the three Acutins.I nodded.“It seems that we too are capable of acting with sur-prising speed, wouldn’t you say?” The Sensin’s manner was already calmer and more self-as-sured. But there was still a hint of ebullience in him when he turned to the Acu-tins: “Your impudence, not to say perfidiousness, has not had the effect you expected, has it?”
pravo utrjeno linijo, ki so
jo roboti Ostrinov sproti
postavljali, ter z nasko-
kom na stražarje zajetih
Čutinov omogočili izpu-
ščenim Čutinom ponovno
ukrepanje. Eni so se pri-
družili svojim robotom,
druga večja skupina pa se
je pognala k tisti prozorni
polkrogli in k Ostrinom
ob meni.
»Je vse v redu?« me je vpra-
šal eden od Čutinov med
pogledovanjem zdaj vame,
zdaj v tiste tri Ostrine
nasproti mene.
Takoj sem prikimal.
»Tudi mi znamo presenetiti
s hitrostjo, kajne?« Nastop
Čutina je bil zdaj že bolj
umirjen in samozavesten.
Pa še nekaj živahnosti je
prihajalo iz njega, ko se je
obrnil k Ostrinom: »Nesra-
mnost, da ne rečem zahrb-
tnost, se vam ni povsem
obnesla, kajne?«
205
But the Acutin looked at him with such a convin-cing appearance of bored resignation that I was forced to ask myself whe-ther this was normal given the situation: the Acutin could simply be preten-ding. It was perfectly pos-sible that they had this abi-lity highly developed. He was so convincing that he put a stop to the Sensin’s ebullience.“And what have they been telling you?” the Sensin asked me.“Well...” In embarras-sment I looked first at the Acutins and then at the Sensins. I had no compla-ints about how I had been treated. The Acutins were still looking at me with that friendly yet superior smile, while the Sensins were still unpleasantly suspicious. I couldn’t hold it against them, despite some misgivings over the Acutin’s comments about my joining the Sensins.
Toda Ostrin je gledal z
zdolgočaseno zadržano-
stjo, in to tako prepričljivo,
da sem se moral zamisliti
nad normalnostjo tega
odziva glede na nastali
položaj, ker lahko bi bilo to
le Ostrinovo spreneveda-
nje. Prav možno, da imajo
tudi tovrstne sposobnosti
dobro razvite. Vendar pa
je s svojo prepričljivostjo
ustavil Čutinovo živah-
nost.
»In kaj so vam lepega pove-
dali?« me je vprašal Čutin.
»No, ja.« V zadregi sem
pogledoval zdaj Ostrine,
zdaj Čutine okoli sebe.
Nikomur nisem imel niče-
sar očitati. Tudi ničesar
žalega ne bi mogel reči o
nikomer. Ostrini so me še
vedno gledali s tistim pri-
jaznim vzvišenim smehlja-
jem, Čutini pa so bili že
kar neprijetno sumničavi,
česar jim kljub nekaterim
pomislekom ob Ostrinovih
besedah glede moje pri-
družitve Čutinom nisem
smel šteti v slabo. Položaj
206
Putting it simply, the situ-ation was a tricky one. For everyone. “Not much,” I said. “There wasn’t time for a serious conversation. Everything has happened so quickly.” I smiled: “Wouldn’t you agree?”“Yes.” A smile formed on the Sensin’s lips. “Yes, that’s probably true. Rather too quickly, even for us.”Suddenly an amplified voice echoed throughout the hall: “Attention, all robots. The commanders of both sides have agreed to cease hostilities. Con-tact your headquarters in the asteroid cloud immedi-ately. The discussions will continue in the pavilions that have just been erected in the asteroid’s main lan-ding area.”“So, Sensins,” began the middle Acutin after a short silence, “as you have heard, a pleasant evening’s entertainment awaits us. Personally this outcome suits me very well, since
je bil, preprosto rečeno,
zaguljen. In to za vse.
»Nekaj malega, to že,« sem
odvrnil. »Za malo resnejši
pogovor pa ni bilo časa,
ker se vsa dogajanja tukaj
odvijajo neverjetno hitro.«
Potem sem se nasmehnil:
»To pa, kajne?«
»Da.« Čutinu so se ustnice
razlezle v nasmeh. »Hja,
najbrž res. Celo za naše
pojme malo prehitro.«
Tedaj smo zaslišali skozi
ozvočenje vsega pro-
stora: »Poziv vsem robo-
tom. Poveljstvi obeh
strani sta se dogovorili
o prenehanju napadov.
Takoj vzpostavite zvezo
s poveljstvom asteroi-
dne meglice. Pogovori se
bodo nadaljevali v prav-
kar postavljenih paviljo-
nih na osrednjem prista-
jališču tega asteroida.«
»Torej gospodje Čutini,« je
po krajšem molku začel
srednji Ostrin, »kot ste sli-
šali, nas čaka še prijeten
večer z zabavnim progra-
mom. Osebno mi je tak
razplet še najbolj pogodu,
207
making your acquaintance has been a great honour for me.” All three Acutins smiled with evident satisfaction and increasing enthusi-asm. The Sensins’ faces, however, still wore a grim expression. They did not seem particularly inclined for a friendly conversa-tion. “If our forces had not sur-rounded you, you would have killed us, wouldn’t you?” The Sensin stared coldly at the leading Acutin, who at these words nodded understan-dingly: “Well, you cannot hold that against us.”“What impudence! First you want to kill us, then you say that we cannot hold that against you. Is there anything that in your opinion we could hold against you?” The Sensin’s contained rage was undiminished. But the other Sensins had alre-ady reconciled themselves to the new situation and
saj mi je bila seznanitev z
vami v veliko čast.« Nakar
so se vsi trije Ostrini pri-
jateljsko nasmehnili z
vidnim zadovoljstvom in
v vse bolj živahnem razpo-
loženju. Toda na obrazih
Čutinov je še vedno ostajal
mrakoben izraz z ne prav
dosti naklonjenosti za pri-
jateljski pogovor.
»Če vas ne bi naše sile obko-
lile od zunaj, bi nas pobili,
kajne?« Čutin je še vedno
upiral svoj hladni pogled
v vodilnega Ostrina, ki je
ob teh besedah prikimal
z razumevajočo naklonje-
nostjo: »No, tega nam ne
morete šteti v slabo.«
»Neverjetna nesramnost!
Najprej ste nas hoteli pobiti,
potem pa še govorite, da
vam tega ne moremo šteti
v slabo. Je sploh kaj, kar bi
vam po vašem mnenju mi
lahko šteli v slabo.« Čutin
je ostajal nespremenjen v
svojem zadrževanju besa.
Toda ostali Čutini so se
le sprijaznili z nastalim
položajem ter začeli pri-
208
began telling their colle-ague to calm down, that he could not change the Acutins because this was simply what they were like. The smiles of the Acutins turned to frowns and it looked as though a new quarrel was about to flare up, but after a few harsh exchanges the Acu-tins and Sensins returned to their own groups, and with some noisy venting of the anger that had just reached boiling point, they set off in their own groups to the “friendly discus-sion”.
govarjati kolegu, naj se
umiri, ker Ostrinov že
ne bo spremenil. So pač
taki, kot so, in Ostrini so
to nekaj časa smehljaje se
poslušali, potem pa so se
začeli ponovno mrščiti.
In že je kazalo na znova
vzplameneli spor, ko so se
po nekaj ostrih besedah
z obeh strani le umaknili
vsak na svojo stran in se
kljub živemu in precej gla-
snemu sproščanju prav-
kar vzkipele jeze v svojih
skupinah počasi odpravili
na, kot rečeno, prijateljsko
dogovarjanje.
209
Chapter IX
The grey rain clouds, from which a light drizzle was falling, were darker over to the northwest and pro-mised heaver rain, if not a downpour, but those few drops were not enough for me to open my umbrella. Passers-by were alre-ady beginning to close theirs. After parking in the square opposite the convent church I walked towards the university building. I had arranged to meet Martha, Zaza’s friend. Over the phone she had explained to me that she had tried to call Zaza several times the previous evening but had got no reply. Maybe her phone battery’s dead, she had suggested. Whatever the reason, she hadn’t been able to get hold of her. Now Martha was approa-ching from the other side of the road. It was nice of her to respond so quickly.
IX. poglavje
Sivi deževni oblaki, iz kate-
rih je po malem rosilo, so s
svojim še temnejšim ozad-
jem na severozahodu obe-
tali močnejše padavine, če
že ne plohe, vendar je bilo
tistih nekaj kapljic pre-
malo, da bi odprl dežnik,
pa tudi mimoidoči so jih
že začeli zapirati. Po par-
kiranju na Kongresnem
trgu, nasproti Nunske
cerkve, sem stopil proti
zgradbi rektorata ljubljan-
ske univerze. Sestal naj bi
se z Marto, Gigino prijate-
ljico, ki mi je po telefonu
razložila, da je Gigo prej-
šnji večer večkrat zaman
klicala po telefonu. Prav
lahko, da ima izpraznjeno
baterijo svojega mobija, mi
je navrgla eno od možno-
sti. Skratka, nikakor je ni
mogla poklicati. Zdaj je
Marta prihajala z naspro-
tne strani. Lepo, da se je
tako hitro odzvala.
210
“Hey!” I greeted her che-erfully. She was an old acquaintance. And after all I had been through recently, it was good to see a familiar face. “Hi! I can’t get hold of her.” Martha’s face was serious, without the smile people normally wear when they meet.“But you say that she’s in town?”“Yes, probably. She hasn’t gone on holiday, I know that much.”“Then we’ll find her. I absolutely have to meet with her.”“Yes, you said. It’s just that recently she’s been more crazy than usual. To start with she broke up with Matt, her third boyfriend this year, or whatever he actually was. She went out with him from time to time. Personally I don’t know if all these acquain-tances have got her in this state or whether there is actually something wrong with her.”
»Hej!« sem jo veselo pozdra-
vil. Stara znanka je bila. In
po vsem, kar sem nedavno
doživel, sem se znanega
obraza še dosti bolj razve-
selil kot sicer.
»Zdravo! Ne morem je
dobiti.« Martin obraz je
bil resen, brez običajnega
smehljaja ob srečanjih.
»Praviš pa, da je v Lju-
bljani.«
»Da, najbrž. Na dopust ni
odpotovala, to vem.«
»Potem jo bova že našla.
Na vsak način se moram
sestati z njo.«
»Si mi rekel, ja. Je pa zadnje
čase še posebej zmešana.
Najprej se je razšla z Mate-
vžem, to je bil že njen tretji
fant v tem letu, ali karkoli
je že bil. Z njim je šla obča-
sno ven. Še sama ne vem,
ali so jo vsa ta poznanstva
tako zmedla ali pa je z njo
tudi sicer nekaj narobe.«
211
She shrugged. Of course what was “actually wrong” with Zaza was that she had a screw loose. There was no doubt in my mind on that point. “And what is she planning to do now?” I asked with a smile.“Planning?” repeated Martha absently. “You know, that’s the problem. I’m worried that this situ-ation is about something more than just her plans. She seemed pretty upset. To start with, she didn’t get a part in a play that she’d been trying for, even though she would have apparently been perfect for it. Then she got sick or something, as far as I could make out from what she was telling me: the last time I saw her she’d been drinking and was already pretty out of it. A little too much, given what I know of her habits. And she kept going on about the mea-ninglessness of life and saying that she was going to kill herself.”
Zmignil sem z rameni.
Seveda je bila Giga »tudi
sicer« prifliknjena, glede
tega sem imel preveč raz-
čiščene pojme, da bi še kaj
dvomil. »In kaj ima sedaj
na programu?« sem vpra-
šal z nasmehom.
»Na programu?« je zami-
šljeno ponovila Marta. »Saj
v tem je problem. Bojim
se, da je zadeva bolj resna
kot nekaj, kar je zgolj na
njenem programu. Precej
prizadeta je bila videti. Naj-
prej ni dobila vloge v gle-
dališki igri, za katero se je
potegovala, čeprav naj bi ji
bila pisana na kožo. Potem
naj bi zbolela ali nekaj
takega, kot sem lahko raz-
brala iz tistega njenega
govorjenja, ker se ga je
ob najinem zadnjem sre-
čanju že kar lepo nabrala.
Vsaj kolikor jo jaz poznam,
je bilo to glede na njene
navade malo preveč. Ves
čas se je vrtela okoli nesmi-
selnosti tega življenja in da
se bo kar ubila.«
212
“What?” I was immedia-tely serious. “Kill herself? Has she completely fli-pped?”“From the way she was talking, that would seem to be the only explanation. Anyway, that’s the situ-ation. We’ll see. You’ve certainly picked a good time to show up. You’re going to get yourself into trouble.”“Trouble?” That was ridi-culous, given that I had recently been dealing with matters that were much more serious than the insignificant problems of Earthmen – or rather of one crazy girl. “If she commits suicide after meeting up with you, you are going to have pro-blems.”“Are you serious about this suicide of hers?”“In the state she’s in now, anything is possible.”“But she can’t commit sui-cide! Are you crazy?”“Not me. Her.” Martha laughed.
»Kaj?« Hitro sem se zresnil.
»Da se bo ubila? Pa se ji
menda res ni popolnoma
utrgalo?«
»Saj, iz tega njenega govor-
jenja je že kar težko pomi-
sliti na kaj drugega. Tako
je. Sicer bomo pa videli.
Prav o nepravem času si
se oglasil. Še sitnosti si boš
nabral.«
»Sitnosti?« To je bilo
nesmiselno, saj sem imel
nedavno opravka z dosti
hujšimi stvarmi, kot so taki
nepomembni problemi
Zemljanov oziroma neke
prifliknjene avše.
»Če naredi samomor po
sestanku s tabo, boš imel
same težave.«
»Pa ti misliš resno s tem
njenim samomorom?«
»V tako zmedenem stanju,
v kakršnem je sedaj, je vse
možno.«
»Ampak ona ne sme nare-
diti samomora! A si nora!«
»Ne jaz. Ona.« Marta se je
zasmejala.
213
Hmm. Of course, she knew both Zaza and me, and she knew perfectly well what that girl meant to me. Nothing. But now it was different.“You know...” I began.“What?” The smile on Martha’s face was simply proof that everything she was saying was true.“She mustn’t commit sui-cide. She…” I tried to find the right word. “She doesn’t have the right.”“The right?” repeated Martha, looking at me. The expression on my face must have surprised her. She shrugged, as if to say that she didn’t consider the problem worth expending any mental energy on.Her mocking tone really annoyed me: “So the fact that your friend might commit suicide doesn’t actually bother you?”
Hm. Seveda, ona je poznala
tako Gigi kot mene, in pri
tem je prav dobro vedela,
koliko mi ta zmešana krava
pomeni. Nič. Toda zdaj je
bilo drugače.
»Veš, kaj…« sem začel.
»Kaj?« Martino smehljanje
je bilo eno samo prepriča-
nje o nedvomnosti vsega,
kar je povedala.
»Ona ne sme narediti
samomora. Ona . . .« Malo
se mi je zataknilo v iskanju
prave besede, »ona nima te
pravice.«
»Pravice?« je Marta pono-
vila, me pogledala, vseeno
jo je moral izraz mojega
obraza presenečati, in
zmignila z rameni, kot da
vse skupaj ni po njenem
mnenju vredno pretira-
nega naprezanja možga-
nov.
Prav zmotil me je posme-
hljivi prizvok v njenem
glasu: »Mar te morebitni
samomor tvoje prijateljice
sploh ne prizadeva?«
214
“What? Probably not.” Martha looked at me more keenly. “Interesting.”“What?”“Your interest in her. All of a sudden.”“Okay, Martha.” I collec-ted my thoughts and deci-ded to try a calmer appro-ach. I had clearly shown a little too much agitation at Martha’s mention of Zaza’s suicide. “We need her. Seriously. We urgen-tly need her.”Martha became more seri-ous. “Who’s ‘we’? I thou-ght this was about you. So it’s nothing personal?” I continued to look at her earnestly, and after a moment she raised her eyebrows: “I think you might actually be tel-ling the truth.”“I am!” I said, and went on in a serious voice: “We have to find her. As quic-kly as possible. Her suicide could have very serious consequences. We have to stop her.”“Hmm. Unbelievable! At
»Aja? Najbrž res ne.« Marta
me je še bolj živo pogle-
dala. »Zanimivo.«
»Kaj?«
»Tvoje ponovno zanimanje
zanjo. Kar naenkrat.«
»Dobro, Marta.« Poskušal
sem se zbrati v bolj tre-
znem premisleku. Najbrž
sem res pokazal malo
preveč prizadetosti ob
Martinem omenjanju Gigi-
nega samomora. »Potrebu-
jemo jo. Resno govorim.
Nujno nam je potrebna.«
Marta se je počasi zresnila.
»Kdo so ti ‘mi’? Sem mislila,
da gre zate? Torej nič oseb-
nega?« Še naprej sem jo
ves zresnjen gledal, ona
pa mene, in po kratkem
premisleku je zmignila z
obrvmi: »To bi pa morda
res lahko bilo možno.«
»Da, zelo možno!« sem
resno, s kar strogim
tonom, nadaljeval. »Najti
jo morava. In to čim prej.
Preveč hude posledice bi
lahko povzročil njen samo-
mor. Ne sme ga narediti.«
»Hm. Ta je pa dobra! Nje
215
our last meeting – in most of our recent conversati-ons, actually – she was complaining that no-one would miss her. Naturally I told her that it wasn’t true, although it seemed perfectly probable to me. To be honest, I thought it was the only sensible thing she said the whole evening. But if you say otherwise, you must have your reasons. I don’t hate her, you know, I’m just fed up of her depressions. I wouldn’t begrudge her a little happiness. Why not? The girl needs cheering up. But who’s going to do it? You?”I didn’t say anything and maintained my compo-sure.“Okay,” agreed Martha. “You could tell me a little more about who ‘us’ are, or about your renewed interest in her. If it isn’t a secret, of course.”I opened my mouth to reply, and then closed it again. I couldn’t tell her
naj ne bi nihče pogrešal,
mi je jamrala na zadnjem
srečanju oziroma zadnje
čase že na večini najinih
pogovorov, pa sem ji govo-
rila nasprotno, čeprav
so se mi zdele te njene
besede povsem realne.
Pravzaprav so to bile po
mojem mnenju edine koli-
kor toliko smiselne besede
v vsem njenem govorjenju.
Če pa ti praviš drugače, pa
naj bo po tvojem. Saj je ne
sovražim, le sita sem teh
njenih depresij, sicer pa
bi ji malo veselja celo pri-
voščila. Zakaj pa ne? Naj
se punca malo poveseli.
Samo kdo jo bo razveseli?
A ti?«
Poslušal sem jo z mirno
zbranostjo.
»Prav,« je pristala Marta.
»Lahko bi mi še kaj več
povedal o tem, kdo ste tisti
‘mi’ oziroma o tem tvojem
ponovnem zanimanju
zanjo. Če ni skrivnost,
seveda.«
Že sem odprl usta, pa jih
nato ponovno zaprl. Saj ji
vendar nisem mogel vsega
216
everything. If I did, she would start wondering about my sanity too. First Zaza and now me. Damn! And I had piqued her inte-rest My answers to her questions would have to be the opposite of what she expected. But what should I say? I couldn’t tell her anything about what was really going on.“Let’s leave the explana-tions for later. We need to find her while there’s still time. Then we can talk about it as much as we like.” Although outwardly I maintained my serious manner, I couldn’t help smiling to myself: I soun-ded just like those Sensins. As though I had absorbed their tactic of evading que-stions… Martha looked at me doubtfully for a moment and then nodded towards the city centre:
povedati, ker bi lahko
začela razmišljati še o moji
prištevnosti. Najprej Gigi
in zdaj še jaz. Presneto. Pa
še zanimanje sem ji vzbu-
dil. Moji odzivi na njeno
govorjenje so res morali
biti v nasprotju z njenimi
pričakovanji. Toda kaj naj
ji rečem? Ničesar od tega,
za kar je dejansko šlo, ji
nisem mogel navesti kot
razlog.
»Pustiva razloge za
pozneje. Raje jo poiščiva,
dokler je še čas, o ostalem
pa se bova že lahko potem
pogovarjala, kolikor naju
bo volja.« Kljub zadržani
resnosti sem se v sebi
nasmehnil, saj sem ji govo-
ril enako kot tisti Čutini
meni. Kot da bi mi njihova
taktika izmikanja pri daja-
nju odgovorov že povsem
prešla v kri. Marta me je
še nekaj trenutkov gledala
v dvomu,ali je vse to res
tako, kot mora biti in kot
je kazalo iz mojega vztra-
janja, naj najprej poiščeva
Gigi, ter z glavo namignila
proti centru mesta: »Morda
217
“We’ll probably find Daria in one of those bars over there. I’ve seen her with Zaza quite a few times recently.”“Okay,” I agreed and follo-wed her across the street. Daria was sitting at a table with two friends in the third bar we tried.“Hey, Daria!” called Martha. “Have you seen Zaza around? We urgently need to talk to her.”“I’m looking for her too. Yesterday evening she was really out of it. She started off by getting drunk, and then that friend of hers in the leather jacket arrived. The tall, thin one, you know. You’ve seen him. I don’t know what his name is. He’s always got that pullover sticking out of the bottom of his jacket. A dealer or something. He sells drugs. I don’t know what her connection is with him. She has taken drugs a few times but I don’t think she’s a junkie. At least she wasn’t before.
je Darja v enem od teh
bifejev, tukaj. Zadnje čase
sem jo pogosto videvala z
Gigi.«
»Prav,« sem se strinjal in
stopil za njo proti Čopovi
ulici, kjer sva Darjo po
dveh pregledanih bife-
jih res odkrila za mizo v
družbi s prijateljicama.
»Hej, Darja!« jo je s poz-
dravnim vzklikom opozo-
rila nase Marta ob meni.
»Si kaj videla Gigi? Nujno
bi jo morali dobiti.«
»Tudi jaz jo iščem. Včeraj
zvečer se ji je povsem
strgalo. Najprej se ga je
napila, potem je prišel
njen znanec v usnjenem
jopiču, suh, visok, saj si ga
že videla, ne vem, kako mu
je ime, zmeraj mu gleda
tisti pulover izpod jopiča,
diler ali nekaj takega je,
mamila preprodaja. Ne
vem, kaj ima ona z njim,
nekajkrat se je sicer drogi-
rala, čeprav po moje še ni
zasvojena, vsaj prej ni bila.
218
They had some kind of argument. I think he was asking for money or offe-ring her grass or maybe something stronger. They caused a bit of a scene, actually. Later, at about one in the morning, I saw her in the pub by the hotel, looking really stoned. She came and sat with us but she wasn’t exactly talka-tive. She told us that life has no point; but then that’s not unusual for her. She would drift off for a while, staring absently in front of her, and then suddenly wake up and start going on about that part in the play she was supposed to get but didn’t. Eventually we started getting fed up with her but when we tried to stop her from repeating the same explanations over and over again she said that she knew how little she meant to us but that she didn’t care about us either any more. She car-ried on in that vein for a bit until finally as she was
Z njim se je nekaj spore-
kla. Mislim, da je zahteval
denar ali pa ji je ponujal
tisto svojo travo, če ne česa
še močnejšega. Celo sceno
sta naredila. Pozneje, ob
enih ponoči, sem jo videla
še v pabu ob Turistu, res je
delovala zadrogirano. Še
prisedla je k nam, čeprav
ni bila nič kaj zgovorna.
Češ da vse skupaj nima
smisla, je govorila; to zanjo
ni nič nenavadnega. Toda
na trenutke se je izgubljala
v neko odsotno strmenje,
potem pa se je nenadoma
povsem zbujena zagnala v
razlaganje tiste svoje vloge
v gledališču, ki bi jo morala
dobiti, pa je ni, da nam je
že vsem začela presedati,
in ko smo jo nekajkrat
zapored zavrnili zaradi
ponavljanja zmeraj istih
razlag, je še govorila, da
ona že ve, kako malo mar
nam je zanjo, ampak da
tudi njej ni nič več za nas.
In še nekaj v tem smislu,
dokler ni naposled med
vstajanjem, nekajkrat se
219
standing up – actually she kept sitting down again – she declared vehemently that it didn’t matter, that she was no longer going to be a burden to anyone, and that it would be sooner than we think. She seemed deadly serious about this. There was something almost fanatical about her. Then she mumbled some-thing else, I don’t know what, and then said, loud and clear ‘Tonight.’ We just stared at her stupidly – what else could we do? – as she repeated ‘toni-ght’, over and over again, but more quietly, almost to herself, but with furious obstinacy.”I moved closer to Martha. “She didn’t get the part she wanted, she’s probably out of work, things are going badly with those boyfri-ends of hers. Add alcohol or drugs or whatever, and anything is possible, don’t you think?”“At a time like this she shouldn’t be on her own,”
je namreč še usedla nazaj,
energično izjavila, da je
pač tako vseeno, ker ona
že ne bo nikogar več obre-
menjevala, in to prej, kot
si mislimo. Pa še smrtno
resno se je držala pri tem.
S prav zagrizeno odloč-
nostjo. Potem je še nekaj
mrmrala, ne vem, kaj, le na
koncu je povsem jasno in
tudi dovolj glasno pribila:
Še nocoj. Na naše bedasto
strmenje, saj drugega ob
taki idiotski sceni tudi ne
moreš narediti, pa je kar
še nekajkrat ponovila tisti
svoj - še nocoj, sicer bolj
tiho, bolj zase, vendar s
prav besno trmo.«
Primaknil sem se k Marti.
»Če je ostala brez vloge,
in morda še brez službe,
s tistimi njenimi fanti pa
ji tudi ne gre, tako da je
ob alkoholu ali mamilih,
kakor koli, že vse možno,
kaj?«
»V takih trenutkih ne bi
smela ostati sama,« se je
220
agreed Martha. “When several things go wrong all at once, badly wrong, you need a little support, perhaps from family; or if you haven’t got family, at least from friends.”“We have to find her. I’ll talk to her,” I said.“Hmm.” Martha’s gaze lingered on my face for a few moments. Even if Zaza’s behaviour was alre-ady more than she could understand, my concern for Zaza evidently didn’t seem any less strange to her. I realised that imme-diately. I had only ever exchanged brief hellos with Zaza, at least in Martha’s presence.“But where on earth can she have gone?” I said out loud. Whatever might come of this, the thing that was clearest to me was the terrible risk we were facing, and the incredibly important consequences.
strinjala Marta. »Ko se ti
več nesreč hkrati povezne
na glavo, in to same skrajno
zoprne, tedaj pač potrebu-
ješ malo opore, morda pri
svojcih; če jih nimaš, pa
vsaj pri prijateljih.«
»Dobiti jo morava, potem
se bom že jaz pogovoril z
njo,« sem dejal.
»Hm.« Ocenjujoči Martin
pogled je za nekaj tre-
nutkov zastal na mojem
obrazu. Če je že Gigino
obnašanje preseglo mejo
njenega razumevanja, se ji
moja zaskrbljenost za Gigi
očitno ni zdela nič manj
nenavadna. To sem takoj
ugotovil. Z Gigi sem se obi-
čajno le bežno pozdravljal,
vsaj v Martini prisotnosti,
in še to bolj v mimohodu.
»Ampak kam, hudirja, bi
lahko šla?« sem se oglasil
z vso odločnostjo. Kajti
kar koli bi že lahko iz tega
nastalo, mi je bila jasna
predvsem prisotnost pre-
hudega tveganja s pre-
sneto pomembnimi posle-
dicami.
221
It was far more impor-tant than just the life of one mixed-up girl. How idiotic! War was about to break out, everything was hanging from a thread, and now there was a risk that the change in the balance of power was going to be exposed. The Acutins still didn’t know that the Sen-sins were unable to reach their energy fields. But sooner or later they would find out, and it seemed very likely that the Sen-sins didn’t have much time left, even though they claimed that their forces would be sufficien-tly powerful even if access to the biggest energy fields remained closed. Yes, the Sensins would give it eve-rything they had. There was no doubt of that. But both sides possessed energy missiles, probably made of antimatter, which could destroy entire pla-nets. Both sides had these weapons. It would only take one missile to destroy
Preveč pomembna je bila,
saj ni šlo le za življenje neke
avše. Kako trapasto! Vojna
je bila tik pred izbruhom,
vse je bilo na nitki, zdaj pa
naj se razgali še to poru-
šeno ravnotežje naspro-
tnih sil. Ostrini še ne vedo,
da Čutini ne morejo do
svojih energetskih polj.
Toda prej ali slej bodo
zvedeli in prav možno je,
da Čutinom ne ostaja več
dosti časa, čeprav so ome-
njali zadostno moč svojih
oboroženih sil tudi v pri-
meru zaprtega dostopa do
največjih energetskih polj.
Da, Čutini se bodo tolkli.
O tem ni dvoma. Toda
energetski izstrelki, tako
enih kot drugih, najbrž
iz antimaterije, lahko raz-
strelijo planete. Oboji
imajo taka orožja. In za
uničenje Zemlje je dovolj
le en tak izstrelek, imajo
222
the Earth, and they had thousands of them. Tho-usands? Billions. Only evenly matched forces could guarantee peace. And peace was the only thing that would ensure the survival of the Earth. The balance of power had to be preserved. I had to open that doorway. I had to undergo that test and above all I had to talk to this wretched girl as soon as possible. She had really picked the wrong moment to start having problems. I had no doubts about my own ability to persuade her. I simply had to find Zaza.“Let’s think about where she could she be,” I said, in an effort to encourage some serious reflection. “Then we will act. And quickly.”No-one contradicted me. Actually they were all loo-king at me – the girls at Daria’s table and the three boys at the next table, who had also been liste-
jih pa na tisoče, kaj tisoče,
milijarde. Le enakost sil
ohranja mir. Samo mir je
tisto, kar lahko Zemljanom
zagotovi preživetje. Rav-
notežje sil je treba ohra-
niti. Moram odpreti tisti
prehod. Moram prestati
preverjanje in predvsem
se moram najprej sestati s
to nesrečno punco, ki ima
prav v tem popolnoma
nepravem trenutku tako
nesrečne probleme. Nisem
dvomil ne o sebi ne o svoji
sposobnosti prepričeva-
nja. Le dobiti moram Gigi.
»Poglejmo, kje bi lahko
bila,« sem dejal v želji po
bolj umirjenem in teh-
tnem premišljanju, »potem
bomo pa ukrepali. In to
hitro.«
Nihče ni oporekal. Pravza-
prav so vsi gledali vame,
tako obe dekleti ob Darji
kot trije fantje za sose-
dnjo mizico, ki so že pred
223
ning to the conversation. Partly because of my deci-sive manner, and partly because we were talking about someone they knew, someone who belonged in their extended circle of acquaintances. With some reservations and on cer-tain occasions they would have even called her their friend. “Hey!” said a skinny lad in the corner. He was wearing a faded tee-shirt and washed-out jeans. The jeans were ripped, I noticed. Deliberately, pro-bably. His friends were all dressed in the same grungy fashion. The addi-tion of leather jackets – and this was the height of summer – merely served to emphasise their “rebel” look. “You looking for Zaza?”“Yes,” I said, staring at the skinny lad with the unsha-ven face and his compani-ons. If these were the sort of people Zaza hung out with, I thought, then it was
tem prisluhnili pogovoru,
deloma zaradi mojega
odločnega nastopa, šlo pa
je tudi za njihovo znanko,
ki je sodila v malo širši
krog tamkajšnje družbe.
Z nekaj pridržka in ob
določenih priložnostih bi
lahko celo rekli, da je nji-
hova prijateljica.
»Hej!« se je iz kota ogla-
sil suhljat poba v znošeni
majici in še bolj znoše-
nih izpranih kavbojkah.
Celo strgane so že bile,
čeprav najbrž nalašč, ker
je bila vsa njegova družba
glede zunanjosti v enakem
modnem trendu, zelo pri-
mernem za potepuške
namene, s poudarjenim
izrazom uporništva, ki so
ga navrženi usnjeni jopiči,
in bilo je poletje, vroče
poletje, že kar izzivalno
poudarjali. »Gigi iščeš?«
»Da,« sem odvrnil med
ocenjujočim opazovanjem
koščenega tipa ter nato
še njegove druščine in
spet suhega poraščenega
obraza, kajti če se je Gigi
224
perfectly possible that she had got into drugs.“I was talking to her flat-mate a little earlier. She was asking after her.”“Who? Her flatmate?”“Yes, the girl who lives with her. She says she hasn’t been home for two days. Apparently it’s not unusual for her to stay out the whole night, if there’s a party or whatever, but she’s always told her in advance whenever she’s gone away for any longer than that. This time, though, she just disappeared.”“Had she shown any sui-cidal tendencies?” I had to clear this up as quickly as possible. “Could she have committed suicide?”“Well, she’s certainly crazy enough.” The skinny kid sniggered idiotically. I gave him a piercing look, but this didn’t seem to bother him. If anything he laughed even more hear-tily, although this frank, open laughter was the last thing I would have expec-
družila s temi tipi, je prav
možno, da je zašla tudi v
mamila.
»Malo prej sem se pogovar-
jal z njeno cimro. Spraše-
vala me je zanjo.«
»Kdo? Njena cimra?«
»Ta, ki z njo stanuje. Pravi,
da je ni že dva dni. Za eno
noč se je že morda tudi prej
kdaj zadržala na kakšni
žurki, sicer pa ji je za daljše
odsotnosti prej povedala.
To pot pa je kar naenkrat
ni več.«
»Ali je morda kazala kakšna
samomorilska nagnjenja?«
Moral sem si priti čim prej
na jasno. »Bi lahko naredila
samomor?«
»Hja, prifliknjena je
dovolj.« Koščeni poba se je
idiotsko zasmejal. Še bolj
predirno sem ga pogledal,
pa ni bilo videti, da bi to
mojega potepuškega sogo-
vornika, morda je bil le
malo starejši študent, kaj
posebno motilo, celo prav
prostodušno se je na ves
225
ted from this grungy type – actually he may have been just a slightly older student. “By my standards I would say that she has gone a little too far.”“By your standards?” His bony, unshaven face with its centimetre-long stubble, and the fact that he was clearly under the influence of alcohol, meant that it was hard to take him seriously. It was difficult to imagine him having standards of any kind. My doubts must have been sufficiently visible on my face for him to see what I was thinking, despite the state he was clearly in.“Yes. Even by my stan-dards she has gone a little too far. And that’s not good.” “It certainly isn’t,” I inter-rupted. I couldn’t waste any more time. “Where can I find her?”His thin face grew seri-ous as he pondered his answer.
glas zasmejal, čeprav je
bil tak smeh zadnje, kar bi
pričakoval od njega. »Vsaj
po mojih merilih bi dejal,
da je šla malo predaleč.«
»Po tvojih merilih?« Suhi, že
kar koščeni neobriti obraz,
s centimeter dolgimi koci-
nami, je pod vplivom zau-
žitega alkohola deloval vse
prej kot resno. Težko si je
bilo predstavljati, da ima
tip sploh kakšna merila.
Vsekakor pa je moral moj
pogled dovolj jasno izra-
žati moje pomisleke, da jih
je razbral celo sogovornik
kljub vsej svoji siceršnji,
vsaj na zunaj očitni odso-
tnosti.
»Da. Tudi po mojih kriteri-
jih je šla malo predaleč. In
to ni dobro. . .«
»Prav gotovo, da ne,« sem
ga prekinil, ker nisem smel
več izgubljati časa. »Kje jo
lahko dobim?«
Suhljati obraz se je
ponovno zresnil v tuhta-
nju možnega odgovora.
226
“If it was a question of sui-cide, which Zaza is certa-inly capable of, there is a place that she has someti-mes dropped hints about. She mentioned it a few times. I never really paid much attention but beca-use she repeated it so often it stuck in my head.”“Can you take me there? I’ll pay you. I’d like to give you something for your trouble.” I placed two hundred euros on the table. I was prepa-red to pay more if need be. But if I hadn’t misjudged this kid and his friends, this was already quite a lot of money for the favour I was asking. “Is it enough?”The skinny kid looked at the banknotes, then at me, and then back at the money, and indicated that I should add a little more. I put down another two hundred euros, and that seemed to satisfy him. He jumped nimbly to his feet, all his lethargy gone.
»Če bi šlo za samomor, kar
je Gigi prav gotovo zmožna
narediti, obstaja kraj, vsaj
po mojem mnenju, o kate-
rem je večkrat govorila
z namigi. Nekajkrat ga je
omenjala, pa mi je bilo
glede tega doslej precej
vseeno, toda ker je to že
tolikokrat ponovila, sem si
ga celo zapomnil.«
»Me lahko odpelješ tja?
Plačam. Prav rad povr-
nem za trud.« Na mizo
sem položil dvesto evrov.
Pripravljen sem bil seveda
dati več, in to bi po potrebi
tudi storil. Glede na mojo
oceno sogovornika in nje-
gove druščine pa je bila že
ta vsota za tako uslugo kar
precejšnja. »Je dovolj?«
Koščeni poba je pogle-
dal bankovce, nato mene
in spet bankovce ter
namignil, naj kaj malega
dodam, in ko sem priložil
še dvesto evrov, je nami-
gnil, da so naredili nanj
pozitiven vtis, ter se tako
gibčno privzdignil, kot da
bi vsa zaležana odsotnost
padla z njega.
227
“Okay. But you mustn’t be disappointed if by any chance she hasn’t killed herself yet. Anything is possible with her.” “I won’t be disappointed. Actually that’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
* * *
Stubbly Chin stepped onto a path running off to the side towards some bushes below the branches of trees that extended over the beaten track. “Over there, to that tree. A little further on is the pre-cipice. If she’s here, that’s where she’ll be. And now – I’ll go, or you can, wha-tever you prefer. Or we could all go together.”That wouldn’t do. “No, I prefer to go alone.” In her tense and highly emotional state, she didn’t know herself what she was
»No, prav. Toda ne smete
biti razočarani, če po
naključju še ni naredila
samomora. Kajti pri njej je
možno vse.«
»Ne bom razočaran. Prav-
zaprav se ravno tega
bojim.«
* * *
Kocina je stopil na stran-
sko pot do grmičevja pod
vejami, iztegnjenimi nad
izhojeno potjo. »Tjale
do tistega drevesa. Malo
naprej so tiste prepadne
stene. Če je, je tukaj. Zdaj
pa - ali grem jaz tja ali vi,
kakor želite. Lahko gremo
tudi vsi skupaj.«
To ne bi bilo dobro. »Ne,
bom raje šel sam.« V skrajno
napetem čustvenem stanju
še sama ne ve, kaj naredi.
228
doing. If she hadn’t done it already. She was the sort of person whose emoti-ons could very quickly get the better of her, and there was no telling what direction her mood would take. But then she could also calm down again for a while, almost to the point of apathy. At least as far as I could remember.“First I’ll ask her the way and then say something about how people meet in the strangest places,” I went on, “and before she has a chance to think about the actual probability of a chance encounter I’ll alre-ady have got her talking.”“Hmm!” Stubble Chin shot a glance at me. “Inte-resting.” That was all he said. The simplicity of my plan even enticed a smile of ackno-wledgement from him.I walked forwards and stopped by the tree. The outline of a female figure should appear at any moment, but I couldn’t
Če že ni storila? Pri njej so
čustva hitro vzkipela, in
to v eno ter takoj zatem v
nasprotno stran. Potem
se je lahko tudi umirila,
za nekaj časa, in to skoraj
do otopelosti. Vsaj po spo-
minu sodeč, bi ji že lahko
prisodil kaj takega.
»Najprej jo bom povprašal
za pot, pa kje vse se ljudje
srečajo, v tem smislu,« sem
nadaljeval, »ker preden bo
lahko premislila o dejan-
ski verjetnosti naključ-
nega srečanja, jo bom že
zapletel v pogovor.«
»Hm!« Kocina me je ošvr-
knil s pogledom izpod oči.
»Zanimivo.« Pravzaprav je
bilo to vse, kar je dejal. Pre-
prostost mojega naklepa
mu je celo izvabila nasmeh
priznanja.
Stopil sem naprej, ob dre-
vesu zastal, obris ženskega
lika bi se mi moral vsak
čas pokazati, pa ga ni bilo
229
see it. I moved forwards carefully. Still nothing. No-one. I reached the edge of the precipice and looked around. It was dark. Very dark. And this undergrowth, which made everything darker still. I looked down. It would not do to slip over the edge. I’d probably kill myself. I leant a little further for-wards. I really would kill myself, in all likelihood. Involuntarily I drew back, although the ground bene-ath my feet was perfec-tly solid. “There really is something a bit creepy about this place,” I mut-tered to myself and shook my head to get rid of irra-tional thoughts of suicide.As I was moved my head I saw out of the corner of my eye the dark outline of something that was not part of a bush. Instinctively I turned in that direction. It had to be her. Someone was sitting under the bush. And this someone was watching me in silence.
videti. Previdno sem se
pomaknil naprej, še vedno
nič, nikjer nikogar, vse
do roba prepada sem že
prišel, spet pogledal nao-
krog, temno je bilo, pre-
sneto, pa grmičevje, pod
katerim je bilo vse še bolj
temno. Ozrl sem se nav-
zdol. Hja, ne bi bilo dobro
pasti čez rob. Najbrž bi se
res ubil. Še malo sem se
nagnil naprej. Res bi se
ubil. Vsaj po vsej verjetno-
sti. Nehote sem se nekoliko
umaknil, čeprav so bila tla
pod mojimi nogami kar
trda. »Povsem nedolžen pa
ta kraj res ni,« sem si zamo-
mljal v brado ter odkimal
v zavračanju meni nerazu-
mljivega samomorilskega
početja.
In tedaj sem v trenutku
močnejšega obrata glave s
kotičkom očesa ujel teman
obris nečesa, kar ni bilo
sestavni del grma. Instink-
tivno sem se obrnil v tisto
smer. Ona je moral biti.
Vsekakor je nekdo sedel
pod grmom. Čisto tiho me
je ta nekdo opazoval.
230
“Hey!” I waved my hand in greeting. “It would be pretty easy to take a wrong turning here, wouldn’t it?”“Yes,” replied a woman’s voice.“In daylight these paths were clear enough, but now in the dark it’s all dif-ferent. It’s easy to get lost here, isn’t it?”“Yes.”“Actually I’ve already gone a little too far from the path.” I moved over to the figure huddled in the shade of the bushes. She was sitting on the ground, her arms round her knees, which were pulled up to her chin, and she was staring in front of her. As though she didn’t want to be dis-turbed or, more likely, she was simply waiting for me to move on, or go back. In any case she showed no signs of wanting to talk. But I showed no signs of wanting to leave. She might not have realised
»Hej!« sem ob rahlem gibu
roke pozdravil. »Tu pa
lahko kar hitro zdrsneš v
nepravo smer, kaj?«
»Da,« mi je pritrdil ženski
glas.
»Podnevi so mi bile te poti
kar jasne, zdaj v temi pa je
vse drugače. Tu se hitro
izgubiš, kajne?«
»Da,« sem spet dobil v potr-
dilo svojega ugibanja.
»Pravzaprav sem že malo
preveč zavil s poti.« Prima-
knil sem se k ženskemu
liku, stisnjenemu v senci
grmovja. Tam je sedela na
tleh, z rokami okoli kolen,
privitih vse do brade,
naslonjene nanje, in gle-
dala predse. Kot da se ne
pusti motiti ali pa je, kar
je bilo še bolj verjetno, le
čakala, da grem naprej,
mimo, ali nazaj. Vsekakor
ni kazala nobene volje
za pogovor. Toda tudi jaz
nisem kazal nobene volje
za odhod, česar se najbrž
ni dalo takoj razbrati,
231
this at first, but when I sat down my decision to stay put must have become painfully obvious to her. The outlines of the woman in the dark changed from perfect stillness to a slight movement, as though she was intending to stand up. Then, suddenly indecisive, she sat back down under her bush.“How does one actually get down from here?” I asked her in the calm voice of someone out for an eve-ning stroll, pointing in the direction of the precipice.“You have to go that way,” she explained, with a movement of her hand in the direction from which I had come.”“Oh, really?” “As far as that tree, and then down.” This explanation was given in a slightly more communicative tone of voice. At least that was my impression.“And what’s down here, a precipice or what?” I con-
toda potem, ko sem prise-
del, je ta moja odločenost
morala postati zanjo že kar
moteče prisotna. Obrisi
ženske v temi so iz čistega
mirovanja prešli v razno-
liko gibanje z nakazano
namero vstajanja ter nato
v nekakšno neodločnost s
ponovnim umikom nazaj
v grmovje.
»Kako se pravzaprav pride
dol?« sem jo vprašal z
mirnim glasom večernega
sprehajalca med kazanjem
z roko v smeri prepada, ne
meneč se za njene odzive.
»Tja morate iti,« mi je poja-
snila z gibom roke v smeri,
iz katere sem prispel.
»Aja?«
»Do tistega drevesa, potem
navzdol,« sem dobil še
natančnejše pojasnilo.
To je bilo že povedano
v bolj komunikativnem
tonu. Vsaj jaz sem dobil tak
vtis.
»Pa kaj je tu spodaj, prepad
ali kaj?« sem poprijel v obi-
232
tinued in my conversatio-nal way.“Yes,” came the brief reply. It was too dark to recognise her face. Zaza’s face was coming back to me, in all its details, and I was already trying to make out the familiar fea-tures in the dark. When she eventually moved slightly forwards, only a little but at least out of the extra darkness of those bushes, her face appeared for a few moments that were all I needed. It really was her. I had sensed it all along. She would surely have recognised me too, if she hadn’t been staring in front of her.“You’d break every bone in your body if you fell down here, right? I mean, if you slipped.” As I threw out this com-ment I looked at her. It must have been obvious to her that I was expecting her to reply, but instead she moved forwards slightly, and then, as I continued to
čajnem pogovornem tonu
izletnikov.
»Da,« je spet kratko odgovo-
rila ženska. Vseeno je bilo
pretemno za razpoznava-
nje obraza. Gigin obraz
mi je zrasel iz spomina v
vseh svojih posebnostih,
tako da sem skozi temo že
iskal znane obrise. In ko
se je končno nekoliko bolj
zganila ter nagnila naprej,
sicer le za malo, toda ven-
darle iz dodatne senčne
teme tistega grmičevja, se
je njen obraz le pokazal
za nekaj trenutkov, ki so
povsem zadostovali. Res
je bila ona. Sicer sem že
ves čas imel tak občutek.
Pa tudi ona je že morala
mene spoznati, čeprav je
vztrajno gledala predse.
»Vse kosti bi si polomil
pri padcu tu dol, kajne?
Mislim reči, če bi zdrsnil
dol,« sem navrgel svoje
glasno razmišljanje med
oziranjem vanjo v priča-
kovanju odgovora, to pa je
očitno tudi ona opazila in
se zato namesto odgovora
233
look at her, she moved for-ward again – but without leaving the shade of the bush. “You would kill yourself,” she said in a calm voice, although there was no doubting her sincerity.Hmm,” I thought to myself. If I could find a way to contradict her on some pretext, she might actually start talking. Would it work?“I reckon you’d get away with a few nasty brui-ses.” I stretched my neck for a better view over the precipice and shook my head. What I had just said was ridiculous. You really would kill yourself.“A good thing you’re not planning to commit suicide,” I went on, in a transparent attempt to be witty.“No.” Her reply was imme-diate. And, once again, brief. Too brief, at least for my taste. There seemed to be some anger in her voice at my invasion of her pri-
nekoliko premaknila ter
se po mojem vztrajnem
motrenju še močneje zga-
nila, sicer še vedno pod
grmom, in potem spet
povsem mirno obsedela.
»Ubili bi se,« me je opozo-
rila z mirno odsotnostjo,
vendar z občutno gotovo-
stjo glede svojih besed.
»Hm,« sem se zamislil. Če bi
ji malo nasprotoval z doda-
janjem raznih argumen-
tov, bi se že lahko začela
pogovarjati. Morda?
»Po moje bi se najverjetneje
samo krepko polomil.«
Iztegnil sem vrat za boljši
pogled nad prepadom ter
zmajal z glavo. Pravo neu-
mnost sem bleknil. Res bi
se ubil.
»Sicer pa, saj ne mislite
delati samomora,« sem
nadaljeval v očitni želji po
dajanju duhovitih opazk.
»Ne.« Njen odgovor je bil
takojšen. In spet kratek.
Prehiter, vsaj za moj okus.
Pa tudi kar nekaj jeze sem
zaznal v njenem glasu
zaradi mojega nasilnega
234
vacy. Then she made some rapid movements, calmed down again, and then stood up with a jerk, so suddenly that I jumped to my feet and took a quick step towards the preci-pice.“No,” she repeated, more decisively and more angrily. “But what’s that to you?”“Wait a minute! We know each other! What a small world!” I was waving my arms as though in surprise at the coincidence. “What are you doing here?” “Me?” Well, I was going along that path there” – I pointed in the direction I had come from – “and then I turned this way.” “How can you be such an idiot as to walk along a path like this in the middle of the night?”“Yes, well. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?”“Yes.” “You know what, we were
vdiranja v njeno zaseb-
nost. Nato je naredila
nekaj hitrejših gibov, se
spet umirila, potem pa
sunkovito vstala, in to tako
nenadoma, da sem skočil
na noge in naredil hiter
korak proti prepadu.
»Ne,« je ponovila s še
bolj odločnim in jeznim
glasom. »Pa kaj vas to
briga?«
»Oho! Pa saj midva se
poznava! Glej no, kje se
srečava!« Še zakrilil sem z
rokami od presenečenja
nad takim naključjem.
»Kaj delaš tukaj?«
»A jaz? Ja, jaz sem šel po
tisti poti tam,« sem z roko
pokazal v smeri svojega
prihoda, »potem pa sem
zavil še sem. . . «
»Kako moreš sredi noči
hoditi po taki poti kot
zmešan osel?«
»Hja. No, ja. Zdaj se pa že
kar nekaj časa nisva videla,
kajne?«
»Da.«
»Veš, prav včeraj smo se
235
talking about you just yesterday, in connection with the female role in that play, what’s it called? Well anyway, they were looking for an interesting female character and I mentioned you to them.”“Me? You?”“Yes, sure. Why, does that seem strange? There’s an interesting provocati-veness in you. I’m being perfectly serious. You are exactly the type of woman we were talking about. I don’t mean that you would have to play yourself, far from it, but the provoca-tion that the actress would need to communicate to the audience is something that you could do very convincingly.“Me?”“Yes.”“You mean to say that you’re involved in the the-atre, too?” Zaza shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “What are you actually talking about?”“How do you mean what
pogovarjali o tebi, v zvezi
z ženskim likom za tisto
gledališko igro, kako se ji
že reče. . .? No, ja, zanimiv
ženski lik so iskali, pa sem
jim omenil prav tebe.«
»Mene? Ti?«
»Ja, jaz, seveda. Zakaj se ti
zdi to čudno? V sebi nosiš
zanimivo provokacijo. Pa
tudi sicer mislim povsem
resno. Prav o tvojem tipu
ženske je bil govor. Ne
mislim reči, da bi morala
igrati sebe, daleč od tega,
toda provokacijo, ki naj
bi jo igralka posredovala
občinstvu, bi ti znala
narediti najbolj prepri-
čljivo.«
»Jaz?«
»Da.«
»Misliš reči, da se razumeš
tudi na gledališče?« Gigi se
je nervozno prestopala. »O
čem pa pravzaprav govo-
riš?«
»Kako - o čem? Na tvojem
236
am I talking about? In your place I would be interested in this part.” I looked at her, completely convinced by my own words. Zaza looked at me doubt-fully, as though wondering whether what I was saying wasn’t simply a load of rubbish. She still didn’t believe me. No way. But as she was considering, the expression on her face changed, as though her certainty of the futility of everything – and that must have been one of the fun-damental and most consi-stent constants of her tho-ughts in the last few days, and above all in the last few hours – had suddenly lost its sting. And then she didn’t want to reveal her indecisiveness to an old acquaintance. Especially not to me. And the fact that last time we met she had managed to annoy me must have come back to her in a flash, because for a moment I thought I saw a spark in her eyes.
mestu bi se pozanimal za
to vlogo.« Gledal sem jo
popolnoma prepričan o
svojih besedah.
Gigi me je pogledala v
dvomu, ali morda res ni
vse skupaj, kar govorim,
zgolj čista neumnost. Sicer
pa mi še vedno ni verjela.
Nikakor ne. Toda med
pomišljanjem se je izraz na
njenem obrazu spremenil,
kot da bi njeno prepriča-
nje o nesmiselnosti vsega,
in to je moralo biti ena od
temeljnih in najbolj vztraj-
nih stalnic njenega raz-
mišljanja v zadnjih dneh
in še posebej v zadnjih
urah, izgubilo svojo ost. Pa
tudi svoje neodločnosti ni
hotela kazati pred starim
znancem. Še posebej ne
pred mano. In da me je
takrat le uspela malo zamo-
riti, ji je ob tem najinem
srečanju najbrž moralo
ponovno v utrinku preiti
skozi misli, ker so ji v očeh
za trenutek zaplesale malo
bolj živahne iskrice.
237
“So what’s your connec-tion with these theatre types?” she asked after an initial silence during which she looked away from me.“Well, you know, I’ve been a regular theatre-goer for quite a few years.” I smiled at her. That had actually been true, at one time. That was another reason why I was able to answer her question so readily. I had made a good start but now I needed to talk a bit more about that female character. The cha-racter of a slightly crazy woman, in other words. Yes. I carried on smiling as I racked my brains to think of a suitable charac-ter from the various plays I had seen. It was a shame I had stopped going to the theatre after I broke up with Mia. That was back when I was a student. But now I couldn’t lay it on too thick. I had to be especi-ally careful about giving my own opinions – telling
»Kaj pa imaš s temi gle-
dališčniki?« je vprašala
kljub začetnemu molku
med odsotnim strmenjem
vstran od mene.
»Ja, saj veš, da sem precej
let redno obiskoval gledali-
ške predstave.« Nasmehnil
sem se ji. Res sem jih nekaj
časa celo redno obiskoval,
to mi je ostalo še živo v spo-
minu. Zato mi je tudi tako
hitro prišlo z jezika. Dobro
sem začel. Še o tistem žen-
skem liku bi moral kaj
spregovoriti. Se pravi, gre
za lik malo prifliknjene
avše. Da. Smehljal sem se
pa seveda še naprej, čeprav
mi v spomin ni hotelo priti
nič ustreznega iz vide-
nih gledaliških iger. Res
škoda, da sem po razhodu
z Mojco prenehal hoditi v
gledališče. Takrat so bila
pač študentska leta. Zdaj
pa tudi ne smem preveč
nakladati. Še posebej s
temi svojimi mnenji ali,
bolje rečeno, s tem govor-
238
her that the part was made for her. Although there must be a play somewhere with a character like that, and it wouldn’t be hard for the Sensins to stage it if necessary. I though about this for a bit. They could do her this little favour in exchange for her coopera-tion. Yes, and something else too…“It’s nice here, isn’t it? It’s so peaceful.” I decided to change the subject.“And what excited you most about this female character?” asked Zaza, who apparently hadn’t heard my last words.“Ah, that female character, yes.” I racked my brains but I simply couldn’t think of a crazy enough female character. Something similar would have to do. But I couldn’t think of any similar roles either. And I wasn’t going to. It was too much for me, suddenly having to try and think of crazy female characters.
jenjem o vlogi, pisani na
njeno kožo, moram biti
previden. Čeprav neka gle-
dališka igra s takim likom
že mora biti nekje in Čuti-
nom tudi ne bo težko pri-
praviti predstave. Če bo
treba. Nekoliko sem pre-
mislil vse skupaj. Za sode-
lovanje ji že lahko naredijo
to manjšo uslugo. Hja, in
še kaj zraven…
»Sicer je pa lepo tukaj,
kajne? Tak mir je,« sem
prešel na drugo temo.
»In kaj te je pri tistem žen-
skem liku najbolj vznemi-
rilo?« je vprašala Gigi, ki
je očitno preslišala moje
zadnje besede.
»Hja, tisti ženski lik, ja,«
sem napel možgane. Tako
prifliknjenega ženskega
lika se nikakor nisem
mogel domisliti. Sicer bi
zadostovalo kaj podob-
nega. Pa tudi česa takega
se nisem mogel spomniti.
In se tudi ne bom spo-
mnil. Kar naenkrat tako
povpraševanje po prifli-
knjenih ženskih likih. Že
239
Zaza was already a big enough problem. Not just difficult: too difficult. And suddenly I needed to find a suitably crazy female role for her. No, I would stick to her. Let the Sensins write a part for her. That would be the best thing. With all their abilities, let them write it! When I came to think about it, the testing at the seventy-seven doors was also theatrical in a way. They mimicked eve-rything. Live. But now they had that hologram film in which I had to play my own role. And this crazy girl here had to play her role. And now she wanted to know what kind of crazy character there was in this play that I had had to go and men-tion to her. All right: I would describe it to her. The more comments she makes, the better for her. “I can give you a basic outline of the character.” I looked around me to find
Gigi je bila zame več kot
dovolj težak problem. Ne
le težak, ampak že pre-
težak. In nenadoma bi
potreboval še en prifli-
knjen ženski lik. Ne, kar
pri njej bom ostal. Pa naj
Čutini napišejo gledališko
vlogo za tak tip igralke, kot
je ona. Da, to bo še najbo-
lje. Pri vseh teh njihovih
sposobnostih naj jo kar
napišejo! Sicer pa je tisto
preverjanje pri 77 vratih
postavljeno tudi na pod-
lagi neke vrste gledališke
igre. Saj so vse posneli.
Resda v živo. Ampak zdaj
imajo ta hologramski
film, v katerem moram jaz
odigrati svojo vlogo. Ta
avša tukaj pa svojo. Zdaj
pa jo zanima, kakšen tip
prifliknjene avše je v oni
gledališki igri, ki sem ji jo
moral navreči. Prav, pa ji
ga bo opisal. Več pripomb
bo dala, bolje zanjo.
»Nekaj osnovnih značaj-
skih obrisov pa ti res lahko
nakažem.«
Pogledal sem okoli sebe in
240
somewhere more comfor-table to sit and then turned back to Zaza: “Some deta-ils are quite funny. In one scene she’s dancing with one guy and flirting with another, and in another scene she’s dancing with the second guy and flirting with a third, or something like that.” I laughed, and Zaza smiled for the first time. “Do you remember?” she asked quietly.“What?”“That evening, at the party.”“Oh, sure.”“I thought so. That’s why you immediately thought of me, when you saw this scene?”“Do you think so?”Zaza laughed. “Absolutely. It came from your subcon-scious.”“From my subconsci-ous? Hmm. Maybe you’re right.”“Yes. Let’s go over here.” Zaza stepped back to a place more suitable for
nazaj po bolj udobni name-
stitvi ter se spet obrnil
h Gigi: »Nekaj detajlov je
prav zabavnih. V nekem
prizoru pleše z enim
tipom in hofira z drugim, v
drugem pa pleše z drugim
in hofira s tretjim, ali nekaj
takega.«
Zasmejal sem se in tudi
Gigi se je prvič nasmeh-
nila.
»Se še spomniš?« je mirno
vprašala.
»Česa?«
»Tistega večera, ko smo
žurirali.«
»Aja, seveda, ja, tudi.«
»Se mi je zdelo. Zato si se
takoj spomnil name, ko si
videl to sceno.«
»Misliš?«
Gigi se je zasmejala. »Prav
gotovo. Iz podzavesti ti je
prišlo.«
»Iz podzavesti? Hm. Morda
pa res.«
»Da. Greva sem.« Gigi je
stopila nazaj do mesta, bolj
primernega za sproščen
241
a relaxed conversation. There was some grass and a slight mound, and even a piece of rock to lean aga-inst.“I remember how you smiled,” I went on. “How did you do that?” “You mean flirting with you when I was dancing with Matt?” “Yes.”“Like this.” In an instant, Zaza chan-ged utterly. Her whole face became animated and roguish. Playful too. Yes, that’s exactly how it was. I remembered.“And you know what I did after he dragged me away from you?”“What?”“I was surprised. I didn’t like him. And then I looked at you. Like this, look.”“Wow, you really do remember everything. That’s exactly how it was.”“And then I went into the kitchen.” Zaza was becoming ani-
pogovor. Nekaj trave pa še
nekaj grbine in še del skale
za naslon je bil tam.
»Spomnim tvojega smeha,«
sem nadaljeval. »Kako si že
naredila tisto?«
»Misliš spogledovanje s
tabo med plesom z Mate-
vžem?«
»Da.«
»Takole.« Gigi se je v tre-
nutku povsem spremenila.
Ves njen obraza je postal
živahno nagajiv. Tudi igriv.
Da, prav tak je bil tedaj,
sem se spomnil.
»In veš, kaj sem naredila
potem, ko me je povlekel
stran od tebe?«
»Kaj?«
»Presenečena sem bila. Ni
mi bil všeč. In potem sem
pogledala tebe. Takole,
glej, kajne?«
»Hm, pa se res še vsega
spominjaš. Natanko tako
je bilo.«
»Potem sem pa šla v kuhi-
njo.« Gigi se je razživela.
242
mated. She was beginning to relive the whole expe-rience. She remembered every detail and matched it so faithfully to the cor-responding facial expres-sion that I found myself nodding in agreement. This was more than I had expected. I had got what I wanted, and so quickly that I was bubbling with ent-husiasm. This was exactly what I needed. I tried to commit to memory every nuance of her expressions. And after each scene that she re-enacted, I looked her with such unfeigned enthusiasm that this undo-ubtedly made her even keener to relive every last detail of the events at the party. I was the audience that Zaza had always dre-amed of. Every detail that she acted out interested me, and I followed even the slightest grimace and contortion of her face with such genuine enthusiasm that she was soon thoroug-hly absorbed in her perfor-
Pravzaprav je začela vse
skupaj podoživljati. Spo-
mnila se je vsake podrob-
nosti in jo tako zvesto
pospremila z ustreznim
izrazom na obrazu, da sem
ji priznavajoče prikimaval.
To je bilo več, kot sem bil
pričakoval. Tako hitro sem
dobil želeno, da mi je nav-
dušenje kar samo od sebe
privrelo na površje. Prav
to sem potreboval. Vsak
odtenek izraza na njenem
obrazu sem si sproti vti-
snil v spomin. In po vsaki
njeni odigrani sceni sem
jo pogledal s takim prav
nič igranim navdušenjem,
da ji je najbrž že to izvabilo
še večjo željo po oživlja-
nju majhnih zapletov na
tistem žuru. Vsekakor sem
bil občinstvo, kot si ga je
Gigi lahko le želela. Vsaka
podrobnost njene igre me
je zanimala in skoraj vsako
rahlo nakremženje njenih
ustnic sem pospremil s
toliko navdušenja, in to
brez sprenevedanja, da jo
je igra povsem prevzela. Šla
243
mance. We went through all the details. For the time being at least, I was unable to think of anything else that we might have forgot-ten. I needed to go over it all again in case I had overlo-oked something: accuracy was essential, since even a trifling error could be disa-strous. The sort of detail that hadn’t even occurred to me could be enough to ruin everything. Irrevoca-bly. I pondered everything once again and then shru-gged and gave a cheer-ful laugh. Wow! I really hadn’t expected it to go smoothly. That was it: we had reached the end. We lay back, on our elbows, staring at the sky. We had earned a little break.Then Zaza, suddenly serious again, pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapped her arms round her legs and sat there in
sva skozi vse podrobnosti.
Vsaj za zdaj se nisem spo-
mnil nobene pozabljene
podrobnosti. Presneto.
Potem bo sicer treba
še vse skupaj premisliti
zaradi morebitnega spre-
gleda kakšne pomembne
podrobnosti in zaradi
nujne natančnosti, ker
so tudi malenkosti lahko
usodne. Take, na kakršne
niti ne pomisliš, potem
pa je lahko vse narobe.
Usodno narobe. Še enkrat
sem vse pretuhtal in nato
zmignil z glavo ter se že
kar prešerno zasmejal. Ti,
hudir, ti! Še zdaleč nisem
pričakoval, da mi bo šlo
tako gladko od rok. Da, vse
do konca sva prišla. Potem
sva se naslonila nazaj, na
komolce, s pogledom, pri-
vzdignjenim v nebo. Za
majhen predah.
Gigi pa si je nenadoma,
ponovno zresnjena, pote-
gnila kolena nazaj pod
brado ter se oklenila skrče-
nih nog. In potem je umol-
244
silence. My thoughts kept going back to that party and to the details that I still had to consider while Zaza was still available to me. After that I would be left to my own devices. But I already knew what to do and how, although I still needed to ponder the whole thing a little longer. I looked at Zaza. She was staring in front of her with an absent expression. A closer look showed that tears were sliding slowly down her face.“You’re not crying, are you?” I asked her. “Why on earth?” Then I remembered her rapid changes of mood, and also her reason for coming to this place – in all likeli-hood – and I forced myself to try and find the most suitable words to cheer her up again. “What’s the matter?” I began in a more com-forting tone. I sincerely
knila, meni pa so se misli
še kar naprej vračale na
tisto žurko in na podrob-
nosti, ki sem jih moral pre-
misliti, dokler mi je Gigi
še dosegljiva. Potem bom
prepuščen sam sebi. Toda
zdaj sem že vedel, kaj in
kako, pa čeprav bom moral
vse skupaj še nekoliko pre-
tuhtati. Ozrl sem se v Gigi.
Zamaknjeno je zrla predse
in ko sem jo še natančneje
pogledal, sem lahko opazil
počasno drsenje solz po
njenem obrazu.
»Mar jokaš?« sem jo vpra-
šal. »Zakaj pa?« Potem pa
sem se le spomnil njene
sposobnosti hitrega spre-
minjanja razpoloženja in
nato še na razlog njenega
prihoda na ta kraj, vsaj
po vsej verjetnosti, tako
da sem se še sam zresnil
v iskanju najprimernejših
besed za ponovno vzposta-
vitev malo bolj živahnega
vzdušja.
»Kaj je narobe?« sem začel z
bolj tolažilnim tonom. ker
sem ji iskreno želel poma-
245
wanted to help her. I had to do something for her.“Nothing.”“I mean, it’s nice here, isn’t it?”But Zaza carried on sta-ring in front of her, altho-ugh the vicinity of my face bent towards her was stopping her from sinking into absent isolation.“What you’re saying is all rubbish. It’s just words. You haven’t got a clue about theatre.”“Why are you saying this now? How have you sud-denly come to that conclu-sion? Just like that…”“It’s all just a waste of time.”“What do you mean, a waste of time? Why should everything be a waste of time?”“The truth is something completely different.”“And what is this truth?”“Nothing.” Zaza wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I am so insignificant.”“What? Insignificant? What are you saying?”
gati. Moral sem narediti
nekaj zanjo.
»Nič.«
»Saj je kar prijetno tukaj,
ali ne?«
Toda Gigi je še naprej
zrla predse, čeprav ji bli-
žina mojega primaknje-
nega obraza ni dopuščala
pogrezanja v odsotno osa-
mljenost.
»Nič ni s tem, kar govo-
riš. Zgolj lepe besede, da.
O gledališču pa nimaš
pojma.«
»Zakaj pa zdaj to? Kako
nenadoma prideš do take
ugotovitve? In to kar tako,
mimogrede…«
»Vse skupaj je brez zveze.«
»Kako brez zveze? Zakaj pa
naj bi bilo vse skupaj brez
zveze?«
»Resnica je nekaj čisto dru-
gega.«
»In kaj je ta resnica?«
»Nič.« Gigi si je obrisala
solze z lic. »Tako nepo-
membna sem.«
»Kako? Nepomembna? Kaj
pa govoriš?«
246
“If I were to die now, no-one would even notice.”“Are you crazy? Of course they’d notice. And not just one person.”“You’re just saying that! I know it.”“You can’t even imagine how many of them there are.” I spread my arms expansively. “And you are incredibly important!”Zaza sniffed, wiped her tears again while glancing over at me, and then once again buried her chin in her knees.I remained motionless. Despite my recent out-break of happiness at my successful progress, I felt as though I had hit a wall. This was too much! After everything that had happe-ned…Zaza slowly turned towards me and raised her head until we were loo-king directly at each other. She shook her head doub-tfully. Then she lowered
»Če zdaj umrem, ne bo
tega nihče niti opazil.«
»Se ti meša? Še kako bi opa-
zili. Pa ne le eden.«
»Ti kar govori! Jaz že dobro
vem.«
»Še sanja se ti ne, koliko
jih je.« Prostodušno sem
razširil roke. »Pa še kako si
pomembna!«
Gigi je narahlo posmrkala,
si med bežnim pogledova-
njem prek mojega obraza
še enkrat obrisala solze
ter se znova zarila z brado
med primaknjena kolena.
Ostal sem negiben. V
meni je vse zastalo kljub
pravkaršnjim izbruhom
veselja do življenja zaradi
uspešnega napredovanja
k zastavljenemu cilju. Ta je
pa debela! Po vsem, kar se
je zgodilo…
Gigi je počasi obrnila
pogled nazaj k meni in
nato začudeno privzdi-
gnila glavo, dokler si nisva
zrla iz oči v oči, in neje-
verno je odkimala. Potem
247
her eyes again. I watched her anxiously.“You know, Peter, I have a feeling for people.” Her voice was calm again.“Oh yes?” That didn’t sound very understanding so I immediately rectified: “I mean: of course you have.”“You’re a strange person, Peter.”“Ha!” I laughed cheerfully. I wasn’t even sure myself whether my cheerfulness was real or pretend.“With you it’s hard to tell when you’re bluffing and when you’re being seri-ous. It’s strange.” Zaza shook her head at what she seemed to think was a puz-zling contradiction. “How can you get so enthusiastic all of a sudden? I’ve never seen someone get so exci-ted about stirring up a few old memories as you did just now.”
je spet odmaknila pogled
in se znova zazrla vame,
jaz pa sem jo gledal močno
vznemirjen in najbrž z
začudenjem na obrazu,
čeprav bolj instinktivno in
le za nekaj hipov.
»Veš, Peter, imam občutek
za ljudi,« je spet z bolj umir-
jenim glasom dejala Gigi.
»Aja!« mi je sprva ušlo nič
kaj razumevajoče, tako da
sem se takoj popravil: »To
pa vsekakor.«
»Čuden človek si, Peter.«
»Hah!« sem se zasmejal s
poudarjenim veseljem.
Sicer bolj zaigrano, ali
pa tudi ne, še sam nisem
vedel natanko.
»To, kdaj blefiraš in kdaj
ne, je pri tebi tako čudno.«
Gigi je odkimavala v pou-
darjenem nerazumevanju
neskladja, ugotovljenega
po njenem mnenju. »Kako
se lahko kar naenkrat tako
navdušiš? Da bi se kdo
tako razživel ob obujanju
spominov, kot si se malo
prej ti, zlepa še nisem doži-
vela.«
248
“What about you? Didn’t you get excited?” I replied defensively. When did she have the chance to observe me? She’d been busy acting all the time. But Zaza shook her head: “That’s not it.”Zaza’s reasoning, though perhaps mistaken, was nevertheless perfectly rational in its own way. Her expression had chan-ged considerably too. As though she were studying me. Me? I smiled.“But shouting out that you’re insignificant, that’s just ridiculous.” I grinned at her as we exchanged glances. “Perhaps I’m a little crazy too. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be.”Zaza laughed.“Do you want me to tell you how important you are?” I asked her. I was starting to feel more con-fident again.“Yes.” Zaza was looking at me wide-eyed, like a child.
»Kaj pa ti? Ali ti se nisi
razživela?« sem se nehote
postavil v obrambni polo-
žaj. Kdaj pa me je sploh
opazovala? Saj je kar naprej
samo igrala.
Toda Gigi je odkimavala:
»To ni to.«
Kakor koli, to Gigino raz-
mišljanje je bilo kljub rela-
tivni napačnosti vendarle
po svoje trezno. Tudi njen
pogled je bil precej spre-
menjen. Kot da me pre-
učuje. Mene? Nasmehnil
sem se.
»Ampak ta tvoja izjava, da
si nepomembna, je pa le
debela neumnost.« Zasme-
jal sem se med izmenjavo
najinih pogledov. »Morda
sem pa tudi jaz malo pri-
fliknjen. Ne vem, zakaj ne
bi bil.«
Gigi se je nasmehnila.
»Ali hočeš, da ti povem,
kako pomembna si?« sem
vprašal z znova rastočo
samozavestjo.
»Da.« Gigi me je pogledala
s prav otroško razširjenimi
očmi.
249
“Ha.” The funny side of the situation was beginning to strike me: if I were really to tell her how important she was, she certainly wouldn’t believe me. She wouldn’t believe the real story, which meant that I had to invent something simpler. Perhaps some-thing about the strong impression her acting had made on me and a predic-tion of a successful career for her.I propped myself up on my elbow as comfortably as I could and looked up at sky, where my new fri-ends were waiting for me. I turned to Zaza again. She was looking at me curiously with a mixture of playfulness and expec-tancy.“Yes,” I began, and sto-pped.“Yes?” repeated Zaza.The words wouldn’t come. In the face of such eager anticipation, I had to say something more... I shook my head, then nodded and
»Heh.« Zabavne misli so
me začele obletavati, kajti
če bi ji po resnici povedal,
kako pomembna je, mi
prav gotovo ne bi verjela.
Ničesar od tega, kar je res,
mi ne bi verjela, tako da
sem si moral izmisliti kaj
bolj preprostega. Morda
kaj o močnem vtisu njene
igre name in o mojem zau-
panju v uspešnost njene
kariere.
Naslonil sem se na komo-
lec v čim bolj udoben
položaj, nato pa obrnil
pogled navzgor, kjer so
tisti moji novi prijatelji
čakali name, ter ga spu-
stil nazaj na Gigi. Prav
radovedno me je gledala
z neko mešanico neresne
igrivosti in pričakovanja.
»Da,« sem začel in zastal v
premišljujočem premoru.
»Da?« je ponovila Gigi.
Besede so mi zastajale
na jeziku. Ob tako izra-
ženem pričakovanju sem
že moral povedati nekaj
bolj… Odkimal sem, pa
250
gestured with my free hand. I still couldn’t find the words. I shrugged my shoulders and frowned, forcing myself to think of something. I just couldn’t come up with a reason why she should be impor-tant, or at least important according to her criteria. I looked into Zaza’s big childlike eyes.“Well, the two greatest civilisations in this part of the universe are on the brink of war. And now everything depends on you.”“Oh. This is even more than I imagined. Are they going to fight over me?“No, but a great deal depends on you.”“Great. Although I’d still rather see them fighting over them.”“Everything depends on how convincingly you act,” I continued calmly.“Oh, that really is an important part! I’ve always wanted to play a really important part.” Zaza
prikimal in narahlo odma-
knil prosto roko ter po
ponovno zastali besedi na
jeziku zmignil z rameni, se
nakremžil v razmišljanju
in ko se še vedno nisem
mogel domisliti, zakaj naj
bi bila pomembna ozi-
roma po njenih merilih
pomembna, sem pogledal
v Gigine otroško razprte
oči.
