Page 25 (1/2)

Teppic stared at the line in the rock Geoo to Ephebe,' he said 'They know all about geometry and they have some very unsound ideas Unsound ideas are what I could do with right now'

'Why do you carry all these knives and things? I mean, really?'

'Hmm? Sorry?'

'All these knives Why?'

Teppic thought about it 'I suppose I don't feel properly dressed without them,' he said

'Oh'

Ptraci dutifully cast around for a new topic of conversation Introducing Topics of A Discourse was also part of a handood at it The other girls had co fro habits of crocodiles to speculation about life in the netherworld She'd found it heavy going after talking about the weather

'So,' she said 'You've killed a lot of people, I expect?'

'Met paid to kill people Have you killed lots? Do you know you tense your back ht to talk about it,' he said

'I ought to know If we've got to cross the desert together and everything More than a hundred?'

'Good heavens, no,

'Well, less than fifty?'

Teppic rolled over

'Look, even the most famous assassins never killed more than thirty people in all their lives,' he said

'Less than twenty, then?'

'Yes'

'Less than ten?'

'I think,' said Teppic, 'it would be best to say a nu as I know These things are important' They strolled back to You Bastard But noas Teppic who see on his mind

'All this senate' he said

'Congress,' corrected Ptraci

'Youermore than fifty people?'

'There's a different name for that sort of woman,' said Ptraci, but without much rancour

'Sorry Less than ten?'

'Let's say,' said Ptraci, 'a number between zero and ten' You Bastard spat Twenty feet away the bloas picked cleanly out of the air and glued to the rock behind it

'A how they do it, isn't it,' said Teppic 'Aniave hilare froht:

Let z=ei0 cudcudcud Then dz=ie[i0]d0=izd0 or d0=dz/iz

Ptaclusp, still in his nightshirt, wandered aie at the foot of the pyra like a turbine Ptaclusp didn't knohy, knew nothing about the vast expenditure of power that had twisted the diainst terrible pressures, but at least the disturbing tees seemed to have stopped There were fewer sons around than there used to be; in truth, he could have done with finding one or two

First he found the capstone, which had shattered, its electru away In its descent from the pyramid it had hit the statue of Hat the Vulture-Headed God, bending it double and giving it an expression ofat the wreckage of a tent He tore at the heavy canvas and unearthed IIb, who blinked at hiht

'It didn't work, dad!' hejust sort of twisted!'

The builder lifted a spar off his son's legs

'Anything broken?' he said quietly

'Just bruised, I think' The young architect sat up, wincing, and craned to see around

'Where's Two-ay?' he said 'He was higher up than me, nearly on the top-'

'I've found him,' said Ptaclusp

Architects are not known for their attention to subtle shades of , but IIb heard the lead in his father's voice

'He's not dead, is he?' he whispered

'I don't think so I'well, you better co quantum has happened to him'

You Bastard plodded onwards at about 1247 ate co-ordinates to stave off boredoe, plate-like feet crunched on the sand

Lack of fingers was another big spur to the development of camel intellect Human mathematical development had always been held back by everyone's instinctive tendency, when faced with so really complex in the way of triforers Ca nureat help, too There aren't many distractions As far as cahty intellectual develop to do it with

He reached the crest of the dune, gazed with approval over the rolling sands ahead of hiarithms

'What's Ephebe like?' said Ptraci

'I've never been there Apparently it's ruled by a Tyrant'

'I hope we don't meet him, then'

Teppic shook his head 'It's not like that,' he said 'They have a new Tyrant every five years and they'do so to him first' He hesitated 'I think they ee-lect hi like they do to tos?'

'Er'

'You know Toand be more peaceful'

Teppic winced 'To be honest, I'ot so they do it with, I think it's called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is One man, one-' He paused The political history lesson seeo, and had introduced concepts never heard of in Djelibeybi or in Ankh-Morpork, for that matter He had a stab at it, anyway 'One , then?'

He shrugged It h, that everyone can do it They're very proud of it Everyone has-' he hesitated again, certain now that things were amiss - 'the vet Except for women, of course And children And crin extraction And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons And lots of other people But everyone apart frohtened civilisation'