《Gift and Power series 4: Ground: a very long way from home (Romance/Thought-hearing/Sci-Fi/Aliens)》 Chapter 1: Running Ground: A very long way from home

Ground / Prelude

Director''s office, Exoplanet investigation project ¡°Rachel... come in, sit.¡± the director said, looking at his notes and then frowning slightly. ¡°As you know, there were four openings this year, with four young men and yourself applying for a field run. Unless you decide to withdraw, then I''ll be assigning you to fly with Dr Magdalena Karella John. Have you met her?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I''m not surprised. She tends to avoid Christians.¡± ¡°But...¡± Rachel was too surprised to hold her tongue. ¡°Her name sounds Mer.¡± ¡°She is, at least... that''s the side of her ancestry she favours.¡± ¡°I thought all Mer were Christians,¡± Rachel blurted. ¡°You wouldn''t be here if you didn''t know how dangerous assumptions are: flowers can kill you, and so on. Remember that applies in humans as well, and you''ll go far. Well, you''ll be going far anyway. Maggie is a good pilot, one of the best we have. She may or may not tell you other things about herself, it''s certainly not my place to. What I can tell you, must tell you, is that her flight-plan possibly carries some additional risk. You''ll be going as far or further than anyone else has gone, following the path of a ship which didn''t return.¡± ¡°Didn''t return? We''ll be looking for traces of their Majesty''s grandson?¡± The director raised an eyebrow, wondering who had broken silence. The Restored Kingdom wouldn''t be impressed. ¡°I wasn''t aware that anything had been made public.¡± ¡°Oh. Urm, no, it hasn''t. But... he was almost clan...¡± Rachel''s eye''s opened wide as names clicked into place, ¡°I met his and Magdalena''s parents, once.¡± ¡°You will have ample time to discuss such meetings, if you both desire. Remember, that Dr Magdalena is as much a Martian citizen as you are, with an absolute right to privacy.¡± ¡°Of course, sir.¡± ¡°I hadn''t realised you had that connection, though. Obviously, if you find any trace of the missing ship it''ll bring some closure to the grieving relatives, but whether you do or not, you will be bringing back interesting data about the systems you visit: the astronomers insist you write a paper of results, as part of their support for the project. Of course if you find any life it''ll be good material for your doctoral thesis, but I remind you that there are no guarantees, you know that. You still might well find yourself investigating someone else''s samples.¡± ¡°I understand, sir. Thank you for the opportunity to try.¡± ¡°Hmm. You might not say that after six month''s of Maggie''s tongue. It''s almost as sharp as her knives. Given the extra risk element, you have an extra twenty-four hours to discuss the assignment with family members.¡± ¡°I don''t need them, sir. I have the next week to get to know her anyway, don''t I?¡±
¡°So, do I have a passenger, or do I give up on this project and go shark-hunting?¡± Maggie asked, striding into the director''s office without ceremony. ¡°You have an assigned researcher.¡± ¡°Well, finally!¡± ¡°It''s only been a few months, Maggie.¡± ¡°It felt longer.¡± ¡°You could have socialised with the up-coming bunch.¡± ¡°Why would I want to do that? Three quarters get scared of me or the risks and decide to stay in the nice safe lab, and most of the others think their muscles and male body-odor will impress me. What''s this guy like? Do you think I''ll get past Jupiter with this one, before I need to turn round or castrate him?¡± She was exaggerating, but she had needed to cut her previous trip to half the planned length. The enforced proximity of ship-board life had become too much for her assigned student, and she''d heard not just romantic thoughts from him, but him deciding that it would be a lovely surprise for his parents when he presented her as his wife on their return to the Solar system. ¡°She is quite determined, and I''d say she''ll go a long long way.¡± ¡°You''ve found me a girl? Really?¡± ¡°Rachel Ngbila. She says she''s met your parents.¡± ¡°Rupert''s daughter?¡± Maggie asked, surprised, remembering a determined five or six year-old bypassing the fridge''s child-lock while humming ''Yes, Jesus loves me''. ¡°Relatives are a matter of privacy.¡± ¡°Of course they are. I suspect her faith isn''t. Oh well, at least as a clan-member she''s going to be used to being around thought-hearers.¡±

Ground / Ch1. Running

Ground He ran, and he could hear them chasing him ¡ª predators. They were faster, of course, he was smarter, more adaptable. One on one, the predator would be the one running. But there were three of them. It was a temporary alliance, they weren''t a true pack, he could tell. They weren''t communicating at all. Just running. Running with the joy of being a multicelular organism, running with the goal of food. He, on the other hand, was trying to stay in one piece, and the same shape he was. He didn''t want to change; let alone bud. Budding was a last resort, giving them some of himself to eat. It was the ultimate betrayal of his species ¡ª training the hunters they could get fed without much risk, just from running. A betrayal of his muscles, of cooperation. Fighting was better than that, or changing, of course. But changing took time, and left you slow. So he ran, there were some trees ahead, and he knew the predators didn''t climb trees. He switched gait, a last sprint, and he leapt at the branch, and swung himself up, safe. Yes, this was a good shape. He climbed further up, and picked some fruit. Energy for his exhausted leg muscles. Cooperation had its rewards, and his arms, saved by his legs, now saved his legs from being chewed up. Yeah yeah, said his legs, and what about the brain, eh? When''s that going to do some heavy lifting?
Space ¡°What''s he doing now?¡± Rachel asked, as Maggie was still blocking the screen. Rachel had been taking notes, anyway. ¡°Sitting in the tree like the typical arboreal, eating some fruit. I told you he wasn''t tool-user.¡± ¡°Of course he''s a tool user, look at his belt,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Ha. You''re still fascinated by what''s under it,¡± Maggie teased the younger woman. ¡°It''s just odd. We''ve seen plenty of overt genitalia in the lower animals, now here we''ve got a bipedal tool-user who''s as asexual as a child''s doll.¡± ¡°You''re assuming that bipedal means intelligent, again, Rach,¡± Maggie said, then gave a low whistle. ¡°Wow. OK. I''ll give you tool user.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He''s just hacked a branch off that tree with some kind of axe from his belt, ripped the leaves off with one hand, stuffed them in his mouth and shoved the cut end of the branch right down the gullet of one of the hunters. All in, like, ten seconds. Can I change my bet?¡± ¡°I never accepted it anyway. I hope you''ve marked up that sequence for replay.¡± ¡°Of course I have. And this one.¡± ¡°What''s he doing?¡± ¡°Eating leaves, making another spear. This one he''s sharpening. With his teeth.¡± ¡°So, vegetarian tool user with a crazy digestive system.¡± ¡°Spitting out the wood.¡± ¡°That, I find encouraging,¡± Rachel said, noting it down. ¡°He''s sighting along the spear, this time. Oh wow. Doggie kebab. Carnivores zero, bipedal prey species three.¡± ¡°Prey species?¡± ¡°Highly adaptable, tool using prey species. Uh oh.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He''s just spotted our drone.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Urm, taken out a note pad and started sketching.¡± ¡°A note pad?¡± ¡°Looks like it. I''d say we''ve got drawing skills, here.¡±
Ground The strange creature was there again. Had it followed him? Interesting. What was it? He''d have to ask people if they''d seen anything like it. It was too small to be a person. And of course it was flying with no wings his eyes pointed out. That was pretty impressive if it was true. He focussed on it fully. God''s universe was even stranger than he''d known! Metal. There was certainly metal on that ''creature''. So... unknown technology. Jakav ¡ª for that was his name ¡ª was so glad he hadn''t changed, he''d have missed this.
Space ¡°Oh no!¡± Maggie exclaimed, ¡°This cannot be happening. ¡°. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Geometry. I hate geometry.¡± ¡°What do you mean, geometry?¡± ¡°Triagles. Square of the hypotenuse. He''s doing a first contact protocol on us.¡± ¡°No outbound communication devices on that probe, are there?¡± ¡°No. I could get it to flash the first few digits of Pi at him.¡±
Ground Jakav saw the strange flying object start to flash. Three flashes, one flash, four flashes. Then there was a pause and it repeated, and the probe went in circles. Jakav frowned. What was that supposed to mean? It wasn''t any number he recognised. If it had been three one eight, that would have made some sense, the first few digits of the circle number. He drew on the soil once more. A circle, a radius, and the circle number, first in numbers, then, in dots. Three, one, eight.
Space ¡°Rach, look at this, tell me what you see.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Oh help.¡± Rachel said, ¡°He doesn''t think in decimal.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°His counting system''s not decimal. Three point one four only works if you think in tenths and hundredths. Get the probe to count to ten, he might get the point.¡±
Ground The light flashed from one to ten, and stopped, and repeated itself. Jakav got the idea. They didn''t know the circle number because they used base ten. See, muscles? There were benefits to brains. Predator meat to take home, as well as information. The people who made flying machines without propellers counted in base ten. He wondered why. He wrote the numbers zero to eleven on the ground, put dots under some of them, so they might get the point and then settled down to gut the predators. First contact with an alien species was all very well, but there were hungry people back home. He idly wondered if they were multicellular organisms or multi-organism cooperations. More importantly, were they really going to tell the people about what God had done? He''d wondered, earlier that day, if he''d misunderstood where God had wanted him to go, when he''d found himself being chased by three carnivores, but two butchered carnivores meant protein, which was nice, and three dead meant extra safety for slow people, which was even better. And the thought of maybe learning what God had done was just amazing.
