He swatted at it negligently.
"Dratted sylphs. There's no controlling the elementals properly any
more." He didn't seem too displeased, however, as he watched the thing
dance off. Then he sobered.
"In your world, Dave Hanson, you were versed in the engineering
arts--you more than most. That you should be so ignorant, though you
were considered brilliant is a sad commentary on your world. But no
matter. Perhaps you can at least learn quickly still. Even you must have
had some idea of the composition of the sky?"
Dave frowned as he tried to answer. "Well, I suppose the atmosphere is
oxygen and nitrogen, mostly; then there's the ionosphere and the ozone
layer. As I remember, the color of the sky is due to the scattering of
light--light rays being diffracted in the air."
"Beyond the air," Ser Perth said impatiently. "The sky itself!"
"Oh--space. We were just getting out there with manned ships. Mostly
vacuum, of course. Of course, we're still in the solar atmosphere, even
there, with the Van Allen belts and such things. Then there are the
stars, like our sun, but much more distant. The planets and the moon--"
"Ignorance was bad enough," Ser Perth interrupted in amazement. He
stared at Dave, shaking his head in disgust. "You obviously come from a
culture of even more superstition than ignorance. Dave Hanson, the sky
is no such thing. Put aside the myths you heard as a child.
Pages:
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45