make me a bit nervous.”
Brenner shook his head.
Rodriguez thrust his torch into a nearby rack, or holder. There were many such things about, particularly on the walls. At times, Brenner conjectured, the room might be well lit with such devices. This place did not have look of disuse about it which characterized the platform in the open. Rodriguez then removed the weapon from his shoulder and armed it.
“Come along,” he said. “I do not anticipate any danger.”
Brenner, holding up the torch, followed Rodriguez about the edge of the platform, toward the entrance, or exit, as it might be, in the back wall.
“If this is a cave,” said Rodriguez, “it is almost bound to be empty. If it is a tunnel, it is almost certain to be sealed off.”
“Where does it lead?” asked Brenner, after a moment or two. It did, indeed, appear to be some sort of tunnel, or, at any rate, a long, narrow cave, of some length.
“I don’t know,” said Rodriguez.
They had come to a stout gate of timbers. This was reinforced from the back and, on the side which faced out, away from the room, was guarded by numerous, projecting spikes of sharpened wood, each, at its base, as thick as the body of a Pon.
“The gate suggests that this is a tunnel,” said Rodriguez. “And, if so, there is probably a similar barrier at the other end.”
“It seems they do not trust their totem,” said Brenner.
“The gate, or gates, may not be to fend away the totem,” said Rodriguez.
“True,” said Brenner. He recalled the tawny brute which had carried away Archimedes, and the beasts in the pack, in the forest. There might be many varieties of creature in the forest, which reportedly teemed with life.
“I see no tracks on the other side,” said Rodriguez. “Nothing may have come down that passage in a thousand years.”
“Let us go back to the main room,” said Brenner.
Rodriguez disarmed the rifle, returned it to its harmless guise, and replaced it, by means of its sling, on his shoulder.
“It is an incredible animal,” said Brenner, in a few moments, again looking up at the gigantic, carved head, that on the post at the right, forward corner of the platform.
“It is a most beautiful and dangerous creature,” said Rodriguez.
“Yes,” agreed Brenner.
“Now it becomes clear why the Pons accepted with such good grace your disproof, so to speak, of the git as their totem. It was not their totem.”
“But this!” said Brenner, looking up at the monstrous head.
“It is not that unusual to pick a terrifying, dangerous animal as a totem,” said Rodriguez. “There are many points in favor of doing so. Better to be allies with such a terror than its enemies, or prey. Too, you must see the advantage of such an arrangement from the point of view of the Pons, from the point of view of the primitive mind. They are “children of the totem.””
“And no animal devours its own young,” said Brenner.
“Precisely,” said Rodriguez. “Such a belief, too, interestingly, might even give them some security from the totem. In its presence, they would not be likely to sweat the exudates associated with terror, or to betray fear by awkward, or uncertain, or uncoordinated movements, arousing curiosity and aggression, or to flee from it, inciting pursuit, and so on. And, of course, if a dangerous totem animal does attack one once in a while, or eat one, or whatever, that can always be explained as the result of some hidden fault in the victim, some secret violation of taboo, such things.”
“Of course,” said Brenner. Such closed belief systems, like circles without openings, not susceptible to clear refutation, existed in their thousands in the galaxy. Interestingly, they tended to be taken seriously by their devotees. Their imperviousness to refutation, their immunity to disproof, a natural consequence of their vacuity, tended to be taken by many as evidence of their truth.
“And it is certainly not as if they were consorting with the beast on a familiar basis,” said Rodriguez.
“No,” agreed Brenner.
“We had best be getting back,” said Rodriguez.
“Why did they conceal the true nature of their totem?” asked Brenner.
“That is not that unusual,” said Rodriguez. “The totem animal is sacred. Its relationship to the totem group is quite sensitive. It is to be protected, perhaps even against enchantments or spells. They may not wish the identity of the totem to be known, for fear enemies might try to harm it. The name of the totem may be seldom mentioned. If it is