coming from the barracks
late at night when no men were around--the voiceless humming that the
Lani sang at work.

First there was Darkness--starless and sunless

Void without form--darker than night

Then did the Master--Lord of Creation

Wave His right hand, saying, "Let there be light!"

Verse, Kennon thought. That was logical. People remember poetry better
than prose. But the form was not what he'd normally expect. It was
advanced, a style that was past primitive blank verse or heroic
pentameter. He listened intently as Copper went on.

Light filled the heavens, bright golden glowing,
Brought to the Void by His wondrous hand;
Then did the Master--Lord of Creation--
Nod His great head, saying, "Let there be land!"
Air, land, and water formed into being,
Born in the sight of His all-seeing eyes;
Then did the master--Lord of Creation--
Smile as He murmured, "Let life arise!"
All of the life conceived by the Master,
Varied in shape as the grasses and birds;
Hunters and hunted, moveless and moving,
Came into form at the sound of His words.

"That's a great deal like Genesis," Kennon said with mild astonishment.
"Where could you have picked that up?"

"From the beginning of our race," Copper said. "It came to us with Ulf
and Lyssa--but what is Genesis?"

"A part of an ancient religion--one that is still followed on some of
the Central Worlds. Its followers call themselves Christians. They say
it came from Earth, the mother-world of men."

"Our faith has no name. We are children of Lyssa, who was a daughter of
the Master."

"It is an odd similarity," Kennon said. "But other races have had
stories of the Creation. And possibly there may be another explanation.
Your ancestors could have picked this up from Alexander's men. They came
from Earth originally and some of them could have been Christians."

"No," Cooper said. "This rede is long before Man Alexander. It is
the origin of our world, even before Ulf and Lyssa. It is the first
Book--the Book of the God-spell. Man Alexander came in the sixth
Book--the Book of Roga."

"There's no point in arguing about it," Kennon said. "Go on--tell me the
rest."

"It's going to be a long story," Copper said. "Even though I have
forgotten some of it, I can chant the redes for hours."

Kennon braced his back against one of the fat tires of the jeep. "I'm a
good listener," he said.

She chuckled. "You asked