
father.
The river was cool and serene. There had been a time when he'd counted
Karik Endine his closest friend. But he didn't know the man who'd returned from
the expedition. That Karik had been withdrawn, uncommunicative, almost sullen.
At first Silas thought it had been a reaction against him personally. But when he
heard reports from others at the Imperium, when it became evident that Karik
had retired to the north wing of his villa and was no longer seen abroad, he
understood that something far more profound had happened.
Flojian was in the middle of his life, about average size, a trifle stocky. His
blond hair had already begun to thin. He was especially proud of his neatly
trimmed gold beard, which he ardently believed lent him a dashing appearance.
"Silas," he said, "the funeral rite will be tomorrow afternoon. I thought you'd like to
say a few words."
"I haven't seen much of him for a long time," Silas replied. "I'm not sure I'd
know what to talk about."
"I'd be grateful," said Flojian. "You were very close to him at one time.
Besides," he hesitated, "there is no one else. I mean, you know how it's been."
Silas nodded. "Of course," he said. "I'll be honored."
Silas and Karik and their intimates had spent countless
pleasant evenings at the villa, by the fireplace, or on the benches out under
the elms, watching the light fade from the sky, speculating about artifacts and lost
races and what really lay beneath the soil. It had been an exciting time to be
alive: The League was forming, inter-city wars were ending, there was talk of
actively excavating the colossal Roadmaker ruins at the mouth of the Mississippi.
There were even proposals for more money for the Imperium, and a higher
emphasis on scholarship and research. It had seemed possible then that they
might finally begin to make some progress toward uncovering the secrets of the
Roadmakers. At least, perhaps, they might find out how the various engines
worked, what fueled their civilization. Of all the artifacts, nothing was more
enigmatic than the hojjies. Named for Algo Hoj, who spent a lifetime trying to
understand how they worked, the hojjies were vehicles. They were scattered
everywhere on the highways. Their interiors were scorched, but their pseudo-
metal bodies could still be made to shine if one wanted to work at it. (It was Hoj
who concluded that the charred interiors had resulted from long summers of
brutal heat before the very tough windows had finally blown out.) But what had
powered them?
So there had been ground for optimism twenty years ago. The League had
formed, and peace had come. But wreckage in the Mississippi had discouraged
operations in the delta; funds lor the Imperium had never materialized; and the
hojjies remained as enigmatic as ever.
They stood at the front door while Silas took in the river and the ruins. "He
loved this view," said Silas. *It was his window into the past." The hillside sloped
gently down to the water's edge, about a hundred feet away. A pebble walkway
circled the house, looped past a series of stone benches, and descended to the
narrow strip of beach fronting the river. A tablet lay on one of the benches.
Flojian shook his hand. "Thanks for your help, Silas."