Image of the Gods - Alan E. Nourse

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Image of the Gods by Alan Edward Nurse. It was
nearly winter when the ship arrived. Pete Farnham never knew
if the timing had been planned that way or not.
It might have been coincidence that it came just when
the colony was predicting its first real bumper crop of
all time. When it was all over, Pete and Mario

(00:20):
and the rest tried to figure it out, But none
of them ever knew for sure just what had happened
back on Earth, or when it had actually happened. There
was too little information to go on, and practically none
that they could trust. All Pete Farnham really knew that
day was that this was the wrong year for a
ship from Earth to land on Baron four. Pete was

(00:41):
out on the plantation when it landed. As usual, his
sprayer had gotten clogged. Tarring should have been started earlier,
before it got so cold that the stuff clung to
the nozzle and hardened before the spray could settle into
the dusty soil. The summer past had been the colony's
finest in the fourteen years he'd been there, a warm,
still summer with plenty of rain to keep the dirt

(01:03):
down and let the taro get well rooted and grow
up tall and gray against the purple sky. But now
the taro was harvested, it was waiting, compressed and crated,
ready for shipment, and the heavy black clouds were scudding
nervously across the sky faster with every passing day. Two
days ago, Pete had asked Mario to see about firing

(01:26):
up the little furnaces the dusties had built to help
them fight the winter. All that remained now was tarring
the fields and then buckling down beneath the wind shields.
Before the first winter storm struck. Pete was trying to
get the nozzle of the tar sprayer cleaned out when
Mario's jeep came roaring down the rutted road from the
village in a cloud of dust. In the back seat,

(01:47):
a couple of dusties were bouncing up and down like
happy five year olds. The brakes squealed, and Mario bellowed
at him from the road, Pete, the ship's in better
get hopping. Pete nodded and started to c the sprayer.
One of the dusties tumbled out of the jeep and
scampered across the field to give him a hand. It
was an inexpert hand, to say the least, but the

(02:09):
dusties seemed so proud of the little they were able
to learn about mechanized farming that nobody had the heart
to shew them away. Pete watched the fuzzy brown creature
get its paws thoroughly gummed up with tar before he
pulled him loose and sent him back to the jeep
with a whack on the backside. He finished the job himself,
grabbed his coat from the back of the sprayer, and
pulled himself into the front seat of the jeep. Mario

(02:32):
started the little car back down the road. The young
colonist's face was coated with dust, emphasizing the lines of
worry around his eyes. I don't like it, Pete. There
isn't any ship due this year. When did it land
about twenty minutes ago? Won't be cool for a while yet,
Pete laughed. Maybe old schooner is just getting lonesome to

(02:54):
swap t all stories with us. Maybe he's even bringing
us a locker of tea bones. Who knows, maybe, said
Mario without conviction. Pete looked at him and shrugged. Why
complain if they're early? Maybe They've found some new way
to keep our fields from blowing away on us every winter.
He stared across at the heavy wind breaks between the fields,

(03:14):
long ragged structures built in hope of outwitting the vicious
winds that howled across the land during the long winter.
Pete picked bits of tar from his beard and wiped
the dirt from his forehead with the back of his hand.
This tarring is mean, he said, wearily, glad to take
a break. Maybe Cap Schooner will know something about the
rumors we've been hearing, Mario said, gloomily. Pete looked at

(03:37):
him sharply about earth. Mario nodded. Schooner's a pretty good guy,
I guess. I mean he'd tell us if anything was
really wrong back home, wouldn't he. Pete nodded and snapped
his fingers. One of the dusties hopped over into his
lap and began gawking happily at the broad fields. As
the jeep jogged along. Pete stroked the creature's soft brown

(03:59):
fur with his tarcaked fingers. Maybe some day these little
guys will show us where they go for the winter,
he said. They must have it down to a science.
Somehow the idea was funny, and both men roared if
the Dusties had anything down to a science. Nobody knew
what Mario grinned and tweaked the creature's tail. They sure
do beat the winter, though, he said, so do we.