Space ¡°This makes no sense,¡± Rachel said, looking at his path. ¡°What doesn''t?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°He''s heading back to the area we called the menagerie.¡± ¡°Maybe he''s the zoo-keeper.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Rachel reviewed the observations quickly on her screen. ¡°I think we misclassified it. It''s his home town.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°For a given value of road and building, I''m now seeing roads and buildings.¡± ¡°But we didn''t see any two creatures alike!¡± Maggie said. ¡°I know. I wish photons were quicker. I don''t want to leave, but I do want to call home. It''s all very well hopping through warped space and finding new species, but it''d be nice to be able to say hey guys, our probe has just met this intelligent being who wasn''t phased one bit by a hovering probe, inflicted geometry on us and counts in base twelve. And none of the beings at his home look anything like him.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t mind James calling in for an update,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Really? I thought you told him to get lost and not bother you any more last time he talked to you.¡± ¡°That was two weeks ago. A girl can change her mind, can''t she? I''ve got an estimate on his ground speed from the video, by the way.¡± ¡°Go on,¡± Rachel prompted. ¡°His long distance run was about eight kilometers an hour, or a pretty slow jog, and his sprint was nothing special either, in human terms.¡± ¡°That''s reassuring if we ever need to run away,¡± Rachel said, thinking the chances of that were zero. ¡°But his hand speed and dexterity are crazy. It''s like his hands didn''t need telling what to do. And by the way, he doesn''t always use his eyes together.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Independent eye control, like a Chameleon,¡± Maggie expanded. ¡°And when he noticed the probe, I''d say that he zoomed in on it.¡± ¡°You''re joking.¡± ¡°Nope. Probe imagery suggests he''s got multi-lens optics in his eyeballs. Nice trick if you can manage it.¡± ¡°So... Super dexterous, bionic vision, good brain, and just-about-good-enough leg muscles.¡± ¡°That''s about what I''ve worked out, yes.¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°So, Captain. Do we follow, and risk botching first contact, or do we need to run home and let someone else earn that credit?¡± ¡°Let''s pray everyone''s got a forgiving nature. I mean he did the first contact thing. I imagine he''s planning to tell people all about this alien probe he met.¡± Rachel bit her lip rather than reply; Maggie had so frequently declared she didn''t believe in God that Rachel really wanted to pounce on the suggestion that they pray. But she didn''t want the barriers to come up yet again, they''d been getting on so well in the last few days.
Ground ¡°Hey, Aza, can you get my parents?¡± Jakav called to one of his friends, who''d decided to grow wings since he''d last seen her. ¡°Do I get some of the meat?¡± ¡°Sure, or the glory. Spot the alien machine, yet?¡± ¡°What alien machine?¡± ¡°Just up there. It thinks the circle number is three dot one four.¡± ¡°That''s stupid. It''s three dot one eight!¡± Aza said. ¡°I think it uses base ten.¡± Jakav said. ¡°Ten? What a crazy number.¡± Aza exclaimed. ¡°Who''d think of that? They can''t even divide by three!¡± ¡°Hey, don''t blame me. I didn''t invent the thing.¡± Aza flew up to look at the strange machine. ¡°It''s pretty small, isn''t it?¡± she called down to Jakav. ¡°I know that,¡± ¡°You think there are beings inside it?¡± ¡°I doubt it. Any idea what keeps it up?¡± ¡°No wings, no jets.¡± She prodded the probe with a stick. ¡°It does react though, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°Someone probably doesn''t want it broken.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Strange flying machine. I''ll go get your parents, weirdling.¡± It was an old jibe, Jakav was used to it. Like most people, Aza had been formed as a podling ¡ª a mixing of cells ¡ª not a mixling. Her parents had each contributed some of themselves, part of her her father''s muscles, part of her mother''s mind, and so on. Mix and match like that was easy when you were a multi-organism cooperation, but it did reduce the abilities of the parents, at least temporarily, if they gave their best, or reduce the abilities of the podling if they didn''t. His parents had done it the other way; mixing genetic material, and allowing for entropy, blessing, uncertainty, newness, variety, strangeness. Unlike Aza, who was just like a stronger version of her mother in many ways, Jakav wasn''t just like anyone else; he was all himself, unique, strange, weird. There weren''t many people like him in the town, and none who were older. His parents had been... pioneers of reinventing an old way. The really old way had involved finding a nice damp hole they could hide in for a few weeks, and carried significant risks, but they weren''t barbarians now; hygiene had done wonders for their population size.
Space ¡°I see inter-species cooperation,¡± Rachel said, ¡°and curiosity about the probe.¡± ¡°No fear at all, is there.¡± Maggie observed. ¡°Not yet. Hey! The one with wings has just stuck a stick at the probe.¡± ¡°You said they were curious. Probe the probe with a prod. I would too, probably.¡± ¡°Don''t you mean prodably?¡± ¡°Hey, Rachel, ignore the wings, compare and contrast those two faces.¡± ¡°You don''t think we''re seeing some kind of gender-based dimorphism do you?¡± Rachel asked, ¡°Or an age thing? Maybe they''re different stages of life?¡± ¡°Who knows.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Oh, the flying one''s gone.¡± ¡°Should I follow?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I presume he''s waiting here for a reason. Hey, zoom in on that drawing he''s doing now, will you?¡± Maggie asked, ¡°I think recognise that symbol.¡± ¡°Probably. Three-fold interlocking pattern.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°Either pretty geometry or religious symbol of the trinity.¡± ¡°You reckon we''ve flown, I don''t remember how many, light-years from home and we''re meeting people who believe in your God?¡± Maggie asked, a dangerous look in her eyes. ¡°Maggie, do you need me to point out to you that every time James thinks to you you''re on the receiving end of a miracle? Shouldn''t people here believe in the same creator of the universe as at home? It raises a theological question though.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°What if there''s been no fall here? If there''s been no fall, then they''d have no fear.¡± ¡°He seemed pretty afraid of those dog-like things.¡± ¡°Not the same. Avoiding getting eaten doesn''t mean that intelligent life might wish you harm.¡±
Ground ¡°Jakav, Aza said you''d killed two predators and found something else?¡± Jakav''s father asked.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Up there, Dad.¡± Jakav pointed out the probe, ¡°Metal, floating without visible support. It can flash a light and counts in base ten.¡± ¡°Interesting. You haven''t tried to capture it?¡± ¡°No. Dad, I felt the One leading me to a certain patch of ground, three carnivores chased me, right into the view of that thing. I dropped a sharpened branch on one, and then speared these two properly while they were eating their comrade.¡± ¡°Three carnivores, eh? Well done. Your experiment seems to be working.¡± ¡°It is. I feel like I''m faster each day.¡± ¡°Well, I''ll leave you to your experiment and have a look at this myself.¡± ¡°Your choice, Dad. I think its masters are curious about us.¡± ¡°I''m pretty curious about them too. You don''t think they''re inside?¡± ¡°I doubt it. It''s too small, surely?¡± ¡°Well, I''ll go have a look at it, then.¡±
Space ¡°No way!¡± Maggie exclaimed. ¡°Now what?¡± Rachel asked, looking up from her report. ¡°The subject intelligences are shape-shifters,¡± Maggie said, formally. ¡°What?¡± ¡°This one, now hovering beside the probe and looking curiously at the probe''s serial number, didn''t used to have wings. He had some conversation with your friend the dog-killer, and I swear his arm-bones changed shape and suddenly he had wings.¡± ¡°I seriously hope you''ve got that on video,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Probe memory currently at five percent and filling with full resolution data. Ship-board memory currently at zero point one percent, so no problem at this end. We''ll need to get closer for full band-width, though.¡± ¡°Why don''t we go lower? See how they react.¡± ¡°Sure?¡± ¡°The worst that happens is they try to capture the probe,¡± Rachel pointed out, matter of factly. ¡°No,¡± Maggie corrected. ¡°The worst that happens is they do capture the probe, and somehow get it to leak antimatter.¡± ¡°So, we''ll put a forcefield tube or dome around it, so they can''t.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡°And let''s work out if we can use the sample laser to do some of our own drawings.¡± ¡°Through the forcefield?¡± ¡°Maybe not. Big tube?¡± ¡°Oof, my energy budget! OK.¡±
Ground ¡°What did you do, Dad?¡± Jakav asked, as the probe slowly went lower and lower. ¡°Nothing. It''s got some strange symbols on the bottom, I was trying to look at them.¡± ¡°What''s this thing?¡± Jakav''s mother asked. ¡°Jana, this thing''s either a prop from a very high budget theatre show I''ve never heard of or from another planet. Since it''s floating without blades or anything, I''m guessing it''s mostly some kind of very carefully controlled helium balloon.¡± ¡°It''s very thin metal if it is,¡± Jakav said, ¡°Hey, it hasn''t done that before!¡± as a line of light shone from underneath it onto the ground. ¡°Light beam.¡± Jakav''s mother said, ¡°Impressive focus, too. You don''t think it''s one of those new laser things do you, Kov?¡± ¡°Maybe. Hey! Dad, look at the sand! Something''s pushing it away!¡± Jakav exclaimed. ¡°Ultra invisible glass?¡± Kov suggested. ¡°Growing Ultra invisible glass? It''s sort of squidgy, too.¡± Jakav said, pushing at the forcefield with a stick. The stick seemed undamaged, so he risked a fingertip. ¡°It''s invisible, it''s smooth, and it pushes back. I think our visitors have force-fields, Mum.¡± ¡°What fun for you physicists. Lasers, forcefields, space travel.¡± Kov said, ¡°I just hope they''re friendly.¡± ¡°What is it doing with that light?¡± Jana asked. ¡°I think it''s trying to write messages.¡± Kov said. ¡°On sand? That''s not very clever.¡± she replied.
Space ¡°I can''t mark the sand without turning it to glass, and the forcefield''s too coarse an instrument.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Next idea?¡± ¡°Yes. Let''s make a bid for his note-pad, or write on some rock.¡± ¡°Careful with the writing on rock.¡± Maggie said, ¡°If he was asking if you were a messenger from God, that''s potentially cultural interference.¡± ¡°So, stick men? Accurate biological drawings?¡± Rachel suggested. ¡°I thought you weren''t allowed to draw human images for worship.¡± ¡°Fine. Let''s start with physics and chemistry, then, rather than who we are?¡± ¡°Safer. He started geometry. Let''s start with that.¡± Maggie said. ¡°I thought you hated it?¡± ¡°I do. It''s still safer than breaking cultural taboos.¡± ¡°There were some rocks by the tree he climbed. It seems mostly sand here.¡± ¡°Hey, we could just go cut a bit off his tree, couldn''t we?¡±
Ground ¡°It''s given up trying to write on sand.¡± Jakav noticed. ¡°You could give it some paper to write on,¡± Aza suggested, who''d just flown in. ¡°It might be insulting if it doesn''t work,¡± Jakav said. ¡°It might be thankful.¡± Kov pointed out. ¡°That laser''s a heat tool; the paper might catch fire.¡± Jana said. ¡°Oooh, fun. Let''s! First contact message goes up in smoke! Is it trying to draw the triangle law?¡± Jakav looked and said, ¡°That''s the first thing I drew for it.¡± ¡°You drew it geometry?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Why not? It shows I''m a rational being.¡± ¡°Well that''s a claim not everyone would agree with,¡± she shot back. ¡°You''ve been stuck in that same shape for weeks.¡± ¡°And I could outrun three predators because of it, and I could fashion the spear quicker than ever.¡± ¡°You''re going to forget how to change, if you''re not careful.¡± Aza accused. As if anyone could ever do that. ¡°And you''re going to change so much one day you''ll find you can''t remember if you''ve got wings or gills and have a messy accident.¡± Jakav retorted, with far more history on his side.
