it was the Holy Book in the
original Earth language. This woman must be a citizen of the Republic
of Israeli, which I understand was rising to be a great power on Earth
at the time you French left.

"Perhaps the language of this woman has changed somewhat from the
original tongue, but I don't think the alphabet has. I'll bet that if
we get this to a priest who can read it--there are only a few left--he
can translate it well enough for us to figure out everything."

They walked to the wharf's end and climbed down a ladder to a platform
where a dory was tied up. As they rowed out to their sloop Mapfarity
said:

"Look, Rastignac, things aren't as bad as they seem. If you haven't
the ship nobody else has, either. And you alone have the key to its
entrance and operation. For that you can thank the Church, which has
preserved the ancient wisdom for emergencies which it couldn't forsee,
such as this. Just as it kept the secret of wine, which will
eventually be the greatest means for delivering our people from their
bondage to the Skins and, thus enable them to fight the Amphibs back
instead of being slaughtered.

"Meanwhile, we've a battle to wage. You will have to lead it. Nobody
else but the Skinless Devil has the prestige to make the people gather
around him. Once we accuse the Minister of Ill-Will of treason and
jail him, without an official Breaker to release him, we'll demand a
general election. You'll be made King of the Ssassaror; I, of the
Terrans. That is inevitable, for we are the only skinless men and,
therefore, irresistible. After the war is won, we'll leave for the
stars. How do you like that?"

Rastignac smiled. It was weak, but it was a smile. His bracket-shaped
eyebrows bent into their old sign of determination.

"You are right," he replied. "I have given it much thought. A man has
no right to leave his native land until he's settled his problems
here. Even if Lusine hadn't killed the Earthwoman and I had sailed
away, my conscience wouldn't have given me any rest. I would have
known I had abandoned the fight in the middle of it. But now that I
have stripped myself of my Skin--which was a substitute for a
conscience--and now that I am being forced to develop my own inward
conscience, I must admit that immediate flight to the stars would have
been the wrong thing."

The pleased and happy Mapfarity said, "And you must also admit,
Rastignac, that things so far have had a way of working out for the
best