(04:23):
Only we have to do it the human way. These
fellas grew up in the climate. Pete lapsed into silence
as the village came into view. The ship had landed
quite a way out, resting on its skids on the long,
shallow groove the colonists had bulldozed out for it years
before the first year they had arrived on Baron four. Slowly,
Pete turned Mario's words over in his mind, allowing himself

(04:45):
to worry a little. There had been rumors of trouble
back on Earth, persistent rumors he had taken care to
soft pedal as mayor of the colony. There were other things, too,
like the old newspapers and magazines that had been brought
in by the lad from Barn too, and the rare
radio message they could pick up through their atmospheric disturbance.
Maybe something was going wrong back home, but somehow political

(05:09):
upheavals on Earth seemed remote to these hardened colonists. Captain
Schooner's visits were always welcome, but they were few and
far between. The colony was small. One ship every three
years could supply it, and even then the taro crates
wouldn't half fill up the storage holds. There were other
colonies far closer to home that sent back more taro

(05:30):
in one year than Baron four could grow in ten.
But when a ship did come down, it was a
time of high excitement. It meant fresh food from Earth,
meat from the frozen lockers, maybe even a little candy
and salt. And always, for Pete, a landing meant a
long evening of palaver with the captain about things back
home and things on Baron four. Pete smiled to himself

(05:52):
as he thought of it. He could remember Earth, of course,
with a kind of vague nostalgia, But Baron four was
home to him now, and he knew he would never
leave it. He had too many hopes invested there, too
many years of heartache and desperate hard work, too much
deep satisfaction in having cut a niche for himself on
this dusty, hostile world, ever to think much about Earth
any more. Mario stopped in front of the offices, and

(06:16):
one of the dusties hopped out ahead of Pete. The
creature strode across the rough gravel to the door, pulling
tar off his fingers, just as he had seen Pete do.
Pete followed him to the door and then stopped, frowning.
There should have been a babel of voices inside, with
Captain Schooner's loud laugh roaring above the excitement, but Pete
could hear nothing. A chill of uneasiness ran through him.

(06:40):
He pushed open the door and walked inside. A dozen
of his friends looked up silently, avoiding the eyes of
the uniformed stranger in the center of the room. When
he saw the man, Pete Farnham knew something was wrong. Indeed,
it wasn't Captain Schooner, it was a man he'd never
seen before. The dusty ran across the room in front

(07:00):
of Pete and hopped up on the desk as though
he owned it, throwing his hands on his hips and
staring at the stranger curiously. Pete took off his cap
and parka and dropped them on a chair. Well. He said,
this is a surprise. We weren't expecting a ship so
soon The man inclined his head stiffly and glanced down
at the paper he held in his hand. You're Peter Farnhum,

(07:22):
I suppose mayor of this colony. That's right, and you
Varga is the name, the captain said shortly, Earth's security
and supply. He nodded towards the small, frail looking men
and civilian clothes sitting beside him. This is Rupert Nathan
of the Colonial Service. You'll be seeing a great deal
of him. He held out a small wallet of papers.

(07:43):
Our credentials, Farnum be so good as to examine them.
Pete glanced around the room. John Tagan and Hank Mario
were watching him uneasily. Mary Turner was following the proceedings
with her sharp little eyes missing nothing, and Meldorfmann stood
like a rock, his heavy face curiously expressionless as he
watched the visitors. Pete reached out for the papers, flipped

(08:07):
through them, and handed them back with a long look
at Captain Varga. He was younger than Captain Schooner, with
sandy hair and pale eyes that looked up at Pete
from a soft baby face, clean shaven. His whole person
seemed immaculate as he leaned back calmly in the chair.
His civilian companion, however, had indecision written in every line

(08:27):
of his pink face. His hands fluttered nervously, and he
avoided the colonist's eyes. Pete turned to the captain. The
papers say you're our official supply ship, he said, you're early,
but an earthship is always good news. He clucked at
the dusty, who was about to go after one of
the shiny buttons on the Captain's blouse. The little brown

(08:48):
creature hopped over and settled on Pete's knee. We've been
used to seeing Captain Schooner. The captain and Nathan exchanged glances.
Captain Schooner has retired from security service, the captain said shortly.
You won't be seeing him again, but we have a
cargo for your colony. You may send these people over
to the ship to start unloading now, if you wish.