Space ¡°What do you think, are we witnessing an argument?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°You mean the way they''re focusing their attention on one another, ignoring the probe, and voices seem to have been getting louder and louder? Maybe it''s just some kind of friendly discussion. But yeah, I reckon it''s an argument. I wish we had two way communication on this thing.¡± ¡°I wish we had some way of getting James to call in,¡± Maggie said, ¡°So that we could ask him to help with communication.¡± ¡°Why don''t you ask God for another miracle, that He''d tell James to call you, then?¡± Rachel suggested. It was an old, familiar, jibe. ¡°Because I don''t believe in your God.¡± ¡°Can I ask a genuine question, Maggie? Do you mean in the sense that you don''t believe God exists, you believe in another, incompatible, version of God, or you don''t want to trust him?¡± ¡°Oooh, finally an opener for an intelligent question on the whole faith front. And, wow, we''ve only been out here for what, three weeks? Amazing. Later, OK, Rach? I need to concentrate.¡± ¡°Sorry it''s taken me so long to ask, Maggie,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Hey, be useful can you? I want some first contact sort of line-drawings I can program into the sampling laser; geometry, and then maths and then equations, physics, mechanics, chemistry, maybe atomic structure and stuff, Certainly nothing past E=mc^2. Maybe some astronomy? Can you look some up?¡± ¡°Of course.¡±
Ground ¡°Children,¡± Jana said, ¡°believe it or not, your tender expressions of love for one another are not what this alien visitor came to see.¡± ¡°Love?¡± Aza exclaimed, seemingly shocked to the core. ¡°It''s called irony, I think,¡± Jakav reassured her. ¡°No, that was just the ''tender expressions'' part,¡± Jana corrected her son, with a smile. ¡°Jana, that''s not funny.¡± Aza said, resolutely. ¡°Yes it is, and you know it.¡± Kov said, grinning, ¡°You might have different experiences, not to mention different gender, but our mind-cells are the same. Almost everyone''s mind-cells are the same. You know it''s funny, Aza.¡± ¡°That''s why your mum persuaded me it was time for mixing genetics,¡± Jana said, ¡°as a town we were getting dangerously close to sharing a single cloned mind.¡± ¡°Mum persuaded you?¡± ¡°Yes. Now, what are we going to do beside teach the aliens how to argue?¡± ¡°I''ll give it some paper,¡± Jakav said, embarrassed. Jakav put a piece of paper on the ground, and stepped back. The probe shut off its forcefield, moved, and then reestablished the field. There was a flash of flickering light and some smoke. Suddenly, paper contained nine small images. ¡°Wow! It wrote that lot fast,¡± Jakav said. ¡°Some kind of pre-programmed thing?¡± ¡°Let''s hope so.¡± ¡°What''s it say?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Geometry. Oh, and I guess these are their numbering system?¡± ¡°I guess so. Zero to nine, then they add another digit. Then I guess these are their signs for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?¡± ¡°Maybe. See this one? Periodic table of elements, you think?¡± ¡°It''s upside down, but I guess so.¡± ¡°What are the dots and circles?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Orbits?¡± Jakav suggested. ¡°Seven planets going round the suns? I guess so.¡± Aza agreed. ¡°So, this is show and tell, I guess. What do we show it we know?¡± ¡°Physics? Chemistry? Biology?¡± ¡°I tried some symbolic theology,¡± Jakav said, ¡°I didn''t get a response.¡± ¡°It probably doesn''t know the symbols. Their numbers are weird. But shouldn''t we do something about your meat?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Hey, what''s that flashing light mean?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Maybe it wants more paper?¡±
Space ¡°OK, that was a disaster as a warning, now they''re all looking at the probe. Next idea?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Point the laser between the dead ones and the pack of live predators?¡± ¡°Through the forcefield?¡± ¡°Just use it at a minimal power. You might as well turn off the field, unless you just want to burn some holes in the predators?¡± ¡°I''m going to go higher for a better view.¡±
Ground ¡°Why is it shining a light on Jakav''s meat, and then into the scrub?¡± Aza asked the world in general. ¡°I''ve no idea.¡± Kov answered. ¡°But why''s it giving two flashes at the meat and five at the scrub?¡± ¡°I hope it''s not saying there''s a pack of five out there.¡± Jana said. Aza leapt into the air to see what she could, but the bush was too dense to do more than see shadows. Plus, of course, flying was hard, and she''d done quite a lot today, in other words, she was feeling worn out already, and didn''t want to wait. ¡°There''s something moving over there,¡± she shouted. ¡°I''ll go sound the alarm.¡± She locked her wings and glided towards the heart of the town. ¡°You out-ran them, Jakav?¡± Kov asked his son. ¡°Not really, Dad. But they didn''t catch up very quickly. I had a head-start and climbed a tree, then I speared one. But they weren''t a pack, so the other two just attacked the speared one.¡± ¡°Which of course a pack wouldn''t do, not even a temporary one, say, formed when they''ve both got revenge on the brain.¡± ¡°Sorry, Dad, I got distracted by the alien. I didn''t think what carrying the two home together might provoke them to. Let alone standing here.¡± It was one of the few things the predators really didn''t like. Pred eat person, person eat pred, pred eat pred, that was all just fine. But pack enemies being butchered or killed next to each other, for some reason was a bad thing to what passed for pred thinking. ¡°We should have noticed,¡± Jana said, backing towards the village, while changing herself, ¡°but I was never a runner.¡± She''d decided she wanted thick skin and claws. ¡°You could fly, love,¡± Kov suggested. ¡°Maybe. But I''d need a lot of protein to do that too, and I hate eating raw meat. Unless it''s trying to eat me, anyway.¡± She added fangs to her wish list, and her tooth-organisms reorganised themselves. That was cooperation at work, symbiosis written large. The brain organised, and the rest did.
Space ¡°Urm...¡± Rachel said, ¡°Is that one we said looked like she might be mum doing what I think she''s doing?¡± ¡°Growing fangs, claws and scales? Yes. We wondered about clothes. Now we know; they''d be a major inconvenience when you want to sprout wings or claws,¡± Maggie said. ¡°The probe is getting that complex communication pattern we''ve heard before. It''s from the dog-like things,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Oh great. So... we''ve got intelligent shape-shifting omnivores against maybe intelligent non-shape shifting carnivores,¡± Maggie summarised. ¡°Some sort of ongoing war?¡± ¡°Except the dog-like things are the aggressors, so far.¡± ¡°But maybe they''re just out for revenge and the supposedly peace-loving shape shifters are a bunch of lying, oath-breaking child eaters?¡± Maggie pointed out, in her role as resident cynic. ¡°Do we lift the probe, or get involved somehow?¡± ¡°I think we are involved. He''d have been back home by now if they hadn''t been thinking about the probe. How about we just try to keep them from tearing each other apart?¡± ¡°Cut some rock, you mean? I don''t think we can cast a big enough forcefield.¡± ¡°If in doubt, apply flaming sword, and never mind the energy budget, we can always fill up with water somewhere.¡±
Ground The machine moved to between Jakav and where the predators were whining at each other. Then there was a brilliant glare of blue-white light, and a line in the sand underneath the probe, maybe a hundred metres long, turned cherry red. The glowing line extended from a few millimeters wide to half a metre. ¡°I think that machine doesn''t want a battle,¡± Jana said. ¡°But on the other hand,¡± she said, looking at the glowing obsidian glass, ¡°it''s just made me a lovely cooking surface to flash fry a steak or two. Who''s hungry?¡± ¡°You are mum.¡± Jakav said, ¡°Something to do with all those changes you''re doing. You really want me to start carving up one of these dead preds in front of the live ones?¡± ¡°It might mean survival, son, if it does come to a fight,¡± Kov pointed out. ¡°You''re sure you don''t want to change?¡± ¡°I''ve got dexterity like never before, dad. That''s a survival tool too. I don''t want to lose that. I didn''t revert my wing bones last time I had wings, so they''re there if I need them.¡± ¡°That''s a relief,¡± Jana said. ¡°You look awfully vulnerable like that.¡± ¡°Don''t worry about me, mum. I just hope you can move fast enough after all those changes to use those claws of yours.¡± Bone organisms locked together relatively slowly, but once in place they did fine; newly adjusted muscle organisms, however, didn''t react very quickly, and didn''t always get the message about what way they should be pulling. Brain organisms could be a bit of a disaster if you needed to rearrange them quickly; memories could get scrambled, or signals might go to the wrong place, so sensible people made sure their head shape changes happened very very slowly and carefully. ¡°Allow me to just cut myself a steak or two will you?¡± Jana said. ¡°Put them down separately, Jakav,¡± his father suggested. ¡°Of course.¡±
Space ¡°It doesn''t look like they trust us to stop the fight,¡± Maggie said. ¡°No, it doesn''t. Oh, is he abandoning his catch, do you think? For the carnivores to fight over?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I don''t know. I''m seeing a bigger group of them now.¡± Maggie said, ¡°I wonder if those calls were all about bringing the group together.¡± ¡°You know we thought the calls were territorial?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°They were. Five different call signatures, in different places.¡± Maggie pointed out. ¡°Now we''ve got two calls in the same hundred-meter square, but there''s some kind of joint bit, according to the computer.¡± ¡°Kill the killer?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Maybe. They didn''t seem to have much trouble with a bit of cannibalism earlier, though, did they?¡± Rachel pointed out. ¡°Ah, no. Good point. So, maybe they''re cross with him for not letting that ritual meal occur undisturbed, or something.¡± Maggie suggested, half joking. She''d noticed something she wanted to double check. ¡°Ritual meal? To me it looked like ''Oh, he''s dead now, and I''m hungry!''¡± Maggie was convinced. ¡°Look at those fur markings. Coincidence?¡± ¡°You mean the red-stripes verses the red splotches. What is it?¡± ¡°Red stripes were around in territory one. Splotches in area two. We''re hearing modified version of the calls from area one from stripes, and the area two calls from splotches. I think we''ve got two clans here.¡± ¡°Oooh, you''re good.¡± Rachel complemented her co-worker. ¡°That''s why they pay me. No way!¡± Maggie exclaimed, noticing what had happened on the civilized side of the line. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They''re using the hot rock we''ve just made to have a barbecue.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Urm... that''s crazy. Why not just leave?¡± ¡°Aliens numbers one and three are very watchful, number four is doing the cooking. Number one has reclaimed his spear and they put the two carcasses a long way apart, too. Hmmm, looking at the recording, they''ve never turned their back on the brush, not since number two ¡ª the flyer ¡ª left.¡± ¡°What does that tell us?¡± ¡°You turn your back, you get jumped on, maybe?¡± Maggie suggested. ¡°Those predators look a bit wolf like, yes?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Maggie aggreed. ¡°On which basis, I''d, expect a long duration runner, with a pack-based opportunistic attack, run in and attack from behind. Does that agree with what we''ve seen? Fast lunges, plus pursuit of course, but no actual sprint?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I guess so, yes.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t turn my back on a pack of wolves, I''d keep my back to some place safe, if I could.¡± ¡°How does that relate to the cooking?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°No idea. Yes I have. She''s just eaten, and I''m seeing some more changes happening on her back.¡± ¡°So shape-shifting is hungry work?¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Rachel said, ¡°Surely, she can''t have digested it already?¡± ¡°Pass.¡±
