"Willing to work your way around the galaxy, eh? But what if we refused to take you?" 

 "The race would go on. Kung Su tells me there is no life on planets of this system, but there are other systems." 

 "You're whistling in the dark," Griffin scoffed. "How do you know if any of the Rational People survive?" 

 "How far back does your history go?" Joe inquired. 

 "It's hard to say exactly," Griffin replied. "Our earliest written records date back some seven thousand years." 

 "You are all of one race?" 

 "No, you may have noticed Kung Su is slightly different from the rest of us." 

 "Yes, Griffin, I have noticed. When you return ask Kung Su for the legend of creation. More hot water?" Joe stirred and Griffin guessed the interview was over. He drank another ritual cup, made his farewells and walked thoughtfully back to camp. 

 "Kung," Griffin asked over coffee next afternoon, "how well up are you on Chinese mythology?" 

 "Oh, fair, I guess. It isn't my field but I remember some of the stories my grandfather used to tell me." 

 "What is your legend of creation?" Griffin persisted. 

 "It's pretty well garbled but I remember something about the Son of Heaven bringing the early settlers from a land of two moons on the back of his fire-breathing dragon. The dragon got sick and died so they couldn't ever get back to heaven again. There's a lot of stuff about devils, too." 

 "What about devils?" 

 "I don't remember too well, but they were supposed to do terrible things to you and even to your unborn children if they ever caught you. They must have been pretty stupid though; they couldn't turn corners. My grandfather's store had devil screens at all the doors so you had to turn a corner to get in. The first time I saw the lead baffles at the pile chamber doors on this ship it reminded me of home sweet home. By the way, some young men from the village were around today. They want to work passage to the next planet. What do you think?" 

 Griffin was silent for a long time. 

 "Well, what do you say? We can use some hand labor for the delicate digging. Want to put them on?" 

 Prev. P 5/6 next