(09:09):
His eyes swept the circle of windburned faces. While Nathan
and I discussed certain matters with you here. Nobody moved
for a moment. Then Pete nodded to Mario. Take the
boys out to unload. Jack. We'll see you back here
in an hour or so, Pete, are you sure, don't worry?
Take melan hank along to lend a hand. Pete turned

(09:30):
back to Captain Varga. Suppose we go inside to more
comfortable quarters, he said, We're always glad to have word
from Earth. They passed through a dark, smelly corridor into
Pete's personal quarters. For a colony house, it wasn't bad.
Good plastic chairs, a handmade rug on the floor, even
one of Mary Turner's paintings on the wall, and several

(09:51):
of the weird stylized carvings the dusties had done for Pete.
But the place smelled of tar and sweat, and Captain
Varga's nose wrinkled and distant. Nathan drew out a large
silk handkerchief and wiped his pink hands, touching his nose daintily.
The dusty hopped into the room ahead of them and
settled into the biggest, most comfortable chair. Pete snapped his

(10:13):
fingers sharply, and the brown creature jumped down again like
a naughty child, and climbed up on Pete's knee. The
Captain glanced at the chair with disgust and sat down
in another do you actually let those horrid creatures have
the run of your house, He asked, why not? Pete said,
we have the run of their planet. They're quite harmless, really,

(10:34):
and quite clean. The captain sniffed. Nasty things might find
a use for the furs, though they look quite soft.
We don't kill dusties, said Pete coolly. They're friendly and
intelligent too, in a childish sort of way. He looked
at the captain and Nathan and decided not to put
on the coffee pot. Now, what's the trouble, No trouble

(10:56):
at all, the captain said, Accept the trouble you choose
to make. You have your year's tarrow ready for shipping,
of course. The captain took out a small pencil on
a chain and began to twirl it. How much, to
be exact, twenty thousand earth weight tons? Pete shook his head. Hundredweight.

(11:16):
The captain raised his eyebrows. I see, and there are,
he consulted the papers in his hand, roughly two hundred
and twenty colonists here on baron four. Is that right?
That's right? Seventy four men, eighty one women, and fifty
nine children. To be exact, I'd have to look it up.
Margaret Singman had twins the other night. Well, don't be ridiculous,

(11:38):
snapped the captain on a plane. At the size of
baron four with seventy four men, you should be producing
a dozen times the tarrow you stated, we'll consider that
your quota for a starter. At least you have ample seed,
according to my records, I should think with the proper equipment. Now,
wait a minute, Pete said, softly. We're fighting a climate here, Captain.

(11:59):
You should know that we have only a two planting season,
and the proper equipment, as you call it, doesn't operate
too well out here. It has a way of clogging
up with dust in the summer and rusting in the winter. Really,
said Captain Varga As I was saying, with the proper equipment,
you could cultivate a great deal more land than you
seem to be using. This would give you the necessary,

(12:20):
heavier yield, wouldn't you say so? Nathan, the little nervous
man nodded, certainly, Captain, with the proper organization of labor.
That's nonsense, Pete said, suddenly, angry. Nobody can get that
kind of yield from this planet. The ground won't give it,
and the men won't grow it. The captain gave him
a long look. Really, he said, I think you're wrong.

(12:42):
I think the men will grow it. Pete stood up slowly.
What are you trying to say this business about quotas
an organization of labor. You didn't read our credentials as
we instructed you, Farnum, Mister Nathan is the official governor
of the colony on Baron FOT as of now. You'll
find him most co operative, I'm sure, But he's answerable

(13:03):
directly to me in all matters. My job is administration
of the entire baron system. Clear enough, Pete's eyes were dark.
I think you'd better draw me a picture, he said, tightly,
A very clear picture. Very well. Brenfort is not paying
for its upkeep. Tarro, after all, is not the most

(13:25):
necessary of crops in the universe. It has value, but
not very much value all things considered. If the production
of taro here is not increased sharply, it may be
necessary to close down the colony altogether. You're a liar,
said Pete shortly. The Colonization Board makes no production demands
on the colonies, nor does it farm out systems for

(13:45):
personal exploitation, The captain smiled. The colonization board, as you
call it, has undergone a slight reorganization, he said, reorganization.
It's a top level board in the Earth government. Nothing
could reorganize it, but a wholesale He broke off, his
jaw sagging as the implications sank in. You're rather out

(14:09):
on a limb, you see, said the captain coolly. Poor
communications and all that. The fact is that the entire
Earth government has undergone a slight reorganization. Also, the dusty
knew that something had happened. Pete didn't know how he knew.
The dusties couldn't talk, couldn't make any noise as far

(14:29):
as Pete knew, but they always seemed to know when
something unusual was happening. It was wrong, really to consider
them unintelligent animals. There are other sorts of intelligence than human,
and other sorts of communication, and other sorts of culture.
The Barren Four colonists had never understood the queer perceptive