»Veš, dve največji civiliza-
ciji v tem delu vesolja sta
na pragu vojne. In zdaj je
vse odvisno od tebe.«
»Oh. To je pa celo več, kot
sem pričakovala. Se bodo
stepli zame?«
»Ne, ampak marsikaj odlo-
čilnega je odvisno od
tebe.«
»Krasno. Tudi prav, a bi
vseeno raje videla, da bi se
stepli zame.«
»Vse je odvisno od prepri-
čljivosti tvoje igre,« sem
mirno nadaljeval.
»O, to je pa res pomembna
vloga! Vedno sem si želela
igrati v odzivni vlogi.«
251
giggled. “I would have been happy even with a slightly smaller part.”“And then all eyes rested on you…”“And I stepped onto the stage…” “No, no, before that…” “Before? Before, I… hmm, what did I do before that? Peter, you began so well! I’ve always been a good judge of character. But I didn’t think you were so romantic. And on a day like today, when there aren’t even any stars in the sky.”I acknowledged the com-pliment with a slightly ambiguous smile: “Should I carry on?”“Yes.”“Even before that, you car-ried in yourself an emo-tional charge. Actually a great number of emotional charges.”“That’s it: go on, go on! You talk wonderfully, Peter. It’s been a long time since anyone laid it on so thick with me.”
Gigi se je zahihitala. »Tudi
s kakšno manjšo vlogo bi
bila zadovoljna.«
»In potem so se vse oči
uprle vate…«
»Jaz pa sem stopila na oder.
. .«
»Ne, ne, že prej. . .«
»A prej? Prej sem pa. . .
hm, kaj sem že prej? Peter,
kako lepo si začel! Vedno
sem zaupala v svojo spo-
sobnost poznavanja ljudi.
Ampak da si ti tako roman-
tičen, si pa nisem mislila.
In to danes, ko sploh ni
zvezd na nebu.«
Vrnil sem ji priznanje z
rahlo dvoumnim nasme-
hom: »No, naj nadaljujem.«
»Da.«
»Že prej si nosila v sebi
čustveni naboj. Pravza-
prav celo množico čustve-
nih nabojev.«
»O, to pa to. Lepo govoriš,
Peter. Tako mi že dolgo
nihče ni nakladal.«
252
Hmm. Well it was a com-pliment of sorts. Perhaps not the words themselves, but Zaza had said them with such cheerfulness that my confidence conti-nued to grow. “And when you stepped onto the stage, all these emotional charges of yours came out of you through your performance and revealed the incredi-bly variegated world of human experience.”“Human experience? Where do you get these words?”“Yes, you are very impor-tant for them.”“And then I saved the day?”“Not exactly. You won’t be saving anything. It won’t be necessary. You are important because without you we simply can’t go on.”“You can’t go on?”“That’s right. You’re terri-bly important!”“Oh yes? You certainly know how to talk. You’re really convincing. You
Hm. Vseeno je bila to
pohvala. Morda ne besede
same, ampak Gigi jih je
povedala s tako razposa-
jenim veseljem, da se mi
je samozavest še okrepila:
»In ko si stopila na oder,
so vsi tvoji čustveni naboji
prihajali iz tebe skozi igro
ter razkrivali neverjetno
pisan svet človeškega doži-
vljanja.«
»Človeškega doživljanja?
Kje si pa dobil te besede?«
»Da, zelo pomembna si
zanje, da.«
»In potem sem jaz vse
rešila?«
»Ne to. Ti ne boš niče-
sar rešila. Ker to niti ni
potrebno. Ti si pomembna
zato, ker brez tebe prepro-
sto ne moremo naprej.«
»Ne morete naprej?«
»Da, hudičevo si
pomembna!«
»Aja? Ampak govoriti pa
znaš. Nastop pa res imaš.
Ti bi moral biti igralec.
253
should be an actor. There’s so much suggestion in your voice that I almost want to believe you.”I waved my hand noncha-lantly: “I have no ambiti-ons in that direction.”“But that mixture of the earnest and the romantic – you did it so well.” I had to repeat her “oh yes?”, but then I looked at her: “Really?”“Yes.”“You are important Zaza. Too important for a stupid suicide.” I looked at her seriously. Her weakness infuriated me, and I snapped at her almost angrily: “You are important. Remember that!”Zaza back slightly. My confident persuasiveness and, even more than that, the firmness of my manner, which left no room for doubt or contradiction, was probably causing her to doubt my sanity.
Toliko sugestivnosti je v
tvojem glasu, da bi ti kar
najraje verjela.«
Nemarno sem zamahnil
z roko: »Nimam teh ambi-
cij.«
»Pa tako lepo si zmešal
prepričljivo govorjenje z
romantičnim.«
Moral sem ponoviti njen
‘aja’, potem pa sem se zazrl
vanjo: »Ali res?«
»Da,« je pritrdila.
»Pomembna si. Preveč
pomembna za kak neumen
samomor.« Gledal sem jo
zresnjen in tudi besen
zaradi njene nemoči ozi-
roma ker tako ni smelo
biti, in kar gnev je udaril
iz mene, ko sem jo nadrl:
»Pomembna si, zapomni si
to!«
Gigi se je rahlo umaknila.
Sicer je najbrž podvomila
o moji prištevnosti zaradi
samozavestne prepričlji-
vosti, s katero sem nasto-
pil, in še bolj zaradi moje
odločnosti, ki ni dopuščala
ne dvoma ne oporekanja.
254
“I’m not planning to commit suicide!”“Good.” I flashed her an appraising glance. “What about before?”“Before?” Zaza looked at me apprehensively. “How serious you’ve become all of a sudden!” But when our eyes met again she turned away and hung her head slightly before raising it again and replying: “I don’t know.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly: “I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.”“Are you okay?”Zaza looked at me from under lowered lashes: “It may be that I’m a little strange, but you aren’t exactly the most normal guy yourself. These things you’ve been saying – you start off by teasing me and then your voice suddenly changes and you become so severe…”I could feel the conversa-tion taking an unneces-sarily serious turn. That
»Saj ne mislim delati samo-
mora!«
»Lepo.« Ocenjujoče sem jo
ošvrknil s ogledom. »Kaj
pa prej?«
»Prej?« Gigi me je boječe
pogledala: »Kako si se zre-
snil!« Toda po ponovnem
srečanju najinih pogledov
se je obrnila stran, narahlo
sklonila glavo ter jo spet
privzdignila: »Ne vem.«
Globoko je zajela sapo in
počasi izdihnila: »Ne vem,
o tem nočem razmišljati.«
»Si v redu?«
Gigi me je pogledala izpod
oči: »Že mogoče, da sem
malo čudna, ampak ti si
tudi tak tip, da ga zlepa ni
najti. Vse to tvoje govorje-
nje, ko se nekaj časa zafrka-
vaš, potem pa nenadoma
spremeniš ton v tako stro-
gega. . .«
Začutil sem prehajanje v
nepotrebno resen pogo-
vor. To bi bilo samo v
255
would only ruin things. “I feel like a beer. Earlier I was in that bar, where some of your friends were. Shall we go there?”Zaza nodded: “Okay.” Evi-dently she longer had the will to resist. If nothing else, my behaviour had confused her a little. And angered her too. She was probably already wonde-ring whether she hadn’t given in too quickly. But then she shrugged her sho-ulders as if to show that she accepted the situation. She suddenly became anima-ted again and, shaking her head, repeated my words, more to herself than to me, and barely audibly: “But without you we can’t go on…”Hmm, perhaps I shouldn’t have told her that.
* * *
škodo. »Jaz bi šel na pivo.
Prej sem bil v tistem bifeju,
kjer je kar nekaj tvojih pri-
jateljev. Greva tja?«
Gigi je prikimala: »Prav.«
Očitno ni imela več
nobene volje upirati se.
Če ne drugega, jo je moje
obnašanje vseeno malo
zbegalo. Pa tudi razjezilo.
Najbrž je nekaj trenutkov
celo razmišljala, ali se ni
malo prehitro vdala. Toda
potem je skomignila z
rameni v smislu spreje-
manja nastalih dejstev.
Kar nenadoma je spet oži-
vela, ko je med odkimava-
njem ponovila tiste moje
besede, sicer bolj zase,
komaj slišno: »Ampak brez
tebe ne moremo naprej…«
Hm, morda ji tega ne bi bil
smel reči.
* * *
256
Once we were in the pub, Zaza started smiling more and more frequen-tly, regardless of whether anyone said anything funny. The cheerful atmo-sphere was enough for her, and perhaps also my happy mood, which came from my feeling that our mission was making pro-gress. I no longer had any doubts about Zaza’s states of mind, even though she was able to move so easily from one extreme to the other, or about distingu-ishing her acting from her genuine mood. I was confident that I would be able to relate them to that party, enough for me not to be thrown by some-thing unexpected. At least not like during the last test. I watched her surrep-titiously as I chatted with the others. Now and then I turned to Zaza and joined in her conversations. Yes, she was starting to get under my skin, or rather
V Naminem pabu se je
Gigi vse pogosteje sme-
jala, ne glede na duho-
vitost pripomb. Že splo-
šno veselo vzdušje ji je
povsem zadoščalo, delno
pa tudi zaradi mojega
živahnega razpoloženja,
ki mu je botroval občutek
uspešnega napredovanja
naše misije. Nič več nisem
dvomil o ustreznosti Gigi-
nih razpoloženjskih stanj,
v katerih je tako zlahka
prehajala iz ene skrajno-
sti v drugo, za ločevanje
njene igre od njenega
resničnega razpoloženja.
Vsaj toliko, da jih bom
lahko navezal na tisto
žurko, in dovolj, da me
ne bo moglo več zmesti
nič nepričakovanega.Vsaj
ne tako kot takrat, med
tistim preverjanjem. Neo-
pazno sem jo motril, se
medtem pogovarjal zdaj
z enim, zdaj z drugim,
se občasno obrnil k Gigi
in se vključeval v njene
pogovore. Da, vse bolj in
bolj mi je lezla pod kožo
257
I was getting under her skin, with the result that it was getting easier and easier for me to compare her current feelings with those at the party. They were different, certainly. But with her beside me it was not hard to remember her earlier moods. Follo-wing my failure in the test, I was glad I had suggested the need for better prepa-ration before making a fresh attempt. It was pro-bably here that the balance between spontaneity and accuracy in achieving identical results in the test inclined towards the latter. This was the part that was most difficult for an outside observer to put together. The key was therefore hidden in her emotions and in mine, in the emotional charge that rebounded from her to me and back again, changing all the while, in all extre-mes, in one direction and the other, with a logic that was based on Zaza’s mixed
oziroma jaz njej, tako da
sem lahko vse bolj poglo-
bljeno primerjal svoje tre-
nutne občutke s tistimi
med nekdanjo žurko. Bili
so drugačni, da. Ampak
ob njej se mi ni bilo tako
težko spomniti tedanjih.
Dobro, da sem po tistem
ponesrečenem prehodu
navrgel nujnost boljše pri-
pravljenosti za ponovno
preizkušnjo. Ohlapnost
in strogost doseganja
enakih odzivov pri testu
sta se verjetno prav v
tem delu prevesili v sle-
dnje. Ker prav ta del je
bilo za stranskega opazo-
valca najtežje sestaviti.
Ključ je bil torej skrit v
njenih in mojih čustvih,
v čustvenem naboju, ki se
je odbijal od nje k meni
in nazaj ter se ob tem
neprestano spreminjal, v
vseh skrajnostih, tako v
eno kot v drugo smer, z
logiko, ki je temeljila na
Gigini zmešani naravi.
258
up nature. They had certa-inly found a good partner for me. I looked at Benesens and the unfamiliar Sensin next to him. He was probably a member of our mis-sion. Using the holo-equi-pped mobile phone they had given me – outwar-dly identical to a normal phone but with many more features – I told him about the successful start and probable imminent conclusion of my mission. Only a few details remai-ned to clear up, I told him. But Benesens advised me to think about potenti-ally important details that might conceal the most dangerous pitfalls. This was where the key would lie, as I had already pre-dicted. Despite my new self-confidence, I was still happy to have some more help in checking whether I had overlooked anything
Presneto ‘dobro’ partne-
rico so mi našli.
Zagledal sem Dobročuta
v spremstvu meni nezna-
nega Čutina. Verjetno je
bil član naše misije. Po
njihovem mobilniku s
hologramskim prikazo-
valnikom, s katerim so
me opremili in ki je bil po
zunanjosti podoben obi-
čajnim mobijem, čeprav
z daleč večjimi zmoglji-
vostmi, sem mu povedal
o uspešnem začetku in
dokaj verjetnem skoraj-
šnjem zaključku misije.
Le malenkosti so še
ostale, sem mu navrgel.
Toda Dobročut mi je sve-
toval, naj raje razmišljam
o morebitnih pomemb-
nih podrobnostih, v kate-
rih so verjetno skrite naj-
nevarnejše pasti. Prav v
njih naj bi bil ključ, kot
sem tudi sam že predvi-
del. Kljub znova prido-
bljeni samozavesti pa sem
vseeno raje videl še nekaj
pomoči pri preverjanju
morebitnega spregleda
259
important. And so they came and joined me. “Sit down. We’re a frien-dly crowd here.” I indica-ted the empty spaces next to me. “Hey, Peter!”“Yes!” I looked at Mike, who must have come in while I was talking to Benesens. “Where have you come from?”“John told me you were here. He said he’d seen you down here with some friends, so I thought I’d drop by for a beer.” “A friend of yours?” asked Benesens, who had rapidly adopted the happy mood of our company. The whole thing was getting quite funny. Now he nodded at Mike and smiled.“Yes, we come here for a coffee or a beer, and to chat, of course,” I explai-ned with a smile as Mike came over to our table. “About sport and the uni-verse.” At the last word Benesens’s lips curved into a knowing smile.
česa pomembnega. Zato
je tudi prišel. »Prisedita.
Zabavna družba smo
tukaj,« sem ju pozval med
kazanjem na nekaj pro-
stora ob meni.
»Hej, Peter!«
»Da!« Zagledal sem Mira,
ki je moral vstopiti med
mojim pogovorom z
Dobročutom. »Od kod pa
ti?«
»Janko mi je povedal zate.
Tu spodaj naj bi te videl
z neko družbico, pa sem
vstopil na pivo.«
»Tvoj prijatelj?« je vprašal
Dobročut s hitro privzetim
veselim razpoloženjem
naše družbe. Prav zabavno
je postalo vse skupaj. Zdaj
je smeje se prikimaval
Miru.
»Da, sem prihajamo na
kavo ali pivo in na pogo-
vor, seveda,« sem mu z
nasmehom pojasnil po
Mirovem pristopu k mizi,
»o športu in vesolju.« Ob
slednji besedi so se Dobro-
čutu ustnice zakrivile v
pomenljiv nasmeh.
260
Mike was listening too. “About what? The uni-verse?” he asked, laughing. In view of the atmosphere, even a chat about the uni-verse would be acceptable, especially over the glass of beer that he immediately ordered. “I have to admit we’ve rather neglected that topic recently. And what aspect of it are you working on?”“Oh, nothing,” I replied with a stifled laugh. I pointed at Benesens: “He has some very interesting views on certain aspects of the universe, although we haven’t had time to discuss them thoroughly. But there is one topic that we are taking quite serio-usly.” I looked at Benesens: “Isn’t that right?” “Absolutely. And I think we can say that we are doing quite well.” Benesens’s enthusiastic reply showed his unconcealed happiness about this theme, both as
Tudi Miro je prisluhnil. »O
čem? O vesolju?« je vprašal
veselo. Glede na vzdušje bi
bil sprejemljiv tudi pogo-
vor o vesolju, še posebej
ob steklenici piva, ki jo je
takoj naročil. »To tematiko
smo zadnje čase malo zane-
marili, moram priznati. In
kaj obdelujete?«
»Ah, nič,« sem odvrnil z
zadrževanim smehom ter
namignil na Dobročuta.
»Prav zanimive poglede
ima na nekatera vpraša-
nja o vesolju, čeprav še
nisva imela dovolj časa za
temeljit pogovor. Toda eno
tematiko kar resno obdelu-
jeva.« Pogledal sem Dobro-
čuta: »Kajne?«
»Da, vsekakor. In celo
uspešna sva pri tem, kot
vse kaže.« Dobročutov
živahni odgovor je kazal
neprikrito veselje do te
tematike, tako v celoti kot
261
a whole and because such conversations were enter-taining.We moved round to make room for another chair, and Mike sat down, cle-arly in the mood for che-erful company. “Yesterday,” he explained, “I went to a funeral, and at the wake afterwards we ended up talking about ‘up there’, about purgatory, and about where heaven is, although for an old sinner like me hell is pro-bably more to the point… anyway, after a conversa-tion like that my brain is certainly up to a conver-sation about the universe, however you get there, ha ha.”“And whose funeral was it?” asked the Sensin next to Benesens, as if to suggest that he may have known the deceased. The expression on has face gave that impression. In a calm and perfectly serious tone of voice, he went on: “You say the wake was only yesterday?”
zaradi zabavnosti tovr-
stnih pogovorov.
Z nekaj premiki smo spro-
stili dovolj prostora za še en
stol, na katerem se je Miro
udobno namestil, očitno
prav primerne volje za
živahno družbo, in mimo-
grede pojasnil: »Včeraj, po
pogrebu mojega znanca,
smo se na sedmini pogo-
varjali o odhajanju ‘tja gor’,
najprej o Vicah, pa kje naj
bi bila Nebesa, zame gre-
šnika sicer pride v poštev
samo Pekel, no, kakor koli,
možgani so se mi po teh
pogovorih razmigali tudi
za pogovor o vesolju, ne
glede na pristop. Hah.«
»Kdo pa je bil ta vaš
znanec?« se je pozanimal
Čutin ob Dobročutu, kot da
bi ga morda lahko poznal.
Izraz njegovega obraza je
že dajal tak vtis. Nato pa je
mirno in v povsem resnem
tonu dejal: »Šele včeraj ste
imeli sedmino, pravite?«
262
“Yes.” Mike looked at him curiously, as though there were something not quite right about this, or something in that last comment that didn’t quite make sense. Then, after a sudden, lucky inspira-tion – even he didn’t know where it came from or how he managed to guess that the Sensin had made a mental leap, because he was certainly thinking about knowing someone in the ordinary sense – he said that perhaps he had met him in purgatory. It was really funny. Between chuckles he said: “He won’t be in purgatory for long enough for you to meet him there.” And he burst out laughing at what was – judging from the reactions – an extraor-dinarily witty comment. Everyone though it was funny. I laughed too and turned to Benesens. But
»Da.« Miro ga je pogledal
izpod čela, ker se mu pri
vsem skupaj nekaj ni uje-
malo oziroma nekaj na
pravkaršnji pripombi ni
bilo povsem v skladu s
celotno zadevo, nato pa,
po nenadnem, na trapast
način posrečenem pre-
blisku, še sam ni vedel,
od kod se mu je vzel ozi-
roma kako je uganil, da je
nastal pri njegovem sogo-
vorniku preskok misli,
ker je prav gotovo mislil
na običajno poznanstvo,
rekel pa je tako, kot da
bi ga morda spoznal v
Vicah. Prav zabavno. Ni
se mogel zadržati. Že
zaradi drezanja v živahno
razpoloženje družbe je
med smehom navrgel:.
»Premalo časa je še v
Vicah, da bi ga lahko vi
tam spoznali.« In pri tem
se je zarežal svoji, glede
na odzive omizja, izje-
mno posrečeni domislici.
Vsem se je zdela zabavna.
Še sam sem se med
smehom obrnil k Dobro-
263
when our eyes met he merely smirked slightly, as though concealing some-thing yet to be revealed, and I gave an involuntary start. After all I still didn’t know much about their civilisation. But surely it wasn’t possible that con-cepts such as purgatory could have anything to do with them. I looked at Benesens again, and then at his friend and at Mike, who was still laughing. Quite a variety of reacti-ons to a silly comment. So different that it made me stop and think. “Don’t bother yourself with trying to search for all the possible connecti-ons between our two civi-lisations,” said Benesens. “They are not a cause for any bad feelings. It is just that in several spheres we are more closely con-nected than you probably imagine, but in terms of the importance of our mis-sion this is of negligible importance. We are all in the same boat.”
čutu. Toda ta se je ob sre-
čanju najinih pogledov
le nekoliko namuznil v
nakazanem prikrivanju še
nerazkritega ozadja, tako
da sem se nehote zdrznil.
Saj vendar nisem vedel
kaj dosti o njihovi civili-
zaciji. Da bi se lahko kar
koli pri njih nanašalo na
take pojme, kot so Vice,
pa vseeno najbrž ni bilo
mogoče. Ponovno sem se
zazrl v Dobročuta, nato
pa še v njegovega prijate-
lja in smejočega se Mira.
Precej različno odzivanje
na trapasto pripombo.
Celo tako različno, da sem
se skoraj resno zamislil.
»Nikar se ne obremenjujte
z iskanjem vseh možnih
relacij med našima civi-
lizacijama,« mi je dejal
Dobročut. »Nobenega
slabega razpoloženja ni
treba zaradi njih. Le na
več področjih smo tesneje
povezani, kot si verjetno
lahko predstavljate, to pa
je glede na pomen naše
misije zanemarljivo. Vseka-
kor smo v istem čolnu.«
264
I could sense the benevo-lence in his voice. That wasn’t something that could be easily faked. I could hear it in the way he pronounced the word “Earthman”. The must be something more to it than the simple benevolence of a highly developed civili-sation towards beings at a much lower point on the evolutionary spiral.I moved closer to Bene-sens: “I can remember almost everything about the events at that party. That evening we also danced. Perhaps it would be a good idea to invite Zaza to dance. Then I will probably be ready for the test, which would mean that we can start back tomorrow morning.” “Good. You have mana-ged it quite quickly. Even by our standards. When matters charged with emo-tions are involved, we too are slow.”“You too?” I laughed. “Really?”
Začutil sem neko naklo-
njenost v njegovem glasu.
Težko, da bi bila zlagana.
Lahko sem jo zaznal ob
njegovi izgovorjavi besede
Zemljan. Zadaj je moralo
biti več kot le gola naklo-
njenost višje razvite civili-
zacije do bitij na daleč nižji
stopnji razvojne spirale.
Primaknil sem se k Dobro-
čutu: »Že skoraj v celoti
sem si obudil v spominu
vse dogajanje s tistega
večera. Takrat smo tudi
plesali. Morda bi bilo smi-
selno, da povabim Gigi na
ples. Potem bom pa najbrž
že pripravljen za tisto pre-
verjanje, tako da bi jutri zju-
traj lahko odrinili nazaj.«
»Prav. Precej hitro si to
opravil. Celo za naše pojme
hitro. Ko gre za dogajanja,
nabita s čustvi, smo tudi
mi počasni.«
»Tudi vi?« sem se zasmejal.
»Ali res?«
265
“Yes. All emotions have their own birth, their own life. Using logic to try and rush them would destroy them, it would kill them.” Benesens gave me a mischievous look: “All pleasant things are over too soon, aren’t they? Then when we reflect on our life we realise how little there has been of that which made it worth living. And if we were to replace even this with logical under-standing? What would be left? Even less.”“Yes, yes,” I smiled, sho-wing that I agreed. It seemed that these Sensins were capable of abando-ning their cold calcula-ting nature very quickly and become surprisingly human.
The rest of the evening went according to plan. I danced with Zaza for almost two hours. Then Zaza danced with some-one else while I watched her. She kept looking over
»Da. Vsa čustva imajo svoje
rojstvo, svoje življenje.
Prehitevanje z logiko bi jih
izničilo, ubilo.« Dobročut
me je pogledal s šegavim
pogledom: »Vse prijetno
običajno prehitro mine,
kajne? Potem pa med raz-
mišljanjem o svojem življe-
nju ugotavljamo, kako
malo je bilo takega, zaradi
česar je bilo vredno živeti.
In če bi še to nadomestili
zgolj z logičnim razumeva-
njem? Kaj bi nam ostalo?
Še manj.«
»Da, da,« sem se nasmehnil
v znamenje strinjanja. Zelo
hitro so znali tile Čutini
opustiti hladno preračun-
ljivost in postati nenava-
dno človeški.
Ostali del večera je potekel
po načrtu. Z Gigi sva ple-
sala skoraj dve uri. Potem
je Gigi plesala z drugim in
jaz sem jo medtem opazo-
val, pa tudi ona je pogle-
dovala proti meni. Sicer
266
at me. Not like that other time, because the atmo-sphere was very different, but for a few brief instants she became animated like at that party – only fleetin-gly but enough to spark a memory of those moments that I wanted to recall. This was exactly what I needed. Just like the close contact a little earlier, when she snuggled up to me and I felt like I had done back then. The close pressure of her warm body brought back to me those last for-gotten moments, in every detail, including the thou-ghts that had gone through my head at the time. Yes, quite a number of con-tradictory thoughts had raced through my brain. And then, obviously, I had forgotten them. Discarded them. After we quarrelled of course. Whatever. I had got everything I needed for a fresh attempt at that test. There was nothing left. The whole of that eve-ning was once again vivi-
ne tako kot takrat, ker je
bilo vzdušje vendarle dru-
gačno, toda za nekaj trenut-
kov se je razživela kakor
na tisti žurki, čeprav le
bežno, a dovolj za preskok
iskrice v tiste trenutke, ki
sem jih želel obuditi. In
prav to sem potreboval.
Kakor malo prej tesen stik
v objemu, v katerem se
je privila k meni, da sem
občutil tako kot takrat.
In šele tesno prižemanje
toplote njenega telesa mi
je povrnilo še zadnje poza-
bljene trenutke, in to zelo
natančno, skupaj z mislimi,
ki so mi šle tedaj po glavi.
Da, kar precej misli mi je
tedaj begalo sem ter tja.
Potem sem jih, jasno, poza-
bil. Zavrgel. Seveda, ko pa
sva se skregala. Kakor koli.
Dobil sem vse potrebno
za ponovni poskus pre-
hoda skozi tisto preverja-
nje. Nič več ni ostalo. Ves
tisti večer je bil ponovno,
267
dly and fully present in my memory. Fully? There was still a tiny doubt as I walked back from the dance floor. I sat down next to Mike. “I’ve danced enough for today.”Mike merely nodded absently and continued to stare in front of him, sha-king his head slightly. He seemed different some-how. Not dramatically different, but different. I looked at him more clo-sely. Was he meditating or what? He hadn’t had much to drink yet.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him kindly.“Nothing. Those new fri-ends of yours, or acquain-tances, or whatever they are supposed to be, are a bit odd.”“Oh yes?” Naturally this statement wasn’t particu-larly surprising, but how had Mike come to this conclusion? The Sensins hadn’t drawn attention to themselves in any way.
v celoti obujen v mojem
spominu. V celoti? Le še
malce dvoma je ostalo ob
vračanju s plesišča.
Prisedel sem k Miru.
»Danes sem se pa naple-
sal.«
Miro je v odgovor odso-
tno prikimal, zamišljeno
strmeč predse, in nekaj
odkimaval. Vsaj meni se
je zdel spremenjen. Sicer
ne pretirano, a vseeno. Še
enkrat sem ga natančno
pogledal. Nekaj je medi-
tiral ali kaj, čeprav se ga
sploh še ni nalezel.
»Kaj premlevaš?« sem
dobronamerno podrezal.
»Nič. Tile tvoji novi prija-
telji ali znanci ali kar koli
naj bi bili, so vseeno malo
čudni.«
»Hja?« Taka ugotovitev
seveda ni bila posebno pre-
senetljiva, ampak kako je
Miro prišel do nje? Čutini
niso v ničemer izstopali.
268
Especially as they didn’t want to. “What’s bothe-ring you?”“I don’t really know how to put it. We kept talking about purgatory.”“You were discussing pur-gatory?” I laughed. “So you moved onto religious issues?”“No, actually. We were talking about the universe. More in the sense of dif-ferent views of the uni-verse, from the Ancient Egyptians onwards. They did make some interesting comments about various religious explanations of the universe, but for the most part they stuck to their scientific basis. At least as far as I was able to judge. But even so they seemed to steer the con-versation to the subject of purgatory rather too frequently.”I frowned as I tried to make sense of this. “How do you mean, ‘too frequently’?”“Actually I wouldn’t have even noticed.”
Še posebej, če niso hoteli.
»Kaj te je zmotilo?«
»Ne vem, kako naj povem.
Kar nekajkrat smo se pogo-
varjali o Vicah.«
»Tudi Vice ste obdelali?«
Prešerno sem se zasmejal.
»Ali ste prešli na verska
vprašanja?«
»Pravzaprav ne. Pogovar-
jali smo se o vesolju. Bolj
v smislu raznih pogledov
na vesolje, vse od starih
Egipčanov naprej. Tudi
nekaj zanimivih pripomb
o raznih verskih razla-
gah vesolja so dali, čeprav
večinoma na znanstvenih
osnovah. Vsaj kolikor mi
moje znanje dopušča take
presoje, bi tako rekel. Toda
ti njihovi zasuki na pogo-
vor o Vicah so bili vseeno
malo preveč pogosti.«
Nagubal sem čelo v nemoč-
nem razmišljanju: »Kako
misliš - preveč pogosti?«
»Pravzaprav tega niti ne bi
opazil.«
269
“What?”“That they did it too frequently. If it hadn’t been for the strange behaviour of that guy.” Mike gestu-red towards Benesens’s friend.“Strange behaviour?” Completely serious now, I looked at Mike. I hadn’t noticed any unusual beha-viour.“You know my father died a year ago?” Mike went on. “That acquaintance of yours, with his gestures, his responses, his whole behaviour, is sometimes so like him that it is hard to believe.”“Like who? Your father?”“Yes. My father was a bit of a one-off – as the saying goes.”“I know, I remember him.”“Of course you remember him. Now look at that guy! The way he talks, the way he laughs – look at him!”I looked over at Benesens’s companion. It was true that there was some simi-
»Česa?«
»To, da so preveč pogosti.
Če ne bi bilo tako čudnega
obnašanja tega tvojega
znanca.« Miro je narahlo
pomignil na Dobročuto-
vega prijatelja.
»Čudnega obnašanja?« Že
povsem zresnjen sem zrl
v Mira. Nobenega poseb-
nega obnašanja nisem
opazil.
»Veš, da mi je pred letom
umrl oče?« je z mirno odso-
tnostjo nadaljeval Miro.
»Ta tvoj znanec pa mu je s
svojimi gibi, odzivi, z vsem
svojim obnašanjem na tre-
nutke tako podoben, da je
že kar neverjetno.«
»Komu? Tvojemu očetu?«
»Da. Moj oče je bil po
svoje prava pojava – kot se
reče.«
»Vem, ja, saj se ga spo-
mnim.«
»Seveda se ga moraš spo-
mniti. Zdaj pa še tega
poglej! Kako govori, kako
se smeje - pa povej!«
Ozrl sem se v Dobročuto-
vega spremljevalca. Res
sem lahko zaznal soro-
270
larity in some of his gestu-res. Then he laughed. Yes, his laugh. It was strangely similar to Mike’s father’s laugh. But then the Sen-sins could easily arrange something like that without there being any connection with purgatory. Judging from what I had been able to learn out about them so far, that wouldn’t cause them many problems. But what did purgatory have to do with anything? I pon-dered this. Could the Sen-sins really have some con-nection with purgatory? purgatory? In what sense? The religious sense? Or in some figurative sense? It could be something they have constructed them-selves, and they are now trying to establish whe-ther anything like that – something similar at least – already exists in human consciousness… Hmm. They would certainly be capable of that. No doubt about it.
dnost nekaterih gibov,
tedaj pa se je Dobročutov
spremljevalec zasmejal.
Da, njegov smeh. Nenava-
dno je bil podoben smehu
Mirovega očeta. Toda saj
kaj takega lahko Čutini
mirno namestijo tudi
brez kakršne koli pove-
zave z Vicami. To jim, vsaj
po tem, kar sem doslej že
lahko izvedel o njih, ne bi
moglo delati večjih težav.
Toda zakaj so v vse skupaj
vpletli Vice? Zastal sem v
pomislekih. Ali bi Čutini
res lahko bili v kakšnih
povezavah z Vicami? Vice?
V kakšnem smislu le? V
verskem? Ali v prenese-
nem pomenu? Nekaj, kar
so sami zgradili, zdaj pa
ugotavljajo, ali je kaj takega
ali vsaj podobnega že v člo-
veški zavesti. Hm. Tega bi
bili prav gotovo zmožni.
Presneto, da bi.
271
I sat there in silence con-sidering the various possi-bilities. There were certa-inly plenty of them! As I wrestled with the problem I noticed that someone was trying to attract my attention: “Hey, Peter!” A familiar face was smi-ling at me. It was a friend of mine, a director – or at least that was what had studied to be, as far as I could remember. What he did nowadays I didn’t know. He might even be director. “Hey, Sebastian!” I retur-ned his greeting and he gestured towards the bar, although he was still loo-king at me and at our motley company.“Hey, Sebastian!” Bene-sens repeated my greeting with a hearty exuberance that surprised even me, and waved his hand at the full bottles on the table in front of him: “Help your-self, Peter’s buying!”
S pogledom, zamaknjenim
predse, sem razmišljal o
različnih možnostih. Huh!
Kar nekaj jih je bilo! In pri
tem so se mi pomisleki
zvrstili s hitrostjo, večjo od
moje sposobnosti prever-
janja. Zaznal sem privzdi-
gnjeno roko in pozdrav:
»Hej, Peter!«. Znan obraz
me je zdramil s svojim
vztrajnim smehljanjem. Bil
je moj prijatelj, režiser, vsaj
diplomiral je iz režije, koli-
kor sem se še spominjal.
Toda kaj dela trenutno,
nisem vedel, morda celo
režira. »Hej, Boštjan!« sem
mu odzdravil ter v odgovor
dobil nakazan gib v smeri
šanka, proti kateremu se je
Boštjan že nameril, čeprav
se je še vedno oziral vame
in v našo pisano druščino.
»Hej, Boštjan!« je Dobro-
čut s tako poudarjeno raz-
posajenostjo ponovil moj
pozdrav, da je še mene
presenetil, ter nadaljeval
z namigom roke na polne
buteljke pred sabo: »Kar
postrezi si, Peter plača!«
272
“Oh yes?” I said. What was he doing now? Did Benesens want to meet this friend of mine? In view of the atmosphere that might not be so unusual, but it disturbed me slightly: he was usually so calculating. What could be behind this open-handed invitation? Well, all right then. “Grab yourself a chair!” I called to Sebastian, indicating a free chair at the next table. “Hey, Sebastian, hi there!” called a suddenly cheer-ful Zaza. “Come and sit down, and you can tell them something about the actors we’ve got for the comic parts. These friends of ours are crazy about them.”Sebastian sat down. He nodded in greeting at eve-ryone round the table and allowed Benesens to pour him a glass. “Yes, we were actually tal-king about actors who are
»Aja?« mi je ušlo. Zakaj
pa zdaj to? Kaj Dobročut
želi spoznati tega mojega
znanca? Glede na vzdušje
to morda niti ni bilo tako
nenavadno, čeprav so se
mi že kar moteče rojevali
pomisleki na sicer obi-
čajno preračunljivo poče-
tje Dobročuta oziroma na
vprašanje, kaj bi lahko bilo
v ozadju njegovega spro-
ščenega povabila. No, ja.
Prav. »Kar prisedi!« sem
zaklical Boštjanu z nami-
gom, naj primakne prost
stol od sosednje mize.
»Hej, Boštjan, hej!« ga je z
vzklikom opozorila nase
nenadoma razživela Gigi.
»Pridi, boš še ti kaj povedal
o naših igralcih za komične
like. Prav nori so nanje tile
naši prijatelji.«
Boštjan je prisedel, z
rahlim nagibom glave poz-
dravil vsakega posebej ter
prikimal na Dobročutov
namig, ali naj mu natoči
čašo.
»Da, res smo se pogovarjali
o igralcih s sposobnostjo
273
able to make people laugh merely through their appe-arance,” said Benesens, picking up where Zaza had left off. “They want to overcome some constant conflict in themselves, but everything turns into impotent rage and resigna-tion to their fate, which are then the origin of their rebellious rage with con-trasting, more combative anger.”Sebastian shook his head and laughed: “Whoa, slow down. What are you saying?” He considered the sense of Benesens’s words he sipped slowly from his glass.“Yeeees, bravo! You put it beautifully!” Zaza star-ted clapping her hands. “That’s what happens to me too: this incredibly aggressive anger that bub-bles up out of a total resi-gnation to my fate.”Zaza laughed enthusiasti-cally at this discovery and looked at me so eagerly that I immediately nodded,
izvabljanja smeha že zgolj s
svojim videzom,« je Dobro-
čut nadaljeval Gigino
pobudo. »Neko stalno
nasprotje v sebi želijo pre-
seči, pa se jim vse skupaj
sprevrača v nemočen gnev
in vdanost v usodo, ki sta
potem izvor njihove upor-
niške jeze z nasprotnim,
bolj bojevitim gnevom.«
Boštjan je med smehom
stresel z glavo: »Čakajte,
malo bolj počasi, kaj ste mi
že povedali?« Nato je med
razmišljanjem o smislu
Dobročutovih besed
počasi srknil iz napolnjene
čaše.
»Jaaa, bravo! To ste lepo
povedali!« Gigi je zaplo-
skala. »Tudi meni privre
na dan neverjetno bojevit
gnev iz popolne vdanosti v
usodo, kajne?«
Gigi se je navdušeno
zasmejala temu odkritju
ter tako živo pogledala
vame, da sem ji takoj pri-
kimal, čeprav se mi je pri
274
although I couldn’t help remembering the expres-sion on her face at our first meeting above that preci-pice. But if she had a new opinion of herself, than that was all right. I looked searchingly at her. She no longer showed any signs of depression. She had really come to life. “Yes, I’ve noticed that too,” said Benesens, enco-uraging Zaza in her new conviction. “It’s really sur-prising how easily you can release from yourself such a powerful life impulse.”Yes, Zaza, whatever she had been before, had disa-ppeared, and now she was now whatever what she was in this moment, beca-use the past, when once you cast if off, disappe-ars and no longer exists. At least that was the con-clusion I came to when I looked at Zaza. And the more I looked at her, the more I could see how in
tem bolj vsiljeval izraz na
njenem obrazu ob najinem
srečanju nad tistim prepa-
dom. Toda če ima o sebi
novo mnenje, tudi prav.
Preletel sem jo z ocenjujo-
čim pogledom. Nič depre-
sivnega ni bilo več na njej.
Prav zares se je razživela.
»Da, to sem tudi jaz opazil,«
je Gigi v njenem novem
prepričanju spodbudil še
Dobročut. »Prav presene-
tljivo, kako zlahka spro-
žite iz sebe tako močan
življenjski impulz.«
Da, Gigi, kar koli že je bila
prej, je izginila, in zdaj je
bila natanko to, kar je bila
v tistem trenutku, ker pre-
teklost, ko jo enkrat odvr-
žeš, izgine in je ni več. Vsaj
ob pogledu na Gigi sem
prišel do take ugotovitve.
In bolj ko sem jo gledal,
bolj sem lahko ugotavljal,
275
her this was something she experienced at a parti-cularly fundamental level. Or something like that: but it struck me that I shouldn’t get too involved in her problems, or else I might quickly find myself in a situation where nothing was clear any more. “I would also like to say this,” said Benesens. “A number of acquaintances have already mentioned your acting to me. They have told me about your extraordinary ability, and how you can draw in an audience more than anyone else.”“They noticed? Really?” Zaza forgot to act for a moment. Actually Benesens’s words surpri-sed her slightly, but thanks to the persuasive expres-sion on his face she accep-ted them anyway. Initially slightly hesitantly, but immediately afterwards with genuine enthusiasm. “Yes, she’s really famous for that,” agreed Sebastian
kako je to pri njej še pose-
bej temeljito doživeto. Ali
nekaj podobnega, saj so
me obhajale misli, naj se
nič kaj preveč ne pogla-
bljam v to njeno problema-
tiko, ker bom sicer lahko
prav kmalu na tem, da mi
nič več ne bo jasno.
»To bi še rad povedal,« je
spet povzel Dobročut. »Že
več znancev mi je ome-
njalo vašo igro. Povedali
so mi za vašo izjemno spo-
sobnost, da bolj kot kdor
koli drug znate pritegniti
občinstvo.«
»A so opazili? A res?« Gigi je
za trenutek pozabila igrati.
Pravzaprav so jo Dobroču-
tove besede malo čudile,
pa jih je potem ob pre-
pričljivem izrazu njego-
vega obraza vseeno spre-
jela. Sprva sicer nekoliko
obotavljivo, vendar takoj
zatem že kar s pravim nav-
dušenjem.
»Da, po tem je res znana,«
se je po kratkem tuhtanju
276
after a brief reflection. “That humorous element in an actor is an attribute that is usually very popu-lar with audiences. Yes. In fact I was already thinking of her for that part. I was even planning to call her.”“Yes, we should sign her up for the part.” Benesens was once again using his extraordinary powers of suggestion, which made Sebastian consider his reasons for abandoning his own original intention, although at first he was not even sure whether he had even had that intention. But then, more in order to bring the matter to a speedy close, he threw out: “Money is the pro-blem. it ran out, and that is why everything is still up in the air.” Benesens shook his head: “You artists have no sense for money matters. For a comedy, a good comedy, it really isn’t that hard to get some financial support from backers.”
strinjal tudi Boštjan. »Taka
humorna lastnost igralcev
je pri občinstvu običajno
lepo sprejeta. Hja. Saj sem
tudi jaz že pomislil nanjo
pri tisti vlogi. Celo pokli-
cati sem jo že nameraval.«
»Da, njo bi morali angaži-
rati za tisto vlogo.« Dobro-
čut je spet uporabil svojo
izjemno sugestivnost, ki
je Boštjanu vsilila razmi-
šljanje o vzrokih za opusti-
tev lastne namere, čeprav
sprva niti ni bil prepričan,
ali jo je sploh res imel.
Zato je potem kar navrgel,
bolj z namenom hitrejšega
zaključka obravnavane
tematike: »Z denarjem je
problem. Zmanjkalo ga
je, tako da je še zdaj vse v
zraku.«
Toda Dobročut je odkimal:
»Vi umetniki nimate smisla
za denarne zadeve. Za
komedijo, dobro komedijo
pa res ni tako težko dobiti
nekaj finančne pomoči od
podpornikov.«
277
At these words Seba-stian was suddenly him-self again: “What do you mean it’s not hard? It’s a real problem! For example I still haven’t managed to obtain funding.”“Really? Is that difficult for you? Such a trifle… How much do you actu-ally need for this project of yours?”Sebastian considered. “Are you saying you’d like to provide financial bac-king?”“Sure, why not? I’d be happy to.”Sebastian looked at Bene-sens doubtfully. It was true that he did seem to be enthusiastic about the pro-ject, which in itself was a little strange, or at least hard to understand, but anyway… Then he thou-ght about the suitability of the expression “project” and how all of a sudden it was there in front of him. But if things were really as they seemed, then… He glanced in my direc-
Toda ob teh njegovih bese-
dah se je Boštjan takoj
spet zbral: »Kako, da ni?
Pa še kakšen problem je
to! Meni na primer še ni
uspelo zagotoviti finanč-
nih sredstev.«
»Res? Ali je to za vas težko?
Taka malenkost… Koliko
pa pravzaprav potrebujete
za ta vaš projekt?«
Boštjan je začel razmišljati.
Najprej seveda o sogovor-
niku. »Se želite udeležiti s
finančno podporo?«
»Seveda, zakaj pa ne? Z
veseljem.«
Boštjan je nejeverno opa-
zoval Dobročuta. Res je
bilo v njem čutiti neko
navdušenje nad tem pro-
jektom, kar je bilo sicer po
svoje malo nenavadno ali
vsaj težje razumljivo, pa
vendar. . . Nato je še malo
premislil o ustreznosti
izraza »projekt« in kako je
kar naenkrat pred njim.
Toda če je zadeva taka, kot
je videti, potem. . . Pogled
name mu je razkrival
278
tion and caught my enco-uraging nod. That meant that I also believed that he was in a position to make an interesting move.“Wow!” Sebastian began doing calculations. Benesens winked at me, leaned over and whispe-red: “Will it be all right? Seeing how well things have gone, we might reward her a little.”“By all means. If you can. How much support can you give to this thing?” I asked, although the amount of support shouldn’t be important, in my view at least.“Hmm!” Benesens smiled and went on, in my ear: “We have quite a number of these gold spheres like your planet Earth. Bigger ones too.” “I see, erm…” That was possible, and even though I had no way of knowing what the real situation was, or even how big these “gold spheres” really were,
vzpodbudno prikimava-
nje, to je torej pomenilo, da
bi tudi po mojem mnenju
lahko naredil zanimivo
potezo.
»Hja!« Boštjan je začel pre-
računavati, Dobročut pa
mi je pomežiknil, se mi
primaknil in šepnil: »Ali
bo v redu? Glede na dober
potek dogajanja jo lahko
malo nagradimo.«
»To pa vsekakor. Če le
morete. Koliko pa lahko
podprete to zadevo?«
sem še vprašal, čeprav
višina podpore ne bi smela
biti pomembna, vsaj
po moji presoji ne.
»Hm!« Dobročut je smeje
se nadaljeval, še vedno pri-
maknjen k mojemu ušesu:
»Kar nekaj takih zlatih
kroglic, kot je vaš planet
Zemlja, imamo. Pa tudi
večje. . .«
»Aja… Ahm…« To je bilo
možno, in čeprav je bilo
vse skupaj zunaj dosega
moje presoje dejanskega
stanja, tudi glede velikosti
»zlatih kroglic«, sem iz nje-
279
his words told me that he was serious about helping Zaza, who had in any case earned our help. “Well then, I actually made a withdrawal from the bank today, which means that we can move on to more concrete discussi-ons, don’t you think?” Benesens reached into the leather bag by his side. Sebastian and Zaza stared at it too. Its leather strap had been hanging across his shoulder the whole time, but in fact they only noticed it now. Benesens opened the bag slowly, pulled out a neatly wrapped bundle of ban-knotes, still fresh from the bank, and placed it on the table.Sebastian and Zaza stared at the numbers on the top banknote and muttered, almost in unison: “A hun-dred dollars!” How many hundreds must there be in the bundle? Sebastian and Zaza looked at each other. They were clearly
govih besed razbral resno
namero, da podpre Gigi, ki
si je našo pomoč vsekakor
zaslužila.
»No, ja, sicer pa sem ravno
danes dvignil nekaj denarja
z banke, tako da lahko pre-
idemo na bolj konkretne
pogovore, kajne?« Nato je
Dobročut segel v usnjeno
torbico ob sebi. Tudi
Boštjan in Gigi sta se ozrla
vanjo. Njen usnjeni jermen
mu je že ves čas visel čez
ramo, toda opazila sta jo
pravzaprav šele zdaj.
Dobročut je počasi odprl
torbo, potegnil iz nje lepo
zložen zavojček bankov-
cev, še sveže pakiranih iz
banke, ter ga položil na
mizo.
Boštjan in Gigi sta se zazrla
v številke na zgornjem,
vrhnjem bankovcu ter
skoraj v duetu zamrmrala:
»Sto dolarjev!« Kakšnih sto
takih je moralo biti v šopu.
Boštjan in Gigi sta se spo-
gledala v očitno skladnem
280
thinking the same thing, despite their uncertainty. Sebastian slowly reached for the bundle of paper, flexed it expertly and then let it go with a slow “pff-frrrr” sound, revealing the interior of the bundle. Then he turned the bundle over and repeated the “pff-frrr” and slowly placed the money back on the table.“Cash.”“Yes, cash,” nodded Bene-sens, reaching into his bag again and placing three similar bundles on the table. Sebastian and Zaza nodded, and Benesens kept the bag in his hands.Sebastian picked up the bundles, one after the other, and rapidly checked them with his shuffle technique. “It’s all cash.” Meanwhile Zaza was fol-lowing Benesens’s hand, which was once again rea-ching into the opened bag, and she caught a glimpse of even more paper. “Wow! You’ve got loads of the stuff! He probably
razumevanju, kljub neka-
terim nejasnostim, tako da
je Boštjan počasi segel po
tem šopu papirja, ga stro-
kovno upognil ter nato
spustil v počasnem »pfrr-
rrk. . .«, ki je razkril očem
še notranjost. Potem je šop
obrnil, ponovil tisti »pfr-
rrrk. . .«, in denar počasi
položil nazaj na mizo.
»Keš.«
»Da, keš,« je prikimal
Dobročut, ponovno segel
v torbo, položil na mizo še
tri podobne zavojčke ter
med Boštjanovim in Gigi-
nim prikimavanjem zadr-
žal torbo v rokah.
Boštjan je zavojčke spet
jemal v roke, enega za
drugim, ter jih hitro pre-
veril s svojo »pfrrrrk teh-
niko« in enako kot prvič
tudi sedaj ugotovil: »Vse je
keš.« Gigi pa je medtem že
sledila Dobročutovi roki,
kako spet sega v razprto
torbo, in pri tem je lahko
zaznala še več papirja.
»Uvaaa! Tega pa imate kar
nekaj! Kak šop manj se vam
281
wouldn’t even notice a bundle more or less!” she said in surprise, almost as though to encourage him.Benesens nodded: “Certa-inly. A few of these bun-dles wouldn’t mean much to us.” “Oh my goodness!” Zaza almost shouted. “Did you hear him, Sebastian? How funny! You said it in such an amusing tone of voice that…”Zaza searched ner-vously for the right word, but apparently she couldn’t find it: “Well, Sebastian, what do you say?”“This is…” In contrast to Zaza, Sebastian remained cool and the expression on his face had not chan-ged: “…this is a concrete business proposition,” he finished, with the calm reflection of the experien-ced man of business.“Wow,” gasped Zaza, and then perked up again, even louder than before: “Yes, that’s it, a concrete busi-ness proposition!”“In cash,” commented
najbrž sploh ne pozna!« je
navrgla v rahlo spodbuja-
jočem presenečenju.
Dobročut je prikimal:
»Seveda. Nekaj teh šopov
za nas ne pomeni kaj
dosti.«
»Hohoooj!« Geni je kar
zavriskala v nenadnem
izbruhu življenja iz njene
notranjosti. »Si slišal
Boštjan? Kako duhovito!
To ste pa povedali v tako
zabavnem tonu, da . . .« Gigi
je nervozno iskala pravo
besedo, ki pa je očitno
ni zmogla najti:»Kajne,
Boštjan, kaj ti praviš?«
»To je…« Boštjan je naspro-
tno kot Gigi ostal hladno-
krven z nespremenjenim
izrazom na obrazu: »To
je konkretna poslovna
poteza,« je dodal z mirnim
premislekom izkušenega
poslovneža.
»Aaa,« je rahlo zategnila
Gigi, potem pa se ponovno
razveselila, še glasneje
kot prej: »Da, tako je, kon-
kretna poslovna poteza!«
»V kešu,« je pripomnil
282
Sebastian solemnly, as though underlining the importance of the transac-tion, or his acceptance of this business proposition.I had to intervene: “Zaza, put that stuff in your bag. We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention.” I nodded at the unusual pile of paper on the table.“Oh yes, sure.” Zaza quic-kly looked round to see if anyone was watching and giggled when she reali-sed that the bottles on the table were still blocking the view of the banknotes. She stuffed the notes into her bag, looking round a couple of times as she did so. “Well, here’s some more…” continued Bene-sens, pulling another three bundles from his bag. This time, however, it was clear that these were different banknotes. Sebastian and Zaza reached the same conclusion almost simul-taneously: “ T h o u -
Boštjan, kot bi poudaril
pomen resnega delovanja
oziroma svojega sprejetja
te poslovne poteze.
Moral sem se vmešati:
»Gigi, tole raje pospravi
v torbico, če ne bomo
po nepotrebnem začeli
vzbujati pozornost,« sem
ji namignil na nenavadni
kup papirja na mizi.
»Ah, ja, seveda.« Gigi se
je hitro ozrla naokoli po
morebitnih opazovalcih
ter se veselo zahihitala ob
ugotovitvi, da so steklenice
za zdaj še uspešno zakri-
vale pogled na bankovce,
ki jih je potem brž spravila
v torbo, hkrati pa je še par-
krat pogledala naokrog.
»No, tule so še . . .« je nada-
ljeval Dobročut, medtem
ko je vlekel iz torbe nadalj-
nje tri šope, v katerih pa
so bili, kot je bilo takoj
opazno, povsem drugačni
bankovci. Boštjan in Gigi
sta se spogledala s skoraj
sočasno ugotovitvijo: »Po
283
sands!” Then Zaza added: “In dollars.”“Yes, in cash!” agreed Sebastian. “One bundle – a hundred thousand dol-lars.” “Well, I only have two lots of ten bundles of these notes,” said Benesens modestly.“Only two lots of ten bundles…” was all Zaza managed to say.“That’s right. Here they are.” Benesens placed two piles of ten bundles in front of Zaza.Now it was Zaza’s turn to shuffle her way through the first bundle, then the second, and then all the others. Actually there were too many for an accurate examination. “They’re all thousand dollar bills,” she said at last.“That’s right. A thousand dollars each,” confirmed Sebastian, who was gro-wing increasingly serious. “This is an advance,” said Benesens.
tisoč!« Nakar je Gigi še
dodala: »V dolarjih.«
»Da, v kešu!« ji je pritrdil
Boštjan. »En šop – sto tisoč
dolarjev.«
»No, teh bankovcev imam
samo dvakrat po deset
šopov,« je z zadržano skro-
mnostjo pripomnil Dobro-
čut.
»Samo dvakrat po deset
šopov…« je bilo to pot vse,
kar je Gigi spravila iz sebe.
»Tako je. Tu so.« Dobročut
je potisnil pred Gigi dva
kupčka po deset šopov.
Zdaj je Gigi nejeverno raz-
prla najprej en šop, potem
drugega in še nekaj nasle-
dnjih. Pravzaprav jih je
bilo preveč za natančno
preverjanje. »Vsi so po
tisoč dolarjev,« je napo-
sled ugotovila.
»Tako je. Po tisoč dolarjev,«
ji je potrdil vse bolj zre-
snjeni Boštjan.
»To je predplačilo,« je navr-
gel Dobročut.
284
“This is an advance,” repe-ated Sebastian.“For this wonderful film starring Zaza,” continued Benesens.“For this wonderful film starring Zaza,” repeated Sebastian.“For a film?” asked Zaza, surprised. “I thought we were talking about a play.”“That was a slip of the tongue,” replied Sebastian, with a nonchalant wave of the hand as though to suggest that this was a trifling detail. “We’re tal-king about a film. Under-stand?”“Yes, of course.” Zaza was practically bouncing up and down on her chair. “I knew all along that we were talking about a film…”“Yes. We are talking about a film,” confirmed Seba-stian in businesslike tone. “And I shall write you a cheque for your ongoing costs.” Benesens conti-nued to develop the pro-ject.
»To je predplačilo,« je pono-
vil Boštjan.
»Za ta čudoviti film z Gigi v
glavni vlogi,« je nadaljeval
Dobročut.
»Za ta čudoviti film z Gigi v
glavni vlogi,« je spet pono-
vil Boštjan.
»A za film?« se je začudila
Gigi. »Mislila sem, da se
pogovarjamo o gledališki
igri.«
»To je bil lapsus,« jo je
zavrnil Boštjan ter ji z
malomarnim zamahom
roke dal vedeti, da gre za
nepomembno malenkost.
»Pogovarjamo se filmu.
Razumeš?«
»Aja, seveda.« Gigi je kar
poskočila na sedežu. »Saj
se mi je že ves čas zdelo, da
se pogovarjamo o filmu…«
»Da. Pogovarjamo se o
filmu,« je spet v poslovnem
tonu potrdil Boštjan.
»Za sprotne stroške pa vam
bom napisal ček,» je Dobro-
čut še kar naprej razvijal
zastavljeni projekt.
285
“Right. For ongoing costs,” repeated Zaza and looked at Sebastian, who was gazing mutely in front of him. Then he and Zaza watched calmly as Bene-sens wrote a cheque.“Four, five, six zeroes,” counted Benesens, leaning towards me and whispe-ring: “How many zeroes should I write?”I give a slight frown and after a brief pause replied: “That will be plenty. Any more and she might go crazy again.”“Seven zeroes.” Bene-sens looked at Zaza, who was staring now at him and now at the zeroes. He couldn’t refuse her: “Eight zeroes.”“In US dollars?” asked Zaza.“Certainly. Or perhaps you would prefer some other currency? If it’s a problem…” “No, no, it’s no problem at all,” said Zaza, drawing back slightly apologeti-
»Tako. Za sprotne stro-
ške,« je ponovila Gigi in
pogledala Boštjana, ki pa
je samo molče zrl predse,
nato pa skupaj z Gigi
mirno opazoval, kako
Dobročut izpolnjuje ček.
»Štiri, pet, šest ničel,« je štel
Dobročut, se primaknil k
meni in mi šepnil: »Koliko
pa naj jih napišem?«
Rahlo sem nagubal čelo
ter mu po kratkem premi-
sleku odvrnil: »Saj bo kar
dosti. Če ne, se ji bo spet
utrgalo.«
»Sedem ničel.« Dobročut
je pogledal Gigi, ki je zrla
zdaj vanj, zdaj v ničle. Ni
ji mogel odreči: »Osem
ničel.«
»V ameriških dolarjih?« je
vprašala Gigi.
»Seveda. Ali morda želite v
kakšni drugi valuti? Če vas
moti. . .?«
»Ne, ne, sploh me ne moti,«
se je že kar malo opravi-
čujoče se izmikala Gigi.
286
cally. “In dollars. That’s fine isn’t it, Sebastian?”“Perfectly fine,” came the confirmation, once again in a serious businesslike voice.“Right, and now we have to go,” said Benesens, concluding this mutually satisfactory business agre-ement and beckoning to me: “Let’s go.”I got up from the table and waved goodbye to the group. They returned my farewell in different ways: respectfully, cordially and even formally, as befitted a business meeting. Zaza stood up too and rushed over to me, bending towards my ear. “Peter!” She squeezed herself close to me. “I don’t know who everyone is in this team that you referred to at the beginning as ‘us’, but I have to say that you are amazing.”“Oh yes?” I smiled. “Unfor-tunately not everything is that rosy. The question is: will we succeed?”
»V dolarjih. Saj je v redu,
kajne, Boštjan?«
»Povsem v redu,« ji je ta
potrdil v še naprej zresnje-
nem poslovnem tonu.
»Tako, zdaj pa moramo
iti,« je Dobročut sklenil ta
za vse uspešni poslovni
dogovor ter mi pomignil:
»Gremo.«
Stopil sem od mize in
pomahal družbi, iz katere
so mi posamezniki odzdra-
vljali zelo spoštljivo, tudi
prisrčno in celo s poslovno
korektnostjo. Tudi Gigi
je vstala, se mi naglo pri-
bližala in se primaknila k
mojemu ušesu.
»Peter!« Gigi se je stisnila
k meni. »Ne vem sicer, kdo
vse je v tistem timu, ki si ga
na začetku omenil kot - mi-
, toda moram reči, da ste
bomba.«
»Aja?« sem zategnil z
nasmehom. »Pa ni vse tako
rožnato. Vprašanje je, ali
nam bo uspelo.«
287
“Do you doubt it?”“I don’t know.”“I am with you a hundred percent. You can count on me. We’re all one team, there’s no doubt about it.”I gave her a friendly nod.“Peter!”“Yes?”Zaza suddenly looked almost worried. “Look after yourself, Peter. For a moment, all of this seems terribly serious. At least that is the sensation I have.”“Well, it is serious. That’s why we’ve taken care of you at least, no?”“You certainly have. Extremely well – all of you. I would also like to take care of you, if only I knew how.”“Oh, you already have, better than you think.”Zaza looked at me que-stioningly: “You know Peter, I’m sorry about that time, that evening. I shouldn’t have been like that. But I liked you. And then I found out that you
»Dvomiš?«
»Ne vem.«
»Jaz sem stoodstotno z
vami. Mene lahko šte-
jete za svojo. Vsi smo en
tim, o tem prav gotovo ni
dvoma.«
Prijateljsko sem ji priki-
mal.
»Peter!«
»Da?«
Gigi me je nenadoma gle-
dala že kar zaskrbljeno.
»Pazi nase, Peter. Za
kakšen trenutek se mi vse
to zdi presneto resno. Vsaj
občutke imam take.«
»Hja, saj tudi je resno. Zato
pa smo vsaj za vas poskr-
beli, kajne?«
»To pa. Presneto dobro
si poskrbel - oziroma ste
poskrbeli. Tudi jaz bi zate
poskrbela, če bi vedela,
kako.«
»Oh, saj si že, in to bolje,
kot si misliš.«
Gigi me je še nekaj časa
vprašujoče gledala: »Veš,
Peter, za takrat, za tisti
večer mi je kar malo žal. Ne
bi smela biti taka. Toda bil
si mi všeč. Pa sem potem
288
didn’t feel the same way about me. I would only have been a way to pass the time. And so I started overdoing it.”“Overdoing it?” I repea-ted slowly. “Well that’s an interesting word for your behaviour at that party.” I looked back over eve-rything she had done. “And you overdid things a little today too, didn’t you?”Zaza laughed. Softly at first, but then more freely, even happily, but it was clear that she still felt a little guilty. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”
ugotovila, da ti ni nič do
mene. Le za lajšanje dol-
gočasja bi ti bila. Pa sem
začela pretiravati.«
»Pretiravati?« sem počasi
ponovil. »Pa si res našla
zanimivo besedo za tvoje
obnašanje na tisti žurki.«
Še nekoliko sem se zami-
slil nad vsem njenim poče-
tjem. »In tudi danes si pre-
tiravala, kajne?«
Gigi se je nasmehnila. Naj-
prej malo zadržano, nato
na hitro prav živo, skoraj
veselo, vendar z nekaj
neprikritega občutka
krivde. »Ne bom več. Oblju-
bim.«
289
Chapter X
On our return to the sta-tion we gathered round the holo-display for the latest reports on the nego-tiations between the two sides. There had been no progress. If anything, the opposite was true, altho-ugh the Sensins, at least as far as I could understand, had been quite concilia-tory, or at any rate that was how they presented them-selves in their reports. But judging from the faces around me – I scrutinised them quite frequently as we listened to the reports – everything we heard was probably expected, and the news was received with something approa-ching indifference. I rea-lised that these reports were simply a matter of form, nothing more, and I was therefore easier in my mind as I followed the subsequent reports.
X. poglavje
Ko smo se vračali na
postajo, smo poslušali,
zbrani ob holiju, poročila
o pogajanjih med spr-
tima stranema. Nobenega
napredka ni bilo. Celo
prav nasprotno, čeprav
naj bi bili, vsaj sklepajoč
po tem, kolikor sem lahko
vse skupaj razumel, Čutini
precej spravljivi oziroma
so se kot taki predsta-
vljali v svojih poročilih.
Toda po obrazih okoli
mene sodeč, kar nekajkrat
sem jih namreč preletel
s pogledom, je bilo vse
povedano najbrž pričako-
vano, predvsem pa spre-
jeto brez večjega odziva.
Le na znanje so vse skupaj
vzeli, nič več, tako da sem
še sam spremljal nadaljnja
poročila z večjo lagodno-
stjo.
290
“This is nothing.” The commander’s voice cut the sleepy atmosphere. “The Acutins are not standing still. I don’t trust them. Computer: establish a con-nection with headquar-ters! We will no longer be able to break through the asteroid belts without an escort.”After a brief pause a woman’s face appeared in the holo-display. I assu-med she was an officer from headquarters. “Stand by, please. I am putting you through to headquar-ters,” she said in a official tone of voice. Then a man appeared in the display. He was dressed in the same overalls as the Sensins from our mission, but with slightly different markings in the form of coloured geometrical figures linked by lines across his chest and shoulders. He greeted us and explained his pre-sence. He had been deta-iled to look after us, he explained, before conduc-
»To ni nič.« je poveljnik pre-
sekal uspavano vzdušje.
»Ostrini ne mirujejo. Jaz
jim ne verjamem. Holi,
vzpostavi zvezo s povelj-
stvom! Brez spremstva se
ne bomo več mogli prebiti
skozi asteroidne pasove.«
V holiju se je po krajšem
čakanju prikazal obraz
ženske, najbrž častnice z
našega poveljstva. »Prosim,
počakajte, takoj vas bom
povezala s poveljstvom,«
je dejala z uradno prija-
znostjo. Kmalu zatem se
je v holiju pokazal možak
v enakem kombinezonu
kot Čutini iz naše misije,
imel je le nekoliko dru-
gačne oznake z različnimi
barvnimi geometrijskimi
liki, povezanimi s črtami
po prsih in ramenih, nas
na kratko pozdravil in
nam razložil svojo pristoj-
nost. Prav za nas naj bi bil
zadolžen, je pojasnil in se
291
ting a brief conversation with our commander. He gave us information about the current situation – information that was quite different from that con-tained in the reports. The situation had apparently worsened considerably. After we had broken thro-ugh the asteroid belt, both sides began joining their asteroids together to form impassable groups based on their previous confi-guration. This meant that neither side had gained a significant advantage in controlling the area within the asteroid belts, but it had become considerably more difficult to pass thro-ugh them. “The barrier will soon be complete,” concluded the Sensin from headquar-ters. At that moment it appeared that our chances of brea-king through the asteroid belt were getting smaller.Captain Harstan walked to the opposite side of the
spustil v kratek pogovor
z našim kapitanom. Podal
nam je informacije o tre-
nutnem stanju, ki pa so
bile precej drugačne od
tistih v poročilih. Položaj
naj bi bil znatno bolj zao-
stren. Po našem preboju
skozi asteroidni pas je tako
ena kot druga stran začela
povezovati svoje asteroide
v neprehodne grupe na
podlagi predhodne razvr-
stitve. Tako sicer nihče ni
pridobil pomembne pred-
nosti pri obvladovanju
celotnega prostora znotraj
asteroidnih pasov, toda
prehodnost skoznje se je
bistveno zmanjšala.
»Zapora bo kmalu
popolna,« je na koncu
strnil njun pogovor Čutin
s poveljstva; v tistem tre-
nutku je tako kazalo na
vse manjšo možnost za naš
preboj skozi asteroidni
pas.
Kapitan Harstan je stopil k
nasprotnemu delu holija,
292
holo-display, which was now showing the asteroid belt. Bending towards it, he studied the entire aste-roid field once again and then turned back to us with his arm raised. “Your attention, please,” he said in a calm but decisive, commanding voice, and indicated the sector that he had just been observing. “Things are a lot quieter in this sector.”We all looked at the area he was indicating. It was quiet and lay outside the area where asteroids were visibly uniting to form impassable layers, at least judging from the display. One after the other the Sensins around me nodded without com-ment. I nodded too: my views were increasingly frequently taken into con-sideration, and this fact, and the common search for solutions of which I was part, had awakened a feeling of belonging that
zdaj je bil v njem prikazan
asteroidni pas, se sklonil k
holiju ter se po ponovnem
pregledu celotnega aste-
roidnega polja s privzdi-
gnjeno roko počasi obrnil
k nam. »Malo pozornosti,
prosim,« nas je opozoril z
mirnim, toda odločnim,
že skoraj ukazovalnim
glasom ter pokazal proti
tistemu delu, ki ga je bil
ravnokar opazoval: »Tu
je še precej mirno, brez
združevanja ostrinovskih
asteroidov v neprehodne
ploskovne pasove.«
Vsi pogledi so se usme-
rili v nakazani predel. Bil
je miren, zunaj vidnega
združevanja asteroidov v
neprehodne plasti. Vsaj po
prikazanem je bilo tako
videti. Drug za drugim
so Čutini okoli mene pri-
kimavali brez pripomb.
Prikimal sem še jaz, ker
mi je vse pogostejše upo-
števanje mojega mnenja
in skupno iskanje posa-
meznih rešitev vzbudilo
občutek pripadnosti s
293
made me more relaxed about expressing my opi-nion. “Everyone to their stati-ons! There is still a likeli-hood that we will have to evade pursuing ships. Col-lisions with them can also be expected, as we learnt during our previous flight, although we shall try to avoid them.” The commander turned to the navigation com-puter and ordered it to engage full thrust and steer towards the calm section of the asteroid belt. The order was immedi-ately obeyed. But barely had our ship settled on its course and reached full speed when we noticed an increase in movement in the previously calm area. We maintained our course: we were going to attempt a breakthrough. That was clear. Whatever route we choose, it would be the same story. We had no chance of finding a more reliably quiet route through the belt. We alre-
sproščenim izražanjem
lastnega mnenja.
»Vsi na svoja mesta! Nuj-
nost izmikanja zasledoval-
nim letalom je kljub vsemu
verjetna. Tudi trčenja z
njimi lahko pričakujemo,
kot smo že spoznali med
prejšnjim poletom, čeprav
se jim bomo poskusili izo-
gniti.« Nato se je obrnil k
računalniškemu naviga-
torju z ukazom, naj nas s
polno hitrostjo usmeri v
ta mirujoči predel astero-
idnega pasu, in to je bilo
tudi takoj izvršeno. Toda
komaj se je naša ladja
dobro ustalila v želeni
smeri in pridobila polno
hitrost, že smo lahko na
dotlej mirnem predelu
asteroidnega pasu zaznali
živahnejše premikanje.
Vendar leta nismo preki-
nili. Šli bomo v preboj. To
je bilo jasno. Kajti ne glede
na izbiro, kamor koli bi šli,
ne bi bilo nič drugače. Za
odkrivanje bolj zanesljivo
mirnega prehoda nismo
imeli možnosti.
294
ady knew that the Acu-tins attached considerable importance to us, but it was unlikely that they would attack us with all their forces. They would certainly send power-ful units, however, and the question once again was whether these forces would be more powerful than the support of our own forces. Yes, that con-stant uncertainty as to the importance that the Acu-tins would place on our intention to fly through the asteroid belt. If it was still merely a question of the Acutins’ assumptions about our importance, without knowing its true cause, the main thrust of their strategy would surely not envisage the total support of all their avai-lable forces in this part of the asteroid belt. In that case their local responses would not cover the whole of it and a passage through the belt would be possible, since the Acutin blockade would not be sufficiently broad.
Da nam Ostrini dajejo
močan pomen, smo že
lahko spoznali, to vseka-
kor, ampak v napad na nas
z vsemi silami najbrž le ne
bodo šli. Prav gotovo pa
bodo poslali močne enote.
Vendar bo tu spet vpraša-
nje, ali bodo te sile moč-
nejše od podpore naših,
sem ugibal. Hja, to stalno
prisotno vprašanje, kakšen
pomen bodo dali Ostrini
naši nameri o preletu skozi
asteroidni pas. Če je ostalo
le na domnevah Ostrinov
o naši pomembnosti, brez
poznavanja njenega pra-
vega vzroka, v osrednjem
delu vodene strategije ne
bodo načrtovali popolne
podpore vseh njihovih raz-
položljivih sil v tem astero-
idnem pasu. Potem njihovi
lokalni odzivi ne bodo
zajeli celote in prehod
bo možen, ker ostrino-
vska blokada ne bo dovolj
široko zastavljena.
295
We all stared at the aste-roids in our flight path. A kind of flickering move-ment, an indistinct image, and then several consecu-tive mergings of the Acu-tins’ asteroids came into focus. Fortunately the Sen-sins were able to prevent the construction of barri-ers by assembling asteroid layers of their own.Before entering the aste-roid belt, like the rest of the crew I tried to estimate our chances from a close observation of the holo-di-splay.“Navigation computer!” called the commander.“Sir?” responded the com-puter with military bri-skness. “Take us towards the boun-dary between the calm section and the area where the asteroids are being formed into impenetrable barriers. Then turn sligh-tly towards the calm zone. Everything should be as though we still trusted in
Vsi smo zrli proti asteroi-
dom v smeri našega leta.
Nekakšno migljanje, pre-
mikanje, nejasen prikaz,
in že se nam je izostrilo
več zapovrstnih ploskov-
nih združitev ostrinovskih
asteroidov. Na srečo jih je
s strani Čutinov ustavljalo
takojšnje sestavljanje plasti
asteroidov za onemogo-
čanje izgradnje zapornih
plasti.
Pred vstopanjem v astero-
idni pas sem po zavzetem
opazovanju, enakem kot
pri vsej posadki, tudi sam
iz prikaza v holiju posku-
šal oceniti naše možnosti
za prehod.
»Navigacijski računalnik!«
je poklical kapitan.
»Da, kapitan,« se je po voja-
ško glasil odziv.
»Zapelji proti meji med
mirujočimi predeli in
močnejšim združevanjem
asteroidov v neprehodne
zapore! Potem narahlo
zavij proti mirujočemu
delu! Naj vse poteka z
nakazanim zaupanjem
296
the normal passability of the asteroid belt. Avoid the first barriers without making any sudden mano-euvres and continue trac-king all possible routes!” Captain Harstan turned to us: “It is quite likely that the majority of the currently free routes will close rapidly. Be ready for a bumpy ride!” He returned to his seat and pressed a button to inflate protective cushions around his body and automatically tighten his safety harness. This offered the maximum protection possible in the case of a collision. As we proceeded to do the same, the commander concen-trated even more closely on the holo-display and continued issuing orders:“Navcom!”“Sir?”“Use code POT7911/X313 to establish a connection for data transfer!”“Yes sir! A connection via code POT7911/X313 will
v normalno prehodnost
asteroidnega pasu. Brez
sunkovitih zavojev se
izmakni prvim zaporam in
nadaljuj ob stalnemu sle-
denju vseh možnih poti!«
Kapitan Harstan se je zrav-
nan obrnil k nam. »Zaradi
dokaj verjetnega hitrega
zapiranja večine sedaj
prostih poti se pripravite
na bolj ostro vožnjo!« je
dejal ter se podal do svo-
jega sedeža in takoj po
namestitvi s pritiskom na
gumb sprožil napihovanje
varnostnih blazin okoli
svojega telesa in zateza-
nje varnostnih pasov. To
je bila maksimalna možna
zaščita v primeru trčenj.
