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.“That would be the easiest way,” he said after a short silence.“Easy?” Noren echoed in bewilderment.Stefred was usually so perceptive.“It would be easiest,” Stefred repeated, “but if you elect that course, I’ll thank you not to do so under the illusion that I advised it.I thought you knew me better by now, but if you don’t, at least bear in mind what we established a few minutes ago.The work, vital though it is, remains part of a larger whole.”“But if I’ve used study as a shield against.problems,” protested Noren, “they’re problems related to our work! They’re connected with—with fulfillment of the Prophecy; if I face them, I’ll be more absorbed by that than ever.I don’t see the comparison you’re drawing.”“I don’t suppose you do,” Stefred conceded.“You are very young, and martyrdom still has its appeal.” He leaned forward, saying gently, “Under other circumstances I would not go into this when you’re unready to work it out on your own.In one brief talk I’m having to cover ground that should be explored over a period of weeks, perhaps years—and it’s unfair to demand a decision that you are not mature enough to make with full understanding.Yet in the real world I’m bound not by what should be, but by what is, and the events of the moment force us to decide Talyra’s future today.”Noren, thoroughly baffled, gave up the attempt to resolve the issue and asked humbly, “Will you help me, Stefred?”“If you mean will I choose the shape of your life for you, no.But I’ll tell you my own view of it.” He turned toward the window, looking out beyond the City to the open land that he himself had not walked upon since youth.Slowly he said, “I’ve been quite frank about our hope for you as a scientist, a hope that was born during your childhood when Technicians under our direction watched you and subtly encouraged you in the path of heresy.Grenald is not the only one who believes you’ll someday be instrumental in achieving the breakthrough that’s been sought since the First Scholar’s time.But you were not brought here to be an extension of the computer complex.You are a human being with the right and the responsibility to become enmeshed in human problems, personal problems.You must make sacrifices, yes—we all must, for we are stewards of our people’s heritage, and the ultimate survival of the human race rests upon us.But we do not sacrifice our humanity.We do not give up the thoughts and feelings and relationships of our individual lives.If we did, our dedication would in the end be self-defeating; we would have no more chance of fulfilling the Prophecy than computers alone would have.”Staring at him, Noren saw the Chief Inquisitor in a way he never had before, despite their weeks of friendship.Stefred himself had once been married.His wife had been a Scholar, one of the few village women to seek knowledge beyond the station in which custom had placed her.She had been killed accidentally during a nuclear research experiment.There had no doubt been children who’d become craftsworkers or farmers somewhere, proud of their status as adopted sons or daughters without dreaming that their true father still lived.Or perhaps they had become heretics; perhaps they were now Scholars themselves! Stefred would not know.Even if he had presided at their inquisitions, he would not know, for though babies were placed only with good and loving families, no records of parentage were kept.Chagrined, Noren began, “What you said about Grenald—”“Was meant merely to remind you that he too is human.”“I—I’ve oversimplified things, I guess.”“Sometimes one must in order to keep one’s balance.”“I don’t really want to, though.And I do want Talyra here if she wants to come.”“So I thought.” Stefred rose, “I’m sure you’ve guessed that I’m concerned about more today than you and Talyra, that this issue is related to a larger one.At tonight’s meeting you will learn the facts.Noren, there are two things you must go through before you learn.I would not subject you to them in quick succession if it were not an emergency.”“That’s all right,” Noren assured him, though inwardly he was already more deeply shaken than he cared to admit.The day was apparently to be as demanding for him as for Brek.* * *Several hours later, after introducing Brek to the computer room where Scholars were free to call forth any information they cared to about the Six Worlds, Noren met Stefred in the courtyard beside the inner gates that led to the City’s exit dome.“It’s best for you to be present when I interview Talyra,” Stefred had told him.“It will not be an easy thing to witness, and you won’t be allowed to speak; but she will need you, Noren.Merely seeing you will give her confidence.”Noren shuddered.It would be necessary, he knew, to determine not only Talyra’s willingness to enter the Inner City, but her ability to adapt to customs totally unlike those under which she’d been reared; and neither issue could be approached directly.“If I’m not convinced that she’ll be happy here, I shall send her away,” Stefred warned.“You will have to watch her go, knowing that you won’t see each other again, and she’ll be unaware that it might have been otherwise.Do you love her enough to endure that?”“Yes,” Noren said steadily.“But Stefred, she can’t be given enough information for her to decide whether she’ll be happy until it’s too late for her to go back.”“She won’t need information; she will judge and be judged by her feelings and her sense of values, just like a Scholar candidate, during my talk with her.”Noren frowned; Stefred’s talks with people were apt to be grueling.“Will you—test her, then?” he asked worriedly.“Yes, briefly, but there’s no danger in it; I promise you she won’t be hurt in any lasting way.”As they walked down the wide corridor that stretched toward the main Gates and outer platform where public ceremonies were held, Noren’s pulse accelerated.He had not been in this dome, nor indeed in any other, since the day of his recantation; the huge domes that ringed the area of closely spaced towers were Outer City, off limits to Scholars and Inner City Technicians [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]