Ground ¡°I can''t do it.¡± Jana said, as the message her bone organisms had been trying to tell her finally got through. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Make wings, and have a decent fighting skeleton.¡± ¡°Age old dilemma, yes,¡± Kov agreed, ¡°solution is either hollowing out your bones or eat more calcium and grow more muscles to move it, and more muscles to move them, etcetera. And you can''t digest predator bones fast enough now, can you, love?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Mum, why don''t you go home? I can fly if I need to and I almost out-ran three preds earlier today. Dad can fly off, too.¡± ¡°What, and lead them into the town?¡± ¡°They''ve known we''re here for generations. And they can see the edge now.¡± ¡°Yes, but none has ever entered the town and lived to return to them, to pass anything on about the street layout, where the young are, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°They''re not that clever, surely!¡± Jakav said. ¡°I don''t know. Preds are pretty shrewd sometimes. And they''ve never had such a big concentration, this close to the town before. If they wanted to attack, some could make it out after a raid.¡± ¡°But if you took one of the carcasses home, mum, then maybe the offence would be gone, and they''d just leave.¡± ¡°Eat your meat, Jakav,¡± his father said, ¡°you might need it.¡± ¡°OK, dad. I''ll eat. You try to persuade mum she doesn''t need to risk getting eaten.¡±
Space ¡°The armoured chef is leaving with one of the carcases,¡± Maggie said. ¡°What''s happening on your side?¡± They''d decided to each concentrate on one side. ¡°I''m counting about fifteen red stripes and a similar number of splotches.¡± ¡°Thirty against two? That''s a bit extreme! Oh, here come some reinforcements, and I''m guessing weapons.¡± ¡°Swords and things you mean?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Long knives, anyway, a few bows too, and what rather looks like a bunch of excited kids pulling some kind of smallish canon,¡± Maggie said, ¡°There''s also someone holding what looks like a roll of garden fencing. So far, still no vehicles except the canon. So far, no two of them look the same, except the general facial features, and as we''ve seen, jaw shape can change too.¡± ¡°Sometime, we need to reassess all of our imagery of this planet, don''t we?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Not us. That''s a classic job for an A.I. When we get home.¡± Maggie pointed out. ¡°Good point. You realise we''re going to be famous, don''t you? Confirmation of actual intelligent life!¡± ¡°Or infamous, if we get it wrong,¡± Maggie said. ¡°They''re showing no fear of our probe at all, are they?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Not even afraid of our little patch of glowing sand cum-grill.¡± ¡°But our first four were very cautious of the known threat. Do you think we should leave them to it?¡± ¡°I don''t know. I think we certainly ought to keep up the flaming sword thing.¡± ¡°Even if it kills something?¡± ¡°I think if they start a shooting war, we ought to stop.¡±
Ground Later on, it would be called ''the battle of first contact''. ¡°Hey guys,¡± Kov greeted the civil defence corp. ¡°What we have out there are two big packs of preds, and as you see there''s also an alien machine making the sand melt. It''s been doing that the past quarter of an hour, and was probably trying to work out our levels of science and stuff. For some reason it uses base ten.¡± ¡°Ten? I wonder why,¡± Someone said. ¡°Some other things,¡± Jakav said, ¡°as you see, that thing''s metal, but it can float in the air, and it can also make the air solid like there was some kind of glass sheet around it. And in case anyone asks, no, it''s not doing it with magnets, as far as I can tell. And their periodic table has no gaps in it.¡± ¡°None?¡± the school chemistry teacher asked. ¡°None.¡± ¡°So much for that unstable nucleus theory.¡± ¡°Not necessarily, sir,¡± Jakav said, ¡°Like I said, it''s playing around with unknown forces, and has been melting the sand like that for quarter of an hour. It can''t hold that much coal. Maybe it''s using those unstable nuclei as a power source.¡± ¡°The people inside must be pretty small,¡± ¡°I''m pretty sure it''s not much more than a clever machine. It hasn''t tried to speak, or make any sound, after all. But it can use light like a pointer, or like a pencil to scorch paper, or to turn sand into molten glass, of course.¡± ¡°OK. Any guesses on how many preds there are?¡± ¡°Lots, last I heard.¡± ¡°I wonder what they''re waiting for.¡± ¡°Well, I was hoping they''d go away when you guys came,¡± Kov said. ¡°Doesn''t look like it,¡± Jakav said, then did a double take. ¡°Oh wow.¡± ¡°Pack leaders,¡± Kov said, ¡°Two pack leaders.¡± ¡°I thought pack leader''s never risked fighting us!¡± Van, one of Jakav''s friends said. ¡°Not for a long time,¡± Kov agreed.
Space ¡°Maggie, can we try doing first contact on those two big dogs? See how they react to geometry?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Sure. It''d be nice to make sure we''re not in the middle of some equal war.¡± ¡°Maybe without stopping the flaming sword thing?¡± Rachel suggested.
Ground ¡°Dumb aliens! Predators don''t know any geometry!¡± Van commented, laughing at the preds trying to bite the laser beams. ¡°I guess they''re trying to decide whose side they should be on,¡± Kov said. ¡°The snarl of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the snarls on the other two sides?¡± Jakav suggested.
Space ¡°I''m seeing an ''if it moves, eat it'' reaction from the doggies.¡± ¡°Agreed. Hey!¡± Infuriated at biting at nothing, one of two dog-like beings that had been chasing the light patterns sprang at the probe. The probe had been about five metres above the ground, which Maggie had thought was perfectly safe. It fastened its powerful jaws on the metal, and tried to crush it. The probe swung away from it''s position and automatically cut off the beam. ¡°Probe is taking damage,¡± Rachel reported, ¡°Quick drop to just above ground level,¡± Maggie ordered. The microphones recorded the sound of powerful teeth chewing on the metal. ¡°Yes, maam. He''s still biting, more punctures to skin detected.¡± ¡°Three gee up, to thirty meters. Ten gee stop, hold for two seconds, then five gee to a two hundred.¡± Rachel programmed that, and hit engage. Grimly, she selected the forcefield controls, knowing what was likely to come next. If the aggressive animal didn''t get off, it was about to be killed by a forcefield. If anything, the shaking made it clamp down harder. ¡°Where''s the damage?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Centre, where the probe is thinnest.¡± The optics and antigravity drive were in the top half of the probe, the forcefield generator and lasers in the bottom. There was a ''neck'' in between, and the predator had grabbed that. ¡°Urchin won''t work then. OK, make sure we''re aiming at the dog packs and defensive plan S. Let''s send a message.¡± Plan S caused an upward cone, which ought to decapitate the thing, then it would rapidly transition through disk to a narrow downward cone. That''s to say, it would crush the body into a fluid, spraying it at the attacker''s friends.
Ground ¡°Stupidity over science,¡± Van said, as the probe fell to the ground. ¡°I guess preds don''t like geometry,¡± Aza said, flying in to stand beside Jakav. She''d stopped to eat and was feeling much happier about life. ¡°That machine''s not happy,¡± Jakav said, watching the predator being shaken up and down like a rag doll. ¡°Pack leaders don''t give up, or they wouldn''t be pack leaders.¡± Kov observed, as the probe went up higher than the tallest tree. A sudden red mist obscured the probe from view, and painted the scrub red. The smell of predator blood filled the air. A second later, the head of the pack leader fell from the sky. The red-stripes howled their defiance and mourning, and charged across the clearing. Arrows flew, and three predators fell. The cannon fired, and five predators were shredded by the hail of stones. The ''garden fence'' which had been unrolled as soon as it had arrived, was lifted high just as the predators reached it. Seven predators found themselves entangled in the wires. One, slower than his colleagues, just managed to jump over the net, after jumping over the glowing rock. It and landed clumsily just in front of Aza. Before it could get up on its feet, Jakav''s knife had found its eyesocket and its brain. Aza''s blade had hardly begun to move before her eyes registered the demise of the predator, but Jakav jumped the twitching body and his spear finished off three predators entangled in the net. Van''s sword decapitated the nearest predator, and, keeping going, sliced into the shoulder of its neighbour. He pushed it home to the creature''s heart. Kov''s knife-thrust was slow, and missed its target. Before he could pull his arm back the predator took a bite out of his arm, even taking some of his bone-organisms. He leapt back in pain. Jakav''s knife made sure that the predator wouldn''t hurt anyone again, and he turned to look for another target, in time to see Aza''s sword cutting the hind-legs off a predator that had somehow got free of the net and had been about to spring at his neck. It tried to turn on her, but she got her sword up and its bite found steel, not flesh. Jakav instinctively struck before it could have another go. Looking up from the slaughter, Jakav realised the pack of red splotched predators had gone. The pack had leader decided they had other priorities, like defend their territory, plus take possession of a suddenly unoccupied territory and hunting grounds. Also, they''d need to see if there were any red-stripes left alive who needed killing. There were probably some nice tasty cubs hiding around somewhere, maybe even some fertile females who would choose to join to the pack-leader''s harem rather than death. It was a pred-eat-pred world.
