Despite their advances in so many fields, astronomy remained in a dark age. The nature of the lights in the night sky (which were, of course, visible only to those who ventured out onto the dark side) was for them an enduring mystery, one whose solution defied generations of scientists.
The first translations of Margolian histories began to appear within a few months after we got home. They have a decent record of events going back almost five thousand years. Before that, their history becomes spotty and eventually vanishes into a welter of myth. The earliest city of which they know, Argol, was destroyed in the wars and is now the subject of a major archeological effort.
Their history, in its general outline, is not unlike that of humanity at home. There were invasions and massacres, dictators and dark ages and rebellions. And an occasional renaissance. Philosophies, some rational, others destructive, had their day.
Religions seem to have been there from the beginning. They were tolerant of each other during their early years, oppressive and exclusive as the years passed and, I suppose, as memories of Earth faded.
There’s a fair amount of talk now that we’ll be able to learn a great deal about human nature by comparing the experience on Balfour with that of society at large.
As I write this, Alex is there. He got interested in some of their myths, which refer to a lost city. Sakata is said to have been an advanced civilization built, for reasons no one can imagine, on the night side. Alex thinks it might have been the original base, established before the catastrophe. He says he knows where to look.
I haven’t said anything to him about Harry because he would accuse me of being sentimental. But I hope he succeeds and that he finds evidence that Samantha, Harry Jr., and Tommy made the flight to Balfour. I know Harry himself wouldn’t have gone.
Not if he’s the man he seems to be.
I’m happy to report that the Wescotts’ reputation has prospered. Their achievement in finding the Seeker has more than overshadowed any question of their using the discovery for selfish purposes.
Blink had several names. He turned out to be a renegade navy pilot who had already been convicted of murder for hire. He’d undergone personality reconstruction, but obviously his old tendencies resurfaced, and he sold his services to Windy. He remains the best known case during modern times of recidivism after a mind wipe.
Amy Kolmer got a lot of money out of the cup, but I understand she is broke again.
Hap Plotzky was convicted of two more assaults after my experience with him. After our return from Margolia, he asked me to be a character witness at his trial, one of the more brazen acts I’ve seen in my life. Currently, he does hedge trimming and general yard work in Kappamong, in the Kawalla Mountains. He has no memory of his years as a burglar and a thug, and he thinks his name is Jasperson. Last year, the townspeople named him one of their one hundred model citizens.
Next time you’re in Mute territory you might enjoy visiting the Museum of Alien Life-forms on Provno. They have an entire wing devoted to Margolia. And avatars of Alex and me. Counting the Neandertal, that makes three of us.