The Kar-Chee Reign by Avram Davidson

content with bringing this punishment upon themselves by sins and breaches of judgment and neglect of proper ways, had actually been so blasphemous as to
resist?
To
attack?
He assured her that they had, indeed. She was truly, genuinely shocked. “And what happened afterward, Liam? Wasn’t there greater destruction than before? Surely there was! And did that not prove it? Was this not evident, obvious proof of the — not merely futility, but the absolute
wrongness
of resisting the Double Devils?”
    “But … Mother Nor … what would you have people do? Submit, supinely, and see their land destroyed?”
    She took his hands in hers. “Young Liam, can they, by resisting, prevent their lands from being destroyed? The destruction of the land, like the appearance of the Kar-chee and the dragon, is an act of Manifest Nature. Man can no more hope to resist it successfully than he can hope to subdue the waves with a broom, or bring down the stars with a noose. Salvation does not lie in resistance. Salvation lies in
compliance!
Man is but clay in Nature’s hands. A course of action has been outlined for him and it is for him to follow that course. Proper action, correct deeds, the application of justice and equity:
these
will bring safety; these alone.
    “What should the people of your home land have done when the Double Devils appeared? They should have built an ark and departed in search of a place to settle in — ”
    He broke in, “And waited there, passively, until the next visitation?”
    But (she protested) if they would only be virtuous, obedient, diligent in the pursuit of proper conduct, then there would
be
no “next visitation”!
    “Not ‘passively,’ no. Activity — but active in the correct way. Have you never thought to wonder
why
the Double Devils exist at all? Surely you know that nothing happens without a cause, and that no cause exists without a purpose? I’m told that your people believe that the Kar-chee come from the stars. This is mere superstition. No — this is
rank
superstition! The stars are made of purest fire and nothing comes from them but burning embers … sometimes we see them streak, flaming across the sky at night; sometimes we find the burnt-out coals upon the ground. But no living thing comes from the stars because no living thing can live in the stars. Why? Because the stars are fire and living things cannot live in fire.” Her voice was earnest and sincere and she looked at him to see if he understood.
    Liam, suppressing a sigh, said, “Well, Mother, your arguments are persuasive, and it is perhaps not for me, being rude and unsure, to say that they are not correct. You speak of it being possible to prevent the visitation of the Kar-chee. To me, their non-appearance would be a miracle. But you say that in order for this to happen, all mankind must become virtuous. And, to me, Mother, this would be an even greater miracle.”
    She swept up a pile of tufts of wool with her hand. “My son, it is necessary, then, for you to learn that man can compel the performance of miracles, that it lies within his power to do so; and that, indeed, he
must
do so, for man is a miraculous creature.”
    • • •
    “Land is near,” Gaspar declared, approaching Liam in his usual majestic fashion, and leaving moderate excitement in his wake. “All things, of course, are comparative: in terms of walking, or, to be more accurate, swimming, land is still very far. But in terms of the distance we have voyaged, land is rather near. Yes, yes,” he said, contentedly, stroking his vast gray beard.
    Liam asked the obvious question.
    “How do we know? We are Knowers. It is our duty to know. But to reply more specifically: buy the observation of the clouds, by the flight of birds, by the scent and direction of the winds, by the nature of drifting wood and weeds, by the color of the sea; and by many other numerous and significant things. We
know
— as you could, too, if you were one of us. But we will