The Stone God Awakens

"I can question the cat-people about him. They will know whether or not he is the stone god," Shegnif said. "Since they acknowledge him as the god come to life, I do not believe that they will call him a liar. Let us assume that his story is true."

"That he is, indeed, a god?" Ghlikh said, unable to suppress all the scorn he felt.

"There is but one god," Shegnif said, eyeing Ghlikh closely. "Only one. Or would you deny that? Those who live on The Tree say that The Tree is the only god. What do you say?"

"Oh, I agree with you that there is only one god," Ghlikh said quickly.

"And that is Nesh," Shegnif said. "Right?"

"Nesh is truly the only god of the Neshgai," Ghlikh said.

"That is not the same thing as saying that there is only one god, the god of the Neshgai," Shegnif said. He smiled, exposing a white-walled mouth, white gums and the four molars. He lifted a big glass of water in which was a glass tube and sucked water through the tube. Ulysses was surprised; he had seen the Neshgai suck water up their prehensile trunks and blow it into their mouths. But this was the first time he had seen one use a straw tube. Later, he saw them drink directly from glasses which had narrow mouths designed to go between their tusks.

Shegnif put the glass down and said, "Never mind. We do not require that non-Neshgai worship Nesh, since his concern is only with the worship of his sons and he would refuse to be worshiped by any but them. I find you to be rather shifty, Ghlikh. Be more direct in the future. Leave it to us slow-moving, slow-thinking Neshgai to be circuitous!"

He smiled again. Ulysses began to think that he could like the Grand Vizier.

Shegnif asked Ulysses more detailed questions. Finally, he told them that they could sit down, and the officers let themselves down gently into the chairs. Ulysses sat on the edge of one, his feet dangling. He did not look as small and pitiful as Ghlikh, however, who resembled a small bird squatting at the entrance to a large cave.

Shegnif put the tips of his banana-sized fingers together and frowned as much as an eyebrowless person could frown.

"I am amazed," he said. "You must be the living source of a myth which originated unguessable mille

"The Wufea found you at the bottom of a lake which had been in existence for many thousands of years. There is not much doubt that they found a stone statue which looked like you. Even the evasive bat-man here confirms that. But did you know that you have been above ground many times before the Wufea found you? And lost or stolen many times?"

Ulysses shook his head.

The Grand Vizier said, "You have been the god, or the central focus, of more than one religion. You have been the god of a little primitive village of one species or another, and have sat on your chair, petrified, while the little village became the great metropolis, the capital, of a highly civilised empire. And still sat there while the empire was shattered, and the civilisation crumbled, and the people died, and there were only ruins inhabited by lizards and owls around you."

"My name is Ozymandias," Ulysses murmured in English. For the first time, his English sounded foreign to him.

"What?" Shegnif said, looking over his spectacles and down his proboscis at him.

"I was only talking to myself in a language that has been dead for millions of years, Your Viziership," Ulysses said.

"Ah, yes?" Shegnif said, his small greenish eyes lighting up. "We'll see that it's recorded by our scholars. In fact, we plan on keeping you very busy for some time. Our scientists have been informed about you, and they ca

"That is interesting," Ulysses said. Was he going to be nothing but a laboratory specimen to these people? "But I have much more to contribute than recordings of the past. I have a very definite present and future use. I may be the key to the survival of the Neshgai."

Ghlikh looked strangely at him. Shegnif, lifting his trunk, said, "Our survival? Indeed? Tell me more!"

"I would prefer to speak when the Dhulhulikh is not present."

Ghlikh shrilled, "Your Viziership, I protest! I have remained silent, as you wished, while this human told his lying story of his purported adventures in The Tree! But I can keep silent no longer! This is very serious! He is imputing sinister motives to us Dhulhulikh, who only want to live in peace with everybody and to engage in a business profitable for everybody!"

"No judgement has been delivered," Shegnif said. "We will hear the statements of everybody, including your colleague, Khyuks. In fact, the others are being interviewed even now, and I will read summaries of the interviews later today. By the way, and this will interest you, too, bat-man, we have records which indicate the stone god was once here. He certainly looks like the stone god. And he is just as certainly not one of our humans. You have noticed the full head of straight hair and the five toes, I presume?"

"I did not say he was a slave or a Vroomaw, Your Viziership," Ghlikh said.

"Well for you that you did not," Shegnif said.

He spoke into an orange wooden box before him, and the big doors swung open. Ulysses wondered if they had a form of radio. He had not noticed any ante

Shegnif stood up and said, "We will continue this tomorrow. I have more urgent business to attend to. However, if you can prove what you said about your being the key to our survival, I will listen to every word. I can arrange a special interview with you late this evening. But you had better not be wasting my time, which is very valuable."

"I will speak with you this evening," Ulysses said.

"Am I to have no chance to defend myself?"

Ghlikh wailed.

"Every chance, as you well know," Shegnif said. "Don't ask questions which do not need asking. You know I am busy."

Ulysses was led back to the barracks room but Ghlikh was taken to another room where, apparently, Khyuks was also kept. The last of the interviewers, teams of humans and Neshgai, were leaving just as Ulysses returned.

Awina hurried to him, saying, "How did it go, Lord?"

"We are not in the power of altogether unreasonable beings," he answered. "I have hopes that we will become the allies of these people."

The boxes which held the bombs had not been taken away from them. In fact, they still had all their weapons. If they were allowed to keep them because the Neshgai were contemptuous of them, they might yet show the Neshgai that they should not take some things for granted. One bomb should blast open the locked doors to this room, and a few more might kill and shake enough of the elephantine creatures to allow the party to get to the harbour. And there they could seize a galley, which should be relatively easy to operate. Or, if they wanted to get far away, they could seize a sailing ship, of which there were plenty in the harbour. And which, he suspected, had auxiliary vegetable engines.

But there was no sense in doing this except as a last resort. If the Neshgai intended to kill or enslave them, they would surely have seized their weapons. He would issue orders that his men should resist if they were asked to surrender their arms. And he would tell them his plans for escaping if this happened.

In the meantime, he would see what developed with the Neshgai. He needed them as much as they needed him. He had the knowledge and the drive, and they had the materials and the perso

That evening, an officer who introduced himself as Tarshkrat came for him. He followed the billowing cloak of the giant into the office of Shegnif. The Grand Vizier asked Ulysses to sit down and offered him a dark winy liquid. Ulysses accepted it with thanks but did not drink much. Even that little made his veins sing.