Space ¡°Wow,¡± Rachel said, ¡°That was... intense. And educational I expect.¡± ¡°Our sprinting friend was way faster than the other blade wielders,¡± Maggie said, surveying the carnage. ¡°What''s happening down there, can you see?¡± ¡°Care of the wounded, I guess. Eeww, yuck, they''ve got the bit the dog bit off his arm. They don''t think they can just stick him back together to they?¡± In fascinated horror Rachel and Maggie looked on as Kov received what counted for first aid among them. Most of the organisms that had almost been lunch for the predator still lived ¡ª those not ripped or destroyed by the enzymes in the predator''s saliva. And they had no desire to lose symbiosis, any more than Kov had any desire to lose them. Copious amounts of clean water washed away the poisonous saliva from the wound and the excised chunk. A sterile knife was drawn first across the hunk, and a puncture made in Kov''s arm, just above the wound. A drop of his blood fell onto the cut in the hunk. The remaining muscle organisms, bone organisms and skin organisms that had survived separation from his body needed no more encouragement, and they flowed, moving towards this familiar biochemistry. After about a minute, the hunk of excised flesh was barely more than an empty bag. Kov was a lucky man, if the predator had been able to swallow the chunk, or even chew it, then he would have lost far far more of his arm. Maggie shook her head in wonder, ¡°They''re symbiotic colonies! They''ve got to be. It explains everything.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I studied slime moulds for my Masters. In Earth slime moulds, each cell is a self-contained whole, able to survive on its own, but they work together, a symbiotic colony, able to move, react to stimuli, like a simple creature. I reckon we''ve far more in common with those predators, biologically speaking than these intelligent creatures. Did you see how little blood he lost? I bet that''s because the organisms recognised they were in air and shut down the blood flow. And no wonder they''ve no visible genitalia. For all I know they reproduce by budding or sitting in the ground and growing a new sprout.¡± ¡°Hold on, you''re saying that they''re not multicellular organisms?¡± ¡°Some bits of them might be, I suppose. But I''ll go out on a limb and say if we ever get to run a genetic analysis on one one we''ll find that most of their cell types have different genetic signatures.¡±
Ground / Ch. 2: Signals

Ground / Ch. 2: Signals

Ground ¡°Thank you, Aza. You saved my life, I''m sure,¡± Jakav said, later that evening. Jakav wasn''t quite sure how, but somehow they''d ended up sitting next to each other, right at edge of the feast. ¡°You saved mine several times, I think. You''re fast Jakav.¡± ¡°I told you. Changing is a survival tool, but so is not changing.¡± ¡°I''m thinking, Jakav,¡± she smiled at him, ¡°that if you wanted to you could probably trap me right now, as fast as you did those predators.¡± ¡°Do you need trapping?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Depends what long term plans you have.¡± ¡°I think I must be missing your meaning.¡± ¡°Have you ever heard people talk about how being close to death makes people feel alive?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And helps them decide on priorities?¡± ¡°Yes, I''ve heard that.¡± ¡°So, you''re unusual.¡± ¡°So you keep telling me, but you normally call me other names too.¡± ¡°Unusual kept me alive today. You''d killed that pred before I could even move my blade. I''ve decided unusual is good, very good, worth keeping around, worth listening to.¡± ¡°Aza....¡± he wasn''t sure where this conversation was going but it sounded like she was saying she''d like to be more than just a friend. But how did you check that? He could hardly ask her if she was suggesting he ought to propose. Could he? ¡°Yes.¡± She said, as though she was answering a question. He caught the scent of her breath and he savoured it. She''d always made his skin want to thin, and tonight, her feminine mix-enzymes seemed stronger than ever. ¡°What my mum said,¡± he paused for breath, ¡°It got me thinking, yes,¡± Aza said. ¡°Err, which bit?¡± ¡°Survival of the species, genetics, love. My mother suggesting your mother mix. Your dad telling me he knew I found the ''tender expressions'' bit funny.¡± ¡°He was right?¡± ¡°Of course he was. So was your mother. Have you noticed how often we argue?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Have you noticed what we argue about?¡± she asked. ¡°Pretty much everything, it seems.¡± ¡°Analyse it better. Do we argue about food?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Drink?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Colours? Flowers and other decorations? What makes a nice house?¡± ¡°No. You have the same taste as my mum.¡± ¡°Not your dad?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not as your dad, if I''ve got the same brain as him?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Gender, maybe?¡± ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I side with mum, mostly. OK, so not just gender, good taste too,¡± he joked. A deep uncertainty that she sometimes felt gripped her. ¡°Do you remember what makes gender for us, Jakav? I mean, either of us could bud on our own. I guess I wasn''t paying attention.¡± ¡°Well, you have milk glands,¡± he said, embarrassed at pointing out the obvious. ¡°So could you have, couldn''t you?¡± ¡°In an emergency, I understand the principle. But... sorry, yuck. They look right on you.¡± ¡°Glad you think so. But what is gender for us? I know what it is in plants and multi-cellular organisms, but we don''t have sperm and eggs and things.¡± ¡°It''s something to do with which hormones turn up first, right at podding time. And that makes a binary choice, which glands dominate, which traits win, which ways the brain gets wired up.¡± ¡°But I''m on the defence force, not sitting at home mending. Sometimes I wonder if I''m really female.¡± There, it was out. Her deep fear. ¡°Not to mention which one of us is able to concoct mixing enzymes. I couldn''t, I wouldn''t know how to start, but you do it.¡± ¡°It''s not deliberate... I do?¡± ¡°Oh yes. I can smell them.¡± ¡°Now?¡± He laughed, ¡°Aza, you''re female, believe me, you''ve had a mixing enzyme scent since we were in budschool together. Right now?¡± He took a deep breath, and grinned at her, ¡°Very much stronger.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. She blushed, and changed the subject, ¡°We argue about staying safe, Jakav. You argue with others about all sorts of things, but with me its always about safety, survival skills. I argue with you about health, safety, not excluding yourself from the community, which is also a survival thing. That''s what your mother''s spotted, I think.¡± ¡°You are the most female female I know, Aza. I know that much.¡± ¡°You mean Ana''s part male?¡± Ana was his younger sister. ¡°No, I mean your scent makes my skin want to thin. You''re incredibly attractive to me, Aza.¡± ¡°You say the nicest things, sometimes,¡± ¡°I think if I''d said that yesterday, you''d have run a mile.¡± ¡°Yes, probably. You could have caught me, though,¡± she mused. ¡°That would have made things even worse between us, wouldn''t it?¡± ¡°Probably, but not now. Now I''m full of protein and I guess hormones too, and my perspective''s different.¡± ¡°What about tomorrow?¡± he asked. ¡°If you insist on waiting. OK.¡± she said, grinning at his shocked expression. ¡°Aza! I meant what are you going to feel like tomorrow?¡± ¡°Ooh, the things he asks! I expect that if we join our skins tomorrow, I''m going to feel very very nervous and very very happy.¡± Deeply embarrassed, Jakav tried again, ¡°I meant are you going to write off this evening as just an overdose of protein and after-fight-hormones and regret any decisions we make now.¡± ¡°I know you did, Jakav. Sorry for teasing. I hope you''ll forgive me for throwing myself at you, but protein and hormones or not, I''ve always wanted us both to survive. Why not together?¡± ¡°Aza, I love you, I think I''ve always loved you, in an argumentative way. Can we see if we can get on for a while without arguing?¡± ¡°No joining tomorrow, then?¡± she asked, giving his ear lobe a stroke, and sending shivers down his spine. ¡°Will you be my girlfriend, Aza?¡± ¡°Of course I will, silly. I was making a bid for wife, remember.¡± ¡°I was worried you might just mean protein induced podding.¡± ¡°Of course you did, you''re a good man, and I was playing temptress. I''ve no intention of just podding with you, Jakav. I want you forever, like your parents have each other. And I want to mix what we can.¡± It took him aback. ¡°I thought the idea repulsed you.¡± ¡°No, Jakav. It scared me that I couldn''t, or that I would get it wrong somehow. You do know why I don''t have a dad, don''t you?¡± ¡°I heard he died, when you were young.¡± ¡°A carnivore got his head. He died before I was born.¡± ¡°That''s sad, it must have been terrible for your mum.¡± She dropped her voice to a whisper. ¡°They were engaged. Mum had wanted to mix, too. But the carnivore got him. She killed it, but it was too late.¡± ¡°You mean....¡± Jakav couldn''t believe his ears. ¡°Dad''s brain was too far gone, but his muscle organisms and his bone organisms were still alive. Mum''s brain, mum''s skin, dad''s muscles and bones. Lost, but still alive. Mum gave some of them a chance to live.¡± ¡°Isn''t... isn''t that a crime?¡± he whispered. ¡°Don''t tell anyone, Jakav. Please. I want to live. I''m wrong-podded, but I want to live.¡± ¡°Surely, no one would say otherwise!¡± ¡°Some do. It''s part of the insult-chant, isn''t it? ''Wrong-podded, walking dead, just be dead. Bang.''¡± ¡°You''re alive, Aza, and you said it, your dad''s organisms were alive. No way are you walking dead. When did you find out?¡± ¡°Mum''s always told me there are worse things than being soon-podded, and it wasn''t my fault, it was hers. She told me today. I... I guess that''s why I threw myself at you. Existential insecurity.¡± ¡°Aza, I''d like to wait, I''d like us both to be a hundred percent certain we''re not better off being no more than close friends. Not to mention finding out what''s happening to our world before we bring new life into it. But... if you need an irrevocable decision now, I choose you.¡± Aza gazed into his eyes, and her hands sought his. ¡°Thank you, Jakav. I think we can wait, a bit.¡± A movement caught his eye, and focussing, he saw a glint of metal among the stars. So, the machine was still hovering over the battle ground. Was it broken? It didn''t matter; nothing really mattered except that Aza''s hand was in his.
