Divinity | Page 8

he
took himself, and there seemed to be nothing to do but to live up to
what he was expected to be.
* * * * *
All the same, Aoooya continued to be a tempting morsel, and sooner or
later, he feared, he would not be able to resist her. And then the planet
itself provided a diversion.
They had never seen such a thing and had no idea of what it presaged,
but he knew. He had heard of it on Earth and on Venus, and he had
seen it on other planets where the rock formations had not yet settled
down. A little hollow appeared first in the ground, and then the hollow
was pushed out and suddenly blown into the air. Steam whistled
through the newly made vent, a shower of steam and hot dust and red
hot fragments of rock. Slowly the vent grew, until the cloud from the
terrifying geyser darkened the sky and spread panic through the tribe.
He knew what would happen next. They were running around in terror,
but not for one moment was he himself in doubt. He donned his
complete space suit, in order to impress them the more, then stalked
into the middle of them, and said, "Pick up all your possessions and
follow me."
They stared at him, and he showed them what he meant by picking up
the belongings of one household in his gloved hands, and handing them
to a waiting woman. Then, when they had grasped the idea and were
gathering all they owned, he led them toward the safety of the trees.
Five minutes after they had set off, the lava began to flow from the
new-born volcano, scorching the ground for a hundred yards around,

sparks smoking and smoldering in the treetops.
The head start he had given them was enough to help them escape the
resultant forest fire. All that day they traveled, until finally they came
to a forest which couldn't burn, and here they rested. And here they
settled down to build their lives anew.
It must have been a comfort to know that a god had led them to safety
and was helping them make the new start. Bradley helped them with
his gun, which blasted dangerous beasts, and even more with his
slightly superior knowledge. He showed them how to fashion tools
from stone and how to use these to build better huts. He taught them
how to make swords and other weapons, so that henceforth they
wouldn't be forced to rely for defense on poison alone. He was the most
industrious god since Vulcan. And in helping them he found that he
had no time for Aoooya.
Came the day when the new village settled down to its changed routine
of life. The morning ceremony before his new shrine had just been
completed, but Bradley was not satisfied. Something was wrong.
Yanyoo's demeanor, Aoooya's--
With a shock, Bradley realized what it was. From old Yanyoo down the
line, none of the natives seemed to have their original fear of him.
There was respect, there was affection, certainly, but the respect and
affection were those due an older brother rather than a god.
And he was not displeased. Being a god had been a wearying business.
Being a friend might be a great deal more pleasant. Yes, the change
was something to be happy about.
* * * * *
But he had little time to be happy. For that same morning, there came
what he had so long dreaded. Out of a clear, shipless sky, Malevski
appeared, strolling toward him as casually as if he had been there all
along, and said, "Nice little ceremony you have here."

"Hello, Malevski. Don't give me the credit. They thought it up."
"Ingenious. Almost as ingenious as the way they've used the help you
gave them. We had this tribe listed long ago as a very capable one, far
behind the rest of its System in development, it's true, but only because
it had started late up the evolutionary ladder. It had been doing very
nicely on its own, and we didn't want to interfere unless we could give
it some real help.
"I'll admit that I had a few qualms at first, when we traced you here and
learned that you had landed among them. But we've been observing
you for the past day and a half--our space ship landed beyond that
burned out stretch of ground, not too close to that volcano--and I'll have
to admit that, judging from your past record, I didn't think you had it in
you."
"I suppose that's over with now," said Bradley.
"Yes, you're finished with being a god. We don't believe in kidding the
natives, Bradley!"
Bradley nodded ruefully. "They don't seem