Of course, there had been one or two species blind to the Purpose. What mattered was that they all served the Purpose. That they could comprehend that which they did not themselves possess was a tribute to their perseverance. The latter was a concept the Amplitur struggled hard to understand. Technicians chatted in their multitudinous languages, exchanging gestures and humor. One-who-Decides was honored to be an Amplitur in its service.Ĭrew and ship hummed softly beneath the hovering sickle and its questing passenger. Merely pondering it was enough to bestow strength and confidence on the uncertain. It was there for any to examine: in the histories, in the ruins and records of past triumphs, in the steady march of the unique Amplitur technology.Īll meant nothing: technology, art, even life itself was meaningless without the Purpose to give form and substance.
What was difficult to imagine was the Amplitur civilization that had existed prior to the Purpose. Amplitur in which intelligence was still a flickering spark, reproducing through mindless budding, creating offshoots of themselves as they converted vegetable matter and animal protein into energy by means of clever intestines and horny mouthparts. Amplitur lying quietly in the warm waters of the homeworld, barely able to hunch about on muddy shorelines on as yet undeveloped legs as their sensitive tentacles probed the mud for crustaceans and edible bivalves.
How could the Amplitur have existed prior to the Purpose? Baffling!Įarly evolution had been entirely instinct-driven.
One-who-Decides gently nudged a control and the sickle swung left and down toward Navigation. Then had come realization of the Purpose. Prior to realizing the Purpose, the Amplitur had been content to refine their modest civilization: excelling at certain arts, mastering intricacies peculiar to their species, wishing only to be left in peace to develop at their own pace, desiring only to be themselves. It was realization of the Purpose that had matured and forever altered the Amplitur. The very idea was alien, an unbelievable fragment of another time and universe. One-who-Decides knew it was so because of history. Hard to believe there had been a time before the Purpose. Once, they had been hesitant, but that was all before the Purpose. When making such suggestions One-who-Decides spoke always encouragingly, never with the brusqueness that characterized other races. The globular gold-flecked eyes scanned the vast chamber, the slitted pupils expanding and contracting as they focused on specific sectors, seeking positions where efficiency could be improved. Each ended in four manipulating digits that rippled and flexed lazily as though conducting an unseen orchestra in a silent waltz.
#A call to arms alan dean foster free#
This arrangement allowed free movement of the two tentacles that protruded from either side of the head. It lay comfortably on the supportive cushion, straddling it with four short, stumpy legs. It could do the same by means of the communications hook clamped snugly across its head, but it believed strongly in the personal touch. At a touch it would drift higher or lower, left or right so that the Amplitur could inspect, interview, check on, or give advice to those under its command. The Amplitur had discovered Earth.One-who-Decides lay back on the sickle and relaxed, the curved command lounge suspended high above the floor at the end of its powerful, flexible armature. Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike race: Humans. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors - a scouting party for the Weave, looking. Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. And fight it did - for thousands of years. But the Weave's surprising unity also gave it the ability to fight the Amplitur and their cause. When the Amplitur and their allies stumbled upon the races called the Weave, the Purpose seemed poised for a great leap forward. For eons, the Amplitur had searched space for intelligent species, each of which was joyously welcomed to take part in the fulfillment of the Amplitur Purpose.