Ostali smo ga posnemali,
kapitan pa je med vse bolj
osredotočenim spremlja-
njem holijevega prikaza
nadaljeval s povelji:
»R. N.!«
»Da, kapitan!«
»S šifrirno kodo POT7911/
X313 vzpostavi zvezo za
prenos podatkov!«
»Da, kapitan! Zveza prek
kode POT7911/X313 bo
297
be established at the pre-scribed intervals.”“Good.” The comman-der cast an eye over the expectant faces around him. “We shall receive constantly updated images of possible routes on the basis of the predicted ori-entations of our asteroids into anti-grouping barri-ers to oppose the Acutins’ attempts to build asteroid barriers. In this way we will know about the clu-stering of our own astero-ids before it even happens. This will help us avoid quite a number of blind alleys and cul-de-sacs. We will also be able to predict the alignment of our aste-roids to ensure our passage through the asteroid belt.”“And what happens if despite everything they prevent us from getting us through?” interrupted a Sensin from somewhere behind us.Captain Harstan did not reply immediately: he was mentally estimating the
vzpostavljena po predpisa-
nih časovnih zaporedjih.«
»Tako.« Kapitan je s pogle-
dom preletel prek bližnjih
obrazov. »Dobili bomo
sprotne prikaze možnih
prehodov na podlagi
predvidenih usmeritev
naših asteroidov za proti-
grupacijske zapore proti
ostrinovskim gradnjam
asteroidnih pasov. Tako
bomo izvedeli za potek
zbiranj naših asteroidov,
še preden bo do njih
prišlo. Precej slepih letov v
zaprte žepe si bomo s tem
prihranili. Ob tem lahko
predvidevamo še stalno
naravnanost naših astero-
idov v premike za zagoto-
vitev našega prehoda skozi
asteroidni pas.«
»In če nam bodo kljub
vsemu onemogočili
prehod?« je vpadel Čutin iz
ozadja.
Kapitan Harstan se je
zazrl predse v miselnem
ocenjevanju verjetnosti
298
probability of our mission failing and all the compli-cations that would ensue. He then looked back at the three-dimensional holo-gram display of the aste-roid belt. “We will succeed. We have to!”Strapped into my fully reclined seat, I absorbed myself in the display of our approach to the aste-roid belt, until at last we drew near to the entry point. Yes, it was here that activity was greatest. The asteroids approached each other and then slowly merged to form longitudi-nal layers. It was difficult to imagine the Acutins triggering such large-scale accumulations for the sake of blocking our flight unless they knew the importance of our mis-sion.“We are entering the aste-roid belt,” announced the navigation computer.The holo-display showed our entry point. The flat concentrations of astero-
neuspeha naše misije in
vseh posledičnih zaple-
tov ter se nato ponovno
zagledal v holijev tridi-
menzionalni prikaz aste-
roidnega pasu. »Uspeli
bomo. Moramo!« je še
dejal.
Zleknjen na nazaj poma-
knjenem naslonjalu svo-
jega sedeža, sem se zatopil
v prikaz našega približeva-
nja asteroidnemu pasu, vse
dokler se nismo začeli pri-
bliževati območju vstopa
vanj. Da, prav v tem delu je
bilo dogajanje najbolj živo.
Asteroidi so se približevali
drug drugemu in se nato
počasi združevali v vzdol-
žne plasti. Prav težko si je
bilo predstavljati sprožanja
tako obsežnih kopičenj za
blokado našega leta brez
poznavanja pomena naše
misije.
»Vstopamo v asteroidni
pas,« je sporočil R. N.
V holiju se je prikazalo
območje našega vstopa.
Ploščate zgostitve aste-
299
ids, all in constant move-ment, some slow and some fast, and simultaneously rotating around axes orien-ted in all directions, began to come to a halt. Now, like detached sections of asteroid layers a thousand times larger, they merged together to form barri-ers of giant proportions. The first asteroid barrier formed right across our flight path. And not only that. I looked at the holo-display in surprise. The relief image of some kind of castle or walled town, with giant gates, was appearing with increasing clarity on the plane of this barrier. Yes, and there was also a kind of path leading to the gates, in the very direction that we were flying. The path ended at the colossal gates, which were closed, set in corre-spondingly colossal walls. I looked at Benesens. He
roidov v stalnem, ene
v počasnem in druge v
hitrejšem premikanju s
sočasnim vrtenjem okoli
vsevprek usmerjenih osi,
so se začele ustavljati, in
kot da bi bile le iztrgani
deli tisočkrat obsežnej-
ših plasti asteroidov, so
se sedaj zlivale v zapore
orjaških dimenzij. In prav
v smeri našega leta se je
najprej izoblikovala taka
asteroidna zapora. Pa ne
le to. Presenečeno sem
gledal v holijev prikaz.
Na tej zaporni ploskvi se
je vse bolj kazal reliefni
prikaz nekakšnega gradu
ali z obzidjem obdanega
mesta z velikimi, glede
na vse dimenzije pa že
kar neverjetno orjaškimi
vrati. Da, prikazala se je
tudi nekakšna pot, ki je
vodila do mestnih vrat
prav v smeri našega leta
in se končala pred temi
orjaškimi zaprtimi vrati v
še bolj orjaškem obzidju.
Ozrl sem se v Dobročuta.
300
was also watching the formation of this relief image. “This message is inten-ded for us,” he said with a slight grimace.“Message?” The idea of messages communica-ted through relief images was a new concept for me. “Are they communicating to us that there is a barrier obstructing our flight, is that it?” I asked. “A barrier, yes, a barrier. But what kind? There are several levels of barriers present in the asteroid belt. This image is telling us that our flight is prohi-bited. This message bears the stamp of the Acutins’ asteroid belt command. There is a likelihood that all their forces across the entire asteroid belt will be engaged.”“And what can we do?” “Whatever happens, we will attempt to break thro-ugh: we have no other choice. Then our fleets from the other side of
Tudi on je zavzeto opazo-
val izoblikovanje tega reli-
efnega prikaza. »Nam je
namenjeno to sporočilo,«
je ugotovil med rahlim
kremženjem ustnic.
»Sporočilo?« Da nam skozi
reliefni prikaz posredujejo
sporočilo, je bila novost
za moje razumevanje
položaja. »Sporočajo nam
zaporo našega leta, kajne?«
sem vprašal.
»Zapora, da, zapora. Samo
kakšna? Več stopenj zapor
je prisotnih na asteroi-
dnem pasu. S tem relief-
nim prikazom nam spo-
ročajo prepoved leta, to
je sporočilo s pečatom
poveljstva Ostrinov za
asteroidni pas. Prisotna je
verjetnost vključitve vseh
njihovih sil prek celotnega
asteroidnega pasu.«
»In kaj lahko naredimo
mi?«
»V vsakem primeru bomo
šli v preboj, saj nam dru-
gega niti ne preostane.
Potem nam bodo lahko
priskočila na pomoč naša
301
the asteroid belt will be able to come to our assis-tance. They are capable of making a deep incursion. But we will have to break through at least three quar-ters of the asteroid belt by ourselves.”“What about their fleets? Can they attack us?”“Yes, they can. But then our fleets will attack theirs.” Benesens once again absorbed himself in the holo-display. “That would mean the start of combat operations on an enormous scale.”“So we can forget about trusting in the ability of our ship’s hull to withstand various impacts?” I tried to be light-hearted, altho-ugh I didn’t feel much like laughing.“In theory they aren’t allowed to attack us until we are halfway through the asteroid belt. But this relief display tells us quite clearly that different rules
ladjevja z nasprotne strani
asteroidnega pasu. Lahko
naredijo globinski vsek.
Toda vsaj skozi tri četrtine
obsega asteroidnega pasu
bi se morali sami prebiti.«
»Kaj pa njihova ladjevja?
Nas lahko napadejo?«
»Da, lahko. Toda potem
bodo naša ladjevja napa-
dla njihova.« Dobročut se
je spet zatopil v holijev
prikaz. »To bi pomenilo
začetek vojnih operacij
izjemnega obsega.«
»Na zaupanje v vzdržljivost
sten naše ladje ob raznih
zaletih vanje pa lahko kar
pozabimo?« sem posku-
šal biti duhovit, čeprav
mi ni bilo nič kaj dosti do
smeha.
»Vsaj do polovice aste-
roidnega pasu nas že ne
smejo uničiti. Da pa za
nas veljajo drugačna pra-
vila kot za vse ostale, je po
tem reliefnem prikazu že
dovolj jasno povedano,«
je Dobročut nadaljeval z
302
apply in our case. At the local level we are already in a state of war. Or we will be at any moment.” Catching sight of my seri-ous expression, he laughed reassuringly: “They’re not going to destroy us!”“Check your safety har-nesses!” The commander’s voice interrupted our con-versation, as a violent change of direction pushed us into our seats with ter-rifying force. The holo-display showed our course: apparently we were headed for the edge of the blockade. The turn lasted all the way to the visible surface of the gro-uped asteroids. We flew over them, towards the edge, and then immedi-ately changed direction again. We all stared at the holo-display. We appeared to be heading towards the area in which we expec-ted our asteroids to col-lect. That was what was supposed to happen, assu-ming that our flight was
razmišljanjem. »Na lokalni
ravni smo v vojnem stanju,
da. Oziroma bomo vsak
čas.« Potem pa se je ob
pogledu na moj zresnjeni
obraz zelo samozavestno
zasmejal: »Ne bodo nas
uničili, ne!«
»Preverite varnostne
pasove na sedežih!« je pre-
kinil pogovore kapitan in
že nas je ostra sprememba
smeri s strahovito silo pri-
tisnila na sedeže.
V holiju se je zarisala
naša pot: na rob zaporne
plošče naj bi prišli. Zavoj
je trajal vse do vidne povr-
šine zbranih asteroidov,
nad katerimi smo potem
zleteli naprej, proti robu,
takoj nato pa smo spet
spremenili smer. Vsi smo
zrli v holi. Ta let naj bi bil
naravnan proti predvide-
nemu območju zbiranja
naših asteroidov.
To bi se moralo zgoditi.
Vsaj če so naravnani
na usklajenost našega
leta s strateško vode-
nim kopičenjem naših
303
coordinated with the stra-tegically managed accu-mulation of our asteroids, which we were expecting to see in the holo-display at any moment. But for the time being we could see nothing of the sort. We had almost reached the edge, but still nothing. The con-centration of Acutin aste-roids was getting nearer. We held our course. Despite our tense expec-tancy, nothing happened. All that we could see on the display was an image of our ship flying about the relentless accumula-tion of Acutin asteroids. We had already covered a distance that was twice the original breadth of the accumulation of Acutin asteroids beneath us, yet we still continued on. The accumulation of astero-ids was proceeding at the same speed as our flight. Flying round it was the-refore not going to work. I began glancing increa-singly frequently at Bene-
asteroidov, kar bi vsak
čas moralo biti vidno v
holijevem prikazu. A za
zdaj še nismo zaznali nič
takega. Skoraj tik ob rob
smo prišli, pa še vedno
nič. Le plasti ostrino-
vskih asteroidov so se
zgoščevale v naši smeri.
Leteli smo naprej. A kljub
napetemu pričakova-
nju se ni zgodilo nič, in
vse, kar smo lahko spre-
mljali, je bil samo prikaz
naše ladje nad vztrajnim
zbiranjem ostrinovskih
asteroidov. Prešli smo že
dvakratno razdaljo prvo-
tne širine nakopičenega
dela ostrinovskih astero-
idov pod nami, a je let še
kar naprej trajal in trajal.
Kopičenje asteroidov
je potekalo s hitrostjo
našega leta. Tako nam
obhod že ne more uspeti.
Vse pogosteje sem pogle-
doval proti Dobročutu,
304
sens, who was following events in the holo-display.“They’ll soon be coming to our aid,” he said calmly by way of response. “In any case we cannot break through on our own. The forces the Acutins have thrown into this bloc-kade of our flight are too great.” He suddenly raised his head: “Yes, there they are!” The sound of cries spread throughout the command bridge. The agglomeration of our asteroids had taken on the outlines of an Ame-rican football player – a quarterback – complete with helmet and shoulder pads, charging at the point where the Acutins’ astero-ids were assembling.“He will make space for us! Hurrah!” A cheerful shout drowned out the other sounds.“Yes, we will dive into the interior of the asteroid belt right next to the quarter-back,” explained Captain Harstan.
ki je zavzeto opazoval
dogajanje v holiju.
“Nam bodo že priskočili
na pomoč,” je mirno odvr-
nil na moj pogled. “Sicer
pa se sami tako ali tako ne
moremo prebiti. Preveč
množične sile so Ostrini
vrgli v blokado našega
leta.” Nato je nenadoma
privzdignil glavo: “Da, tu
so!” Skozi ves prostor je
zavel šum vzklikov. Zdru-
ževanje naših asteroidov
je dobilo obrise orjaškega
igralca ragbija s čelado
na glavi in z oklopljenimi
rameni, zagnanega v smeri
zbiranja ostrinovskih aste-
roidov.
“Prostor nam bo naredil!
Huraaa!” je radosten klic
preglasil šum v prostoru.
„Da, tik ob tem ‘igralcu
ragbija’ se bomo spustili
v notranjost asteroidnega
pasu,“ je pojasnil kapitan
Harstan.
305
Meanwhile the quarter-back was already approa-ching the point where the blockade was spreading fastest – represented on the display as a stampe-ding herd of giant buffalo which the Acutins had formed in response to the Sensins’ quarterback. The first collisions were alre-ady taking place between the asteroids of the two sides, which were rapidly multiplying into an ever more awe-inspiring spec-tacle: as the million-strong herd of buffalo continued to advance, the power-ful quarterback used his armoured shoulders to drive the whole attacking wave before him, the force of the impact sending the buffalo flying in all directi-ons. And just like the slow eddy that forms behind a great rock in a rushing stream, a calm area free of colliding asteroids formed behind the quarterback. That was where we could break through! The ship’s
Medtem se je ‘igralec
ragbija’ že približal naj-
hitrejšemu širjenju blo-
kadne plošče, prikazane
z dirom nepregledne
črede orjaških bizonov,
ki so jo Ostrini izobliko-
vali v odgovor na ragbista
Čutinov. Že so se začeli
tudi prvi trki asteroidov z
obeh strani, hitro namno-
ženih v vse bolj veliča-
stnem prizoru, v katerem
je med prodiranjem mili-
jonglave črede bizonov
silni ragbist s svojimi
mogočnimi oklopljenimi
rameni odrival pred sabo
ves napadajoči val, da so
se prikazi bizonov razle-
tavali po trčenjih. In tako
kot tik za mogočno skalo
v deroči vodi nastane
upočasnjeni vrtinec, ki
nima moči odnašanja
česarkoli v smeri dero-
čega toka, je tik za ragbi-
stom nastal mirujoči
predel brez trkov ali zbi-
ranj asteroidov. Tam skozi
se lahko prebijemo! In že
nas je hiter zavoj naše
306
rapid banking manoeuvre threw me against the straps of my harness with such force that the breath was forced out of my lungs. We were flying along the armoured shoulders of the charging quarterback through the zone where the asteroids were colli-ding with the greatest vio-lence, in the very thick of the action. For as far as we could see through the great window of the command bridge, the sky glowed red with the powerful explosi-ons that followed the col-lisions. There were thou-sands of them. Millions. Viewed from a distance, all that could be seen was the quarterback’s progress through the stampeding herd of buffalo, and the buffalo colliding with his helmet and somersaulting over his padded shoulders. From close up, through the command bridge window, it was possible to see the violent collisions of the asteroids. Some asteroids
ladje dvignil v zategnjene
pasove, da mi je zmanjko-
valo sape. Zleteli smo ob
oklopljenih ramenih pro-
dirajočega ragbista prav v
pasu najsilovitejših zale-
tavanj asteroidov, v nji-
hovem najgostejšem pre-
delu, in to z obeh strani.
Vse tja, do koder smo
lahko vdeli skozi veliko
okno poveljniškega pro-
stora, je žarelo od silnih
eksplozijskih razpadanj
ob trčenjih. Bilo jih je na
tisoče. Na milijone. Ob
pogledu na celoto pa je
bilo videti le prebijanje
ragbista skozi dirjajočo
čredo bizonov, zaletava-
nje bizonov v njegovo
čelado in njihovo prevra-
čanje prek njegovih oklo-
pljenih ramen. Bolj natan-
čen pogled iz bližine,
kar skozi veliko okno
komandnega prostora,
pa je lahko uzrl ta silovita
trčenja asteroidov nepo-
sredno. V skoraj mimo-
307
simply grazed the astero-ids opposite them, sending up great showers of sparks; others crashed together causing great sections of the rocky surface to break off. The biggest explosions came when asteroids colli-ded head-on. These would explode in their entirety. Some of the biggest explo-sions were probably due to the energy stores in the interior of the asteroids or accumulations of energy bolts and explosive bombs. At any rate the explosions that followed these collisi-ons were more powerful than one would expect from the mere collision of two giant rocks. We were now flying direc-tly into the interior of the asteroid belt. Deep into the interior, and towards the middle our way appe-ared to be clear. Even the pressure produced by our rapid manoeuvring soon subsided, allowing us to breathe normally and then finally even to talk, altho-
bežnem letu so se naj-
prej z robovi obrusili ob
nasproten asteroid, udar-
jali so drug v drugega v
silovitem iskrenju, drugi
so se zadevali v mečkanju
velikih površinskih delov,
najbolj pa so se zableščali
ob čelnem trku z vso
močjo. Tedaj jih je v celoti
razneslo, nekatere najbolj
bleščeče verjetno zaradi
skladišč energije v nji-
hovi notranjosti ali zaradi
nakopičenih energetskih
izstrelkov z eksploziv-
nimi bombami. Vsekakor
je svetloba eksplozije ob
trkih presegala pričako-
vano iskrenje ob trčenjih
kamnitih asteroidov.
Potem smo zleteli narav-
nost v notranjost astero-
idnega pasu. Da, kar glo-
boko, in proti sredini se
nam je kazala odprta pot.
Tudi pritisk zaradi zavija-
nja je kmalu popustil, osla-
bel do najprej ponovno
omogočenega normalnega
dihanja ter nato končno še
do govorjenja, pa čeprav je
308
ugh some effort was still required to get the words out, because the course we were following still con-tained several twists and turns.“These relief images…” I began, but it was hard to find the right word for these strange goings-on.“Yes, our side responded correctly,” said Benesens, who clearly understood my astonishment at the explo-sive collisions of the giant bands of asteroids from which the relief images appeared, in places taking on sculpture-like forms and coming together to produce complete images like our “quarterback”.
“We usually operate at many levels, with the constant presence of the intellect or at least through associations. The quarter-back with his protective armour represents plea-sure in a game that is hard but fair. In our case this enables the inclusion of a
bilo potrebno za posame-
zne izrečene besede kar
malo napora, ker je krivu-
lja leta občasno še vedno
zavijugala.
“Ti reliefni prikazi. . .” sem
začel ter zastal v iskanju
prave besede za vso to
zame nenavadno oziroma
težje razumljivo dogaja-
nje.
“Da, naša stran se je pra-
vilno odzvala,” je rekel
Dobročut z razumeva-
njem mojega čudenja nad
eksplozivnimi trčenji orja-
ških plasti asteroidov, iz
katerih so bili reliefni pri-
kazi, ki so mestoma dobi-
vali skulpturne oblike vse
do zaključene celote, kot
je bil ‘igralec ragbija’.
“Običajno delujemo več-
plastno, s stalno priso-
tnostjo intelekta ali vsaj z
nakazanimi asociacijami.
Oklopljeni ragbist pomeni
veselje do igre v trdem
spopadu, to nam v našem
primeru omogoča vklju-
čitev veliko naših sil ob
309
considerable part of our forces while at the same time clearly showing our attitude towards events in this sphere as a whole. Despite the hard fighting, all of this is merely a game for us. That is our mes-sage.”“But that can’t be true!” I gasped.“Of course not. But in view of the extent of enga-gement of our forces, we shall merely talk about our readiness to play hard.”“And if they respond the same way?”“They will. They will respond very sharply. But as a last resort we will still have the possibility of striking first, so that at least it is we who begin the war. This could also lead to a re-establishing of the balance of power, altho-ugh at a cost. In my opi-nion this will not be neces-sary, since we can already count with considerable certainty on passing thro-ugh the seventy-fifth door.
sočasnem jasno pokaza-
nem odnosu do celotnega
dogajanja na tem podro-
čju. Kljub trdemu boju je
vse to za nas le igra. To je
naše sporočilo.”
“Saj to vendar ne more biti
res!” mi je ušlo.
“Seveda ne. Toda ne glede
na obseg vključitve naših
sil bomo mi govorili zgolj
o naši pripravljenosti na
trdo igro.”
“In če bodo oni odgovorili
enako?”
“Saj bodo. Zelo ostro bodo
odgovorili. Toda nam bo v
skrajnem primeru ostala
možnost prvega napada,
da namreč vsaj prvi zač-
nemo vojno. Tudi tako
bi se lahko vzpostavilo
ponovno ravnovesje sil,
čeprav z žrtvami. Sicer pa
po moje to ne bo potrebno,
ker zdaj že lahko s precej-
šnjo gotovostjo računamo
na prehod skozi 75. vrata.
310
It will not go wrong either for you or for us.”“And if after evaluating the intensity of this game, or whatever you want to call it, the Acutins give the order to destroy us using all their forces?”
Benesens made a wry face and moved his head from side to side as he consi-dered his answer: “Our forces must not allow them to do this.” But I got the impression that he was telling me what he hoped was going to happen rather than expressing an opinion born out of solid conviction. It was going to be dangerous – that’s what my feelings were telling me.
“Initiating spiral flight” announced the navigation computer. The safety harnesses tigh-tened once again. I gri-pped the armrests, rested my head against the hea-drest and took some deep
Ne tebi ne nam ne bo spo-
dletelo.”
“In če bodo po presoji
intenzivnosti te igre ali
kakor koli jo že imenujete
Ostrini dali povelje za naše
uničenje vsem svojim obo-
roženim silam?”
Dobročut se je rahlo
nakremžil med zmajeva-
njem z glavo, nakazujoč
težji razmislek: “Tega jim
pač naše sile ne smejo
dovoliti.” Toda jaz sem
dobil vtis, da mi govori bolj
svoje želje kot iz nekega
bolj trdnega prepričanja.
Nevarno bo, mi je že kar
do neprijetnosti govoril
občutek.
“Prehajamo v spiralni let!”
se je oglasil računalniški
upravljalec, R-Navigator.
Varnostni pasovi so se
ponovno močno zategnili,
oprijel sem se naslonjala za
roke, pomaknil glavo nazaj
na vzglavnik in nekajkrat
311
breaths. I already knew how quickly one could find oneself gasping for breath during these spiral flights, although perhaps it wasn’t always just the tremendous pressure of the violent turns that took my breath away… Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the holo-display. Our projec-ted flight path was full of twists and sharp spiralling turns…I stared in incom-prehension. Our route appeared to turn comple-tely to one side, below the compressed layers of the enemy asteroids, through the sculpture-like clusters of our asteroids and then once again beneath the Acutin layers to the left in a long turn. Yes, the whole asteroid belt would soon be in play, I concluded. “A well-conceived plan,” I thought to myself. “At least let’s hope so.” Then our ship rotated around its longitudinal axis in the direction of our
globoko vdihnil. Zdaj sem
že vedel, kako hitro lahko
pri teh njihovih spiralnih
letih ostaneš brez sape, pa
čeprav morda nisem ostal
brez nje vedno samo zaradi
strahovitih pritiskov ob
ostrih zavojih. S kotičkom
očesa sem še bežno pogle-
dal v holijev prikaz. Črta
našega predvidenega leta
je postala zelo vijugasta z
ostrimi spiralnimi zavoji,
usmerjenimi . . . Pogled mi
je zastal v nerazumevanju.
Povsem je zavila vstran, tja
pod strnjene plasti naspro-
tnikovih asteroidov, skozi
skulpturno oblikovane
gruče naših asteroidov, in
potem spet pod temi ostri-
novskimi plastmi na levo
v dolg zavoj. Da, ves aste-
roidni pas bo kmalu v igri,
sem lahko sklepal iz pri-
kaza. “Dobro zastavljeno,”
sem ugotavljal sam zase.
“Vsaj upajmo.”
Tedaj se je naša ladja zavr-
tela okrog svoje vzdolžne
osi v smeri našega leta, in
312
flight and we were already flying in steep banking turns through the clusters of our asteroids, shaped into sculptures suggesting human figures. It was wild and tiring, but as safe as if we were in a sheltered zone. Our asteroids gave way to us or allowed us to pass through secret entrances that opened at our approach, and on through their empty inte-rior. It was becoming increasingly evident that all this had already been calculated and prepared in advance. The only pro-blem was that the violence of the turns continued to throw us from one side to the other. I maintained my firm grip on my chair’s armrests. We were really being tossed about, and just when I had got used to it enough to breathe more or less normally, another line appeared across our trajectory in the holo-dis-play. A moving sphere was clearly visible on this line.
že smo v ostrih vijugah
leteli skozi naše gruče aste-
roidov, oblikovane v skulp-
ture z nakazanimi člove-
škimi liki. Divje, naporno,
toda varno kot v zavetrju,
v katerem so se nam naši
asteroidi umikali ali pa nas
kar spuščali skozi svoje, tik
pred nami razpirajoče se
skrivne vhode in naprej
skozi prazno notranjost.
Točno tako, kot je bilo
vse bolj očitno, da je to že
prej preračunano in pri-
pravljeno. Le zaradi ostrih
zavojev nas je premetavalo
zdaj sem, zdaj tja. Sam sem
se ves čas trdno oklepal
naslonjala za roke. Pošteno
nas je premetavalo, to že,
in ravno ko sem se dovolj
prilagodil za kolikor toliko
normalno dihanje, se je
ob črti našega leta v holiju
prikazala še ena črta leta
z opazno gibajočo se kro-
313
I looked at Benesens, who answered curtly without taking his eyes off the holo-display: “They mean to cut us off.”“How?”“Look more closely at that moving sphere!”I could make out outlines. Another bison or buffalo. All the Sensins around me were staring at the dis-play too. Then the image began to grow larger and we began to see it closer up with increasing clarity, until at last we could cle-arly see a snorting buffalo with its horns lowered for the charge. The holo-display zoomed in even closer to show the layers of asteroids that formed the buffalo’s exterior and hide, and then a presen-tation of the individual strata. The buffalo’s giant head was composed of tightly packed asteroids. There must have been tho-usands of them – millions of them, of different sizes and shapes.
glico na njej. Pogledal sem
Dobročuta, ta pa je samo
na kratko pojasnil, ne da
bi umaknil pogled s holija:
“Pot nam nameravajo pre-
sekati.”
“Kako?”
“Poglejte natančneje tisto
premikajočo se kroglo!”
Lahko sem razbral obrise.
Spet nekakšen bivol ali
bizon. Tudi vsi Čutini
okoli mene so zrli v holijev
prikaz. Tedaj se je začel ta
prikaz večati, pogled nanj
je bil vse bližji, vse razloč-
nejši, dokler nismo jasno
razbrali puhajočega bivola
z rogovi, usmerjenimi v
napad. Holijev prikaz pa je
prinašal še vse močnejšo
povečavo z bolj vidnimi
sloji asteroidov, ki so tvo-
rili nekakšno bizonovo
zunanjost s kožuhom, ter
nato še predstavitev posa-
meznih plasti. Vsa orjaška
bivolja glava je bila sesta-
vljena iz tesno zgoščenih
asteroidov. Na tisoče, na
milijone jih je moralo biti,
raznih velikosti in oblik.
314
“They have accumulated quite a considerable mass here,” I commented, half to myself. “It won’t be easy to stop it, will it?”Benesens did not reply. He continued to monitor the holo-display’s images of the individual sectors around our ship. We all waited expectantly. Our side had surely already prepared its response: we were convinced of it. The thin hull of our ship would not survive a collision with such an enormous mass, and yet there was less and less space for our ship to fly in. We would soon have no room left to manoeuvre. A collision with such masses would pulverise us. Even so, around the holo-display all was calm and silence. And expectancy. This was as it should be. The real question was whether our response would be power-ful enough. This was not so easy to believe, altho-ugh there was a strong
“Tu pa so nakopičili kar
precej mase,” sem navr-
gel napol zase, napol kot
komentar. “Zlepa je ne bo
možno ustaviti, kajne?”
Dobročut ni odgovoril. Še
naprej je pazljivo spremljal
holijeve prikaze posame-
znih predelov okoli naše
ladje. Vsi smo zrli tja v pri-
čakovanju. Odgovor naših
je moral biti že pripra-
vljen, kot smo bili vsi pre-
pričani. S to tanko lupino
naše ladje se že nismo
mogli zaletavati v tako
orjaške mase. Pa tudi pro-
stor leta naše ladje se je vse
bolj ožil. Nobena možnost
manevriranja nam ne bo
ostala. Nalet takih mas bi
nas potem zmlel. Vendar
sta bila v vsem prostoru ob
holiju le mir in tišina. Sicer
pričakujoča. Pa vendar.
Saj tako mora biti. Bolj je
bilo vprašanje, ali bo naš
odgovor dovolj močan,
česar pa ni bilo tako lahko
verjeti, čeprav je bilo med
posadko prisotno zelo
315
sense of hope among the crew. At least that is what the expressions on their faces led me to believe. I too was waiting for a response from our side – a response that would be tri-ggered from the Sensins’ central command for the asteroid belt.
Suddenly I heard a murmur of voices. The Sensins sti-rred excitedly. Everyone was gazing at the holo-di-splay. A kind of glimmer appeared but I couldn’t make out anything else. Nothing more definite. “Where? What?” I asked Benesens. “The individual clusters of our asteroids are com-bining; a new quarterback is on its way,” he replied.I still couldn’t make it out. All I could see were the movements of our aste-roids. Then I spotted the
močno upanje. Vsaj izrazi
obrazov so mi vsiljevali
take pomisleke z ugibanji.
Da, prav vsiljevale so se
mi take misli. Še sam sem
obstal v pričakovanju odgo-
vora naše strani, ki naj bi
bil sprožen iz osrednjega
čutinovskega poveljstva za
asteroidni pas.
Tedaj je zašumelo, vse več
glasov in pritajenih vzkli-
kov se je zaslišalo med
živahnim premikanjem
Čutinov. Vsi so zrli v holi.
Prikazalo se je neko svetli-
kanje. Več pa nisem mogel
razbrati. Ničesar bolj dolo-
čenega ni bilo videti. “Kje?
Kaj?” sem vprašal Dobro-
čuta.
“Posamezne že oblikovane
gruče naših asteroidov se
združujejo, naš novi ‘igra-
lec ragbija’ prihaja,” mi je
odvrnil.
Še vedno nisem mogel
razbrati nobenega ‘igralca
ragbija’. Le premikanje
naših asteroidov sem lahko
zaznal. Potem pa se mi je le
316
outline of a helmet, part of an arm, and then the contours of padded sho-ulders. At last I could see it. Our trajectory appeared on the display. We were moving directly towards the approaching herd of buffalo. The holo-display now showed all three lines of movement: the quarter-back, the herd of buffalo and us, all at the predicted intervals. The noisy cries died down. We would all come together at the same time. If our ship found itself between the quar-terback and the buffalo at the moment of impact, nothing would be left of us. Thousands if not mil-lions of asteroids would be utterly crushed. And some of them had a diameter of several kilometres. The layers of these asteroids, at least on the heads of the buffalo, were so dense that nothing could survive a collision. Or, even worse, the collision of two of these massive clusters.
pokazal obris čelade, del
roke, in tudi obrise oklo-
pljenih ramen sem lahko
prepoznal. Da, končno
sem lahko videl. Prikazala
se je črta naše smeri giba-
nja. Naravnost proti priha-
jajoči čredi bizonov je bila
usmerjena. V holiju so se
pokazale vse tri črte giba-
nja: igralca ragbija, pot
bizonove črede in naša,
vse s predvidenimi časov-
nimi premiki. Po glasnih
vzklikih je spet vse utih-
nilo. Vsi bomo na kupu. Če
se naša ladja znajde med
‘igralcem ragbija’ in ‘bizo-
novo čredo’, tik preden se
bosta zaletela drug v dru-
gega, v središču trčenja ne
bo ostalo od nas nič. Na
tisoče, na milijone astero-
idov bo popolnoma zdro-
bljenih. Pa imajo nekateri
kar več kilometrov pre-
mera. Plasti teh asteroidov,
vsaj na bizonovih glavah,
pa so bile tako zgoščene,
da nič ne bi moglo preži-
veti ob njihovem naletu.
Oziroma, kar je še huje, ob
trčenju dveh tako masiv-
nih gruč.
317
“Navcom, what will the passability of this sector be after a collision?” Something about the tone of the commander’s voice attracted our attention.“The analysis from hea-dquarters gives a negli-gible possibility of a bre-akthrough following a collision of the two sides. We have to overtake them. Headquarters recom-mends overtaking them by firing the emergency booster rockets. In all the simulations they have car-ried out, the interior of the asteroids remains an unknown factor, especi-ally as regards the quantity of explosive substances in the individual asteroids. And since we don’t know how the energy stores and energy bombs are distri-buted among them, we cannot predict the density or trajectory of the explo-ded fragments of aste-roid.”
“So our chances cannot
“R-Navigator, kakšna bo
prehodnost tega področja
po trčenju?” Kapitanov
glas je s svojim privzdi-
gnjenim tonom pritegnil
našo pozornost.
“Analize poveljstva dajejo
našemu prehodu po trče-
nju obeh strani zanemar-
ljivo majhne možnosti pre-
boja. Prehiteti jih moramo.
Tudi priporočilo povelj-
stva nam svetuje prehi-
tevanje z vžigom kratko-
trajnih rezervnih motor-
jev za izjemne pospeške.
Neznanka v opravljenih
simulacijah pa je notra-
njost asteroidov, predvsem
količina eksplozivne snovi
po posameznih asteroidih.
In ker ne vemo, kako so v
njih razporejene energet-
ske cisterne in energetske
bombe, ne moremo pred-
videti ne gostote ne smeri
leta razstreljenih delov
asteroidov.”
“Torej iz holijevega pri-
318
be seen from the holo-di-splay,” continued Captain Harstan. The navigation computer then showed the probable chronological sequence of our positions with regard to the collision between the opposing sides. It now became apparent that the success or failure of our flight depended more on the possibility of unfo-reseen delays caused by unexpected obstacles. Otherwise a breakthrough should be possible, or even fairly certain. Captain Harstan spread his arms helplessly. “Without eventual obstacles… What kind of reasoning is that?”“I have just received an updated recommenda-tion,” continued the navi-gation computer calmly. “Even in the case of a minor obstacle slowing us down, a breakthrough is possible. Our units will help us by firing rockets at smaller groups of astero-ids.”
kaza naše možnosti niso
razvidne,” je nadaljeval
posvetovanje kapitan
Harstan, R-Navigator pa
je nato še predstavil ver-
jetno časovno zaporedje
naših položajev glede na
nalet obeh strani, in pri
tem se nam je neuspeh
našega pravočasnega pre-
leta kazal bolj v odvisnosti
od morebitnih nepredvi-
denih, zaradi nenadnih
ovir povzročenih zastojev.
Sicer naj bi bil možen, celo
dovolj zanesljiv.
Kapitan Harstan je
nemočno razširil roke.
“Brez morebitnih ovir…
Kakšno razmišljanje pa je
zdaj to?”
“Pravkar sem dobil dopol-
njeno priporočilo,” je
povsem mirno nadaljeval
R.N. “Tudi v primeru upo-
časnitve zaradi manjše
ovire je naš prelet možen.
V pomoč nam bodo od
strani raketirali manjše
skupine asteroidov.”
319
“Very well,” agreed the commander. “Did they give at least an approxi-mate estimate of the quan-tity of explosives in the Acutins’ asteroids?”“No.”“Hmm.” The commander considered for a moment. Powerful explosions of asteroids could be fatal, although we would still have some possibility of manoeuvre. “All right, Navcom. Full speed ahead! Find me the optimum eva-sive manoeuvres!”The lines of possible flight paths appeared on the dis-play. They appeared to be sufficiently passable, with enough open space for manoeuvring and the chance to take evasive action in the case of col-lision with a single aste-roid.“Navcom, are those moving dots an asteroid shower?” asked the com-mander without taking his eyes off the display. “The Acutins are direc-
“Prav,” se je strinjal kapi-
tan. “Ali so navedli vsaj
približne ocene količine
eksplozivnih snovi v ostri-
novskih asteroidih?”
“Ne.”
“Hm.” Kapitan je še malo
pomišljal. Prav močne
eksplozije asteroidov bi
lahko bile usodne, čeprav
bi nam nekaj možnosti
manevriranja vseeno še
ostalo. “Prav, R-Navigator.
S polno hitrostjo naprej!
Poišči optimalne izmike!”
V holiju so se zarisovale
možne poti leta. Tudi
dovolj prehodne so bile
videti, s kar dovolj odpr-
tega prostora za manevri-
ranje in z dokaj pogosto
možnostjo izmikanja ob
naletu posameznega aste-
roida.
“R-Navigator, ali so te pre-
mikajoče se pikice asteroi-
dni dež?” je brez umikanja
pogleda s holija vprašal
kapitan.
“Ostrini usmerjajo te aste-
320
ting these asteroids into our path,” explained the navigation computer, sho-wing the objectives of these hostile asteroids and the probable movements of the Sensins’ asteroids to protect us. “The majority of them are only inten-ded to clear the way for their individual asteroids, which should come within range of us. Most probably at the passages between the individual sculptu-re-like formations of our asteroids. That is where the layers of our asteroids are weakest.”Our flight through the per-meable Sensin asteroids, within individual clusters resembling geometric figures, proceeded smo-othly and without hold-up despite the sharp twists and turns, although tension mounted as we awaited the arrival of the asteroid shower or the breakthro-ugh asteroid predicted by the simulation – the one for which the others were
roide na našo pot,” je poja-
snil R-Navigator med prika-
zovanjem ciljne usmeritve
teh, nam sovražnih aste-
roidov ter verjetnih pre-
mikov asteroidnih plasti
Čutinov v našo zaščito.
“Večina je namenjena le
za utiranje poti njihovim
posameznim asteroidom,
ki naj bi se nam približali
na strelno razdaljo. Najver-
jetneje na prehodih med
posameznimi skulpturno
oblikovanimi združenji
naših asteroidov. Tam so
plasti naših asteroidov naj-
šibkejše.”
Let skozi za nas prepu-
stne čutinovske astero-
ide znotraj posameznih
gruč z videzom geometrij-
skih likov je sprva kljub
ostremu vijuganju pote-
kal mirno, brez zastojev,
seveda ob vse bolj napetem
pričakovanju asteroidnega
dežja oziroma simulacijske
napovedi za prebojni aste-
roid, namreč za tistega, ki
naj bi mu ostali le krčili
321
merely clearing a path and piercing our protective layers. It was probable that the Acutins had already selected it or – even more likely – that they had selec-ted a number of asteroids, at least one of which was then expected to strike our ship or at least fire an energy rocket at us. In the holo-display the explosi-ons of the enemy astero-ids as they crashed into our protective layers were becoming ever denser. Suddenly the showers of sparks in the impact area closer to us spread rapidly and intensified over the entire section of the route into which we had just turned. “Prepare for eva-sive action!” came the commander’s order, altho-ugh the threat was alre-ady clearly visible from the holo-display. After a few tense moments a con-centrated series of enemy asteroids approached the same section of our aste-
pot in zanj prebijali naše
zaščitne plasti. Najbrž so
ga Ostrini že vnaprej dolo-
čili ali so jih, verjetneje,
določili le nekaj, od katerih
naj bi potem vsaj enemu
uspelo treščiti v našo ladjo
ali pa vsaj izstreliti v nas
energetsko raketo. In v
holiju so se že začele kazati
vse gostejše razstrelitve
nasprotnih asteroidov ob
trkih z našimi zaščitnimi
plastmi. Nenadoma pa se
je na najbližjem delu aste-
roidnih trkov iskrenje raz-
širilo in se okrepilo nad
celotnim predelom poti,
na katero smo pravkar
zavili.
“Pripravite se na sunko-
vito izmikanje!” se je zasli-
šalo kapitanovo povelje,
čeprav je bila grožnja že iz
holijevega prikaza dovolj
jasno razvidna. Po nekaj
napetih trenutkih je osre-
dotočen niz nasprotnih
asteroidov z zaporednimi
zaleti v isti predel naših
322
roid layers in parallel and struck the defensive bar-rier across our path, crea-ting an opening. “Three asteroids!” anno-unced the navigation computer. “At our pre-sent speed, impact in 28 seconds. Am reducing speed. Our asteroid will come from our left, from behind, just above us.” And after a few moments of deceleration which would have thrown us from our seats were it not for our safety harnesses, the view through the great window of the command bridge revealed an asteroid flying past us and disappearing into the distance. The col-lision would come at any moment now. It would be a violent impact. The only question was: would the fragments of the two asteroids disperse before we reached the point of impact or would we col-lide with some large piece of debris. We didn’t have long to wait. The flash
asteroidnih plasti udaril
v obrambno zaporo prek
črte našega leta, da je nad
nami zazijala odprtina, in
oglasil se je R-Navigator:
“Trije asteroidi! Trčenje ob
naši sedanji hitrosti bi bilo
čez 28 sekund. Zato zmanj-
šujem hitrost. Z naše leve,
od zadaj, bo tik nad nami
zletel naš asteroid.” In po
nekaj trenutkih zaviral-
nega leta, med katerim bi
nas brez varnostnih pasov
že odneslo s sedežev, smo
nad sabo skozi veliko
okno poveljniškega pro-
stora lahko videli mimolet
asteroida s hitrim izginja-
njem v daljo pred nami.
Vsak čas je moralo počiti.
Tresk bo silovit. Vprašanje
je le bilo, ali se bodo delci
obeh asteroidov razleteli
že pred našim prihodom v
točko trčenja ali pa bomo
še naleteli na kak večji
del. Pa nam ni bilo treba
dolgo čakati. Blesk silovite
323
of a powerful explosion was clearly visible from where we were. I instan-tly closed my eyes. When I next looked through the window I saw a section of asteroid measuring several tens of metres hurtle by on our right. The ship whee-led round violently, went into a climb, banked to the left and then spiralled past several other asteroid fragments before levelling out and continuing quietly in a straight line along the planned route. “The second attacking asteroid has also been destroyed,” reported the navigation computer after a brief pause. “Six of our rocket-powered astero-ids are flying to block the third one. It cannot evade them. Our way is clear.” The navigation computer’s report was also visible on the holo-display. It showed all the trajectories: ours, those of our asteroids, those of the Acutins’ aste-roids, and that of the last
eksplozije je segel vse do
nas. V trenutku sem zami-
žal, in ko sem se ponovno
zazrl skozi okno, sem lahko
le negibno opazoval let več
deset metrov velikega dela
asteroida desno od nas.
Ladja se je sunkovito zavr-
tela, zavila navzgor, nato
na levo in v spiralnem letu
mimo še nekaj večjih in
manjših ostankov astero-
idov ter se ponovno zrav-
nala v mirni premočrtni
let po začrtani poti.
“Uničen je tudi drugi napa-
dajoči asteroid,” je kmalu
zatem sporočil R-Naviga-
tor. “Šest naših asteroidov
na raketni pogon pa leti v
zaporo preostalemu. Ne
more se jim izogniti. Pot
je prosta.” R-Navigator je
svoje poročanje sproti
prenašal v holijev prikaz:
vse črte leta, tako naše
ladje kot asteroidov, tako
naših kot ostrinovskih ter
324
of the three attacking aste-roids. The crew gave an enthusiastic cheer despite the approach of the last remaining asteroid. “It’s going to hit one of ours!” I heard as I held my breath and waited for the explosion. An enormous boom resounded through the ship. It was at least ten times more powerful than all the previous explosions put together. The two aste-roids must have been full of explosives. The crew gave vent to their enthusi-asm in a serious of noisy shouts, despite the ship turning steeply to avoid the remains of the astero-ids – which the navigation computer had spotted in good time. We had come through this blockade without losing time. But now the most dangerous part was before us. The frontal collision between the quarterback and the buffalo. The holo-display was already showing a simulation of our ship’s
zadnjega od treh, so kazale
tako. Sledil je navdušen
vzklik kljub približevanju
preostalega asteroida.
“Razletel se bo ob enem od
naših!” sem zaslišal med
zadrževanim dihom pred
bližnjo eksplozijo. Silovito
je odjeknilo. Vsaj desetkrat
močneje je bilo od obeh
predhodnih eksplozij
skupaj. Oba asteroida sta
morala biti napolnjena z
eksplozivom. Navdušenje
se je sprostilo v bučnih
vzklikih kljub ostrim zavo-
jem, s katerimi smo se izo-
gnili preostalim delom, ki
jih je pravočasno zaznal
naš R-Navigator. Prešli
smo to zaporo, in to brez
izgubljenega časa. Toda
zdaj je bil pred njimi še
najnevarnejši del. Čelno
trčenje ‘igralca ragbija’ z
‘bizonom’. V holiju se je
že pokazal simuliran let
naše ladje, začrtan tik ob
325
flight path, along the line of the colliding masses of the gigantic layers of aste-roids of the two sides. But here there were almost no more asteroids to be seen. The images of the quar-terback and the buffalo had become so vivid that I couldn’t help thinking of a clash between living beings. They radiated the impression of a gui-ding intelligence. This intelligence may have been external, since both groups of asteroids were directed by the respective asteroid belt commands, but nevertheless I had the sensation that a part of all this intelligence had been transferred to these two colossal combatants. Then the quarterback stretched out its arm. “Does it want to take the buffalo by the horns?” I wondered aloud, “or will they really clash as though these were their bodies?”Benesens shrugged: “This will be of little importance
naletavanju orjaških plasti
asteroidov z obeh strani,
druge na drugo. Pa astero-
idov v tem prikazu skoraj
ni bilo več videti. Prikaza
‘igralca ragbija’ in ‘bizona’
sta postajala tako živa, da
se nisem mogel ubraniti
občutku spopada živih bitij.
Razum je vel iz njiju. Sicer
je bil ta razum zunanji, obe
poveljstvi asteroidnega
pasu sta namreč usmerjali
tako eno kot drugo skupino
asteroidov, toda imel sem
občutek, kakor da se je del
vsega tega razuma preselil
prav v tadva orjaška borca.
Tedaj je ‘igralec ragbija’
iztegnil roko predse. “Da
bi prijel bizona za roge?”
mi je ušel pomislek. .“Ali se
bosta res spopadla, kot da
so to njuni telesi?”
Dobročut je v odgovor
najprej zmignil z rameni:
326
to us. We must avoid a frontal collision, beca-use if we don’t there will be no breakthrough on our part.” After a brief reflection he shook his head and continued: “The probability shown on the holo-display of our flight between the quarterback and the buffalo does not agree with the recom-mendation from asteroid belt command. We will not outrun this collision, even though headquarters say that our chances are good. The situation shown by the holo-display is not promising. The question is: who to believe? Unless headquarters have some-thing else up their sleeves, which is also possible.” On the display the quarter-back and the buffalo had begun their charge. Each of their movements spoke of a tensing of muscles, powerful momentum, inc-reasing speed and a vio-lent attack. The collision of millions of asteroids
“To bo za nas bolj malo
pomembno. Čelnemu trče-
nju se moramo izogniti,
ker v nasprotnem ne bo
nobenega našega preleta.”
Po krajšem premišljanju
ob rahlem zmajevanju z
glavo pa je še navrgel: “Ta,
v holiju prikazana ver-
jetnost našega leta med
‘igralcem ragbija’ in ‘bizo-
nom’ pa ni najbolj v skladu
s priporočilom našega
poveljstva. Ne bomo pre-
hiteli tega trčenja, čeprav
nam je poveljstvo govorilo
o naših dobrih možnostih.
Holijev prikaz ni obetajoč.
Vprašanje je, komu ver-
jeti. Razen kolikor naše
poveljstvo nima še kakšne
poteze v rezervi, kar je
kljub vsemu tudi možno.”
V holijevem prikazu sta se
‘igralec ragbija’ in ‘bizon’
že zagnala drug proti dru-
gemu. Vsak njun gib je
govoril o napenjanju mišic,
o silovitem zagonu ob
startu ter o večanju hitro-
sti in silovitosti napada.
Trčenje milijonov astero-
idov z medsebojnim zale-
327
crashing into each other. And a tiny bright disc, a barely visible point of light somewhere between the head and shoulders of the quarterback and the fore-head of the buffalo with its lowered horns, represen-ted our ship. Through the window of the command bridge we could observe the approach of these two powerful space warriors with the naked eye – and of course our own progress. As though we wanted these powerful masses to flatten us when they colli-ded. Silence fell once again on the command bridge. Here without assistance even evasive action was impossible. The masses grew closer and closer to each other. We divided our attention between the holo-display and the great front window of our ship, where the “live” image was truly magnificent in its enormous dimensions. Then flashes appeared in the holo-display. Far
tavanjem drug v drugega.
In le majhen svetel krožec,
komaj vidna lučka, tam
nekje med glavo in rameni
‘igralca ragbija’ in bizono-
vim čelom z naprej usmer-
jenimi rogovi, je pred-
stavljal našo ladjo. Skozi
veliko okno poveljniškega
prostora smo s prostim
očesom lahko opazovali
medsebojno približevanje
teh dveh silnih vesoljskih
borcev, pa seveda tudi
naše približevanje. Kakor
da bi si želeli, da nas te
silne mase sploščijo ob
njunem trčenju. Spet je
v poveljniškem prostoru
nastala tišina. Tu nam pa
brez pomoči ne preostane
niti izmikanje. Vse mase so
se bolj in bolj približevale.
Vsi smo pogledovali zdaj
v holi, zdaj skozi veliko
čelno okno naše ladje, kjer
je bil prikaz v živo prav
veličasten zaradi svojih
neznanskih razsežnosti.
Potem se je v holiju začelo
iskrenje. Tam daleč pod
328
below us, the extended arm of the quarterback had struck the buffalo on the muzzle with such force that an entire section of the asteroid belt gave a blin-ding flash. Through the window we could see the approach of the buffalo’s eye and the outlines of its mighty horns, stret-ching from the far behind us where they were only visible in the holo-display, and on beyond the limits of our vision. Immediately below us the armoured shoulder of our quarter-back was already striking the buffalo on the head, just above the nostrils, with a force that bent the buffalo’s head down. The ship turned violently. Now we were between the armoured shoulders and the helmet with its elon-gated faceguard and the buffalo’s forehead. Behind us there was still some room. The question was: would it remain like that long enough for us to fly
nami je iztegnjena roka
‘igralca ragbija’ udarila v
‘bizonov’ gobec s tako silo,
da se je ves predel asteroi-
dnega pasu zableščal v sle-
pilni svetlobi. Prizor skozi
okno pa je kazal približe-
vanje velikega bizonovega
očesa z obrisi mogočnega
rogovja, ki je segalo vse
od nam zakritega ozadja,
vidnega le v holijevem pri-
kazu, pa tja daleč naprej
do izginjanja iz našega
vidnega dosega. Tik pod
nami je oklopljena rama
našega ‘ragbista’ že zadela
‘bizona’ v glavo, tik nad
nozdrvi, s silo, ki je bivoljo
glavo upognila navzdol.
Ladja je silovito zavila,
zdaj je bila med okloplje-
nimi rameni in čelado s
podaljšano zaščito obraza
ter med bizonovim čelom.
Za nas je bilo tam še nekaj
prostora, vprašanje je le
bilo, ali bo ostal dovolj
dolgo za naš prelet sko-
329
through it? Below us we could still see the glow left by the explosions of the energy-filled asteroids. Above us the first collisi-ons and the first explosions could only be moments away. The ship flew thro-ugh the empty space bene-ath the quarterback’s chin, manoeuvred round the other side of its face and was already preparing to swerve away when our path was suddenly closed by the buffalo’s right horn. The buffalo had suddenly turned its head and the tip of the horn had only just missed us. Banking stee-ply, we flew all the way back to the quarterback’s free shoulder and were once again beginning an evasive manoeuvre when another gigantic horn missed us by a whisker. Then flashes began to appear on the other side. I looked at the holo-display. Some new movement was coming from the lower side of the asteroid belt and
zenj. Pod nami je bilo še
vse žareče od eksplozij z
energijo napolnjenih aste-
roidov, nad nami pa je vsak
čas moralo priti do prvih
trkov in seveda tudi prvih
eksplozij. Ladja je zletela
skozi prazen prostor pod
brado ‘ragbista’, zavila na
drugi strani ob njegovem
obrazu, se že nameravala
usmeriti vstran, ko ji je
pot zaprl desni bizonov
rog. Bil je hiter zasuk bizo-
nove glave, ker le za las je
manjkalo, da nas ni snela
konica roga. V ostrem
zavoju smo zleteli nazaj
vse do prostega ramena
‘ragbista’, se ponovno obr-
nili v izogibni let, ko nas
je orjaški rog ponovno
dohitel in nas spet zgrešil
le za las. Tedaj se je začelo
iskriti na povsem naspro-
tni strani. Zazrl sem se v
holi. Iz spodnje strani aste-
roidnega pasu je prihajalo
in zajelo že vso nasprotno
330
had already involved the whole of the opposite side. I looked at the display and then at the Sensins around me. It was clear that they were even more disturbed than I was by these events on the other side of the asteroid belt. “What’s that?” I asked.Benesens started at the display in silence: “I don’t know. Perhaps all-out war has begun with all forces, ours and theirs.”“War?” Benesens’s restra-int and his serious face were very eloquent.“Only the largest space-ships are powerful enough to release such quantities of energy,” he explained.“Message from headquar-ters,” interrupted the navi-gation computer. “Prepare for landing! We are about to go aboard the Conque-ror 949.”I looked at Benesens again: “What now?”“The Conqueror 949 is one of our largest and best armed ship carriers. Ships
stran asteroidnega pasu
nekakšno novo gibanje,
da sem pogledoval zdaj v
holi, zdaj v Čutine okoli
sebe. Očitno jih je to doga-
janje na nasprotnem delu
asteroidnega pasu še bolj
vznemirilo kot mene. “Kaj
je to?” sem vprašal.
Dobročut je tiho zrl v holi:
“Ne vem. Morda se je začela
vojna z vsemi silami, tako
našimi kot njihovimi.”
“Vojna?” Dobročutova
zadržanost in njegov zre-
snjeni obraz sta bila precej
zgovorna.
“Samo največje vesoljske
ladje imajo dovolj sil za
tako sproščanje energije,”
je pojasnil.
“Sporočilo poveljstva,” se
je zaslišal glas R-Naviga-
torja. “Pripravite se na pri-
stanek!. Vkrcali se bomo
na našo vesoljsko ladjo
OSVAJALEC 949.”
Spet sem pogledal Dobro-
čuta: “Kaj pa je zdaj to?”
“Hja, to je ena iz serije
naših največjih in najbolje
oboroženih ladjenosilk.
331
of this class are capable of breaking through to us. It can even clear the other asteroids out of its way. It could break through all the asteroid layers on its own. And it can only be destro-yed in battle with Acutin ship carriers of the same strength.”I looked at the holo-dis-play. The demolishing of the asteroid blockade – of entire layers of asteroids – was followed by the appe-arance of the front section of the Conqueror 949. So these were the Sensins’ “aircraft carriers”, or rather “ship carriers”. They must have been several thou-sand times bigger than the largest aircraft carriers on earth: we could only see the front section, while the rear section and even the middle section were too big to fit in the image shown by the holo-display. The ship would reach us at any moment; all eyes were already gazing at it through the big front
Take se lahko prebijejo do
nas. Tudi ostale asteroide
lahko počisti pred sabo.
Sama se lahko prebije skozi
vse plasti asteroidov. In le
v boju z enako močnimi
ladjenosilkami Ostrinov je
lahko uničena.”
Pogledal sem v holi. Raz-
streljevanju asteroidov,
postavljenih v našo blo-
kado, bolje rečeno kar
celih plasti, je sledil prikaz
sprednjega konca naše
ladje OSVAJALEC 949. To
so bile torej naše “leta-
lonosilke” z zanje bolj
ustreznim imenom “ladje-
nosilke”. Večtisočkrat so
morale biti večje od najve-
čjih zemeljskih letalono-
silk, saj je bil viden le spre-
dnji del, zadnji in najbrž
tudi ne srednji pa sploh
nista bila zajeta v holije-
vem prikazu. Ladja bi nas
morala doseči vsak hip, vsi
pogledi so že upirali skozi
veliko čelno okno proti
332
window. All around, as far as we could see, across the whole of our horizon, light gleamed through the dark clouds consisting of coun-tless asteroids, large and small, moving in all direc-tions as though driven by a colossal storm. “It is a sort of storm, after all,” I murmured to myself. Some of the nearest aste-roids were already being swept past us. Flying fra-gments of the exploded asteroids were beginning to strike our hull. Then the accumulation of aste-roids became even denser, while somehow remain-ing at a slight distance in front of us, since none of the larger pieces came in our direction, only rubble carried by the enormous blast. There was an incre-dible number of these dust particles. Entire layers of asteroids must have been utterly pulverised to cause a dust storm like the one through which we were moving. Then, all of a
njej. Vse naokrog, v dosegu
našega vida, pravzaprav po
vsem našem obzorju, se je
svetlikalo skozi temačne
oblake iz neštetih malih in
velikih asteroidov, pomi-
kajočih se v vse smeri, kot
da bi jih gnal orjaški vihar.
“Saj to tudi je vihar!” sem
zamrmral bolj zase. Neka-
tere, nam bližje asteroide
je celo že odnašalo mimo
nas. Še v nas so začeli udar-
jati odleteli koščki razstre-
ljenih asteroidov. Potem
pa je kopičenje asteroidov
postajalo samo še gostejše
in gostejše, vendar v neka-
kšnem razmikanju pred
nami, ker nobeden od
večjih ni bil usmerjen
naravnost v nas, le drobir
nas je zadeval v orjaškem
pišu. Teh prašnih delcev
je bilo neverjetno veliko.
Cele plasti asteroidov so
morale biti povsem zdro-
bljene za nastanek takih
prašnih viharjev, kot je bil
tale, skozi katerega smo se
pomikali. Tedaj se je nena-
333
sudden, there was calm. The clouds disappeared and the shower of aste-roid fragments ceased to glisten. And our view, up until now limited to the empty spaces between the dust clouds, now wide-ned to reveal the mighty hull of the Conqueror 949, with hundreds of openings from which various ves-sels were flying. This spa-ceship of the Sensins was truly majestic. Mighty columns extending from the hull arched over the ship’s giant sides and bent to form the supports of the landing platforms. The ship must have had seve-ral hundred decks, and its hull was so long that it disappeared into the dis-tance. It occurred to me that we were probably safe now, although according to Benesens enemy ships of the same size could destroy it. Be that as it
doma vse umirilo. Oblaki
so izginili, eksplozijsko
pršenje asteroidov je pre-
nehalo s svojim svetlika-
njem. In razgled, ki se nam
je odpiral le občasno v pra-
znih prostorih med posa-
meznimi prašnimi oblaki,
se je lahko spustil v daljavo,
kjer je zastal na mogoč-
nem trupu OSVAJALCA
949 s stotinami vhodno-iz-
hodnih odprtin, iz katerih
so izletavala razna plovila.
Resnično veličastna je bila
ta vesoljska ladja Čutinov.
Prek njenih velikanskih
sten so se bočili prav tako
mogočni loki stebrov, izvi-
rajoči iz njenega trupa in
upognjeni v nosilce pri-
stajalnih ploščadi. Več sto
nadstropij je moralo biti
v tej ladji, katere podol-
govati trup se je izgubljal
v daljavi. Zdaj smo najbrž
varni, se mi je utrnil pomi-
slek, čeprav naj bi jo po
Dobročutovih besedah
enako velike nasprotni-
kove ladje lahko tudi
uničile. Kakorkoli, veli-
334
may, its enormous dimen-sions exceeded my wildest fantasies about spaceships and their possible dimen-sions.“We are directed to enter through entrance number 37,” announced the navi-gation computer. Then came the voice of Captain Harstan:“In all likelihood this is the end of our ship’s journey, since travel has become too dangerous for small vessels. Meanwhile the results of our negotia-tions with the Acutins do not indicate any reduction in tension. If anything the opposite is true.”
častnost njenih dimenzij
je presegla moje najskraj-
neše predstave o velikosti
vesoljskih ladij. Le v neja-
snih obrisih mojih fantazij
je bilo kaj takega možno.
“Sporočajo nam, naj vsto-
pimo skozi odprti vhod
številka 37,” je sporočil
R-Navigator, takoj zatem
pa se je oglasil še kapitan
Harstan:
“Po vsej verjetnosti bo let
naše ladje s tem zaklju-
čen, ker so za mala plo-
vila postala potovanja
prenevarna. Pa tudi rezul-
tati pogajanj z Ostrini ne
kažejo nobenega zmanj-
šanja napetosti. Kvečjemu
nasprotno.”
335
Chapter XI
The reception aboard the Conqueror 949 proceeded according to protocol. A considerable part of the crew was present and the introductory words of wel-come were spoken by the ship-carrier’s commander Admiral Stratus. “It is an honour,” he began, “for me to have this oppor-tunity to congratulate my friend Captain Harstan, the commander of the special mission, on this successful breakthrough.” The admiral indicated our commander, who accepted the congratulations with a slight bow and expressed his thanks for the admiral’s timely assistance.
“Your customs appear to be quite similar to ours on Earth,” I said to Bene-sens, who merely nodded and said: “Naturally,” as
XI. poglavje
Sprejem na OSVAJALCU
949 je potekal po proto-
kolu, ob navzočnosti pre-
cejšnjega dela posadke in
z uvodnimi pozdravnimi
besedami poveljnika ladje-
nosilke admirala Stratusa.
“Čast mi je,” je rekel med
drugim, “da svojemu prija-
telju, poveljniku posebne
misije kapitanu Harstanu,
ob tej priložnosti izrečem
priznanje za uspešno opra-
vljen preboj.” Admiral je z
roko pokazal na našega
kapitana, ki je sprejel pri-
znanje z rahlim priklonom
glave ter se v nekaj bese-
dah zahvalil za pravočasno
pomoč.
“No, saj imate kar precej
zemeljske navade,” sem
dejal Dobročutu, ta pa je
le prikimal s pripombo:
“Seveda,” kot da je to
336
though this were perfec-tly obvious. I looked at him again, since although his answer was perfec-tly acceptable, and in its own way even pleasing, its obviousness seemed a little harder to understand. Then Admiral Stratus began talking about the intervention of his forces which had liberated the passage for us, and about the blocked routes that had previously been open to everyone but now, owing to the irresponsible actions of the Acutins, were closed or at least less easily pas-sable, as had been the case for our STORMBIRD. “Although as you have proved,” continued Admi-ral Stratus, “ it is still pos-sible to get through.” He then spoke about the course of events, about which I had a slightly diffe-rent opinion, since it appe-ared to me that the com-mander of the ship-carrier underestimated the Acu-tins. In fact our mission,
povsem jasno, tako da sem
znova pogledal vanj, kajti
kljub zame povsem spreje-
mljivemu odgovoru, ki mi
je bil po svoje tudi všeč,
se mi je zdela samoumev-
nost njegovega odgovora
vendarle težje razumljiva.
Potem je poveljnik admi-
ral Stratus spregovoril o
posegu svojih sil, s katerim
so za nas sprostili prehod,
in o blokiranih prehodih,
doslej odprtih za vse, ki
pa so zdaj zaradi neodgo-
vornega početja Ostrinov
zaprti ali vsaj, kot za našega
VIHARNIKA, težje preho-
dni. “Čeprav se,” je pouda-
ril admiral Stratus, “tako
ste vi dokazali, vseeno da
priti skozi.”
Nato je spregovoril še o
poteku dogajanj, o katerem
pa sem imel malo drugačno
mnenje, saj je poveljnik
ladjenosilke preveč podce-
njeval Ostrine, ker je bila,
roko na srce, naša misija,
337
taken as a whole, was con-siderably more risky than might be concluded from his words, even admitting the Sensins’ abilities and the personal qualities of the commander. He could have acknowledged that the abilities of the Acu-tins, if not identical, were at least on approximately the same level. These Sen-sins were probably like us Earthmen in overesti-mating the importance of their own decisions too, I thought. In the past I had known quite a few people with a similar tendency. Interesting. My reflections on the kinship between Sensins and Earthmen began to move away from these amusing details and towards more serious comparisons. When they reacted to various events, the expressions of their faces were very frequently similar to the expressions of Earthmen in similar circumstances. I looked appraisingly at the Sen-
v celoti vzeto, precej bolj
tvegana, kot bi bilo skle-
pati po njegovih besedah,
in to ob vsem priznanju
njihovim, lahko tudi kapi-
tanovim osebnim sposob-
nostim. Ostrinom bi lahko
priznal, če že ne enakih
sposobnosti, pa vsaj pribli-
žno enako raven. Najbrž so
tile Čutini podobni nam
Zemljanom tudi po pre-
cenjevanju pomena svojih
odločitev, sem pomi-
slil, saj sem v preteklosti
imel kar nekaj znancev
s podobnimi nagnjenji.
Prav zanimivo. In moje
razmišljanje o sorodnosti
Čutinov z Zemljani se je
vse bolj selilo od teh nekaj
zabavnih podrobnosti k
bolj celovitim primerja-
vam, kajti tudi ob odzivih
na razna dogajanja so bili
izrazi njihovih obrazov
zelo pogosto podobni izra-
zom Zemljanov ob podob-
nih priložnostih. Ocenju-
joče sem preletel s pogle-
338
sins around me. Some of them were listening with real attention, while others were only pretending to listen and even chatting among themselves. I was able to spot several con-versations taking place, especially when I turned to survey the entire hall. And there she was. Honaja! Our eyes met. There was still something melancholy about her, although she immediately smiled at me. When had she got here? It didn’t matter… I raised my hand in greeting and she immediately waved back, with no hint of restraint. I pointed at myself and then at her. I wanted to tell her to wait for me after the ceremony, that we should meet, but we were too far away from each other. She immediately nodded, and once again smiled happily. She had understood eve-rything. We were going to meet. I smiled back at her, raised my arm again to say “see you later” and despite
dom po sosednjih Čutinih.
Nekateri so res zavzeto
poslušali, drugi pa precej
manj, celo pomenkovali
so se med sabo. Več takih
pogovorov sem lahko
zaznal, še posebej, ko sem
s pogledom obšel vso dvo-
rano. In tam je bila ona,
Honaja! Najina pogleda sta
se ujela. Še vedno je bila
nekam otožna, čeprav se
mi je takoj nasmehnila.
Kdaj je prišla tja? No, saj
je vseeno… Z dvigom roke
sem ji nakazal pozdrav, na
katerega mi je takoj poma-
hala v odgovor, brez zadr-
žanosti. Pokazal sem nase
ter nato nanjo. Hotel sem
ji sporočiti, naj me počaka
po tem ceremonialu, da
se dobiva, tedaj sva si bila
pač predaleč. Takoj mi je
prikimala, pa s prav vese-
lim nasmehom še enkrat.
Vse je razumela. Dobila se
bova. Vrnil sem ji nasmeh, ji
še enkrat z rahlim dvigom
roke poslal začasen poz-
339
everything, at least for the next few words, listened to the speaker, one of the commanders of the space-ship.
* * *
I smiled at Honaja as she came towards me. After we had squeezed wrists in greeting she positioned herself right next to me. “They let us through the asteroid belt in small groups,” she explained. “It was easier that way, apparently. Otherwise I would have been here even sooner.”“It’s nice to see you here,” I replied, showing the same measure of enthu-siasm at our meeting. I really wanted to embrace her, squeeze her, kiss her. Even her eyes told me that this was what I should do. But I had too much respect
drav ter kljub vsemu, vsaj
za nekaj nadaljnjih besed,
prisluhnil govorniku,
enemu iz poveljstva vesolj-
ske ladje.
* * *
Nasmehnil sem se pri-
hajajoči Honaji, ki se je
po stisku najinih zapestij
pomaknila tik obme. “V
manjših skupinah so nas
spustili skozi asteroidni
pas,” je pojasnila, “tako naj
bi bilo lažje. Če ne, bi te že
prej počakala.”
“Lepo te je videti tukaj,”
sem ji v enaki meri vrnil
navdušenje nad najinim
srečanjem. Najraje bi jo
objel, stisnil, poljubil, celo
njene oči so govorile, naj
to naredim. Pa sem kar
malo premočno spoštova-
340
for her. It would be too hasty, too quick. Yes: she was actually in mourning for her husband. I flinched slightly. It was true. That husband of hers. In these first few moments I had almost forgotten about him. Even when our eyes met, between Honaja and me there was only agre-ement, along with a deep inner feeling of belonging to each other, as though after a long acquaintance when there is no longer any doubt. Nevertheless, there was doubt in me. Above all doubt about how this could be real. But her gaze continued to divert me from various doubts of this type. She understood everything immediately, each gesture of mine, along with my thoughts, in the same moment. Then she took a brisk step back-wards and began dragging me in the direction of the park. “We can go to the restau-rant in the garden beneath
nje čutil do nje. Bilo bi pre-
nagljeno, prehitro. Da, saj
je pravzaprav žalovala za
svojim možem. Rahlo sem
se zdrznil. Saj res. Tisti njen
mož. V teh nekaj prvih tre-
nutkih sem skoraj poza-
bil nanj. Tudi ob srečanju
najinih pogledov je bilo
med nama s Honajo le uje-
manje z globokim notra-
njim občutkom vzajemne
pripadnosti, takim kot po
dolgem poznanstvu, ko
ni več nobenega dvoma.
Pa vendar je bil v meni
dvom. Predvsem dvom o
tem, kako je lahko to res.
Toda njen pogled me je
sproti odvračal od raznih
tovrstnih pomislekov. Vse
je takoj razumela, vsak
moj gib, skupaj z mojimi
mislimi, v istem trenutku.
Nato me je, po živahnem
odmiku za korak naprej
proti parku, povlekla za
seboj.
“Lahko stopiva do restavra-
cije na vrtu pod tistimi dre-
341
those trees,” she said, indi-cating some tall trees just under a hundred metres away. “Would you like to eat something?” This was an invitation expressed with an agree-able softness…I wondered slightly at the solicitude I had only just noticed in her voice, while at the same time I sensed a sort of continuation of those moments when her eyes were filled with tears at our first meeting. “Your husband,” I began. It was difficult to talk about him but I had no choice. “That was a painful loss for you. I’m sure he meant a lot to you.” Her silent inner pain was now only evident in occa-sional carefully restrained glances.“Loss.” Honaja repeated my word with a bright gleam in her eyes. “Yes, of course, although I don’t know whether I should see it like that.” I looked at her questio-
vesi,” je dejala z namigom
na velika košata drevesa
slabih sto metrov stran.
“Morda bi kaj prigriznil?”
To je bilo vabilo, izrečeno s
prijetno mehkobo. . . Malo
sem se zamislil ob prav-
kar zaznani skrbnosti v
njenem glasu, obenem pa
sem občutil tudi nekakšno
nadaljevanje tistih trenut-
kov z njenimi orošenimi
očmi ob najinem prvem
srečanju.
“Tvoj mož,” sem spregovo-
ril, čeprav mi ta beseda ni
šla rada iz ust, a sem moral
začeti prav z njo, “to je bila
boleča izguba, gotovo ti
je veliko pomenil.” Tiha
notranja bolečina je zdaj
prihajala iz nje le v obča-
snih, skrbno zadržanih
pogledih.
“Izguba,” je ponovila mojo
besedo Honaja z živim
leskom v očeh. “Seveda,
čeprav ne vem, ali naj vse
to skupaj jemljem tako.”
Ob mojem vprašujočem
342
ningly. It was clear that I didn’t understand. Her answer was a smile that seemed to say that now the two of us were here. “I shouldn’t leave you with these uncertainties. I wouldn’t either, if impor-tant interests of our civili-sation were not constantly present.”“Yes, your civilisation.” I squeezed her wrist lightly. “I still don’t know very much about you. And I have already spent quite a lot of time among you.” “Oh yes?” The melancholy look had utterly disappea-red from Honaja’s face. “There are no more obsta-cles. In view of the current situation, conditions are completely different from those at our first meeting. Now you’re ours, aren’t you?”“What? To be honest…”“I know what you want to say. But now we can talk more openly. Besides,” Honaja smiled teasingly, “…now they’ve left us
pogledu z očitnim nerazu-
mevanjem njenega govor-
jenja pa se mi je nasmeh-
nila v smislu, da sva pač
sedaj midva tukaj. “Ne bi
vas smela puščati v teh
nejasnostih. In vas tudi
ne bi, če ne bi bili doslej
stalno prisotni pomemb-
nejši interesi naše civiliza-
cije.”
“Da, ta vaša civilizacija,”
sem rahlo stisnil njeno
zapestje, “še zdaj ne vem
prav dosti o vas. Pa sem
že kar nekaj časa preživel
med vami.”
“Aja?” S Honajinega obraza
je povsem izginila občasna
otožnost. “Sicer pa ni več
ovir. Glede na nastali polo-
žaj so razmere povsem
drugačne od tistih za naji-
nega prvega srečanja. Zdaj
si naš, kajne?”
“Hm? Po pravici povedano.
. . ”
“Vem, kaj misliš reči.
Toda zdaj se lahko že
bolj odkrito pogovoriva.
“Poleg tega,” Honaja se je
nasmehnila s kančkom
igrive nagajivosti, “sva zdaj
343
alone, and for a good long time too, until conditions calm down enough for your mission to continue, which won’t be any time soon. At least I don’t think it will.”“I see... So a kind of enfor-ced break in your com-pany? Actually that doesn’t seem such a bad idea. A little holiday would suit me. Especially if it is with you.”“We get on well, don’t we?” Honaja’s voice allo-wed no contradiction and the gleam in her eyes renewed the flirtatious atmosphere. “Come on, I will prepare lunch for you. With us that means that I will choose the dishes for you. I’m really curious to see how you like it.” “Great, but hadn’t you already started talking about your civilisation? Despite everything I can’t help being somewhat curi-ous.” Eager to maintain the atmosphere that had been
prepuščena sama sebi, in
to za kar dovolj časa, vse
dokler se ne bodo razmere
dovolj umirile za nadalje-
vanje tvoje misije, to pa ne
bo šlo tako hitro. Vsaj po
mojem mnenju ne.”
“No, hm… Torej nekak
‘zastoj’ v družbi s tabo?
Pravzaprav se mi to niti ne
zdi tako napačno. Vseka-
kor bi se mi malo odmora
tudi sicer prileglo. Še zlasti
skupaj s tabo.”
“Ujemava se, kajne?”
Honajin glas ni dopu-
ščal oporekanja in lesk
v njenih očeh je takoj
obnovil razposajeno poi-
gravanje. “Pridi, ti bom
jaz pripravila kosilo. Ozi-
roma, pri nas to pomeni,
da bom jaz izbrala jedi
zate. Me prav zanima,
kako ti bo všeč.”
“Lepo, toda ali nisi že
začela govoriti o vaši civili-
zaciji? Malce radovednosti
se kljub vsemu ne morem
otresti.”
