Ancestor's World Read Online Free PDF Page A

thirst.
    He'd learned much in the past six weeks. This was an old, old world, with an ancient culture that did not adjust well to sudden disruptions. To avoid social turmoil, the Council of Elders had issued their decree: only the Nordlund construction crews would be allowed in, along with a small team of archaeologists and--this last grudgingly--a CLS Interrelator to assist with Na-Dina/alien interactions.
    Swallowing one last cool mouthful, Khuharkk' turned back toward the camp.
    Honor demanded that he hurry, now that his mission to contact Bill was completed. Mentally listing the items he needed, he dropped to all fours and trotted up the bank.
    Of course he was looking forward to helping Doctor Mitchell excavate the tomb--it was the chance of a lifetime. But, in another way, the whole idea made Khuharkk' uneasy. The Simiu had no concept of an afterlife, and the Na-Dina obsession with their dead ancestors and their ancient God-Kings and Queens was ... unsettling.
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    Could the dead live on?
    The Na-Dina certainly thought so. Many humans also believed in an afterlife.
    Who was right?
    Khuharkk' didn't know. Here on Ancestor's World, belief in the afterlife, in the continuing existence of the Revered Ancestors, was the pivot on which the entire Na-Dina culture balanced.
    In order to stay here and interact with the Na-Dina, he had to learn to respect and understand their beliefs. Could he? The Simiu did not adjust easily to other customs, other beliefs....
    Khuharkk' resolutely put disquieting philosophical questions out of his mind, and broke into a lope.
    The ground quivered beneath his flying feet.
    Bill Waterston slid into the pilot's seat of the jumpjet, checked the control panel instruments, and keyed on the external speaker.
    "Clear away, everyone!" he announced to the nearby Na-Dina laborers.
    "Blast off in three minutes."
    The outside pickups relayed grumbling as the laborers began moving out of range. They carried sacks of artifacts, environmental samples, survey and digging tools, and other archaeological arcana. Bil could see them moving past the viewport, carrying their sacks in talon-tipped, four-fingered hands.
    On the control panel, the auto-timer blinked its silent countdown.
    Wonder how long ago Beloran left? Bill thought. The Na-Dina Liaison had his own private land skimmer, which had been furnished to him by the Nordlund Combine.
    Bill patted his breast pocket, where Khuharkk's message resided. In a way, he felt a little guilty for agreeing to transmit it, when Beloran and some of the Modernists probably would object--on the other hand, the Traditionalist faction would applaud him for helping Mitchell to save their ancient heritage.
    What would Mahree do? he wondered, thinking of the woman who was called "the first Interrelator." He'd been lucky enough to work with her as a mentor on his first
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    assignment, and he was proud that she'd recommended him for this posting.
    Mahree Burroughs was a legend in the field of interstellar relations.
    Even Mahree might find the Na-Dina a challenge, he decided, eyes on his gauges. They hold out one hand in friendship, while despising those they meet as "infidels. "They're rattled to discover they're not alone in the universe, and they wish they could be left alone, yet now they're rushing to embrace an alien technology far in advance of their own. A bundle of contradictions, that's the Na-Dina.
    The royal politics of Na-Dina society would have been a match for those of Imperial China during the Ming Dynasty, Bill thought grimly.
    The jets blasted.
    The jumpjet lifted straight up into the air, rising above the high walls of the canyon that sheltered Base Camp. It rose higher still, then angled the jet nozzles rearward and sped off to the northeast. Bill flew across the open desert, rather than along the twisting course of the River of Life. Its waters would eventually roll by the ancient metropolis of Spirit, capital city of the Na-Dina, in about fifteen hundred