The Sky Is Falling

pletely berserk in what was left of the sky. He seemed to fluctuate between bitter sureness of doom and a stupidly optimistic belief that something could be done to avert that doom. But whate

rmination conque

d and the technique of magic that applied here there had to be an answer-o

were seven planets and the sun, and three thousand fixed stars. All had to be

t possible similarity computer. Electronics was out, obviously. He tried to design a set of cams, like the tide machine, to make multiple

oadest powers of magic remained, they were hopeless. Names were still potent, resonance worked within its limits, and the general principles of similarity still applied; but those were not enough for

handle varying conditions. This one could be designed to handle only one set of factors. It had to duplicate the courses of the objects in thei

hinking of a model-the one thing whic

the man dies. Make a model of the universe within the sky, and any changes in that

m. The others watched in fascination. They apparently felt that the diagrams he was drawing were some kind of scientifi

gure three thousand. I assume that the seven repr

Hanson told h

e were only two thousand seven hundred and eig

of every one?" Hanson asked. He couldn't se

therwise, why call them fixed stars? Only the sun and the planets move

them and the sky itself. But designing a machine to handle the planets and the sun, while a lot simpler, was

t for the stars, and some kind of levers to move the planets and sun. It would be s

l to determine how the orbits should be, we have the finest orrery ever built here in the camp. We brought it with us when we moved,

es, they staggered back under a bulky affair in a protective plastic

ameter. Inside the crystal, Hanson could see a model of the world on jeweled-bearing supports. The planets and the sun were set on tracks around the outside, with a clockwork drive mechanism that mo

it can show the position of all things for a thousand centuries in the past or future by turning the

" Hanson told him. "As good

'd said it was-and completely damning to all of his theories and hopes. No model he could make would equal it. But

t had already been done-and had failed. The old man dropped a hand on his shoulder. There was the weight of all his ce

day, month and year, turn the cranks, and the planets there will turn to their proper position exactly as the real planets should r

he old man said, surprise

ow nothing of the laws of similarity or of magic, Dave Hanson. Is that crystal similar to the sky, by association, by contagion, or by true symbolism? A part may be a symbol for the whole-or s

of the real thing for these r

ied elementary alchemy could blow a globe of it to the right size for the sky dome. And there are a few stars from which we can chip pieces enough. We can polish the

e depression lift. "You might get a little of Mars, since

kindergarten student. "With the right colors, metals and bits of jewels-as well as more secret symbols-we can simulate

t on the control tracks to move the planets?" Hanson s

u'd have a problem if two tracks met, as they do. The magnets would then affect both planets alike. Better make two identical plane

ky on which little duplicate planets ran-just how much similarity would there be between model and reality when this was done, if it worked at all? It probably didn't matter, a

land and sea areas. It could probably be used. At their agreement, he nodded with some satisfaction. That should save some

How do we hold the globe i

e enough. We'll fashion suppor

from the poles in the real unive

here have always been such columns connecting the wor

elephants and turtles. And the doubly-damned fools had let Menes drive millions of slaves to dea

moment more. "To make symbol and thing congruent, all mus

e tales of magic he'd read in which there was always one elemen

en you suppose wrong, Dave Hanson! Since this world first came out of Duality, a Sathe

owever much they disliked it. And at their own specialties, they were superb technicia

d seen. Once the crystal shell was cracked out of the orrery, a fat-faced Ser came in with a long tube and began working the molten sky material, getting the feel of it. He did things Hanson knew were nearly impossible, and he did them with the calm assurance of an expert. Even when another rift in the sky appeared with a cra

as if only the technical nature of the

to the tracking mechanism. The tiny sun came last. Hanson fretted as he saw it sink into the shell, sure it would begin to melt the sky material. It seemed to have no effect, however; apparently the sun was not supposed to melt the sky when it was in place-so th

could devise a foolproof motor. But that was for the future. He bent to the hand cranks. Sather Karf was being called to give the exact se

! The fools who had moved the orrery must have been so careless that they'd sprung the mechan

ied didn't sound like an invocation, though they were s

. "But you'd better get the man who

y when a piece hit him. Fix it, Dave Hanson. Y

eed for exact focusing. He stared at the jumble of fine gears, then glanced out through the open front: of the building toward the sky. There was even less of it sh

ome fine too

his," Ser Perth told him. "

e tractors in the camp. There was one fairly small pair of pliers,

e old man's eyes were also on the sky.

craftsmanship that should have lasted for a million years, but it had never been meant to withstand the heavy shock of being dropped, as it mus

and the ground heaved. "Earthquakes!"

the far end of the camp. Men were springing from their backs before they stopped running-men in dull robes with

rrery and smash it! That was the shadow in the pool.

Karf was dashing out from under the cover of the building, brandishing a pole on which a drop of

w. The old Sather seemed to sense it without look

ack to his work, just as the warlocks began rallying behind Sather Karf, grabbing up what weapons they coul

t dimmed, and the ground shook violently. Another set of gears broke from the housing. Hanson caught up a bit of sun-stuff on the sharp point of

as much of the orrery as possible. As always, the skills of his own world

re was no time for that, and they could hardly have hea

some of the junk that had gone into shaping the planets. He brushed in some dirt from the ground that had been touched by the sun stuff and was still glowing faintly. He wasn't at all sure of how much

name. He had to improvise, but he got through a rough version of it, until he came to the end: "I who created you name

ouldn't backfire, as such orders seemed to in the childhood stories of magic he had learned. F

ell. He got only a hasty glimpse of gears that seemed to be back on their trac

n a minute!" the

in passes too rapid to be seen. There was a string of obvious ritual commands in their sacred langua

s the sun went back to its place in the sky. The big bits of sky-stuff around also jerked upwards, revealing themselves by the wind they whipped up and by the holes they rip

apparently painted on it where no clouds had been. And there was an indication of movement in the green of

one normally on the world, and from under the roof he could see the gaudy

ered together, close to the building where Hanson and Sather Karf stood. The Sons of the Egg seemed to have suffered less, since

ly. "It isn't stable yet! Destroy

ks began to close ranks, falling back to make a stand under the jutting edge of the roof, where th

d that their work could still be undone. And it was obvious that the warlocks could never stand the

near the glowing bit for steadiness, and it began searing his fingers. He forced control on his muscles and plunged his hand slowly through the sky sphere, easing the glowing blob downward toward the

He moved his hand carefully, steadying it on one of the planet tracks. The glowing fire in the air outside moved another mile cl

d and panicked. Jerking horribly, the monstrous thing moved again. F

is pocket. He had suddenly realized what horrors were possible to anyone who could use the orrery now. "Rumpelstilsken, I com

. His hand ached with the impossible task of steadiness he had set it, and

e starting on the roof of the building, but others had already run out to quench that. It sou

s. His face was sick, but he managed to grin at Hanson.

He caught her hand and grabbed Bork's arm. Like h

e whether it's impossible now for you to magic up a decent

't scared by the Scotch, but t