[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
for such sentimentality.
"On planet Gleep," Tank said, surprising him by using his own ludicrous term for the next world he had
visited though of course that was the way the translator had to work "you filled a single cavity with
twenty-four tons of fine gold alloy."
"Yes."
"Are you aware that gold, however plentiful it may be on Gleep, remains an exceptionally valuable
commodity in the galaxy? Why did you not develop a less extravagant substitute?"
Dillingham tried to explain about the awkwardness of the situation, about the pressure of working within
the cavernous mouth of a three-hundred foot sea creature, but it did seem that he had made a mistake.
He could have employed a specialized cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy that would have been
strong, hard, resilient and resistive to corrosion, and that might well have been superior to gold in that
particular case. He had worried, for example, about the weight of such a mass of gold, and this alternate,
far lighter material, would have alleviated that concern. It was also much cheaper stuff. He had not
thought carefully enough about such things at the time. He said so.
"Didn't you consult your Enen associates?"
"I couldn't. The English/Enen transcoder was broken." But that was no excuse for not having had them
develop the chrome-cobalt alloy earlier. He had allowed his personal preference for the more familiar
gold to halt his quest for improvement.
"Yet you did communicate with them later, surmounting that problem readily once the gold had been
wasted."
Dillingham was becoming uncomfortably aware that this group had done its homework. The members
seemed to know everything about him. "I discovered by accident that the English/Gleep and Gleep/Enen
transcoders could be used in concert. I had not realized that at the time we were casting the filling."
"Because you were preoccupied with the immediate problem?"
"I think so."
"But not too preoccupied to notice decay in the neighbouring teeth."
"No." It did seem foolish now, to have been so concerned with future dental problems, while wasting
tons of valuable metal on the work in progress. How did that jibe with his more recent concern for
Oyster's problem, to the exclusion of the much larger University picture? Was there any coherent
rationale to his actions, or was he continually rationalizing to excuse his errors of judgment?
Was the seeming unfairness of this interview merely a way of proving this to him?
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But Tank wasn't finished. "You next embarked with a passing diplomat of uncertain reputation who
suggested a way to free you from your commitment to Gleep."
"He was very kind." Dillingham did not regret his association with Trach, the friendly dinosaur.
"He resembled one of the vicious predators of your planet's past yet you trusted your person aboard his
ship?"
"I felt, in the face of galactic diversity of species, that it was foolish to judge by appearances. One has to
be prepared to extend trust, if one wants to receive it."
"You believe that?" Honeycomb demanded instantly.
"I try to." It was so hard to defend himself against the concentrated suspicion of the council.
"You do not seem to trust the common directives of this University, however."
What answer could he make to that? They had him in another conflict, since they chose to interpret it
that way.
"Whereupon you proceeded to investigate another unfamiliar jaw," Tank said. "Contrary to your
expressed policy. Why?"
"Trach had befriended me, and I wanted to help him."
"So you put friendship above policy," Sponge said. "Convenient."
"And did you help him?" Tank again. It was hard to remember who said what, since they were all so
murderously sharp.
"Yes. I adapted a sonic instrument that enabled him to clean his teeth efficiently."
"And what was your professional fee for this service?"
Dillingham reined his mounting temper. "Nothing. I was not thinking in such terms."
"A moment ago you were quite concerned about costs."
"I was concerned about unnecessary expense to the patient. That strikes me as another matter."
"And of course the prospective sale of your contract to planet Ra had no bearing on your decision to
help a friend," Honeycomb said with infinite irony.
Sponge spoke before Dillingham could respond. "And the dinosaur told you about the University of
Dentistry?"
"Yes, among other things. We conversed quite a bit."
"And so you decided to attend, on hearsay evidence."
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Click here to buy
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"That's not fair!"
"Is the colour of your face a sign of distress?"
He realized that they were deliberately needling him, so he shut up. Why should he allow himself to get
excited over a minor slur, after passing over major ones? All he could do that way was prove he was
unstable, and therefore unfit.
"And did you seriously believe," Sponge persisted nastily, "that you had any chance at all to be admitted
as a student here?"
Again he had no answer.
"On planet Electrolus you provoked a war by careless advice," Honeycomb said. "Whereupon you
conspired to be exiled to this University. What kind of reception did you anticipate here, after such
machinations?"
So that was it! What use to explain that he had not schemed, that Trach had cleverly found a solution to
the Electrolus political problem that satisfied all parties? This trio would only twist that into further
condemnation.
"I made mistakes on that planet, as I did elsewhere," he said at last. "I hoped to learn to avoid such
errors in the future by enrolling in a corrective course of instruction. It was ignorance, not devious
intent, that betrayed me. I still think this University has much to offer me."
"The question before us," Tank said portentously, "is what you have to offer the University. Have you
any further statements you fancy might influence our decision?"
"I gather from your choice of expression that it has already been made. In that case I won't waste any
more of your time. I am ready for it."
"We find you unsuitable for enrollment at this University as a student," Tank said. "Please depart by the
opposite door." So as not to obstruct the incoming interviewees. Very neat. Dillingham stood up wearily.
"Thank you for your consideration," he said formally, keeping the irony out of his tone. He walked to
the indicated exit.
"One moment, ex-applicant," Honeycomb said. "What are your present plans?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
for such sentimentality.
