Donald Moffitt - Genesis 01

pretended to drop out in order to lull the suspicions of the Ascendist leadership.
    Orris had drawn protectively close to Marg. “As soon as this is over and the ship’s council can get a message to Lowstation, these people will be removed,” he said confidently. “Forcibly, if necessary.”
    Kerthin darted a look at Bram’s face, but neither of them said anything. It was getting increasingly difficult to be heard in the babble that was growing around them.
    A bomb went off, another noisemaker like the one that had been used at the Ascendist meeting. It produced the same result. The babble died down. People focused their attention on the platform, where it was evident that something was about to happen.
    Penser looked out over the multitude as if he had all the time in the world. After a while he began to speak.
    “Some of you know me, some do not. It doesn’t matter. In myself I am not important. I am here to give you freedom. I am here to give you pride in yourself as human beings, the rightful owners of the cosmos. I am here to give you the universe!”
    He did not raise his voice particularly. People at the edge of the crowd had to strain to hear all the words. It got their attention. There was no whispering, no foot shuffling.
    “The days of man’s servitude are over. They are finished. Today we make a new beginning. Today man will claim his destiny. Beginning here. Beginning now.” His voice began, calculatedly, to rise. “And each and every one of you has a part to play in that glorious fulfillment. Make no mistake, you are all volunteers in humanity’s greatest undertaking. You will be judged sternly. And traitors will not be tolerated.”
    The people in the crowd exchanged uncertain glances. What was Penser talking about?
    Another minute of resonant generalities and he would have lost control of the situation. But with consummate timing he paused, took a breath, seemed through some trick of posture to grow taller. His face, from where Bram stood, was only a white blob with two black holes bored into it, but somehow the lines of Penser’s body communicated an intensity of purpose as he leaned toward his audience. The crowd, unconsciously, leaned forward to meet him halfway.
    “We have taken possession of the tree,” Penser said.
     
    There was a moment of astonished silence, then things exploded. Everybody seemed to be talking at once. From the front of the crowd, questions were vainly hurled at the platform.
    “What does he mean?” Marg said. She looked from one face to another. “Orris, what does he mean?”
    “Shh,” Bram said. “He’s not finished.”
    Penser waited out the uproar with folded arms. After a while it died down, broken against the rock of his immobility.
    “Guards are posted at all air locks and access ducts in the human sector of the tree. No Nar may enter. We are sealed off.”
    Again there was a hubbub, which died down as Penser raised his hands for silence.
    “The next hours will be crucial. We have ascertained that only a handful of Nar are now present in their sector of the tree, which is situated several miles from here, farther inward along this major branch toward the central trunk. Our sources have given us their number and approximate location.”
    “What does he mean, sources?” Marg demanded petulantly. “Can’t anyone tell me anything?”
    “I’d guess that there are Penserites among the Juxt One colonists,” Bram said. “In fact, it would be surprising if there weren’t. There must have been a certain number of his admirers who made plans to ship out without knowing that their idol was already in passage here. They would have been contacted, told to lie low. Isn’t that so, Kerthin?”
    Kerthin confirmed it with a shrug and a toss of her head. Bram smiled sadly.
    Marg, her voice growing shrill, said, “That’s impossible. I know everybody here. I would have known.”
    Penser paced the platform, his hands clasped behind his back. “In addition,” he said, “there is the Nar docking crew. We don’t have to worry about them for the moment. They have returned to their central station at the trunk, one hundred and fifty miles from here. No vehicle is due to arrive from Lowstation until tomorrow. By that time we will have the leaves unfurled and will be on our way. They are welcome either to abandon ship or to stay aboard for the ride, until their air and water run out. We have the means to shut down the tracheids and resin ducts serving their