S poudarjeno željo po
ohranjanju nastalega
344
created, I tried to direct the conversation back to the topic we had started earlier. She agreed with me, but only in principle. “We have to take some time for ourselves. That is important too. There is still much that is unclear between us. Or perhaps not. It would be good to find out,” she said.“Hmm, of course. Altho-ugh I can’t think how we could do that.” I laughed, as though to show how funny this con-versation seemed to me, but her desire for a more intimate conversation once again pushed the topic of their civilisation into the background. After all that Mike had told me about purgatory and Benesens’s friend with the incredible resemblance to his father, and all those repeated explanations about how they had to be careful about how they presented their civilisation to me in case I misunderstood them,
vzdušja sem želel preusme-
riti pogovor na prej začeto
temo. Pa sem naletel zgolj
na načelno strinjanje.
“Nekaj časa si morava vzeti
zase. Tudi to je pomembno.
Saj je še kar nekaj nejasno-
sti med nama. Ali pa tudi
ne. Dobro bi bilo preve-
riti,” je rekla.
“Hm, seveda, čeprav mi
nobeno tovrstno preverja-
nje ne pade na pamet.” Še
sam sem se zasmejal kot v
pojasnilo, kako se mi zdi ta
pogovor predvsem zaba-
ven, čeprav je njena želja
po bolj intimnem pogo-
voru med nama ponovno
odrinila začeto temo o nji-
hovi civilizaciji. Po vsem,
kar mi je Miro omenil o
Vicah in Dobročutovem
prijatelju, ki naj bi ga
neverjetno spominjal na
očeta, in ob vseh teh pona-
vljajočih se obrazložitvah,
da mi kar tako na hitro ne
morejo predstaviti njihove
civilizacije, ker bi lahko
napačno razumel, imam
345
and after what Honaja had just said, when at last their previous hesitations had vanished, I now had to deal with female vanity. I could sense her conviction that everything around us was insignificant. I had already had to deal with similar examples of female vanity of course, so I couldn’t really hold it against Honaja. But even so. On the other hand it would be too rude to insist on the question of their civilisation. There was too much sensuality emana-ting from her to pass to a more serious reflection of the kind that I would pro-bably be unable to avoid during a conversation about their civilisation. Honaja smiled at me with alluring tenderness. It was always pleasant when I was with her. She wants me to devote all my attention to her, I thought, and as I observed her smiling face I realised that I wanted the same thing. How beautiful
zdaj po Honajinih besedah
končno brez njihovih prej-
šnjih pomislekov naenkrat
opravka z žensko nečimr-
nostjo. Prav začutil sem
lahko njeno prepričanje
o nepomembnosti vsega
okrog naju. Sicer sem s
podobnimi nastopi ženske
nečimrnosti že imel opra-
viti, pravzaprav celo toliko,
da Honaji niti nisem mogel
zameriti. Pa vendar. Toda
po drugi strani bi bilo
vztrajanje pri vprašanju
o njihovi civilizaciji pre-
grobo. Preveč čutnosti je
prihajalo iz nje za prehod k
bolj resnemu razmišljanju,
kakršnemu se pri pogo-
voru o njihovi civilizaciji,
vsaj po vsem nakazanem,
najbrž ne bi mogel izogniti.
Honaja se mi je nasmeh-
nila z mikavno mehkobo.
Vedno mi je bilo prijetno z
njo. Želi, naj se ji posvetim,
tega sem si ob opazovanju
njenega smehljajočega
se obraza tudi sam želel.
Kako je bila lepa! Takole
346
she was! Close to her like this, squeezing her wrist, I desired her. I gazed at her face, the delicate swe-etness of her complexion, and ran my eyes down her neck to her breasts. What a beautiful body lay concealed beneath those figure-hugging overalls! Everything about her was perfectly proportioned. At least as far as I was concer-ned. Men must have found Honaja attractive. Most of them, probably, there was no doubt about it.
In the restaurant garden Honaja looked at the bea-utiful arranged tables clo-sest to us and then at those to the side, half hidden in the greenery, in a kind of shrubbery but with artfully arranged branches. One of the tables was almost entirely concealed by the branch of a large, luxuri-ant tree that spread above it. “Let’s go there,” she suggested, walking past a table at which a group of
od blizu, ob stisku njenega
zapestja, sem si jo zaželel.
S pogledom sem zajel njen
obraz, mehkobno milino
na njenih licih, in zdrsnil
po vratu do mikavno raz-
kritih neder. Kako lepo
telo se mi je nakazovalo
skozi njen rahlo oprijeti
kombinezon! Vse na njej
je bilo skladno. Po mojih
merilih. Morala pa je biti
Honaja tudi sicer všeč
moškim. Najbrž večini,
hm, brez dvoma.
Na vrtu gostišča je
Honaja s pogledom pre-
letela lepo razporejene
mize v ospredju ter nato
še stranske, na pol poma-
knjene v zelenje, v neka-
kšno grmičevje, vendar
z lepo razporejenimi
vejami. Ena od miz je bila
skoraj v celoti potisnjena
pod čeznjo segajočo vejo
nekoliko večjega, precej
košatega drevesa. “Greva
tjale,” je predlagala med
stopanjem mimo mize s
347
five Sensins lounged on comfortable wicker chairs. I followed her, looking around me as I walked. The garden was very pleasant, with tall trees and even a little wood behind it. And the ceiling – I looked up, since it was barely visi-ble – arched more than a hundred, perhaps two hundred metres above us. It was made of partially transparent materials that absorbed the gaze, crea-ting a vague sensation of distance. The whole thing could easily be mistaken for a restaurant garden on Earth.“You certainly don’t worry about saving space here,” I commented when we had sat down at our table. “Yes, we have enough of it,” Honaja replied. “Do you like this place?”“Very much.” Once again I looked around curiously.“With us there is no need to be sparing with space,” she explained.
peterico Čutinov, lago-
dno zleknjenih na udob-
nih pletenih sedežih.
Sledil sem ji, pogledujoč
naokrog. Vrt je bil zelo
prijeten, z dokaj velikimi
drevesi in že kar majh-
nim gozdičkom v ozadju.
In strop -pogledal sem
navzgor, saj ga skoraj ni
bilo videti – se je bočil
dobrih sto, morda dvesto
metrov nad nami, narejen
iz najbrž delno presojnih
materialov, v katere se je
pogled pogrezal do neja-
snega občutka za daljavo.
Prav lahko bi vse skupaj
zamenjal za kakšno vrtno
restavracijo na Zemlji.
“S prostorom pa tukaj res
ne varčujete,” sem pri-
pomnil, ko sva sedala za
mizo.
“Da, dovolj ga imamo,” mi
je odvrnila. “Ti je všeč ta
kraj?”
“Zelo.” Še enkrat sem se z
zanimanjem pogledal nao-
krog.
“Pri nas ni potrebe po var-
čevanju s prostorom,” mi
je pojasnila.
348
“I see.” We looked at each other once again. I could see a silent yearning in her eyes, an expectancy. Then her expression changed, and it was as though her eyes were searching for some kind of confirmation in mine. But a confirmation of what? Expectations? What kind? Then she was seized by a gentle melan-choly, or even sorrow. She took a deep breath. “Death is an ugly thing,” she said.“Yes, it certainly is,” I agreed, in the same seri-ous tone. “How many years do you Sensins actu-ally live?” Honaja gave a barely per-ceptible start, nothing more: it was probably simply a memory. “That isn’t the problem For us death is not neces-sarily an evil thing. We have merely opted for a life from which we have not excluded death, altho-ugh we could have done.”
“Vidim.” Spet sva se ujela s
pogledi. Tiho hrepenenje
sem lahko zaznal v njenih
očeh, pričakovanje. Njeni
pogledi so v kakšnem tre-
nutku postali preiskujoči,
z iskanjem neke svoje
potrditve v meni. Kakšne
le? Pričakovanj? Kakšnih?
Potem pa jo je obšla rahla
otožnost, celo ginjenost.
Globoko je zajela sapo.
“Smrt je grda zadeva,” je
dejala.
“Da, seveda,” sem ji pri-
trdil, tudi sam zresnjen.
“Koliko let pa Čutini prav-
zaprav živite?”
Honaja se je komaj
zaznavno zdrznila, pa nič
več, najbrž jo je za nekaj
trenutkov prevzel spomin.
“Saj ni to problem. Smrt za
nas ni nujno zlo. Le opre-
delili smo se za življenje, iz
katerega smrti nismo izlo-
čili, čeprav bi jo lahko.”
349
“We Earthmen would exclude it immediately,” I replied with renewed animation and when she smiled I laughed softly myself in confirmation of my words. Honaja conti-nued to smile. My diffe-rent views on the question of death were evidently sufficiently well known to her. “At our level of develo-pment such a choice is something utterly dif-ferent,” she said. “The uniqueness of life carries in itself a great value. For us even a risk with a fatal outcome is not difficult to avoid. Accidents are actu-ally so rare with us that it is a long time since the last one. At least no-one takes them as something that could mean his death.” “But your husband died…”“That is true. In the case of war or a commando attack the position changes com-pletely. But the uniqueness of life is not an advantage.
“Mi Zemljani bi jo takoj
izločili,” sem ji s ponovno
povrnjeno živahnostjo
navrgel ter se po njenem
nasmehu še sam polglasno
nasmejal v potrditev svojih
besed. Honaja je zadržala
svoj smehljaj. Moje dru-
gačno razmišljanje glede
vprašanja o smrti ji je bilo
očitno dovolj znano.
“Na naši razvojni stopnji
je taka opredelitev nekaj
povsem drugega,” je odvr-
nila. “Enkratnost življe-
nja nosi v sebi veliko vre-
dnost. Pa tudi tveganju s
smrtnim izidom se nam ni
težko izogniti. Pravzaprav
se nezgode pri nas tako
redko dogajajo, da jih že
lep čas ni bilo. Vsaj nihče
jih ne jemlje kot nečesa,
kar bi lahko pomenilo nje-
govo smrt.”
“Toda tvoj mož je umrl…”
“To že. V primeru vojne ali
diverzantskega napada se
položaj v celoti spremeni.
Tedaj enkratnost življenja
ni prednost. Vsaj po mojih
350
At least not in my expe-rience. After what I have been through my opinion on everything has chan-ged completely.”“Yours is an unusual civi-lisation, Honaja,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense to me that you have not retained the possibility of returning life in the case of an acci-dent if, as you say, this is something you are capa-ble of. To renounce such a possibility, and to do so completely, is in my opi-nion foolish.”“Well, a complete renunci-ation... it isn’t exactly like that…”Honaja stopped, as though searching for the right words. “What do you mean it isn’t like that?”“It isn’t so simple. At least not entirely.” This time Honaja gave a slightly mysterious smile, and although I couldn’t tell whether what she was saying applied to me or to her herself, she had given me a premonition
izkušnjah ne. Po tem,
kar sem doživela, imam
povsem drugačno mnenje
o vsem skupaj, kakor sem
ga imela prej.”
“Nenavadna civilizacija
ste, Honaja,” sem dejal.
“Nerazumno je zame, da
si niste ohranili možnosti
vrnitve življenja v primeru
nesreče, če bi si jo lahko,
kot praviš. Kar tako se
odpovedati taki možnosti,
in to v celoti, je po moje
neumno.”
“No, saj to z odpovedjo v
celoti… to ni ravno tako. . .”
Honaja je pomišljala, iščoč
prave besede.
“Kako misliš - ni ravno
tako?”
“Ni tako preprosto. Vsaj
v celoti ne.” To pot se je
Honaja nasmehnila nekako
skrivnostno, in čeprav
nisem mogel ugotoviti, ali
to, kar je rekla, velja meni
ali pa kar njej sami, mi je
vzbudila slutnjo nečesa
351
of something important. Something that had to be in close connection with all our decisions and pro-bably also our emotions and with her feelings for me. Something that was the reason we two were sitting here. How compli-cated it all was!“Peter, look what I have prepared for you!” The food that had just been placed on the table had made Honaja almost as excited as a child. Nothing else any longer had any importance for her. I looked at her for a few moments as I sear-ched for the right words to continue our unfinished conversation, but her eager expression and the fact that she was obviously waiting for my reaction led me to abandon the idea.“Try it! You’ll like it – you’ll see!” she said.I gave up. There was no doubt that it was all very beautifully prepared. And judging by its appearance,
pomembnega. Nečesa, kar
mora biti v tesni zvezi z
vsem najinim odločanjem
in najbrž tudi čutenjem ter
z njenim nagnjenjem do
mene. Nekaj, zaradi česar
midva sediva tukaj. Pre-
sneto.
“Peter, poglej, kaj sem
ti pripravila!” Ob hrani,
pravkar postavljeni na
najino mizo, se je Honaja
skoraj otroško razveselila.
Nič drugega ni bilo več
pomembno zanjo. Še nekaj
trenutkov sem jo gledal z
iskanjem ustreznih besed
za nadaljevanje najinega
nedokončanega pogovora,
toda spričo njenega živah-
nega pogleda in še bolj ob
njenem živem pričakova-
nju mojega odziva sem to
namero opustil.
“Poskusi, všeč ti bo, boš
videl!” je dejala.
Vdal sem se. Seveda je bilo
vse zelo lepo pripravljeno.
In že po videzu sodeč, je
moralo biti okusno, to bi ji
352
it would be tasty too. But I had something other than good food on my mind. I had never been a parti-cularly choosy eater and although I enjoyed eating well, I had never wasted much time over food. Be that as it may, I now had at least ten different types of food on a plate in front of me. “Try it!” said Honaja enco-uragingly. I took some kind of sauce on my fork and tasted it. It was very good. Then I took what appeared to be a piece of roast meat, but Honaja explained that it was actually made of several different kinds of plant and was considerably more appetising than meat, at least for her tastes. And in fact I found that I liked it very much too. Then I tasted the next dish, and because Honaja was loo-king at me as though she wanted to hear my opinion of the other dishes as well, and above all because of
kar verjel. Vendar sem imel
v mislih vse kaj drugega
kot dobro hrano. Preveč
izbirčen jedec nisem bil
nikoli. In čeprav sem rad
tudi kaj dobrega pojedel,
zaradi hrane nisem nikoli
izgubljal dosti časa. No,
kakor koli, zdaj je bilo pred
mano na krožniku najmanj
deset različnih vrst jedi.
“Poskusi!” je vzpodbudno
dejala Honaja.
Z vilicami sem segel po
nekakšni omaki, jo posku-
sil, zelo dobra je bila, nato
sem vzel še kos pečenega
mesa, ob katerem mi je
Honaja pojasnila, da je pol-
peta iz več rastlin, precej
bolj slastnih od mesa, vsaj
po njenem okusu, je rekla,
in res je bil tudi meni ta
okus zelo všeč. Potem sem
poskusil še naslednjo jed,
in ker me je Honaja gledala,
kakor da želi slišati mojo
oceno še za ostale jedi,
predvsem pa zaradi njene
353
her happy concentration on choosing individual morsels for me, I took a bite or two of each. A little of everything. I really did my best with this tasting. “Very good. You prepa-red this for me amazingly well,” I said with satis-faction and indicated her plate with its barely tou-ched food. “You should eat too. It’s really good. Why aren’t you eating?” “I am eating. It’s just I’m a little slower than you.” And she ate a few quick mouthfuls. As I chewed a mouthful of plant kebab, I lay back in my comfortable wicker chair. It occurred to me that there was something unusual about the way Honaja was observing me. How many details attrac-ted her attention as she cle-ared away the dinner! And then suddenly, happily and self-confidently, or at least that was the impression she gave, although I could not understand the reason
vesele zavzetosti pri izbi-
ranju posameznih kosov
zame, sem od vsake vzel
po grižljaj ali dva. Vsega po
malem. Prav potrudil sem
se pri tem pokušanju.
“Zelo dobro. Presneto
dobro si mi to pripravila,”
sem ji zadovoljno izrekel
priznanje ter namignil na
njen krožnik s komaj dota-
knjeno hrano. “Še ti jej. Saj
je res dobro. Zakaj ne ješ?”
“Saj jem. Le malo bolj poča-
sna sem.” Nato pa je le dala
nekaj hitrejših grižljajev v
usta.
Med premlevanjem gri-
žljaja rastlinskega ražnjiča
sem se naslonil na udobno
naslonjalo pletenega stola.
Vseeno je bilo Honajino
opazovanje malo nenava-
dno. Koliko podrobno-
sti med pospravljanjem
večerje je pritegnilo njeno
pozornost! Potem pa je
nenadoma, veselo in samo-
zavestno, vsaj delovalo je
tako, čeprav nisem vedel,
zakaj ta nenadna spre-
354
for this sudden change, she began eating too.“Next time I will invite you to dinner,” I said, “although I will have to leave the choosing to you. I probably wouldn’t know how to choose things that are to your taste.”“It isn’t necessary,” replied Honaja with a certain smu-gness. “I know why you said that. But it isn’t about that.”“And what is it about?”“Forget it. It was nice for me to see how much you liked the food.”I smiled back at her. “You’re keeping some-thing from me, aren’t you?”“Does that annoy you?”“Not at all.”“Good. Come back to my place. After that terrible journey you must be tired. I would like to lie down a little too.”I repeated her “good”, which she had said out of concern for how I felt,
memba, začela še sama
večerjati.
“Drugič bom jaz tebe
povabil na kosilo,” sem
dejal, “vendar bom izbiro
le moral prepustiti tebi.
Najbrž ne bi znal izbrati po
tvojem okusu.”
“Saj tudi ni potrebno,”
mi je s samozadovoljno
nabritostjo, kot sem imel
občutek, odvrnila Honaja.
“Vem, zakaj si to rekel. Pa
ne gre za to.”
“In za kaj gre?”
“Pozabi. Prijetno mi je bilo
videti, kako ti tekne.”
Vrnil sem ji smehljaj.
“Nekaj mi prikrivaš,
kajne?”
“Te jezi?”
“Niti ne.”
“Prav. Pridi k meni. Po tisti
divji vožnji si najbrž utru-
jen. Tudi jaz bi se malo
ulegla.”
Ponovil sem njen “prav,”
ki ga je izrekla s skrbjo
za moje počutje, in to pri
355
while simultaneously invi-ting me to her room. Perhaps with these Sensins this was a perfectly obvi-ous invitation or some-thing and actually didn’t mean anything special. Or did it? As I looked again at her alluring figure, I once again had the desire to touch her, to caress her, her whole body. As our eyes meet it occurred to me that I was staring at her a bit too much. That melancholy and pain in her eyes at our first mee-ting was still imposing a kind of deference on me despite Honaja’s smiles. She was happy. But those melancholy glan-ces of hers had made too powerful an impression. I couldn’t push them away, let alone forget them. She, on the other hand, merely had to laugh, and imme-diately everything was different, and her eyes filled with playfulness.
tem, ko me je hkrati vabila
v svojo sobo.
Mogoče pa je to pri Čuti-
nih povsem samoumevno
povabilo ali kaj takega,
in pravzaprav ne pomeni
nič posebnega. Ali pa? Ob
vnovičnem pogledu na
njeno mikavno postavo so
se mi spet vzbudile želje
po dotiku, po božajočem
prijemanju njenih bokov,
vsega njenega telesa. Kar
malo preveč jo gledam,
me je obšlo ob srečanju z
njenim pogledom. Tista
otožnost z bolečino v
njenih očeh ob najinem
prvem srečanju mi je še
vedno vsiljevala nekakšno
spoštljivost kljub Honaji-
nemu smehljanju. Všeč ji je
bilo. Toda tisti njeni otožni
pogledi so naredili preveč
močan vtis. Niti stran jih
nisem mogel odriniti, kaj
šele, da bi jih pozabil. A se
mi je na vse skupaj samo
zasmejala, potem pa je kar
hitro postajalo vse precej
drugače, s precej več igri-
vosti v njenih pogledih.
356
Well, whatever happens, she had certainly given me plenty to think about, and doubts too. It wasn’t easy for me to connect her previous reactions with her present ones. In fact it was impossible. Although as she continued to smile at me this was becoming less important, and for a moment all my reservati-ons even seemed super-fluous. And yet I couldn’t put them completely aside. That was all. “We get along well, don’t we?” said her lingering gaze. She could sense me with all her being. Even when she looked away she was watching me. From time to time I could feel her respond to my sensa-tions even though I kept them to myself.“We can go across the park, to the wood over there,” she suggested.“Over the grass?” I looked around. I couldn’t see any path. “They take good care of
Hm, naj bo kakor koli, lepo
mi je razburkala misli,
skupaj z dvomi. Povezava
njenega prejšnjega odziva-
nja s sedanjim mi namreč
ni šla najbolje od rok. Ozi-
roma mi sploh nikakor ni
šla. Čeprav mi je ob njenih
vse pogostejših nasme-
hih postajalo to manj
pomembno, celo odveč so
se mi za hip zazdeli vsi moji
zadržki. V celoti odstraniti
pa jih vseeno nisem mogel.
To je bilo vse.
“Ujemava se, kajne?” mi je
dejala s pogledom, ki ga je
zadržala na meni. Z vsem
svojim bitjem me je čutila.
Celo ko je gledala stran,
me je spremljala. Občasno
sem lahko zaznal, kako se
odziva na moje občutke,
pa čeprav sem jih prikril
celo zase.
“Lahko greva čez park, tja
do gozda,” je predlagala.
“Po travi?” Pogledal sem
naokrog. Nobene potke ni
bilo videti.
“Lepo skrbijo za to travo,”
357
this grass,” she explained, smiling, as I looked for the path. “Walking freely across meadows and thro-ugh woods is more plea-sant for us than walking on paths. Come on!” Honaja took a few steps across the grass, waited for me and offered me her hand, squeezing my fin-gers playfully as I took it.I looked at her from the side, running my eyes over her beautiful face and down her graceful neck towards her breasts. I stared hungrily at her allu-ring form before tearing my eyes away and raising them to meet her gaze. She laughed. Her response was full of sensuality. If I had caressed her with my hands rather than merely with a look, she could not have responded more sensually. I put my arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her towards me. I moved my lips over her cheek and neck to her ears, kissing her lightly.
mi je smehljaje se pojasnila
ob mojem iskanju poti.
“Svobodno sprehajanje po
travnikih in gozdovih je za
nas prijetnejše kot hoja po
poteh. Pridi!”
Honaja je stopila nekaj
korakov po travi, počakala
name in mi ponudila roko
v prijem z igrivim stiska-
njem prstov.
S strani sem se zazrl vanjo,
da je šel moj božajoči
pogled po njenem lepem
obrazu in navzdol prek
razkrite miline njenega
vratu, vse do rahlega zdrsa
v nedrje. Mikavno obliko-
vane prsi so mi zadrževale
pasoči se pogled, preden
sem ga odlepil in privzdi-
gnil v srečanje z njenim.
Spet se je zasmejala. Obilo
čutnosti je bilo v njenem
odzivu. Če bi jo božal z
obema rokama in ne le s
pogledom, se ne bi mogla
odzvati bolj čutno. Prijel
sem jo okoli ramen, jo nara-
hlo potegnil k sebi, se z
ustnicami primaknil k nje-
nemu licu ter se z rahlimi
poljubi spustil naprej po
njenem vratu do ušes.
358
“On our first date my hus-band and I went across a park like this to my apart-ment. Back then my apart-ment was right behind a wood.”“Just like now?” I smiled at this interesting coinci-dence. “And as he later admitted, I surprised him by cat-ching him looking at me. Some men think that they can observe women sec-retly, even from close up, without us noticing.”“Can you do that?” “Most women can,” she said, with a lightly con-cealed air of mischievou-sness.“What about Earth-women?”“They probably can too. But there aren’t any of them here, are there?” Honaja laughed again.“Yes, of course,” I said. What a lot of things she was telling me. She could already tell that I liked her, since I was making no effort to hide it. I was
“Tudi z mojim možem
sva šla ob najinem prvem
srečanju po takem parku
do mojega stanovanja.
Tedaj sem ga imela tik za
gozdom.”
“Tako kot sedaj?” Nasmeh-
nil sem se ob zanimivem
naključju.
“In kot mi je pozneje pri-
znal, sem ga presenetila
s svojim opazovanjem
njegovega pogleda. Hm,
nekateri moški mislijo, da
lahko opazujejo ženske
povsem na skrivaj, celo v
taki bližini, ne da bi me to
opazile.”
“Imaš to sposobnost?”
“Večina žensk jo ima,” mi
je dejala v rahlo prikritem
preblisku porednosti.
“Pa Zemljanke?”
“Najbrž tudi. Čeprav jih
tukaj ni, kajne?” Honaja se
je spet zasmejala.
“Da, seveda,” sem dejal.
Kar precej stvari mi je
navrgla. Da mi je všeč, že
lahko ve, saj tega niti ne
skrivam. Celo kažem ji.
Pretiranih čustev pa, hm,
359
even showing her. But in that moment I still wasn’t capable of strong feelings, although she was so incre-dibly beautiful. But what did all this have to do with her husband? There seemed to be certain simi-larities between him and me. Between us? Was it coincidence? Or was there something else involved? From time to time she was seized by memories, then she suddenly shakes them off, and then the process is repeated. She even awa-kened the memory of the first time she met her hus-band. The result was that the figure of her husband was a powerful presence all around us.“Oh, I shouldn’t be bothe-ring you with my memo-ries. Just forget about eve-rything! I feel good with you. Really good.” Honaja pulled me towards her, brushed my mouth with a quick kiss and wrapped her arms round my shoul-ders. “Even better than I had hoped.”
v tistem trenutku še nisem
bil zmožen, čeprav je bila
tako neverjetno lepa,
presneto. Ampak kakšno
zvezo ima vse to z njenim
možem? Nakazoval se mi
je obris neke podobnosti
med njim in mano. Med
nama? Naključna podob-
nost? Razen če je vmes še
kaj drugega? Občasno jo
obhajajo spomini, potem
se jih nenadoma povsem
otrese, nakar se vse
ponovi.
Celo spomin na prvo sre-
čanje z njenim možem je
obudila. Tako da se je ta
lik njenega moža presneto
močno vrtel okoli naju.
“Oh, ne bi te smela moriti
s svojimi spomini. Kar
pozabi na vse! Lepo mi je
v tvoji družbi. Zelo lepo.”
Honaja se mi je privila v
objem, se s hitrim polju-
bom dotaknila mojih ust
in mi ovila roke okoli
ramen. “Celo bolj lepo, kot
sem upala.”
360
“Than you had hoped?” I repeated. This sounded a little odd given what she had been saying before and all her replies so far.“Well, yes…” Honaja sounded confused. She almost grew serious, but then her face spread into a smile once again. “Didn’t you want to get on well with me?” She only wanted ackno-wledgement, nothing more. She was demanding it, though with a smile. “Yes, of course,” I nodded. It felt so good being with her. I bent towards her neck and touched it with my lips. I moved to her mouth, which this time opened hungrily to receive my passionate kiss.
* * *
Stretched out comfortably on the couch in Honaja’s
“Kot si upala?” sem pono-
vil. Te njene besede so se
spet malo bolj nenavadno
ujemale z njenim prej-
šnjim govorjenjem in z
vsem njenim odzivanjem.
“Hja, no.” Tudi Honaji je
zastala beseda na jeziku.
Skoraj zresnila se je, a se ji
je obraz ponovno razlezel
v nasmeh. “Mar si nisi želel
ujemanja z mano?”
Le priznanje je želela, nič
drugega. To je zahtevala,
pa čeprav z nasmehom.
“Da, seveda,” sem priki-
mal. Preveč lepo mi je bilo
z njo. Narahlo sem se sklo-
nil k njenemu vratu, se ga
dotaknil z ustnicami in se
med božajočimi poljubi
pomaknil do njenih ust, ki
so se to pot voljno razširile
za vroč poljub z vse bolj
strastnim oprijemanjem.
* * *
Udobno zleknjen na kavču
Honajine sobe, sem spre-
361
room, I was following the latest reports. “No sign of a diminishing of tension, is there?” said Honaja, sit-ting down next to me. “Neither side wants to give way, or something like that, if I have under-stood correctly. But even now I don’t know what the quarrel is really about. I can’t even judge why one side is more right than the other, although I have to admit that this is begin-ning to interest me more and more.” I looked questioningly at Honaja. Earlier she had said something about con-ditions having changed enough for a more relaxed discussion on this topic. She smiled and snuggled up to me, placed her hand on my shoulder and star-ted caressing my neck, my chin and my cheeks.“When you visit Earth-women in their rooms do you first discuss politics?” she asked.“No.” I couldn’t ignore
mljal zadnja poročila.
“Nič ne kaže na pomirja-
nje napetosti, kajne?” je
med prisedanjem dejala
Honaja.
“Nobena stran noče popu-
stiti ali kaj takega, vsaj
kolikor sem pravilno razu-
mel. Še zdaj pa ne vem, v
čem je bistvo spora. Tudi
presoditi ne znam, zakaj
ima ena stran bolj prav
od druge, čeprav me to,
moram priznati, začenja
vse bolj zanimati.” Vprašu-
joče sem se zazrl v Honajo.
Prej je že omenjala dovolj
spremenjene razmere za
bolj sproščen pogovor na
to temo.
Med nasmihanjem se je pri-
vila k meni v objem, poma-
knila roko na mojo ramo
in me začela ljubkovati po
vratu, bradi in licih.
“Mar se z Zemljankami
v njihovih sobah najprej
pogovarjaš o politiki?” je
vprašala.
“To ne.” Nisem mogel mimo
362
her desire for sensuality. In such intimate moments no-one talks about poli-tics. And yet the whole situation was just a little too complicated, and too intense, for me to simply put everything aside, although this was appa-rently the natural thing to do as far as she was con-cerned.Honaja pressed a button on the armrest and the couch extended to form a double bed. She stretched out on it, gave me a playful look, turned on her side, and then turned again and lay on her back with her arms stretched over her head. “Caress me!”There was nothing for it but to obey. On any other occasion this is all I would have wanted. Everything about her was beautiful. Her mouth, her face, her neck, her alluring breasts and her perfectly formed body with the provoca-tive curves of her hips. I moved my hand beneath
njene želje po čutnosti. V
tako intimnih trenutkih
se nihče ne pogovarja o
politiki. Vendar je bil celo-
ten položaj le malo preveč
zapleten, in tudi prehudo
zaostren, da bi lahko vse
po vrsti odložil na stran,
kot se je njej očitno zdelo
samoumevno.
Honaja je s pritiskom na
gumb ob naslonjalu za
roke sprožila razširitev
kavča v zakonsko posteljo,
se zleknila nanjo, me igrivo
pogledala ter se obrnila na
eno in takoj nato na drugo
stran, potem pa se je umi-
rila na hrbtu z rokami, ste-
gnjenimi nad glavo. “Božaj
me!”
Nič drugega mi ni ostalo
kot to prijetno početje. Ob
vsaki drugi priložnosti bi
si želel samo to. Vse na njej
je bilo lepo. Usta, obraz,
vrat, vabljive prsi na lepo
oblikovanem telesu z izzi-
valno zaokroženimi boki.
Pomaknil sem roko pod
njeno ramo in s prsti zdr-
363
her shoulder and slid my fingers round to the nape of her neck. I drew her closer to me with sensual pleasure and squeezed her tightly until it almost hurt. Then she laughed beca-use she was ticklish. Her laughter was full of sen-suality and an infectious playfulness. She liked it. The caresses of my hands drew from her a slow and then increasingly violent writhing that reached its height when our eyes met. There was so much sen-suality in her eyes that I caught my breath. As our eyes met I took her whole being into myself, my eyes pushing on through her dilated pupils, and her body responded with a spasm. Again and again, my gaze sank in hers. Such a game.“Honaja!” “Yes?”“You’re really hot, Honaja…”“What am I?”I abruptly lifted myself
snil do tilnika, si jo še moč-
neje prižel, jo pomendral
z že prav čutnim užitkom
ter jo stisnil vse do komaj
zaznavne bolečine, ki v
igri izvabi le smeh, ker je
žgečkljiva. Njen smeh je bil
poln čutnosti z nalezljivo
igrivostjo. Všeč ji je bilo.
To gnetenje mojih rok je
iz nje izvabljalo počasno,
potem pa vse bolj sunko-
vito zvijanje z viškom ob
izmenjanih pogledih. Iz
njenih oči je prišlo toliko
čutnosti, da sem zadržal
dih. Ob srečanju najinih
pogledov sem vso njeno bit
zajel vase, ko sem se zari-
val skozi njene razširjene
zenice in se mi je njeno
telo odzivalo s sunkovitim
trzanjem. In spet in znova
se je moj pogled pogreznil
v njenem. Takale igra.
“Honaja!”
“Da?”
“Ti si pa res vroča mačka,
Honaja…”
“Kaj sem?”
Sunkovito sem se vzpel nad
364
above her, lowered my head to her half uncove-red breasts and with pas-sionate kisses worked my way up her body to her neck and ears. “Honaja, my beautiful Honaja…” I whispered. And as my mouth moved back towards her breasts her dress slipped from her shoulder. Under the pres-sure of my hands it slid further, to her waist, reve-aling her slender abdomen. My adoring kisses moved further down her body. I pulled the dress from her. I then removed my own clothes and our eyes met in mutual accord. Our mouths sought each other with hungry, hot kisses as we embraced ever more ardently until we reached a final passionate union.
* * *
njo, spustil glavo k njenim
na pol razgaljenim prsim
ter s strastnimi poljubi šel
prek njih do vratu in ušes.
“Honaja, moja Honaja,
lepa…” sem ji zašepetal. In
ko sem se s poljubi vračal
nazaj proti njenim prsim, ji
je obleka spolzela z ramen,
ob potisku mojih rok je
zdrsnila še naprej, vse
do pasu, in razkrila vitek
trebuh, po katerem sem se
z božajočimi poljubi pomi-
kal vse nižje. Naglo sem
potegnil obleko z nje. In
ko sem nato slekel še sebe,
sta se nama pogleda ujela
v medsebojnem soglasju,
v katerem so se ustnice
same poiskale z žejnimi,
vročimi poljubi med vse
tesnejšim objemanjem vse
do končne, strastne zdru-
žitve.
* * *
365
With my arm laid across Honaja’s breasts I played with her long hair. “You know, Peter…” Honaja broke the silence.“Yes?” She had an air of satisfac-tion and relaxation. “We go together pretty well, don’t we?” she said.“Sure,” I replied, despite my doubts about the future of our relationship. “At least from my point of view perhaps a little too much.” “You know, you and my husband...” She paused mid-sentence. “Yes?” “You have a lot in common. A lot more than you can imagine. I sensed this the first time I met you. But after today I can talk about this with considerable cer-tainty. It seems quite sur-prising too me.”“What? It’s surprising for you too? What is behind this? What is actually going on? I thought that here things were only sur-
Z roko, stegnjeno čez
Honajine prsi do njenega
vzglavja, sem se poigral z
njenimi dolgimi lasmi.
“Veš, Peter…” je Honaja pre-
kinila tišino.
“Da?”
Zadovoljstvo po sprostitvi
je prihajalo iz nje. “Lepo se
ujemava, kajne?” je dejala.
“Seveda,” sem odvrnil ob
pomislekih na prihodnost
najine zveze. “Vsaj z moje
strani že kar malo preveč.”
“Veš, ti in moj mož…” je
zastala sredi stavka.
“Da?”
“Veliko skupnega imata.
Precej več, kot si to lahko
predstavljaš. To sem obču-
tila že pri prvem srečanju s
tabo. Po današnjem dnevu
pa že lahko s precejšnjo
gotovostjo govorim o tem.
Zdi se mi kar presene-
tljivo.”
“Kako? Tudi zate je prese-
netljivo? Kaj je v ozadju?
Kaj se pravzaprav dogaja?
Mislil sem, da so tu stvari
presenetljive samo za
366
prising for Earthmen. Not for you as well.” Honaja turned towards me, ran her hand through my hair and cuddled up to me: “But despite everything things are clear. Taken as a whole, of course. With the details it’s a little harder. In terms of variety of characters we Sensins are considerably more hetero-geneous. We place greater importance on building the personality than you Earthmen do.”“That’s certainly pos-sible. At least in view of your higher level of civilisation,”I replied.Then the bed vibrated slightly and a decorative model of our spaceship fell from the shelf above us. I looked at Honaja. But she was raising herself up onto her elbows too. It had surprised her as much as it had me, if not more. All the hanging objects in the room were swin-ging, even the water in the small spherical aquarium
Zemljane. Ne pa tudi za
vas.”
Honaja se je obrnila k
meni, mi šla z roko po
laseh in se mi privila: “So
pa stvari kljub vsemu jasne.
V celoti vzeto, seveda. Pri
podrobnostih je že težje.
Po pestrosti značajev smo
pri nas precej bolj razno-
liki. Večji pomen dajemo
izgradnji osebnosti kakor
vi Zemljani.”
“To je seveda možno. Vsaj
glede na vašo višjo civiliza-
cijsko raven,”
sem odvrnil.
Tedaj je postelja narahlo
zanihala, s police nad
nama pa se je prevrnila
okrasna miniatura naše
vesoljske ladje. Pogledal
sem Honajo. Toda tudi
ona se je privzdignila na
komolec. Presenetilo jo je
enako kot mene, če ne še
bolj. Vsi viseči predmeti v
sobi so nihali, tudi voda v
majhnem akvariju krogla-
ste oblike s prozornimi
367
with transparent sides was lapping from side to side. The stand containing a basket of fruit tipped this way and that a few times before coming to rest. Then came a quiet, muffled drumming sound. “An earthquake?” I won-dered aloud, although in the same moment I rejec-ted that idea: we were on a spaceship after all. Honaja jumped from the bed to the holo-display which had just lit up. A pleasant-looking female Sensin with a serious expression on her face was talking: “We have just been hit by energy missi-les from an Acutin ship-carrier.”Flashing signals had lit up on our wrist-receivers: the agreed call sign of our mission. A moment later the image of the mission’s leader, Captain Harstan, appeared in the display. “All personnel report to the muster station imme-diately! We are under
stenami, stojalo s košarico
sadežev se je kar nekajkrat
nagnilo sem ter tja, preden
se je umirilo. Potem je sle-
dilo tiho, pritajeno bobne-
nje.
“Potres?” mi je ušlo med
začudenjem, čeprav sem
že v istem trenutku zavrgel
to možnost, saj smo vendar
bili na vesoljski ladji.
Honaja je skočila s poste-
lje k pravkar prižganemu
holiju, v katerem je Čutinka
prijetnega videza z resnim
obrazom govorila: “Ravno-
kar so nas zadeli energet-
ski izstrelki ostrinovske
ladjenosilke.”
Zasvetile so se alarmne
lučke na mojem in Hona-
jinem zapestnem spre-
jemniku: dogovorjeno
pozivno znamenje naše
misije. Hip zatem se je v
njem prikazala podoba
vodje - kapitana Harstana.
“Vsi takoj na zborno mesto!
Napadajo. Zapustiti bomo
368
attack. We must abandon this ship-carrier,” he said.In a moment I had slipped into my overalls. Honaja was even quicker and was already running for the door. She stopped and waited for me – I was only two or three paces behind her. She threw herself into my arms and kissed me briefly and violently, and then ran through the door and into the corridor to the rapidly moving wall fitted with stands that the Sen-sins used to travel along the corridors. It carried us to a large vaulted space the size of a football stadium, one of the larger junctions in our ship-carrier. Here there was pandemonium, with everyone running in different directions. Some were jumping aboard the flying craft used for shi-pboard transport, while others were standing in front of the giant holo-di-splays that offered a clear view of what was happe-ning. Honaja stopped by
morali to ladjenosilko,” je
dejal.
V trenutku sem smuknil v
svoj kombinezon. Honaja
je bila še hitrejša, stekla je
k vratom, nato zastala, me
počakala, bil sem sicer le
dva, tri koraka za njo, mi
skočila v objem in se pri-
vila v poljub, kratek, silo-
vit, in že stekla skozi vrata
po hodniku do hitro pre-
mikajoče se stene s stojali
za vožnjo po hodnikih, ki
naju je prenesla do veli-
kega obokanega prostora,
velikega kot nogometni
stadion, kjer je bilo eno
od večjih križišč v naši
ladjenosilki. Tu je bil pravi
direndaj, vrvež, vsakdo je
tekel v svojo smer, nekateri
so skakali na leteča plovila
za notranji promet, drugi
so se ustavljali ob velikih
devetmetrskih holijskih
prikazovalnikih z nazor-
nim prikazom celotnega
dogajanja. Še Honaja je
zastala pri eni od večjih
369
one of the larger groups. Here I saw for the first time a large number of thoro-ughly agitated Sensins, following the constantly updated reports with great concentration. It was true that the Sensins from our mission had displayed agi-tation during our attempts to break through the aste-roid barriers, but they had been specially selected for a risky undertaking and everything that had happe-ned was more or less as expected – or rather as they expected, seeing as for me everything was unexpec-ted, to put it mildly. I found myself drawn towards the holo-display. A spaceship of incredible dimensions – I realised that it was ours – appeared in the display. Its front section was shatte-red, with gashes from the explosions that appeared to be several kilometres deep. Not even the biggest nuclear bombs would be capable of causing damage like that, not in materials
skupin. Tu sem prvič
videl večje število dodo-
bra vznemirjenih Čutinov
med zavzetim opazova-
njem sprotnih poročil.
Resda so bili Čutini iz naše
misije med tistimi našimi
preboji skozi asteroidne
zapore tudi vznemirjeni,
toda bili so izbrani za
nevarno tveganje in tudi
vse je potekalo vsaj pri-
bližno v okviru predvi-
devanja, našega oziroma
njihovega, kajti zame je
bilo vse nepričakovano,
milo rečeno. Tudi mene
je pritegnil holijev prikaz.
Vesoljska ladja neverje-
tnih razsežnosti, namreč
naša, sedaj sem jo že lahko
prepoznal, je bila prika-
zana z razbitim sprednjim
delom, s kilometre glo-
bokimi useki od eksplo-
zij. Tudi največje jedrske
bombe jih ne bi mogle
narediti, ne v takih mate-
rialih z večjo trdnostjo od
370
that were harder than dia-monds and with a melting-point higher than that of tungsten. But then there were more explosions, one after the other, shattering other enormous sections of our ship. The Sensins watched with bated breath, Honaja too. Then a wave of cries and shouts echoed through the hall. I looked at the section of the holo-display that an increasing number of Sensins were pointing to. Thousands and thousands of spacecraft, among them small ships, were leaving our ship-ca-rrier. All of them, large and small, were in attack formation, while a second wave was heading for the front of our ship.“Our squadrons,” whi-spered Honaja. “They are going to attack the enemy, and those in front of us are going to build a shield. Our anti-missile fighters will shoot down the energy missiles before they hit us.”
diamantove in s tališčem,
višjim od volframovega.
Pa še nove eksplozije so se
vrstile, druga za drugo, in
trgale velike, že kar orja-
ške dele naše ladje. Vsi
Čutini so gledali z zadr-
žano sapo, tudi Honaja.
Potem je vzvalovil šum
glasov z vzkliki. Pogledal
sem v predel holijevega
prikaza, kamor je bilo
usmerjenih vse več rok.
Na tisoče in tisoče plovil,
tudi manjših ladij, je zapu-
ščalo našo ladjenosilko.
Vse, velike in male, so se
usmerjale v napad, nasle-
dnji val pa v ospredje naše
ladje.
“Naše eskadre,” je šepnila
Honaja. “V napad gredo,
tiste pred nami pa bodo
zgradile ščit. Naši lovci
izstrelkov bodo razstrelje-
vali energetske izstrelke,
še preden bodo zadevali.”
371
“Can this ship-carrier withstand an attack like this?” Judging from the expressions on the faces around me, and the enthu-siastic cries that greeted each new squadron that left the ship, one would certainly think so. Honaja’s face again showed a sombre shadow of doubt. “It is more a question of how long we can hold out. Three of their ship-carri-ers are attacking us. Help is probably already on its way, although we can’t see them yet. But, Peter…”I looked at her anxious face: “Yes?”“An attack by ships from the ship-carrier class… that means war. They are our biggest ships. This is no longer a local war. It isn’t like before with the GNAT or the STORM-BIRD. Look there, in the top left corner of the dis-play!”“What does it mean?” I could see a glint of light above the distant fleet.
“Ali lahko ta ladjenosilka
zdrži tak napad?” Po vseh
tistih obrazih naokrog
in po vzklikih ob vzletih
naših eskader bi celo lahko
tako sodil.
Na Honajin obraz je spet
legla bolj mračna senca
dvoma. “Bolj je vprašanje,
koliko časa lahko zdržimo.
Tri njihove ladjenosilke
nas napadajo. Verjetno
nam naše že prihajajo
na pomoč, čeprav jih ni
videti. Toda, Peter. . .”
Pogledal sem njen zaskr-
bljeni obraz: “Da?”
“Napad ladij iz razreda
‘ladjenosilk’ … to je vojna.
Gre za naše največje ladje,
to ni več lokalna vojna.
To ni isto kot prej z našim
KOMARJEM ali sedanjim
VIHARNIKOM. Poglej tja,
levo zgoraj v holiju!”
“Kaj to pomeni?” Videl sem
bleščanje nad oddaljenim
ladjevjem.
372
“The fleets from the upper part of the asteroid belt have entered the fray.”Then there was a flash of light across the whole belt. “The entire asteroid belt is ablaze,” came the announ-cement.“It’s war,” whispered Honaja.“We have detected laser cannon support from our ship-carriers.”All the Sensins round the holo-display jumped up and down with enthusi-asm. Even Honaja rejoi-ced: “With this support we will hold out. Their three ship-carriers aren’t enough to destroy us because we have the support of the laser cannon of five of our own ship-carriers. But where have they come from...? Look, Peter!”An entire section of the asteroid belt was merging to reveal the increasingly clear outlines of a ship of the ship-carrier class.“So these weren’t astero-
“V spopad so se vključila
še ladjevja na zgornjem
delu asteroidnega pasu.”
Potem se je zasvetlikalo
tudi prek vsega pasu. “Ves
asteroidni pas je v ognju,”
se je glasilo kratko sporo-
čilo.
“Vojna je,” je zašepetala
Honaja.
“Zaznali smo podporo
laserskih topov naših lad-
jenosilk.”
Vsi ob holiju so poskočili
v navdušenju. Tudi Honaja
se je vzradostila: “Ob tej
podpori bomo zdržali. Nji-
hove tri ladjenonosilke so
premalo za naše uničenje,
ker imamo podporo laser-
skih topov s petih naših
ladjenosilk. Toda od kod so
se vzele...? Poglej, Peter!”
Cel predel asteroidnega
pasu se je združeval v
vse bolj jasne obrise ladje
razreda ladjenosilk.
“Torej to sploh niso bili
373
ids but the scattered com-ponent parts of ship-ca-rriers!” I shouted. It was a magnificent sight: each part was building itself into a united whole.Honaja nodded: “There are asteroids of every type here, these too.”“What does this mean?” I asked, as I tried to guess what effect the presence of this technology would have on the situation.“I don’t know. There has been too much redistribu-tion of forces recently for any more definite asses-sment of the situation. Shifts are taking place constantly on both sides. It is difficult to say who has the advantage where. Here it now looks as though a balance of power is being re-established. But in other sectors one side could gain an advantage, or perhaps not. Be that as it may, the support of the laser cannon of these ship-carriers closest to us is a cause for happiness.
asteroidi, ampak razme-
tani sestavni deli ladjeno-
silk!” sem vzkliknil. Prizor
je bil veličasten, vsak del
posebej se je sproti vgradil
v zlito celoto.
Honaja je prikimala: “Vseh
vrst asteroidi, tudi taki, so
tu.”
“Kaj to pomeni?” sem vpra-
šal med pomišljanjem na
nadaljnji razplet ob priso-
tnosti take tehnike.
“Ne vem. Preveč preraz-
porejanja oboroženih sil
v zadnjem času onemo-
goča kakršne koli bolj
določene ocene stanja. Na
obeh straneh so prisotni
nenehni premiki. Težko
je reči, v katerem delu je
kdo v premoči. Tukaj se
zdaj kaže ponovna vzpo-
stavitev ravnovesja sil.
Toda na drugih območjih
je že lahko prišlo do pred-
nosti posamezne strani
ali pa tudi ne. Kakor koli,
podpore laserskih topov z
nam najbližjih ladjenosilk
smo lahko kar veseli.” Na
374
A satisfied smile appeared on Honaja’s lips.Suddenly everyone fell silent.“Whaat?” I cried. Imme-diately above us, above the flank of our ship and the section containing we were standing in at that moment, a mass of Acutin craft seemed to be gro-wing out of nothing. “Dive-bombers!” shouted the Sensins.I looked at the holo-display and then back at Honaja. “How? Where from?”“All these craft are made up of modules, including very tiny ones no bigger than dust particles. The distances between them vary. At first they appear in a more or less dense asteroid cloud with all the individual particles sepa-rated and mixed with a large number of “blind” asteroids to mislead our analysers. “And what does this mean for us?” I turned from the holo-display to observe
Honajine ustnice se je pri-
kradel zadovoljen nasmeh.
Nenadoma so vsi utihnili z
zadržanim dihom.
“Kaaaj?” se mi je izvil
vzklik. Tik nad nami, nad
bokom naše ladje, nad pre-
delom s prostori, v katerih
smo se ravno nahajali, so
po prikazu v holiju zrasla,
kot iz nič, velika prebojna
plovila Ostrinov.
“Strmoglavci!”! so se od
vsepovsod vrstili vzkliki.
Gledal sem zdaj v holi, zdaj
v Honajo. “Kako? Od kod?”
“Vsa ta plovila so sesta-
vljena iz modulov, tudi
takih zelo majhnih, vse
do miniaturnih delcev.
Priletela so v različnih
medsebojnih razmikih.
Sprva se pokažejo v bolj ali
manj gostem asteroidnem
oblačku, z razmaknjenimi
posameznimi delci, pome-
šanimi z velikim številom
‘slepih’ asteroidov za zava-
janje naših analizatorjev.”
“In kaj to pomeni za nas?”
Pogledoval sem izme-
nično v holi in v odzivanje
375
the Sensins’ reaction to the appearance of these attacking dive-bombers. “It depends on the number of these ships. If the worst came to the worst, our ship would have to expand too. All of its components would have to separate and produce a hundredfold if not a thousandfold incre-ase in its current size. Any energy blast would then only be able to destroy an incomparably smaller part of the ship. A millionfold increase in the power of the energy charges would be necessary to destroy such an ‘inflated’ ship.” Meanwhile the first dive-bombers were already attacking with such force that an entire section of the ship above us had begun to glow red-hot. The glow increased to dazzling glare which for a time hid our view of events beyond the outer walls of our ship, but once the blinding light had diminished we could see that a kilometre-long sec-
Čutinov na holijev prikaz
nastajanja teh napadalcev
iz razreda ‘strmoglavcev’.
“Odvisno od števila teh
ladij. V skrajnem primeru
bi se tudi naša ladja morala
razširiti. Vsi njeni sestavni
deli bi se morali medse-
bojno razmakniti na sto-
kratno, če ne tisočkratno
povečanje sedanje veli-
kosti. Vsaka energetska
eksplozija bi potem lahko
uničila neprimerno manjši
del ladje. Milijonkratno
povečanje moči energet-
skih nabojev je potrebno
za uničenje tako ‘napih-
njene’ ladje.”
Medtem so prvi ‘strmo-
glavci’ že napadli s tako
silovitostjo, da je ves
predel naše ladje nad nami
zažarel, najprej do blešče-
čega sija, ki je za nekaj časa
zakril prikaz dogajanja za
zunanjimi stenami naše
ladje, po prvem zmanjša-
nju slepeče svetlobe pa
se nam je pokazalo udi-
ranje kilometrskega dela
376
tion of the outer shell had collapsed into the interior of the ship. “Peter, we can’t just stand here counting their dive-bombers! We must get to the STORMBIRD. Eve-ryone will flee to their own stations.”We began to run, past the giant holo-display and the rapidly dispersing crowd of Sensins. Most of them were getting into small vehicles in the form of discs with glass semicir-cles above them. Those by the walls were opening cupboards and removing spacesuits complete with square backpacks and transparent egg-shaped helmets. “For the vacuum,” explai-ned Honaja. “In the case of a rapid dispersal of the component parts of our ship, a vacuum will form here. Those flashing lights above the cupboards con-taining the spacesuits are an alarm signal. They indi-cate that everyone should
zunanjih sten v notranjost
ladje.
“Peter, ne moremo le šteti
teh njihovih ‘strmoglav-
cev’! Do našega VIHAR-
NIKA morava. Vsak bo
bežal v svoje prostore.”
Nato sva stekla mimo veli-
kega holija in hitro razha-
jajoče se, še malo prej zelo
obsežne gruče Čutinov.
Večina jih je stopala v
manjša vozila, na neka-
kšne plošče s steklenimi
polkroglami nad njimi,
tisti ob stenah pa so jemali
iz trezorjev obleke s kva-
dratastim nahrbtnikom in
prozorno jajčasto čelado.
“Za brezzračni prostor,” je
pojasnila Honaja. “V pri-
meru hitrejše razpršitve
sestavnih delov naše ladje
bo tukaj nastal brezzračen
prostor. Utripanje teh lučk
nad trezorji s skafandri že
kaže alarmno stanje. To je
poziv vsem, naj si jih oble-
377
put on spacesuits. That is what we ought to do too. The hangars are too vast for us to cross them quic-kly enough, even though they are designed to hold smaller vessels like our STORMBIRD.Honaja ran to the nearest wall. A light was flashing above the stylised image of a spacesuit. She remo-ved two backpacks from a cupboard and pressed a button on top of them to release the airtight space-suits they contained. We both immediately put on our suits and began loo-king around for the nearest free vehicle. But there was an enormous crowd in the parking bay. Because of the large holo-display, so many Sensins had gathe-red in this section before the alarm that delays were inevitable despite the inc-reased capacities of their internal transport system. Even so, everything seemed to be happening very quickly. It only took
čemo. Tudi za naju bo to
najbolje. Hangarji, čeprav
za manjše vesoljske ladje,
kot je naš VIHARNIK, so
preveč prostrani, da bi jih
lahko dovolj hitro preč-
kali.”
Honaja je nato stekla do
prve stene z utripajočo
lučko nad stilizirano nari-
sano skafandrsko obleko
za brezzračni prostor,
vzela iz nje dva nahrb-
tnika, iz katerih se je ob
dotiku zgornjega gumba
razprla nepredušna vesolj-
ska obleka. Takoj sva si
nadela vsak svoj skafander
in se ozrla po najbližjem
prostem plovilu. Toda na
parkirišču je bila velikan-
ska gneča. Zaradi velikega
holija se je pred alarmom
nabralo na tem delu toliko
Čutinov, da je kljub poveča-
nim zmogljivostim njiho-
vega notranjega prometa
prihajalo do zastojev. Sicer
pa je še vedno vse potekalo
zelo hitro. Le nekaj minut
378
a few minutes for all the Sensins to disperse. There had probably been tens of thousands of them, or per-haps even more: I hadn’t been able to tell how many of them there were behind all the different entrances to this great crossroads-like space. But there was no time to think about that now. An arch on the oppo-site side collapsed to half of its previous height with a great bang. The explosi-ons were already reaching the area we were in.“Quickly!” shouted Honaja. “There must be enough free vehicles in the lower part of the parking bay. We have to find one because we can no longer rely on the moving walls and lifts.” She ran past the vehicles that were taking off around us and towards the central part of the parking bay. We then made our way past vehicles that were already occupied by individual Sensins waiting for their
je bilo potrebnih za razvoz
vseh Čutinov, najbrž jih je
bilo nekaj deset tisoč ali
morda še več, nisem znal
prav presoditi, koliko jih
je za vsemi izhodno-vho-
dnimi vrati v tem velikem
križiščnem prostoru. Pa
tudi časa ni bilo več za raz-
mišljanje. Obok na naspro-
tni strani se je udrl vse do
polovice prejšnje višine, in
to s pokom. Eksplozije so
segale že prav do nas.
“Hitro!” mi je zaklicala
Honaja. “Na spodnjem delu
parkirišča mora biti dovolj
prostih vozil. Eno morava
nujno dobiti, ker se na pre-
mične stene in dvigala ne
da več zanašati.”
Stekla je mimo vzletajo-
čih plovil v ospredju in
proti osrednjemu delu
parkirišča, nato sva se
prebila ob že zasedenih
vozilih, ob katerih so
posamezniki še čakali na
svoje prijatelje, ter nato
379
friends, and then across a long footbridge that curved in an arc towards a raised parking area in the distance. But this was the same direction as the col-lapsed section of the arch. Honaja stopped: “If they have already managed to penetrate the outer walls, this section will now be the target of their energy missiles. The interior of the ship is far less resistant to explosi-ons than the outer part of the hull. We had better go back.”Naturally I agreed with her. In these conditions among the Sensins I was already able to make up my own mind about some things, but not in the current situ-ation. Honaja’s suggestion seemed to make sense. And she was right too. There was another crash and the arch split, fissures opening along its length. Then came a powerful blast of air which would
po dolgem, v ozkem loku
speljanem mostičku na
privzdignjeno parkirišče
v ozadju. Toda to je bilo
prav v smeri udrtega dela
oboka. Honaja se je usta-
vila:
“Če jim je že uspelo pre-
biti zunanje stene, bodo
prav v ta del usmerili
svoje energetske izstrelke.
Notranjost je neprimerno
manj odporna na eksplo-
zije od zunanjega dela
trupa. Raje se vrniva.”
Seveda sem se strinjal. V
teh razmerah med Čutini
sem se za nekatere stvari
že lahko tudi sam odločal,
v trenutnem položaju pa
prav gotovo ne. Honajina
presoja se mi je zdela pre-
pričljiva. In je tudi res bila
pravilna. Ob ponovnem
trku se je obod vdal do
pokanja z razpirajočimi se
špranjami. Nastal je tudi
silovit piš, ki bi me skupaj
380
have sent me and Honaja rolling along the floor if not up into the air, like the several thousand Sensins it had swept off their feet and towards the gaping fissures through which the air was flowing out, right up to the ceiling. Falling back down from that height would be ter-rible. I was already thin-king about broken necks, arms, legs, heads, when the gravity suddenly disa-ppeared or, more likely, some artificially created gravity that enabled us to move as though under the effect of Earth’s gravity. Honaja and I clung to the rail in order to resist the powerful blast of air, but suddenly that disappeared too. Now we had to cope with airlessness and wei-ghtlessness. “Artificial gravity stops functioning when the component elements move apart,” explained Honaja. “On your wrist you have a controller for the minia-
s Honajo zakotalil po tleh,
če že ne odnesel v zrak,
tako kot več tisoč Čutinov,
ki jih je odneslo po tleh in
nato proti razprtim špra-
njam, skozi katere je izte-
kal zrak, vse tja do stropa.
Strahovit bo padec nazaj
na tla. Pomislil sem že na
zlomljene vratove, roke,
noge, glave, ko je nena-
doma izginila težnost ali,
bolj verjetno, nekakšna
umetno ustvarjena pri-
vlačnost tal, na katerih si
se lahko gibal z zemeljsko
težnostjo.
S Honajo sva se še držala
ograje zaradi silovitega
zračnega piša, toda tudi ta
je nenadoma izginil. Zdaj
smo bili v brezzračnem in
breztežnostnem prostoru.
“Umetno ustvarjena
težnost preneha ob razmi-
kanju sestavnih delov,” mi
je pojasnila Honaja. “Na
zapestju imaš krmilo za
miniaturni fotonski motor
381
ture photon motor in your backpack. Lift your arms in the direction you want to fly in and waggle your fingers to start the motor. Look, like this!” Honaja rapidly demonstrated the very simple controls. “But we still have to find a vehi-cle. We can move quickly enough round the ship with our backpack motors but they are not suitable for longer distances.” She set off under the arch and I followed her. We were heading towards the hangars, first along tubular corridors and then through empty space with a clear view of the starry sky out-side. In those conditions there was nothing pleasant about that black emptiness dotted with numerous cle-arly visible stars. Honaja stopped. “All the routes have been cut. We have to call the rescue service.” All we could see around us were large moving walls
v tvojem nahrbtniku. Roke
dvigni v smer leta in z
migom prstov vžgi motor.
Glej, takole!” Honaja mi je
na hitro pokazala sicer zelo
preprosta pravila uporabe.
“Vendar morava vseeno
najti vozilo. Po ladji se z
najinima hrbtnima motor-
jema sicer lahko dovolj
hitro premikava, za pre-
magovanje večjih razdalj
pa niso primerni.”
Usmerila se je pod obok,
jaz sem ji sledil, napotila
sva se proti hangarjem,
najprej po cevastih hodni-
kih, nato pa že v letu skozi
prazen vesoljski prostor s
prostim pogledom v zvez-
dnato vesolje, ki v takih
razmerah ni delovalo nič
kaj prijetno s svojo pra-
znino, posuto s številnimi
dobro vidnimi zvezdami,
vendar na temnem, črnem
ozadju.
Honaja se je ustavila: “Vse
poti so presekane. Reše-
valno službo morava pokli-
cati.” Okoli sebe sva lahko
videla le velike premika-
382
and individual sections of our ship-carrier, from which smaller ships would apparently be assembled. We actually saw this transformation taking place on an enormous piece of ship below us. The large plates began to curve and bend. A number of smaller pieces approa-ched from further away. Some of them opened sud-denly to reveal engines, and already we could see a new ship taking shape. It was much smaller than the CONQUEROR 949 but it was still very big. Honaja pressed a button on her wrist unit to call for help. We only needed naviga-tion assistance and since the information system was still fully functional we immediately received all the explanations we needed – although it was not what we wanted to hear. We were still in the area of the main attack by the dive-bombers.
joče se stene in posamezne
dele naše ladjenosilke, iz
katerih naj bi se ponovno
sestavile manjše ladje. In
prav to preobrazbo sva
lahko videla na orjaškem
kosu pod nama. Velike,
ravno odsekane plošče
so se usločile, druge spet
izbočile, iz ozadja se je pri-
bližalo večje število manj-
ših kosov, nekateri so se
nenadoma razprli, da so se
pokazali motorji, in že sva
lahko zaznala sestavljanje
nove ladje, resda nepri-
merno manjše od našega
OSVAJALCA 949, vendar še
vedno zelo velike. Honaja
je s pritiskom gumba na
zapestju poklicala pomoč,
potrebovala sva sicer samo
navigacijsko, in glede na še
vedno dobro delujoč infor-
macijski sistem sva takoj
dobila vsa pojasnila, ki pa
za naju niso bila ugodna.
Še vedno sva bila v predelu
osrednjega napada strmo-
glavcev.
383
Once they had finished assembling themselves in the way we had just witnessed, the six ships closest to us immediately launched a counter-attack by activating their laser cannon. However after a brief exchange of fire they were destroyed by the dive-bombers’ energy bolts. “We could head for the ship below us but the main information centre has advised us not to because that ship is believed to be the target of dive-bombers that are already on their way. They could attack it at any moment,” said Honaja.“Move back in the direc-tion you came from! Rescue ships have already been dispatched. We have transmitted your position and the STORMBIRD has signalled that they are on their way to you.” This message arrived via Honaja’s miniature holo-gram receiver.
Šest naših ladij je na nama
vidni razdalji takoj po
sestavitvi, kakršni sva bila
priči, začelo delovati v
nasprotnem napadu z akti-
viranjem svojih laserskih
topov, vendar so bile v
kratkih spopadih uničene
z energetskimi izstrelki
strmoglavcev.
“Lahko bi sicer šla v ladjo
pod sabo, vendar so nama
iz osrednjega informacij-
skega središče to odsve-
tovali, ker naj bi bila prav
ta ladja pod nama cilj že
usmerjenih strmoglavcev.
Vsak čas naj bi jo napadli,”
je rekla Honaja.
“Umaknita se nazaj po
isti črti leta, po kateri sta
prišla! Reševalne ladje
smo že poslali, po našem
prenosu vaše lege pa so
z vajinega VIHARNIKA
že sporočili tudi njihov
odhod po vaju,” sva dobila
sporočilo prek Honajinega
miniaturnega holijskega
sprejemnika.
384
I pointed towards the six large laser cannon that were rising up out of the hull in the forward section of the ship immediately below us.“Let’s get out of here!” shouted Honaja. “They are already here.”I looked around for the attackers, and then again to the right, to the left and in all directions, but I couldn’t see them. There were too many vague shapes moving all around us. Then we felt the shock of a powerful discharge of energy as the ship below us opened fire. I still couldn’t see the attackers but the ship was already hammering away without interruption as though taking part in a direct attack. We rapidly descended along the hull towards the rear section and then ducked below the four laser cannon located at the top of what looked like a tail section, altho-ugh ships did not need a
Iztegnil sem roko proti
šestim velikim laserskim
topovom, ki so se dvigali
iz trupa na sprednjem delu
naše ladje pod njimi.
“Beživa!” je vzkliknila
Honaja. “So že tu.”
Pogledal sem naokrog
po napadalcih, potem še
enkrat na desno, pa na levo
in v vse smeri, a jih nisem
mogel videti. Preveč premi-
kajočih se delov nejasnih
oblik, še posebej tistih na
nekoliko večji razdalji, je
bilo vse naokrog. Tedaj sva
začutila sunke močnega
sproščanja energije ob
hitrem rafalnem streljanju
naše ladje pod nama. Napa-
dalcev še vedno ni bilo
videti, ladja pod nami pa
je že tolkla brez prekinitve
kot ob direktnem napadu.
Hitro sva se spustila ob
trupu proti zadnjemu delu
in nato tik pod streli štirih
laserskih topov, namešče-
nih na vrhu nekakšnega
repnega krila, vsaj po
obliki sodeč, čeprav ga
v tem brezzračnem pro-
385
tail in this vacuum. Sud-denly the tail exploded. It had been hit by an enemy laser impulse. It must have had terrible power. The enormous cannon – tens of metres long – evapora-ted: a fraction of a second had been enough to blow them away.As we flew, I looked towards the violent fla-shes of light where the entire forward section of the ship had disappeared beneath the explosions of energy bolts beneath that were tearing its armoured hull to pieces. The ship would not last long I mut-tered to myself. And the crew would be destroyed despite their courageous resistance. This was some-thing that was outside my understanding of these Sensins, with their safe and secure lives.“Why don’t they flee?” I shouted to Honaja as I flew along next to her.“They will,” she replied. “The crew is probably
storu niso potrebovali, ki
pa se je nenadoma razle-
tel. Zadel ga je nasprotni
laserski energetski impulz.
Strahovito moč je moral
imeti. Topovi z desetme-
trskim premerom in več
deset metrov dolžine so
se razblinili, kar odpihnilo
jih je. V delčku sekunde jih
je razneslo.
Med letom sem se ozrl v
smeri silovitih bleskov,
kjer je bil ves sprednji del
ladje prekrit z eksplozi-
jami energetskih izstrel-
kov, pod katerimi se je
trgal okrepljeni sprednji
del trupa. Ladja ne bo
dolgo zdržala, mi je prišlo
skozi mrmrajoče ustnice.
In posadka bo uničena
kljub hrabremu odporu, to
pa je bilo že zunaj mojega
razumevanja teh Čutinov,
skupaj z njihovim varnim
življenjem.
“Zakaj ne zbežijo?” sem
zaklical Honaji med doti-
kajočim se letom ob njej.
“Saj bodo,” mi je odvrnila.
“Posadka je verjetno že v
386
already in the rear section and preparing to withdraw aboard escape rockets. But they still have some laser cannon and energy bolts. They can still resist the attackers.”“Hmm. They are certainly courageous.” I caught sight of a large piece of hull being torn away, and then a new explosion ripped through large sections of the par-tition walls of the accom-modation quarters in the interior of the hull. But two laser cannon on the sides of the ship were still firing away at full power. Energy bolts flashed from them in rapid succession, while energy missiles con-tinued to fire from a part of the hull that was still undamaged.“Away! Quickly, away!” shouted Honaja, visibly alarmed. “When the rear section is shattered the individual pieces will fly in our direction. Even a small fragment could be
zadnjem delu pripravljena
na umik z rešilnimi rake-
tami. Toda nekaj laser-
skih topov in energetskih
izstrelkov še imajo. Še
vedno se lahko zopersta-
vljajo napadalcem.”
“Hm. Vseeno so precej
hrabri.” S pogledom sem
ujel odstrelitev večjega
kosa trupa na sprednjem
delu in zatem še novo
eksplozijsko trganje veli-
kih kosov pregradnih
sten bivalnih prostorov iz
notranjosti trupa. Toda dva
laserska topova na straneh
ladje sta še vedno tolkla s
polno močjo. Energetski
laserski impulzi so švigali
iz njiju v hitrih zaporednih
sunkih, iz dela še nepo-
škodovanega trupa pa so
bruhali raketni izstrelki z
energetskim eksplozivom.
“Stran! Čimprej stran!”
je vidno vznemirjena, že
kar prestrašena pono-
vila Honaja. “Po razbi-
tju zadnjega dela bodo
posamezni kosi leteli v
najini smeri. Tudi zadetki
387
fatal for us because there is no air here to slow them down. We have to get under cover, behind the first large piece we can find.”Honaja looked at the ship. Its hull was already half torn apart and shattered by internal explosions. Then she launched herself in the direction of a ship that was assembling itself behind us at that very moment. Its hull was taking on a shape similar to the one we were fleeing. We were still a few minutes away from reaching its shelter when we were suddenly blinded by a violent gleam of light. A moment later a large piece of hull flew past us and, behind it, a dozen smaller fragments torn from the walls. A rescue craft appeared immedia-tely below us and a Sensin from the destroyed ship signalled to us to come on board. This craft had pro-tected us from the smaller fragments. That was why
manjših so lahko smrtno
nevarni, ker tu ni zraka,
ki bi jih upočasnil. V kritje
morava, za prvim malo
večjim kosom.” je dejala
Honaja med oziranjem
proti ladji, katere trup je
bil že do polovice ali raz-
trgan ali prebit z ognje-
nimi izpuhi od notranjih
eksplozij. Honaja se je
usmerila proti boku prav-
kar nastajajoče ladje v
ozadju, katere deli trupa so
dobivali obliko, podobno
tisti, od katere sva bežala.
Le nekaj minut sva še
potrebovala za let v njeno
zaledje, ko naju je zaslepil
silovit blesk svetlobe. Tre-
nutek zatem je mimo naju
priletel večji kos in za njim
še nekaj deset morda metr-
skih delov plošče, iztrgane
s sten v malo večji razda-
lji. Tik za nama pa je stalo
rešilno plovilo, iz katerega
nama je Čutin iz uničene
ladje dajal znamenje, naj
prideva. To plovilo naju
je zaščitilo pred manjšimi
delci. Zato sva tudi ostala
388
we were still in one piece. They had only just mana-ged to abandon their ship before it exploded, and yet they had protected us! Honaja and I flew to the rescue craft. I felt safer in it than out in the open, although even this was questionable.“What’s happening? Are we at war?” These were Honaja’s first words on entering the cro-wded central command bridge of this disc-shaped craft, which though smal-ler than our usual ships still measured several tens of metres across.The Sensin who had rescued us answered: “Battles are taking place in the whole of this sector around the asteroid belt. A large part of the fleets, both ours and theirs, had been sent here in advance. A good part of the forces of both sides are now in this part of the galaxy and it appears that the majority are already engaged in the
cela. Pa so le še pravi čas
zapustili ladjo, tik pred
njeno razstrelitvijo, in še
naju so zaščitili! S Honajo
sva zletela v reševalno plo-
vilo. Vseeno sem se počutil
v njem malo bolj varno kot
na prostem, čeprav je bilo
tudi to vprašljivo.
“Kaj se dogaja? Smo v vojni,
kajne?” so bile prve Hona-
jine besede po vstopu v
osrednji prostor z nagne-
teno posadko tega, glede
na dimenzije običajnih
ladij manjšega, vendar še
vedno več deset metrov
velikega diskastega plo-
vila.
Čutin, ki naju je rešil, je
rekel: “Na vsem tem pre-
delu okoli asteroidnega
pasu potekajo boji. Veliko
ladjevja, tako z naše kot z
njihove strani, je bilo že
prej poslano prav sem.
Dobršen del sil, z obeh
strani, je sedaj v tem delu
vesolja, in kot vse kaže, je
večina že vključena v boje.
389
fighting. But war has not yet been declared either on their side or on ours. The reports talk about local conflicts, but given the scale of these battles that is rather difficult to under-stand. We have orders from headquarters to take you to the flagship and to communicate to you the suspension of your mis-sion until further notice.”
Vendar pa vojna še ni bila
objavljena ne na njihovi
ne na naši strani. Poročila
sicer govorijo o lokalnih
spopadih, to pa je spričo
obsega teh bitk malo
težje razumeti. Imamo še
ukaz poveljstva, naj vaju
odpeljemo na admiralsko
ladjo ter naj vama sporo-
čimo prekinitev misije do
nadaljnjega.”
390
Chapter XII
After terrible clashes, which included robotic units inside the asteroid belt, and after several tho-usand ship-carriers had been destroyed on both sides, the two sides agreed to resume negotiations. Among the conditions imposed by the Acutins was a request for my pre-sence, without any addi-tional explanation. They insisted on it. I was able to hear this for myself in the company of a group of Sensins around the large holo-display. Captain Har-stan stood up with a tho-ughtful expression on his face. He pondered for a moment and then signalled to Honaja that she should go with him. He took her to one side and they spoke confidentially. They talked together for quite some time. Then they retur-
XII. poglavje
Po hudih spopadih, v
katere so bile znotraj aste-
roidnega pasu vključene
robotizirane enote, ter
po več tisoč medsebojno
uničenih ladjah tipa »lad-
jenosilk« sta se obe strani
dogovorili za ponovna
pogajanja, pri tem pa so
Ostrini ob svojih pogojih
na koncu navrgli še zah-
tevo po moji navzočnosti,
in to brez kakršnihkoli
dodatnih pojasnil. So pa
pri tej zahtevi vztrajali.
Sam sem to lahko slišal v
družbi Čutinov ob velikem
holiju. Tedaj je kapitan
Harstan vstal z zamišlje-
nim izrazom na obrazu,
nekaj je tuhtal, potem pa je
namignil Honaji, naj gre z
njim, ter jo odpeljal vstran
na nekakšen zaupen pogo-
vor. Kar nekaj časa sta se
na samem pomenkovala.
Potem sta se vrnila. Har-
391
ned. Harstan still looked slightly preoccupied. He looked at me. Then he beckoned me to join them. I walked forwards and as I did so I cast a fleeting lock at Honaja, who smiled at me with her characteristic sensual expression.“Don’t believe these Acu-tins!” said Harstan. “Now, in these strained conditi-ons, they will feign igno-rance and make up vari-ous lies on the spot. They still do not know the true importance of your pre-sence, nor the real reason for it, although they may already have some vague notions. They will want to find out more. There-fore we can expect cer-tain complications and provocations, something at which they are past masters. They have even managed to catch us out in the past, so it will proba-bly be considerably easier for them to catch out an Earthman. I therefore ask you to show a little restra-
stan je bil še vedno videti
rahlo zamišljen. In pogle-
doval je vame. Nato me je
poklical, naj se jima pri-
družim, zato sem stopil
naprej in pri tem bežno
pogledal Honajo, ki se mi
je nasmehnila s svojo zna-
čilno čutno naklonjeno-
stjo do mene.