(14:50):
sense that the dusties seemed to possess, any more than
they knew how many dusties there were, or what they
ate or where on the planet they lived. All they
knew was that when they landed on and barren, for
the dusties were there at first. The creatures had been
very timid for weeks. The men and women busy with
their building had paid little attention to the skittering brown

(15:10):
forms that crept down from the rocky hills to watch
them with big, curious eyes. They were about half the
size of men, and strangely humanoid in appearance, not in
the sense that a monkey is humanoid, for they did
not resemble monkeys, but in some way the colonists could
not quite pin down. It may have been the way

(15:30):
they walked around on their long, fragile hind legs, the
way they stroked their pointed chins as they sat and
watched and listened with their pointed ears lifted alertly, watching
with soft gray eyes, or the way they handled objects
with their little four fingered hands. They were so remarkably
humanlike in their elfin way that the colonists couldn't help

(15:51):
but be drawn to the creatures that whole first summer,
when the colonists were building the village and the landing
room for the ships, the dusties were among them, trying
pathetically to help, so eager for friendship that even occasional
rebuffs failed to drive them away. They liked the colony.
They seemed somehow to savor the atmosphere, moving about like solemn,

(16:13):
fuzzy overseers. As the work progressed through the summer, Pete
Farnham thought that they had even tried to warn the
people about the winter, but the colonists couldn't understand, of course,
not until later. The dusties became a standing joke and
were tolerated with considerable amusement until the winter struck. It

(16:34):
had come with almost unbelievable ferocity. The houses had not
been completed when the first hurricanes came, and they were
smashed into toothpicks. The winds came, vicious winds full of
dust and sleet and ice, wild, erratic twisting gales that
ripped the village to shreds, tearing off the top soil
that had been broken and fertilized. Merciless, never ending winds

(16:58):
that wailed and screamed the planet its protest. The winds
drove sand and dirt and ice into the heart of
the generators, and the heating units corroded and jammed and
went dead. The jeeps and tractors and bulldozers were scored
and rusted. The people began dying by the dozens as
they huddled down in the pitiful little pits they had
dug to try to keep the winds away. Few of

(17:21):
them were still conscious when the Dusties had come silently
in the blizzard, eyes closed tight against the blast, to
drag the people up into the hills, into caves and
hollows that still showed the fresh marks of carving tools.
They had brought food. What kind of food, nobody knew,
for the colony's food had been destroyed by the first
blast of the hurricane. But whatever it was, it had

(17:44):
kept them alive, and somehow the colonists had survived the winter,
which seemed never to end. There were frozen legs and
ruined eyes. There was pneumonia so swift and virulent that
even the antibiotics they managed to salvage could not stop it.
There was near starvation, but they were kept alive until
the winds began to die, and they walked out of

(18:06):
their holes in the ground to see the ruins of
their first village. From that winter on, nobody considered the
Dusties funny any more. What had motivated them? No one knew,
but the colony owed them their lives. The Dusties tried
to help the people rebuild. They showed them how to
build wind shields that would keep houses intact and anchored

(18:27):
to the ground when the winds came again. They built
little furnaces out of dirt and rock, which defied the
winds and gave great heat. They showed the colonists a
dozen things they needed to know for life on the
rugged planet. The colonists, in turn, tried to teach the
Dusties something about Earth and how the colonists had lived
and why they had come, But there was a barrier

(18:48):
of intelligence that could not be crossed. The Dusties learned
simple things, but only slowly and imperfectly. They seemed content
to take on their mock overseer's roll, moving in about
the village, approving or disapproving, but always trying to help.
Some became personal pets, though pet was the wrong word

(19:08):
because it was more of a strange personal friendship limited
by utter lack of communication than any animal and master relationship.
The colonists made sure that the Dusties were granted the
respect to do them as rightful masters of Baron Fort,
and somehow the Dusties perceived this attitude and were so
grateful for the acceptance and friendship that there seemed nothing

(19:29):
they wouldn't do For the colonists. There had been many
discussions about them. You'd think they'd present our moving in
on them. Jack Marrio had said one day, After all,
we are usurpers, and they treat us like kings. Have
you noticed the way they mimic us. I saw one
chewing tobacco the other day. He hated the stuff, but
he chewed away and spat like a trooper. One of

