It was predictable, in hindsight. Everything about the history of the Society of Jesus bespoke deft and efficient action, exploration and research. During what Europeans were pleased to call the Age of Discovery, Jesuit priests were never more than a year or two behind the men who made initial contact with previously unknown peoples; indeed, Jesuits were often the vanguard of exploration.
The United Nations required years to come to a decision that the Society of Jesus reached in ten days. In New York, diplomats debated long and hard, with many recesses and tablings of the issue, whether and why human resources should be expended in an attempt to contact the world that would become known as Rakhat when there were so many pressing needs on Earth. In Rome, the questions were not whether or why but how soon the mission could be attempted and whom to send.
The Society asked leave of no temporal government. It acted on its own principles, with its own assets, on Papal authority. The mission to Rakhat was undertaken not so much secretly as privately—a fine dis- tinction but one that the Society felt no compulsion to explain or justify when the news broke several years later.
The Jesuit scientists went to learn, not to proselytize. They went so that they might come to know and love God's other children. They went for the reason Jesuits have always gone to the farthest frontiers of hu- man exploration. They went ad majorem Dei gloriam: for the greater glory of God.
They meant no harm. A Ballantine Book Published by The Random House Publishing Group Copyright © 1996 by Mary Doria Russell Reader's Guide copyright © 1997 by Mary Doria Russell and The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover by Villard Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1996. Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Ballantine Reader's Circle and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. www.ballantinebooks.com/BRC Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-90649 ISBN: 0-449-91255-8 This edition published by arrangement with Villard Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Villard Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America First Ballantine Books Edition: October 1997 This Edition: December 2004 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 ROME: DECEMBER 2059
ON DECeMBEr 7, 2059, Emilio Sandoz was released from the isolation ward of Salvator Mundi Hospital in the middle of the night and transported in a bread van to the Jesuit Residence at Number 5 Borgo Santo Spirito, a few minutes' walk across St. Peter's Square from the Vatican. The next day, ignoring shouted questions and howls of jour- nalistic outrage as he read, a Jesuit spokesman issued a short statement to the frustrated and angry media mob that had gathered outside Num- ber 5's massive front door.
"To the best of our knowledge, Father Emilio Sandoz is the sole sur- vivor of the Jesuit mission to Rakhat. Once again, we extend our thanks to the U.N., to the Contact Consortium and to the Asteroid Mining Di- vision of Ohbayashi Corporation for making the return of Father San- doz possible. We have no additional information regarding the fate of the Contact Consortium's crew members; they are in our prayers.