This is not the place to recount
the well-known story of Restiprak Zentonan the mountaineer and of
how he and his expedition tackled Mount Gnemek. We may simply
draw the reader's attention to the fact that it was not
simply exploration for exploration's sake, but an attempt to settle what might be
a political question or a question of Syoomean defence, since the rumour
existed that the final spire of Mt Gnemek - the part that
reached into space - was artificial. That was why the mountain's nature became linked
with a recurrent theme in Ooranye's long history, namely
the near-achievement of
space-flight.
It is not surprising that
the Uranians were nowhere near as swift as the Terrestrials to
develop astronautics. Yet even with such a huge world to
explore, and a relatively sparse population, whose resources had to
be devoted largely to survival, occasionally the idea of travel
off-world came to haunt Syoomean civilization. In
particular, there was the fear that if one power achieved orbital
flight, it might use artificial satellite stations to dominate the
world.
Zentonan used this argument to obtain support for his
expedition.
The extraordinary events associated with that journey
punctuated history with a series of eomasps, leading
to a quick succession of no less than 9 small eras, each with its
epic contribution to the adventure: the Neodymium (1 hour 20 minutes),
containing the momentous conversation which determined the aim of the voyage;
the Promethium (4 days 29 minutes), an inner struggle of decision; the
Samarium (1 day 3 hours 47 minutes), an investigation of the way
forward; the Europium (2 hours 57 minutes), the capture of Zentonan by
the forces of tyranny; the Gadolinium (13 minutes), his escape; the
Terbium (25 days 19 hours), his underground country; the Dysprosium (1
day 21 hours 51 minutes), the battle in the caves; the Holmium (56
days), his ascent of the mountain; and the Erbium (2
days 1 hour), his long glide down.
After all this it was not surprising that
Zentonan was asked to fill the vacancy in the sunnoadex, which had
arisen just before the end of era 59.
The success of his expedition gave
a huge impetus to other voyages among the mountain ranges of
both Syoom and Fyaym. This is what led the Thulium
Era (era 69: 14,025,686 days, 571 Uranian years; equivalent to
48,000 Earth years) to become the golden age of
prospecting.
Ell-light
deposits in concentrated, crystalline form - much more valuable per
unit weight than the stuff extracted agriculturally - fed wealth
back into Syoom, which in a few lifetimes recovered to the economic
conditions that its people had enjoyed before the Foam.
And so the
long Uranian years - each a good lifetime - rolled on in their
hundreds, accumulating into another of the great eras of Ooranye.
We tend immediately to think "prospectors" when we think of the Thulium
Era, but of course this period contained an enormous wealth of
other distinctive features, none of which we have space here to
describe. However it is the theme of prospecting which
connects this age to the next wrenching event in
Uranian humanity's story.
>> The 'Dassan Call
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