»Ne verjemite tem Ostri-
nom!« je dejal Harstan.
»Zdaj, v teh zaostrenih
razmerah, se bodo spre-
nevedali s sprotnim izmi-
šljanjem različnih laži. Še
vedno ne poznajo niti pra-
vega pomena vaše navzoč-
nosti niti pravega razloga
zanjo, čeprav že imajo
neke meglene predstave.
Hoteli bodo izvedeti več.
Zato lahko pričakujemo
določene zaplete z izziva-
nji, pri katerih znajo biti
precej spretni. Še nas jim
je uspelo presenetiti. Vas
Zemljane pa bi lahko pre-
senetili verjetno še dosti
prej. Zato vas prosim za
nekaj malega zadržano-
392
int, and suggest that when you are talking to them you take time to consider your answers to the more diffi-cult questions or discuss them with Honaja.”I gave a slight nod to indi-cate my acceptance of Harstan’s warnings.
* * *
In the large hall the chairs at the negotiating table, three on either side of it, were still unoccupied. The escorts were suppo-sed to remain in the back-ground, but with advisers and experts on various issues within immediate reach of the negotiators. It was going to be difficult. Honaja and I stood slightly to one side, by the carpet that ran from the entrance through over half of the fifty-metre hall. My gaze was attracted by the floor
sti ter da si v pogovoru z
njimi vzamete čas za bolj
zahtevne odgovore in za
razmislek ali pa se pogovo-
rite s Honajo.«
Z rahlim prikimavanjem
sem nakazal svoje soglasje
s Harstanovimi opozorili.
* * *
V veliki dvorani so bili
stoli za pogajalsko mizo,
po trije na vsaki strani
lebdeče plošče, še vedno
nezasedeni. Spremstvo naj
bi ostalo v ozadju, vendar
s svetovalci in strokov-
njaki za razna vprašanja na
takojšnem dosegu poga-
jalcev. Trdo bo. S Honajo
sva stala nekoliko stran,
ob preprogi, speljani od
vhoda skozi dobro polo-
vico petdesetmetrske dvo-
rane. Pogled mi je zastal na
tleh pod mojimi nogami.
393
beneath my feet. Some kind of parquet cut from wood of various colours to form a mosaic-like depic-tion of a flower garden, with decorative shrubs and a stream flowing towards the walls, or rather colu-mns, with small arched exits between them and one larger arch beneath which a small lake exten-ded into the hall, with a little bridge across it. “The delegation of the Acutins!” announced a clear voice from the direc-tion of the entrance. The Sensins and the Acutins standing along the carpet moved apart, each group to its own side, and stood there in a respectful atti-tude. Honaja and I did the same, although we remai-ned slightly more to the front, where I observed with interest the etiquette of these highly developed civilisations. Their pro-tocol was quite similar to ours on Earth, except
Nekakšen parket, izrezan
iz raznobarvnega lesa v
mozaični upodobitvi cve-
tličnega vrta s potmi, z
okrasnimi grmi in s poto-
kom, speljanim do sten ali,
bolje rečeno, do stebrov z
manjšimi obočnimi izhodi
in z enim večjim, pod kate-
rim je segalo v dvorano
že pravo manjše jezerce
z mostičkom, ki je vodil
čezenj.
»Delegacija Ostrinov!« je
naznanil razločen glas iz
smeri vhoda v dvorano.
Čutini in Ostrini ob pre-
progi so se razmaknili,
vsaka skupina na svojo
stran, ter obstali v spoštljivi
drži. Tudi midva s Honajo
sva storila enako, le da sva
ostala bolj v ospredju, kjer
sem z zanimanjem opazo-
val pravila obnašanja teh
višje razvitih civilizacij.
Protokol so imeli precej
podoben kot Zemljani, le
394
that the overall effect was one of preserving a tradi-tion, despite all their new technology. “What tra-dition they are trying to preserve?” I wondered. It appeared that emphasi-sing the solemn nature of the occasion with the pre-sence of a large escort was perfectly acceptable and indeed expected.Three negotiators appea-red at the entrance, accom-panied by nine advisers in black jackets rather like tailcoats beneath which they wore silver close-fit-ting one-piece overalls with the shoes, or rather boots, already attached. The negotiators were dres-sed in the same way but with the colour scheme reversed: their tailcoats gleamed silver. I had alre-ady had a chance to see this “fabric” of theirs from close up. It was made of thousands of tiny dia-monds measuring barely a tenth of a millimetre set in a matrix finer than a
da je vse skupaj delovalo
še nekoliko bolj v smislu
ohranjanja tradicije, in to
kljub vsej novi tehnologiji.
»Hm, za kakšno tradicijo
gre?« so se mi vsiljevali
pomisleki. No, da, poudar-
janje slovesnosti z navzoč-
nostjo številnega sprem-
stva je gotovo povsod
sprejemljivo oziroma pri-
čakovano.
Na vhodu so se prikazali
trije pogajalci v sprem-
stvu devetih svetovalcev
v črnih, frakom podobnih
suknjičih, pod katerimi so
nosili srebrne, rahlo opri-
jete kombinezone, ki so
bili iz enega dela, skupaj s
čevlji, pravzaprav škornji.
Pogajalci pa so imeli sicer
enaka oblačila, le barvna
razporeditev je bila obra-
tna: fraki so bili srebrno
svetlikajoči se. Že prej
sem se od blizu seznanil s
to njihovo »tkanino«, sple-
teno iz tisočerih, komaj
desetinko milimetra veli-
kih diamantov, vstavljenih
v očem nevidne, od lasu
395
human hair and invisible to the naked eye. The first impression was that this was merely a rather unu-sual material with a flat surface. It was the reflecti-ons that gave this attire its splendid appearance. The negotiators came to a halt. One of the Acutins from the hall approached them and handed some-thing to them. Evidently they had been waiting for this. Then the main nego-tiator walked decisively forward along the carpet towards the negotiating table. I watched with inte-rest but as he passed me he suddenly stopped and looked me in the eyes with a severe expression on his face.“Are you sure that you are on the right side?” he asked me with a seriou-sness that seemed to con-tain a kind of anger, as though he were accusing me of having made the wrong decision.
tanjše okvirje. Na oko in
po prvem vtisu sodeč,
pa je bilo to le malo bolj
nenavadno blago z ravno
površino, brez pretiranega
svetlikanja. Le odsevi so
dajali tej obleki bolj slove-
sen videz.
Pogajalci so se ustavili na
vhodu. Pristopil je eden
od Ostrinov iz dvorane in
jim nekaj predal. Očitno
so prav to čakali. Nato je
srednji pogajalec odločno
stopil naprej po preprogi
proti pogajalski mizi, ko pa
bi moral iti mimo mene, ki
sem ga z zanimanjem opa-
zoval, se je nenadoma usta-
vil ter se mi s trdim, že kar
strogim izrazom obraza
zazrl v oči.
»Ste prepričani, da ste na
pravi strani?« je spregovo-
ril z resnostjo, v kateri sem
zaznal celo nekakšno jezo,
kot da mi očita napačno
odločitev.
396
“What are you saying?” interrupted Honaja. “You have no right to rebuke our guests. At least not here.”But the expression of the Acutin’s face grew even more severe. He looked furious. This was the kind of anger, contained and genuine, that could not be appeased by mere words. He raised his hand, paused for a moment and with a circular movement indica-ted the Sensins around us. “These are robots. All of them.” I looked at him in silence. I didn’t say anything. I had no idea what I was suppo-sed to say. Actually it was all rather embarrassing. He was insulting the Sen-sins, my friends. “It’s not true,” whispered Honaja.But the Acutin continued to stare at me, and altho-ugh I averted my eyes he waited for so long that I had to pull myself together again. We looked at each other. He was still stan-
»Kaj pa govorite?« se je
vmešala Honaja, »Nobene
pravice nimate, da nadi-
rate naše goste. Vsaj na tem
mestu ne.«
Toda poteze na Ostrino-
vem obrazu so postale še
ostrejše. Prav bes je zavel
iz njih. To je bila jeza, zadr-
ževana in resnična, ki je
nekaj stranskih besed ne
more pomiriti. Nato je pri-
vzdignil roko, še trenutek
zastal in z zaokroženim
gibom pokazal na bližnje
Čutine okoli naju: »To so
roboti. Vsi ti.«
Nemo sem ga gledal. Nič
nisem rekel. Sploh nisem
vedel, kaj naj bi rekel. Prav-
zaprav mi je bilo celo malo
nerodno. Žalil je Čutine,
moje prijatelje.
»To ni res,« je šepnila
Honaja.
Toda Ostrin mi je vztrajno
zrl v oči, in čeprav sem
izmaknil pogled, je čakal
toliko časa, da sem se
ponovno zbral. Spogledala
sva se. Še vedno je stal pred
397
ding in front of me with the same furious expres-sion on his face. “They cannot be your fri-ends. It’s not natural.”“That isn’t true!” snapped Honaja. Her face flushed and she could no longer hide her growing anger. “You Acutins are a civili-sation that began genetic manipulation even before you had understood the basics of life and living beings. You understood nothing and yet you embar-ked on fatal changes. And the result is what it is. Cri-pples. That’s what you are. Mental cripples!” The angry expression on the Acutin’s face gave way to a cynical smile as he turned to me. “Haven’t they told you the fairy tale about their origin yet? No?” he said, gesturing at the Sensins.“I could tell him some facts about your origin,”
mano z enakim besnim
izrazom na obrazu. »Oni
ne morejo biti vaši prijate-
lji. To ni naravno.«
»To ni res!« je vzkipela
Honaja. Zdaj je še njen
obraz prekrila rdečica in
tudi ona ni več skrivala
vse močnejšega besa z
nekajkrat zastalo besedo v
grlu in na koncu jezika. »Vi
Ostrini ste civilizacija, ki
je začela z genskim mani-
puliranjem, še preden je
razumela osnove življenja
in živih bitij. Ničesar še
niste dojeli, pa ste že šli v
usodno spreminjanje. In
rezultat je, kakršen je. Kri-
plji. To ste vi. Umski kri-
plji!«
Na Ostrinovem obrazu
se je izraz besa med obra-
čanjem k meni umaknil
ciničnemu nasmehu. »Ali
vam še niso povedali pra-
vljice o svojem nastanku?
Hm? Ne?« je dejal z nami-
gom na Čutine.
»Lahko pa mu povem dej-
stva o vašem nastanku,«
398
interrupted the Sensin next to Honaja. “They are very brief and easy to understand.”The Acutins standing nearby all started talking at once. The volume of noisy exclamations continued to grow until an Acutin from the other side of the carpet intervened: “You want to talk about us, you mad robot? How? You don’t even have the first idea about life and you want to talk about us!”Now I sensed a wave of indignation from all the Sensins around me. A tall individual with a trim beard and longish hair spoke up: “What expressions and lofty words! You drag them out of nothing and throw them on the table as though they were facts. You have forgotten everything else. Our warnings, our recom-mendations. How wret-ched you seemed when we revealed your deformity! With proofs, of course.
se je vmešal Čutin ob
Honaji. »Saj so zelo kratka
in zlahka razumljiva.«
Tedaj so se oglasili še bli-
žnji Ostrini. Šum vzklikov
je naraščal, dokler se ni
vmešal Ostrin z nasprotne
strani preproge: »O nas boš
govoril, ti robot zmešani?
Kako pa? Niti osnovnega
pojma o življenju nimaš,
pa boš govoril o nas!«
Zdaj je vzvalovilo nego-
dovanje Čutinov, vseh
naokrog. Oglasil se je višji
možak s kratko postriženo
brado in z nekoliko dalj-
šimi lasmi: »Kakšni izrazi,
in še velike besede zraven!
Privlečete jih iz nič in
vržete na mizo kot čista
dejstva. Vse ostalo ste poza-
bili. Naša opozorila, pripo-
ročila. Kako bedni ste bili
videti, ko smo razkrili vašo
deformiranost! Z dokazi,
399
We told you clearly what was wrong with you. We explained it all down to the last detail. And then you began trying to rectify it. Once again too hastily, and once again mistakenly. It is a real shame that at this level of civilisation you have understood so little.”At these words the Acutins flew into a rage. The one the Sensin had addressed replied: “There has no been no rectification on the basis of your findings, still less on the basis of your recom-mendations. We merely introduced some changes in our constantly evol-ving process of self-con-struction, which has been going on ever since the primitive level at which the Earthmen are today.”At that moment the nego-tiating delegation of the Sensins arrived. Their leader only caught the last few words, but evidently he had immediately gra-sped the situation.
seveda. Nazorno smo vam
povedali, kaj je z vami
narobe. Do podrobnosti
smo vam vse pojasnili. In
potem ste začeli s popra-
vljanjem. Spet na hitro in
spet narobe. Prav žalostno
je, da ste na tej civilizacij-
ski stopnji vse skupaj tako
malo razumeli.«
Ostrini so ponovno vzro-
jili. Tisti, ki mu je Čutin
govoril, je odvrnil:
»Pri nas ni bilo nikakr-
šnega popravljanja na pod-
lagi vaših ugotovitev in
še manj na podlagi vaših
priporočil. Uvedli smo le
nekaj sprememb v našem
nenehno delujočem pro-
cesu samoizgrajevanja,
ki traja vse od primitivne
ravni, na kakršni so dana-
šnji Zemljani.«
Tedaj je pristopila poga-
jalska delegacija Čutinov.
Njihov vodja je sicer ujel le
nekaj zadnjih besed, toda
očitno mu je bilo takoj vse
jasno.
400
“Keep to the agreement, please,” he said in a seri-ous tone, interrupting the Acutin’s explanation. “This Earthman is free, as you can see. We shall give you the opportunity to satisfy yourselves of this. There has been no compulsion from our side. Although this in fact means nothing to you, as I can see and as was already clear to me. You merely wished to confuse him for a while, since you are not capable of any more than that. You are well aware of this. But you have arrived at some conclusions regarding the sense of this intention of yours, which you have now had the opportunity to put into practice despite the breach of protocol. Good. Now you have done what you intended, but you have achieved little. Please!” – the Sensin poin-ted towards the table – “let us continue the negotiati-ons!”
»Držite se dogovora,
prosim,« je v zresnjenem
tonu ustavil Ostrinovo
razlago. »Tale Zemljan
je svoboden, kot vidite.
Omogočili smo vam, da se
prepričate o tem. Nobene
prisile ni bilo z naše strani.
Čeprav vam to sploh nič
ne pomeni, kot lahko
vidim in kot mi je bilo že
prej jasno. Želeli ste ga le
za nekaj čas zmesti, saj več
kot to niti ne morete. Tega
se dobro zavedate. Toda
prišli ste do nekih sklepov
glede smiselnosti te svoje
namere, ki ste jo sedaj
imeli priložnost uresničiti
kljub kršenju protokola.
Dobro, zdaj ste storili, kar
ste nameravali, dosegli
pa ste bolj malo. Prosim!«
Čutin je z roko pokazal
proti mizi: »Nadaljujmo
pogajanja!« Pri tem je Čutin
401
He made a gesture to indi-cate that he was giving precedence to the Acutin, or that he was the one who would follow and not the other way round. When the Acutin hesitated, the Sensin offered him prece-dence again with an even more decisive gesture of his arm. I observed all this calmly. At least this was the impression I wanted to give, despite all the doubts and confused sensations that were now assailing me. The leader of the Sensins had certainly made some very strange remarks, although of course I didn’t believe everything. Of course not. I tried to find some encouraging words for Honaja. We looked at each other. “It was my mistake, yes,” she began. Her face was thoughtful. “I wanted to give you a clearer picture of our civilisation so that you could have a deeper
nakazal prednost Ostrinu
pri odhodu oziroma da
je on tisti, ki bo sledil, ne
obratno. In ker se je Ostrin
obotavljal, mu je Čutin dal
prednost s še bolj odločno
kretnjo roke, tako da je oni
potem le stopil naprej.
Jaz sem vse opazoval z
zadržano mirnostjo. Vsaj
vtis sem najbrž naredil tak
oziroma sem želel ustva-
riti tak zunanji videz kljub
številnim pomislekom, ki
so me obletavali, skupaj s
precej mešanimi občutki.
Vodja Čutinov je vendarle
navrgel nekaj prav čudnih
pripomb, čeprav mu
seveda vsega nisem verjel.
To nikakor ne.
Težko sem našel vzpod-
budne besede za Honajo.
Spogledala sva se. »Moja
napaka je bila, da,« je začela
Honaja z rahlo zamišljenim
izrazom na obrazu. »Sama
sem ti želela z bolj nazorno
predstavitvijo naše civi-
lizacije omogočiti globlje
402
understanding of the diffe-rences between us and the Acutins. But their insults are vapid and without basis. Yes, they are merely insults.”My gaze slid along the soft skin of her innocen-tly bare neck. She radia-ted so much alluring ten-derness that the words of that Acutin really couldn’t have been anything other than, as Honaja said, a vapid insult without a serious basis. But he had spoken with such convic-tion... I couldn’t find the right expression even in my own thoughts… Yes, it was incredible… And then it all came out in a rush:“The leader of your nego-tiators gave as good as he got in that exchange of insults. You were no slouch either. What was it you accused them of? Oh yes, of being mental cri-pples…”“Yes, well... That was put-ting it a bit strongly, but there really is something
razumevanje nasprotij
med nami in Ostrini.
Sicer pa so njihove žalitve
plehke in brez podlage.
Da, zgolj žalitve so to.«
Pogled mi je zdrsnil po
mehki koži njenega nedol-
žno razkritega vratu.
Toliko mikavne mehkobe
je prihajalo iz nje, da govor-
jenje tistega Ostrina res
ni moglo biti nič drugega
kot, kakor je dejala Honaja,
plehka žalitev brez resne
podlage.
Ampak izrekel jih je s tako
prepričljivostjo, pa tudi. . .
Nisem mogel najti pravega
izraza niti v svojem razmi-
šljanju. . . Da, prav never-
jetno… Potem pa so mi
besede kar same od sebe
zletele z jezika:
»Vaš vodja pogajalcev jim
ni ostal dosti dolžan pri
izmenjavi žalitev. Ti pa še
manj. Kaj si jim že očitala?
Aha, da so umski kriplji…«
»Hja, no… Malo pregrobo
je bilo rečeno, čeprav je
um teh Ostrinov res vpra-
403
questionable if not unhin-ged about the mentality of these Acutins. At first I agreed that their genetic deformation was insignifi-cant, but now that it is the very source of these acti-ons of theirs that are cau-sing conflicts, hostilities and probably, as you your-self have been able to see, even war between us, my opinion has changed.”Naturally everything that triggers a war is impor-tant, terribly important, I thought. “How are they actually different from you? I can hardly see a difference,” I asked.At my words Honaja flin-ched and indicated with a gesture of her hand that these differences were far from being small. She smiled: “We are very dif-ferent.”“Who actually are the Acutins?” I asked. “They are a civilisation with an origin similar to your human civilisation on earth, but then they
šljiv, če že ne zmešan.
Sprva sem se še strinjala
glede nepomembnosti nji-
hove genske deformacije,
a sedaj, ko se prav iz nje
razvija njihovo delovanje,
ki sproža nasprotja, sovra-
štva in prav verjetno, kot si
lahko sam videl, še vojno
med nami, razmišljam že
drugače.«
Seveda je vse, kar sproža
vojno, pomembno, hudir-
jevo pomembno, sem raz-
mišljal. »V čem se pa prav-
zaprav ločijo od vas? Jaz
skoraj ne vidim razlike,«
sem vprašal.
Toda ob teh mojih bese-
dah se je Honaja zdrznila
in s kretnjo roke naka-
zala, kakor da te razlike še
zdaleč niso majhne, ter se
nasmehnila: »Precej se raz-
likujemo.«
»Kdo pa so pravzaprav
Ostrini?« sem vprašal.
»So civilizacija z nastan-
kom, podobnim vašemu,
človeškemu na Zemlji,
toda potem so presekali
404
interrupted their evoluti-onary path. Violently and irresponsibly. Although in part this was due to an unfortunate chance that led to a nuclear war among them.”Silence fell as those around us started listening to the negotiations, so Honaja and I interrupted our discussion. They began with mutual accusations about the bre-aching of the agreed rules both with regard to the triggering of military con-flicts and in general, but after a brief exchange of words they finally agreed on the topics to which pri-ority would be given and decided the agenda of the negotiations. Leaning towards Honaja I whispered: “Aren’t they going to discuss those energy fields of yours?” Honaja smiled and nodded: “They will, yes. After all, that is why we are here.”
What she meant, of course,
svojo evolucijsko pot. In
to nasilno. Neodgovorno.
Čeprav delno tudi po
nesrečnem naključju, po
katerem je prišlo do jedr-
ske vojne med njimi.«
Medtem so vsi okoli
naju že prisluhnili poga-
janjem, tako da sva ob
nastali tišini še midva s
Honajo prekinila najin
pogovor.
Začeli so z medsebojnim
obtoževanjem zaradi krše-
nja dogovorjenih pravil
tako ob sprožanju vojaških
spopadov kot v celoti in po
krajšem besedovanju so se
le sporazumeli, katerim
temam bodo dali prednost
oziroma kakšen bo vrstni
red obravnav.
Sklonjen k Honaji, sem
šepnil: »Ali tistih vaših
energetskih polj ne bodo
obravnavali?«
Honaja mi je v odgovor
smehljaje se prikimala:
»Bodo, da. Saj zato smo tu.«
To je izrekla z zgovornim
405
was that this was merely a prelude, an introductory warming-up. The most important issue would be on the agenda later. Now they would try and saddle us with the responsibility for the first conflicts, even though they started them, there was no question of it. I didn’t know how they could deny it. Probably by feigning ignorance and by introducing uncerta-inty in other areas, whose connection with the initial clashes they would then attempt to demonstrate. Something along those lines.This was similar to the behaviour of the diffe-rent parties in a dispute on Earth, especially before military conflicts but also after them, when major or minor disputes were invol-ved. But the main dispute between the Acutins and the Sensins nevertheless probably derived from the partly destroyed balance of power, I assumed. I sto-pped to consider the like-
namigom na predigro, na
uvodno ogrevanje. Najpo-
membnejše bo prišlo na
dnevni red pozneje. Zdaj
nam bodo najprej naprtili
odgovornost za prve spo-
pade, čeprav so oni začeli
z njimi, to je pač nesporno.
Sploh ne vem, kako bi to
lahko zanikali. Verjetno
s sprenevedanjem in z
vnašanjem vprašljivosti
na povsem drugih podro-
čjih, za katera bodo potem
dokazovali njihovo pove-
zanost z začetnimi spopadi
ali kaj podobnega.
To je bilo dovolj podobno
ravnanju različnih sprtih
strani na Zemlji, še pose-
bej pred vojaškimi spo-
padi, pa tudi po njih, ko
je šlo za večje ali manjše
spore. Toda osrednji spor
med Ostrini in Čutini
najbrž vendarle izvira iz
delno porušenega rav-
notežja sil, sem domne-
val. Moje razmišljanje je
zastalo ob verjetnosti take
406
lihood of this explanation. Another perfectly possible reason for the dispute lay in the more efficient mana-gement of energy reso-urces by one of the sides. Probably the Sensins. Yes, the balance had begun to be destroyed. But the other differences between these two civilisations appeared to be considerable, and seemed to be increasing. Even if those words had been said merely with the intention of insulting, and without a serious foun-dation, something had to be behind them, I thou-ght, although the words themselves may not have had much cogency. The responses of the two sides, particularly the emotio-nal responses, had been a little too strong. They had really gone for each other. I cast my eyes over the nearby faces. Yes, that was it. They were all waiting tensely for the outcome of the negotiations.
razlage. Povsem možen
razlog spora je bil tudi v
uspešnejšem zagotavlja-
nju energetskih virov ene
od strani. Najbrž Čutinov.
Da, začelo se je rušiti rav-
notežje. Toda tudi druge
razlike med tema civili-
zacijama so videti precej-
šnje oziroma vse večje.
Tudi če so bile vse tiste
besede izrečene zgolj z
namenom žalitve, brez
resnejše podlage, nekaj
le mora biti zadaj, sem si
mislil, čeprav bi samim
besedam prav lahko zani-
kal večjo tehtnost. Odzivi
obeh strani, predvsem
čustveni, so le bili malo
premočni. Presneto zares
so se zagnali drug proti
drugemu. S pogledom sem
preletel bližnje obraze.
Da, dejansko je tako. Vsi
so napeto pričakovali izid
pogajanj.
407
“Hey!” An Acutin about two metres away greeted me with a smile. A familiar face. Like the Acutin next to him. These were the two Acutins from the last encounter, the ones Honaja had had her altercation with, and given their atti-tude then it was unlikely that she would welcome their company now. Yes, it would be better to avoid associating with them. For Honaja’s sake. Her embar-rassment had been unple-asant to watch, although she had stood up for her-self with great self-assu-rance, and had appeared pretty convincing, at least to me. What they had said then corresponded quite closely to these last words of the Acutins’ negotiating group, to whose lies and impudence Honaja had reacted so emotionally. The two Acutins moved a step nearer, close enough for the conversation that I had intended to avoid.
»Hej!« me je z nasmehom
pozdravil kakšna dva
metra oddaljeni Ostrin.
Znan obraz. Kakor tudi
Ostrin ob njem. To sta
bila Ostrina s prejšnjega
srečanja, s katerima se
je bila Honaja nekaj spo-
rekla, in glede na njuno
takratno nesramnost bo
njuna družba zanjo tudi
zdaj neprijetna. Da, bolje
se bo izmakniti druženju z
njima. Zaradi Honaje. Nič
kaj prijetna ni bila zame
njena zadrega, pa čeprav
se jima je tedaj zelo samo-
zavestno postavila po
robu in bila pri tem tudi
dovolj prepričljiva, vsaj
zame. In njuno takratno
govorjenje se je precej
ujemalo s temi zadnjimi
besedami pogajalske sku-
pine Ostrinov, na kate-
rih zlaganost in nesra-
mnost se je Honaja tako
čustveno odzvala.
Oba Ostrina sta se prima-
knila še za korak bliže,
dovolj za pogovor, ki sem
se mu nameraval izogniti.
408
Honaja had noticed them too, and I could see the displeasure on her face, although she greeted them politely. The tension grew immediately. Why did we have to meet here all of a sudden? Was it a coin-cidence? If it was really merely a coincidence…“My friend Orhan and I were admiring your friend. She is very bea-utiful,” said the nearer Acutin. There was some-thing slightly provocative about his manner. “Of course,” replied his neighbour, although this rather cynical compli-ment had been addres-sed to me. “The Sensins follow events on Earth very closely, especially the design achievements of the Earthmen, which they copy very successfully.”Honaja remained silent. I glanced at her. I felt obli-ged to intervene in her defence, and that was also what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t find the right
Tudi Honaja ju je opazila in
po izrazu njenega obraza
sem lahko zaznal rahlo
nejevoljo, čeprav jima je
vljudno odzdravila. Nape-
tost pa je v trenutku nara-
sla. Da smo se morali prav
tu tako nenadoma srečati!
Po naključju? Če je bilo to
res zgolj naključje…
»S prijateljem Orhanom
občudujeva vašo prijate-
ljico. Zelo lepa je,« mi je v
rahlo izzivalni drži navrgel
bližnji Ostrin.
»Seveda,« je odgovoril
njegov sosed, čeprav je
bil ta, z nekakšnim ciniz-
mom izrečeni kompliment
namenjen meni. »Čutini
sledijo vsem dogajanjem
na Zemlji, še posebej
oblikovalskim dosežkom
Zemljanov, ki jih zelo uspe-
šno posnemajo.«
Honaja je ostala tiho.
Nekajkrat sem jo pogle-
dal. Čutil sem se sicer dol-
žnega posredovati v njeno
obrambo, to bi tudi prav
rad storil, pa nisem našel
409
words. I knew nothing about the background to their insinuations but I had a vague sensation that there was something important here. Honaja’s reserve, and mine, seemed to amuse the two Acu-tins. At least that is how they responded. I had the impression that this sort of conversation came natu-rally to them. “It is interesting how the Sensins have mixed industrial design with the exterior of living bodies.” Orhan addressed his comrade as though they were now talking among themselves, but his voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone around us. After listening to him with an exaggerated seri-ousness, the other Acutin took his cue: “Yes, that is the intere-sting thing,” he replied. “Things have their own form, which in the end is what it is. And this is the
nobene ustrezne besede.
Ozadje, na katerem je
temeljilo to nesramno
drezanje, mi ni bilo le pri-
krito, neznano, ampak je
v nejasnih obrisih dajalo
slutiti nekaj pomembnega.
Honajina in moja zadrža-
nost pa sta se obema Ostri-
noma zdeli zabavni. Vsaj
tako sta se odzivala. No, po
občutku sodeč, jima je bil
tak način pogovora pisan
na kožo.
»Zanimivo, kako so Čutini
pomešali industrijsko obli-
kovanje z zunanjostjo živih
teles.« Orhan je govoril svo-
jemu tovarišu, kakor da se
sedaj pogovarjata le med
sabo, čeprav ga je zaradi
njegove glasnosti morala
slišati vsa okolica, njegov
tovariš pa se je po skrajno
pozornem poslušanju s
poudarjeno zavzetostjo še
sam pridružil skupnemu
razmišljanju.
»Da, prav to je zanimivo,«
je odvrnil Orhanu »Stvari
imajo svojo obliko, ki je na
koncu taka, kot pač je. In
410
most important thing. If the form of Earthwomen is written in the genetic code, and the Sensins achi-eve the same appearance through design, then in the end there is no longer any difference, is there?” The Acutin laughed cyni-cally. Or even maliciously. As I looked at Honaja to see her reaction, the word “malicious” seemed by far the most appropriate. This was a deliberate repetition of the insult.“Their cynicism is really irritating,” I whispered to Honaja. “They seem to be rather malicious by nature.”“Yes, that’s right. They are Acutins,” she replied, con-taining her anger. “And this is nothing special for them. This is simply what they are like.” My understanding look – in her anger she seemed particularly beautiful to me – had extinguished her anger. Her eyes told me this. The Acutins cle-
to je najpomembnejše. Če
je oblika Zemljank dana v
genskem zapisu, Čutini pa
dosežejo enako zunanjost
z oblikovanjem, potem na
koncu ni nobene razlike
več, kajne?« Ostrin se je
cinično zasmejal. Že kar
zlobno. Ob pogledu na
Honajo in njen odziv se mi
je oznaka »zlobno« zazdela
še najbolj ustrezna. To je
bilo vztrajno ponavljanje
žalitve.
»Hm, pa sta res zatežila s
svojim cinizmom,« sem
šepnil Honaji. »Malo zlobne
narave sta videti.«
»Da, saj to je to. To so
Ostrini,« se je odzvala,
zadržujoč bes. »In to sploh
ni nič posebnega zanje,
niti po naključju. Oni so
preprosto taki.« Moj razu-
mevajoči pogled, v svojem
besu se mi je namreč zdela
še posebno lepa, je poga-
sil njeno jezo, kot sem
lahko razbral iz njenih
oči. Ostrina sta jo očitno
411
arly wanted to provoke her with their insults. They were simply being malici-ous. “You surprise me, did you know that?” said Honaja, half turning towards the Acutins.The Acutin closer to us immediately responded cheerfully: “We’ve noti-ced.” His comrade smir-ked. “I had long been convin-ced that that nuclear war of yours had only damaged your genes in the sphere of the emotions. But now it is becoming evident that the damage extends to other areas too. Inclu-ding form. It is hard for you to recognise this. But it doesn’t matter.” Honaja turned towards me: “They destroyed their planet with nuclear bombs. Eve-rything was destroyed. Every living creature peri-shed and all life on their planet was exterminated. And despite everything, the few Acutins who sur-
hotela jeziti s svojimi žali-
tvami. Njuno govorjenje je
bilo preprosto zlobno.
»Ali vesta, da me presene-
čata?« je nato Honaja, na
pol obrnjena k Ostrinoma,
povzdignila glas.
Bližnji Ostrin se je takoj
veselo odzval: »Sva opazila,
da.« In njegov tovariš se je
pri tem vzvišeno muzal.
»Dolgo sem bila prepri-
čana, da vam je tista vaša
jedrska vojna poškodovala
gene samo na področju
čustev. Zdaj se pa kažejo
te poškodbe še v širšem
obsegu. Tudi v oblikov-
nem. Razpoznavanje vam
dela težave. Pa nič zato.«
Honaja se je obrnila k
meni: »Svoj planet so uni-
čili z jedrskimi bombami.
Vse je bilo uničeno. Vsa
živa bitja z vsem življe-
njem na njihovem pla-
netu so bila iztrebljena.
In tistih nekaj Ostrinov,
ki so preživeli, teh nekaj
412
vived, these few mental cripples, remained con-vinced of their own supe-riority. This a special type of deformation. Mental of course. On the one hand it limits an individual, while on the other it gives him a sense of superiority. It’s very interesting. In this sense you are certainly an evolutionary achievement. There’s no doubt of that, is there?”Now it was the turn of the Acutins to get angry. Their eyes flashed. “Such obvious lies cannot pass unchallenged,” said an Acutin of more pacific appearance from the circle of listeners around us. “That simply isn’t true!” “Yes it is!” retorted Honaja. “During your quarrels you triggered a nuclear war. Is that true?”“Yes, that is true. And the consequences were ter-rible. But what you have hinted at is not correct.”“Only a small number of your entire population sur-
umskih kripljev je kljub
vsemu ostalo prepričanih
o svoji večvrednosti. To je
posebna vrsta deforma-
cij. Umskih seveda. Posa-
meznika po eni strani
omeji, po drugi pa mu
daje občutek vzvišenosti.
Neverjetno zanimivo. V
tem smislu ste vsekakor
evolucijski dosežek. O
tem ni dvoma, kajne?«
Zdaj sta se zresnila tudi
Ostrina, in to do prav
jeznega bliskanja z očmi.
»Tako očitnega laganja se
pa ne moremo iti,« je vzro-
jil Ostrin iz kroga poslu-
šalcev v najini neposredni
bližini, sicer bolj umirje-
nega videza, »saj to vendar
ni res!«
»Pa je!« je pribila Honaja.
»V medsebojnih sporih ste
sprožili nuklearno vojno.
Je res?«
»To že. In tudi posledice so
bile težke. Vendar pa to,
na kar ste namigovali, ni
točno.«
»Le nekaj od vsega vašega
prebivalstva je preživelo.
413
vived. All the others died,” continued Honaja.“There were no genetic changes as a result of radi-oactive radiation, which is what you are trying to imply,” answered the Acutin coldly.“In the final consequen-ces there were. We have proved this to you. And these genetic changes are now proving to be fatal.”“Madam, that is a lie! I do not approve of what these two gentlemen are saying” – the Acutin indicated his comrades – “since it is not correct. But that does not give you the right to feign ignorance. First and fore-most, the genetic changes were very small. And they did not occur as the result of radioactive radiation during the nuclear war. And then on top of that, we remedied all deficien-cies long ago.”“But that is precisely the point: you didn’t. Or you didn’t do it properly, and that is why we are where
Vsi ostali so pomrli,« je
nadaljevala Honaja.
»Nobenih genskih spre-
memb ni bilo zaradi radi-
oaktivnega sevanja, kot v
svojem dvomljivem izraža-
nju namigujete,« ji je s trdo
resnostjo hladno naspro-
toval Ostrin.
»V končnih posledicah so
bile, to smo vam dokazali.
In te genske spremembe
se zdaj kažejo kot usodne.«
»Gospa, to je laž! Govor-
jenja teh dveh gospodov,«
je Ostrin pokazal na svoja
tovariša, »ne odobravam,
saj ni pravilno. Vendar vam
to ne daje pravice do spre-
nevedanja. In kot prvo:
genske spremembe so
bile zelo majhne. Sicer pa
sploh niso nastale zaradi
radioaktivnega sevanja v
jedrski vojni. Vrh tega smo
vse nepravilnosti že zdav-
naj odpravili.«
»Saj stvar je ravno v tem,
da jih niste. Ali pa ste jih
napačno, in zato smo zdaj
tam, kjer smo - tik pred
414
we are now – on the brink of war,” continued Honaja with increasing firmness, to the approving nods of the other Sensins.“What is this beautifully designed puppet talking about?” interrupted one of the pair of Acutins. “I cannot believe it! We are being accused of genetic deficiencies by someone who doesn’t even have any genes!”“Silence please!” said a loud voice amplified thro-ugh the wall. I looked around the hall. Quite a number of lively discus-sions had started up. Jud-ging from the animation of the participants, they were probably similar to our quarrel. Tensions were clearly increasing on both sides. I brushed aside my doubts on the matter. The imbalance of power resul-ting from the blocked access to the energy fields still seemed to the main cause. If the Acutins were to discover their current
vojno,« je ob odobravajo-
čem kimanju ostalih Čuti-
nov vse bolj odločno nada-
ljevala Honaja.
»O čem pa govori ta lepo
dizajnirana lutka?« je vpadel
spet eden od dvojice Ostri-
nov. »Saj ne morem ver-
jeti! Genske nepravilnosti
nam očita nekdo, ki genov
sploh nima!«
»Prosim za tišino!« se je
zaslišal glas, okrepljen
skozi stene. Pogledal sem
po dvorani. Precej živah-
nih pogovorov je bilo že
vzpostavljenih, najbrž so
bili podobni našemu pre-
rekanju, vsaj po živahno-
sti sodeč. Spor med njimi
je bil očitno res zaostren.
Zavrgel sem nekaj pomisle-
kov o zadevi, še naprej pa
se mi je v ospredju kazalo
neravnovesje sil zaradi
blokiranega dostopa do
energetskih polj. Prav
lahko bi Ostrini ob spo-
znanju svoje trenutne
415
advantage, they could take the opportunity to defeat the Sensins and launch an attack. But they hadn’t done so yet, at least not with all their forces. Their tactic was more about fee-ling their way, provoking the Sensins with local attacks and then – nego-tiations. They were still not fully convinced of the situation regarding the Sensins’ energy fields. That was probably a good thing. While I hoped that the Acutins really didn’t know the whole backgro-und, I at least was afraid that they would discover the Sensins’ difficulties in re-establishing control over the largest energy field complex. And behind it there had to be some difference between them. Hmm. A difference, yes. Perhaps it wasn’t such a small difference after all. Certain signs suggested other dissensions that were not exactly insigni-
premoči izkoristili prilo-
žnost za poraz Čutinov in
šli v napad. Pa vseeno tega
doslej še niso storili, vsaj
ne z vsemi silami. Njihovo
delovanje je potekalo bolj
v smislu tipanja, izziva-
nja z lokalnimi napadi in
potem - pogajanja. Niso še
povsem prepričani, kako
je s tistimi energetskimi
polji Čutinov. To je najbrž
dobro. Vsaj meni se je ob
upanju, da Ostrini res ne
poznajo ozadja v celoti,
vzbudil strah, da bi razkrili
težave Čutinov pri ponov-
nem vzpostavljanju nad-
zora nad največjim kom-
pleksom energetskih polj.
In zadaj mora biti še neka
razlika med njimi. Hm.
Ta razlika, hja, presneto.
Morda sploh ni tako
majhna. Nekatera zname-
nja so nakazovala še druga,
ne ravno nepomembna raz-
416
ficant. With a civilisa-tion at this level I would have expected tolerance of differences, unless... I paused. Nothing I could think of seemed to fit the case. Was there a diffe-rence that would be una-cceptable even to beings at this level of civilisation? This was exactly what it seemed like at certain moments. But if that were true, how is it that they have tolerated each other until now? Was it only because of the balance of power? That was possible. Hmm… They certainly have no reservations about insulting each other. That reference to the damage that is supposed to have been caused by a nuclear war, that was very cruel. Brain damage, character defects, and these beings are then supposed to gain the ascendancy at such a high level of civilisation, in the immediate vicinity of the Earth, which they can visit whenever they
hajanja. Pri civilizaciji na
tej ravni bi pričakoval str-
pnost do različnosti, razen
če . . . Zastal mi je pretok
misli. Nobena misel se mi
ni več zdela prava. Je lahko
neka razlika tudi za bitja
na tej civilizacijski ravni
nesprejemljiva? Ravno to
se tukaj kaže v določenih
trenutkih. Ampak kako,
da so se doslej vendarle
prenašali? Samo zaradi
ravnotežja sil? Možno.
Hm… Zmerjajo se prav
krepko. Tisto o poškod-
bah, ki naj bi bile posledica
nuklearne vojne, je kar
kruto. Poškodba možga-
nov, značajev, potem pa naj
bi ta bitja dobila prevlado
na tako visoki civilizacijski
ravni, in to v neposredni
bližini Zemlje, na katero
se lahko spustijo, kadarkoli
417
feel like it. That cannot be good for the people of the Earth. The supremacy of the Acutins would not be good for Honaja either.I smiled. It was nice that we were on the same side. How angry those arrogant Acutins had made her! Cynicism was evidently an innate characteristic of the Acutins. Even I had been a little irritated by their manner, which was arrogant however you looked at it. There was too much malice in it, parti-cularly in contrast to the almost excessive tolerance and conciliatoriness of the Sensins. How could they behave with such impu-dence at their level of civilisation? Well perhaps they were not all like that. The Acutin who had inter-vened in the last discus-sion was quite different, although he still stuck to the Acutins’ positions. Or starting-points, perhaps I should say. Even he didn’t show much friendship
hočejo. To že ne more biti
dobro za Zemljane. Pa tudi
za Honajo prevlada Ostri-
nov ne bi bila dobra.
Nasmehnil sem se. Lepo,
da sva na isti strani. Kako
se je razjezila zaradi tistih
nadutih Ostrinov! Cinizem
je bil Ostrinom očitno pri-
rojen. Še mene je kar malo
pogrel njihov, kakorkoli
sem gledal, naduti nastop.
Preveč objestnosti je bilo
zaznati v njem, in to ob še
tako tolerantni spravljivo-
sti. Le kako morejo na svoji
civilizacijski ravni nasto-
pati s tako nesramnostjo?
No, najbrž niso vsi taki.
Možak iz zadnjega pogo-
vora je bil vseeno precej
drugačen, čeprav je še
vedno ostajal na ostri-
novskih stališčih. Morda
bolje rečeno – izhodiščih.
Saj tudi on ni kazal poseb-
nega prijateljstva do Čuti-
418
towards the Sensins. But at least he was prepared to discuss things in a more approachable manner, although it was clear from his words, and even more so from his way of talking, that he considered the dif-ference between Sensins and Acutins to be a serious matter, something which at this moment pointed to a certain ambiguity where the Sensins were concer-ned. Yes, there was some-thing mysterious about them too. That reference to robots may have been just an insult, but perhaps it was partly acceptable, at least in so far as it referred to a specific characteristic of the Sensins. Perhaps in their characters. But to accuse Honaja of col-dness or emotionlesness was nonsense. That could not be true in this sense. But those two Acutins had certainly been trying to suggest something like that. And not even that conciliatory Acutin had
nov. A se je bil vsaj pripra-
vljen pogovoriti na bolj
dostopen način, čeprav je
bilo po njegovih besedah,
še bolj pa po načinu govor-
jenja zaznati, da jemlje
različnost med Čutini in
Ostrini kot resno zadevo,
to pa je v tem trenutku
kazalo na določeno neja-
snost glede Čutinov. Hja,
tudi na njih je bilo nekaj
skrivnostnega. Tisto z
roboti je bila sicer res žali-
tev, a deloma morda spre-
jemljiva, vsaj kolikor kaže
na določeno značilnost
Čutinov. Morda v njihovih
značajih.
Toda Honaji očitati hla-
dnost ali celo brezčutnost
je oslarija. To že ne more
veljati v tem smislu. Sta pa
bila ta dva Ostrina nedvo-
mno sugestivna v svojem
nastopu. Pa še ta spravljivi
Ostrin ni omenil ničesar
419
said anything more spe-cific on that topic, proba-bly because he had had to rebut Honaja’s accu-sations. It was a pity that he, at least, had not said anything more about the Sensins. His explanation would have made it easier to form a clearer picture. Yes, I really needed a cle-arer picture, I thought. About both sides. I needed to investigate the whole business. Whatever had already been said, and although it was too little to form a clear picture, I had at least been given a starting-po-int for better understan-ding. The ordinary abi-lities of Earthmen were good enough (or probably were) to evaluate whate-ver it was that the Acutins and Sensins were accu-sing each other of at their higher level of civilisation. Madness or (why not?) robotic behaviour, even if it was only a matter of a lack of sensibility or
bolj konkretnega na to
temo, najbrž zato, ker je
moral zavrniti Honajine
obtožbe. Škoda, da vsaj on
ni povedal kaj več o Čuti-
nih. Na podlagi njegove
razlage bi si laže ustvaril
bolj določene predstave.
Da, prav bolj določene
predstave bi moral imeti,
sem pomislil. In to o obeh
straneh. Moram raziskati
vse skupaj.
Karkoli je že bilo rečeno in
četudi je bilo premalo za
jasno predstavo, pa mi je
bilo vseeno dano vsaj izho-
dišče za boljše razumeva-
nje. Navadne sposobnosti
Zemljanov so (ali pa vsaj
zelo verjetno, da so) dovolj
dobre za presojanje tega,
kar Ostrini in Čutini na tej
njihovi višji civilizacijski
stopnji podtikajo drug dru-
gemu. Morebitno norost
ali pa (zakaj ne?) robotsko
obnašanje, tudi če gre le
za pomanjkanje čutnosti
420
confusion in their emoti-onal responses, whatever it was caused by – this was something I could detect. At least that. It was important for me to finally find out what I needed to be attentive to. I decided to intervene myself from time to time. Yes: all I really needed was a little conversation. With both sides. Ideally in their com-pany, in everyday life. That would be good. Unfor-tunately that possibility was unlikely here, in the middle of negotiations and surrounded by military formations, with emotions pushed to one side. And if I remembered the reac-tions of the Sensins and all those moments when their life was hanging by a thread… Yes… What was the truth for them? I found myself wondering whether their life really had been hanging by a thread. As it had for me? For a moment or two they had seemed quite unaffected, even in
ali za zmešnjavo v čutnem
odzivanju, ne glede iz kate-
rega vzroka je povzročena
- to že lahko zasledim.To
vsekakor. Pomembno je,
da bi končno le izvedel,
na kaj moram biti pozo-
ren. Malo pa bom še sam
občasno podrezal. Da,
vse, kar res potrebujem,
je nekaj pogovorov. Tako
z enimi kot z drugimi. Naj-
bolje v njihovi družbi, v
vsakdanjem življenju. To
bi bilo v redu, da. Čeprav
ta možnost na žalost tukaj
ne pride v poštev, vsaj ne
sredi pogajanj z vojaškimi
formacijami naokoli, ko so
čustva odrinjena na stran.
In če sem se spomnil odzi-
vov Čutinov in vseh tistih
trenutkov, ko jim je viselo
življenje na nitki… Hja. Kaj
je zanje resnica? Zamislil
sem se nad vprašanjem, ali
jim je življenje res viselo
na nitki. Kakor meni? Za
kakšen trenutek so bili
videti precej neprizadeti,
421
some extremely dange-rous situations, and that in itself was quite strange. It was true that according to their subsequent expla-nations the situation had not been as dangerous as it appeared, because their materials were capable of withstanding far greater impacts than an Earthman might expect. Then they were in the middle of bat-tles for a while, and now they are in the middle of negotiations. I looked at the faces around me, my eyes lingering on one, then another, then a third. Most of them were facing the negotiating table: the negotiators had just agreed the agenda, although even this had required a considerable amount of noisy discus-sion. The Acutins insisted on giving priority to a discussion of the violation of the laws prohibiting interference on the part of highly developed civilisa-tions in the evolution of
in to v nekaterih izjemno
nevarnih položajih, kar
je bilo dovolj nenavadno.
Res pa po njihovih poznej-
ših razlagah zadeva ni bila
tako nevarna, kot je bila
videti, ker njihovi materiali
vzdržijo neprimerno večje
obremenitve, kot bi priča-
koval Zemljan. Potem so
bili nekaj časa sredi bitk,
zdaj pa so sredi pogajanj.
Pogledal sem po obra-
zih naokrog, zadržal sem
pogled na enem, pa na
drugem, tretjem, večinoma
so se obračali k pogajalski
mizi, za katero so pravkar
sprejeli dnevni red, čeprav
so se že pri tem kar glasno
sporekli. Ostrini so vztra-
jali na prednostni obrav-
navi kršenja zakonov o
prepovedi posegov višje
razvitih civilizacij v evo-
422
sentient beings at a lower stage of development. The leader of the Sensins suggested that this was rather cynical given that they were on the brink of war. The fighting had alre-ady involved a wide area from sector ER22 to sector ER742. “In any case,” added the Sensin, “we do not inter-fere in the evolutionary development of any civi-lisation, including the human civilisation on Earth.” “That simply isn’t true,” cried an Acutin with heavy eyebrows and a gaunt face, with a slightly jutting chin. “Your visits to Earth have already become habitual. You go down to Earth and carry off their people. We cannot even verify all your doings down there, and now you assure us that you are not interfering in the evolutionary develo-pment of the Earthmen...”
lucijo razumskih bitij na
nižji razvojni stopnji, vodja
Čutinov pa je to označil
za rahlo cinično govorje-
nje, ko je vendar na pragu
vojna. Spopadi so že doslej
zajeli široko področje od
ER22 do ER742. »Sicer pa
mi,« je še dodal Čutin, »ne
posegamo v evolucijski
razvoj nobene civilizacije,
tudi človeške na Zemlji
ne.«
»To nikakor ni res!« je
vzkliknil Ostrin s poudar-
jenimi obrvmi na košče-
nem obrazu in z nekoliko
naprej potisnjeno brado.
»Vaši obiski na Zemlji so
postali že nekaj povsem
običajnega. Spuščate se
nanjo, potem pa odpe-
ljete nekatere ljudi, vsega
vašega početja tam niti
ne moremo preverjati, in
zdaj tukaj zagotavljate, da
ne posegate v evolucijski
razvoj Zemljanov…«
423
“Our visits to Earth are few and far between and there is nothing ill-inten-tioned about them. There is nothing controversial about this from our point of view. We certainly do not do anything that could cause confusion or fear among the Earthmen. On the other hand your descents to Earth are more frequent than ours: we know this because we too have our own surveillance teams.”The Acutin merely smiled and shook his head: “What nonsense! What about purgatory? You have built your own purgatory and you plan to convince the Earthmen that your civi-lisation is part of it, but this is only one step from occupying the Earth on the pretext of your coe-xistence with the biblical purgatory.”“Such talk is inadmissi-ble!” objected a Sensin to the left of the main nego-tiator with slightly lighter
»Ti naši spusti na Zemljo
so zanemarljivo redki in
so brez kakršnekoli zlo-
namernosti. Nič spornega
ni pri tem z naše strani.
Prav gotovo ne počnemo
ničesar, kar bi lahko pov-
zročilo zmedo ali kakršen-
koli strah med Zemljani.
Po drugi strani so bili vaši
spusti na Zemljo veliko
pogostejši od naših, o
čemer se lahko prepri-
čamo, saj imamo oboji
organizirano opazovanje.«
Ostrin pa je samo sme-
hljaje se odkimaval:
»Kakšno govorjenje! Kaj
pa Vice? Zgradili ste svoje
Vice in Zemljane namera-
vate prepričati, da je vaša
civilizacija del njih, to
pa je le korak do okupa-
cije Zemlje pod pretvezo
vašega sobivanja z biblij-
skimi Vicami.«
»Tako čvekanje je nedopu-
stno!« je nasprotoval Čutin
na levi strani osrednjega
pogajalca, nekoliko sve-
424
wheat-coloured hair and slightly darker moustache and beard. “Purgatory is part of our civilisation. You know this perfectly well. You also know the position it occupies in our development to date. Your denials, and your accusati-ons of pretence, deceit and other dishonest conduct are insulting. I would the-refore ask you to be respec-tful of the differences that separate us, since although they are considerable there is no need for us to go to war over them.”“Very well. You have built what you have built. We too could build something of the kind without diffi-culty. But why do you call it purgatory? At least give it some other name!”“But it is purgatory!”A loud murmuring sprang up around the hall. Eve-ryone was speaking at once. Most of the Acutins were shaking their heads as if to say that this wasn’t true. The Sensins talked
tlejših las pšenične barve
in za spoznanje temnejših
brkov z brado. »Vice so del
naše civilizacije. S tem ste
prav dobro seznanjeni.
Prav dobro veste, kakšno
mesto jim pripada v našem
dosedanjem razvoju. Vaša
zanikanja z namigi o našem
sprenevedanju, goljufanju
in drugih nepoštenostih
so žaljiva. Zato vas prosim,
bodite spoštljivi do različ-
nosti, ki nas ločujejo, kajti
četudi so velike, ni nobene
potrebe po vojnem spo-
padu zaradi njih.«
»Dobro. Zgradili ste pač,
kar ste zgradili. Tudi mi bi
lahko kaj takega naredili
brez težav. Toda zakaj ime-
nujete to Vice? Dajte temu
vsaj kakšno drugo ime!«
»Ampak to so Vice!«
Zdaj je v dvorani nastal
močan hrum. Vsi so govo-
rili vsevprek. Ostrini so
večinoma odkimavali,
češ da to ne gre, da to ni
res, Čutini pa so omenjali
svojo tradicijo, svoj razvoj
425
about their tradition, their development and the fact that purgatory was part of their culture. Above all – and they were especially vociferous on this point – they pointed out that the Acutins could also assume this element of their cul-ture, that this would be the best thing for them, rather than rejecting an achieve-ment of highly developed civilisations without veri-fying it first. Everything that was being said was causing me such strong misgivings about the situation that I couldn’t help murmuring out loud: “But this really is too much!” I started as I noticed the reactions on faces around me. Quite a number of them were sta-ring at me. “They are bluffing!” suggested someone to the side of me. I turned to see the smiling face of the nearer of those two cyni-cal Acutins. It was Orhan’s friend. He was responding
in da so Vice del njihove
posebnosti, njihove kul-
ture, predvsem pa, to so
še posebej glasno ome-
njali, lahko ta del njihove
kulture prevzamejo tudi
Ostrini, to bi bilo zanje še
najbolje, ne pa da dosežek
visoko razvitih civilizacij
odklanjajo brez predho-
dnega preverjanja.
Različni pomisleki so se ob
vsem izrečenem tako živo
in močno zvrstili skozi
moje videnje dogajanja,
da mi je nehote prišlo iz
ust malo glasnejše mrmra-
nje s polglasnim sklepom:
»To je pa res že preveč!«
V hipu sem se zdrznil, ko
sem zaznal odzive bližnjih
obrazov ob sebi. Kar precej
se jih je zazrlo vame.
»Blefirajo!« mi je nena-
doma od strani priletelo
v pojasnilo. Pogledal sem
smehljajoči se obraz bli-
žnjega od tistih dveh cinič-
426
to the reflection that I had involuntarily expressed out loud. “These Sensins are bluffing. Surely you had guessed that?” he said mischievously. I turned away: it would be hard to accept any explana-tion from these two cyni-cal Acutins as well-intenti-oned. I was also disturbed by the slightly patronising tone that had taken the place of their usual cyni-cism. Too much so for me to seize the opportunity that had been offered to me and ask them straight out for an explanation of this unusual concept of “purgatory”. Although of course I needed quite a lot of explanations. My origi-nal plan had been to get an explanation of the nuclear war from one side and an explanation of the insults from the other side, and then try and establish the truth by means of surrepti-tious observation, but now I had to modify this plan by going into this question
nih Ostrinov. Bil je Orha-
nov prijatelj. Odzval se je
na moje polglasno razmi-
šljanje. »Ti Čutini blefirajo.
Mar tega še niste uganili?«
je navrgel objestno.
Odmaknil sem pogled, ker
od teh dveh ciničnih Ostri-
nov bi bilo težko sprejeti
kakršnokoli pojasnilo kot
dobronamerno. Motil pa
me je tudi rahlo pokrovi-
teljski ton namesto nju-
nega običajnega cinizma.
Preveč, da bi pograbil za
navrženo besedo in ju kar
naravnost povprašal za
njuno razlago o tem nena-
vadnem pojmu »Vice«.
Čeprav bi seveda potrebo-
val kar nekaj pojasnil. Kajti
svoj prvotni načrt, da bom
dobil pojasnilo o jedrski
vojni z ene in o žalitvah
z nasprotne strani ter da
bom potem z rahlo prikri-
tim detektivskim opazo-
vanjem še nekoliko preve-
ril vse skupaj, sem moral
sedaj dopolniti s poglobi-
tvijo v smislu, da so Vice
427
of purgatory being one of their peculiarities, as the Sensins put it, although this did not correspond at all to the Acutin’s replies on the subject, which seemed to be trying to expose the Sensins as deceivers or something. Another que-stion was how they had managed to place their attitude towards Earthmen right at the start of negoti-ations. At least as far as I could tell, this was a minor problem in view of the size of these two enormous civilisations – enormous in terrestrial terms – with their colossal military and energy potentials a billion times greater than those of the Earth. And now their attitude towards Earthmen was in first place. The Acutins had insisted on it. The Sensins, meanwhile, had cited the peculiarities of their own civilisation when purgatory was men-tioned. What I was suppo-sed to think about all of this was another question
del njihovih posebnosti,
kot pravijo Čutini, to pa se
nikakor ne ujema z odzivi
Ostrinov na to temo, ki so
skušali razkrinkati sprene-
vedanje Čutinov kot pre-
varantov ali nekaj podob-
nega. Vprašanje pa je tudi
bilo, kako da so na začetku
pogajanj postavili v
ospredje ravno svoj odnos
do Zemljanov. Vsaj po
mojem sklepanju je bil to
manj pomemben problem
glede na velikost obeh, za
zemeljske pojme orjaških
civilizacij z velikanskimi
vojaškimi in energetskimi
potenciali. Milijardnokrat
večjimi od zemeljskih. In
zdaj je bil odnos do Zemlja-
nov na prvem mestu.
Ostrini so vztrajali pri tem.
Čutini pa so se pri omem-
bah Vic sklicevali na svoje
civilizacijske posebno-
sti. Kaj naj si o vsem tem
mislim jaz, je pa bilo spet
nekaj drugega. Odkimal
428
again. I shook my head at my inability to under-stand. I was unable to create any real picture of what was going on from all that I knew. I hadn’t noticed anything that could genui-nely have caused differen-ces that were so serious as to lead to a threat of war. And this purgatory. What did they actually mean by that? Was it the same thing that Mike had men-tioned that time after the dance – something about that Sensin’s resemblance to his father? The same gestures, the same smile, the same reactions. I had noticed a similarity too, or rather when he smiled I too had got the impression that his father was nearby. Externally he looked dif-ferent – or perhaps not. That Sensin was quite a lot younger than Mike’s father. On the other hand I couldn’t say what his father looked like without a bald patch, white hair, and a
sem sam sebi spričo nemo-
žnosti razumevanja.
Nobenih pravih predstav
si nisem mogel ustvariti
iz vsega, kar sem vedel.
Nisem namreč zaznal niče-
sar, kar bi resnično lahko
povzročilo razhajanja vse
do grožnje z vojno. Pa te
Vice. Kaj je pravzaprav
sploh mišljeno s tem? Mar
tisto, kar je omenil Miro,
takrat po plesu v Nebotič-
niku, nekaj o podobnosti
tistega Čutina z njegovim
očetom? Enake kretnje,
smeh, odzivanje. Hja, tudi
sam sem opazil podobnost
oziroma sem ob njegovem
smehu tudi sam dobil vtis
bližine njegovega očeta.
Po zunanjosti je bil sicer
drugačen - ali pa morda
tudi ne. Precej mlajši je bil
tisti Čutin od njegovega
očeta. Kakšen je bil njegov
oče brez pleše, belih las,
brkov in brade, pa tudi ne
429
full beard. Hmm. Purga-tory? In what sense? As an expiation of sins before entering heaven? Proba-bly not, at least not in this simple sense, because that would imply some sort of judgement process, and the Sensins did not appear to have any tendency in that direction. Meanwhile the Acutins apparently found the whole subject unacceptable. Why? Or rather: what was it that they found unacceptable? Perhaps purgatory merely meant some place, the name for something… But what could this mean for Earthmen? Or rather: what could it mean in general? A connection would therefore seem to have been already esta-blished. Damn it! Could someone exploit Earthmen in this sense? Were they already exploiting us? But how? Their entrances to the energy fields suggest a complication, and also these codings and security
bi mogel reči. Hm, Vice?
V kakšnem smislu? Kot
pokora za grehe pred vsto-
pom v nebesa? Kaj takega
najbrž ne, vsaj v tem pre-
prostem smislu ne, kajti
potem bi morali imeti
nekakšno sodno prever-
janje. Pa ni videti nikakr-
šne naravnanosti Čutinov
v tej smeri. Za Ostrine pa
naj bi bila ta zadeva sploh
nesprejemljiva. Zakaj? Ozi-
roma kaj je zanje nespreje-
mljivo? Mogoče Vice pome-
nijo le neki prostor, ime za
neko. . . Toda kaj lahko to
pomeni za Zemljane? Ozi-
roma kaj lahko to pomeni
nasploh? Zveza naj bi bila
torej že vzpostavljena.
Hudirja! Ali bi lahko kdo
v tem smislu izkoriščal
Zemljane? Oziroma nas
že izkorišča? Toda kako?
Zaplet nakazujejo njihovi
prehodi v energetska
polja, pa tudi ta kodira-
nja in varnostne zapore
430
barriers based on verbal and emotional responses at some insignificant kids’ party on Earth. In other words there is some con-nection in the backgro-und. That’s clear. If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here either. The mere fact of my presence in all of this business indicates a con-nection or link or whatever I should call this relation-ship between Sensins and Earthmen. On the other hand some sort of relations have apparently already been established between Acutins and Earthmen too, since the Acutins also visit the Earth, although, as that Acutin said, without interfering in terrestrial evolution. It was probably more in the role of obser-vers then, which apparen-tly meant a more correct attitude, although they seem considerably more cynical than the Sensins,
na podlagi besednega in
čustvenega odzivanja na
nepomembni zabavi neke
mularije na Zemlji. Se
pravi, da je neka zveza v
ozadju. To je jasno. Saj če
ni, tudi mene ne bi bilo
tukaj. Že sama moja nav-
zočnost v vsem tem dose-
danjem dogajanju kaže
na zveze, povezave ali
kakorkoli naj bi že imeno-
val ta odnos med Čutini
in Zemljani. Pa tudi med
Ostrini in Zemljani naj
bi bile že vzpostavljene
neke relacije, ker naj bi
se Ostrini prav tako spu-
ščali na Zemljo, vendar,
kot je dejal tisti Ostrin,
brez poseganja v zemelj-
sko evolucijo, torej najbrž
bolj v vlogi opazoval-
cev, kar naj bi pomenilo
bolj korekten odnos,
čeprav so videti precej
bolj cinični od Čutinov,
431
who – and at least as far as Honaja was concerned I couldn’t be mistaken – were incomparably more sensitive. Honaja? Purgatory? The Acutins had tried to pro-voke her with their “bea-utifully designed,” presu-mably an allusion to “desi-gning” robots. Yes, hmm, these Acutins insult them by calling them robots... Why robots? Because of a lack of sensitiveness? There was nothing metal-lic, nothing robotic about Honaja. She was far from being emotionless. Quite the opposite. There was so much life and human warmth in her, and so much joy and happiness, and also sorrow, mixed with a kind of fear, a kind of expectation… I couldn’t take these insults of the Acutins seriously. At the negotiating table, during the discussion of the attitude towards less developed civilisations, the Acutins, unlike the
ki so, vsaj glede Honaje
se nisem mogel motiti,
neprimerno bolj čutni.
Honaja? Vice? Ostrina sta
jo dražila z »lepo obliko-
vana«, torej z namigova-
njem na nekakšno »dizajni-
ranje« robotov. Ja, hm, kar
z roboti jih zmerjajo tile
Ostrini… Roboti? Zakaj?
Zaradi pomanjkanja čutno-
sti? Na Honaji ni bilo niče-
sar kovinskega, ničesar
robotskega, bila je daleč od
brezčutnosti. Prav naspro-
tno. Toliko življenja s člo-
veško toplino je bilo v njej
in toliko radosti, veselja
in tudi žalosti, pomešane
z nekim strahom, nekim
pričakovanjem… Takih
zmerjanj s strani Ostrinov
že nisem mogel upošte-
vati. Za pogajalsko mizo
so Ostrini med obravnavo
odnosa do manj razvitih
civilizacij v nasprotju s
432
Sensins, had constantly mentioned Earthmen and human civilisation. The Sensins on the other hand had merely talked about less developed civilisati-ons in general, and had only mentioned terrestrial civilisation when explain-ing how a deeply respec-tful relationship had been established between them and us Earthmen; this accorded with my expe-rience or rather with my feelings regarding the Sen-sins’ attitude towards me, and thus probably towards Earthmen in general. And when this constant wor-king of the Earthmen issue into the negotiations had become more and more like an academic discus-sion – and it was already difficult to understand why they were devoting so much time to insignificant little Earth, insignificant at least in comparison to the civilisations of the Sen-sins and the Acutins – the Acutin in the centre of the
Čutini nenehno omenjali
Zemljane, človeško civili-
zacijo. Čutini pa so govo-
rili zgolj o manj razvitih
civilizacijah nasploh, o
zemeljski pa le v obrazlo-
žitvi, kako je med njimi in
Zemljani vzpostavljen glo-
boko spoštljiv odnos; to se
je ujemalo z mojimi izku-
šnjami oziroma z mojimi
občutki glede odnosa Čuti-
nov do mene in s tem ver-
jetno tudi do Zemljanov.
In ko je to nenehno vpleta-
nje vprašanja o Zemljanih
v pogajanja postajalo vse
bolj podobno akademski
razpravi, že kar nerazu-
mljivi zaradi posvečanja
tolikšnega časa tako nepo-
membno majhni Zemlji,
vsaj v primeri s civilizaci-
jama Čutinov in Ostrinov,
je Ostrin sredi pogajalske
433
negotiating group inter-rupted the discussion with a request for an immediate suspension of all contacts with less developed civi-lisations. This suspension was to last until a joint agreement was reached on ending the state of emergency, after which they would re-establish a balance under increased supervision on the basis of mutual respect and a reco-gnition of the right to evo-lutionary development. This was followed by a short break which the Sen-sins requested in order to discuss the acceptability of the proposal, as they put it. After they had returned to the negotiating table, the leader of the negoti-ating group accepted the proposal and said: “I hope that we can now focus on the issue of free passages, which, as we all know, thanks to the barri-ers that have been erected in the asteroid belt and also in other parts of the
skupine presekal to govor-
jenje z zahtevo po takojšnji
prekinitvi vseh stikov z
manj razvitimi civilizaci-
jami. Prekinitev naj bi tra-
jala vse do skupnega dogo-
vora o koncu izjemnega
stanja, po katerem naj bi
pod okrepljenim nadzor-
stvom ponovno vzposta-
vili ravnovesje na podlagi
vzajemnega spoštovanja
in priznavanja pravice
do lastnega evolucijskega
razvoja.
Temu je na zahtevo Čuti-
nov sledil kratek premor,
da bi se lahko pogovorili
o sprejemljivosti predloga,
kot so rekli. Po vrnitvi
za pogajalsko mizo pa je
vodja pogajalske skupine
sprejel predlog in dejal:
»Upam, da se končno lahko
osredotočimo na vpraša-
nje prostih prehodov, ki so,
kot vsi vemo, ob postavlje-
nih zaporah v asteroidnem
pasu in tudi na drugih pre-
434
galaxy, have been closed or rendered more diffi-cult.” Now it was the turn of the Acutins to request a break for consultation. I had the impression that they were surprised that the Sensins had agreed so rapidly to their proposal. I could sense something like alarm in their ranks. All the Acutins around me were visibly agitated. “They’ve got what they needed,” I overheard one Acutin comment to another, and immediately afterwards, the reply “They won’t get away with it just like that... . . We mustn’t let them.” All the Acutins were tal-king loudly. Evidently those on the commission had already known some-thing, but probably not the details, since otherwise they would have concen-trated even more on me and not on the Earthmen as a whole. “Peter,” whispered Honaja, gesturing at me to move
delih vesolja ali zaprti ali
oteženi.« Zdaj so pa Ostrini
zahtevali premor za posve-
tovanje. Dobil sem vtis, da
jih je tako hiter pristanek
Čutinov presenetil do pra-
vega vznemirjenja v nji-
hovih vrstah. Vsi Ostrini
okoli mene so se vidno
vznemirili. »Kar so potre-
bovali, so dobili,« sem
lahko ujel med komentarji
Ostrinov ter takoj zatem
še soglasje v odgovoru:
»Kar tako nas pa že ne bodo
. . . Tega jim ne bi smeli
dopustiti.« Vsa stran Ostri-
nov je dvigovala svoje gla-
sove. Očitno so v komisiji
že morali nekaj vedeti, le
da najbrž ne v podrobno-
stih, ker potem bi se bolj
osredotočili name in ne na
Zemljane v celoti.
»Peter,« je z namigom, naj
se ji primaknem, zašepe-
435
closer to her. Her face showed me that she wanted to talk confidentially to me, as she stole a glance at the two Acutins who were talking among themselves and looking at her increa-singly keenly.I bent close to Honaja’s mouth so that I felt her warm breath as she said:”Peter, the Acu-tins have linked our more frequent flights to Earth in the recent period with their conjectures about our pos-sible difficulties in mana-ging the energy fields. In view of their sudden exci-tement when we agreed to interrupt connections with Earth, we can already form a good idea of what they have managed to find out about our problems. Their findings apparently told them that a constant flow of information from Earth was vital to us, although they do not know why. That is also why they have closed all routes through the asteroid belts. Now they have realised
tala Honaja ob meni. Z
obraza sem ji razbral željo
po zaupnem pogovoru,
medtem ko se je prikrito
ozirala proti Ostrinoma, ki
sta se med sabo pogovar-
jala z vse ostrejšim pogle-
dovanjem vanjo.
Sklonil sem se tik do Hona-
jinih ust, da sem občutil
njen topli dih, ko je rekla:
»Peter, Ostrini so naše
pogostejše polete na
Zemljo v zadnjem času
povezali s svojimi ugibanji
o morebitnih naših teža-
vah pri upravljanju z ener-
getskimi polji. Glede na
njihovo nenadno razburje-
nje, ko smo privolili k pre-
kinitvi povezav z Zemljo
že lahko sklepamo, kaj jim
je uspelo ugotoviti o teh
naših težavah. Stalni infor-
macijski pretok z Zemljani
naj bi bil po njihovih ugo-
tovitvah za nas nujen,
čeprav ne vedo, zakaj. Zato
so tudi zapirali vse poti
skozi asteroidne pasove.
Zdaj so pa spoznali, da ta
436
that this flow of informa-tion is no longer so vital to us and – something that could be dangerous for us – they believe that the pur-pose of our mission was to transfer the last of this information, which they now believe, in view of our agreement to halt traffic to Earth, should be sufficient for our needs, for some time at least. They are still believe that their assump-tions about our urgent need for information from Earth are correct. But now they are looking at this as something that has alre-ady been done, despite all their forecasts and bloc-kades. They have establi-shed that the information that our present mission is supposed to be bringing is effectively the only infor-mation we still need. They don’t know what kind of information this is suppo-sed to be, but their teams of analysts have alre-ady begun studying eve-rything connected with
pretok za nas ni več tako
nujen in, kar je lahko za
nas nevarno, da je prav
naša misija namenjena pre-
nosu zadnjih informacij, ki
naj bi nam po njihovi zdaj-
šnji oceni, pač glede na
naš pristanek k ustavitvi
prometa z Zemljo, morale
zadostovati vsaj za nekaj
časa. Še vedno so namreč
prepričani o pravilnosti
svojih domnev glede za
nas nujnega prenosa infor-
macij z Zemlje. Toda zdaj
gledajo na to kot na nekaj,
kar je že opravljeno kljub
vsem njihovim predvide-
vanjem in blokadam. Ugo-
tovili so, da v bistvu potre-
bujemo le še informacije,
ki naj bi jih prenesla naša
sedanja misija. Ne vedo
sicer, kakšne naj bi bile te
informacije, toda njihove
analizatorske skupine so
se že usmerile v preučeva-
nje vsega, kar je povezano
437
our mission and our flight. It is possible that they will even discover the actual reason for it. Until then, however, they will do everything in their power to halt the transfer of this last part of the informa-tion. They will attack our mission and probably you in particular. You mustn’t give in to them. We will be with you. I will be there too. We have to get out of this place, although they will probably not want to let you go. Do not oppose them. Whatever they say, listen to them, agree with them and accept what they tell you, but point out the impossibility of making an immediate judgement, which means that you are not able to reach a final conclusion – which will probably be true. In the meantime, we have made all the prepa-rations to fully acquaint you with our civilisation. This time, when we have told you everything, you
z našo misijo, s tem našim
poletom. Morda bodo celo
ugotovili dejanski razlog
zanj. Dotlej pa bodo ver-
jetno storili vse, kar je v
njihovi moči, da bi zausta-
vili prenos tega zadnjega
dela informacij. Spravili
se bodo na našo misijo in
verjetno še posebej nate.
Ne smeš se jim pustiti. Mi
bomo ob tebi. Tudi jaz. Iz
tega prostora se moramo
umakniti, čeprav te ver-
jetno ne bodo hoteli spu-
stiti. Ne oporekaj jim.
Karkoli bodo rekli, jih
poslušaj s pritrjevanjem in
s sprejemanjem na znanje,
vendar nakaži tudi nemoč
takojšne presoje, zaradi
česar kot da nisi zmožen
dokončnega sklepanja, kar
bo najverjetneje tudi res.
Mi smo medtem že pripra-
vili vse za tvojo popolno
seznanitev z našo civiliza-
cijo. Tokrat, ob tej seznani-
tvi boš lahko šele razumel
438
will finally understand the essence of our civili-sation, which is the com-plete opposite of what the Acutins are accusing us of when they talk about robots. It is actually the other way round. Owing to their genetic deformations they have become incom-parably more robotic than us. They are metal cynics without feelings.”I wanted to look over at the Acutins, but then I noti-ced them right next to me. They must have approa-ched us during Honaja’s last words, so silently that I started when I suddenly noticed them by my side. Their countenances were serious, with no cynical smiles. They looked at me without a trace of any superiority. “Everything suggests that your journeys are of con-siderable importance,” began Orhan. “Not only for the Sensins, but also for us, and for the Earthmen in particular. We are figh-
bistvo naše civilizacije, ki
je pravo nasprotje tega,
kar nam Ostrini podti-
kajo v svojem zmerjanju z
roboti. Prav nasprotno je
res. Oni so postali zaradi
genskih deformacij nepri-
merno bolj robotski od
nas. Oni so kovinski ciniki
brez čustev.«
Hotel sem se ozreti proti
Ostrinoma, a sem ju zaznal
tik ob sebi. Prav med
zadnjimi Honajinimi bese-
dami sta morala pristo-
piti, in to tako neopazno,
da sem se zdrznil, ko sem
ju nenadoma začutil. Bila
pa sta povsem zresnjena,
brez ciničnega nasmiha-
nja. Brez sledi kakršnekoli
vzvišenosti sta zrla vame.
