The Greatship
“Scholars and bigots had deliberated that question for ages. The J’Jal evolved on a lush warm world, blue seas wrapped around green continents, the ground fat with metal ores and hydrocarbons, and a massive moon riding across the sky, helping keep the axis tilted just enough to invite mild seasons. Perhaps that wealth had been a bad thing. Born on a somewhat poorer world, humans had evolved to live in tiny, adaptable bands of twenty or so—everyone related to everyone, by blood or by marriage. ... But the early J’Jals moved in troops of a hundred or more, which meant a society wrapped around a more tolerant politics. Harmony was a given. Conflicts were resolved quietly, since nothing was more precious to the troop than its own venerable peace. And with natural life spans reaching three centuries, change was a slow, fitful business brought on by consensus, or when absolutely necessary, by surrendering your will to the desires of the elders. But quirks of nature are only one explanation for the future. Many great species had developed patiently. Some of the most famous, like the Ritkers and harum-scarums, were still tradition-bound creatures. Even humans had that sorry capacity: The wisdom of dead Greeks and lost Hebrews was followed long after their words had value. But the J’Jal were far more passionate than humans when it came to ancestors and their left-behind thoughts. The past was a treasure to them, and their early civilizations were hide-bound and enduring machines that would remember every wrong turn and every quiet success.MoreLess
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