Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 104

lines and forms twitched and flickered. Then the image came clear, and
Falk caught his breath. It was Estrel's face, ten times lifesize. The eyes
gazed at him with the remote composure of a painting.
"I am Strella Siobelbel." The lips of the image moved, but the voice
had no locality, a cold, abstract whisper trembling in the air of the room. "I
was sent to bring to the City in safety the member of the Werel Expedition
said to be living in the East of Continent One. I believe this to be the man."
And her face, fading, was replaced by Falk's own.
A disembodied voice, sibilant, inquired, "Does Har Orry recognize
this person?"
As Orry answered, his face appeared on the screen.
"This is Agad Ramarren, Lords, the Navigator of the Alterra."
The boy's face faded and the screen remained blank, quivering, while
many voices whispered and rustled in the air, like a brief multitudinous
discussion among spirits, speaking an unknown tongue. This was how the
Shing held their Council: each in his own room, apart, with only the
presence of whispering voices. As the incomprehensible questioning and
replying went on, Falk murmured to Orry, "Do you know this tongue?"
"No, prech Ramarren. They always speak Galaktika to me."
"Why do they talk this way, instead of face to face?"
"There are so many of them—thousands and thousands meet in the
Council of Earth, Lord Abundibot told me. And they are scattered over the
planet in many places, though Es Toch is the only city. That is Ken
Kenyek, now."
The buzz of disembodied voices had died away and a new face had
appeared on the screen, a man's face, with dead white skin, black hair, pale
eyes. "Agad Ramarren, we are met in Council, and you have been brought
into our Council, that you may complete your mission to Earth and, if you
desire, return to your home. The Lord Pelleu Abundibot will bespeak you."
The wall abruptly blanked, returned to its normal translucent green.
The tall man across the room was gazing steadily at Falk. His lips did not
move, but Falk heard him speak, not in a whisper now but
clearly—singularly clearly. He could not believe it was mind-speech, yet it
could be nothing else. Stripped of the character and timbre, the
~ 102 ~