(19:50):
the Dusties had been sitting on Pete's knee when Captain
Varga had been talking, and he had known that something
terrible was wrong. Now he sat on the desk the office,
moving uneasily back and forth as Pete looked up at
Mario's dark face and then across at John Togan and Meldorfmann.
John's face was dark with anger as he ran his

(20:11):
fingers through the heavy gray beard that fell to his chest.
Mel sat stunned, shaking his head helplessly. Mario was unable
to restrain himself. His face was bitter as he stomped
across the room, then returned to shake his fist under
Pete's nose. But did you see him, he choked, governor
of the colony. What does he know about growing taro

(20:32):
in this kind of soil? Did you see those hands? Soft, dainty, pink?
How could a man with hands like that? Governor Colony.
Pete looked over at John Tgan. Well, John, the big
man looked up, his eyes hollow under craggy brows. It's
below the belt, Pete. But if the government's been overthrown,
then the captain is right. It leaves us out on

(20:53):
a limb. Pete shook his head. I can't give him
an answer, he said. The answer has got to come
from the colony. All I can do is speak for
the colony. Teagan stared at the floor. We're an Earth colony,
he said softly. I know that I was born in
New York. I lived there for many years. But Earth
isn't my home anymore. This is he looked at Pete.

(21:16):
I built it, and so did you. All of us
built it even when things were getting stormy back home.
Maybe that's why we came. Maybe somehow we saw the
handwriting on the wall. But when did it happen? Mel
burst out suddenly? How could anything so big happen so fast.
Speed was the secret, Pete said gloomily. It was quick,

(21:39):
it was well organized, and the government was unstable. We're
just caught in the edge of it. Pity the ones
living there now, But the new government considers the colonies
as areas for exploitation instead of development. Well they can't
do it, Mario cried. This is our land, our home.
Nobody can tell us what to grow in our fields.

(22:00):
Pete's fist slammed down on the desk. Well, how are
you going to stop them? The law of the land
is sitting out there in that ship. Tomorrow morning. He's
coming back here to install his fat little friend as governor.
He has guns and soldiers on that ship to back
him up. What are you going to do about it?
Fight it? Mario said, how jack? Mario looked around the room.

(22:23):
There are only a dozen men on that ship, he
said softly. We've got seventy four. When Varga comes back
to the village tomorrow, we tell him to take his
friend back to the ship and shove off. We give
him five minutes to get turned around, and if he doesn't,
we start shooting. Just one little thing, said Pete, quietly.
What about the supplies, even if we've fought them off

(22:45):
in won What about the food, the clothing, the replacement
parts for the machines. We don't need machinery to farm
this land, said Mario eagerly. There's food here, food we
can live on. The dusties showed us that the first winter,
and we can farm land for our own use and
let the machinery rust. There's nothing they can bring us
from Earth that we can't do without. We couldn't get

(23:07):
away with it. Meldorfmann shook his head bitterly. You're asking
us to cut ourselves off from Earth completely. But they'd
never let us. They'd send ships to bomb us out.
We could hide and rebuild after they had finished. Pete
Farnham sighed, they'd never leave us alone. Jack, didn't you
see that, Captain. His kind of mind can't stand opposition.

(23:29):
We'd just be a thorn in the side of the
New Earth government. They don't want any free colonies, Well
let's give them one. Mario sat down tiredly, snapping his
fingers at the dusty furs. He snarled. He looked up,
his dark eyes burning. It's no good, Pete. We can't
let them get away with it. Produce for them, yes,

(23:50):
try to raise the yield for them, yes, but not
a governor. If they insist on that, we can throw
them out and keep them out. I don't think so.
They'd kill every one of us. First. John Tagan sat
up and looked at Pete Farnum straight in the eye.
In that case, Peter, it might just be better if
they did. Pete stared at him for a moment and

(24:11):
slowly stood up. All right, he said, call a general
colony meeting. We'll see what the women think, then we'll
make our plans. The ship's jeep skidded to a halt
in a cloud of dust. Captain Varga peered through the windshield.
Then he stood up, staring at the three men blocking
the road at the edge of the village. The little

(24:33):
pink faced man at his side turned white when he
saw their faces, and his fingers began to tremble. Each
of the men had a gun. You'd better clear the road,
the captain snapped, we're driving through. Pete Farnum stepped forward.
He pointed to Nathan. Take your friend there back to
the ship. Leave him there. We don't want him here.