Space ¡°Well, I think that looks like another pair heading for romance,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Agreed. I wonder if this is just a normal evening, or the fight and the meat had something to do with it.¡± ¡°For all we know, they''re long established pairs.¡± ¡°Could be. Since they change shapes so easily, it''s going to be pretty hard to work such things out, isn''t it?¡± Maggie said. ¡°Undoubtedly. Maybe someone can send us a nice powerful A.I. to help.¡± ¡°There must be some clue. They must have some way to tell, after all.¡± ¡°I wonder if those steaks they were serving are edible. They looked good.¡± Rachel said, ¡°And how come they serve them with chips? It''s just not fair!¡± ¡°Land-carnivore steaks?¡± Maggie asked, ¡°I''ll stick to herbivore or fish myself.¡± ¡°I hope they''re not intelligent.¡± ¡°But what''s so special about chips?¡± ¡°My favourite home-cooked celebratory meal when I was a kid.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± ¡°Maggie,¡± Rachel said, looking out of the window. ¡°You''ve been in this job a long time. Tell me about your normal planetary routine, I mean, when you find somewhere interesting.¡± ¡°We hover over a spot, spend dawn ''till dusk looking out of probe''s eyes, take notes, record stuff, speculate idly about what we''re seeing, test hypotheses, take samples. Follow strange animals, and so on. Just like we''ve been doing, really, except for the looking for crash-sites bit. And then we eat and crash into bed ready for another marathon of concentration the next day. It''s a hard life, but it''s OK.¡± ¡°Right. What don''t we often do?¡± Rachel asked, still looking out of the window. ¡°Look down from up here at the clouds below?¡± ¡°Or play spot the street-lights.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Can I suggest that we set up a probe to map night-time light sources across the whole planet? And day time multiple-spectrum imagery, not to mention multiple altitude air samples?¡± ¡°Sounds like a very good idea,¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°We''ve not heard any radio signals have we?¡± ¡°Nothing on the frequencies we''ve been listening on,¡± Rachel agreed. Mainly the receiver had been listening for a faint distress beacon. Maggie laughed, ¡°It would be really embarrassing to tune into a pop music station on a hundred megahertz F.M.¡± ¡°Agreed. But let''s check, can we?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Maggie''s fingers were already flicking over the controls. ¡°It''d be even more embarrassing if we didn''t note one when it was there.¡± ¡°Oh yes indeed.¡± ¡°First rule of research: ¡°, Maggie said, ¡°when you''re only looking for trees, you don''t spot the wood-beetles. Or in our case, when you''re rejoicing in the bio-diversity of the place, you might not spot that some of them have note pads and know Pythagoras'' theorem.¡± ¡°Plus street lights and gun-powder,¡± Rachel said. ¡°So, thinking back, what civ-level are they at, from your first contact lectures?¡± ¡°Oh. Urm. I can''t remember the numbers. But... controlling multiple aspects of their environment, tool use beyond individual survival needs. Abstract mathematical concepts are common, mechanically enhanced transport, artificially enhanced senses.¡± ¡°How do you get those two?¡± Maggie interrupted. ¡°Street lights; they count as enhancing vision.¡± Rachel said, ¡°and the roads for transport.¡± ¡°But maybe they''re just tracks for riding horses on, surely. That doesn''t count as artificial.¡± ¡°I doubt it. There''s a long road there, see?¡± ¡°Cue expressions of acute embarrassment.¡± Maggie said, ¡°They''ve also got long distance communications.¡± ¡°Oh? Tell me more.¡± ¡°Multiple radio stations in the roughly one megahertz frequency band. Amplitude modulation. Nothing above three meg, so far.¡± ¡°So, we might be talking vacuum tubes and thermionic emission?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°On Earth, that puts them somewhere near manned flight, and a little bit before uncontrolled nuclear, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°Speak for yourself, landgirl. For Mer it puts us at about controlled fission power, and effective separation of oxygen from sea-water.¡± ¡°Sorry for my ignorance. But in any case, we were just developing radar.¡± ¡°Yes, just about.¡± ¡°Have you seen any sign of trade or money?¡± ¡°Not yet. Problematic, isn''t it?¡± ¡°Certainly for my understanding of development.¡± Ground / Ch. 3: Medicine

Ground / Ch. 3:Medicine

Space, day three after contact ¡°A brief study of frontier-village life among the shape-shifting forest-dwellers of planet, errr, what''s the number again?¡± ¡°34-98-C¡± Maggie supplied. ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± ¡°Congratulations Doctor, we''ll give you the doctorate for that title alone.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Oh stop it, I was serious.¡± Rachel protested. ¡°So was I, almost.¡± Maggie said, ¡°You''ve worked out what was the big question in my mind, anyway. Why are there roads and signs of civilisation over there, but not much of it here. This is outside their preferred zone. And now we know what to look for, they''re farmers, aren''t they?¡± ¡°It certainly looks like it, and it isn''t quite harvest season.¡± ¡°And the grain-stores are getting empty. No wonder there''s not much trade.¡± Maggie added. ¡°So, do we do the whole ''take me to your leader'' thing?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°No. You write up your thesis, I''ll work on our joint paper about what the flora and fauna we''ve seen here.¡± ¡°Paper? It''s going to be a book!¡± ¡°I know. And we''ve got a duty to publish as soon as possible. We don''t need to go instituting formal first contact. We''ll leave that to the government. Governments.¡± ¡°OK if I move the probe?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Of course. Just make sure you''re concentrating on writing. I think we''re heading home in a week.¡± ¡°A week?¡± ¡°That ought to be enough to write the first draft, we can finish it on our trip home. You don''t need a hundred thousand words, Rach. This is scientific dynamite and twenty thousand words ought to be plenty, especially with the video.¡± ¡°Then what''ll we do?¡± ¡°Go swimming for a bit and then come back, of course.¡± ¡°And if there''s any justice, you''ll be queen-bee of a whole research department into this new world of new people.¡± Rachel said. Dr Magdalena(Maggie) Karella John PhD of the University of Mars looked startled. A memory came back, from a happier age, long before her big brother had vanished, and been presumed dead. /''What do you want God to let you do Mags?''/ he''d asked. She, aged ten, had said ''I want to go and find a new people on a new world, and be in charge of lots of scientists like mummy.'' ''If you find a new people, you''ll need to tell them about God, too.'' ''I don''t know much.'' ''It''s always good to know more about God, Mags. He''s great.'' Maggie started to cry. Eventually, she explained to Rachel.
Ground, day four after contact Jakav was back on border patrol, making sure that no foraging scrub-land herbivores had got into the fields. All seemed OK so far, as he surveyed the scene. A glint of metal caught his eye; the alien machine. The probe hadn''t done much since the battle, it just hung there, arrogantly defying the known laws of physics. Occasionally it moved, or turned. It hadn''t shown any sign of trying to communicate since the predator had bitten it. Maybe it couldn''t now. But Jakav was near the scrub, so he was alert. And he had his spear and a sword with him, just in case. Aza had been true to her word, and had done one change after their discussion, as had he. Rather than swap wings for arms, she''d asked her wing bones to split, giving her wings, and separate arms. She''d never had both arms and wings before, and had embarrased herself by flapping her arms rather than her wings once yesterday. Also, she needed to be careful ¡ª Both sets of her upper limbs were now thin and hollow. She needed more calcium to let her bone organisms thicken up her arms and the most stressed parts of her wing more. Arms when flying were extra weight, and a bit of a pain; wings on the ground were an annoyance, but he''d demonstrated the benefits of avoiding changes. She was prepared to try it, and he liked the idea of being able to fly and use a spear at the same time, so Jakav had used his protein intake to grow muscles for his stored wing-bones too. But he wasn''t a good flyer, really. Theoretically, they could both now fly and run and swing a sword. He just hoped neither of them would need to before they''d had more practice with the extra limbs. There was a sound behind him. He turned, spear ready; his eyes had time to identify a grey shape with red splotches, mid-pounce before it hit. His spear entered its chest and shattered, so did his bones; the world went black.
Space ¡°He killed it, but the carcass is still on him,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I see that. I also saw that the atmosphere is entirely Earth-like, gravity is roughly Mars-like, and all our biological samples so far have proven entirely immune to Earth bacteria and other pathogens, and vice-versa.¡± ¡°You''re going down?¡± Rachel was shocked. ¡°I''m not going to leave someone to suffocate, no. The probe can''t move the dog, or bear, or whatever it is. Pilot us down, please. I''m taking a full decontamination shower before and after, don''t worry, and I''ll keep my helmet on so I won''t breathe on him, either.¡± ¡°What are you going to do if he doesn''t wake up?¡± ¡°Take him home with his kill, of course. I''m sure the probe can play ambulance as well as elevator.¡±
Ground The bear-sized predator - far bigger than the ones the shape-shifter had killed before - probably weighed two hundred kilos, so Maggie was glad the gravity was only a third of Earth''s, or it would have weighed too much even for the probe. Not wanting to hurt the hunter more than he was already, she put ropes around it''s head and legs, and got the probe to lift the corpse off his body. As she did, she saw the victim take a deep breath, and his chest started to rise and fall, and he made some kind of groaning sound. So, she judged, he was badly wounded, probably not dead. With a symbiotic organism of specialised slime-mould like organisms, of course, defining dead was going to be tricky. ¡°Get well soon, guy. I hope this doesn''t hurt.¡± The ground was the same sand that seemed ubiquitous in this area, and after some digging she got the probe to extend a forcefield just below the surface he was lying on. For good measure, she drew her knife. She''d always held there was nothing quite like a wickedly serrated knife to help predators know you didn''t want to be messed with. Her rock-cutter was on her belt, but in her experience more animals recognised sharp as dangerous than glowing. The probe struggled to lift, so she scraped the sand off the forcefield with her foot, keeping her eyes and ears open for more suicidal predators. Sharks with claws were still sharks, and she was a Mer warrior; some things didn''t change much.
