Page 11 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

The Stars Impel

determining the choice of colonists were equally sound. Chaos theory
also provided no clues. Those people should have maintained and
reproduced their culture and personalities for at least fifteen
generations, or until the population size warranted new modes of
organization and public behavior. Finally, our researchers turned to
history and non-scientific systems of analysis and categorization. It is
in the spirit of thoroughness, not mysticism, that we seek your
opinion.”
A soft beeping intervened.
“A crowd is beginning to form down the corridor to the west,”
reported Minu Savelo.
“Probably my clientele, not your admirers,” said Jay Trovu. “I do
have an opinion, and I would appreciate your taking it and leaving
soon. Having visitors from the Agency is bad for business.”
He glanced at the battered old ephemeris in his hands. It was the
latest he had: thirty years out of date. Fortunately, his clients were not
literate.
“First,” he wheezed, “although astrology has received several coats
of mythological varnish over the centuries, it does reflect the earliest
attempts men made to predict events scientifically. The motive forces
behind the zodiac’s structure of human types and variations remained
obscure into the modern scientific era, and serious research was not
carried out. Then the catastrophe came, and only the most recent
theories of natural law survived, encoded magnetically in your
computers up there.”
“Electromagnetic storage media have long been obsolete,” said
Yarsis Onfar.
“No matter,” Jay replied. “Your science may have rejected the
foolish aspect of astrology—predicting events and reducing a
complex set of astronomical variables to one-line horoscopic
exhortations in the popular press—on perfectly logical grounds, but
empirical studies usually reveal some significant clustering of
attributes around common astronomical cycles. At least, that is my
impression from what is left of the literature.”
He shrugged and patted the pile of papers. Dust puffed out.
“But you didn’t bring that mechanical brain here just to show me a
pretty picture. What are the aspects?”

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