(24:55):
Nathan turned to Varga. I told you, he said, viciously,
too big for their boots. Go on through. The captain
laughed and gunned. The motor started straight for the men
blocking the road. Then Jack Mario shot a hole in
his front tire. The jeep lurched to a stop. Captain
Vargas stood up, glaring at the men. Farnum step out here,

(25:16):
he said, you heard us, Pete said, without moving crops. Yes,
we'll try to increase our yield, but no overseer. Leave
him here and we'll kill him once more, said the captain.
Clear the way. This man is your new governor. He
will be regarded as the official agent of the Earth
Government until the final production capacity of this colony is determined.

(25:39):
Now clear out. The men didn't move. Without another word,
the captain threw the jeep into reverse, jerked back in
a curve, and started the jeep flat higher and all
back towards the ship in a billow of dust. Abruptly,
the village exploded into activity. Four men took up places
behind the row of windbreaks beyond the first row of cabins.

(26:02):
Pete turned and ran back into the village. He found
John Tegan commandeering a squad of ten dirty faced men.
Are the women and children all out? He shouted, all
taken care of. Teagan spat tobacco juice and wiped his
mouth with the back of his hand. Where's mel left flank.
He'll try to move in behind them. Gonna be tough, Pete.
They've got good weapons. What about the boys? Last night?

(26:26):
John was checking the bolt on his ancient rifle. Hank
and Ringo just got back an hour ago. If Vargo
wants to get his surface plans into action, he's going
to have to dismantle them and rebuild them outside. The
boys jammed up the launching ports for good. He spat again.
Don't worry, Pete, this is goin to be a ground fight. Ok.

(26:46):
Pete held out his hand to the old man. This
may be it. Then, if we turn them back, there's
bound to be more later. There's a lot of planet
to hide on, said Teagan. They may come back, but
after a while they'll go again. Pete not. I just
hope we'll still be here when they do. They waited,
It seemed like ours. Pete moved from post to post

(27:08):
among the men, heavy faced men he had known all
his life. It seemed they waited with whatever weapons they
had available, pistols, home made revolvers, ortho guns, an occasional rifle,
even knives and clubs. Pete's hearts sank. They were bitter men,
but they were a mob with no organization, no training

(27:30):
for fighting. They would be facing a dozen of securities
best disciplined shock troops armed with the latest weapons from
Earth's electronics laboratories. The colonists didn't stand a chance. Pete
got his rifle and made his way up the rise
of ground, overlooking the right flank of the village. Squinting,
he could spot the cloud of dust rising up near

(27:51):
the glistening ship, moving toward the village, and then, for
the first time, he realized that he hadn't seen any
dusties all day. It puzzled him. They had been in
the village in abundance an hour before dawn while the
plans were being laid out. He glanced around, hoping to
see one of the fuzzy brown forms at his elbow,

(28:11):
but he saw nothing. And then, as he stared at
the cloud of dust coming across the valley, he thought
he saw the ground moving. He blinked and rubbed his
eyes with a gasp. He dragged out his binoculars and
peered down at the valley floor. There were thousands of them,
hundreds of thousands, their brown bodies, moving slowly out from

(28:32):
the hills surrounding the village, converging into a broad, liquid
column between the village and the ship. Even as he watched,
the column grew thicker, like a heavy blanket being drawn
across the road, a multitude of dusties lining up. Pete's
hair prickled on the back of his neck. They knew
so little about the creatures, so very little. As he

(28:55):
watched the brown carpet rolling out, he tried to think,
Could there be a weapon in their hands? Could they
somehow have perceived the evil that came from the ship,
somehow sensed the desperation and the men's voices as they
had laid their plans. Pete stared a sinking feeling in
the pit of his stomach. They were there in the road,
thousands upon thousands of them, standing there, waiting for what.

(29:20):
Three columns of dust were coming from the road. Now
through the glasses, Pete could see the jeeps filled with
men in their gleaming gray uniforms, crash helmets tight about
their heads, blasters glistening in the pale light. They moved
in deadly convoy along the rutted road, closer and closer
to the crowd of dusties overflowing the road. The dusties

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just stood there. They didn't move, They didn't shift or turn.
They just waited. The Captain's car was first in line.
He pulled up before the line with a screech of
brakes and stared at the sea of creatures before him.
Get out of there, he shouted. The dusties didn't move.
The captain turned to his men, fire into them. He