»Vse kaže na precejšen
pomen vaših potovanj,« je
začel Orhan. »In to ne le za
Čutine, ampak tudi za nas,
in za Zemljane še posebej.
439
ting for evolution. For the normal progress of evolu-tion, do you understand?” Orhan paused for a few moments to allow this to sink in. “We are a highly developed civilisation, as you already know. The Sensins are also at the same technological level. But I must warn you, they are only at the same tech-nological level. Not at the same level of civilisation, because they are not living beings…”“And you are?” shouted Honaja. “You, emotionless cynics!” “I only ask your attention for a few moments,” inter-rupted Orhan, with the evident intention of diver-ting my attention from Honaja, whom he was already pushing aside as he moved closer to me. But our conversation had alre-ady attracted the attention of both Acutins and Sen-sins. They were all follo-wing it, I saw, in the same moment that I saw Orhan
Bojujemo se za evolucijo.
Za normalen potek evolu-
cije, razumete?« Orhan mi
je pustil nekaj trenutkov za
premislek. »Mi smo visoko
razvita civilizacija, kakor
že veste. Tudi Čutini so
na enaki tehnološki ravni.
Toda opozarjam vas, zgolj
na enaki tehnološki ravni.
Ne na civilizacijski, ker oni
niso živa bitja…«
»A vi pa ste?!« je vzrojila
Honaja, »Vi, ciniki brezču-
tni!«
»Le za nekaj trenutkov
pozornosti bi vas prosil,«
je vpadel Orhan z očitnim
namenom odvrniti mojo
pozornost od Honaje, ki jo
je že kar odrival med pri-
bliževanjem k meni. Toda
naš pogovor je že pritegnil
pozornost tako Ostrinov
kot Čutinov. Vsi so mu že
sledili, kot sem videl tudi
sam, hkrati z Orhanovim
440
pushing Honaja away, for which there appeared to be no good reason at that moment, since there was no need to be so close to me: there was more than enough space for a normal conversation. Furthermore recent events had brought me so close to Honaja that she awakened my protec-tive instincts, at least in situations that were unple-asant for her. I raised my hands and slowly lowered them to indicate my desire to calm things down. Orhan accepted this with a nod of his head, but he immediately went on: “Evolution continues for-ward even with us. And we Acutins, with a civilisation that has grown through the same evolution that you Earthmen are undergoing now, are fighting of for the existence of our own evo-lutionary path. Of the kind that will one day await you Earthmen too. But the Sensins wish to interrupt this evolutionary path of
odrivanjem Honaje, za kar
v tistem trenutku ni bilo
pravega razloga, saj ni bilo
potrebno govoriti s take
bližine, za normalen pogo-
vor pa je bilo prostora več
kot dovolj. Poleg tega so
me zadnji dogodki tako
močno zbližali s Honajo,
da so me ob njej, vsaj ob
zanjo neprijetnih položa-
jih, obhajali še zaščitniški
občutki. Z privzdigova-
njem in počasnim spušča-
njem rok sem nakazal željo
po umiritvi pogovora, kar
je Orhan z namigom glave
tudi sprejel, vendar pa je
takoj nadaljeval: »Evolucija
tudi pri nas poteka naprej.
In mi, Ostrini, s civilizacijo,
zraslo skozi enako evolu-
cijo, kot se skoznjo prebi-
jate Zemljani, se borimo
za obstoj naše evolucijske
poti. Take, kot nekoč čaka
tudi vas Zemljane. Čutini
pa želijo to vašo evolucij-
sko pot presekati in vam
441
yours and impose their own on you, based merely on the partial information packets of a civilisation that, if it has not already been completely destro-yed, is at least partially destroyed. Their genes have been destroyed, altho-ugh what they have are not actually genes but merely computer programs that were used by that destro-yed civilisation.”“That isn’t true!” snapped Honaja. “We do not derive from any decayed civilisa-tion! What shamelessness! Do you even know what you are saying? You are only now arriving at the level of partial understan-ding of highly developed civilisations, the level that we are now it, and your problem is above all your weak ability to compre-hend these facts. Weak because of your cyni-cism and arrogance. If the Earthmen were to see how you look down on them, they would lose even the
vsiliti svojo, temelječo
zgolj na delnih informacij-
skih paketih neke, če že ne
popolnoma, pa vsaj delno
uničene civilizacije. Oni
imajo uničene gene, oni,
čeprav to, kar premorejo,
sploh niso geni, ampak
zgolj neki računalniški
programi, ki jih je upora-
bljala tista uničena civili-
zacija.«
»To ni res!« je vzkliknila
Honaja. »Iz nobene pro-
padle civilizacije ne izha-
jamo! Kakšna nesramnost!
Ali sploh veš, kaj govoriš?
Vi šele zdaj prihajate na
raven delnega razumeva-
nja višje razvitih civilizacij,
na kateri smo sedaj mi, in
vaš problem je predvsem v
vaši šibki zmožnosti doje-
manja teh dejstev. Šibki
zaradi vašega cinizma in
nadutosti. Ko bi Zemljani
videli, kako zviška gledate
nanje, bi jih minilo vsako,
442
smallest desire to coope-rate with you. Not only that, your arrogance would make them realise how unimportant and super-fluous they are for you, and that you see in them merely the unnecessary repetition of a path you have already trodden. If it wasn’t for us, you would have destroyed them long ago.” “That is not true!” seethed Orhan. “We do not destroy less developed civilisati-ons! The reason that we do not approach them more closely lies in our conscious decision not to interfere in the evolution of new civilisations. Inclu-ding human civilisation.”“Yes, you have labelled them as a slightly more developed animal spe-cies, that is something we have been able to establish countless times already,” replied Honaja angrily.“That is not true! Our atti-tude to them is far from being either disdainful or
tudi najmanjše veselje do
sodelovanja z vami. Pa ne le
to. Po vaši nadutosti bi spo-
znali, kako nepomembni
in odvečni so za vas ter da
vidite v njih le neko nepo-
trebno ponavljanje vaše že
prehojene poti. Če ne bi
bilo nas, bi jih vi že zdav-
naj uničili.«
»To pa že ni res!« je zdaj
vzkipel Orhan »Mi ne uni-
čujemo manj razvitih civi-
lizacij! Da se jim bolj ne
približujemo, je vzrok v
naši zavestni opredelitvi
za nevmešavanje v evolu-
cijo novonastalih civiliza-
cij. Tudi človeške.«
»Da, označili ste jih kot
malo bolj razvito žival-
sko vrsto, to smo lahko že
neštetokrat ugotovili,« ga
je besno zavrnila Honaja.
»Ni res! Naš odnos do njih
še zdaleč ni ne zaničljiv ne
omalovažujoč. Mi spoštu-
443
belittling. We respect their evolutionary path. Much about them reminds us of the childhood of our own civilisation. It is true that some of their habits and reactions seem amusing to some of our individuals, but to conclude from this that we have an arrogant and contemptuous atti-tude towards Earthmen is going too far. It simply isn’t fair.”But the Sensin’s only reac-tions to Orhan’s words were jeers and a general shaking of heads.“Always and everywhere you have acted the same way,” said a Sensin stan-ding two or three paces to my right. “You attack and destroy everything that clashes with your interests. And several fac-tors indicate a change in your interests with regard to the planet Earth. You have become fond of this planet. A planet without an unnecessary human
jemo njihovo evolucijsko
pot. Marsikaj pri njih nas
spominja na otroška leta
naše civilizacije. Da pa se
zdijo nekateri njihovi obi-
čaji in odzivi našim posa-
meznikom zabavni, je sicer
res, vendar iz tega sklepati
na našo nadutost in prezir-
ljiv odnos do Zemljanov je
le preveč. To preprosto ni
pošteno.«
Vendar je Orhan med pri-
sotnimi Čutini s svojimi
besedami sprožil le odki-
mavanje s posmehljivimi
pripombami.
»Vedno in povsod ste se
doslej obnašali enako,« se
je s povzdignjenim glasom
vmešal Čutin, dva do tri
koraka desno od mene.
»Napadate in uničujete
vse, kar se križa z vašimi
interesi. In več dejstev
kaže tudi na spremembo
vaših interesov glede pla-
neta Zemlje. Ta planet vam
je postal všeč. Planet brez
nepotrebne človeške civi-
lizacije pa bi bil še bolj po
vašem okusu.«
444
civilisation would be even more to your taste.”“That is a wicked thing to say,” shouted an Acutin on his left. He was about to go on when a loud shou-ting suddenly broke out in the middle of the hall, over by the negotiating table. There seemed to be some sort of disturbance, with people running in every direction. One of the run-ning Acutins stopped next to Orhan. The other Acu-tins in the vicinity moved towards him too and there was a hurried whispered conversation. It had to be something very exciting. The Acutins first disper-sed into separate groups, and then individuals began jumping up and down and waving clenched fists. Their discussions and various interpretations were becoming increa-singly noisy, and then we heard a shout: “The Sensins cannot reach their energy fields!” “What?” shouted some
»Ta je pa zlobna!« je vzrojil
Ostrin z njegove leve ter
že hotel nadaljevati, ko se
je iz osrednjega dela dvo-
rane, iz smeri pogajalske
mize, nenadoma zaslišalo
vse glasnejše govorjenje,
pomešano z vzkliki, in
nastal je nekak nemir s
tekanjem. In eden od teh
hitečih Ostrinov se je
ustavil ob Orhanu, h kate-
remu so se primaknili
še Ostrini naokoli, ter se
spustil z njimi v živahen
šepetajoč pogovor. Vse-
kakor je moralo biti nekaj
zelo razburljivega. Ostrini
so se najprej razšli v posa-
mezne skupine, kmalu
zatem pa so posamezniki
že kar poskakovali ali pa
vsaj občasno zamahnili s
stisnjeno pestjo. In tudi
njihovo govorjenje z raz-
ličnimi razlagami vred je
postajalo vse bolj glasno,
tja do vzklika: »Čutini ne
morejo do svojih energet-
skih polj!«
»Kaj?« je vzkliknilo nekaj
445
of the Acutins who had hitherto remained calm. “What has happened?” “The latest analyses of the situation have confir-med our assumption that the entrance to the Sen-sins’ largest energy fields is blocked. This is now a fact. All of their increased traffic to and from Earth was a consequence of this blockage.” Orhan was all smiles. He was positively glowing with happiness. Then he started waving his arms. Yes, this was a success for them. This was the news they had been waiting for. This in particular. “Their key has stuck in the lock!” he shouted facetio-usly.“Participants in the nego-tiations: your attention please!” came the voice of the neutral computerised host of the negotiations. “We are interrupting the negotiations until further notice owing to the altered conditions.”
dotlej še mirnih Ostrinov.
»Kaj se je zgodilo?«
»Najnovejše analize stanja
so potrdile domneve o
blokiranem vhodu na
največja energetska polja
Čutinov. To je zdaj dej-
stvo. Ves njihov pove-
čan promet z Zemljo je
posledica teh blokad.«
Na Orhanu se je vse sme-
jalo, kar zažarel je od vese-
lja. Potem je še zamahnil
z roko. Da, to je bil zanje
uspeh. To je bila želena
novica. Taka, in še posebej
ta. »Ključavnica se jim je
zataknila!« je nato vzkliknil
v humornem navdihu.
»Vse udeležence pogajanj
naprošamo za trenutek
pozornosti!« se je oglasil
nevtralni računalniški
gostitelj pogajalskega sre-
čanja. »Do nadaljnjega pre-
kinjamo pogajanja zaradi
spremenjenih razmer.«
446
“Quickly!” I heard Honaja’s voice. “This means war. The Acutins will attack. Everything is ready. They were only waiting for confirmation from their analysis centre. According to their calculations their current advantage will enable them victory. They are going to start the war. If they haven’t already started it.”“And us?” I looked at her anxiously. “We will continue our mis-sion to the end. We Sen-sins are ready too.” Honaja smiled at me despite the pallor of her face. “Trust us! Believe me! Let’s go!”Outside the hall, on a great platform beneath a hundred-metre-high arch, which together with the surrounding structures created the impression of a great city square, a traf-fic jam had formed, and there was a dense throng of flying craft. They were landing and taking off, singly or in swarms of
»Hitro!« sem zaslišal Hona-
jin glas. »To pomeni vojno.
Ostrini bodo napadli. Vse
imajo pripravljeno. Le na
potrditev svojega anali-
zatorskega centra so še
čakali. Po njihovih izraču-
nih jim trenutna prednost
omogoča zmago. Začeli
bodo z vojno. Če je že niso
začeli.«
»In mi?« Gledal sem jo z
zadržanim dihom.
»Mi bomo šli z našo misijo
do konca. Tudi Čutini smo
se pripravili.« Honaja se
mi je nasmehnila kljub
bledici na svojem obrazu.
»Raje zaupaj nam! Verjemi
mi! Greva!«
Zunaj dvorane, na veliki
ploščadi pod več sto
metrov visokim obokom,
ki je z okoliškimi zgrad-
bami dajala vtis velikega
mestnega trga, je nastal
gost promet s pravo gnečo
letečih plovil. Pristajala so
in vzletavala, posamič in
447
varying size. They sto-pped by the running Sen-sins and Acutins and took off again as soon as they had climbed aboard. Eve-rything was happening very quickly. I was wal-king rapidly in a small group of Sensins, most of them from our crew, with Honaja by my side. “There!” She was pointing towards a free section of the platform. We immedi-ately turned in that direc-tion, walking faster and eventually breaking into a run, like everyone around us. Then I caught sight of several hundred craft taking off in formation. I watched them rise up into the air and saw how they turned sharply and headed towards the exit. “Look!” I called to Honaja, who was already pointing at the craft arriving behind them. “Those are ours!” We immediately stopped running. The craft reached us in a moment and scree-ched to a halt like sports
tudi v manjših ali večjih
jatah, se ustavljala ob teka-
jočih Čutnih in Ostrinih
ter po njihovem vstopanju
vanje takoj spet odletela.
Vse je potekalo zelo hitro.
S pospešenim korakom
sem stopal v manjši sku-
pini Čutinov, večinoma
iz naše posadke, tik ob
Honaji. »Tja!« je z vzklikom
pokazala na prosti del plo-
ščadi, kamor smo se usme-
rili z vse hitrejšimi koraki,
dokler nismo prešli že kar
v tek, kakor vsi okoli nas.
Tedaj sem s pogledom ujel
vzlet več sto plovil v jati
ter nato sledil njihovemu
letu v višino in kako so se
po ostrem zavoju usmerili
proti izhodu.
»Glej!« sem zaklical Honaji,
ki pa mi je že z roko kazala
plovila, prihajajoča za
njimi. »To so naši!«
Takoj smo obstali, plovila
so nas v trenutku dohitela
ter se ustavila s hitrostjo
športnih avtomobilov na
448
cars on Earth. The sides nearest to us opened to enable us to jump in. The whole operation was over in a matter of moments, and like the previous wave we were now flying in a swarm consisting of some hundreds of craft. We turned steeply towards the exit and set off towards our mothership from the ship-carrier class. Brief messages in our holo-display gave us the most urgent information during the flight. Everything was in turmoil. Not only us. At least judging from the bul-letins on the holo-display, which showed the return of our negotiating team to the CONQUEROR 949 and then the empty “Peace Square”, which only moments ago had been full of bustling acti-vity, in front of the great hall with the negotiating table, at which no-one was any longer sitting. Then the holo-display showed a blinding explosion in that
Zemlji, se na naši strani
razprla za prost vstop s
skokom vanje, vse je bilo
opravljeno v nekaj trenut-
kih, in kakor prejšnji vzlet
v jati smo tudi mi zdaj pole-
teli z nekaj sto plovili v zao-
kroženem letu k izhodu in
proti naši matični ladji iz
razreda ladjenosilk.
Kratka sporočila v našem
holiju so nam med potjo
dajala najnujnejše informa-
cije. Vse je bilo v velikem
gibanju. Ne samo mi. Vsaj
po sporočilih v holiju, ki
so nam kazala vrnitev naše
pogajalske skupine na
našo ladjenosilko OSVAJA-
LEC 949 in nato še prazen,
pred kratkim prenapol-
njen »Trgu miru« pred
veliko dvorano s pogajal-
skim omizjem, za katerim
ni bilo več nikogar. Zatem
pa se je v holiju prikazala
v tistem delu še bleščeča
eksplozija s kratkim spo-
449
sector with a brief mes-sage saying that this peace station had been blown up. I looked at Honaja: “Did the Acutins blow it up?”“Yes... And that means war. The war has star-ted…”“War... It’s war..” repea-ted the other Sensins, one after the other. “All forces from both sides will now engage.” Honaja gripped my arm more tightly, and I squeezed her wrist in reply. Nobody spoke, but then at last the silence was broken by a sudden cry: “Look! Our fleets are coming!”A magnificent scene reve-aled itself to us through the great window of the command deck. Enormous spaceships were slowly emerging from the grey clouds piled up on our left. Along the whole belt, as far as the eye could see, their front sections were already out of the clouds, clearly visible, and behind
ročilom o razstrelitvi te
vesoljske mirovne postaje.
Pogledal sem Honajo: »Ali
so jo razstrelili Ostrini?«
»Da… In to pomeni vojno.
Začela se je vojna…«
»Vojna… Vojna je…« so pol-
glasno ponavljali drug za
drugim.
»Vse sile, z obeh strani,
se bodo zdaj spopadle.«
Honaja se je močneje opri-
jela moje roke, jaz pa sem ji
v odgovor stisnil zapestje.
Nato so vsi obstali v tišini.
Vse dokler jih ni prekinil
nenaden vzklik: »Glejte!
Naša ladjevja prihajajo!«
Kar skozi veliko okno
poveljniškega prostora se
nam je kazal veličasten
prizor. Iz sivih oblakov,
nakopičenih na naši levi
strani, so počasi prihajale
ogromne vesoljske ladje.
Po vsem pasu, do koder
nam je segal pogled, so
bili njihovi prednji deli
že zunaj oblakov, razkriti,
lepo vidni, za njimi pa še
450
them we could see more and more of their hulls. There was a moment of silence filled with mute enthusiasm. We knew that the other side would also have such fleets in readi-ness. But the scene was magnificent. “Look at the holo-display!” someone shouted. We all turned. From the oppo-site side, right over by the asteroid belt, the Acutins’ ships were heading in our direction. Once again the air was filled with shouts and conjectures about our position. “They can still cut us off!” said a Sensin not far away on my right. “We are in range of their cannon. They are going to attack us!” “No they’re not,” came a more resolute voice from somewhere behind me. Silence fell once again. Now we were all watching a simulation of the pro-bable outcome of events. Everything indicated that
vse večji deli trupov. Nastal
je trenutek tišine z nemim
navdušenjem. Seveda
je imela tudi naspro-
tna stran taka ladjevja
v pripravljenosti. Toda
prizor je bil veličasten.
»Glejte v holi!« je priletel
vzklik. Vso so mu sledili.
Z nasprotne strani, tik
ob asteroidnem pasu, so
drvela letala Ostrinov. Spet
je nastal šum z vzkliki in
ugibanjem glede nastalega
položaja. »
Še pot nam lahko prese-
kajo!« se je oglasil Čutin
nedaleč stran, na moji
desni. »Na dosegu njihovih
topov smo. Napadli nas
bodo!«
»Ne bodo,« ga je takoj
zavrnil bolj odločen glas
iz ozadja. Spet je nastala
tišina. Zdaj smo vsi zrli v
simulacijski prikaz verje-
tnega razpleta dogajanja.
Res je vse kazalo na naš
451
we would be able to get away in time. “We will evade them,” said a Sensin by the holo-display. “But then what? They will attack our ship-carrier and even before we manage to land we will find ourselves in the middle of a battle.” “We have to embark on the opposite side to the attack,” said the Sensin by the holo-display, “or they will shoot us down. The best thing will be to head for the rear doors.” This is in fact what we did. Events soon confirmed our predictions. Energy bolts began to strike the front sections of our great ship-carrier as soon as we had landed in our little STORMBIRD, with such force that the floor bene-ath our feet shook seve-ral times in succession. The question that was now raised was whether it made sense to flee into the interior of the ship-carrier, away from our STORMBIRD, given that
pravočasen umik. »Izma-
knili se bomo,« je v umir-
jenem razmišljanju povzel
Čutin ob holiju. »Toda kaj
bo potem? Napadli bodo
našo ladjenosilko in še
preden nam bo uspelo pri-
stati na njej, se bomo znašli
sredi bitke.«
»Vstopiti moramo s strani,
nasprotne od napada,« se
je oglasil Čutin ob holiju,
»sicer nas bodo sestrelili.
Najbolje bo na zadnjih
vhodih.«
Tako smo tudi storili.
Dogodki so kmalu potr-
dili naša predvidevanja. V
sprednje dele naše velike
ladjenosilke so začeli zade-
vati energetski izstrelki že
takoj po našem pristanku
z malim VIHARNIKOM,
in to s silo, ki nam je kar
nekajkrat zapovrstjo stre-
sla tla pod nogami. Zasta-
vilo pa se je vprašanje o
smiselnosti bega v notra-
njost ladjenosilke, stran
od našega VIHARNIKA,
452
in the case of the ship-ca-rrier breaking down into its component parts we would have to return to the STORMBIRD which, though smaller, was fast and agile. But the landing area and hangars were immediately below the outer part of the ship-car-rier, and therefore vulnera-ble in the case of a succes-sion of hits by energy bombs in that section. The interior was in any case better protected because of the enormous dimensi-ons of the ship-carrier. Some members of the crew expressed their mis-givings, while others insisted that despite eve-rything we should stay aboard the STORMBIRD, ready to take off imme-diately and abandon the ship-carrier. In the end the recommendation of headquarters prevailed. Apparently this was the better option for us. But even the choice of words in the communication
kajti ob morebitnem raz-
padu ladjenosilke na njene
sestavne dele se bo treba
vrniti na manjšega, vendar
hitrega in okretnega
VIHARNIKA. Toda prista-
jališče s hangarji je bilo tik
pod zunanjim delom lad-
jenosilke in zato ranljivo v
primeru zaporednih zadet-
kov energetskih bomb v
tisti predel, tako da je bila
notranjost vseeno bolje
zaščitena zaradi izjemno
velikih dimenzij ladjeno-
silke.
Tudi take pomisleke so
izrazili posamezniki, drugi
pa so vseeno vztrajali, naj
kljub vsemu ostanemo na
VIHARNIKU, pripravljeni
na hitri vzlet iz hangarja in
ladjenosilke. Vendar je pre-
vladalo priporočilo povelj-
stva. Vseeno naj bi bilo tako
bolje za nas. Pri tem pa je
bila že izbira besed povelj-
stva precej drugačna od
453
from headquarters was different from usual. Our protection was apparently one of their most impor-tant concerns. As though they were well aware of the importance of our mis-sion, they assured us that they would do everything necessary for us. And yet the ship-carrier did not immediately retreat into the background and hide in the clouds behind the other fleet that was on its way. It continued to brave the attack without retrea-ting. There had to be some other factor involved. But what? As soon as we had reached the quarters assigned to us, we immediately gathered round the large holo-dis-play, which showed a wide area of space around us with all the asteroid belts and the distribution of our fleets and those of the Acutins. Bombardments were already taking place throughout the border areas far into space, and
običajnih. Naša zaščita naj
bi bila za poveljstvo med
najpomembnejšimi nalo-
gami. Kot da jim je dobro
znan pomen naše misije,
so nam zagotovili, da bodo
za nas storili vse potrebno.
Pa vendar se ladjenosilka
ni takoj umaknila v zaledje
ter se skrila v oblake za
našim ostalim prihajajo-
čim ladjevjem. Vztrajno je
kljubovala napadu, ne da
bi se umaknila. Še nekaj
je torej moralo biti vmes.
Ampak kaj?
Po prihodu v prostore,
določene za nas, smo se
takoj vsi zbrali ob velikem
holiju, ki je prikazoval obši-
ren del vesolja okoli nas z
vsemi asteroidnimi pasovi
in razporeditvami tako
naših kot ostrinovskih lad-
jevij. Obstreljevanja so že
potekala po vseh mejnih
področjih tja daleč v veso-
lje in znotraj celotnega
454
within the whole of the asteroid belt. But one area nevertheless stood out in terms of both the density of the bombardment and the violence of the explo-sions. This was the area around that section of the asteroid belt where there was the greatest concen-tration of Sensins. A kind of pincer attack appeared to be taking place aga-inst the security shields fortified by bunkers that completely surrounded the whole of that sector, giving the impression of a fortress protected on all sides. Yes, this was where the Acutins were directing their most powerful ship-carriers, or even the majo-rity of them. “Why do they want this part of the asteroid belt?” I asked after a long, close observation. The two Sen-sins next to me looked at each other but they didn’t reply. Not immediately, at least. But then, when the sense of my question
asteroidnega pasu. Del pa
je vseeno izstopal tako po
gostoti obstreljevanja kot
po silovitosti eksplozij. To
je bilo prav okoli tistega
dela asteroidnega pasu,
kjer je bilo največje obmo-
čje Čutinov.
Zdaj se je vse skupaj kazalo
v nekakšnem obkolitve-
nem napadu na varnostne
plošče z bunkerji, ki so
v celoti obdajali ves tisti
predel, prikazan kot z vseh
strani zavarovana trdnjava.
Da, najmočnejše, če že ne
večino svojih ladjenosilk
so Ostrini usmerili prav
tja.
»Zakaj želijo ta del asteroi-
dnega pasu?« sem vprašal
po daljšem zavzetem opa-
zovanju. Čutina ob meni
sta se spogledala. Toda
odgovorila nista. Vsaj ne
takoj. Potem pa, ko je smi-
selnost mojega vprašanja
455
became increasingly appa-rent, the Sensin closer to me started talking while staring thoughtfully at the holo-display: “Incidents like this have been taking place in rapid succession recently. It is difficult to predict the outcome of engagements in individual areas.”I nodded. That was true. But… I had actually asked something else, and this wasn’t an answer to my question.The increasingly power-ful bombardment direc-ted at our ship-carrier, despite the defensive fire from all our armament, had already weakened or even pierced the armoured shields of our hull. Then all of a sudden the bom-bardment stopped. This seemed very strange. At least to me. Then, through the window, I caught sight of the movement of enor-mous spaceships immedi-ately above us and further ahead. The ships from
postajala že kar moteča, je
bližnji Čutin spregovoril
med zamišljenim zrenjem
v holi: »Prehitro se vrstijo
ti dogodki v zadnjem času.
Pa tudi izide spopadov na
posameznih področjih je
težko napovedati.«
Prikimal sem. To je bilo
res. Toda... Vprašal sem
pravzaprav nekaj drugega,
to pa ni bil odgovor na
moje vprašanje…
Vse močnejše obstrelje-
vanje naše ladjenosilke je
kljub obrambnemu ognju
iz vseh naših orožij že tanj-
šalo ali celo prebijalo okle-
pne ščite njenega trupa.
Nenadoma pa je obstrelje-
vanje prenehalo; to je bilo
seveda čudno. Vsaj zame.
Skozi okno, tik nad nami in
tudi dalje naprej, sem tedaj
nenadoma zagledal premi-
kanje ogromnih trupov
naših vesoljskih ladij. Tiste
456
the clouds had overtaken us and were drawing the enemy’s fire. The enemy’s entire firepower was now directed at them. But this did not stop them. There were too many of them. Almost the whole fleet, or at least the large part of it from the dense dark clouds, must have been taking part in the attack. They were heading straight for the worst of the firing. Yes, they were breaking through towards the encir-cled section of the asteroid belt. They were coming to help. They broke through the surrounding ring, with the result that the Acu-tins were forced to retreat along the whole line of the attacking Sensin fleet. This was a rapid and unexpec-ted transformation of the balance of forces on the battlefield; now the Sen-sins had taken the initia-tive along the whole line. “It’s going to work!” shou-ted a Sensin by the holo-display, which everyone
iz oblakov so nas prehite-
vale in že pritegnile nase
sovražno obstreljevanje.
Vsa moč nasprotnega
ognja se je zdaj usmerjala
nanje. Toda to jih ni usta-
vilo. Bilo jih je preveč.
Skoraj vse ladjevje, ali vsaj
njegov velik del iz gostih
temnih oblakov, je moralo
sodelovati v napadu. Prodi-
rali so naravnost proti naj-
hujšemu obstreljevanju.
Da, prebijali so se proti
obkoljenemu delu asteroi-
dnega pasu. Prihajali so na
pomoč. Razbijali so obkoli-
tveni obroč, tako da so se
bili Ostrini prisiljeni umi-
kati po vsej smeri napada-
jočega ladjevja Čutinov.
To je bil hiter in zame
nepričakovan preobrat
razmerja sil na bojišču; zdaj
so Čutini dobili pobudo na
vsej črti.
»Uspelo bo!« je vzkliknil
Čutin ob holiju, v katerega
457
was now staring at. But the view in the display was by no means encouraging. I observed the reactions of the Sensins: they were merely smiling and nod-ding in satisfaction.“Why such satisfaction?” I wondered, since as well as the breakthrough by our fleet, the display showed the approach of an equally large Acutin fleet. Altho-ugh it was slightly further away, an engagement seemed inevitable. At least that’s how it seemed to me. I pointed at the enemy ships. “Before we break their encircling rings, they will be here,” I said to Bene-sens. “Isn’t this rejoicing a little premature?” I asked, referring to the reactions of the other Sensins. Benesens looked at me with a gleam in his eyes, and then said in a serious voice: “Look, we know how you Earthmen think.
so vsi napeto zrli. Tudi jaz.
Pogled na holijev prikaz
pa ni bil niti malo razve-
seljiv. Pogledal sem odzive
Čutinov, toda ti so se samo
smehljali in zadovoljno
prikimavali.
»Zakaj pa tako zadovolj-
stvo?« sem vprašal. V pri-
kazu se je ob prodiranju
našega ladjevja kazalo
tudi približevanje enako
velikega ladjevja Ostrinov,
sicer nekoliko bolj stran,
vendar pa se je spopad z
njimi zdel neizbežen. Vsaj
videti je bilo tako. Z roko
sem pokazal nanje.
»Še preden bomo raz-
bili njihove obkolitvene
obroče, bodo že tukaj,«
sem dejal Dobročutu z
namigom glede zame nera-
zumljivih odzivov Čutinov.
»Ali ni to vaše veselje malo
prezgodnje?«
Dobročut pa me je najprej
pogledal z živahnejšim
leskom v očeh, nato pa
ponovno zresnjen dejal:
»Glejte, poznamo način
razmišljanja Zemljanov.
458
And it isn’t difficult for us to explain the peculiarities of our life. We also have sufficient experience of Earthmen. Experiences of all kinds. But experience teaches us that Earthmen must first understand eve-rything. When, in the past, we allowed some of your fellow Earthmen to live among us and adapt to our way of life, they very quic-kly accepted our values too. Our values became very agreeable to them. They were enthusiastic. It was not necessary to oblige them to do anything. They accepted everything them-selves. And after that none of them ever complained about anything. But when we merely described our civilisation to some individual Earthmen, in words, in conversation, they reacted very cauti-ously. Here…” Benesens pointed towards the calm section of the asteroid belt around which the fiercest
In ni nam težko razla-
gati posebnosti iz našega
življenja. Tudi dovolj izku-
šenj imamo z Zemljani.
Vseh vrst izkušenj. Toda
Zemljani morajo najprej
vse podoživeti, nas učijo
izkušnje. Ko smo neka-
terim vašim posamezni-
kom omogočili življenje
med nami in prilagoditev
našemu načinu življenja,
so zelo hitro sprejemali
tudi naše vrednote. Prav
všeč so jim postale. Navdu-
šeni so bili. K ničemur jih
ni bilo treba siliti. Kar sami
so vse sprejemali. In nihče
od njih se potlej ni nad
ničemer pritoževal. Ko pa
smo vašim posameznim
Zemljanom le opisali našo
civilizacijo, z besedami, v
pogovoru, so se vedli zelo
zadržano. Tukaj,«
Dobročut je pokazal proti
mirnemu delu asteroi-
dnega pasu, okoli katerega
so potekale najhujše bitke,
459
battles were raging: “Here is where we keep what we call purgatory.”“Purgatory?” I repeated the Sensin’s last word.“Yes, this peculiarity of our civilisation. And as far as I know, we have never discussed it with Earthmen. And so the reac-tion of Earthmen to such activity on the part of our civilisation is still some-thing of an unknown.”I didn’t know what I was supposed to think about all of this. I merely repe-ated part of his words: “Such activity…” Then, falteringly, I added: “You haven’t talked about this with any Earthman…” I frowned and looked clo-sely at Benesens. “What did you talk about with them? I mean…?” The Sensin had gues-sed my doubts. “Oh, we showed them many things. We accepted them among us. They lived among us,
»tukaj imamo shranjeno
to, kar imenujemo Vice.«
»Vice?« sem ponovil zadnjo
Čutinovo besedo.
»Da, to je posebnost naše
civilizacije. In kolikor
vem, o njej še nismo govo-
rili z Zemljani. Tako da je
za nas tudi odziv Zemlja-
nov na tovrstno delovanje
naše civilizacije še precej
neznan.«
Nisem vedel, kaj naj si
mislim o vsem tem. Le
ponovil sem del Čutinovih
besed: »Tovrstno delova-
nje. . .« Potem pa sem med
nekakšnim zatikanjem
v razmišljanju še dodal,
skoraj bolj zase: »O tem še
niste govorili z nobenim
Zemljanom…« Nagubal
sem čel in se zastrmel v
Dobročuta. »O čem pa ste
govorili z njimi? Mislim. .
.?«
Čutin je uganil moje
dvome. »O, kar precej smo
jim pokazali. Sprejeli smo
jih medse. Lep čas so živeli
460
we made their acquain-tance. Many Earthmen found good friends among us. We discussed both our common inclinations and our possible differences.”“What do you mean ‘pos-sible differences’? I have been among you for quite some time but I still have the feeling that I don’t know you very well. Well, I sometimes have that fee-ling.”We were interrupted by an announcement instruc-ting the crew to prepare to receive cargo from the asteroid belt:”Warning for rescue teams. Some aste-roids from the purgatory sector have been dama-ged.”I turned to Benesens: “What does this mean?” “I don’t know.” Benesens looked at me. “You alre-ady have a job to do. A very important job to do. So stay here! The rescue teams will deal with this. Part of our high techno-
med nami, poznanstva
smo navezali z njimi, mar-
sikateri Zemljan je našel
dobre prijatelje med nami.
Pogovarjali smo se tako o
naših skupnih nagnjenjih
kot o morebitnih razhaja-
njih.«
»Kako to mislite- o more-
bitnih razhajanjih? Že
kar nekaj časa sem med
vami, pa imam še vedno
občutek, da vas bolj slabo
poznam. No, vsaj občasno
imam tak občutek.«
Tedaj pa naju je prekinilo
obvestilo, naj se posadka
pripravi za prevzem tovora
iz asteroidnega pasu.
»Opozorilo reševalnim
skupinam. Nekateri astero-
idi iz predela Vic so poško-
dovani.«
Obrnil sem se k Dobro-
čutu: »Kaj to pomeni?«
»Ne vem.« Dobročut se je
zazrl vame. »Vi že imate
zadolžitev, pomembno,
zelo pomembno zadolži-
tev. Zato ostanite tu! Bodo
že reševalne skupine opra-
vile to delo. Gotovo je bil
461
logy has probably been damaged during the Acu-tins’ bombardment. I can hardly imagine the sort of complications can arise during the reception and reassembly of such a com-plex system as purgatory.”In the holo-display we could see the first clashes of our ship-carriers with the Acutin ships from the outer part of their encir-cling ring. The explosi-ons of energy bombs with their blinding flashes at first covered merely the thinner outer part of the ring, but as the Sensin forces advanced the bom-bardment moved ever deeper and soon covered the whole hemisphere. Their ship-carriers were continuing their advance. That was clear. But just as the total destruction of the Acutins’ attacking ring seemed imminent, they managed to regroup their ships on the interior. This
del naše vrhunske tehnike
poškodovan med tem
ostrinovskim obstreljeva-
njem. Kakšni zapleti lahko
nastanejo ob prevzemu
in ponovnem sestavljanju
tako kompleksnega sis-
tema, kot so Vice, si pa bolj
težko predstavljam.«
V holiju smo lahko videli
prve spopade naših lad-
jenosilk z zunanjimi lad-
jenosilkami Ostrinov iz
njihovega obkolitvenega
obroča. Eksplozije ener-
getskih bomb so s svojimi
silovitimi slepečimi bliski
prekrile najprej le redkejši
zunanji del obkolitvenega
obroča, toda ob napredo-
vanju sil Čutinov je obstre-
ljevanje prehajalo vse
globlje in kmalu prek vse
poloble. Njihove ladjeno-
silke so prodirale nezadr-
žno. To je bilo videti dovolj
očitno. Toda ko je že kazalo
na popolno razbitje napa-
dalnega obroča Ostrinov,
jim je uspelo v notranjo-
sti ponovno urediti svoje
vrste ladjevij. Ladjenosilke
462
did not cause the sligh-test hesitation on the part of the Sensins’ ship-car-riers. They immediately attacked them along the whole length of their line and with equally destruc-tive force, shattering and destroying them bit by bit, so that the Acutins were forced to retreat from this inexorable attack. And yet the Sensins were still not able to achieve a panicked rout with the collapse of the orderly functioning of the Acutins’ forces. The Acutins defended them-selves with all available firepower from all their groups of ships and quic-kly established another inner protective shell of fire, although it was not strong enough to halt the Sensins’ ship-carriers.The enthusiasm around the holo-display began to wane as the new distri-bution of forces became apparent. As I looked away from the display in order to observe the reac-
Čutinov pa se zaradi tega
niso niti najmanj obirale.
Takoj so udarile po njih, po
vsej širini in z enako uni-
čujočo silo, ter jih posto-
poma trgale in uničevale,
tako da so se bili Ostrini
prisiljeni umikati pred
tem nevzdržnim napadom.
Vendar paničnega bega z
razpadom urejenega delo-
vanja sil Ostrinov Čutini v
svojem rušilnem napadu
še niso mogli doseči.
Ostrini so se branili z vsem
delujočim ognjem iz vseh
skupin svojih ladij ter na
hitro vzpostavljali še eno
notranjo zaščitno ognjeno
lupino, čeprav ne dovolj
močno, da bi zaustavila
ladjenosilke Čutinov.
Navdušenje ob holiju se
je ob novem prikazu raz-
poreditev sil začelo pole-
gati. Med vse pogostejšim
odmikanjem pogleda s
holija, da bi videl odzive
463
tions of the Sensins, I rea-lised that their suddenly subdued expressions were a confirmation of my fears about the rapid arrival of the Acutin ship-carriers in this vast battlefield. As we could see, the Acutins had managed to gain enough time for their ship-carriers to reach us. And now an engagement would com-mence between the two fleets before the Sensins had managed to transfer all that… I searched for a word to describe that thing that the Sensins called “purgatory”, something that was probably some kind of high technology… These two concepts – pur-gatory and high techno-logy – simply didn’t go together. I had too little information about all of this, of course. But I could comprehend its impor-tance for the Sensins: jud-ging from the size of the forces sent to rescue us, it must have been something vital to them. But the Acu-
Čutinov, mi je zastajal dih.
Njihova nenadna zadrža-
nost je potrjevala mojo
bojazen zaradi prehitrega
prihoda ladjenosilk Ostri-
nov na ta bojna prostran-
stva. Ostrinom je, kot je
bilo videti, uspelo prido-
biti dovolj časa za prihod
njihovih ladjenosilk. In
zdaj se bo vnel spopad
med obema flotama, še
preden bo Čutinom uspelo
prenesti vse to… Iskal sem
besedo, s katero bi ozna-
čil tisto njihovo zadevo, ki
ji Čutini pravijo Vice, da,
to bo verjetno neke vrste
vrhunska tehnologija… Ta
dva pojma - Vice in vrhun-
ska tehnologija - mi nika-
kor nista šla skupaj. Pre-
malo informacij sem imel
o vsem tem, seveda. Lahko
pa sem iz vsega skupaj
razbral pomen te zadeve
za Čutine, ki so ji, sodeč
po velikosti oboroženih
sil, vrženih v naše reše-
vanje, morali pripisovati
že kar usodnost. Pa tudi
464
tins were sending equally powerful forces, which probably indicated their commitment to capturing or destroying this thing. That was it. This thing. The word “thing” was perhaps the most suitable because of its indefinite-ness. Since in any case it wasn’t nothing. Something definite had already been said. Something impor-tant, yes, although I was unable to formulate any clear picture on this basis. They were fighting over this thing, and in deadly earnest. But the ship-car-rier that was carrying me and the whole crew of our mission had been kept in the rear. They had not sent it into the fray. They must be holding it for transport purposes. Was that it?The holo-display had meanwhile begun to show the first long-range bom-bardments of the ship-ca-rriers from both sides. I slowly scanned the whole of the display: the Sensins
Ostrini so pognali enako
močne sile, kar najbrž
kaže na njihovo zavzetost
za prevzem ali uničenje te
zadeve. Tako. Te zadeve.
Beseda »zadeva« je bila
res morda najprimernejša
zaradi svoje nedoločeno-
sti. Kajti nič to vsekakor
ni bilo. Nekaj določenega
je že bilo povedano. Nekaj
pomembnega, da, četudi
si na podlagi tega še nisem
mogel izoblikovati nobe-
nih pravih predstav o
vsem skupaj. Spopadli pa
so se zaradi te zadeve, in to
prekleto zares. No, da, lad-
jenosilko, na kateri sem se
nahajal z vso posadko naše
misije, so Čutini le zadržali
v ozadju. Niso je poslali v
pravi bojni metež. Le za
prevoz naj bi jo imeli. Hm?
V holiju se je medtem že
začelo kazati prvo daljin-
sko obstreljevanje lad-
jenosilk z obeh strani. S
pogledom sem prešel prek
celotnega prikaza v holiju:
pravzaprav so Čutini res
465
really had thrown the majo-rity of their ship-carriers into battle. Some of them were heading towards the interior of this part of the asteroid belt. Yes, if they could make it… The ship-carriers were supposed to remove the whole of that “thing” from the thick of the fighting and transport it away. That is what they were going to do. At least that was the intention, but the Acutins had already guessed or predicted this and were now trying to prevent it. With all their forces. Whatever happe-ned, nothing indicated a rapid end to this conflict.
vrgli v boj večino svojih
ladjenosilk, nekaj se jih je
usmerilo v notranjost tega
dela asteroidnega pasu.
Da, če jim bo uspelo…
Ladjenosilke naj bi vso to
zadevo umaknile iz boj-
nega meteža in prenesle
stran. Tako bodo naredili.
Vsaj nameravajo nekaj
takega, to pa so Ostrini že
uganili ali predvideli in
sedaj to skušajo preprečiti.
Z vsemi silami. Kakorkoli,
nič ni kazalo na hiter izid
tega spopada.
466
Chapter XIII
Still half asleep, I turned over and slightly opened my eyes. Vivid hologram images of the battle of the ship-carriers flashed through my brain. I had followed the battle for a long time together with the Sensins. Terrible ener-gies were released during the engagement. But the battle dragged on into long hours of indecisive positional warfare, until at last my eyelids began to droop. ‘This is going to last a good while yet,’ Benesens had said. ‘And whatever happens, we’re going to need our wits about us. We’re going to have to act, Peter.’ So I went off to get some sleep, as did many of the Sen-sins... Now I looked at my
XIII. poglavje
Še napol v spanju sem
obrnil z ene strani na
drugo in narahlo odprl
oči, a še preden se mi je
uspelo prav pretegniti,
so mi skozi spomin prele-
teli živi holijevski prikazi
bitke ladjenosilk. Dolgo
sem jo spremljal skupaj s
Čutini. Strahotne energije
so se sproščale ob tem
spopadu. Toda ves ta boj
se je zavlekel v dolge ure
pozicijskega bojevanja
z neodločenim izidom,
vse dokler se mi veke
niso začele zapirati. »To
bo še kar takole trajalo,«
mi je tedaj dejal Dobro-
čut. »Poleg tega, ne glede,
kako se bo to vse skupaj
obrnilo, bomo mi morali
biti zelo prisebni. Ukre-
pati bomo morali, Peter.«
Potem sem z večjo sku-
pino Čutinov odšel spat…
Zdaj sem pogledal na uro,
467
watch and realised with surprise that I had slept for eight whole hours. Why hadn’t anyone woken me up? No need, I suppose. But a lot must have happe-ned in that time. I got up and went over to the holo-display. I had to see what was happening.Once again, most of our crew was gathered there. ‘How’s it looking?’ I asked after staring at the holo-di-splay for a few moments.‘Not too good,’ replied Benesens.‘What’s up?’‘Our ships are falling back.’‘Oh no!’ I looked at the display again: the advance of the Acutin ship-carriers was clearly visible. Then I looked over towards the ships carrying our spe-cial cargo. The Acutins were already right up with them. At any moment they would be alongside. I poin-ted towards the section of the holo-display where these ship-carriers were. ‘Are they retreating?’
hudirja, kar osem ur sem
spal, sem moral ugotoviti.
Zakaj me ni nihče zbudil?
Že ni bilo potrebno. Toda
v tem času se je moralo
marsikaj zgoditi. Takoj
sem se vstal in stopil do
holija. Moral sem videti,
kaj se dogaja.
Ob holiju je bila spet
zbrana večina naše
posadke. »Kako kaže?« sem
vprašal po nekaj trenutkih
strmenja v holijev prikaz.
»Ne preveč dobro,« mi je
odgovoril Dobročut.
»Kako?«
»Naši se umikajo.«
»Hudiča!« Iz prikaza sem
lahko razbral napredova-
nje ladjenosilk Ostrinov.
Pogledal sem še proti lad-
jenosilkam za prevoz tež-
kega posebnega tovora.
Že povsem ob njih so bili.
Vsak čas bodo vštric naše
ladjenosilke. S prstom sem
pokazal proti predelu holi-
jevega prikaza s temi lad-
jenosilkami. »Ali se umi-
kajo?«
468
‘Yes, but they still mana-ged to get all the cargo on board,’ he said, smiling slyly and flashing a glance at me.So they had done it – or rather we had done it. Loo-king round, I could see the same mixture of anxiou-sness and satisfaction on the faces of the other Sen-sins. I concentrated on the holo-display, to try and under-stand what was going to happen next. Our forces were drawing back. I could already see that. What this actually meant, though, was another matter. Surely not the outcome of the war?‘They will soon be here.’ Benesens woke me from my musings. ‘Then we will fall back towards our energy fields, shiel-ded by our ship-carriers.’ Benesens flashed another glance at me as he fol-lowed the images on the holo-display.
»Da, vendar jim je še uspelo
naložiti ves tovor,« se je
prebrisano nasmehnil in
me ošinil s pogledom.
To jim je torej uspelo ozi-
roma nam je uspelo. Tudi
na drugih obrazih sta se
izmenično kazala zaskr-
bljenost in zadovoljstvo.
Zatopil sem se v holi-
jev prikaz, da bi razbral
nadaljnji potek dogajanja,
in ugotovil sem umikanje
naših sil. To sem že lahko
razbral. Kaj pa je to prav-
zaprav pomenilo, je bilo
že drugo vprašanje. Najbrž
ne že izid vojne?
»Kmalu bodo tukaj,« me je
iz razmišljanja predramil
Dobročut, »potem pa se
bomo ob zaščiti naših lad-
jenosilk umaknili k našim
energetskim poljem.«
Dobročut me je spet ošinil
s pogledom, medtem ko je
spremljal prikaz v holiju.
469
‘We still have that cros-sing to come, eh Peter?‘Oh, yes, of course.’ With all that was going on I had almost forgotten about the crossing, or rather about the closed doors into the energy fields. Then it dawned on me. Of course: the energy potentials stored there are incompa-rably greater than those here. Those of the Sensins, at least. We have to get there, yes, and then get in. That will do it. That will be our salvation. Hmm. I stared at the Sensin fleet. I couldn’t tell whether it was moving away because of the superior strength of the Acutins or if this was a planned withdrawal to the shell-like surfaces of the energy fields. Then, following a rapid series of explosions along the entire length of its hull, the ship-carrier next to us began to disinte-grate. We watched the whole thing through the viewing window. As we
»Še tisti prehod nas čaka,
kajne, Peter?«
»Da, da, seveda.« Ob vsem
tem dogajanju sem že
skoraj pozabil na tisti
prehod oziroma na zaprta
vrata v energetska polja.
Seveda, mi je šlo spozna-
nje skozi zavest, tam so
nakopičeni še neprimerno
večji energetski potenciali
kot tukaj. Vsaj potenciali
Čutinov. Do tja moramo
priti, da, in potem vanje.
To bo, da. To bo rešitev
za nas. Hm, zastrmel sem
se v ladjevje Čutinov. Ali
se odhaja zaradi premoči
Ostrinov ali zaradi predvi-
denega umika na lupinaste
ploskve energetskih polj,
tega nisem mogel razbrati.
Tedaj je začela po nizu
zaporednih eksplozij v
vsej dolžini trupa razpa-
dati naša sosednja ladje-
nosilka. Vse smo gledali
skozi veliko okno. Brez
470
gazed at this scene, hardly breathing, explosions tore apart the remaining secti-ons of the ship. Then the same thing happened to the Sensin ship-carrier right in front of us, and then to three more: one on our left and two from the spear-head of our fleet. This cre-ated a gap large enough for the Acutins to break thro-ugh. Even before the Sen-sins had time to reposition their forces, the Acutins were hurtling towards the gap, and with a concen-trated attack on the fleet’s second line they destroyed the next six ship-carriers. This meant that our frei-ghters now found themsel-ves under attack: clearly they were the target of this breakthrough by the Acutins. The situation was becoming critical. ‘They’re going to catch them!’ shouted a Sensin by the holo-display. Despite desperate mano-euvring by the Sensin fleet to plug the gap, three
diha smo zrli v ta prizor,
ki se je nadaljeval še z
eksplozijami njenih pre-
ostalih večjih delov. Nato
se je enako dogodilo naši
ladjenosilki v ospredju
pred nami, in potem še
trem, eni na naši levi in
dvema, ki sta bili v sami
konici našega ladjevja. In
s tem je že nastala dovolj
velika vrzel za prodor
Ostrinov, v katero so se ti
brž usmerili, še preden so
Čutini prav prerazporedili
svoje sile, in tako so nam z
osredotočenim napadom
na drugo vrsto ladjevja
uničili še naslednjih šest
ladjenosilk. S tem pa so
se znašli pod udarom naši
nosilci tovora, saj so prav
oni morali biti tarča tega
preboja Ostrinov. Vse je
postalo vprašljivo.
»Dohiteli jih bodo!« je
vzkliknil Čutin ob holiju.
In kljub takojšnjemu
usmerjanju ladjevja Čuti-
nov v zaporo vrzeli so tri
471
Acutin ship-carriers had already caught up with the freighter convoy and were hitting it so hard with energy bolts that two of our freighters had split in two. ‘We’re closest to them’. This was the thought voiced by the Sensins around me, now staring through the window, now at the holo-display in order to get the fullest possible picture of the situation and the dis-tribution of our forces in the engagement with the Acutin fleet. The damaged ships were within range. We could take on board their cargo and all their crew. They were Sensins: surely we couldn’t aban-don them to their fate? Indignant voices around me suggested that I wasn’t the only one wondering what we were waiting for. A moment later, however, the holo-display showed that the disposition of the forces had changed. Now the Sensin fleet was
ladjenosilke Ostrinov že
dohitele konvoj s tovorom
ter tako silovito udarile
po njem z energetskimi
izstrelki, da sta se dve
nosilki tovora razleteli na
dvoje.
»Mi smo jim še najbližje,«
so na glas ugotavljali
Čutini okoli mene, strmeč
zdaj skozi veliko okno,
zdaj v holi, da bi čim bolj
celovito videli dogajanje s
prostorsko razporeditvijo
naših sil v spopadu z lad-
jevjem Ostrinov. Poško-
dovane nosilke tovora so
bile v dosegu naše ladje-
nosilke. Lahko bi mi pre-
vzeli njihov tovor z vsem
osebjem. Prav ljudi ne bi
smeli pustiti na cedilu,
sem pomislil. Slišati je
bilo kar nekaj negodova-
nja nad našim obotavlja-
njem. Toda takoj zatem se
je v holiju pokazala spre-
menjena razporeditev sil,
ko so ladjevja Čutinov
472
attacking the flank of the Acutin breakthrough. Once again the sector was full of a large number of our ship-carriers escor-ted by smaller, nimbler ships armed with laser cannon and rocket-prope-lled energy bombs. The Sensin counter-attack was even more violent than the recent breakthrough by the Acutins. The holo-display even showed the truncated spearhead of the Acutins’ breakthrough forces. The Sensin ships scythed into the gap, right behind their leading ship-carriers.‘We’ll soon finish them off,’ said Benesens. ‘We’ve surrounded them and they won’t be able to get out.’ Then I felt our ship go into a steep turn, which imme-diately triggered an ent-husiastic response from the Sensins. ‘We’re going after the cargo,’ Benesens explained. And in fact we were heading at full speed for the damaged ships, from which large pieces of
udarila v bok prodoru
Ostrinov. Spet je bilo v
tem delu večje število
naših ladjenosilk v sprem-
stvu manjših okretnejših
ladij, oboroženih z laser-
skimi topovi in raketami
z energetskimi bombami.
In napad Čutinov je bil po
silovitosti še močnejši od
pravkar izvedenega pro-
dora Ostrinov. V holiju se
je celo pokazala odsekana
konica ostrinovskih pro-
dirajočih sil. Ladje Čuti-
nov so se vsekale mednje
takoj za njihovimi pred-
njimi ladjenosilkami.
»Kmalu jih bomo uničili,«
je dejal Dobročut. »Iz tega
našega obroča se ne bodo
več rešili.«
Tedaj smo začutili moč-
nejše obračanje naše ladje-
nosilke, to pa je takoj spro-
žilo živahno odzivanje
Čutinov. »Po tovor gremo,«
mi je pojasnil pojasnil
Dobročut. In res se je naša
ladjenosilka pognala z vso
silo proti poškodovanim
ladjam, od katerih so že
473
hull were already breaking off, together with sections of the storage bays and the recently loaded cargo. Important cargo that had already fallen out and was now floating in its astero-id-shaped containers.
Judging from the images of the battle on the holo-display, rescuing the cargo would be possible without much risk, since all the Acutin ship-carriers from the spearhead of the bre-akthrough were busy figh-ting for their own survi-val.
Now that we were heading for the damaged ships, individual groups of Sen-sins from our ship-carrier received precise orders to get to work. The entire rescue operation went ahead very quickly and smoothly. No-one offered us any resistance either during the flight or when we came alongside the damaged ships. We imme-
odpadli večji kosi trupa,
skupaj z deli skladišč in s
pravkar naloženim tovo-
rom. Pomembnim tovo-
rom, ki je že izpadel in je
zdaj lebdel v svojih astero-
idno oblikovanih zabojni-
kih.
Po holijevem prikazu
poteka bitke bi reševanje
tovora moralo biti izve-
dljivo brez večjega tvega-
nja, ker so se vse ladjeno-
silke Ostrinov iz konice
njihovega prodora morale
boriti za lasten obstoj.
Takoj po usmeritvi k
poškodovanim ladjam so
posamezne skupine Čuti-
nov iz naše ladjenosilke
dobivale pozive, skupaj
z natančnimi ukazi za
nadaljnje delovanje. In
vse reševanje je nato
potekalo zelo hitro brez
zastojev. Nihče nas ni
oviral ne med letom ne
ob pristanku pri poško-
dovanih ladjah. Takoj smo
474
diately began the transfer. Our little tugs attached themselves to the astero-id-shaped containers – a thousand times their size – and dragged them, with their mysterious cargo, towards our storage bays in closely grouped, rapidly moving columns. A dis-tant observer of the holo-gram images of this rescue operation would get the impression that everything was being ‘sucked up’, as though by a giant vacuum cleaner. As though eve-rything were flying of its own accord into our sto-rage bays. It was already clear that the operation was going to succeed, and at last the signal came for the departure of our entire fleet from the area of the asteroid belt. Meanwhile, however, the Acutins had managed to reposition their forces, unite them with the forces from the spearhead of their original attack, which were still holding out despite serious
začeli s prenosom tovora.
Naše majhne ladje-vlačilci
so se oprijemale tisočkrat
večjih asteroidno obliko-
vanih zabojnikov z zame
skrivnostnim tovorom
ter ga, kot je bilo videti v
pomanjšanem holijevem
prikazu, v strnjenih, hitro
pomikajočih se kolonah
vnašale v našo ladjeno-
silko. Nekoliko oddaljen
opazovalec holijevega pri-
kaza te reševalne akcije je
najbrž moral dobiti vtis
nekakšnega »posesava-
nja« vsega, tudi razsutega
tovora v našo ladjeno-
silko. Ves ta tovor je kar
letel v naša skladišča. Vsak
čas bi nam moralo uspeti
in končno je prišlo tudi
sporočilo o odhodu vsega
našega ladjevja iz podro-
čja asteroidnega pasu.
Toda Ostrini so medtem
uspeli prerazporediti
zbrane sile, jih združili s
silami iz konice njihovega
prvotnega napada, ki so
se kljub hudim izgubam
uspele obdržati, in vzpo-
475
losses, and establish a cor-ridor to allow the ships that were waiting in the rear to fly unmolested through the resulting conical space of their breakthrough and head straight for our ship-carrier. Our initial retreat had now become a hea-dlong flight, but it was clear that the weight of the cargo was slowing us down, despite our power-ful thrusters. And there was no doubt that it was us they were heading for. Clearly the Sensins had understood this too, and with a rapid manoeuvre they positioned eleven ship-carriers on our flank as a protective escort that nothing could get past. So tight was the shield they created with their smaller ships that not even energy bolts could get through. But the forces of the Acutin ship-carriers, bro-ught up from the rear and through the conical space they had occupied, sud-denly attacked this protec-
stavili prehod za že pri-
pravljene sveže ladje iz
ozadja, da so lahko nemo-
teno zletele skozi nastali
storžasto oblikovani pro-
stor njihovega preboja ter
se usmerile naravnost v
našo, sprva odmikajočo
se, potem pa že kar bežečo
ladjenosilko s tovorom, ki
jo je kljub močnim pogon-
skim motorjem upoča-
snil najbrž precej težki
tovor. Prav na nas so se
usmerili, to pa so očitno
tudi Čutini takoj razbrali
in nam v hitro izvede-
nem manevru postavili
enajst ladjenosilk ob bok,
v pravo zaščitno sprem-
stvo, mimo katerega ni
mogel nihče, tudi izstre-
ljeni energetski naboji ne,
tako tesen ščit so naredile
skupaj s svojimi manjšimi
ladjami. Toda sile ostrino-
vskih ladjenosilk, prima-
knjene iz ozadja in skozi
njihov osvojeni storža-
sti prostor so nenadoma
udarile prav v to zaščitno
476
tive escort with such force that after a powerful bom-bardment they broke thro-ugh to our position, almost colliding with us. At least four Acutin ship-carriers had managed to break through and catch up with us. We immediately enga-ged them. The ship closest to us dived to help us, and others were on the way, but it was too late. Unable to take avoiding action, we collided with a ship-car-rier the same size as us. A terrible breaking and grin-ding sound followed the collision. We all imme-diately put on our space-suits – or rather jumped into them as quickly as we could – and moved away from the point of impact. But the enormous momen-tum of the two ship-carri-ers had a terrible effect. Hundreds of decks, tho-usands of compartments were crushed, all the way to the giant hangars and the storage bays with the just-loaded cargo. Bulkhe-
spremstvo v takem naletu,
da so se med močnim
obstreljevanjem prebile
vse do nas, skoraj vse do
fizičnega trčenja z našo
ladjenosilko. Vsaj štirim
ladjenosilkam Ostrinov
se je tudi uspelo prebiti
in nas dohiteti. Takoj smo
se spopadli, s strani nam
je priskočila na pomoč
naša bližnja ladjenosilka,
prihajale pa so še druge,
vendar za nas prepozno. V
neposrednem naletu smo
trčili z ladjenosilko enake
velikosti kot naša. Straho-
vito lomljenje in gnetenje
je sledilo trku. Vsi smo si
takoj nadeli skafandre ali,
bolje rečeno, z vso naglico
smo poskakali vanje ter se
umikali stran od trčenja.
Toda mase obeh ladjeno-
silk so imele strahotno
vztrajnost. Na stotine nad-
stropij, na tisoče notra-
njih prostorov je bilo
zgnetenih vse do orjaških
hangarjev in skladiščnih
prostorov s pravkar nalo-
ženim tovorom. Stene
477
ads were ripped open. The Sensins fled, jumping into speeder-shuttles or enga-ging their photon-drive backpacks and disappe-aring along the long cor-ridors used for internal shipboard traffic. Along with the remaining Sen-sins from our group, I was heading for one of these corridors, now blocked by slow-moving traffic, when our ship-carrier suddenly split in two and, imme-diately afterwards, disin-tegrated into its various constituent sections. And before I realised what was happening, I was floating in space, like the other Sensins, surrounded by whirling sections of the two ship-carriers, both ours and the Acutins’, which at that moment were incredibly dangerous because they kept colli-ding with each other and suddenly changing direc-tion. But I didn’t lose my head. I dodged them like the Sensins were doing
so se parale. Čutini so
bežali, skakali na hitra
notranja plovila ali vkla-
pljali nahrbtne fotonske
motorje za samostojen let
ter izginjali skozi neka-
kšne dolge hodnike, po
katerih je potekal notra-
nji promet. Tudi jaz sem
se skupaj z ostalimi Čutni
iz naše skupine usmeril
k eni od prometa upo-
časnjenih kolon, ko se je
naša ladjenosilka preklala
na dvoje ter takoj zatem
še na več svojih sestav-
nih delov. In še preden
sem se prav zavedel, sem
bil tako kot ostali Čutini
v odprtem prostoru med
hitro letečimi deli obeh
ladjenosilk, tako naše kot
ostrinovske, ki so bili v
tistem trenutku najbolj
nevarni zaradi medseboj-
nega zaletavanja in neneh-
nega spreminjanja smeri.
Vendar nisem izgubil pri-
sebnosti. Izmikal sem se
kakor Čutini, se spustil
478
and landed on a large sec-tion of ship so as to protect myself from the smaller pieces. I spotted a large section of hull hurtling towards me, but fortuna-tely I was able to get out of the way in time. I sprang to the side, and back, and managed to dodge it. Loo-king round, I saw a torn-off section of bulkheads and compartments floa-ting not far away. I headed towards it, grabbed its edge and tried to collect my strength. I also had to collect my thoughts. Eve-rything was happening too quickly. ‘My space-suit!’ The thought flashed through my mind like a warning. I checked my suit with my hands. Nothing seemed to be damaged. Then I remembered that if my spacesuit had ripped I would already be dead. I was slowly getting myself together, so once again I looked around, trying to get my bearings. The appearance of this bro-
na neki večji kos, da bi
se zaščitil pred manjšimi
deli, nakar sem zaznal
hitro približevanje veli-
kega dela ladje, na srečo
dovolj zgodaj, da sem se
hitro umaknil. Pognal
sem se stran, nazaj, uspelo
se mi je izmakniti, potem
sem ozrl naokrog. Nedaleč
stran je letel del odtrganih
sten in prostorov. Usme-
ril sem se nanj, se oprijel
roba in poskušal ponovno
zbrati moči. Moral sem
zbrati tudi misli. Doga-
janje je bilo prehitro.
»Skafander!« me je opo-
zorilno prešinilo. Potipal
sem se po telesu. Ničesar
poškodovanega nisem
zaznal. Sicer pa bi bil že
mrtev, če bi bil skafan-
der raztrgan. Postopoma
sem začel prihajati k sebi
ter se ponovno ozirati
naokrog. Nekakšni pro-
stori iz notranjosti ladje
Ostrinov so se mi naka-
zovali na tem odtrganem
479
ken-off section suggested some kind of compart-ments from the interior of the Acutins’ ship, altho-ugh of course the bul-kheads were warped and buckled. In the lower part I could see a door. Closed. And undamaged. Could there be Acutins in there? This is going to be awk-ward, I realised, unable to arrive at any more precise conclusion. If they catch me, then… Once again I had reached an impasse. I mustn’t go towards the door. After everything that had happened, that seemed obvious. I turned my attention back to the undamaged door. Judging from the size of this aste-roid-like chunk of ship, it was probable that there were quite a few undama-ged compartments behind the door. I was sitting on a partially detached and twisted panel that had been the deck above the compartments with that door below them. I was
kosu, seveda, s štrlečimi
stenami. Na spodnjem
delu sem zagledal vrata.
Zaprta. Bila so še nepoško-
dovana. Ali so notri lahko
morda Ostrini? To bo pa
nerodno, sem ugotovil,
ko nikakor nisem mogel
skleniti razmišljanja v
bolj določeno presojo.
Če me dobijo, potem…«
Spet so mi misli zastale.
Ne bi smel k njim. Po
vsem, kar se jezgodilo, bi
že moral tako razmišljati,
mi je prešlo skozi zavest.
Začel sem se ozirati v tista
nepoškodovana vrata,
za katerimi je bilo verje-
tno, vsaj po velikosti tega
asteroidnega kosa ladje
sodeč, kar nekaj nepoško-
dovanih prostorov. Naha-
jal sem se na delno odtr-
gani in izkrivljeni plošči,
ki je na ladjenosilki pred-
stavljala nadstropje nad
prostori s temi vrati pod
njimi. Bil sem nasproti
480
opposite the door, on top of a compartment whose ceiling had been wrenched off and whose walls were buckled. I moved back sli-ghtly along the panel, out of view of the door. It was perfectly possible that they were watching me, since the collision had trapped both Sensins and a large number of Acutins in the compartments of their respective ships.
I still had the possibility of flying away using my photon-drive backpack, but where we would I go? Ahead of me, further away, was a large section of ship-carrier complete with hangars and what looked like cargo strewn all around. I could make out some asteroid-shaped lumps. Then my attention was attracted by the ope-ning of the door below me. Moving back, I hid myself behind a broken pillar and
tem vratom na vrhu pro-
stora z odtrganim stro-
pom in zveriženo steno.
Pomaknil sem se nekoliko
nazaj po plošči, stran od
morebitnega pogleda izza
vrat, ki bi bil prav možen,
saj je tako kot Čutine tudi
marsikaterega Ostrina
trčenje obeh ladij ujelo v
njegovih prostorih.
Imel sem še možnost z
nahrbtnim fotonskim
motorjem odleteti stran,
toda kam? V moji smeri,
sicer bolj stran od mene, je
bil velik odtrgan del ladje-
nosilke, s hangarji in najbrž
tudi s tistim tovorom, raz-
sutim naokoli. Razločil
sem lahko nekakšne kepe
asteroidnih oblik . Tedaj je
mojo pozornost pritegnilo
odpiranje tistih vrat pod
mano. Z umikom za odtr-
gani steber sem se pritajil
481
watched. The door swung open. A slight pause, and an Acutin appeared in the doorway. After a cautious look round, he stepped out, followed by other Acutins. They stood there taking in their surroundings. Then they pointed towards some distant pieces of the ship-carrier and began moving around in various direc-tions, apparently looking for a rescue craft or a large section of their ship, just as I had done a little ear-lier. I counted six, seven, eight of them. Flying off to some other section of ship or to one of the asteroids that made up our just-loa-ded cargo now really did seem to be the most sensi-ble course of action.
I retreated to the oppo-site side of the broken-off section of the Acutin ship-carrier, switched on my photon drive and set off in a curving flight towards
ter tako skrivaj pogledo-
val k vratom, vse dokler
se ni po počasnem, verje-
tno previdnem odpiranju
med njimi pokazal Ostrin,
ki se je pogledal naokrog
in nato stopil ven, za njim
pa jih je prišlo še več. Vsi
so pogledovali po okolici.
Z rokami so kazali proti
oddaljenim kosom ladje-
nosilke, se pomikali zdaj
sem, zdaj tja ter se tako
kot maloprej jaz ozirali
po morebitnih reševalnih
plovilih ali večjem odtr-
ganem delu njihove ladje.
Šest, sedem, osem sem jih
naštel. Pa bo res najbolje
odleteti na kakšen drug
kos ali pa na enega od aste-
roidov iz našega pravkar
naloženega tovora, to se
mi je zdelo še najbolj smi-
selno.
Umaknil sem se na naspro-
tno stran tega iztrganega
dela ostrinovske ladjeno-
silke, prižgal svoj nahrbtni
fotonski motor in se name-
ril v krivuljni let proti
482
the scattered cargo. To begin with I stayed on the side that was hidden from the Acutins, but once I judged myself to be far enough away I veered towards the asteroids flo-ating by the storage bays, reaching them with no difficulty. From close up, the asteroids seemed a lot bigger. Their exterior looked like solid rock, like ordinary asteroids, except that presumably that strange cargo of theirs was concealed inside them. Yes, the mysterious cargo. I discovered an entrance. For some reason this made me feel slightly uneasy, although I couldn’t say that I was exactly afraid. It wasn’t fear, no, but there was something creepy about it. Moderately creepy. It wasn’t enough to
razsutemu tovoru, kot so
bili od daleč videti aste-
roidi skupaj z razpadlimi
stenami skladiščnih pro-
storov naše ladjenosilke.
Najprej sem se oddaljeval
po tisti strani, ki je bila za
hrbti Ostrinov, prikrit nji-
hovim pogledom, v dovolj
veliki oddaljenosti, vsaj po
moji presoji, pa sem zavil v
smer lebdečih asteroidov
ob skladiščnih prostorih,
do katerih mi je potem
tudi uspelo priti. Takole
od blizu so bili asteroidi
videti precej večji. Njihova
zunanjost je spominjala na
strjene kamnine, podobne
običajnim asteroidom, le
da so v svoji notranjosti
verjetno skrivali tisti svoj
čudni tovor. Da, skriv-
nostni tovor. Odkril sem
vhod. Že ta mi je vzbujal
nejasne občutke nelagodja,
pa čeprav ne bi mogel reči,
da sem se bal. Pravzaprav
se nisem bal. Nekaj srhlji-
vega je sicer bilo prisotno.
Toda ne pretirano. Ničesar
takega ni bilo, kar bi me
483
prevent me from going on, at least not in the sense of danger, and yet whatever there was behind that door was causing me a certain amount of uneasiness. However the unchanged exterior of the asteroid revealed nothing but the barely visible outline of an entrance. I moved closer to what seemed to be a door handle. This, too, was merely an outline, but when I touched it the panel gave way to my gentle pressure and let me thro-ugh the entrance into the interior. I looked around. There wasn’t much to see. I was in a kind of entrance hall with several doors leading out of it. One of them, directly in front of me, was transparent and revealed a slightly larger illuminated space behind it. At least as far as I could make out by peering thro-ugh it. I inspected the other doors carefully. There was no sign of movement anywhere. There’s proba-
ustavljalo, vsaj ne v smislu
nevarnosti, čeprav mi je
tisto, kar naj bi bilo za vrati,
vzbujalo nekaj tesnobe.
Pa ni bilo nič drugega kot
komaj vidno narisan vhod
na nespremenjeni zuna-
njosti asteroida. Prima-
knil sem se k naznačeni
kljuki. Tudi ta je bila zgolj
narisana, toda ob pritisku
nanjo se je plošča vdala
mojemu, sicer rahlemu
pritisku in me spustila
skozi vhod v notranjost.
Pogledal sem naokrog,
pa spet ni bilo videti nič
posebnega. Pač, več vrat je
vodilo iz tega prostora in
ena, naravnost pred mano,
so bila prozorna z razgle-
dom v nekak večji razsve-
tljen prostor za njimi. Vsaj
kolikor sem lahko videl
skozi. Previdno sem pogle-
dal še po ostalih vratih.
Nikjer ni bilo zaslediti
nobenega gibanja, ničesar
živega. Le neživi tovor je
484
bly only inanimate cargo stored in here, I thought to myself. This could easily be a storeroom for mate-rial packed in containers. Or could it? Hmm… Had they kept all this space free for the transfer? It was impossible to tell. All I could see were doors and walls: no objects of any kind, nor anything to suggest that something had been removed.
I moved towards the tran-sparent door, through which I could see a large illuminated chamber. In it were chairs and tables, while along the walls sculptures reached right up to the ceiling, which was transparent, with a bluish-black background. I was about to push open the door when a friendly voice invited me take off my spacesuit once atmo-spheric conditions had been re-established. The entrance door, a solid plate, closed behind me and I
najbrž spravljen notri, sem
pomislil. Prav lahko bi
bilo tu le skladišče zapaki-
ranega materiala. Lahko?
Hm… Ali so ves ta prostor
naokrog konzervirali za
prenos? Toda tudi tega se
ni dalo presoditi. Le vrata
in stene sem lahko videl,
brez predmetov ali česar-
koli, po čemer bi lahko
sklepal, da je bilo karkoli
odstranjeno.
