: The guest rites by Silverberg Robert Giunta John Illustrator - Science fiction; Short stories; Extraterrestrial beings Fiction; Human-alien encounters Fiction; Thieves Fiction; Venus (Planet) Fiction; Hospitality Fiction

@FreeBooksThu 08 Jun, 2023

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do!"

He ran out. Marik and Polla, sitting quietly, exchanged glances.

"We are moving in the right direction," Polla San said. "But I think you would be wise to guard your room of prayer lest he seek to add to his collection."

"No fear of that," Marik said. "We'll see him again."

The Earthman disappeared later that morning. Kenra Sarg reported that he had set out, alone, in the general direction of Corolla, after fruitlessly attempting to bribe one of the kitchen boys to accompany him. He had offered them fabulous sums, but they had laughed at him.

The Eye of Marik's Carthule was still in place, but one of the younger acolytes, who had been praying all morning, told Marik that the Earthman had furtively entered the room of prayer and had backed out upon seeing the priest at his devotions.

With the Earthman gone, Marik returned to the calm of his daily routine. The after-meal meditation was a pleasant one; he and Polla San sat facing the desert, contemplating the grandeur of Carthule and pondering the meaning of His ways, until they sank into a transcendent peace. As the night winds began to cool the desert, they fell into a discussion of the problem of evil.

Marik maintained that Carthule had created the Earthmen out of His infinite wisdom, better to show the virtue of His people by contrast; while Polla San, wandering on the very edge of orthodox theology, suggested that the god whom the Earthman worshipped was actually independent of Carthule, representing the embodiment of evil as Carthule was the personification of good.

Marik refused to accept this, arguing that Carthule had created both His people and the Earthmen, or perhaps--as a concession to Polla San--that he had created the god of the Earthmen who, in turn, had created the Earthmen. The discussion went on through the night, while the night winds swirled the sand up around the temple, and they felt no need of sleep.

"Your theory denies the omnipotence of Carthule," Marik said, as the night winds began to lower in intensity. "If you postulate an evil force of as great power as the good, you deny the factors on which our morality--" Marik broke off, seeing that Polla San had slipped off into the near-sleep of a reverie.

He stood up, his long legs cramped after the afternoon and night of sitting, and walked up and down. The desert was settling into its morning calm after the tempestuous night. He stared out across it, thinking of the Earthman who had set out for Corolla with the priceless eye of Carthule in a pouch by his side.

There was a figure in the distance, walking slowly and with great difficulty in widening circles, following a wild path to the temple. Marik lifted his nictitating lid to make sure his eyes were not playing him false.

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