Oomphel in the Sky
to come, it isprophesied beforetime." He left that seed of doubt alone to grow, andcontinued: "Now, Grandfather, speak to us about what the People believeconcerning the Terrans."
"The Terrans came to the World when my eldest daughter bore her firstchild," the old shoonoo said. "They came in great round ships, such ascome often now, but which had never before been seen. They said thatthey came from another world like the World of People, but so far awaythat even the Sky Fire could not be seen from it. They still say this,and many of the People believe it, but it is not real.
"At first, it was thought that the Terrans were great shoonoon who madepowerful magic, but this is not real either. The Terrans have no magicand no wisdom of their own. All they have is the oomphel, and theoomphel works magic for them and teaches them their wisdom. Even in theschools which the Terrans have made for the People, it is the oomphelwhich teaches." He went on to describe, not too incorrectly, thereading-screens and viewscreens and audio-visual equipment. "Nor do theTerrans make the oomphel, as they say. The oomphel makes more oomphelfor them."
"Then where did the Terrans get the first oomphel?"
"They stole it from the Gone Ones," the old shoonoo replied. "The GoneOnes make it in their place in the middle of the Sky Fire, forthemselves and to give to the People when they return. The Terrans stoleit from them. For this reason, there is much hatred of the Terrans amongthe People. The Terrans live in the Dark Place, under the World, wherethe Sky Fire and the Always-Same go when they are not in the sky. It isthere that the Terrans get the oomphel from the Gone Ones, and now theyhave come to the World, and they are using oomphel to hold back theSky-Fire and keep it beyond the Always-Same so that the Last Hot Timewill not come and the Gone Ones will not return. For this reason, too,there is much hatred of the Terrans among the People."
"Grandfather, if this were real there would be good reason for suchhatred, and I would be ashamed for what my people had done and weredoing. But it is not real." He had to rise and hold up his hands toquell the indignant outcry "Have any of you known me to tell not-realthings and try to make the People act as though they were real? Thentrust me in this. I will show you real things, which you will all see,and I will give you great secrets, which it is now time for you to haveand use for the good of the People. Even the greatest secret," he added.
There was a pause of a few seconds. Then they burst out, in a hundredand eighty-four--no, three hundred and sixty eight--voices:
_"The Oomphel Secret, Mailsh Heelbare?"_
He nodded slowly. "Yes. The Oomphel Secret will be given."
He leaned back and relaxed again while they were getting over theexcitement. Foxx Travis looked at him apprehensively.
"Rushing things, aren't you? What are you going to tell them?"
"Oh, a big pack of lies, I suppose," Edith Shaw said scornfully.
Behind her and Travis, the native noncom interpreter was mutteringsomething in his own language that translated roughly as: "This betterbe good!"
The shoonoon had quieted, now, and were waiting breathlessly.
"But if the Oomphel Secret is given, what will become of the shoonoon?"he asked. "You, yourselves, say that we Terrans have no need for magic,because the oomphel works magic for us. This is real. If the People getthe Oomphel Secret, how much need will they have for you shoonoon?"
Evidently that hadn't occurred to them before. There was a brief flurryof whispered--whooshed, rather--conversation, and then they were silentagain. The eldest shoonoo said:
"We trust you, Mailsh Heelbare. You will do what is best for the People,and you will not let us be thrown out like broken pots, either."
"No, I will not," he promised. "The Oomphel Secret will be given to youshoonoon." He thought for a moment of Foxx Travis' joking remark aboutthe Kwannon Thaumaturgical Society. "You have been jealous of oneanother, each keeping his own secrets," he said. "This must be put away.You will all receive the Oomphel Secret equally, for the good of all thePeople. You must all swear brotherhood, one with another, and later ifany other shoonoo comes to you for the secret, you must swearbrotherhood with him and teach it to him. Do you agree to this?"
The eldest shoonoo rose to his feet, begged leave, and then led theothers to the rear of the room, where they went into a huddle. Theydidn't stay huddled long; inside of ten minutes they came back and tooktheir seats.