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snapped clear a path. There was a blaze of fire,
and a half a dozen dusties slid to the ground. Convulsing.
Pete felt a chill pass through him. Staring in disbelief.
The dusties had a weapon, he kept telling himself. They
must have a weapon, something the colonists had never dreamed of.
The guns came up again, and another volley echoed across

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the valley, and a dozen more dusties fell to the ground.
For every one that fell, another moved stolidly into its
place with a curse. The captain sat down in the seat,
gunned the motor, and started forward. The jeeps struck the
fallen bodies rolled over them and plunged straight into the
wall of dusties. Still they didn't move. The car slowed

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and stopped, mired down. The other cars picked up momentum
and plunged into the brown river of creatures. They too,
ground to a stop. The captain started roaring at his men,
cut them down. We're going to get through here. Blasters
began roaring into the faces of the dusties, and as
they fell, the jeeps moved forward a few feet until

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more of the creatures blocked their path. Pete heard a
cry below him and saw Jack Mario standing in the road,
gun on the ground, hands out in front of him,
staring in horror. As the dusties kept moving into the fire.
Do you see what they're doing, he screamed. They'll be slaughtered,
every one of them. And then he was running down
the road shouting at them to stop, and so were

(31:31):
Pete and Tegan and the rest of the men. Something
hit Pete in the shoulder as he ran, he spun
around and fell into the dusty road. A dozen dusties
closed in around him, lifted him up bodily and started
back through the village with him. He tried to struggle,
but vaguely, he saw that the other men were being
carried back also, While the river of brown creatures held

(31:53):
the jeeps at bay, the dusties were hurrying, half carrying
and half dragging him back through the village and up
a long ravine into the hills beyond. At last they
set Pete on his feet again, plucking urgently at his
shirt sleeve as they hurried him along. He followed them willingly,
then with the rest of the colonists at his heels.

(32:14):
He didn't know what the dusties were doing, but he
knew they were trying to save him. Finally, they reached
a cave, a great cleft in the rock that Pete
knew for certain had not been there when he had
led exploring parties through these hills years before. It was
a huge opening, and already a dozen of the men
were there, waiting, dazed by what they had witnessed down

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in the valley, while Moore were stumbling up the rocky incline,
tugged along by the fuzzy brown creatures. Inside the cavern,
steps led down the side of the rock, deep into
the dark coolness of the earth. Down and down they went,
until they suddenly found themselves in a mammoth room lit
by blazing torches. Pete stopped and stared at his friends,

(32:56):
who had already arrived. Jack Mario was sitting on the floor,
his face in his hands, sobbing. Teagan was sitting too,
blinking at Pete as if he were a stranger, and
Dorfmann was trembling like a leaf. Pete stared about him
through the dim light and then looked where Teagan was
pointing at the end of the room. He couldn't see
it clearly at first. Finally he made out a raised

(33:19):
platform with four steps leading up a torch lighted either
side of a dais at the top, and between the torches,
rising high into the gloom, stood a statue. It was
a beautifully carved thing, hewn from the heavy granite that
made up the core of this planet, with the same
curious styling as other carving the Dusties had done. The

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design was intricate, the lines carefully turned and polished. At first,
Pete thought it was a statue of a dusty, but
when he moved forward and squinted in the dim light,
he suddenly realized that it was something else. Indeed, and
in that moment he realized why they were there, and
why the dusties had done this incredible to protect them.

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The statue was weirdly beautiful, the work of a dedicated
master sculptor. It was a figure standing with five fingered
hands on hips, head raised high, not a portrait, but
an image seen through other eyes than human, standing high
in the room, with the lights burning reverently at its feet. Unmistakably,

(34:24):
it was the statue of a man. They heard the
bombs much later. The granite roof and floor of the
cavern trembled, and the men and women stared at each other,
helpless and sick as they huddled in that great hall.
But presently the bombing stopped. Later, when they stumbled out
of that grotto into the late afternoon light, the ship

(34:46):
was gone. They knew it would be back. Possibly it
would bring back search parties to hunt down the rebels
in the hills. Perhaps it would just wait and again
bomb out the new village when it rose. But searching
parties would never find their co and the village would
rise again and again if necessary, And in the end,
somehow Pete knew that the colonists would find a way

(35:08):
to survive here and live free as they had always
lived it might be a bitter struggle, but no matter
how hard the fight, there would be one strange and
wonderful thing they could count on. No matter what they
had to do, he knew the dusties would help them.
End of Image of the Gods by Allan Edward, Nurse