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Happily, Katrina was a civilian.
The massive front door of the concrete building opened easily under his pull, moving on rolamite
tracks. Chaney walked into the briefing room and stopped short at sight of the Major. A furtive signal
from Saltus warned him to silence.
Major Moresby faced the wall, his back to the room and to Chaney. He stood at the far end of
the long table, between the end of the table and the featureless wall with his fists knotted behind his back.
The nape of his neck was flushed. Kathryn van Hise was busy picking up papers that had fallen--or been
thrown--from the table.
Chaney closed the door softly behind him and advanced to the table, inspecting a stack of papers
before his own chair. His reaction was one of sharp dismay. The papers were photo-copies of his
second scroll, the lesser of the two Qumran scrolls he had translated and published. There were nine
sheets of paper faithfully reproducing the square Hebrew lettering of the Eschatos document from its
opening line to its close. If he didn't know better, Chaney would have thought the Major was enraged at
his temerity for tacking a descriptive Greek title on a Hebrew fantasy.
"Katrina! What are we doing with _this?_"
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She finished the task of picking up the fallen pages and stacked them neatly on the table before the
Major's chair.
"They are a part of today's study, sir."
"No!"
"Yes, sir." The woman slipped into her own chair and waited for Chaney and the Major to sit
down.
The man did, after a moment. He glared at Chaney.
Chaney said: "Is this another of Seabrooke's idiotic ideas?"
"The matter is germane, Mr. Chaney."
"That matter is _not_ germane, Miss van Hise. This has absolutely nothing to do with the Indic
report, with the statistical tables, with the future surveys--nothing!"
"Mr. Seabrooke thinks otherwise."
Angrily: "Gilbert Seabrooke has holes in his head; his Bureau has holes in its measuring jars. Please
tell him I said so. He should know better than to--" Chaney came to a full stop and glared at the young
woman. "Is this _another_ reason why I was chosen for the survey team?"
"Yes, sir. You are the only authority."
Chaney repeated the Aramaic word, and Saltus laughed despite himself.
She said: "Sir, Mr. Seabrooke believes it may have some slight bearing on the future survey, and
we should be familiar with it. We should be familiar with every facet of the future that comes to our
attention."
"But this has nothing to _do_ with a future Chicago!"
"It may, sir."
"It may not! This is a fantasy, a fairy tale. It was written by a dreamer and told to his students--or
to the peasants." Chaney sat down, containing his anger. "Katrina: this is a waste of time."
Saltus broke in. "More _midrash_, mister?"
"_Midrash_," Chaney agreed. He looked at the Major. "It has no biblical connection, Major.
None whatever. This is a minor piece of prophecy fitted into a fantasy; it's the story of a man who lived
twice--or of twins, the text isn't clear--who swept dragons from the sky. If the Brothers Grimm had
-discovered it first, they would have published it."
Katrina said stubbornly: "We are to study it."
Chaney was equally stubborn. "The turn of the century is only twenty-two years away but this
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document is addressed to the far future, to the end of the world. It depicts the end--the last days. I called
it _Eschatos_, meaning 'The End of Things.' Does Seabrooke really think the end of the world is only
twenty-two years away?
"No, sir, I'm sure he doesn't believe that, but he has instructed us to study it thoroughly in
preparation for the probe. There may be a tenuous connection."
"What tenuous connection? Where?"
"Those references to the blinding yellow light filling the sky, for one. That may be an allusion to the
war in Southeast Asia. And there were other references to a cooling climate, and a series of plagues. The
dragons may have a military connotation. Mr. Seabrooke mentioned specifically your point on
Armageddon, in relation to the Arab-Israeli war. There are a number of incidents, sir."
Chaney permitted himself an audible groan.
Saltus said: "Hoist by your own pctard, mister. I feel for you.
Chaney knew his meaning. The reviewers and the Morcsbys of the world didn't _want_ to believe
his English translation of the Revelations scroll, but it appeared to be authentic. Now, Seabrooke was
making noises like he wanted to believe _Eschatos_, or was willing to believe it.
Impatiently: "The blinding yellow light in the sky has _nothing_ to do with the Asian war. In
Hebrew fiction it was a romantic promise of health, wealth, of peace and prosperity for all. The yellow
light is a benign sun, spilling contentment on the earth. The old prophet was saying simply that at last the
earth belonged to men, to all men, and eternal peace was at hand. Utopia. No more than that.
"That utopia was to come _after_ the end of things, after the last days, when a brand new world
under a golden sun would be given to the peoples of Israel. It is a prophecy as old as time. It has nothing
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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