Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 136

Who were these people? In the confrontation he had just witnessed there
had been insanity, cruelty and terror, and nothing else; certainly nothing
that disposed him either to reverence or trust.
But the tall man came forward a little, a smile on his heavy, rigid face,
and spoke aloud courteously in the Tongue of the Books. "I am Pelleu
Abundibot, and I welcome you heartily to Earth, kinsman, son of the long
exile, messenger of the Lost Colony!"
Ramarren, at that, made a very brief bow and stood a moment in
silence. "It appears," he said, "that I have been on Earth some while, and
made an enemy of that woman, and earned certain scars. Will you tell me
how this was, and how my shipmates perished? Bespeak me if you will: I
do not speak Galaktika so well as you."
Trech Ramarren," the other said—he had evidently picked that up
from Orry as if it were a mere honorific, and had no notion of what
constituted the relationship of prechnoye—"forgive me first that I speak
aloud. It is not our custom to use mindspeech except in urgent need, or to
our inferiors. And forgive next the intrusion of that creature, a servant
whose madness has driven her outside the Law. We will attend to her
mind. She will not trouble you again. As for your questions, all will be
answered. In brief, however, here is the unhappy tale which now at last
draws to a happy ending. Your ship Alterra was attacked as it entered
Earthspace by our enemies, rebels outside the Law. They took two or more
of you off the Alterra into their small planetary cars before our
guard-ship came. When it came, they destroyed the Alterra with all left
aboard her, and scattered in their small ships. We caught the one on which
Har Orry was prisoner, but you were carried off—I do not know for what
purpose. They did not kill you, but erased your memory back to the
pre-lingual stage, and then turned you loose in a wild forest to find your
death. You survived, and were given shelter by barbarians of the forest;
finally our searchers found you, brought you here, and by parahypnotic
techniques we have succeeded in restoring your memory. It was all we
could do—little indeed, but all."
Ramarren listened intently. The story shook him, and he made no
effort to hide his feelings; but he felt also a certain uneasiness or suspicion,
~ 134 ~