Pomaknil sem se do pro-
zornih vrat, skozi katera
sem s pogledom zajel
veliko razsvetljeno dvo-
rano. V njej so bili stoli
in mize, ob stenah pa so
se dvigale skulpture vse
do stropa, ki je bil preso-
jen, z modrikasto črnim
ozadjem. Že sem hotel s
potiskom odpreti vrata, ko
me je prijazen glas pozval,
naj po vzpostavljenih
bivalnih pogojih odložim
skafander. Vhodna vrata
iz masivne plošče so se
zaprla, začutil sem zviševa-
485
felt the external pressure increase. I looked around for something that could tell me what the pressure was, but I couldn’t see any gauges. Then I thought of my wrist display. It was sure to have a pressure gauge. The only problem was I didn’t know how to work it. The controls con-sisted of various buttons set in a circle, together with some symbols that meant nothing at all to me. This thing wasn’t going to be much help then. ‘Pressure gauge,’ I mur-mured to myself, and the device immediately lit up with a display of an elon-gated cylinder with a red column rapidly moving up towards a horizontal line. Then a message flashed up showing that the pressure had equalised, and the fri-endly voice from the tran-sparent door announced that I could enter, welco-med me and wished me a pleasant stay, and warned me of possible difficulties
nje zunanjega tlaka, pogle-
dal sem, po čem bi ugoto-
vil njegovo višino, niče-
sar takega nisem mogel
zaznati, pomislil sem na
zapestni prikazovalnik, v
tej napravi je bil prav ver-
jetno tudi tlakomer, le da
jaz nisem vedel, kako naj
s tem ravnam. Različni
gumbi so bili razvrščeni
v krogu, skupaj z neka-
kšnimi znaki, ki pa meni
niso pomenili ničesar. S to
stvarjo si torej nisem dosti
pomagati. »Hja, tlakomer,«
sem zamrmral bolj zase,
pa se mi je naprava takoj
odzvala s prikazom podol-
govatega valja z rdečim
stebričkom, hitro rastočim
vse do prečne črte. Potem
se je izpisalo sporočilo o
izravnavi tlaka, prijazen
glas iz presojnih vrat pa
mi je naznanil prost vstop,
mi zaželel dobrodošlico
s prijetnim počutjem in
me opozoril na morebitne
težave zaradi poškodb, ki
486
as a result of the damage caused during the collision of the ship-carriers and the impact of large sections of ship with this asteroid, which seemed to have damaged communications and made it impossible to control the operation of certain systems. ‘Our surveillance system is no longer able to monitor the situation in the individual compartments,’ the mes-sage ended.
I entered the chamber and looked around. Once again there were several doors and several corri-dors, without any indica-tions of where they led to. The sides were lined with sculptures and unintelligi-ble Sensin hieroglyphics – although perhaps these were simply works of art too. After a brief exa-mination I decided to go straight ahead. The cor-ridor seemed to be quite long, and also curved, since I couldn’t see its
so nastale ob trčenju lad-
jenosilk in naletu večjih
kosov vanje, se pravi v ta
asteroid, to pa naj bi pov-
zročilo prekinitev povezav
in onemogočilo nadzor
nad delovanjem nekate-
rih naprav. »Naš nadzorni
sistem nima več pregleda
nad dogajanjem v posame-
znih prostorih,« se je kon-
čalo sporočilo.
Vstopil sem v prostor,
pogledal naokrog, spet je
bilo več vrat in več hodni-
kov, brez kakršnih koli
oznak, kam vodijo, ob stra-
neh so bile zgolj skulpture
in zame nerazumljivi hie-
roglifi Čutinov, ki bi lahko
bili tudi zgolj reliefno obli-
kovana umetniška stvari-
tev. Po krajšem ogledova-
nju sem stopil naravnost
naprej, precej dolg je moral
biti tisti hodnik, tudi zavit
je bil, ker mu nisem mogel
videti konca, ob straneh
pa ni bilo nikakršnih vrat.
487
end. There were probably doors along the sides too, only it wasn’t possible to distinguish them from the walls. I walked on, loo-king right and left, and I noticed some warped panels on my right. Yes, that was collision damage all right. I went on a little further. Now the damage was even more evident. I could even make out cracks. The further I went, the more damage was evident both to the walls and to the ceiling above me and the floor below me. Then I caught sight of a large crack on the left and, slightly further on, a series of damaged walls: one, two, three and more. ‘Wow,’ I muttered. ‘That was certainly a big colli-sion…’
I looked into another crack. Nothing but dar-kness. The next ones didn’t reveal much either: just rooms a little larger than living rooms on Earth, but
Najbrž so bila tudi vrata
ob straneh, le da jih ni
bilo možno ločiti od sten.
Stopil sem naprej, pogle-
dal na desno in levo ter
opazil nekaj izkrivljenih
plošč na svoji desni strani.
Da, to so bile poškodbe od
trčenja, šel sem še malo
naprej, tu so bile poškodbe
še bolj vidne, celo razpoke
sem lahko razločil, in bolj
ko sem šel naprej, bolj zve-
rižene so postajale tako
stene kot strop in tla pod
mano. Potem sem zagle-
dal večjo razpoko na levi,
malo naprej še eno, dve,
tri in spet zverižene stene.
»Presneto,« sem zamrmral,
»to je bilo kar krepko trče-
nje…«
Pogledal sem v še eno raz-
poko, v njej je bila tema,
in tudi skozi nekaj nasle-
dnjih ni bilo dosti videti,
le prostore kot malo večje
bivalne sobe na Zemlji,
488
everything was empty. I walked on, and then sto-pped mid-step. My atten-tion had been caught by a strange glow, actually a faint light in a room that was in partial darkness. I looked once again. This was something quite dif-ferent from the usually uniformly and brightly lit rooms of the Sensins. A face went past. A woman with long hair. Then she was gone. I stopped. The figure appeared again. Now I could see better. She was a Sensin, unu-sually dressed in a long white robe, with her hands folded on her breast; it was the first time I had seen a Sensin dressed like that, and in such a pose.
I held my breath. Just seven or eight metres away from me, with the ecstasy of a priestess car-rying out a ritual, she was gazing in front of her and moving her lips as she murmured what could
vse pa je bilo prazno.
Stopil sem naprej, a sredi
koraka sem zastal, mojo
pozornost je pritegnila
rahlo nenavadna svetilka,
pravzaprav bolj slabotna
luč v delno zatemnjenem
prostoru, tako da sem še
enkrat pogledal, ker je
bilo vse skupaj precej dru-
gačno od običajno lepo
enakomerno razsvetljenih
prostorov Čutinov. Neki
obraz je šel mimo. Ženska z
dolgimi lasmi. Pa je ni bilo
več. Ustavil sem se. Tisti
lik se je spet prikazal. Zdaj
sem že bolje videl. Bila je
neka Čutinka, nenavadno
oblečena, v dolgi beli halji,
z rokami, prekrižanimi na
prsih; nobene od Čutink
doslej še nikoli nisem videl
v taki obleki in v taki drži.
Pritajil sem dih. Le sedem,
osem metrov od mene je z
zamaknjenostjo svečenice
pri opravljanju obreda
zrla predse in premikala
ustnice med mrmra-
njem verjetno nekakšne
489
have been vows. Suddenly she stiffened. Standing still, she gazed at a tran-sparent sphere lying on the floor a little over three metres away, covered with a cloth. The whole effect was one of solemnity. She stood motionless for quite a long time, and I was about to shift my weight from one leg to the other when the expression of her face kept me rooted to the spot. This ceremony must have been very important for this mysterious prie-stess, who stood up even straighter and lowered her arms to her sides. Then, with slow movements, she spread her arms as though in solemn expectation of an offering. A light began to shine in the transpa-rent sphere, and the image of a bed on which an old Earthwoman was lying became increasingly visi-ble. She was lying on her back with her eyes closed. Slowly she opened them, but only a little and just for
zaobljube. Nenadoma je
povsem otrpnila. Stoje je
zrla proti dobre tri metre
oddaljeni prozorni krogli
na tleh, pokritih s prtom.
Vse je delovalo precej sve-
čano. Kar dolgo je tako
nepremično stala, tako
da sem se že hotel presto-
piti, ko me je izraz njenega
obraza ponovno zadržal
na mestu. Zelo pomemben
je moral biti ta obred za to
skrivnostno svečenico, ki
se je še nekoliko zravnala
in spustila roke ob telesu,
nato pa jih je s počasnimi
gibi razširila kot v slove-
snem pričakovanju neka-
kšnega sprejemanja. Tedaj
je v prozorni krogli zasi-
jala svetloba z vse bolj
vidnim prikazom postelje,
na kateri je bila starejša
Zemljanka. Ležala je na
hrbtu z zaprtimi očmi, ki
jih je počasi odprla, le malo
in le za nekaj trenutkov,
490
a few moments. Then her eyelids drooped and her eyes remained closed for a while. Then they opened again. She lay there moti-onless.
A transparent figure, out-wardly identical to the woman lying on the bed, slowly rose up from her body and began to grow smaller, disappearing into the distance. It turned in a semicircle and circled once again above the prone body, and again receded into the distance before finally turning upwards and flying towards the standing Sensin. The apparition approached her, growing as it did so. Now full-sized, it landed right next to her, as she awaited it with arms outstretched, smiling in unconcealed happiness at its arrival. The transparent figure of the Earthwoman stood there, hesitantly. There was no doubt that this was the elderly Earthwoman
nato so se ji veke povesile
in ostale nekaj časa zaprte,
čez čas pa so se ponovno
odprle. Nepremično je
obležala.
Nato se je iz njenega telesa
počasi dvignil presojen
lik, po zunanjosti enak
ležeči ženski, ter se začel
vse bolj manjšati, izginja-
joč v daljavo, se v polkrogu
obrnil in še enkrat zao-
krožil nad svojim ležečim
telesom, se spet pomanjšal
v oddaljenosti, dokler se
ni obrnil navzgor in zletel
proti stoječi Čutinki. Pri-
bližal se ji je v rastočem
prikazu in v naravni veli-
kosti pristal tik ob njej,
ona pa ga je pričakala z raz-
širjenimi rokami, nasme-
hljana v neskritem veselju
nad njegovim prihodom.
Presojni lik Zemljanke pa
je neodločno obstal. Brez
dvoma je bila to tista sta-
rejša Zemljanka s postelje
491
from the bed, or rather a transparent image of her, since her body was still lying immobile in the sphere. And this transpa-rent image now looked at the Sensin, and now at the image of the woman lying motionlessly in that tran-sparent sphere. Then the figure gave a half smile and without moving for-wards or backwards took a deep breath, opened its mouth, slowly closed it again, placed its hand on its lips in apparent surprise at what it had just experi-enced, and in response to the Sensin’s friendly smile began smiling more and more. Yes, the friendly smile of the Sensin also brought a smile to the appa-rition of the Earthwoman. The glances exchanged between the transparent figure and the Sensin grew longer and longer, and their smiles became incre-asingly relaxed. Then the Sensin opened her arms as though to offer a friendly
oziroma njen presojni lik,
ker je telo še vedno nepre-
mično ležalo tam v krogli.
In ta presojni lik je zdaj
gledal Čutinko, zdaj prikaz
negibno ležeče ženske v
tisti prozorni krogli. Nato
se je lik zadržano nasmeh-
nil in brez premikanja
naprej ali nazaj z globo-
kim vdihom odprl usta,
jih počasi zaprl, si položil
roko čeznje v neskritem
presenečenju nad pravkar
doživetim dogajanjem ter
se ob prijaznem Čutinki-
nem nasmehu še sam začel
vse pogosteje nasmihati.
Da, prijateljski nasmeh
Čutinke je tudi Zemljanki-
nemu liku izvabil nasmeh.
Spogledovanje med pre-
sojnim likom in Čutinko je
postajalo vse daljše, njuno
nasmihanje vse bolj spro-
ščeno. Nato je Čutinka
razširila roke, kot da vabi
v prijateljski objem, ki se
492
embrace. It was clear that the transparent figure was not afraid. They stepped towards each other, and the transparent figure opened its arms too, in expecta-tion of the embrace.
I held my breath. The Sen-sins had never talked about anything like this. What could this ceremony mean? I took a few deep breaths and exhaled slowly, my mouth half closed. Instead of an embrace, all I could see now was the transpa-rent figure sinking into the Sensin. Disappearing into her. Entirely, completely. Slowly and unhurriedly, the Earthwoman entered the Sensin. Both continued to smile, even during this strange fusion, until only the Sensin was visible. The transparent figure, after slowly sinking into her, had completely disa-ppeared. She could no longer be seen. Yes: she had disappeared into the Sensin, who then straigh-
ga presojni lik Zemljanke
očitno ni več bal. Stopili
sta druga k drugi, tudi
presojni lik je razširil roke
v pričakovanju prijatelj-
skega objema.
Še naprej sem zadrževal
dih. O čem podobnem mi
Čutini niso govorili. Kaj
pravzaprav počnejo s tem
obredom..? Po nekaj glo-
bokih vdihih sem počasi
spuščal sapo skozi napol
priprta usta. Namesto
stiska v objemu sem zdaj
lahko videl samo pogre-
zanje presojnega Zemljan-
kinega lika v Čutinko.
Kar izginjala je v njej. Vsa,
v celoti. Počasi in brez
naglice je Zemljanka vsto-
pala v Čutinko. Obe sta
se ves čas smehljali, tudi
med nenavadnim zdru-
ževanjem, vse dokler ni
ostala vidna samo Čutinka,
v kateri je presojni lik po
počasnem pogrezanju
popolnoma izginil. Ni ga
bilo več videti. Da, izginil
je v Čutinko, ki se je nato
493
tened, folded her hands across her breast and, bre-athing calmly and deeply, stood with her face turned upwards. Then she repe-ated all the movements in the same sequence and stood there unseeing, as before, with her face uptur-ned. Suddenly a shudder shook her whole body, and then another and another in successive waves, until finally a cry burst from her lips, and then another, now almost a moan, but with a kind of blissfulness in it. Calm returned to the Sensin. She hung her head, her body relaxed into a normal attitude, her arms dropped to her sides and, visibly weary, she walked towards a floating panel. The strange ritual seemed to have exhausted her. At least that’s what it looked like. Or perhaps invisible forces were struggling inside her. The expres-sion of her face certainly suggested a turmoil inside
zravnala, spet prekrižala
roke na prsih in med poča-
snim, že kar zadrževa-
nim globokim dihanjem
obstala z obrazom, obrnje-
nim navzgor. Nato je vse
gibe v enakem zaporedju
ponovila, in spet enako
kot prej obstala miže, z
obrazom navzgor, ko jo
je nenadoma prešel drget
skozi vse telo, in v zapore-
dnih valovih še nekajkrat
zapored, naposled pa se ji
je iz ust izvil krik, sledil je
še eden, že skoraj stokajoč,
vendar z neko blaženostjo
v sebi. Čutinka se je umi-
rila. Sklonila je glavo, telo
se ji je iz napete vzravna-
nosti sprostilo v normalno
držo, tudi roke je spustila
s prsi in se z vidno utruje-
nim korakom prestopila
do lebdeče plošče. Vse
skupaj je moralo biti zanjo
zelo naporno. Vsaj videti je
bilo tako. Ali pa so se v njej
premetavale nevidne sile.
Vsekakor je izraz njenega
obraza pričal o burnem,
tako močnem dogajanju v
494
her that was so powerful that she had to hold tight to that panel to avoid fal-ling. Her strength was fai-ling her. As a result of that fusion, some process was taking place inside her that was making her knees give way. ‘Yes, it could be a process of some kind,’ I thought. The Sensin drew herself up again. She seemed to come to herself and appeared to be a little more collected. She looked at the transparent sphere. The image of the motion-less Earthwoman was still there, just as before, except that now there were other people beside her: men, women and even children. Probably her relatives. Some were crying. Others were standing slightly further away. The Sensin approached the transparent sphere, going right up to it. Then she stopped. Deeply moved, she passed her hand ligh-tly over the sphere in a trancelike manner. Tears
njej, da se je morala oprijeti
tiste plošče, sicer bi verje-
tno padla. Moči so ji pošle.
Zaradi tiste združitve je
potekal v njej neki proces,
ki ji je zašibil kolena. »Da,
lahko bi bil kak proces,«
sem pomislil. Čutinka pa
se je ponovno vzravnala,
nekoliko je prišla k sebi,
spet je bila videti malo
bolj zbrana, ter je pogle-
dala proti presojni krogli.
Tam je bil še vedno prikaz
negibne Zemljanke, enak
kot prej, le da so bili ob
njej še drugi ljudje, moški,
ženske in tudi otroci.
Najbrž njeni sorodniki.
Eni so jokali, drugi pa so
stali naokoli bolj ob strani.
Čutinka je pristopila k
presojni krogli, tik ob
njo, potem je obstala in
v globoki prizadetosti
še vsa zamaknjena šla z
roko narahlo prek nje.
Celo solze so ji začele
495
began to course down her cheeks and with a sorro-wful expression on her face she murmured some indistinct words. Could they be the names of those round the bed? That at least that was the impres-sion I got. The whole scene was surprisingly moving, with the result that even I had to turn away and wipe my eyes, filled with tears for a few moments. But as I looked once again round the dark space that surro-unded me, I spotted a male figure, leaning against the wall. But how… Where had he come from? Had I failed to see him because of the dark? He could have been there before me… Had the scene with the Sensin moved me so much that I had stopped chec-king my surroundings? I looked at him more care-fully. He was an Acutin. Oh no! Had the Acutins got here before me? But not the ones from the sec-tion of the ship-carrier
teči po licih, ko je z izra-
zom žalovanja na obrazu
nerazločno mrmrala neke
besede, verjetno imena
tistih ob postelji. Vsaj jaz
sem dobil tak vtis. Pre-
sneto prepričljivo je bilo
videti vse skupaj, tako da
sem še sam moral uma-
kniti pogled in si obrisati
oči, orošene za nekaj tre-
nutkov. Toda med ponov-
nim pogledom po zate-
mnjenem prostoru okoli
sebe sem zagledal neko
moško postavo, z rameni
naslonjeno na steno. Kako?
Od kdaj? Najbrž ga zaradi
teme nisem videl? Lahko
bi bil tudi pred mano tam…
Mar me je prizor s Čutinki-
nim obredom toliko priza-
del, da se predolgo nisem
ozrl naokrog? Natančneje
sem ga pogledal. Ostrin je
bil. Hudirja! So bili Ostrini
že pred mano tu? Ampak
ne iz tistega dela ladjeno-
silke, na katerem sem bil
496
where I had hidden, not those Acutins who came through that door. Proba-bly not. But what diffe-rence did that make? Was he alone? I looked around a bit more. I couldn’t see any other Acutins. Only that one. I moved a step backwards, but the Acutin put his finger to his lips indicating that I should keep quiet. Then he poin-ted towards the Sensin and once again put his finger to his lips. I nodded, altho-ugh I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do or whether I should cry out. The Acutin didn’t seem aggressive. He didn’t look dangerous at all. He stood there, now looking towards me and now through one of the cracks in the direc-tion of the Sensin. Actu-ally he was looking more at the Sensin. That was so obvious that I turned back to the scene by the tran-sparent sphere, switching my gaze from the Acutin to the Sensin. Still visibly
sam, ne tisti Ostrini, ki
so prišli skozi ona vrata.
Najbrž res ne. A to je bilo
pravzaprav vseeno. Ali je
sam? Pogledal še malo bolj
naokrog. Nobenega dru-
gega Ostrina ni bilo videti.
Samo ta je bil. Stopil sem
za korak nazaj, Ostrin pa
mi je s pomikom prsta k
ustom nakazal, naj molčim.
Potem je z roko pokazal
proti Čutinki in nato spet
položil prst na usta. Pri-
kimal sem, čeprav nisem
vedel, ali je tako prav ali
pa bi moral zakričati.
Ostrin ni bil videti napa-
dalen, prav nič nevarno
ni deloval. Tam je pogle-
doval zdaj proti meni, zdaj
skozi eno od razpok proti
Čutinki. Pravzaprav je bolj
gledal Čutinko, tako očitno,
da sem začel ponovno
spremljati dogajanje ob
presojni krogli in pri tem
tudi sam pogledoval zdaj
Ostrina, zdaj Čutinko, ki
497
affected, she continued to stare at the scene around the Earthwoman’s bed. She was moving with sli-ghtly opened arms above that image in the transpa-rent sphere. And the tears began to roll down her cheeks. Faster and faster.Meanwhile the Acutin had slowly moved closer to me. Now standing next to me, he looked at the Sensin again. ‘So you have seen what these fools do?’ he asked.I didn’t answer. The Acutin’s comment surpri-sed me in itself, but there was also something about the way he said it: a kind of reluctance.‘You’re one of those Earthmen, aren’t you?’ the Acutin asked me, before continuing calmly: ‘I have been observing you wat-ching the Sensin’s perfor-mance. I hope you haven’t been taken in by it…’I shook my head noncom-mittally: ‘Well, yes, I don’t know whether I really
je med tem še kar naprej
vidno prizadeta strmela
v dogajanje ob postelji
Zemljanke. Kar pomikala
se je z narahlo razprtimi
rokami nad tistim prika-
zom v prozorni krogli. In
solze so ji začele polzeti po
licih. Prav močno.
Ostrin se mi je medtem
počasi približal ter se ob
meni spet zazrl v Čutinko.
»Ste videli, kaj počnejo ti
osli, a?«
Nisem odgovoril. Ostri-
nova pripomba me je
vseeno presenetila, pa še z
odporom je bila izrečena,
z neko nejevoljo.
»Vi ste eden tistih Zemlja-
nov, kajne?« je vprašal
Ostrin in mirno nadalje-
val: »Opazoval sem vas, ko
ste gledali to Čutinkino
predstavo. Upam, da ji
niste nasedli…«
Nedoločno sem zmignil
z glavo: »No, ja, ne vem,
ali sem vse to sploh prav
498
understand all this. What is actually going on?’ And after a brief reflection, under the influence of the Acutin’s penetrating gaze, I blurted out: ‘They’re not ghosts are they? It seemed as though the ghost of that dead Earthwoman passed into the Sensin. I don’t know anything about the origins of the Sensins’ civilisation, at least not enough to be able to form an opinion on all this. Your kind even insulted them by calling them robots. Quite a lot of words, and even more of what has happened, are hard for me to understand.’‘That wasn’t an insult,’ replied the Acutin firmly. ‘And your guess isn’t far from the truth. They could be anything. As far as I’m concerned. I will grant them anything,’ he smiled contemptuously, ‘except that they are living beings.’ He underlined his words with a fixed look that was surprisingly persuasive.
razumel. Za kaj pa pravza-
prav gre?« In po krajšem
premisleku mi je pod vpli-
vom predirnega Ostrino-
vega pogleda ušlo z jezika:
»Pa menda niso duhovi?
Zdelo se je, kakor da bi
duh tiste umrle Zemljanke
prešel v to gospo tukaj? Ne
poznam izvora civilizacije
Čutinov, vsaj ne dovolj za
presojo tega dogajanja.
Vaši rojaki so jih celo zmer-
jali z roboti. Kar precej
besed in še več tistega, kar
se je zgodilo, je zame težko
razumeti.«
»Tisto ni bilo zmerjanje,« je
trdo odgovoril Ostrin, »in
tudi vaše ugibanje ni daleč
od resnice. Vse so lahko.
Vsaj zaradi mene. Vse jim
priznam,« se je nasmehnil
z vzvišeno prezirljivostjo,
»vse, razen da so živa bitja.«
Podkrepil je svoje besede s
srepim pogledom, polnim
nalezljive prepričljivosti.
499
‘Wow,’ I gasped. I still wasn’t sure how much cre-dence to give the Acutin’s words, because I also had to look at the whole thing from the other point of view, and yet some details of the Sensins’ behaviour even appeared to confirm them. But Honaja was a woman of great sensua-lity. I had felt all of her feminine essence as we embraced, together with a sensuous warmth that could not have been an act, just as her distress at the loss of a man at our first meeting could not have been an act. No, it couldn’t be true. Honaja was not a ghost.‘Their bodies are of flesh and blood,’ I said to the Acutin, who listened to me calmly and then slowly shook his head and said:‘In living beings the tho-ught of the individual is connected to both brain and body. In the Sen-sins there is no such con-
Ušel mi je »huh« skozi sapo.
Ostrinove besede sem
sicer še vedno jemal s pri-
držkom, ker sem le moral
pogledati na vse skupaj
tudi z druge strani, čeprav
jih je nekaj podrobnosti v
obnašanju Čutinov celo
potrjevalo. Toda Honaja je
bila ženska z veliko čutno-
sti v sebi. Vso njeno žensko
bit sem občutil med obje-
manjem, skupaj s čutno
toplino, ki je prihajala iz
nje in ni mogla biti igrana,
kakor ni mogla biti igrana
njena prizadetost zaradi
izgube moža tedaj, ob naji-
nem prvem srečanju. Ne,
to ne more biti res, Honaja
že ni duh.
»Njihova telesa so iz mesa
in krvi,« sem odvrnil
Ostrinu, ki me je mirno
poslušal, nato pa je počasi
odkimal in rekel:
»Pri živih bitjih je misel
posameznika usodno
povezana tako z možgani
kot s telesom, pri Čutinih
pa tu ni nikakršne pove-
500
nection. With them the body is one thing and the brain another. Thinking, together with character and passions, is some-thing completely different again.’‘So their bodies are made from some kind of mate-rial?’ I said, indicating that I accepted his explanation, although I still had my reservations. The Acutin observed my response to his words. ‘It is difficult for you to accept these facts, isn’t it?’ he asked.I shook my head. I needed more time to make up my mind about all this. Why should the Acutin be tel-ling the truth, especially since the Acutins were in dispute with – actually at war with – the Sensins? Yes, in dispute… The Sensins aren’t exactly very complimentary about the Acutins either. Not at all. They say there’s some-thing wrong with them, that they are suffering the
zave. Pri njih je telo eno,
možgani drugo, mišlje-
nje skupaj z značajem in
strastmi pa nekaj povsem
tretjega.«
»Torej je njihovo telo iz
nekakšnega materiala,«
sem nakazal sprijaznjenje
z njegovo razlago, vendar
z ohranitvijo svojih pomi-
slekov.
Ostrin je opazoval moj
odziv na svoje besede.
»Težko vam je sprejeti ta
dejstva, kajne?« je vprašal.
Zmajal sem z glavo. Tako
na hitro se o vsem tem
le nisem mogel odlo-
čiti, ker zakaj pa naj bi
Ostrin govoril resnico, še
posebej, ker so Ostrini v
sporu, pravzaprav v vojni
s Čutini? Hja, v sporu… Saj
tudi Čutini ne govorijo
nič kaj lepo o Ostrinih.
Niti najmanj. Očitajo jim
nekakšno defektnost, tista
njihova jedrska vojna naj
501
after-effects of that nuclear war of theirs. I looked at the Acutin. I couldn’t see any signs of nuclear after-effects. Nothing strange, nothing that indicated specific physical injuries. There was nothing of the invalid about him. Quite the opposite: this Acutin was very well-built, like the others of his kind I had seen up to now. Their speech also appeared to be perfectly normal. They are arrogant, it’s true. A little haughty – very haughty, in fact. They think they’re something special, which in a way is understanda-ble given that they are an extremely highly develo-ped civilisation. Even on Earth it is ‘normal’ for more highly developed nations to consider them-selves somewhat superior to those that are less deve-loped.
Now the Acutin, who didn’t like my appraising glances, quickly realised
bi pustila posledice. Pogle-
dal sem Ostrina. Takole
na pogled na njem ni bilo
videti nikakršnih jedrskih
posledic. Nič posebnega
oziroma nič takega, kar bi
kazalo na določene tele-
sne poškodbe. Nikjer ni
bilo nič invalidnega, ravno
nasprotno, prav postaven
je bil ta Ostrin tako kot
ostali njegovi rojaki, kar
sem jih doslej videl, pa tudi
njihovo govorjenje je bilo
videti prisebno. So aro-
gantni, to že, malo naduti,
no, precej naduti, imajo se
za nekaj več, kar pa je po
svoje razumljivo, saj so res
na zelo visoki razvojni sto-
pnji. Tudi na Zemlji je pač
tak običaj ali kakor koli
naj že temu rečemo, da se
višje razviti narodi imajo
za nekaj več od manj raz-
vitih.
Zdaj je Ostrin, ki so ga
zmotili ti moji ocenjujoči
pogledi, hitro ugotovil, kaj
502
what was behind them. Smiling, he shook his head: ‘What have the Sen-sins been telling you about us? That we are cripples, yes? Mental cripples? That we had a nuclear war? He observed me fixedly.I made a noncommittal grimace: I didn’t want to repeat the Sensins’ accusa-tions, still less their abuse. And yet I couldn’t pretend that the Acutin’s guesses were wrong either. ‘You see,’ continued the Acutin, ‘as far as our nuclear war is concerned, things are perfectly clear, but that doesn’t suit the Sensins. And so they keep on making things up and bringing in matters that have nothing to do with the whole business. Look: even what they have told you about our nuclear war is a clear example of how they deliberately mislead Earthpeople. They are familiar with your own experiences and they only tell you the part that will
je zadaj. Smehljajoč se, je
rahlo odkimal: »Kaj so vam
Čutini natvezili o nas? Da
smo kriplji, kajne? Duševni
kriplji? Ker smo imeli jedr-
sko vojno?« Nepremično
me je opazoval.
Nedoločeno sem se
nakremžil, saj nisem želel
ponavljati očitkov s strani
Čutinov in še manj njiho-
vega zmerjanja. Vendar pa
tudi nisem mogel zanikati
Ostrinovega ugibanja.
»Veste,« je nadaljeval
Ostrin, »glede naše jedrske
vojne so zadeve povsem
jasne, to pa Čutinom nika-
kor ne ustreza. Zato si
vedno znova nekaj izmi-
šljajo in vpletajo stvari, ki
nimajo z vso zadevo nič
skupnega. Poglejte, že to,
kako so govorili o naši
jedrski vojni, vam lahko
nazorno pokaže njihovo
načrtno zavajanje Zemlja-
nov. Poznajo vaše izku-
šnje in povedo le tisti del,
503
serve as a basis for you to reach your own conclusi-ons – your own mistaken conclusions. They have sown doubts about our intellectual normality, although they know more than enough about our nuclear war.’I nodded: ‘Of course it’s hard for me to judge these things. They probably exa-ggerated.’‘They weren’t exaggera-ting, they were trying to make you think the wrong thing!’ The Acutin looked quite angry. ‘They have sent you off in an utterly false direction. They don’t exaggerate, they mislead, do you understand? Mislead is the right word. You’ll see. But I’m not only saying this because of our nuclear war, where the facts speak for them-selves, but because they do they same thing in all other cases too.’ He pro-nounced these last words with real indignation.
ki je lahko zgolj osnova
za nadaljnje sklepanje, za
vaše napačno sklepanje. V
vas so zasejali dvom glede
naše umske normalnosti,
čeprav jim je tista naša
jedrska vojna dovolj dobro
poznana.«
Prikimal sem: »Seveda jaz
te stvari težko presojam.
Po vsej verjetnosti so pre-
tiravali.«
»Kaj pretiravali, speljali so
vas v napačno razmišlja-
nje!« Ostrin je bil videti
že kar jezen. »Preusmerili
so vas na povsem krivo
pot razumevanja. Ne da
pretiravajo, ampak zava-
jajo, razumete, zavajanje
je prava beseda. Sami se
boste prepričali. Tega ne
govorim le zaradi naše jedr-
ske vojne, glede katere so
stvari dovolj očitne, ampak
zato, ker delajo enako tudi
v vseh drugih primerih.«
Zadnje besede je izrekel s
pravim gnevom.
504
I didn’t say anything. I would have to argue with this Acutin if I contradic-ted him now, and I didn’t want that. I had no desire for an unnecessary dis-pute.
‘As for our nuclear war, it was like this,’ conti-nued the Acutin, his tone of voice now somewhat calmer. ‘Two dominant nations – at that time we too had several different countries, just like you Earthpeople – were in con-flict. It was very similar to what happened on Earth at the time of the Cold War, except that we threw ourselves even more ent-husiastically into the pro-duction of nuclear bombs, thanks to the greater accessibility of minerals, especially uranium. Then the conflicts grew increa-singly severe. And since a nuclear war began to seem quite likely, both sides started building powerful nuclear shelters designed
Ostal sem tiho. Moral bi se
sporeči s tem Ostrinom,
če bi mu zdaj nasprotoval,
tega pa nisem maral. Nič
kaj si nisem želel nepotreb-
nega spora.
»Z našo jedrsko vojno je
bilo pa takole,« je Ostrin
nadaljeval v bolj umirje-
nem tonu. »Dva prevladu-
joča naroda, tudi mi smo
imeli tedaj več držav, tako
kot jih imate Zemljani,
sta se spopadla. Vse je
potekalo zelo podobno
dogajanju pri vas v času
hladne vojne, le da smo se
mi zagnali v še večjo pro-
izvodnjo jedrskih bom,
pač zaradi lažje dostopnih
rudnin, predvsem urana.
Potem pa je prihajalo do
vse ostrejših nasprotij.
In ker se je jedrska vojna
kazala kot dokaj verjetno
možnost, sta si obe strani
začeli graditi močna proti-
jedrska zaklonišča za dolgo
505
to ensure long-term sur-vival. Both sides took this project very seriously and devoted their best efforts to it. Meanwhile there was the question of who should have priority for a place in the first shelters. Since the wars had been going on for decades even before the discovery of the nuclear bomb, and there been hostilities of varying seve-rity for centuries before that, a warrior culture had developed. To be the best soldier was the highest virtue of all. We inspec-ted the young recruits on enlistment and during training. We ranked them according to how they car-ried themselves on the bat-tlefield, as well as through written tests. Boys and girls. And over the years we developed this system of selection to an enviable level. We obtained elite divisions of warriors, the sort that every comman-der dreams of. And both sides, theirs and ours,
preživetje. Obe strani sta
se tega projekta lotili z vso
resnostjo in po vseh svojih
najboljših močeh. Pri tem
je nastalo vprašanje, komu
dati prednost pri namesti-
tvi v prva zaklonišča. Ker
so pri nas potekali boji že
desetletja pred odkritjem
jedrskih bomb, z večjo
ali manjšo ostrino pa že
stoletja prej, se je pri nas
izoblikovala kultura bojev-
nika. Biti najboljši vojak
je bila najbolj cenjena
vrlina. Mlade nabornike
smo preverjali tako ob
sprejemu kot med treningi
in šolanjem. Rangirali
smo jih po njihovi drži na
bojnem polju kakor tudi
s pisnimi testi. Tako fante
kot dekleta. In z leti smo ta
sistem izločanja pripeljali
na zavidljivo raven. Dobili
smo elitne oddelke bojev-
nikov, takih, kot si jih je
vsak poveljnik lahko samo
želel. In obe strani, njihova
in naša, sta se odločili, da
506
decided that in the case of war, these elite units of young men and women should be protected first. That was the position on both sides. Part of it was also the desire to streng-then the reputation of the military profession and encourage young people to join military units. And as it later turned out, this was decisive in determining precedence for a place in the atomic shelters. This can also be seen from the changes made to the prio-rity list. Evidently, though, the leaders on the two sides were still not con-vinced that a nuclear war was a serious possibility. In the end they were taken by surprise. The possibi-lity of an error cannot be excluded. Another contri-bution to total war came from the command positi-ons in the shelters, altho-ugh later checks shows that they only launched their systems after the enemy’s first bombs had exploded. In the end, all
v primeru vojne prav te
elitne enote mladih fantov
in deklet najprej zaščitita.
Taka je bila opredelitev na
obeh straneh, k temu je
pripomogla tudi želja po
okrepitvi ugleda vojaškega
poklica ter želja vzpod-
buditi mladino k vključe-
vanju v vojaške enote. In
kot se je pozneje izkazalo,
je bilo prav to slednje
odločilno pri določanju
prednosti za namestitev v
atomska zaklonišča. Na to
lahko sklepamo tudi po
preverjanju sprememb na
prednosti listi. Očitno pa
vodstva na obeh straneh
še niso bila prepričana o
resni možnosti za začetek
jedrske vojne. Naposled
jih je le presenetila. Niso
namreč mogla izključiti
pomote. Nekaj pa so k
totalni vojni prispevala
tudi poveljstva v zakloni-
ščih, čeprav so poznejša
preverjanja pokazala, da
so sprožila svoje sisteme
šele po eksplozijah prvih
nasprotnikovih bomb.
507
life throughout our planet was destroyed. The only survivors were in the shel-ters. Since then our develo-pment has been peaceful. The survivors from both sides later united, because of their small number, and then built our civilisation in peace. In the war itself there were no wounded. The Sensins know that perfectly well. There were only the dead and the per-fectly healthy survivors. The genetic changes that the Sensins accuse us of are supposed to have been, so they say, the con-sequence of the selection of recruits through testing, and to a certain extent that may even be true, since later we carried out cor-rections on the correspon-ding genes, but nothing like as much as they say. The main reason this went on was the uncertainty in our relations with our neighbours, since there was reason to believe that we would again need to
Na koncu je bilo uničeno
vse življenje na celotnem
našem planetu. Preživeli
so le v zakloniščih. Odtlej
pa je naš razvoj potekal
v miru. Preživeli z obeh
strani so se pozneje tudi
združili, pač zaradi majh-
nega števila, in potem so
v miru izgrajevali našo
civilizacijo. V sami vojni
pa ni bilo ne ranjenih ne
poškodovanih, to Čutini
prav dobro vedo. Bili so
samo ali mrtvi ali popol-
noma zdravi preživeli.
Genske spremembe, ki
nam jih očitajo Čutini, pa
naj bi bile, spet po njiho-
vih besedah, posledica
selekcije s testiranjem
nabornikov, to v manjši
meri celo drži, zato smo
pozneje naredili popravke
na ustreznih genih, a niti
približno ne toliko, kot jih
naštevajo oni. Zlasti je bilo
tega malo zaradi nedore-
čenosti našega sosedstva,
ker je bilo mogoče skle-
pati na ponovno potrebo
508
strengthen our defence forces and military spirit. Courage and the readiness to obey orders and sacrifice ourselves for the good of our civilisation are innate qualities for the Acutins, and it would never occur to us to change these two principal virtues that evi-dently disturb the Sensins so much.’‘This is all a bit different from what I had ima-gined,’ I said. I needed to think about what the Acutin was telling me. This explanation of their abnormality, if I could call it that, hadn’t occurred to me. Was it possible? That they could have been so foolish as to start that sort of testing? It was hard to believe. Unless when loo-king for one set of abili-ties they had completely forgotten about the others, then it would be possi-ble. Hmm. It’s true that it wouldn’t be very nice having a militaristic, hig-hly-developed civilisation
po krepitvi obrambnih sil
in vojaškega duha. Pogum
in pripravljenost izvrše-
vati povelja s samožrtvova-
njem za blagor naše civili-
zacije sta nam Ostrinom
prirojena in niti na misel
nam ne pride, da bi spre-
minjali ti dve naši poglavi-
tni vrlini, ki Čutine očitno
tako zelo motita.«
»Aha, pa sem si res vse
skupaj nekoliko drugače
predstavljal,« sem dejal.
Kar malo sem se moral
zamisliti nad temi Ostri-
novimi besedami. Na tak
izvor defektnosti, če sploh
lahko to tako imenujem,
res nisem pomislil. Ali je
to sploh možno? Da bi tisto
testiranje tako neumno
zastavili? Težko je verjeti.
Razen če ob iskanju enih
sposobnosti niso povsem
pozabili na ostale, to pa
bi že bilo možno. Hm.
Res je, da take, vojaško
usmerjene višje razvite
civilizacije ni nič kaj prije-
509
like this for a neighbour, so in that sense I could understand the Sensins. It wouldn’t be exactly fortu-nate for Earthpeople either, to put it mildly. From this point of view the Sensins are probably better par-tners for the Earthpeople, but I’d better not mention that to this Acutin. But the Sensins are strange too. If they really are ghosts, as the Acutin says and as it now appears, a partner-ship with them wouldn’t be particularly pleasant either. Actually, it is quite hard to imagine what kind of partnership this could actually be. ‘I will grant them anything except that they are living beings.’ I couldn’t get the Acutin’s words out of my head, although because of the beauty of Honaja’s face I kept pushing them aside. Ghosts, hmm... But what does that actually mean? It wasn’t easy thinking about them. At least not for me, because I simply didn’t
tno imeti za sosedo, tako
da bi v tem smislu lahko
razumel Čutine. Pa tudi za
Zemljane to ne bi bila pre-
tirana sreča, če ne upora-
bimo nasprotnega izraza,
ki je verjetno bolj prime-
ren. V tem pogledu so za
Zemljane najbrž boljši
partner Čutini, a bolje, da
temu Ostrinu tega ne ome-
njam. Ampak tudi Čutini
so čudni. Če so res duhovi,
kot pravi Ostrin in kot
vse skupaj zdaj kaže, par-
tnerstvo tudi z njimi ne
more biti posebno prije-
tno. Pravzaprav si je težko
predstavljati, kakšne vrste
partnerstvo bi to sploh
lahko bilo. Ostrinove
besede »priznam jim vse,
razen da so živa bitja« so
mi vedno znova prihajale
na misel, čeprav sem jih
zaradi lepote Honajinega
obraza nenehno potiskal
na stran. Duhovi, hm, kaj
pa pravzaprav ta pojem
pomeni? Ni bilo lahko raz-
mišljati o njih. Vsaj zame
ne, ker v duhove sploh
510
believe in ghosts. I still don’t believe in them. It’s true that there was some-thing strange about these Sensins here, but even so it wasn’t easy to decide what was actually going on. Ghosts? That’s a good one. But on the other hand quite a number of their characteristics suggested that many things were pos-sible. Yes, many things…I looked at the Acutin, who was facing the Sensin by the transparent sphere and staring straight ahead with an absent expression. His thoughts must have been elsewhere. I looked at the Sensin and saw her tear-stained face, and how she followed events in that sphere with rapt attention. A man and a woman sitting on chairs at the foot of the Earthwoman’s bed were wiping away their tears. They were probably relati-ves of the dead woman. At least that’s what it looked like. After everything I had been through recen-
nisem verjel. Pravzaprav še
vedno ne verjamem vanje.
Tu, pri teh Čutinih, je sicer
res nekaj takega videti,
toda za kaj resnično gre,
vseeno ni bilo možno kar
tako opredeliti. Duhovi? Ta
je debela. Ampak po drugi
strani je kar nekaj značil-
nosti tako nakazanih, da je
marsikaj lahko možno. Ja,
marsikaj…
Pogledal sem Ostrina, obr-
njenega proti Čutinki ob
presojni krogli, z nekam
odsotnim pogledom je zrl
predse. Z mislimi je moral
biti nekje drugje. Ko sem
pogledal še Čutinko,
sem videl njen objokan
obraz, kako zamaknjeno
spremlja dogajanje v tisti
krogli, v kateri so si ob
postelji Zemljanke bri-
sali solze moški in ženski,
ki sta sedeli na stolih ob
vznožju. Najbrž sorodniki
pokojnice. Vsaj videti je
bilo tako. Po vsem tem,
kar sem doživel v zadnjem
511
tly, and taking into acco-unt the little that I had been able to understand, I was no longer sure about anything. ‘The evolution of your civilisation is very intere-sting,’ I began. ‘It is dif-ficult for me to imagine what is possible at such a high level of civilisation, which means that not even your dispute with the Sen-sins is exactly clear to me. But judging from all these conflicts,’ I went on, allu-ding to their incredible scale, ‘it seems to be a ter-ribly serious business.’ The Acutin carried on watching the Sensin stan-ding in front of the sphere, or at least gazing in her direction, and then gave a slight nod. ‘It is serious, yes,’ he said, and looked at me appraisingly. ‘Their victory would mean the predominance of ghosts and robots over living beings, a predominance over the civilisations that
času in kolikor sem lahko
tudi razumel, pa nisem bil
več prepričan o ničemer.
»Evolucija vaše civilizacije
je prav zanimiva.« sem
začel. »Težko si sicer pred-
stavljam, kaj vse je možno
na tako visoki civilizacij-
ski ravni, tako da mi tudi
ta vaš spor s Čutini ni
povsem jasen. Glede na
vse te spopade,« namignil
sem na zame neverjetno
velikost, »pa se kaže hudir-
jevo resna zadeva.«
Ostrin je še naprej gledal
Čutinko, stoječo pred
kroglo, ali vsaj v njeno
smer, potem pa je rahlo
prikimal. »Gre zares, da,« je
dejal in ocenjujoče upiral
oči vame. »Njihova zmaga
bi pomenila prevlado
duhov in robotov nad
živimi bitji, prevlado nad
civilizacijami, ki so se po
512
have developed along a normal evolutionary path in this part of the universe. Including yours. Or rather, especially yours, since for them predominance over you is particularly impor-tant. Do you know why?’I thought about it, but I couldn’t think of anything that might be suitable as an answer. Apart from a few disjointed details, nothing of any significance came to mind. ‘For them you are a kind of farm.’ The Acutin con-templated me for a few moments with his pene-trating gaze, and then continued in a calmer voice: ‘Well, not exactly that, because up until now we’ve been here too. It’s us you have to thank for the fact that your evolution has proceeded without inter-ference. At least for the most part. At our very first meeting with the Sensins we made them agree not to interfere in the develo-pment of younger civilisa-
normalni evolucijski poti
razvile v tem delu vesolja.
Tudi nad vašo. Oziroma
še posebej nad vašo, ker
prevlada nad vami je zanje
prav posebno pomembna.
Ali sploh veste, zakaj?«
Malo sem pomišljal, pa se
ničesar, kar bi lahko bilo
primerno za odgovor,
nisem mogel spomniti;
razen nekaj med seboj
nepovezanih podrobnosti
mi nič tehtnega ni prišlo
na misel.
»Zanje ste nekakšna
farma.« Ostrin me je nekaj
trenutkov motril s svojim
predirnim pogledom,
potem pa je bolj umirjeno
nadaljeval: »No, ja, ni čisto
tako, ker doslej smo bili
tukaj tudi mi. Prav nam se
morate zahvaliti, da vaša
evolucija poteka nemo-
teno. Vsaj v glavnem. Že
ob našem prvem srečanju
s Čutini smo postavili zah-
tevo po nevmešavanju v
razvoj mlajših civilizacij.
513
tions. They had to agree. They knew they had to. Despite their indignation, they eventually assented. Then we set the rules.’ As he said these last words the Acutin began to grow excited, which made him even more convincing. ‘The Sensins have talked to me about their friendly inclinations towards less developed civilisations,’ I hazarded. ‘I haven’t noti-ced anything hostile in their attitude towards us Earthpeople.’‘Nothing hostile!’ repeated the Acutin, with an ironic laugh. ‘Ha! You aren’t hostile to pigs either, but you eat them, don’t you?’This comment was, I thou-ght, either tasteless or… . . hmm, cruel. ‘You mentio-ned an agreement on allo-wing less developed civi-lisations the right to their own development, so the comparison with pigs…’‘Well of course this agre-ement has remained in force until now. At least
Morali so privoliti vanjo.
Vedeli so, da morajo. Kljub
vsemu negodovanju so na
koncu privolili. Potem smo
postavili pravila.« Ostrin se
je ob zadnjih besedah celo
malo razvnel, tako da sem
se njegovi prepričljivosti
že težko upiral.
»Meni so Čutini govorili
o prijateljskih nagnjenih
do manj razvitih civiliza-
cij,« sem navrgel. »Ničesar
sovražnega do nas Zemlja-
nov nisem mogel zaznati
pri njih.«
»Ničesar sovražnega!«
je ponovil moje besede
Ostrin ter se skoraj obeše-
njaško zasmejal. »Hah! Saj
tudi vi ne sovražite praši-
čev, ki jih pojeste, kajne?«
Ta pripomba je bila, sem
pomišljal, ali neokusna ali
. . . hm, okrutna. »Omenili
ste sporazum o dopušča-
nju pravice manj razvi-
tih civilizacij do lastnega
razvoja, tako da primera s
prašiči…«
»No, seveda je ta dogovor
veljal doslej. Vsaj do meje
514
as far as we can see. Your evolution has been undi-sturbed until now thanks to our insistence on non-interference in the evo-lutionary development of less developed civilisati-ons. But if we hadn’t been there and the Sensins had been able to do what they wanted, without any kind of supervision, the compa-rison with pigs would be worth considering.’ I made a face and repe-ated under my breath: ‘Worth considering… hmm. Why? What would make them do such a thing? I didn’t understand and I couldn’t accept it, and I wondered whether it might not be better to believe the Acutins rather than the Sensins. Just then a light flashed on and a piercing whistle sounded. The Sensin looked round wildly. She didn’t see the Acutin or me. In distress or fear, judging from her expression, she turned back to the image in the
opaznosti. Vaša evolucija
do sedaj res ni bila motena
po zaslugi našega vztra-
janja pri nevmešavanju
v evolucijski razvoj manj
razvitih civilizacij. Ampak
če nas ne bi bilo zraven in
bi Čutini lahko delali po
svoji volji, brez kakršnega
koli nadzora, bi primera s
prašiči postala upošteva-
nja vredna.«
Rahlo sem se nakremžil in
polglasno ponovil: »Upo-
števanja vredna… Hm.
Zakaj pa? Kaj pa jih žene
v tako početje?« Stiskal
sem ustnice zaradi nera-
zumevanja in nesprejema-
nja tovrstnega početja ter
pomislil, ali ne bi bilo bolje
verjeti Ostrinom kakor pa
Čutinom. Tedaj pa se je
zasvetlikalo s predirnim
piskom, ob katerem se je
Čutinka sunkovito ozrla
naokrog, Ostrina in mene
ni mogla videti, se v neka-
kšni stiski ali strahu, kot je
bilo razvidno po njenem
obrazu, obrnila k prikazu
515
transparent sphere and then at the lights coming on above her head. She moved back a step, as though she was going to run away, but then stepped closer again and once again gazed at the image inside the sphere. She brushed the tears from her cheeks and then turned away and fled rapidly through the door. I looked at the Acutin. He was looking slightly confused too. He looked at the lights and at the holo-display on his wrist: ‘They destroyed my secu-rity control panel outside the entrance to this aste-roid container. They did it earlier, before I could spot them.’ He looked around, and then at the display on his wrist, where a map of the surrounding compart-ments appeared.‘What are we going to do?’ I asked. ‘Here, through this door, and then we must go along the corridor to the upper rooms.’ Moving his finger
v prozorni krogli ter nato
v prižigajoče se lučke nad
sabo, se hitro odmaknila
za korak, kakor da mora
zbežati, potem je spet sto-
pila bliže in se še enkrat
zazrla v prikaz znotraj
krogle, si obrisala solze z
lic ter se nato obrnila stran
in s hitrimi koraki zbežala
skozi vrata. Pogledal sem
Ostrina. Tudi ta je deloval
nekam zbegano. Pogle-
doval je po prižigajočih
se lučkah in v holijevski
prikazovalnik na svojem
zapestju: »Uničili so mi
varnostno kontrolno plo-
ščico pred vhodom v ta
asteroidni zabojnik. In
to prej, preden sem jih
lahko zaznal.« Pogledal je
naokrog in spet v prikaz
na zapestju, kjer se mu je
kazal razpored okoliških
prostorov.
»Kaj bova?« sem vprašal.
»Tu, skozi ta vrata in potem
naprej po hodniku do zgor-
njih prostorov morava iti.«
Ostrin je s prstom pote-
516
across the holo-display, the Acutin traced out the route. There was a way out through the upper rooms. I nodded. The Acutin walked to the open door and I followed him. We went through. There was no-one in the corridor. Thanks to the accurate map generated by the Acutin’s holo-display, I had no difficulty getting my bea-rings. Suddenly there was an explosion in the room we were about to enter. The door opened with a crash and we were struck by a blast of air, which forced us to stop. Simul-taneously, Sensin robots rushed towards us from doors on either side of the corridor. In a moment we were on the ground. They immediately disarmed the Acutin and left me to pick myself up. By the time I was on my feet, they were already leading the Acutin away and quickly disappe-ared with him through the door. I was left alone with the robots.
gnil po predvideni poti
čez holijev prikaz prosto-
rov. Tam je bil tudi izhod
skozi zgornje prostore.
Prikimal sem. Ostrin je
stopil do odprtih vrat, jaz
pa sem mu sledil, šla sva
skozi, tudi na hodniku
ni bilo nikogar. Po tako
natančnem prostorskem
prikazu, kot se je kazal v
Ostrinovem holiju, se ni
bilo težko orientirati. Toda
potem je sledila eksplozija
v prostoru, skozi katerega
sva nameravala iti, vrata so
se s treskom odprla, v naju
je udaril zračni sunek,
tako da sva se morala usta-
viti. V tistem trenutku so
se skozi vrata na obeh stra-
neh hodnika proti nama
pognali roboti Čutinov.
V hipu sva bila na tleh.
Ostrina so takoj razorožili,
meni pa dopustili, da sem
se v njihovi sredi lahko
nemoteno pobral. Ostrina
so že odnašali in kmalu so
z njim izginili za vrati, tako
da sem ostal sam z roboti.
517
‘I hope we did not hurt you,’ said an apologetic voice. Though the speaker was a robot, its appearance was entirely human. It invited me to follow it into the central chamber, where there was some kind of muster station. ‘The other members of your crew survived the collision,’ the robot continued, ‘and fleet command has ordered you to continue with your mis-sion.’‘I see,’ I said, as doubts began to form, and with them the realisation that it was still too early to reach a conclusion. Yet that Acutin had been quite convincing. More than quite convincing: very, very convincing. After a lengthy wait in the large chamber, I was told that our ship STORM-BIRD was on its way, and that our crew was already assembled aboard. Eve-rything was in order and I should get some rest. The bringer of this message,
»Upam, da vas nismo
poškodovali,« se mi je
spoštljivo opravičil robot
s povsem človeško zuna-
njostjo ter me zaprosil, naj
mu sledim v osrednjo dvo-
rano, kjer je bil nekakšen
zbirni center. »Ostali člani
vaše posadke so preživeli
trčenje,« mi je še dejal, »in
naše poveljstvo je že uka-
zalo, naj nadaljujete vašo
misijo.«
»Aja!« sem dejal s porajajo-
čimi se pomisleki in z neka-
kšno ugotovitvijo, da je
še prezgodaj za dokončne
sklepe, čeprav je bil malo
prej tisti Ostrin precej
prepričljiv. Pravzaprav ne
samo precej, ampak kar
zelo, zelo prepričljiv.
Po daljšem čakanju v veliki
dvorani so mi sporočili, da
prihaja naša ladja VIHAR-
NIK, na kateri naj bi bila že
zbrana naša posadka. Sicer
pa je vse v redu in naj se v
miru spočijem. Prinašalec
tega sporočila, spet robot
518
another humanoid robot, suggested to me a more suitable place, somewhere ‘very pleasant’, and when I nodded my agreement it went on: ‘There are spe-cial compartments for rest and relaxation after great exertions. Our guests also use them very frequently.’ The robot invited me to follow it. But the explana-tion that the Sensins had special rest compartments on this asteroid was sligh-tly at odds with my expe-riences up till now. Tired Sensins were certainly not a common sight. Had I ever actually seen any? And yet on this asteroid, at least that was the impres-sion I got from what the robot said, they were used to dealing with the tire-dness of Sensins. Tired from what? I thought of the Sensin by the transpa-rent sphere. I wonder?The robot led me into a large chamber with com-fortable bunks along the walls, six rows of couches
s človeško zunanjostjo, mi
je pri tem svetoval bolj pri-
meren prostor, ki je »zelo
prijeten,« kot je rekel, in
ko sem z glavo nakazal, da
se strinjam, je nadaljeval:
»Za počitek in sprostitev
po izjemnih naporih so
namenjeni posebni pro-
stori. Tudi naši gostje jih
zelo pogosto uporabljajo.«
Potem me je povabil, naj
mu sledim v smeri teh pro-
storov. Toda pojasnilo, da
imajo Čutini na tem aste-
roidu posebne prostore za
počitek, se je nekoliko raz-
likovalo od mojih doseda-
njih izkušenj. Nič kaj pogo-
sto nisem videl utrujenih
Čutinov. Če sem jih sploh
kdaj? Na tem asteroidu pa
naj bi, vsaj po robotovem
govorjenju sem dobil tak
občutek, imeli pogosto
opraviti z utrujenostjo
Čutinov. Od česa? Pomislil
sem na Čutinko pri pro-
zorni krogli. Hm?
Robot me je peljal v
veliko dvorano z udob-
nimi pogradi ob stenah, s
šestimi vrstami ležalnikov,
519
distributed around the centre of the room, and a circular path along which a number of Sensins were walking in a kind of trance. Others were resting on the couches or bunks. All of them looked very different from the Sensins I had been used to up till now. One walked past me with an absent expression, eyes fixed ahead of him, which gave him a slightly strange appearance. The robot stopped in front of a pair of bunks. The lower one was still free. For me, the robot seemed to imply. I sat on the bunk and began to look around. A Sensin reclining on a couch a few metres away from me was breathing deeply and slowly opening and closing his eyes. A little further on a female Sensin was dozing. Another male Sensin walked slowly past me with such a total absence of spirit that he reminded me of a living corpse. He really could
razporejenih po sredini
sobe, in s krožno potjo,
po kateri so se v nekakšni
zamaknjenosti sprehajali
nekateri Čutini, drugi pa
so počivali v ležalnikih
ali na teh pogradih; vsi so
delovali precej drugače od
Čutnov, kakršnih sem bil
vajen doslej. Eden je stopal
mimo mene z odsotnim
pogledom, uprtim predse,
tako da ga je bilo kar malo
čudno videti. Robot me
je popeljal do prostega
pograda, spodnji je bil še
prost. Nanj sem se usedel in
se začel razgledovati nao-
krog. Čutin na ležalniku
nekaj metrov od mene je
med globokim, počasnim
dihanjem narahlo odpiral
in zapiral oči. Malo naprej
je dremala neka Čutinka.
Mimo mene pa se je v
počasnem sprehajalnem
koraku premikal drugi
Čutin v popolni odsotno-
sti duha kot nekakšen živi
mrtvec. Prav lahko bi bil
520
have been a ghost. And yet it wasn’t as though the other Sensins in this room were much different. The same absence of life was apparent in all of them. Very strange. I had never seen anything like this before.
I was assailed by doubts of every type. For me the idea of ghosts was still strange and I couldn’t simply accept the expla-nations of that Acutin. Ghosts, yes, ghosts… Despite everything, I still couldn’t see anything more definite. I had never believed in ghosts. Why should I suddenly start believing in them? Not just like that. Ever since my first encounter with the Sensins I had been dealing with alien concepts, with things that were evidently possible even though until recently I had believed them to merely the stuff of imagination. Could ghosts also exist in this reality?
duh. Pa tudi ostali Čutini
v tem prostoru niso delo-
vali dosti drugače. Odso-
tnost življenja sem lahko
zaznal v vseh. Prav čudno.
Prej nisem zasledil ničesar
podobnega.
Vsakršni pomisleki so se
mi vrstili drug za drugim,
kajti misel na duhove je bilo
zame še vedno nenavadna
in nisem mogel kar tako
sprejeti tistih Ostrinovih
razlag. Duhovi, ja, duhovi…
Kljub vsemu še vedno
nisem mogel videti niče-
sar bolj določenega. Nikoli
nisem verjel v duhove,
zdaj pa naj kar naenkrat
verjamem? Kar tako pa že
ne. Vse od prvega srečanja
s Čutini imam opravka s
pojmi, tujimi, presneto
nenavadnimi, s stvarmi, ki
so očitno možne, čeprav
sem jih še nedavno imel
le za domišljijsko poigra-
vanje. Ali bi v tej resnič-
nosti lahko obstajali tudi
521
As Sensins? This thought lifted me from my bunk. Once again I let my gaze roam across the room. In the dim recesses of the room, just behind a seated Sensin, I caught sight of an indistinct female form that somehow made me think of the scene by the tran-sparent sphere. I couldn’t help comparing her to the figure of that Sensin who had run away so quickly when the alarm sounded. Could this woman here actually be her? Oh no. If she is, that means that these Sensins here are also something like her. Some-thing like what? I didn’t exactly know, of course. But what are the possibi-lities? These ghosts here, around me… No, no. I no longer knew what to think. As though they had died or just risen from the dead… That was it. Those were the two cate-gories into which it was easiest to fit them. I could easily picture the body
duhovi? Kot Čutini? Kar
dvignilo me je s pograda.
Še enkrat sem preletel s
pogledom po prostoru. V
temačnem ozadju, tik za
sedečim Čutinom, sem
zagledal nejasno postavo
ženske, ob kateri se mi je
nehote obudil prizor ob
prozorni krogli. Moral sem
jo primerjati z likom tiste
Čutinke, ki je na koncu
tako na hitro zbežala ob
alarmnem pisku. In zdaj
bi lahko bila ta ženska tu
prav ona? Hudirja. Če je to
res, potem so ti Čutini tu
nekaj takega kot ona. Nekaj
takega? Povsem jasno pa
mi seveda ni bilo. Toda
kaj bi bilo sicer možno? Ti
duhovi tukaj, okoli mene…
Ne, ne, tako že nisem
mogel zastaviti svojega raz-
mišljanja o vsem tem doga-
janju! Kakor da bi umrli ali
pravkar vstali od mrtvih…
Točno tako. V ti dve sku-
pini bi jih še najlaže uvr-
stil. Prav lahko sem si pred-
stavljal tam doli na Zemlji
522
down there on Earth from which that thing, whate-ver it was, it could even be a soul as far as I was concerned, had migrated into the Sensin. But why have they got such an empty look on their faces? Do ghosts have an empty look on their faces? Corp-ses yes, but ghosts? What expression do ghosts have, anyway? What expression should they have? I really didn’t know enough about ghosts. I had seen cadavers in a mortuary. And this atmosphere here occasio-nally provoked the same sensation, although only when I looked at some of the Sensins in this room. Only a few individuals had that effect. But they were very convincing. Were they in shock? Because they had just been resur-rected? Or because they still hadn’t got over the shock of their own death. Or rather the death of the human being whose soul had then migrated into
neko truplo, iz katerega se
je tisto, karkoli je že bilo,
zaradi mene lahko tudi
duša, preselilo v Čutinko.
Samo zakaj pa imajo tako
prazen pogled? Imajo
duhovi prazen pogled?
Mrtveci že, ja, ampak
duhovi? Kakšen pogled pa
pravzaprav imajo duhovi?
Oziroma kakšnega naj bi
imeli? Res sem premalo
vedel o duhovih. V mrtva-
šnici sem že videl mrtvece.
In to vzdušje tukaj mi je
občasno vzbujalo enake
občutke, čeprav je res, da
le ob pogledu na nekatere
Čutine v tem prostoru.
Le nekateri posamezniki
so tako delovali. Toda ti
so bili dovolj prepričljivi.
523
them. I looked round the room again and, as before, saw the outline of the face of that Sensin. It really was her sitting there... I looked again, even more carefully, and tried to find familiar features in that face sunk in semidarkness behind a much larger Sensin seated in front of her. He looked rather cadaveric too. Or did it only seem like that? I wonder? I had to go over to her. If I sat next to her, it would certainly be easier to tell. But I would have to sit between her and that cadaveric Sensin in front of her. Hmm... I just couldn’t get used to this atmosphere here. If anything, the opposite was true… I was begin-ning to get the creeps. It wasn’t that I was exactly scared. But it wasn’t exac-tly pleasant either. Should I pretend to be stupid and simply sit down between them? Do that among ghosts? Well, I didn’t have any other options. I’d got
Spet sem pogledal po
prostoru in tam kot prej
zaznal obrise obraza tiste
Čutinke. Pa je res sedela
tam… Še pazljiveje sem se
zazrl v tisto smer ter iskal
znane poteze na obrazu,
pogreznjenem v poltemo
za precej večjim Čutinom,
sedečim spredaj. Tudi ta
je deloval nekam mrliško.
Ali pa se mi vse skupaj le
dozdeva? Hm? K njej bi
moral iti. Če bi prisedel
k njej, bi seveda laže pre-
sodil vse skupaj. Ampak
moral bi sesti med njo in
tistega mrliškega Čutina
v ospredju. Hm… Tega
vzdušja tukaj se nikakor
nisem mogel navaditi. Celo
prav nasprotno. . . začel me
je spreletavati srh. Sicer me
ni bilo pretirano strah, to
ne. Prijetno pa tudi ni bilo
vse skupaj. Da bi se naredil
neumnega in se kar usedel
vmes? Tako početi med
duhovi? No, kaj drugega
mi niti ne preostane. V
524
myself into a real mess. Or rather been thrown into it. And now I was going to jostle my way between ghosts? Yes, I was going to have to push my way between them. Because I couldn’t ask these Sensins around me what to do.
Once again I looked round the room. A Sensin two or three metres away had turned in my direction. Yes, he was staring strai-ght at me. Had he read my thoughts? Strange as they are, these Sensins really might have this ability… I’m even going to have to be careful what I think about in here. I looked at the Sensin again. He was still standing there moti-onlessly, turned towards me. That was more than clear. And I was going to have to go past him. He wasn’t exactly a friendly type. Was he really loo-king at me? Actually I couldn’t make out what he was looking at.
lepo kašo sem zašel. Ozi-
roma so me vrgli vanjo. In
zdaj se bom prerival med
duhovi? Da, prav preriniti
se bom moral tja vmes. Saj
teh Čutinov ob meni ne
morem spraševati glede
svoje namere.
Spet sem pogledal nao-
krog. Čutin, oddaljen dva
ali tri metre, je bil obrnjen
naravnost vame. Da, narav-
nost vame je bulil. Menda
mi ne bere misli? Tako
čudni, kot so, bi Čutini
prav lahko imeli tudi tako
sposobnost…Huh! Paziti
bom moral celo, o čem
razmišljam v teh prosto-
rih. Še enkrat sem pogle-
dal Čutina. Še vedno je
stal nepremično, obrnjen
naravnost proti meni. To
je bilo več kot očitno. Pa še
mimo njega bom moral iti.
Nič kaj prijeten tip. Je res
gledal vame? Pravzaprav
nisem mogel razbrati, kam
gleda.
525
I made up my mind. Slowly I stood up, looked round the room one more time, and slipped past him. Another Sensin was wandering along the side, similar to the first except that he gave the impres-sion of a certain combati-veness: at least his sharper movements had that effect. I walked on as calmly as possible, staring in front of me as though deep in tho-ught. In fact I wasn’t thin-king about anything except not attracting attention by acting differently from the others. Then I stopped beside the female Sensin in the semidarkness. My presence didn’t disturb her, nor the Sensin sitting in front of her. He didn’t even notice me and conti-nued to look past me. He didn’t appear to be dange-rous and showed no signs of aggression, although he was quite big. I took a quick look around me and then sat on a nearby bunk, as I had seen the Sensins
Odločil sem se. Počasi
sem vstal, s pogledom
obšel prostor in se zla-
goma sprehodil mimo
njega. Še en Čutin je tam
postaval ob strani, navi-
dez podoben, le da je dajal
vtis nekakšne bojevitosti,
vsaj njegovi ostrejši gibi
so tako delovali. Koli-
kor je bilo mogoče, sem
z umirjenim korakom
stopil naprej, pogled pa
sem upiral predse v glo-
boki zamišljenosti, čeprav
pri tem nisem mislil na
nič oziroma le na to, da
s svojo drugačnostjo ne
bi pritegoval pozornosti.
Potem sem se ustavil ob
tisti Čutinki v polmraku.
Nič je nisem zmotil, kakor
tudi ne Čutina pred njo.
Še opazil me ni, kar mimo
mene je gledal. Ni bil
videti nevaren, nobene
agresivnosti ni kazal,
čeprav je bl precej obilen.
Malo sem se oziral naokoli
in sedel na bližnji pograd,
kot sem v tem prostoru
videl sedeti Čutine. Potem
526
do in this room. Then for a little while I stared in front of me, which the Sensin next to me must have noti-ced, although apparently I didn’t interest her at all. Then I stretched out on my back and propped myself up on my elbows so that I could keep the room in view without having to turn my head. The Sensin’s face was still covered in tears. Slowly she moved her hand to her cheek and, first on one side, then on the other, she wiped away her tears, murmu-ring something from time to time. I listened. That murmuring might tell me something. But it was no good. The murmuring was too indistinct. It faded to a whisper, or just the moving of lips. I sat up and looked at the Sensin again, pretending to be looking past her when in fact I was trying to read her lips and make out at least the odd word. It seemed to be a kind of commiseration.
sem še nekaj časa bolščal
predse, kar je Čutinka
ob meni morala opaziti,
čeprav je očitno nisem
prav nič zanimal. Nato
sem se zleknil na hrbet in
se privzdignil na komolec,
tako da sem lahko ohra-
nil pregled po prostoru
brez posebnega obrača-
nja glave. Čutinka je bila
še vsa objokana. Počasi je
segala z roko k licu in si
zdaj po eni, zdaj po drugi
strani s prsti otirala solze,
pri tem pa je s presledki
nekaj mrmrala. Prisluh-
nil sem. Nekaj bi že moral
razbrati iz tega mrmranja.
Toda ni šlo. Mrmranje je
bilo preveč nejasno, izgu-
bljalo se je šepetu, prav-
zaprav le v premikanju
ustnic. Spet sem sedel.
Potem sem pogledal proti
Čutinki, nekako sem se
delal, kot da gledam mimo
nje, vendar pa sem skušal
brati z njenih ustnic, da bi
ujel vsaj kakšno besedo.
Bilo je nekakšno pomi-
lovanje. »Ubogi . . .« sem
527
‘Poor…’ I could make out, followed by something unintelligible. And then again ‘poor...’ Perhaps she was saying ‘my poor chil-dren…’ She repeated this at the end of each murmur. I listened even more atten-tively and furtively obser-ved the Sensin’s face. Yes, she was expressing pity for ‘her’ relatives. Just like people do on Earth. A perfectly human response to the death of one’s rela-tives or close acquaintan-ces. Except that here the situation was reversed. The one who had died was lamenting her living relatives. Hmm? That’s a good one. I shook my head as though this explanation were too simple to accept. What I was seeing was probably real in its own way. But the fact remai-ned that this woman next to me was a Sensin, yet she was acting as though she were that woman, that dead Earthwoman, as though that dead woman
razbral, sledile so neke
nerazumljive besede. Pa
spet »ubogi . . .« Menda je
rekla: ubogi moji otroci…
To je ponavljala na koncu
vsakega mrmranja. Še bolj
zbrano sem prisluhnil in
pri tem prikrito opazo-
val Čutinkin obraz. Da,
pomilovala je »svojce«.
Podobno, kot to počnejo
ljudje na Zemlji. Povsem
človeško odzivanje ob
smrti svojcev ali dragih
znancev. Le da je bilo tu
najbrž obratno. Tista, ki
je umrla, je pomilovala
svoje žive sorodnike. Hm?
Ta je pa dobra. Narahlo
sem odkimaval, kot da ne
morem sprejeti preveč
preproste razlage. To, kar
je bilo videti, je bilo najbrž
po svoje resnično. Toda
dejstvo je tudi bilo, da je ta
ženska ob meni Čutinka.
Vedla pa se je tako, kot da
bi bila tista ženska, tista
mrtva Zemljanka, kot da
bi tista mrtva ženska oži-
528
had come back to life and was watching her survi-ving relatives. Hmm… ‘Poor children...’ I repea-ted her words myself in a low murmur.The Sensin gave a start. Not too much though. Just a little, enough for her to notice me. ‘Was I talking too loudly?’ she asked.I shook my head. It’s true that she was a little louder than the other Sen-sins in this room, but that was the least of my pro-blems. I waved my hand and the Sensin accepted the gesture as something normal, which sugge-sted that in this case my response conformed to what she expected. She looked at me another two, three times. She was pro-bably trying to remem-ber something. But what should I say? What does one say on such occa-sions? Something com-monplace? What was commonplace for Sensins in such cases? I looked at
vela in potem gledala na
svoje preživele svojce.
Hm… »Ubogi otroci…« sem
še sam mrmraje ponovil
njene besede.
Čutinka se je zdrznila. Pa
ne preveč. Le malo, toliko,
da me je opazila. »Ali sem
preglasno govorila?« je
vprašala.
Odkimal sem. Res je bila
malce glasnejša od ostalih
Čutinov v tem prostoru,
ampak to je bil še naj-
manjši problem. Zato sem
odmahnil z roko, Čutinka
pa je to sprejela kot samo-
umevno kretnjo, tako da
sem se v tem primeru
očitno odzval po njenih
merilih. Le pogledala me je
še dvakrat, trikrat. Najbrž
bi moral še kaj pripomniti.
Toda kaj naj bi rekel? Kaj
pa se reče ob takih prilo-
žnostih? Nekaj običajnega?
Kaj je za Čutine v takih pri-
merih nekaj običajnega?
Pogledal sem po drugih
529
the other faces around me. All of them seemed more or less absent. Just like I had pretended to be a little earlier? Hmm, no, that wouldn’t be it. They don’t pretend. Should I perhaps mention some of what I had been thinking?‘I feel sorry for the chil-dren,’ I said, murmuring as though lost in thought. ‘Yes.’ The Sensin nodded. ‘Although they are all pro-vided for now, they’ve all got jobs, a regular income, families, children…’ She brushed away a tear. In her words there was a hint of a parent’s satisfaction that her children were pro-vided for. How human. She dabbed at her tears again: ‘Yes, they’ve lost their mother. It’s hard for them. It’s hard for me to see them crying.’ I replied with a slow nod. I wanted to say something but on reflection I deci-ded to keep quiet. That had worked quite well
obrazih naokrog. Bolj ali
malo so vsi delovali nekam
odsotno. Tako kot sem se
maloprej trudil delovati
tudi jaz? Hm, ne bo to, ne.
Oni se ne sprenevedajo.
Ali bi kar navrgel kakšen
del svojega razmišljanja?
»Otroci se mi smilijo,« sem
dejal, mrmraje kot v odso-
tnem razmišljanju.
»Da,« je narahlo prikimala
Čutinka. »Čeprav so že
vsi preskrbljeni, z druži-
nami, vsi imajo službe,
urejene dohodke, dru-
žine, otroke…« Obrisala si
je solze. V njenih besedah
je bilo zaznati tudi starše-
vsko zadovoljstvo s pre-
skrbljenostjo otrok. Kako
človeško.
Spet si je obrisala solze:
»Da, mamo so izgubili.
Hudo jim je. Težko gledam
njihov jok.«
Na njene besede sem se
odzval s počasnim pri-
kimavanjem. Hotel sem
sicer še nekaj pripomniti,
pa sem po premisleku
raje ostal tiho. Do zdaj
sem se še kar dobro odre-
530
up till now. I didn’t know enough about what con-stituted normal conver-sation among Sensins on such occasions to hazard a more relaxed chat. And yet… these customs of the Sensins. Or ghosts? Ghosts or Sensins? Were they, after all, one and the same thing? How was I supposed to penetrate the mystery of this civilisa-tion? Perhaps that wasn’t the right word, but at any right it was a specific ‘civilisation’. Whatever they are, they are a civili-sation of some kind, even though the Acutins don’t recognise them as living beings.A robohostess came towards me. Her appe-arance was pleasant but different from the Sensins, who had evidently ensu-red that there was a suffi-ciently visible difference between them and the robots. Hmm... Between them and the robots? She told me I had a visitor.
zal. Kaj vse sodi med obi-
čajno govorjenje Čutinov
ob takih priložnostih, mi
je bil le preveč neznano
za malo bolj sproščen
klepet. Čeprav… te navade
Čutinov? Duhov? Duhov
ali Čutinov? Naj bi bilo
to po vsem tem eno in
isto? Kako naj prodrem
v skrivnost te civiliza-
cije? Mogoče to ni prava
beseda, a vseeno gre za
določeno »civilizacijo«.
Karkoli že so, v vsakem
primeru so nekakšna
civilizacija, čeprav jih
Ostrini ne priznavajo za
živa bitja.
