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Tarnsman of Gor :: Норман Джон
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"That was not in the conditions of surrender," said the officer.
"Ar has fallen," I said. "Obey the word of Pa-Kur."
"Very well," said the officer, gesturing to a subordinate. "Lower the wire."
The cry, rather forlorn, to lower the wire was echoed along the length of the walls and from tower to tower. Soon the great winches were in motion and, foot by foot, the frightful netting of tarn wire began to sag. When it reached the ground, it would be sectioned and rolled. I was not, of course, concerned with facilitating the entry of Pa-Kur's tarnsmen who, as far as I knew, did not even constitute a portion of the garrison force, but I was concerned with opening the sky over the city in case 1, and others, might be able to utilize it as a road to freedom.
I spoke once more, in haughty tones. "Pa-Kur wishes to know if the false Ubar, Marlenus, still lives."
"Yes," said the officer.
"Where is he?" I demanded.
"In the Central Cylinder," growled the man.
"A prisoner?"..
"As good as a prisoner."
"See that he does not escape," I said.
"He will not escape," said the man. "Fifty guardsmen will see to that."
"What of the roof of the cylinder," I asked, "when the tarn wire is down?"
"Marlenus will not escape," repeated the officer, adding in a surly tone, "unless he can fly."
"Perhaps you will retain your humor when you writhe on an impaling spear," I said. The eyes of the man narrowed, and he regarded me with hatred, for he well knew what was to be the fate of the officers of Ar..
"Where," I asked, "shall Pa-Kur take the daughter of the false Ubar to be executed?"
The officer pointed to a distant cylinder. "The Cylinder of Justice," he said. "The execution will take place as soon as the girl can be presented." The cylinder was white, a color Goreans often associate with impartiality. More significantly, it indicated that.the justice dispensed therein was the justice of Initiates.
There are two systems of courts on Gor — those of the City, under the jurisdiction of an Administrator or Ubar, and those of the Initiates, under the jurisdiction of the High Initiate of the given city; the division corresponds roughly to that between civil and what, for lack of a better word, might be called ecclesiastical courts. The areas of jurisdiction of these two types of courts are not well defined; the Initiates claim ultimate jurisdiction in all matters, in virtue of their supposed relation to the Priest-Kings, but this claim is challenged by civil jurists.
"That was not in the conditions of surrender," said the officer.
"Ar has fallen," I said. "Obey the word of Pa-Kur."
"Very well," said the officer, gesturing to a subordinate. "Lower the wire."
The cry, rather forlorn, to lower the wire was echoed along the length of the walls and from tower to tower. Soon the great winches were in motion and, foot by foot, the frightful netting of tarn wire began to sag. When it reached the ground, it would be sectioned and rolled. I was not, of course, concerned with facilitating the entry of Pa-Kur's tarnsmen who, as far as I knew, did not even constitute a portion of the garrison force, but I was concerned with opening the sky over the city in case 1, and others, might be able to utilize it as a road to freedom.
I spoke once more, in haughty tones. "Pa-Kur wishes to know if the false Ubar, Marlenus, still lives."
"Yes," said the officer.
"Where is he?" I demanded.
"In the Central Cylinder," growled the man.
"A prisoner?"..
"As good as a prisoner."
"See that he does not escape," I said.
"He will not escape," said the man. "Fifty guardsmen will see to that."
"What of the roof of the cylinder," I asked, "when the tarn wire is down?"
"Marlenus will not escape," repeated the officer, adding in a surly tone, "unless he can fly."
"Perhaps you will retain your humor when you writhe on an impaling spear," I said. The eyes of the man narrowed, and he regarded me with hatred, for he well knew what was to be the fate of the officers of Ar..
"Where," I asked, "shall Pa-Kur take the daughter of the false Ubar to be executed?"
The officer pointed to a distant cylinder. "The Cylinder of Justice," he said. "The execution will take place as soon as the girl can be presented." The cylinder was white, a color Goreans often associate with impartiality. More significantly, it indicated that.the justice dispensed therein was the justice of Initiates.
There are two systems of courts on Gor — those of the City, under the jurisdiction of an Administrator or Ubar, and those of the Initiates, under the jurisdiction of the High Initiate of the given city; the division corresponds roughly to that between civil and what, for lack of a better word, might be called ecclesiastical courts. The areas of jurisdiction of these two types of courts are not well defined; the Initiates claim ultimate jurisdiction in all matters, in virtue of their supposed relation to the Priest-Kings, but this claim is challenged by civil jurists.