"We are agreed, Mailsh Heelbare," the spokesman said.
Edith Shaw was impressed, more than by anything else she had seen."Well, that was a quick decision!" she whispered.
"You have done well, Grandfathers. You will not be thrown out by thePeople like broken pots; you will be greater among them than ever. Iwill show you how this will be.
"But first, I must speak around the Oomphel Secret." He groped brieflyfor a comprehensible analogy, and thought of a native vegetable, layeredlike an onion, with a hard kernel in the middle. "The Oomphel Secret islike a fooshkoot. There are many lesser secrets around it, each of whichmust be peeled off like the skins of a fooshkoot and eaten. Then youwill find the nut in the middle."
"But the nut of the fooshkoot is bitter," somebody said.
He nodded, slowly and solemnly. "The nut of the fooshkoot is bitter," heagreed.
They looked at one another, disquieted by his words. Before anybodycould comment, he was continuing:
"Before this secret is given, there are things to be learned. You wouldnot understand it if I gave it to you now. You believe many not-realthings which must be chased out of your minds, otherwise they wouldspoil your understanding."
That was verbatim what they told adolescents before giving them theManhood Secret. Some of them huffed a little; most of them laughed. Thenone called out: "Speak on, Grandfather of Grandfathers," and they alllaughed. That was fine, it had been about time for teacher to crack hislittle joke. Now he became serious again.
"The first of these not-real things you must chase from your mind isthis which you believe about the home of the Terrans. It is not realthat they come from the Dark Place under the World. There is no DarkPlace under the World."
Bedlam for a few seconds; that was a pretty stiff jolt. No Dark Place;who ever heard of such a thing? The eldest shoonoo rose, cradling hisgraven image in his arms, and the noise quieted.
"Mailsh Heelbare, if there is no Dark Place where do the Sky Fire andthe Always-Same go when they are not in the sky?"
"They never leave the sky; the World is round, and there is skyeverywhere around it."
They knew that, or had at least heard it, since the Terrans had come.They just couldn't believe it. It was against common sense. The oldestshoonoo said as much, and more:
"These young ones who have gone to the Terran schools have come to thevillages with such tales, but who listens to them? They show disrespectfor the chiefs and the elders, and even for the shoonoon. They mock atthe Grandfather-stories. They say men should do women's work and womendo no work at all. They break taboos, and cause trouble. They arefools."
"Am I a fool, Grandfather? Do I mock at the old stories, or showdisrespect to elders and shoonoon? Yet I, Mailsh Heelbare, tell youthis. The World is indeed round, and I will show you."
The shoonoo looked contemptuously at the globe. "I have seen thosethings," he said. "That is not the World; that is only a make-like." Heheld up his phallic wood-carving. "I could say that this is a make-likeof the World, but that would not make it so."
"I will show you for real. We will all go in a ship." He looked at hiswatch. "The Sky Fire is about to set. We will follow it all around theworld to the west, and come back here from the east, and the Sky Firewill still be setting when we return. If I show you that, will youbelieve me?"
"If you show us for real, and it is not a trick, we will have to believeyou."
When they emerged from the escalators, Alpha was just touching thewestern horizon, and Beta was a little past zenith. The ship was mooredon contragravity beside the landing stage, her gangplank run out. Theshoonoon, who had gone up ahead, had all stopped short and were star
ingat her; then they began gabbling among themselves, overcome by thewonder of being about to board such a monster and ride on her. She wasthe biggest ship any of them had ever seen. Maybe a few of them had beenon small freighters; many of them had never been off the ground. Theydidn't look or act like cynical charlatans or implacable enemies ofprogress and enlightenment. They were more like a lot of schoolboyswhose teacher is taking them on a surprise outing.
"Bet this'll be the biggest day in their lives," Travis said.
"Oh, sure. This'll be a grandfather-story ten generations from now."
"I can't get over the way they made up their minds, down there," EdithShaw was saying. "Why,