"On planet Gleep," Tank said, surprising him by using his own ludicrous term for the next world he had
visited though of course that was the way the translator had to work "you filled a single cavity with
twenty-four tons of fine gold alloy."
"Yes."
"Are you aware that gold, however plentiful it may be on Gleep, remains an exceptionally valuable
commodity in the galaxy? Why did you not develop a less extravagant substitute?"
Dillingham tried to explain about the awkwardness of the situation, about the pressure of working within
the cavernous mouth of a three-hundred foot sea creature, but it did seem that he had made a mistake.
He could have employed a specialized cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy that would have been
strong, hard, resilient and resistive to corrosion, and that might well have been superior to gold in that
particular case. He had worried, for example, about the weight of such a mass of gold, and this alternate,
far lighter material, would have alleviated that concern. It was also much cheaper stuff. He had not
thought carefully enough about such things at the time. He said so.
"Didn't you consult your Enen associates?"
"I couldn't. The English/Enen transcoder was broken." But that was no excuse for not having had them
develop the chrome-cobalt alloy earlier. He had allowed his personal preference for the more familiar
gold to halt his quest for improvement.
"Yet you did communicate with them later, surmounting that problem readily once the gold had been
wasted."
Dillingham was becoming uncomfortably aware that this group had done its homework. The members
seemed to know everything about him. "I discovered by accident that the English/Gleep and Gleep/Enen
transcoders could be used in concert. I had not realized that at the time we were casting the filling."
"Because you were preoccupied with the immediate problem?"
"I think so."
"But not too preoccupied to notice decay in the neighbouring teeth."
"No." It did seem foolish now, to have been so concerned with future dental problems, while wasting
tons of valuable metal on the work in progress. How did that jibe with his more recent concern for
Oyster's problem, to the exclusion of the much larger University picture? Was there any coherent
rationale to his actions, or was he continually rationalizing to excuse his errors of judgment?
Was the seeming unfairness of this interview merely a way of proving this to him?
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
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w
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w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
But Tank wasn't finished. "You next embarked with a passing diplomat of uncertain reputation who
suggested a way to free you from your commitment to Gleep."
"He was very kind." Dillingham did not regret his association with Trach, the friendly dinosaur.
"He resembled one of the vicious predators of your planet's past yet you trusted your person aboard his
ship?"
"I felt, in the face of galactic diversity of species, that it was foolish to judge by appearances. One has to
be prepared to extend trust, if one wants to receive it."
"You believe that?" Honeycomb demanded instantly.
"I try to." It was so hard to defend himself against the concentrated suspicion of the council.
"You do not seem to trust the common directives of this University, however."
What answer could he make to that? They had him in another conflict, since they chose to interpret it
that way.
"Whereupon you proceeded to investigate another unfamiliar jaw," Tank said. "Contrary to your
expressed policy. Why?"
"Trach had befriended me, and I wanted to help him."
"So you put friendship above policy," Sponge said. "Convenient."
"And did you help him?" Tank again. It was hard to remember who said what, since they were all so
murderously sharp.
"Yes. I adapted a sonic instrument that enabled him to clean his teeth efficiently."
"And what was your professional fee for this service?"
Dillingham reined his mounting temper. "Nothing. I was not thinking in such terms."
"A moment ago you were quite concerned about costs."
"I was concerned about unnecessary expense to the patient. That strikes me as another matter."
"And of course the prospective sale of your contract to planet Ra had no bearing on your decision to
help a friend," Honeycomb said with infinite irony.
Sponge spoke before Dillingham could respond. "And the dinosaur told you about the University of
Dentistry?"
"Yes, among other things. We conversed quite a bit."
"And so you decided to attend, on hearsay evidence."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"That's not fair!"
"Is the colour of your face a sign of distress?"
He realized that they were deliberately needling him, so he shut up. Why should he allow himself to get
excited over a minor slur, after passing over major ones? All he could do that way was prove he was
unstable, and therefore unfit.
"And did you seriously believe," Sponge persisted nastily, "that you had any chance at all to be admitted
as a student here?"
Again he had no answer.
"On planet Electrolus you provoked a war by careless advice," Honeycomb said. "Whereupon you
conspired to be exiled to this University. What kind of reception did you anticipate here, after such
machinations?"
So that was it! What use to explain that he had not schemed, that Trach had cleverly found a solution to
the Electrolus political problem that satisfied all parties? This trio would only twist that into further
condemnation.
"I made mistakes on that planet, as I did elsewhere," he said at last. "I hoped to learn to avoid such
errors in the future by enrolling in a corrective course of instruction. It was ignorance, not devious
intent, that betrayed me. I still think this University has much to offer me."
"The question before us," Tank said portentously, "is what you have to offer the University. Have you
any further statements you fancy might influence our decision?"
"I gather from your choice of expression that it has already been made. In that case I won't waste any
more of your time. I am ready for it."
"We find you unsuitable for enrollment at this University as a student," Tank said. "Please depart by the
opposite door." So as not to obstruct the incoming interviewees. Very neat. Dillingham stood up wearily.
"Thank you for your consideration," he said formally, keeping the irony out of his tone. He walked to
the indicated exit.
"One moment, ex-applicant," Honeycomb said. "What are your present plans?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]