Space ¡°OK, Maggie,¡± Rachel said, ¡°I''ve plotted you a route to what I''ve tentatively identified as the village clinic. Happens to be the house where he dropped his love interest off the other night, so I guess it''s where she lives, but who knows.¡± ¡°Great, thanks! And the sound clip for some kind of ''get help'' message?¡± ¡°The best I''ve found so far is when the one with wings went to get help before the big fight. So it''s not great, but...¡± ¡°Better than nothing. It''ll do.¡± ¡°Just don''t turn into anything''s dinner.¡± ¡°Hey, fast though they may be, these doggies haven''t ever met a Mer warrior.¡± ¡°You''ve never met one of them either,¡± ¡°Ha! A shark''s a shark, no matter how many legs it''s got. D''nae fash ye''sel, lassie.¡± ¡°Err, what language was that in?¡± ¡°English, Scottish dialect. I think. Translation: don''t worry. Anyway, I''m off.¡±
Ground, frontier village The alien creature ran towards the village. It was bipedal, with two arms, two eyes, one mouth, two ears. Nothing very unusual there, but it also had long hair tied back out of its face, moved faster than a predator, and perhaps strangest of all it seemed to have some kind of fabric covering most of its body and a glass thing all around its head. It was about the same height as the people, but its bones seemed too heavy, it''s limbs carrying too much muscle. Even its fingers seemed to exude strength. It also had a knife in one hand, a vicious looking one. Beside it flew the alien flying machine, with Jakav somehow suspended between them, looking dead or half-dead. On the other side of the flying machine, was the red-splotched pack leader, clearly dead, with blood slowly dripping from its mouth. Was the alien after more victims? Fear claimed the heart of the field workers on the road, they took one look and dived out of the way.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Witnesses near the town later said that as the alien got to the edge of town it put away its vicious knife. The alien seemed to know where it was going, and it ran down the main road of the town to where Aza lived, making strange noises with its mouth. Those who''d only managed to press themselves against the wall said there seemed to be another source of strange noises coming from the alien''s wrist. It stopped outside the clinic and knocked loudly on the door. Then it fiddled with something on its wrist, and Aza''s voice called out, unnaturally loud, ''There''s something moving over there, I''ll go sound the alarm''. It didn''t make much sense, but at the banging on the door and the sound of her daughter''s voice, made Uza, Aza''s mother open up. The sight of the alien terrified her, but before she could retreat the alien grabbed her and pulled her in front of the broken form of Jakav. Then the alien made her look at its wrist, where there were pictures, moving on some kind of device strapped there. Jakav walking, the predator springing onto his spear, Jakav crushed by its dying form. Then the alien stepped away, ridiculously fast, and made some more noises. The alien machine shot into the air, leaving Uza facing the broken form of Jakav, with the alien looking at her. Uza guessed the alien expected her to do something. What was she supposed to do? The poor young man was either going to live or die, an immunization wasn''t going to help him. But where was Aza? ¡°Aza?¡± She asked the alien. ¡°My daughter?¡± She cupped her hand to her ear and looked around. The alien made some strange noises, then pressed something on it''s wrist, and Uza saw the recording of Aza saying those words and flying away from the fields, where Jakav had two predators on his spear. The alien pointed at the suns and moved her finger backwards along it''s path, turning a full circle. Yesterday, Uza realised, well, a few days ago. So, Aza wasn''t involved in today''s attack, and Aza was presumably safe, but Jakav ¡ª crushed and suffocated, just after getting engaged to her beloved daughter ¡ª groaned what might have been Aza''s name. Uza called her daughter''s name, but it was no use.
Space ¡°I guess that is the girlfriend''s name,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Sure sounds like it,¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°And it is the same one who flew away for help. I don''t suppose the probe can spot her?¡± ¡°I''m scanning. OK, I''ve got a ninety-five percent match.¡± ¡°Feed me directions and her mother''s voice, will you?¡± ¡°Yes, Maam! Back the way you came to start with.¡± ¡°I''ll go and find Aza,¡± Maggie said in Mer and sprinted off ¡ª there didn''t seem much point in not speaking Mer to the aliens. Maybe she''d try ancient Hebrew next.
Ground Aza was about to leave the town when suddenly the alien machine was in front of her, flashing its light. Danger? Behind her, she heard the sounds of panic in the market. She turned, and the probe hopped in front of her, and moved towards the sound of alarm. Aza tightened her grip on her spear, and steeled herself, ready to face her worst nightmare: a predator in the market square. She ran as fast as she could after the probe.
Space ¡°OK, Maggie, she''s coming, and the way she''s holding her spear I think she thinks you''re a predator.¡± ¡°Ha, she''s about to get a surprise then.¡± ¡°Just don''t get accidentally speared. Left at the next corner, she''s two metres behind the probe.¡±
Ground Turning the corner, Maggie saw the probe and the face she was looking for. ¡°Aza, go to your house,¡± she called in ancient Hebrew, as she''d promised herself she would. She probably had a terrible accent, she knew, but what''s the point of speaking English to aliens, when you know other languages, and you''ve got a monolingual companion you can''t use them with? Aza dropped her spear in shock and stopped. A probe maker, or a messenger from God? It knew her name! Why was this being here? Why was it looking for her? The alien or angel turned and ran back the way it had come from; too fast. It stopped, looking back at her, and she heard her mother''s voice calling. Aza picked up her spear and followed. A small crowd had gathered outside her house, she saw. She also saw the unmistakable shape of a dead pack-leader. Had her mother been attacked? Fear hurried her steps more. No, not her mother, there she was. But there was a body: Jakav''s. ¡°He''s alive, barely,¡± Uza reported. ¡°The alien brought him here, and the pack leader. It pounced on him from behind, somehow he killed it, but it crushed him.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± Aza asked, kneeling beside her fianc¨¦''s barely breathing body, not knowing if she could believe her mother. ¡°I think the alien machine records what it sees, and what it hears.¡± ¡°I mean how do you know he lives?¡± ¡°He called for you. Muscles can''t do that on their own.¡± ¡°I''m here, Jakav,¡± Aza said. One of his eyes flickered around randomly, seemingly unable to focus. Eventually it stopped. It looked to her like it was pointing at her left milk gland, rather than her face. ¡°Hey, eyeball, wrong bit of my anatomy,¡± she said. His eye then found her face and he smiled. ¡°No it''s not,¡± her mother corrected, quietly. ¡°Trauma like this is going to wreck his digestion and circulation, you know that.¡± ¡°Can we get him inside?¡± Aza asked, embarrassed at forgetting that, and embarrassed at the thought of giving milk to an adult. But it was the one food all the organisms that made up Jakav could digest and pass along to their neighbours. ¡°I don''t really want to risk moving him. At the moment his lungs are working.¡± ¡°You got him this far, didn''t you?¡± ¡°Not me! The alien, complete with the sand he was on, somehow. I guess the machine did it. I think it thought I could help somehow.¡± ¡°What, give an injection to keep away crushing injuries? That''s crazy!¡±
Space ¡°I really don''t understand this,¡± Maggie said, ¡°they''re not doing anything to help him. ¡°Maybe there''s nothing they think they can do,¡± Rachel said, ¡°if they''re self-healing....¡± ¡°At least some kind of intravenous fluid, surely!¡± Maggie protested. ¡°At the moment all they''ve done is talk to him.¡± ¡°Tell you what, show them some of your favourite hospital scenes, maybe they''ll get the idea.¡± Rachel said, facetiously. ¡°But maybe they think he''s too far gone, or they don''t dare move him even that much.¡± ¡°The hospital scenes might work, actually. Can you dial some up?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Hold on, Aza''s coming.¡±
Ground Aza picked up a stick from the ground, and walked towards the alien who was talking to a box on her wrist. Some kind of advanced miniature radio, Aza guessed. ¡°Please, can you help? His ribs are crushed, we can see that.¡± She pointed to her rib bones and laced her six fingers on each hand together, showing how they ought to be. Then she pointed to Jakav, and smashed the stick, and showed what she thought his ribs might be like. ¡°I''d like him to be in the house, but if we move him he might die,¡± Then she mimed lifting Jakav into the house, and what might happen to his ribs then. ¡°Shalom,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Can I see where?¡± She pointed at her eyes, and the doorway. Aza understood, the alien wanted to see where the Jakav needed to get to. She beckoned. The doorway was narrow, then Aza led her through what Maggie was fairly sure was the waiting room for a medical area: she saw seats and what she guessed were children''s toys in one corner. The other corner had a series of medical implements, bottles of heavily stoppered powders and fluids, but hardly any space. Aza then led her up some narrow stairs to the living quarters. No way was a stretcher getting up here, she realised. There were three rooms, and a smaller room which seemed to have what looked like washing facilities. The room that Aza led her to had two sleeping platforms. One looked unused. The other had a rumpled pile of blankets, and a pile of what she guessed were books. There was also a window, tall but narrow, too narrow for the probe to enter while carrying someone. Maggie stuck her head out of the window and called down the probe. After she''d turned on on the forcefield and sat down on it, as close to the probe as she could, and showed Aza the edge with her hand. Aza found it totally unreal, seeing the alien sitting in mid air on nothingness, but she got the idea. There was just no way for the probe to get through the window. Aza showed Maggie another room, with a single, wider sleeping platform. Again the window was too narrow. The third room was bare, and dusty; seemingly unused. It was smaller than the other two, just big enough to lie down in. There was no sleeping platform in here, but it seemed the whole room was designed to be either waterproof or sterile after a good clean, Maggie couldn''t make up her mind. The window was high in the room, above head height, and long ¡ª as wide as the room, almost, but narrow. But it wasn''t so narrow that a prone person couldn''t be carried through on a forcefield, as Maggie demonstrated. She also demonstrated the problem. The probe couldn''t get her to floor level without dropping her. Aza was deeply embarrassed when she told her mother the news. ¡°Mother, Jakav will have to sleep in my bed, since its the only one we can move.¡± ¡°Where to?¡± Uza asked. ¡°The urm....¡± she couldn''t bring herself to say it. ¡°The only room with a wide window.¡± ¡°You mean...¡± ¡°It''s that or we risk carrying him, or he stays outside.¡± Her mother laughed, which wasn''t what Aza had expected at all, ¡°Well? Get on with it, Aza. But remind him that he is there due to medical necessity. Not because you''ve any immediate plans to pour yourself over his vitals.¡± ¡°It''s dirty in there, mum.¡± ¡°Well then! That''ll help re-assure the neighbours, won''t it? Take him up, and take lots of food. And drink lots.¡± ¡°Drink lots?¡± ¡°You clearly have very little idea, young one, what you''re about to do to yourself. Drink more than you can hold. You''ll be thirsty within the hour if you''re giving him what he needs.¡± Aza realised she did have some idea about what she''d be doing: she''d be eating for two and processing the food into the most perfect nutrition her people knew. She''d be extracting nutrients from her blood enough to bathe his organisms in food in a way that they''d not had since he''d been podling, and she realised, like she''d also do in preparation for a mixing, when the enzymes she''d add to the milk would calm immune responses and thin the walls of his reproductive cells ready for their task of handing over their DNA. But she shouldn''t think of that. She didn''t want to thin his cell walls, after all. Uncertain, she had a terrible thought. ¡°Mother, how do I feed him without... you know, enzymes?¡± ¡°You don''t, dear. Enzymes are only half of the story, after all. The other part is getting your ready-cells next to his. Enzymes on their own will just help him heal faster.¡±