K meni je pristopila robo-
hostesa prijetne, vendar
drugačne zunanjosti kot
Čutini, ki so tako poskr-
beli za dovolj vidno različ-
nost med njimi in roboti.
Hm… Med njimi in roboti?
Obisk imam, mi je spo-
531
Honaja had arrived. They had come for me with our ship.I stood up quickly. I looked once again at the tearful Sensin and then set off behind the robohostess.
ročila. Honaja je prišla. Z
našo ladjo so prišli pome.
Hitro sem vstal. Še enkrat
sem pogledal objokano
Čutinko in se odpravil za
robohosteso.
532
Chapter XIV
Honaja and I were walking down the entrance corri-dor of the STORMBIRD. She had come to the aste-roid to get me but after all that I had been through I was still mentally shat-tered and I wasn’t able to relax completely, despite Honaja’s happiness at our being reunited. She had been frightened for me, she told me. That collision had been terrible. No-one knew what had happened to the others. For my part, I hadn’t even known where I was myself. I had been carried off in an unknown direction on one of the torn-off pieces of the ship-carrier. The ship-carrier had reconstituted itself rapidly – very rapidly, in fact – but before that there had been casualties. A lot of casualties, Honaja said. I nodded. I felt awkward
XIV. poglavje
S Honajo sva šla po vho-
dnem hodniku našega
VIHARNIKA. Po njenem
prihodu pome na asteroid
sem bil še kar miselno raz-
rahljan od vsega tistega
razmišljanja, po katerem
se ni mogel povsem spro-
stiti niti ob Honajinem
veselju nad najinim ponov-
nim snidenjem. Zbala se
je že zame, mi je dejala.
Presneto hudo je bilo tisto
trčenje. Nihče ni vedel
za ostale. Še zase nisem
vedel, kje se nahajam. Na
enem od odtrganih delov
ladjenosilke me je odneslo
v neznano smer. Sledilo je
sicer hitro obnavljanje lad-
jenosilke, zelo hitro, toda
pred tem so bile tudi žrtve.
In to ne v majhnem šte-
vilu, mi je navrgla Honaja.
Prikimal sem. Pravzaprav
533
because I wasn’t fully able to share her enthusiasm at our being back together. I even found myself invo-luntarily doubting the sin-cerity of her feelings. That business about the ghosts had got so far under my skin that I was simply unable to shake of the uneasy feelings that filled my mind. Eventually even her playfulness became more subdued, and that was awkward too, so I started to look for a more cheerful subject to talk about: but nothing suitable came to mind. Strange. I had never had been lost for words with Honaja before. If anything the opposite was true: the words poured from us effortlessly. They just came out, without any effort. But now I was wal-king next to her and for-cing myself to smile.
mi je bilo neprijetno, ker
se nisem v enaki meri
pridružil njenemu navdu-
šenju nad najinim sreča-
njem. Nehote sem jo celo
pogledoval z dvomom o
iskrenosti njenih čustev.
Ker tisto z duhovi se mi je
tako zalezlo pod kožo, da
se nikakor nisem mogel
otresti tesnobnih občut-
kov. Potem pa je tudi
njeno igrivo spogledova-
nje postajalo vse bolj zadr-
žano, to pa spet ni bilo pri-
jetno, zato sem začel iskati
malo bolj živahno temo
pogovora. Toda nič pri-
mernega mi ni hotelo priti
z jezika. Čudno. Prej nisem
v družbi s Honajo nikoli
imel težave zaradi pomanj-
kanja besed. Celo preveč
jih je bilo, obema so tekle
besede brez kakršnega
koli naprezanja. Same od
sebe so se nama porajale,
brez posebnega razmišlja-
nja. Zdaj pa sem hodil ob
njej in se prisiljeno nasmi-
hal.
534
“You know, Peter,” began Honaja after a pause – not a long one, but still quite disturbing, “my fatigued kinsmen in that rest cham-ber seem to have made quite a strong impression on you.”I smiled. At that moment the word “impression” seemed faintly amusing. Various blackly humo-rous witticisms occurred to me. “They seemed different from the Sensins here. I mean, different…”It was hard to explain.Honaja was smiling too as she watched me struggle to find the right word to describe a concept that was evidently not very clear to me. “There on the asteroid, they captured an Acutin,” she said. “Yes, hmm, an Acutin, yes,” I said.Honaja looked away. She had read my thoughts in a flash. It was no longer dif-ficult for me to read hers either. At least not then; I
»Veš, Peter,« je po premoru,
sicer ne pretirano dolgem,
vendar že kar motečem,
začela Honaja, »moji utru-
jeni rojaki v tistem pro-
storu za počitek so, kot
kaže, naredili nate precej
močan vtis.«
Nasmehnil sem se. Beseda
»vtis« mi je v tistem tre-
nutku delovala rahlo duho-
vito. Kar nekam humorno
obešenjaški prebliski so
me obhajali. »Malo dru-
gačni so bili videti od vas
tukaj. Mislim reči, dru-
gačni . . .« sem skušal poja-
sniti.
Tudi Honaja se je nasmeh-
nila ob mojem iskanju
ustrezne besede za meni
očitno ne najbolj jasne
pojme. »Tam, na asteroidu,
so ujeli nekega Ostrina,« je
dejala.
»Da. Hm. Ostrin, da,« sem
rekel.
Honaja je umaknila
pogled. Presneto hitro mi
je prebirala misli. Pa tudi
meni ni bilo več težko ugo-
toviti njenih. Vsaj tedaj ne;
535
had the feeling that I was not mistaken.Suddenly Honaja gave a peal of laughter. She turned towards me and shot me a playful look: “An Acutin, huh?”I didn’t know how to answer. A teasing expres-sion flitted between her eyes and the corners of her mouth. “We are not friends with the Acutins,” she went on. “You have already had an opportunity to convince yourself of that, haven’t you?” I continued to look at her without speaking. She was beautiful. Like this, the way she was talking… I couldn’t help admiring her. There was so much life in her eyes, and doubts were creeping into my already tired mind.“You talked to the Acutin, didn’t you?” Honaja didn’t actually need an answer. The que-stion was a mere formality. I could tell from her face.
imel sem občutek, da se ne
motim.
Nenadoma pa se je Honaja
zvonko zasmejala, se usta-
vila, se hitro obrnila k
meni in me igrivo pogle-
dala: »Ostrin, kajne?«
Nisem vedel, kaj naj odgo-
vorim. Nagajiva prebrisa-
nost se je poigravala zdaj v
njenih očeh, zdaj na kotič-
kih njenih ustnic.
»Z Ostrini nismo prijatelji.
O tem si se že imel prilo-
žnost prepričati, kajne?«
Še naprej sem jo gledal brez
besed. Lepa je bila. Takole,
s tem svojim nastopom…
Nisem se mogel povsem
ubraniti občudovanja,
preveč živi so bili njeni
pogledi, kar nekaj dvoma
se je vtihotapilo v moje že
precej utrjeno mnenje.
»Z Ostrinom si se pogovar-
jal, kajne?« Honaja pravza-
prav sploh ni potrebovala
odgovora. Le zgolj zaradi
lepšega mi je zastavila to
vprašanje, kot sem dovolj
536
She had already guessed everything from the way I was acting.“And what did this Acutin tell you about us? That we are ghosts?” Honaja seemed to find this funny, and she had lost none of her self-assurance. This made it even harder for me to sort out my fee-lings.She looked at me: “Do you believe in ghosts?”“Hmm,” was the only reply I could think of. “No. Actually no,” I added.“So, you see,” replied Honaja immediately. “You don’t believe!”I shook my head: “No.”Honaja smiled at me: “Then you can believe me that I am not a ghost either.”Now I had everything: a lot of information. Too much information, of every kind. And Honaja was beautiful. Incredibly beautiful.
My search for an answer
jasno razbral po njenem
obrazu. Iz mojega vedenja
je že vse uganila.
»In kaj ti je potem ta Ostrin
povedal o nas? Da smo
duhovi?« Honaji so se zdele
njene ugotovitve zabavne,
pa tudi samozavesti ni
prav nič izgubila, in to je
bila za mojo razmišljanje
tudi neke vrste obremeni-
tev.
Zazrla se je vame: »Verja-
meš v duhove?«
»Hm,« je bilo vse, kar mi
je takole na hitro prišlo iz
ust. »Ne. Pravzaprav ne,«
sem potem vseeno dodal.
»No, vidiš,« se je takoj
odzvala Honaja. »Ne verja-
meš!«
Odkimal sem: »Ne.«
Honaja se mi je smehljala:
»Potem mi lahko verjameš,
da tudi jaz nisem duh.«
Zdaj sem imel vse na kupu.
Veliko informacij. Preveč
se jih je nabralo. Vseh vrst.
Honaja pa je bila lepa. Pre-
sneto lepa.
Moje iskanje sklepa z raz-
537
– a process that involved analysing all my random thoughts and then reas-sembling them to form dif-ferent conclusions – must have been reflected in my face. I loved her. Despite everything. She was smi-ling at me. “You know, Peter,” she began again, “we are an old civilisation. So old that your word ‘tradition’ is only partly useful in our case. At least in the sense that we connect various concepts to it. Here there are certain principles, sacred to us, which in our opinion have a profound meaning. Life is sacred to us. Everything that lives is sacred to us. All living things. We nurture a deep respect for all life.”
I smiled approvingly: “Nicely put. It is nice to hear you talking like this.”“Talking? Well, all right. There are still some things I have to tell you about us,
člembo vseh naključnih
misli in potem s ponovnim
sestavljanjem različnih
ugotovitev se je moralo
zrcaliti na mojem obrazu.
Rad sem jo imel. Kljub
vsemu. Smehljala se mi je.
»Veš, Peter,« je spet začela,
»mi smo stara civiliza-
cija. Tako stara, da je
vaša beseda ‘tradicija’ pri
nas lahko samo delno
uporabna. Vsaj glede na
našo povezavo različnih
pojmov z njo. Tu so dolo-
čena, nam sveta načela, ki
imajo po našem mnenju
globok smisel. Življenje
je za nas sveto. Vse, kar je
živo, je za nas sveto. Vsa
živa bitja. Globoko spo-
štovanje gojimo do vsega
živega.«
Nasmehnil sem se, odo-
bravajoč njene besede:
»Lepo povedano. Prijetno
je slišati tako govorjenje iz
tvojih ust.«
»Govorjenje? No, prav. Še
kar nekaj stvari ti moram
povedati o nas, toda prej
538
but before that you need to know about the Acutins.” Honaja paused. I listened in silence, since altho-ugh my mind was full of doubts I didn’t have anything worth saying.“That Acutin talked to you about their nuclear war, didn’t he?” she asked.I nodded. “Yes, he men-tioned it. And also those survivors, were supposed to be the best among them according to their criteria at the time.”“Yes, they were supposed to be their best warriors. But the problem is not so much the over-emphasis on certain abilities that formed the basis of their choice. A bigger problem was caused by an unfor-tunate coincidence. Above all, the fact that the group of survivors was very small in number. Only a few dozen individuals in total.”“What? Only a few dozen?” Such a small number came as a surprise
še o Ostrinih.« Honaja je
umolknila. Seveda sem
prisluhnil, saj nisem mogel
kar na hitro dodati kakšne
smiselne pripombe,
čeprav se mi je porajalo
precej pomislekov.
»Najbrž ti je tisti Ostrin
govoril tudi o njihovi jedr-
ski vojni?« je vprašala.
Prikimal sem. »Da, omenil
jo je. In tudi tiste preživele,
ki naj bi bili po njihovih
tedanjih kriterijih najboljši
med njimi.«
»Da, bili naj bi najboljši
vojaki. Pa ni toliko problem
v izjemno poudarjenih
sposobnostih na podlagi
take izbire. Večji problem
je v nesrečnem naključju.
Predvsem je bila preživela
skupina zelo maloštevilna.
Le nekaj deset posamezni-
kov vsega skupaj.«
»Kaj? Samo nekaj deset?«
Tako majhno število je bilo
zame presenečenje. »Razu-
539
to me. “I had understood that there were some tens of thousands of them.”“Oh yes? The Acutins don’t like talking about this number or about their chosen ones, for whom emotional suppression if not actual emotionlessness is an innate characteristic. They were already aware of this at the time of their test selection, but at that time the most important thing for them was the ability to react rapidly in conditions of war. A whole range of important abilities that the average Acutin possessed were missing in the mem-bers of this elite. They were genuinely handica-pped in the sphere of the emotions. And not only in the emotional sphere. And then these surviving Acutins continued the development of their civi-lisation with a deep belief in the superiority of their own elite minority and in their mission. They forged
mel sem, da jih je bilo nekaj
desettisočev.«
»A tako? Ostrini se nič kaj
radi ne pogovarjajo ne o
tej številki ne o teh svojih
izbrancih, ki jim je bila
čustvena zavrtost, če že
ne brezčutnost, prirojena.
To so sicer vedeli že v času
testnega izbiranja, a je bilo
zanje tedaj najpomemb-
nejše hitro odzivanje v
vojnih razmerah. Cel kup
pomembnih sposobnosti,
ki jih je sicer imel povpre-
čen Ostrin, je manjkal tem
izbrancem. Že kar pravi
kriplji so bili na čustve-
nem področju. Pa ne samo
na čustvenem. In potem so
ravno ti preživeli Ostrini
nadaljevali razvoj njihove
civilizacije v globokem
prepričanju o superiorno-
sti lastne elitne manjšine
in o svojem poslanstvu.
540
myths about the abilities on the basis of which they had been chosen. And they simply “forgot” about the warning signs pointing to their weaknesses. What they actually did was mini-mise their importance and push them to the margins of their thinking, until over time these views of theirs became habit, which they later called tradition. And this has become this tradition based on lore that they mention so often, as you have already heard for yourself. It was like this until they met us. Or to be more precise: to begin with we lived for quite a long time as neighbours with relatively little contact between us. Nevertheless, we slowly got to know each other better and we began to see this defect of theirs increasingly clearly. We also mentioned it to them, in a very circumspect way. We are an older civi-lisation and we are fami-liar with the development
Prave mite so skovali o
sposobnostih, na podlagi
katerih so bili izbrani. Na
opozorilne slabosti pa so
kar ‘pozabili’. Pravzaprav
so jim najprej zmanjševali
pomen in jih odrivali na
obrobje svojega razmi-
šljanja, vse dokler jim sča-
soma niso te njihove opre-
delitve prešle v navado,
ki so jo pozneje preime-
novali v tradicijo. In to je
zdaj ta tradicija na podlagi
izročil, ki jo tako pogosto
omenjajo, kot si lahko že
slišal. Tako je bilo, dokler
se niso srečali z nami. Ozi-
roma, natančneje, sprva
smo še precej časa živeli
kot sosedje z bolj malo
medsebojnih stikov. Kljub
temu pa smo vse bolj in
bolj spoznavali drug dru-
gega in mi smo lahko vse
jasneje ugotavljali to nji-
hovo hibo. Zelo previdno
smo jim jo potem tudi ome-
nili. Mi smo starejša civili-
zacija, ki pozna razvojno
pot mnogih drugih civi-
541
paths of many other civi-lisations on different pla-nets. We know what was lost in that nuclear war of theirs. And we told them how they could remedy individual weaknesses. At first they listened to us. It even appeared that they were going to agree to gradual genetic supple-mentation. But then they got bogged down in a dis-pute about deviating from their tradition. Then they started asking themselves what derived from genes and what from loyalty to their values, their tradi-tion, which some of them once again began to stress at the top of their voices. A powerful group emer-ged claiming that pro-gress could be achieved without modifying genes, and finally the whole busi-ness was complicated by a growing exaltation of their own development. It ended with them claiming that it was us who should
lizacij na različnih plane-
tih. Vemo, kaj je bilo izgu-
bljeno v tisti njihovi jedr-
ski vojni. In povedali smo
jim, kako lahko odpravijo
posamezne slabost. Sprva
so prisluhnili. Kazalo je
celo, da bodo pristali na
postopno gensko dograje-
vanje. Pa so potem obstali
v nekakšnem prerekanju
glede takega odmika od
njihove tradicije. Nastalo
je še vprašanje, kaj izvira
iz genov in kaj iz zvestobe
svojim vrednotam, svoji
tradiciji, ki so jo nekateri
njihovi posamezniki začeli
ponovno na ves glas pou-
darjati.
Nastala je močna skupina,
ki je trdila, da je napredek
možno doseči brez spre-
minjanja genov, nazadnje
pa se je vse skupaj zaple-
tlo ob rastočem veličanju
njihovega lastnega razvoja
s končno ugotovitvijo, da
bi oni morali spremeniti
542
be changed and not them. That is when the pro-blems started. They hadn’t understood anything. Eve-rything we had told them about themselves, they rejected as unacceptable. All of a sudden, nothing about us was right any longer. Everything bothe-red them. And in the end they decided that only they could be responsible for future development and that we could never be, although we had told them much about our civilisation, considera-bly older than theirs. We have travelled a path of development that is longer than theirs and much more thorough. Not as narrow as theirs, oriented only towards the technology of war, but also in the spheres of the arts and new forms of life. Particularly with regard to the latter we are at an incomparably higher level of development than them. Yet they reject this fact both through a simple
nas in ne sebe. Potem se
je začelo. Razumeli niso
nič. Kar smo jim povedali
o sebi, so vse zavračali kot
nesprejemljivo. Kar naen-
krat jim ni bilo na nas nič
več prav. Vse jih je motilo.
In na koncu so ugotovili, da
so edino oni lahko nosilci
nadaljnjega razvoja, mi pa
nikakor ne, čeprav smo
jim veliko povedali o naši
civilizaciji, znatno starejši
od njihove.
Daljšo kakor oni in dosti
bolj temeljito razvojno
pot smo naredili. Ne tako
ozko, usmerjeno le v vojno
tehnologijo, temveč tudi
na področju umetnosti in
novih oblik življenja. Zlasti
glede slednjih smo mi na
neprimerno višji razvojni
stopnji kakor oni. To dej-
stvo pa zavračajo tako s
preprostim zanikanjem,
543
denial that alternative forms of life could also be acceptable for them, and by denying our higher level of civilisation as a whole, with the result that the differences between us have merely intensified, right up to their attempt to break into our energy fields.”“Would capturing your energy fields have guaran-teed them superiority over you?” I asked.“They cannot capture them. But some of them are utterly convinced of their skills as warriors, and this is the result of coun-tless myths from what they call their history, although the majority of them were invented later by magni-fying and distorting rela-tively minor incidents and turning them into utterly unbelievable sto-ries. We have carried out an analysis of the origin of these stories. Their
da bi bile tudi zanje spre-
jemljive drugačne oblike
življenja, kot tudi z zaniče-
vanjem naše višje civiliza-
cijske stopnje v celoti, tako
da so se razhajanja med
nami samo še stopnjevala,
vse do njihovega poskusa
vdora na naša energetska
polja.«
»Ali bi jim osvojitev teh
vaših energetskih polj
zagotovila premoč nad
vami?« sem vprašal.
»Saj jih ne morejo osvojiti.
Toda nekateri med njimi
so povsem prepričani
o svojih bojnih in osva-
jalskih sposobnostih, to
pa je posledica neštetih
mitov iz njihove, kot pra-
vijo, zgodovine, čeprav so
si jih večino šele nakna-
dno izmislili oziroma
so nekatere sorazmerno
malo pomembne dogodke
tako poveličali in spre-
menili, da so potem iz
njih nastale že povsem
neverjetne zgodbe. Nare-
dili smo analizo nastanka
teh zgodb. Vojskovodij
544
ancestors also had many military leaders, and thus a basis of this kind does exist. But many of the brilliant exploits of indi-viduals are to a considera-ble extent the fruit of later imagination. Owing to the constant presence of these legends in their everyday lives, some Acutins have already lost a sense of rea-lity. Then some extremists found themselves, as you say on Earth, in the right place at the right time, and this is when they deci-ded to try and break into our energy fields. As you have seen, they did con-siderable damage to us, but they were not able to break through our protec-tion. It is hard for us to understand what can have given them such an idea. They deciphered some data about us and that was enough for them to decide to attack.”
“But now you can’t get into your energy fields
so res imeli tudi njihovi
predniki veliko, tako da
obstaja tovrstna podlaga.
Toda pri tem so številna
bleščeča dejanja posame-
znikov v znatni meri le
plod kasnejše domišljije.
Zaradi nenehne prisotno-
sti teh legend v njihovem
vsakdanjem življenju so
nekateri Ostrini že izgu-
bili občutek za realnost.
Potem se je nekaj skraj-
nežev znašlo na kupu ali,
kot pravite na Zemlji, ob
pravem času na pravem
mestu. Sledil je poskus
vdora na naša energet-
ska polja in naredili so
nam, kot si lahko videl,
kar precej škode, a naše
zaščite le niso prebili.
Težko razumemo, kako
jim je sploh prišlo na
misel kaj takega. Nekaj
malega podatkov o nas
so dešifrirali in že so se
odločili za napad.«
»Toda tudi vi ne morete
zdaj na svoja energetska
545
either. There is no denying that it was a serious attack,” I said, referring to the danger represented by the Acutins. Judging from Honaja’s words, she unde-restimated them a little too much, at least in the military sphere. From my point of view the victor in this war of theirs was by no means clear.But Honaja shook her head: “They cannot vanquish us. Even on the battlefield we are a match for them. These energy fields were merely an advantage. The real shame is that this will only become appa-rent after a conflict, after a war that could be avo-ided of we were to rele-ase our forces from those energy fields. Even so, all is not yet lost. We can still ensure peace, which is so vital for the survival of you Earthmen.”“Why for us?” I asked.“Because the fighting will also take place in your part of the galaxy, and
polja. Vsekakor je to bil
hud napad,« sem rekel z
namenom, da bi nakazal
nevarnost Ostrinov, ki jih
je Honaja, po njenih bese-
dah sodeč, le malo preveč
podcenjevala, vsaj glede
vojaškega področja. Zame
morebitni zmagovalec v
tej njihovi vojni nikakor ni
bil povsem razviden.
Toda Honaja je odkima-
vala: »Ne morejo nas pre-
magati. Tudi na bojnem
polju se lahko kosamo z
njimi. Ta energetska polja
so bila le naša prednost.
Škoda je bolj v tem, ker
se bo to pokazalo šele po
spopadu, po vojni, ki bi se
ji lahko izognili, če bi spro-
stili naše sile iz tistih ener-
getskih polj. Sicer pa še ni
vse izgubljeno. Še vedno
lahko zagotovimo mir, ki
je tako nujen za preživetje
vas Zemljanov.«
»Zakaj pa nas?« mi je ušlo.
»Ker bodo boji potekali
tudi v vašem predelu
vesolja, tam pa, kjer bodo
546
where there are conflicts nothing will be left alive. Your whole planet will be destroyed. We must pre-vent this.”“Er, yes,” I mumbled. That could also be true. Although perhaps Honaja was exaggerating a little. I wasn’t simply going to believe something like that just because she said it. On the other hand, with all the terrible weaponry that both Acutins and Sen-sins had at their disposal, it wouldn’t take much to destroy life on Earth. A catastrophe might even happen by mistake. Damn it! Even so, Honaja was exaggerating. I could sense it somehow. But that didn’t alter the fact that the whole business was extre-mely problematic.“It seems very odd that a highly developed civilisa-tion should concern itself only with building its military potential,” I said
spopadi, ne bo ostalo nič
živega. Ves vaš planet bo
uničen. To moramo pre-
prečiti.«
»Hja, hm,« sem zamomljal.
Tudi to bi bilo lahko res.
Čeprav je Honaja morda
nekoliko pretiravala. Česa
takega ji le nisem mogel
verjeti kar tako. Po drugi
strani pa ob vsem tem
silnem orožju, ki ga imajo
tako Ostrini kot Čutini,
ne bi bilo potrebno prav
dosti za uničenje življe-
nja na Zemlji. Najbrž bi se
katastrofa lahko zgodila
tudi po pomoti. Presneto.
Honaja vendarle pretirava.
Nekaj takega občutka sem
le imel. Kakor koli, vse
skupaj je skrajno proble-
matično.
»Prav čudno se zdi, da se
neka visoko razvita civili-
zacija tako ozko usmeri le
v izgradnjo svojega voja-
škega potenciala,« sem
547
doubtfully. “Still, it’s a good thing that at least you have followed a normal evolutionary path.”
“Yes,” agreed Honaja with a smile, as she watched the changes in my expres-sion. My words certainly weren’t entirely convin-cing: at that moment they coincided with what I actu-ally thought, but the rest of time they probably didn’t. So many things needed to be taken into account and I wasn’t capable of saying anything more specific, despite my best efforts. I sighed helplessly. This wasn’t how things were either.
Honaja continued to observe me. Once again she immediately guessed what I was thinking. “Look Peter, there are no longer any obstacles. It is no longer necessary for me to conceal anything from you. You have seen our battles. You had to. Now
navrgel enega od svojih
dvomov. »No, da, še dobro,
da ste vsaj vi šli po bolj nor-
malni evolucijski poti.«
»Da,« je z nasmehom pri-
trdila Honaja in opazo-
vala spremembe izraza
na mojem obrazu. Seveda
nisem bil povsem prepri-
čljiv s svojimi besedami,
ki so bile le za trenutek v
skladu z mojim razmišlja-
njem, sicer pa najbrž ne,
kajti marsikaj je bilo treba
upoštevati, jaz pa nisem
mogel reči česa bolj dolo-
čenega, čeprav sem se
trudil. Narahlo sem puhnil
iz sebe v nekakšni nemoči.
Vse namreč tudi ni bilo
tako, ker se stvari potem
niso ujemale z druge
strani.
Honaja me je še naprej
motrila. Spet je takoj uga-
nila moje misli. »Peter, glej,
saj ni več nobenih ovir.
Ničesar več mi ni treba
skrivati pred tabo. Videl
si naše bitke. To si moral
548
you know how quickly the Earth’s destruction could come about. After all you have seen, this must be clear to you. We are on the side of peace. Not only that: we have also main-tained peace right up until now, and will continue to do so. You too can con-tribute something to this. And since you Earthmen cannot bypass this con-flict between us and the Acutins, we have to work together. Up until now we have relied more on your powers of perception and your ability to follow your feelings. We knew that you would be able to per-ceive our friendly feelings towards you Earthmen, and that has been enough until now.” Honaja was talking very calmly. And confidently. She seemed sincere when she continued:”Peter, our native planet, where our people now live, is quite far away. We are pioneers. When we reached a high
videti. Zdaj veš, kako hitro
lahko pride do uničenja
Zemlje. To ti je po vsem
tem moralo postati jasno.
Mi smo za mir. Pa ne le to.
Mi smo mir vse do zdaj
tudi vzdrževali in ga bomo
še naprej. Nekaj pa lahko
k temu prispevaš tudi ti.
In ker tudi vi Zemljani ne
morete mimo tega spora
med nami in Ostrini,
moramo delovati skupaj.
Doslej smo se zanašali bolj
na tvoje čutno zaznavanje
in na tvoje razmišljanje
po občutku. Vedeli smo,
da boš zaznal naše prija-
teljsko nagnjenje do vas
Zemljanov, to je doslej tudi
zadostovalo.«
Honaja je govorila zelo
umirjeno. In tudi samo-
zavestno. Delovala je
iskreno, ko je nadaljevala:
»Peter, precej daleč je naš
rojstni planet, kjer še zdaj
živijo naši rojaki. Mi pa
smo pionirji. Ko smo dose-
549
level of development we built great spaceships for voyages lasting thousands of years. And thus it was that one of these ships arrived here, where we are now. We arrived here before the Acutins. They came later. We were the first alien civilisation they had encountered, so that this was something new for them. For this reason they responded to us very rationally. They were very friendly during our first encounters and we accep-ted them as our neigh-bours. There is enough space here for us, for them, and for the people of Earth too. We left them in peace, since the proxi-mity of other civilisati-ons is actually agreeable to us, while at the same time they represented no danger to us. We main-tained our acquaintance at occasional encounters at which we gradually got to know each other thro-
gli visoko stopnjo razvoja,
smo zgradili velike vesolj-
ske ladje za tisočletna
potovanja. In tako je ena
teh ladij prispela tudi sem,
kjer smo zdaj. Še pred
Ostrini smo prišli. Oni
so prišli pozneje. Mi smo
bili prva tuja civilizacija,
ki so jo srečali, tako da je
bilo to zanje nekaj novega,
zato so se nam odzvali zelo
razumsko, prav prijatelj-
ski so bili ob naših prvih
srečanjih in mi smo jih
sprejeli kot svoje sosede.
Prostora je tu dovolj, za nas,
zanje in tudi za Zemljane.
Pustili smo jih v miru, saj
je za nas celo prijetna bli-
žina drugih civilizacij, pa
tudi nikakršne nevarno-
sti niso pomenili za nas.
Vzdrževali smo poznanstva
z občasnimi srečanji, na
katerih smo se postopno
spoznavali v medsebojnih
pogovorih, hodili smo na
obiske drug k drugemu.
550
ugh discussions, and we would visit each other. A considerable amount of time passed like this, and everything suggested that lasting neighbourly relati-ons had been established. We all had enough of eve-rything and there was no apparent need to change anything. It is true that some on our side warned that we should be careful because the Acutins were beginning to catch us up in terms of technology. The warnings also related to their military tradition, imbued with legends full of cruelty and veneration of military leaders. And yet all our analyses of the comparability of their military potential with ours indicated that we had a sufficiently large advan-tage. Everything appeared to be in order. According to estimates, surprises were not possible either. Then came that unexpected attack or attempt to break into the energy fields, and
Tako je minilo precej časa
in vse je že kazalo na trajno
zastavljene dobrososedske
odnose. Vsi smo imeli vsega
dovolj, nobenih potreb po
spreminjanju česar koli ni
bilo videti. Res so nekateri
z naše strani opozarjali na
nujno previdnost, ker so
nas Ostrini začeli tehno-
loško dohitevati. Opozo-
rila so se nanašala tudi na
njihovo vojaško tradicijo,
prežeto z legendami, pol-
nimi okrutnosti in čašče-
nja vojskovodij. Vendar so
vse naše analize primerlji-
vosti njihovega in našega
vojaškega potenciala
kazale našo dovolj veliko
prednost. Vse je bilo videti
v redu. In po naših ocenah
niti presenečenja niso
bila možna. Potem pa je
prišlo do tistega nepriča-
kovanega napada oziroma
poskusa vdora na ener-
getska polja, to pa je takoj
551
that immediately conver-ted the formerly peaceful neighbourly coexistence into a state of hostility. Why did you do it, we immediately asked them at the first negotiations. But all of a sudden they dragged up arguments based on some studies and analyses that they had car-ried out and insisted that their ridiculous findings were correct.”
“Where did they get such an idea from?” I asked, shaking my head at the behaviour of the Acutins towards the friendly Sen-sins. Everything seemed to be based on artificial con-structs. Suddenly curious, I asked: “What did they actually come up with?”
My fingers toyed with Honaja’s wrist as we exchanged glances. Whe-never she looked at me I could feel her emotional warmth, but not always with the same intensity:
spremenilo dotlej mirno
sosedsko sobivanje v sovra-
žno stanje. Zakaj ste to sto-
rili, smo jih vprašali takoj
na prvih pogajanjih. Pa so
kar naenkrat privlekli na
dan argumente, zasnovane
na nekakšnih njihovih pre-
učevanjih in analizah ter
vztrajali na pravilnosti teh
svojih bedastih spoznanj.«
»Kako jim je sploh prišlo
kaj takega na misel?« sem
vprašal in zmajal z glavo
nad obnašanjem Ostrinov
do prijateljsko naravnanih
Čutinov. Vse je stalo na
nekih konstruktih, zato
sem v utrinku radovedno-
sti navrgel: »In kaj so si
pravzaprav izmislili?«
Moji prsti so se v rahlih
stiskih poigravali s Honaji-
nim zapestjem, medtem ko
sva si izmenjavala poglede,
ob katerih sem vedno
znova začutil njeno člove-
ško toplino, pa čeprav ne
ves čas enako, ker jo je pre-
552
she was having to choose her words carefully and this inhibited what would otherwise have been an entirely spontaneous demonstration of her fee-lings. After my initial reserve, when my mind was still full of ghosts, I was now trying to express my own feelings more openly.
“Peter, you have already realised that our relations with the Acutins are not simple, but it is probably more difficult for you to imagine the dimensions of these differences. You probably haven’t even con-sidered the possibility that the difference between us and the Acutins is grea-ter than, for example, the difference between us and human civilisation on Earth.”
I nodded my head to indi-cate my provisional accep-tance of this possibility: “That your differences
mišljanje o ustrezni izbiri
besed zadrževalo pri sicer
že povsem spontanem
izkazovanju čustev, ki sem
jih jaz med tem srečanjem
po začetni zadržanosti
zaradi razmišljanja o duho-
vih zdaj že spet skušal izra-
žati vse bolj sproščeno.
»Peter, da naša razmerja z
Ostrini niso preprosta, si
že sam spoznal, toda raz-
sežnosti teh nasprotij si
najbrž bolj težko predsta-
vljaš. Verjetno niti pomi-
slil nisi na možnost večje
različnosti med nami in
Ostrini, kot je na primer
razlika med nami in člove-
ško civilizacijo na Zemlji.«
Zmignil sem z glavo, češ
da pogojno sprejemam
tako razmišljanje: »Da so
553
have brought you to a state of war is something I alre-ady know. Conflicts over specific advantages are something that are familiar to us too. That you and the Acutins are also different in other ways is something that I have only recently realised, and the situation is still not entirely clear to me.” I smiled, feeling sli-ghtly embarrassed. “There are quite a few things here that are difficult to recon-cile. What is it that most bothers the Acutins?”
“Our endorsement of dif-ferent forms of life,” was Honaja’s immediate reply, without hesitation.“Oh yes?” Various thoughts fla-shed through my brain. It really was difficult for me to reconcile that busi-ness with the ghosts and Honaja. Unpleasant was perhaps a better word. Suddenly a possible inter-nal difference occurred to me: That among the Sen-
vas nasprotja pripeljala v
vojno stanje, že vem. Tudi
spori zaradi določenih
prednosti mi niso tuji. Da
pa ste si z Ostrini tudi sicer
različni, sem lahko spo-
znal šele v zadnjem času,
čeprav povsem jasne pred-
stave še vedno nimam.«
Nasmehnil sem se v rahli
zadregi. »Kar precej stvari
je tu bolj težko spraviti v
sklad. In kaj pri vsem tem
najbolj moti Ostrine?«
»Naše zagovarjanje različ-
nih življenjskih oblik,« je
bil takojšnji Honajin odgo-
vor, brez premišljanja.
»A tako?« V hipu so mi zle-
teli različni pomisleki skozi
možgane, ker to s tistimi
duhovi in Honajo mi je
bilo res težko uskladiti,
pravzaprav je bilo zame
bolj neprijetno kot težko.
Nenadoma sem pomislil
na morebitno notranjo
različnost. Da so med
554
sins there were ghosts and but also “different” Sen-sins, like Honaja for exam-ple. That was a pleasant thought. That would make everything a lot easier. I wouldn’t have anything against these “different” Sensins, since they hadn’t troubled me up till now. At least not excessively.
“In the Acutins’ opinion,” continued Honaja, “our merging with the human form of life on Earth is demeaning. For them it means acknowledging the equality, if not the supe-riority, of primitive races. In vain we explained to them that this wasn’t true, and that all we take from people are their passions, their longings. Yes, Peter, human longings refresh us. Human existence is rich in feelings and when we take over your already exhausted souls, empty, drained of feelings, they reanimate us because they forces us to build our own
Čutini duhovi in zraven še
drugačni Čutini, taki, kot
je na primer Honaja. Kar
prijetna misel. Tako bi bilo
potem vse skupaj dosti
lažje. Nič ne bi imel proti
»drugačnim« Čutinom, saj
me že doslej niso motili.
Vsaj ne pretirano.
»Naše združevanje s člo-
veško obliko življenja na
Zemlji,« je nadaljevala
Honaja, »je po mnenju
Ostrinov ponižujoče. Bilo
naj bi priznavanje ena-
kovrednosti primitivnim
rasam, če že ne večvre-
dnosti. Zaman smo jim
razlagali, da nič takega
ni res in da prevzemamo
od ljudi le njihove strasti,
njihova hrepenenja. Da,
Peter, človeško hrepene-
nje nas osvežuje. Člove-
ška bit je bogata v svojem
čustvovanju in kadar pre-
vzamemo od vas že izžeto
dušo, prazno, izpraznjeno
čustev, nas prav tako poži-
vlja, ker nas sili v hitro
555
personalities and beca-use this provokes creati-vity in us, which fills us with life once again. This means that we are in con-stant transformation, first because of our merging with an interesting human personality, a being full of life, full of every type of existential responses, from wrath and rage to happiness and joy, and then because of our union with an empty, dull crea-ture, with such misery in it that resistance to accep-ting such a thing into our ourselves inflames us even more. And yet all that the Acutins have been able to ascertain from all of these varied forms of life of ours is that we are merely the robots of some very deve-loped civilisation, nothing more. In their opinion the only logical explana-tion for our behaviour is that all the members of the crew of our pionee-ring fleet died and that only we robots were left,
lastno izgrajevanje oseb-
nosti in ker v nas izzove
ustvarjalnost, to pa nas
spet napolni z življenjem.
Tako smo v stalnem preo-
blikovanju, enkrat zaradi
združitve z zanimivo člo-
veško osebnostjo, z bitjem
polnim življenja, polnim
vseh vrst življenjskih odzi-
vov, od gneva in besa do
veselja in življenjskih rado-
stih, drugič zaradi spoji-
tve s prazno, nezanimivo
kreaturo, s tako bedo v
njej, da nas odpor proti
sprejemanju česa takega
vase še bolj razvname.
Ostrini pa so iz vseh teh
naših pisanih oblik življe-
nja lahko ugotovili le to, da
smo zgolj roboti neke, sicer
zelo razvite civilizacije,
nič drugega. Po njihovem
mnenju je v našem poče-
tju logično le to, da so vsi
člani našega pionirskega
ladjevja pomrli, ostali smo
556
along with programs for maintaining life, and the-refore we sought a specific living species with which to establish symbiosis. In the Acutins’ opinion, the living representatives of highly developed civili-sations would never have done something like this. This is of course non-sense. And yet such thin-king may well be the most natural thinking for the representatives of a civi-lisation that is as arrogant and inward-looking as that of the Acutins.” Honaja’s explanation had the effect of making eve-rything even less clear than it had been before. All the explanations seemed, if not convincing, at least possible, although I did not like the Acutins’ definition of the Sensins as robots, which would of course mean that Honaja was a robot. I wasn’t con-vinced by it either. Yet in the end, Honaja’s expla-nation was also possible.
le roboti skupaj s programi
za vzdrževanje življenja, in
zato smo si poiskali dolo-
čeno življenjsko vrsto, s
katero naj bi potem vzpo-
stavili simbiozo. Resnično
živi predstavniki višje raz-
vitih civilizacij po mnenju
Ostrinov nikoli ne bi
počeli česa takega. To je
seveda nesmisel. Čeprav
je tako nadutim in vase
zagledanim predstavni-
kom neke civilizacije, kot
so Ostrini, tako razmišlja-
nje prav lahko najbližje.«
Ob tej Honajini razlagi mi
je postajalo vse skupaj še
manj jasno, kot mi je bilo
prej. Vse razlage so bile
videti če že ne prepričljive,
pa vsaj možne, čeprav mi
ostrinovsko opredeljeva-
nje Čutinov kot robotov,
kar bi seveda pomenilo,
da je Honaja robot, ni bilo
prav nič všeč, kakor tudi ni
bilo posebno prepričljivo.
Na koncu koncev pa bi res
bila možna tudi Honajina
557
It was equally difficult to accept that no truly living beings would have chosen the form of development adopted by the Sensins. There was too much Acutin arrogance in this explanation.“All these forms of life are certainly very interesting,” I said finally, after a short pause.“Yes, Peter, much can be interesting,” replied Honaja. “There are many forms and each of them has its own advanta-ges, which for the casual observer can be difficult to understand.”“And do you Sensins know some other form of life in more detail?” I smiled, this time a little more easily, because I already had too many of these findings and opinions in my head.
“Yes, there is one other interesting form of life,” said Honaja, with a myste-rious smile. “We know quite a lot about you
razlaga. Da se nikakršna
res živa bitja ne bi odločila
za razvojno obliko Čuti-
nov, je bilo prav tako težko
sprejeti. Preveč nadutosti
Ostrinov je bilo čutiti v tej
razlagi.
»Res so zanimive vse te
oblike življenja, da,« sem
naposled dejal po kratkem
premisleku.
»Da, Peter, marsikaj je lahko
zanimivo,« je takoj živahno
povzela Honaja. »Veliko
oblik je in vsaka med njimi
ima svoje prednosti, ki pa
so postranskemu opazo-
valcu prav lahko bolj težko
razumljive.«
»Mar Čutini poznate
pobliže še kakšno obliko
življenja?« Nasmehnil
sem se, to pot malo bolj
sproščeno, ker se mi je že
preveč nabralo vseh teh
ugotovitev in mnenj.
»Da, še ena oblika življe-
nja je zanimiva,« je dejala
Honaja z igrivo skrivno-
stnim nasmehom na ustni-
cah. »Kar precej vemo o
558
Earthmen, about huma-nity, about people on Earth. Some of our findings are very amusing. You have already achieved a level of development that involves quite complex demands on the individual, and yet you still use merely a tiny percentage of your intel-lectual capacities. With you, building the perso-nality is subordinated to more random occurren-ces. In this we are quite different from you. This is actually the key to the gre-atest differences between our two civilisations. Building the personality is, for us, simultaneously a science and an art. We enjoy building ourselves. Naturally you cannot do this in the same way that we do, but you could do a great deal more. We know the abilities of individual Earthmen; it is not merely about their passions, their sensuality, but also about their dormant characteri-stics. We absorb them into
vas Zemljanih, o člove-
štvu, o ljudeh na Zemlji.
Nekatera spoznanja so
prav zabavna. Dosegli ste
že razvojno stopnjo z dokaj
zapletenimi zahtevami
do posameznika, vendar
še vedno ostajate pri zelo
majhnem odstotku izkori-
ščanja svojih umskih zmo-
gljivosti. Tudi izgradnja
osebnosti je pri vas pod-
vržena bolj naključnemu
dogajanju. Mi se v tem
kar precej razlikujemo
od vas. Pravzaprav tu leži
ključ največjih razlik med
našima civilizacijama.
Izgradnja osebnosti je za
nas znanost in umetnost
hkrati. Uživamo v svojem
izgrajevanju. Seveda tega
ne morete početi enako
kot mi, toda lahko bi nare-
dili veliko več. Poznamo
sposobnosti vaših posa-
meznikov, ne gre le za
njihove strasti, za njihovo
čutnost, ampak tudi za nji-
hove speče lastnosti. Mi jih
prevzemamo vase in jih
559
ourselves and then build on them according to our customs.”
“How do you do that?”“That is something that would be difficult to explain in just a few words. And anyway you do not need to know that. You yourselves will gradually discover how it is possible to make better use of your abilities. And of course, as you can probably imagine, the individual’s diligence is not enough here. It is necessary to know how to do it.”“I see,” I said. “I think that most people would certainly do something in this direction if they knew how to. That is to say, if they could. Or as far as I know they would. Could you give us some of this knowledge?”
Honaja laughed: “We Sen-sins have more passion, sensuality and longings than you Earthmen, and
nato izgrajujemo po naših
običajih.«
»Kako pa to dosežete?«
»Tega se ne da povedati v
nekaj besedah. Pa saj ti niti
ni treba vedeti. Sami boste
postopno odkrivali, kako
je mogoče bolje izkoriščati
svoje sposobnosti. Seveda
pa, kakor najbrž domne-
vaš, posameznikova pri-
dnost pri tem ne zadostuje.
Vedeti je treba, kako se to
počne.«
»Hja,« sem povzel, »po moje
bi večina prav gotovo že
kaj naredila v tej smeri, če
bi vedela, kako, se pravi,
če bi mogla. Vsaj kolikor
jaz vem. Ali bi nam vi
lahko dali kaj tovrstnega
znanja?«
Honaja se je zvonko
zasmejala: »Več strasti,
čutnosti in raznih hre-
penenj imamo mi Čutini
kakor Zemljani, in na
560
it is on this basis that we build our personalities. There are many differen-ces between us. But you Earthmen also have many different passions and yearnings in you which you have to harmonise logically with the enviro-nment in which you are situated. In this you are very amusing. At least to the outside observer.” Her voice became more seri-ous: “Until, of course, a confusion occurs in the interweaving of your pas-sions with your intellect, when finally you don’t know what will prevail. We on the other hand are better able to control our-selves.”
“How did you achieve that?”“We had to. Otherwise, by taking over all the impulses of a murderously inclined individual, one of us could have caused a massacre among us. And naturally we could not
tej podlagi izgrajujemo
svoje osebnosti. Tu je
precej razlik med nami,
da. Ampak tudi Zemljani
imate v sebi nemalo različ-
nih strasti in hrepenenj,
ki jih morate smiselno
usklajevati z okoljem, v
katerem se nahajate. Pri
tem ste prav zabavni. Vsaj
gledano od strani.« In
zresnjeno je nadaljevala:
»Seveda, dokler ne pride
do zmešnjave pri preple-
tanju vaših strasti z razu-
mom, ko na koncu ne
veš, kaj bo prevladalo. Mi
se imamo bolj pod kon-
trolo.«
»In kako ste to dosegli?«
»Morali smo. Saj bi sicer s
prevzemom vseh nagnjenj
katerega od vaših morilsko
nagnjenih posameznikov
lahko kdo od nas povzro-
čil pravi pomor med nami.
Tega seveda nismo mogli
561
allow that. We have also obtained sufficient expe-rience. We have developed the right mental systems.”“And so you can take from a human being his pas-sions, emotions and eve-rything that defines the individual and build on this with your own kno-wledge in order to build a personality and in this way obtain a new living being?” I guessed. “Yes. We have alre-ady achieved quite good results in this direction.” Honaja seemed to be enjo-ying herself. “Very good results.”“But you could send kno-wledge of this kind to some other planet via any data transfer medium and then build a civilisation similar to yours on this basis? Would this kno-wledge be enough on its own? You wouldn’t need anything else?”“Yes, it could be enough.”
dopustiti. Pa tudi dovolj
izkušenj smo si pridobili.
Prave miselne sisteme smo
si izoblikovali.«
»Torej lahko človeku
odvzamete strasti, čustvo-
vanje in sploh vse, kar
določa posameznika, ter
to nadgradite s svojim zna-
njem za izgradnjo osebno-
sti in tako dobite novo živo
bitje?« sem ugibal.
»Da, precej dobre rezultate
smo že dosegli v tej smeri.«
Honaja je očitno uživala
pri tem odgovoru. »Zelo
dobre.«
»Toda tovrstno znanje bi
lahko poslali na kakšen
drug planet prek kakr-
šnega koli medija za prenos
podatkov in na tej podlagi
potem zgradili civilizacijo,
podobno vaši? Ali bi zado-
stovalo zgolj to znanje? Nič
drugega?«
»Da, lahko bi zadostovalo.«
562
“And if you were a civi-lisation of this kind, how would I distinguish you, or recognise you?”“You wouldn’t. Even for us it is almost impossible.” Honaja put her arms round me and pulled herself towards me. She was now completely relaxed and clearly enjoyed being with me, but I was not entirely comfortable.“But from what you have told me,” I began doubt-fully, “I can assume that if this knowledge was already present aboard the ship you came here on, and if the crew died…”
Honaja laughed again, more heartily this time. Everything was clear to her. Not only that, she found my doubts amusing. She transmitted such self-assurance through those few glances when she saw how difficult it was for me to express my thoughts.
“It is right for you to give
»In če bi vi bili take vrste
civilizacija, kako bi vas
ločil, spoznal?«
»Nikakor. Še nam komaj
uspeva.« Honaja se me je
oklenila z rokami in se pri-
žela k meni. Zdaj je bila že
povsem sproščena, očitno
ji je bilo všeč ob meni, a
meni ni bilo najbolj prije-
tno.
»Toda po tem, kar si pove-
dala,« malce sem pomislil
v dvomu, »lahko domne-
vam, da bi v primeru, če bi
že bilo tako znanje na vaši
ladji, s katero ste prišli, in
bi posadka pomrla . . .«
Honaja se je spet zasmejala
z živim, zvonkim glasom.
Vse ji je bilo jasno. In ne
le to. Moj pomislek jo je
zabaval. Veliko samoza-
vesti je prišlo iz nje skozi
tistih nekaj iskrivih pogle-
dov, ko je opazovala, kako
težko mi je izraziti svoja
spoznanja.
»Prav je in tudi zelo lepo,«
563
your imagination free rein.” Her voice became slightly patronising. “Many things are possible. Very many. Too many for us to com-prehend everything quic-kly. But thinking about all these possibilities is fun in its own way, isn’t it?”
Once again I had to repeat my noncommit-tal “Hmm”. Honaja’s last comment had started an amusing, though slightly confused train of thought. “Amusing?” I ran my eyes over her face. There was nothing robotic about her. Nothing. Abundant femi-ninity was all that she tran-smitted. An abundance of life. No doubt of mine could seriously connect her to any kind of robot. Not even that explana-tion of the Acutins accor-ding to which the crew of Sensins were supposed to have died and left the development of their civi-lisation to be continued by robots. Because in that
njen glas je postajal za
kanček pokroviteljski, »da
pustiš domišljiji prosto
pot. Zelo veliko stvari
je možnih. Zelo veliko.
Preveč za hitro dojetje
vsega. Po svoje pa je razmi-
šljanje o vseh teh možno-
stih zabavno, kajne?«
Spet sem moral pono-
viti svoj »hm.« Zadnja
Honajina pripomba me
je nenadoma preusme-
rila na nekakšno zabavno
področje na rahlo zme-
deni podlagi. »Zabavno!?«
Pogled mi je zdrsnil po
njenih licih. Nič robot-
skega ni bilo na njej. Nič.
Le obilje ženskosti je pri-
hajalo iz nje. Obilje življe-
nja. Noben moj pomislek
je ni mogel resnično
povezati z nikakršno
robotinjo. Tega ni mogla
niti tista razlaga Ostrinov,
po kateri naj bi posadka
Čutinov pomrla, nakar
naj bi razvoj njihove civi-
lizacije nadaljevali roboti.
Ker potem bi bila Honaja
564
case Honaja would be a robot, and that was some-thing I simply couldn’t accept. Just as I couldn’t accept the idea that she was a ghost. And yet some doubts still remained… I was starting to get irri-tated. And now she was suggesting that thinking about all this was amu-sing for her. Hah! Maybe. If I were able to ponder all these things somewhere on Earth, lying on a sofa, I would probably have found it amusing too. But I have to participate here. There is going to be fighting here: there is going to be a war. Actually I was already a participant in this war. I was even one of the key participants, and yet even now it was not entirely clear whether I was on the right side. Well... That tho-ught... Where had it come from? Why wouldn’t I be on the right side? What sort of doubt… I already knew something about all of this, that was true
robot, to pa se mi je zdelo
nesprejemljivo. Tega pre-
prosto nisem mogel spre-
jeti, kakor tudi tega ne,
da bi bila le duh. Čeprav
mi je kakšen pomislek le
ostal… Celo vznejevoljil
sem se. Vsaj po svoje. In
zdaj mi je še navrgla, da
je razmišljanje o vsem
tem zanjo zabavno. Hja.
Morda. Če bi o vsem
tem lahko razmišljal kje
na Zemlji, na kavču, bi
najbrž res lahko bilo
zabavno. Toda jaz moram
tukaj sodelovati.Tu bodo
spopadi, tu bo vojna.
Pravzaprav sem že med
udeleženci te vojne. Celo
eden ključnih udeležen-
cev sem, pa mi še zdaj ni
popolnoma jasno, ali sem
na pravi strani. No, da…
Ta misel… Od kod se mi je
vzela? Zakaj naj ne bi bil
na pravi strani? Kakšen
dvom… Nekaj že vem o
vsem skupaj, to vsekakor.
565
at any rate. But I couldn’t be completely sure, since after all some of the expla-nations of that Acutin had seemed quite pertinent. Very pertinent, in fact. If Honaja had not been there, I probably would not have been able to decide. Even now it was hard. I shook my head to try and get rid of the nagging thought that perhaps I should be helping the Acutins...
“Peter,” began Honaja once again, “don’t worry your-self by thinking too much. It is better to let yourself by guided by your fee-lings, as people usually do when things are not clear in the rational sense.” I nodded and looked doub-tfully at Honaja: “You know, relying on your feelings is also more...” I paused. “Even thinking about this subject can be amusing. Like your
Ampak popolnoma sto-
odstotno se le ne morem
opredeliti, kajti neka-
tere utemeljitve tistega
Ostrina so se mi vendarle
zdele precej umestne.
Presneto umestne. Če ne
bi bilo Honaje, se najbrž
sploh ne bi mogel odlo-
čiti. Še zdaj se težko odlo-
čim. Med rahlim odki-
mavanjem sem ustavil ta
svoja razmišljanja. Morda
bi vseeno moral pomagati
Ostrinom . . .?
»Peter,« je spet spregovorila
Honaja, »nikar se ne obre-
menjuj s pretiranim razmi-
šljanjem. Raje se prepusti
ravnanju po občutku, kot
običajno počnete ljudje,
ko vam stvari niso v celoti
razumsko jasne.«
Prikimal sem in se dvou-
mno zazrl v Honajo: »Veš,
to razmišljanje na osnovi
občutkov je tudi bolj tako…
tako…« Malce sem pomol-
čal. »Tudi razmišljanje na
to temo je lahko zabavno.
566
consideration of various possibilities. You never get to the end of them... How many stupid decisi-ons people make just like that – on the basis of fee-lings.”“And important ones too.” A smile continued to play on Honaja’s face. “At least when you have no other possibility left than to trust your feelings, it is easier to do so.”“That’s true. If you can.”“Of course, sometimes there is no other way.”
* * *
Lost in thought, I obser-ved the distribution of the various conflicts shown in the holo-display. Thou-sands of battles were alre-ady taking place across all the boundary areas separating the Sensins and
Kot tista tvoje razmišlja-
nje o različnih možnostih.
Zlepa jim ne prideš do
konca. Koliko neumnih
odločitev sprejmejo ljudje
kar tako - po občutku.«
»Pa tudi pomembnih.« Na
Honajinih ustnicah se je
še kar naprej poigraval
nasmešek. »Vsaj ko ti ne
ostane nič drugega kot
odločanje po občutku, se
lažje odločiš po njem.«
»Hja, no, da. Če se že
moraš.«
»Seveda, včasih ne gre dru-
gače.«
* * *
Zamišljeno sem opazoval
v holiju prikazano prostor-
sko razporeditev spopadov.
Na tisoče bitk je potekalo
po vseh mejnih ploskvah
med Čutini in Ostrini, a
567
Acutins, and new conflicts continued to flare up in hitherto calm areas. Fla-shes and sparks appeared in the holo-display and spread out rapidly in all directions. These sparks meant the explosion of powerful nuclear weapons or energy bombs made of antimatter. Thousands or perhaps millions of them must have exploded in these mutually destructive battles between Sensins and Acutins. And before the glow of an individual explosion had time to die down, new flashes appea-red next to it in the form of brightly shining sphe-rical lights – or at least that is how they appeared in the holo-display. Each of these lights, with the release of its enormous energy, could have destro-yed all life on Earth. Both Sensins and Acutins have more than enough of these bombs. Judging from the flashes in the display, bil-lions of them had already
so se še vedno vnemali
novi spopadi na dotlej
mirnih področjih vesolja.
Zaiskrilo se je v holiju in
iskrenje se je bliskovito
razširilo v vse smeri. Te
iskre so pomenile eksplo-
zije močnih jedrskih ali
energetskih bomb, ver-
jetno iz antimaterije. Na
tisoče, morda na milijone
jih je moralo eksplodirati
v tej medsebojno uničujo-
čih se bitkah med Čutini
in Ostrini. In še preden
je ugasnil sij posamezne
eksplozije, se je v neposre-
dni bližini prikazalo novo
iskrenje v obliki močno
svetleče kroglaste lučke,
tako je bilo videti v holiju.
Vsaka od teh lučk bi lahko s
sprostitvijo svoje ogromne
energije uničila vse življe-
nje na Zemlji. Tako Čutini
kot Ostrini so imeli več
kakor dovolj takih bomb.
Sodeč po svetlikanju v
holiju, jih je najbrž eksplo-
diralo že na milijarde. Mili-
568
exploded. A billion didn’t mean much at this scale. And the Earth meant even less. It was so vulnerable.
* * *
I brushed Honaja’s cheek with my lips and moved down her neck with slow kisses.“Honaja!”“Yes, Peter?”“If the opening of your energy fields leads to a re-establishing of the balance of power and, consequen-tly, to peace...”“…everything will be like before, Peter.”“Like before?”“Yes. What’s troubling you?”“Us, Honaja. Will we go our own way too?”Honaja did not answer, she
jarda ima v teh vesoljskih
razsežnostih bolj majhen
pomen. Zemlja pa še manj-
šega. Tako ranljiva.
* * *
Z ustnicami sem se dota-
knil Honajinega lica tik
pod ušesi in s počasnimi
poljubi zdrsnil po njenem
vratu.
»Honaja!«
»Da, Peter.«
»Če bo odprtje vaših
energetskih polj prineslo
ponovno vzpostavitev rav-
novesja sil in s tem mir . .
.«
»… bo vse po starem,
Peter.«
»Po starem?«
»Da. Kaj te moti pri tem?«
»Midva, Honaja. Bova šla
tudi midva vsak po svoje?«
Honaja ni odgovorila, le
569
just moved a little closer. I pulled her towards me.“What about your hus-band?”“My husband?”“And this similarity between me and him? It still isn’t clear to me how this is possible.”“Peter, you know, as I have already told you, that in our civilisation we devote the greatest attention to building personality.”“Yes, that’s interesting. With us on Earth this is merely something that sort of forms itself. Some indi-viduals talk loudly about it, there are even “experts” on it, although as far as I can tell they don’t meet with much of a response. But it is certainly some-thing that people think about.”“I know, Peter. I know your conditions. The basic struggle for survival is still too present among you for you to be capable of self-building in a more natural way.”
malo bolj se je privila k
meni, pa sem jo še sam sti-
snil k sebi.
»Kaj pa tvoj mož?«
»Moj mož?«
»In ta podobnost med
mano in njim? Še vedno mi
ni jasno, kako je to sploh
mogoče.«
»Peter, veš, kot sem ti že
povedala, mi posvečamo
izgradnji osebnosti v naši
civilizaciji največ pozor-
nosti.«
»Hm. Zanimivo, da. Pri nas
na Zemlji je to zgolj nekaj,
kar se tako ali tako samo
oblikuje, čeprav neka-
teri posamezniki glasno
govorijo o tem, tudi stro-
kovno, vendar brez mno-
žičnega odziva, ki bi ga
jaz zasledil. Gotovo pa se
o tem precej razmišlja.«
»Vem, Peter, poznam vaše
razmere. Osnovni boj za
preživetje je pri vas še
vedno premočno priso-
ten, da bi bili zmožni bolj
sproščenega samoizgraje-
vanja.«
570
“I don’t know. It would be hard for me to say anything more definite about this. And then there is the fact that to date no-one has ever complai-ned to me about their own personality. As far as I can tell, we are more bothered about the shortcomings of the people around us than about our own.” Tickled at my own wit-ticism, I carried on in the same vein: “Well, of course, if we asked an individual on Earth about the personalities of the people around him, he would certainly agree they urgently needed further development or even a complete overhaul, since most of them are hope-less cases. Everyone on Earth could immediately provide you with a list of acquaintances who are sui-table candidates for a total overhaul.” I laughed at my own wit but stopped when
»Ne vem, glede tega bi
težko rekel kaj bolj dolo-
čenega. Poleg tega se mi
doslej še nihče ni pri-
toževal nad svojo oseb-
nostjo. Kolikor vem,
nas bolj motijo slabosti
raznih oseb v naši bli-
žini kot naše lastne.«
Posmejal sem se svojemu
duhovičenju in ker je bila
ta moja ugotovitev zame
zabavna, sem moral še
dodati: »No, seveda. Če bi
posameznika na Zemlji
vprašali, kakšne osebno-
sti so ljudje okoli njega, bi
se prav gotovo strinjal, da
je nujna njihova nadaljnja
izgradnja ali da je pripo-
ročljiva celotna prenova,
saj gre večinoma za brez-
upne primere. Vsakdo
na Zemlji bi ti prav hitro
naštel nekaj svojih znan-
cev kot kandidate za
celotno prenovo.« Skoraj
užival sem v svoji duho-
vitosti, temu primerno
sem še sproščeno zasme-
571
I saw Honaja’s serious face. “Perhaps we are too flippant about this issue, but it is evidently difficult to change anything in this sphere. We don’t actually know how to,” I added.
“You could do a lot more, although a small percen-tage of you have already achieved something.” Honaja smiled for a moment and then became serious again: “You said that the affinity between my husband and you inte-rests you.”I nodded: “Yes, of course.” I had thought about the possible connection between their practice of building personality and the similarity between me and Honaja’s late hus-band, but I hadn’t found anything I could really get hold of.“You know, Peter, unlike the Acutins we are a lot more open to accepting different forms of life.”
jal, nato pa sem se spričo
Honajine zadržanosti
ponovno umiril. »Vem, da
smo glede tega vprašanja
nekoliko preveč neresni,
toda na tem področju je
očitno težko kar koli spre-
meniti. Tega pravzaprav
niti ne znamo,« sem dodal.
»Lahko bi naredili dosti
več, čeprav vam je nekaj
že uspelo, sicer v manjših
odstotkih.« Honaja se je
nekaj trenutkov smehljala
in se spet zresnila: » Soro-
dnost mojega moža s tabo
te zanima, si rekel prej.«
Prikimal sem: »Da, seveda.«
Pomislil sem na morebitno
zvezo med njihovo prakso
izgradnje osebnosti in
podobnostjo med mano
in pokojnim Honajinim
možem, pa nisem našel
ničesar res oprijemljivega.
»Veš, Peter, v nasprotju z
Ostrini smo mi dosti bolj
odprti za sprejemanje raz-
ličnih oblik življenja.«
572
“Different forms of life?” I repeated. Perhaps this was what it was really about. Honaja was clearly dif-ferent from, for example, that female Sensin there in “purgatory”, or whate-ver it was, but at the same time equating Honaja with some robotic form was not something I could accept. There was no possible comparison either with robots or with ghosts. I couldn’t have done it even if I had wanted to. It was all very complicated. And then there was this que-stion of Honaja’s husband. And building persona-lities. Perhaps it was all connected somehow.
“When it comes to under-standing different forms of life, problems most commonly arise because we are too isolated, and on the basis of experience and specific knowledge we leap too quickly to superficial conclusions. It’s a pity we don’t have
»Različnih oblik življe-
nja?« sem ponovil. Res
bi lahko šlo prav za to.
Honaja je bila izrazito dru-
gačna na primer od one
Čutinke tam v Vicah ali
karkoli je že bilo tisto, pa
tudi kakršno koli enače-
nje Honaje z nekakšnimi
robotskimi oblikami
zame ni bilo sprejemljivo.
Ne z roboti in ne z duhovi
se je ni dalo primerjati.
Tudi če bi načrtno hotel,
ne bi mogel. Je pa vse
skupaj zapleteno. In tu je
še vprašanje Honajinega
moža. Pa izgradnja oseb-
nosti. Vse skupaj naj bi se
morda medsebojno pove-
zovalo.
»Pri razumevanju raz-
ličnih oblik življenja se
najpogosteje pojavljajo
težave zaradi naše preve-
like odmaknjenosti, ko na
podlagi izkušenj in dolo-
čenega znanja prehitro
prihajamo do površnih
sklepov in ugotovitev.
Škoda, ker nimava dovolj
573
enough time. I would love to initiate you in our art of building the personality.”“Won’t it be possible later?”“It will, but I wish I could give you a closer under-standing of our civilisation now, so that you can love it as I love it.” “Well of course if you belong to this civilisation, that already means a lot to me. In a way your civili-sation is already dear to me...”Honaja smiled: “We have grown very close to each other in this short time, haven’t we?”“We’ll be able to see each other once peace has been re-established, won’t we? If the opening of your energy fields can re-esta-blish peace...”“Of course. In our case they will have to make an exception.”“And what does your late husband still mean to you?”“Actually, it is getting
časa. Prav rada bi te vpe-
ljala v našo umetnost
izgrajevanja osebnosti.«
»Ali kdaj pozneje ne bo
možno?«
»Bo, toda želela bi ti že zdaj
približati našo civilizacijo,
da bi jo imel rad, kot jo
imam rada jaz.«
»No, seveda, če ti pripadaš
tej civilizaciji, to zame že
veliko pomeni. Po svoje
mi je vaša civilizacija že
blizu. «
Honaja se je nasmehnila:
»Zelo sva se zbližala v tem
kratkem času, kajne?«
»Gotovo se bova lahko
dobivala tudi po vzposta-
vljenem miru, kajne? Če
bo odprtje vaših energet-
skih polj lahko zagotovilo
mir...«
»Seveda, v najinem pri-
meru bodo morali dopu-
stiti izjemo.«
»In kaj tebi še vedno
pomeni tvoj pokojni
mož?«
»Pravzaprav vaju vse težje
574
harder and harder for me to distinguish between the two of you. You are very similar. We Sensins inter-pret the building of perso-nality very freely. We have the necessary knowledge for this, and also enough experience. But every individual makes his own decisions about how to continue building his per-sonality. This is something in which we differ signifi-cantly from you Earthmen, although we still have an unbelievable amount of things in common. For you Earthmen your perso-nality is built on the basis of wishes and abilities, but also passions and the given circumstances into which you are thrown. We Sensins know all this. But with us it is different: besi-des our basic self, deter-mined by evolution, other living beings live in us. We transfer most of these into ourselves after their death,
ločujem. Zelo podobna
sta si. Mi Čutini jemljemo
izgradnjo osebnosti zelo
svobodno. Imamo sicer
za to potrebno znanj, pa
tudi že dovolj izkušenj.
Toda vsak posameznik
se sproti odloča o svojem
nadaljnjem osebnostnem
izgrajevanju.
Tu se sicer pomembno
razlikujemo od vas
Zemljanov, četudi nam
ostaja še neverjetno
veliko skupnega. Zemlja-
nom se osebnost izgrajuje
na podlagi hotenj in spo-
sobnosti, pa tudi strasti in
danih okoliščin, v katere
ste vrženi. Mi Čutini vse
to poznamo. Toda v nas
živijo poleg našega osnov-
nega jaza, podanega skozi
evolucijo, še drugi živa
bitja. Večino od teh pre-
nesemo vase po njihovi
smrti, nekatere zveze,
575
but we also establish some connections with living individuals – although these are rarer because we are prohibited from distur-bing the evolution of less developed civilisations.”“And your husband esta-blished such a connection with me?”“It didn’t bother you, did it?”“No. I never noticed anything. At least not until you came for me.”
Honaja smiled at this admission. “It’s not so simple. Even for me it was not simple when I lost him. I knew about you, because he mentioned you often. But I did not know how deep the tie was between you, and above all how alive it was. We can transfer into ourselves all the pas-sions and inclinations of the chosen individual, but how much of this we then allow to come to life in us is another question. Often
sicer bolj redke zaradi
prepovedi motenja evolu-
cije manj razvitih civiliza-
cij, pa vzpostavimo tudi z
živimi posamezniki.«
»In tvoj mož je vzpostavil
tako zvezo z mano?«
»Saj te ni motilo?«
»Ne. Ničesar nisem opazil.
Vsaj dokler niste prišli
pome.«
Honaja se je nasmehnila
ob tem mojem priznanju:
»Ni tako preprosto. Tudi
zame ni bilo preprosto,
ko sem ga izgubila. Vedela
sem zate, ker te je pogo-
sto omenjal. Kako glo-
boka je vez med vama, in
predvsem kako živa je, pa
nisem vedela. Vse strasti
in nagnjenja lahko iz izbra-
nega posameznika pre-
nesemo vase, koliko tega
potem pustimo, da v nas
zaživi, je pa drugo vpraša-
nje. Pogosto je odvisno od
576
it depends on the time involved, but we always act according to our arti-stic sense for creating the personality. That means that it was impossible for me to estimate the degree of similarity between the two of you.”
“And what is this degree?” I asked automatically.Honaja looked at me mischievously: “What do you think?”“Did he like you?”“Yes,” she nodded. “Well, you are so beautiful that your husband could have got his liking for you from someone else, not only from me.”“Yes. But he didn’t.”“How do you know?”“I know!”“Hmm.”“Peter, you Earthmen live in us and you live for a good long time. The trans-fer takes place after the death of the Earthman. But in some cases the situ-ation is like this one with you and my husband.”
časovnih obdobij, vedno
pa se ravnamo po našem
umetniškem čutu za
ustvarjanje osebnosti. Zato
je bilo zame nemogoče
oceniti stopnjo podobno-
sti med vama.«
»In kakšna je?« mi je ušlo z
jezika.
Honaja me je hudomušno
pogledala: »Kaj misliš?«
»Si mu bila všeč?«
»Ahm,« je prikimala.
»No, ti si tako lepa, da bi
tvoj mož nagnjenje do tebe
lahko pobral tudi od koga
drugega, ne le od mene.«
»Ja. Pa ni.«
»Kako veš?«
»Vem!«
»Hm.«
»Peter, Zemljani v nas
živite in tudi preživite kar
lep čas. Prenos se izvrši po
smrti Zemljana. V nekate-
rih primerih pa je zadeva
taka kot s tabo in mojim
možem.«
577
“Ah!” Various doubts nagged at me again. That purgatory of theirs kept troubling me. It couldn’t be the real purgatory. Although it was hard to say what it actually was. “Honaja, you know, that business of yours in the asteroid cloud… it’s hard for me to call it ‘purga-tory’...”She giggled, slightly awk-wardly, it seemed to me. “It’s a kind of halfway sta-tion. No-one has complai-ned so far about their stay there. Quite the opposite. Most of them called it a very interesting idea. We have succeeded quite well in all of this, at least in the opinion of people from Earth.”“A halfway station? Why halfway?”“Peter, we Sensins do not own all the truth in the universe. But we do know how to do quite a number of things. We have already done a lot.”“Oh yes?”
»Huh!« Spet so me obšli
razni pomisleki. Tiste nji-
hove Vice so me vedno
znova vznemirjale. Prave
Vice že ne morejo biti.
Čeprav bi težko rekel,
kaj sploh so. »Honaja, veš,
tisti vaši zadevi v astero-
idnem oblaku bi težko
rekel Vice…«
Zahehetala se je. Kar malo
poredno. In rekla: »Neka-
kšna vmesna postaja so.
Nihče se doslej še ni prito-
ževal nad postanki v njih.
Celo nasprotno. Večina jih
je označila kot zelo zani-
mivo pogruntavščino. Kar
precej se nam je vse to
posrečilo, vsaj po mnenju
ljudi z Zemlje.«
»Vmesna postaja? Zakaj pa
vmesna?«
»Peter, Čutini si ne lastimo
vse resnice vesolja. Znamo
pa kar nekaj stvari narediti.
Že dosti smo jih naredili.«
»A tako?«
578
“Peter…” Honaja looked me in the eyes: “we are going to have to get going. They are waiting for us. The path to the energy fields will still be in our hands for a little longer, but then the fighting will overwhelm these sectors too.”
“Yes, of course.” I nodded. The danger appeared all too convincing. It would be good to hear what the Acutins had to say about all of this, but now there was clearly no more time. But how convinced they were that they were right! On the grounds that this was wrong. Things like these experiments of the Sensins. In their own way, the doings of the Sensins were unusual to say the least. How I wished I could just think things over for a little longer. But according to Honaja most people con-sidered the Sensins’ opera-tions “an interesting idea”.
»Peter,« Honaja se mi je
zagledala v oči, »morala
bova iti. Čakajo naju. Nekaj
časa bo pot do energetskih
polj še v naših rokah, toda
potem bodo boji zajeli tudi
te predele.«
»Da, seveda.« Prikimal
sem. Presneto prepri-
čljiva nevarnost se je
nakazovala. Sicer bi bilo
dobro slišati še Ostrine,
kaj pravijo o vsem tem,
toda zdaj očitno ni več
časa. Ampak kako hudir-
jevo so tudi oni prepri-
čani, da imajo prav! Češ
da se tega ne dela. Takih
stvari, kot so eksperi-
menti Čutinov. Po svoje je
početje Čutinov vseeno
nenavadno. Ko bi lahko
vsaj še malo premislil o
vsem tem. Toda po Hona-
jinih besedah je večina
ljudi označila delovanje
Čutinov kot zanimivo
pogruntavščino. Ostrini
579
And the Acutins continue to call them robots. On the other hand the Acu-tins are so self-sufficient that for this reason alone they could be dangerous to Earthmen. Because we Earthmen held no value for them. They had recon-ciled themselves to the fact that we were harmless to them. And what will happen once I have got through all those tests and barriers and opened the way into the energy fields? I will probably be on my own at that point. I will be able to decide according to what seems most reaso-nable. But no. Honaja was too convincing. In the end there really was enough room for everyone in the universe; as far as it was possible to judge, before all the present complicati-ons at the entrance to the energy fields, peace rei-gned in this part of space. It lasted for a long time. A very long time. And it was very possible that it would
pa jih vztrajno zmerjajo
z roboti. Po drugi strani
pa so Ostrini tako samo-
zadostni, da so že zgolj
zaradi tega lahko nevarni
za Zemljane. Saj Zemljani
nimamo zanje nobene
vrednosti. Le s tem, da jim
nismo v škodo, so se spri-
jaznili. In kaj bo potem,
ko bom prišel skozi tista
vhodna preverjanja in
skozi vse zapore ter spro-
stil vhod v energetska
polja..? Takrat naj bi bil
brez nadzora. Odločil
se bom lahko, kot se mi
bo zdelo najpametneje.
Toda ne. Honaja je bila
preveč prepričljiva. Na
koncu koncev je v vesolju
res za vse dovolj prostora;
kolikor je mogoče preso-
diti, je pred vsemi seda-
njimi zapleti na vhodu
v energetska polja v teh
predelih vladal mir. Dolgo
je trajal. Zelo dolgo. In
prav lahko, da bo kmalu
580
soon reign again, and for even longer. That was it: I had to open up the entran-ces to the energy fields. I had to do this for them. And for myself. And for Honaja…
THE END
spet trajal še dlje. Prav,
sprostiti moram tiste nji-
hove prehode do ener-
getskih polj. To moram
storiti zanje. In zase. In za
Honajo . . .
KONEC