Impact

Book Excerpt: ...an's. The first question asked by one of the broad-shouldered savages underscored that conclusion."Have you come to our world as colonists?"No mumbo-jumbo of superstition, no awe of strangers who had suddenly descended upon them from the sky. Lord answered, "We landed in order to repair our ship, but I hope we can make a trade treaty with your government."For a moment the six men consulted among themselves with a silent exchange of glances. Then one of them smiled and said, "You must visit our villages and explain the idea of trade to our people.""Of course," Lord agreed. "If you could serve as interpreters--""Our people can learn your language as rapidly as we have, if we can borrow your language machine for a time."Lord frowned. "It's a rather complex device, and I'm not sure--you see, if something went wrong, you might do a great deal of harm.""We would use it just as you did; we saw everything you turned to make it run." One of the golden-skinned pri...