him.
“You could not avoid it. You would have to
explain where you were, and inevitably your friends would learn
about the blanking shield,” the priest said. “Tamat, will you allow
him to live, or will you order him set adrift?”
“He will live, for now,” she replied after a
moment’s deliberation. When both Osiyar and Sidra looked ready to
protest this decision, Tamat continued, “Think how useful he could
be to us. Think of the knowledge his mind contains about the
universe beyond Ruthlen. But Reid has something more important even
than knowledge. He appears to be perfectly healthy, despite the
ordeal of defeating the full force of our blanking shield in the
forest and the ravine. In fact, he is filled with amazing vitality.
A man so strong, a man brave enough to face unknown telepaths and
keep his wits with him must be made of superior genetic material.
After so many centuries of isolation, we here in the village are
all too similar. Our gene pool has grown weak. It needs an infusion
from an outsider.
“Yes,” she went on, nodding to herself, “we
will allow Reid to live, and in return he will lend himself to us.
Reid will stay in the temple complex until he has learned our ways.
Then, on the festival nights of the full moons and dark moons, he
will mate with whichever women choose him.”
“He is not a telepath. It will never be a
true mating,” Sidra objected before anyone else could say anything.
“He will dilute the telepathic abilities of any children he
begets.”
“Consider Janina’s situation and know that
what you suggest is by no means certain,” Tamat returned. “Janina’s
parents were both true telepaths, yet she is not. Therefore, it
appears that variations in this inherited trait can occur. I
believe it is possible that a non-telepath, mated to a telepath,
can produce a child who is a true telepath. I am surprised you do
not agree with me, Sidra. We have discussed this problem often
enough - how sickly many of our people are, how they are born with
defects that kill them at an early age. We know well the reason. It
is because the same small group has interbred for centuries. Let us
try this experiment. It cannot leave us in worse condition than we
already are. It may help us.”
“As you wish, Tamat.” Sidra bowed her head in
acquiescence.
“I have an obvious objection to this plan,
and I’m surprised you haven’t thought of it,” Reid said, knowing he
need not voice his true thoughts, for Tamat surely knew how he felt
about Janina. He wanted to declare publicly that he would mate with
no woman except Janina. He did not, because, recalling that she was
sworn a virgin priestess, he feared that such a declaration would
place her in jeopardy. Instead, he tried to make Tamat change her
plans for him by raising a practical question. “Won’t the men of
the village be angry about the arrangement you propose, and resent
me because I can make free with their womenfolk? Wouldn’t that
anger rebound upon you and the other priests and priestesses and
thus create problems between temple and village?”
“Not at all,” Tamat replied with smooth
confidence. “The men are accustomed to sharing their women, and the
women to sharing their men. The number of births among us is low,
and freedom between men and women is one way to increase our
population. Only a few couples prefer to keep exclusively to each
other, and all of them live on farms well outside the village.
Oddly enough, they usually produce four or five children, some of
whom later come to live in the village, so we do not insist that
those couples share themselves with others. Therefore, you will be
required to lend yourself only to women of the village. You need
not worry about angering anyone but me, Reid.
“Osiyar, I will see him housed with you,”
Tamat went on. “You are the one who has the most contact with the
villagers. Begin by teaching Reid their ways. We will also accustom
the villagers to his presence. By
“You could not avoid it. You would have to
explain where you were, and inevitably your friends would learn
about the blanking shield,” the priest said. “Tamat, will you allow
him to live, or will you order him set adrift?”
“He will live, for now,” she replied after a
moment’s deliberation. When both Osiyar and Sidra looked ready to
protest this decision, Tamat continued, “Think how useful he could
be to us. Think of the knowledge his mind contains about the
universe beyond Ruthlen. But Reid has something more important even
than knowledge. He appears to be perfectly healthy, despite the
ordeal of defeating the full force of our blanking shield in the
forest and the ravine. In fact, he is filled with amazing vitality.
A man so strong, a man brave enough to face unknown telepaths and
keep his wits with him must be made of superior genetic material.
After so many centuries of isolation, we here in the village are
all too similar. Our gene pool has grown weak. It needs an infusion
from an outsider.
“Yes,” she went on, nodding to herself, “we
will allow Reid to live, and in return he will lend himself to us.
Reid will stay in the temple complex until he has learned our ways.
Then, on the festival nights of the full moons and dark moons, he
will mate with whichever women choose him.”
“He is not a telepath. It will never be a
true mating,” Sidra objected before anyone else could say anything.
“He will dilute the telepathic abilities of any children he
begets.”
“Consider Janina’s situation and know that
what you suggest is by no means certain,” Tamat returned. “Janina’s
parents were both true telepaths, yet she is not. Therefore, it
appears that variations in this inherited trait can occur. I
believe it is possible that a non-telepath, mated to a telepath,
can produce a child who is a true telepath. I am surprised you do
not agree with me, Sidra. We have discussed this problem often
enough - how sickly many of our people are, how they are born with
defects that kill them at an early age. We know well the reason. It
is because the same small group has interbred for centuries. Let us
try this experiment. It cannot leave us in worse condition than we
already are. It may help us.”
“As you wish, Tamat.” Sidra bowed her head in
acquiescence.
“I have an obvious objection to this plan,
and I’m surprised you haven’t thought of it,” Reid said, knowing he
need not voice his true thoughts, for Tamat surely knew how he felt
about Janina. He wanted to declare publicly that he would mate with
no woman except Janina. He did not, because, recalling that she was
sworn a virgin priestess, he feared that such a declaration would
place her in jeopardy. Instead, he tried to make Tamat change her
plans for him by raising a practical question. “Won’t the men of
the village be angry about the arrangement you propose, and resent
me because I can make free with their womenfolk? Wouldn’t that
anger rebound upon you and the other priests and priestesses and
thus create problems between temple and village?”
“Not at all,” Tamat replied with smooth
confidence. “The men are accustomed to sharing their women, and the
women to sharing their men. The number of births among us is low,
and freedom between men and women is one way to increase our
population. Only a few couples prefer to keep exclusively to each
other, and all of them live on farms well outside the village.
Oddly enough, they usually produce four or five children, some of
whom later come to live in the village, so we do not insist that
those couples share themselves with others. Therefore, you will be
required to lend yourself only to women of the village. You need
not worry about angering anyone but me, Reid.
“Osiyar, I will see him housed with you,”
Tamat went on. “You are the one who has the most contact with the
villagers. Begin by teaching Reid their ways. We will also accustom
the villagers to his presence. By
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