Space ¡°Successful rescue?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Yes. One broken party delivered where his girlfriend or wife can take good care of him.¡± ¡°You''re sure she is a she?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Rach, you know we decided gender based on breast-like anatomical features?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°She did the same, mimicked suckling a child. Only it''s not quite the same, of course. She had some illustrated ''facts of life'' books she showed me.¡± ¡°Really? What a wonderful data source!¡± ¡°Yes. So, we did show and not much tell. I showed her that hospital film, she showed me the books. They''re definitely symbiotic life-forms, and she''d correctly guessed we weren''t. Her people are the most developed symbiotic forms of course, and they''re equally at home in rivers or on land. Based on pictures in her book, there seem to be a some other symbiotic life forms, smaller brained types. The predators are the highest non-symbiotic land animals, and the predator marking is not genetic. The huge size difference is a case of smaller females, big males. If I understood the book right, female predators often do parthenogenesis if there''s no male around.¡± ¡°How did they draw that?¡± ¡°Diagram one: big dog gives sperm, little dog egg, makes big dog or little dog. Diagram two, little dog makes egg, makes little dog.¡± ¡°Fascinating!¡± ¡°And for them it''s even more complicated.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°They can bud, they can bud cooperatively, and they can reproduce by direct genetic exchange, sperm and ova not involved.¡± ¡°Interesting!¡± ¡°And completing the circle, when I showed her intravenous drips she pointed at the breast-feeding page, with all the happy organisms holding hands and slurping up the river. To emphasize the point, she was drinking lots and her breast-like features were engorging.¡± ¡°That gives a whole different meaning to the phrase nursing him back to health, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°It does, yes.¡± Ground / Ch. 4: Nursery rhymes

Ground / Ch. 4:Nursery rhymes

Ground, day seven after contact. ¡°Hey, you''re supposed to be drinking, not kissing,¡± Aza chided Jakav, intensely relieved that he was alert. ¡°Thank you Aza, you saved my life.¡± ¡°That was mainly Magdalena.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The alien female who brought you back with your kill.¡± ¡°I remember hearing something, and I saw fur, then there was pain.¡± ¡°Three days ago, the red splotched pack leader decided it had a personal vendetta against you. Your fast reactions saved you, but it crushed you. She brought you in, dumped you in front of Mum, and expected her to check your heart was beating, give you injections of blood and nutrients and things.¡± ¡°How do you know this?¡± ¡°She showed me what I guess was like a theatre show set in a hospital. They are multicellular organisms. They all look roughly the same, they all have five fingers, they kiss, and they wear cloth to hide their sexual organs, and I saw uncovered, undeveloped male milk glands and hidden female milk glands.¡± ¡°I hope you''re not going to cover yours,¡± he said, punctuating it with another kiss. ¡°Not if you can stop treating them as kissing targets and drink some more.¡± ¡°I don''t think I need to drink more, Aza.¡± ¡°You let me be the judge of that. Your bones haven''t fully absorbed their dead yet, and your poor crushed digestive system is still a bit of a mess.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Jakav asked. ¡°Because I''ve been flooding you with mix-hormones, and I can smell the pheromones your organisms are giving off in reply, even if you can''t. The basic message is ''not strong enough'' but you''re a lot better than you were three days ago, when it was ''am I even alive?''¡± Aza thought about telling him that she also knew where his ready-cells were, how very ready they''d been to tell her where they were. She decided that wasn''t really appropriate. Embarrassed, she stopped herself stroking that part of him, again. ¡°Aza, why did you stroking me there feel so nice?¡± Jakav asked when she moved her hand away. ¡°Because I need to talk to your mother. I think her book is wrong in part.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You really want to discuss mixing while you''re still being my beloved parasite? Drink up, I need to go and eat something.¡± Deliberately, she tried excreting some sleep hormone into her milk. It worked.
Ground ¡°Jana, can I have a word?¡± Aza asked, knocking on her door. ¡°Of course. Kov is out. How''s Jakav?¡± ¡°Healing. He remembers being landed on by the predator.¡± ¡°That''s good, very good.¡± ¡°But if you don''t mind me asking... your book. You said we''ve forgotten so much about sexual reproduction, did you find any old records? Or how much urm, personal experience went into it?¡± ¡°I didn''t find anything, even at the great library. It seems it was just a taboo subject. I wrote it just after Jakav was podded. Why?¡± ¡°Mum tells me that Jakav was further gone than anyone she''s heard of who survived, that most people recover after a day or two. After two days of my milk, Jakav''s ready cells weren''t whispering, they were practically shouting at me. By this morning, they''d started moving.¡± ¡°Moving? They always move.¡± ¡°They''ve clustered together, and are just under his skin where I was supporting his head, saying ''here we are, here we are''. He''s not very aware, but he knows he likes it when I stroke him there. If I change where I''m stroking, they go there¡± ¡°You mean, you think if he thins his skin then there they''ll be right there?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Aza said, ¡°And you remember that nursery rhyme about the days of the week?¡± ¡°''Oneday''s child is sure to kill, Twoday''s child is quiet and still, Threeday''s child is loud and bold, Fourday''s child will warm the old, Fiveday''s child is eager and quick, Sixday''s child is sure to trick, Sevenday''s child is.... I can''t remember the last one.¡± ¡°I''ve heard different versions,¡± Aza said ¡°Sevenday''s child is at your chest, or Sevenday''s children are in your chest. And there''s that old story about the many-mother, who podded a new child every two months from her chest. Might that actually be possible if some male''s ready cells ended up implanting themselves in a female''s milk gland?¡± ¡°You''d have to ask your mother, I don''t know. You think... you think the rhymes are all about mixing?¡± ¡°I wonder. If it was, that''d explain why there''s nothing written, wouldn''t it? If it''s was common knowledge?¡± ¡°I hope you''re not planning to carry on much longer then. Podding every two months would really tire you out.¡± Jana gave a little smile, ¡°Leave that sort of experimenting to married couples, Aza. But I have just had a wonderful idea. I''ll see what folklore books say. I inherited some from my mother.¡±
Ground, day eight after contact. ¡°Aza,¡± Kov said, ¡°Thank you for saving Jakav''s life.¡± ¡°As I keep telling everyone, the alien Magdalena saved his life.¡± ¡°Nevertheless, you''re the one who looked after him. But anyway, Jana and I have reached a decision. We''re going to the city. There ought to be time to get there and back before harvest if we go quickly.¡± ¡°You were right, Aza. You were entirely right, and I feel like a fool for risking Kov''s life and other''s, just because I didn''t read those old books. I need to get the text changed before they reprint.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Aza said, hoping that Jakav would say something. ¡°Mother, father, I understand,¡± Jakav said, managing to get up from his sick-bed. He was healthy, but many of his muscles had been badly torn and cut as he was crushed. He was weak. ¡°But before you go, will you give us your blessing?¡± He pulled Aza into a fierce embrace, ¡°I think I''ve been drinking Aza''s love potion enough to decide now, but she says she wants to know I''m not just on an enzyme high. We''ve compromised on the idea of me using my convalescence to build a house, and marrying when we''ve a usable room.¡± ¡°So you can try to pod a child just after harvest?¡± Jana asked. ¡°Yes, mother.¡± ¡°It''s got a lot of sense from my perspective,¡± Jana said, ¡°What does Uza say?¡± ¡°Mother said she''s not surprised.¡± ¡°We''ll talk to her and the pastor before we go,¡± Kov said.
Ground, day nine after contact. The space probe was hovering outside Aza''s home as Jakav left it, finally able to walk unaided. ¡°Hello.¡± Jakav said, ¡°Thank you for saving my life.¡± It bobbed up and down, and moved away a little. Then it stopped and bobbed up and down again. The sun was shining, but he saw two figures being drawn on the ground. ¡°Aza!¡± Jakav called, ¡°I think you''re wanted!¡± The probe bobbed up and down like budlings did when they were excited. Aza came down and came to stand beside Jakav, ¡°Problem?¡± she asked. The probe tilted from left to right. ¡°Magdalena?¡± Jakav asked. The probe hopped up and down again. ¡°I think that means ''yes'',¡± Jakav said, needlessly. ¡°Well, lead the way, wonder of alien technology.¡± Aza said. The probe led them to the town square, and then, surprised them by hopping over them. They felt something nudge them in the back of their legs. ¡°What?¡± Jakav exclaimed, looking round in confusion. ¡°I think it wants us to sit on it.¡± ¡°You''re joking.¡± ¡°That''s how Magdalena got you here without injuring you. And she sat on it too. It''s a circle.¡± ¡°So do you want to fly away to who knows where?¡± ¡°Not really. But we can always lock wings and glide down.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡±
Space ¡°What are you planning to do if they don''t get on board?¡± ¡°Leave them a map, I guess. Or just leave it for some explorer to find.¡± ¡°I still don''t really understand why we did this,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Because, firstly, there''s no firm guarantee we''ll get home in one piece. Secondly, in a few years time people will say, ha alien visitors, pull the other one. Thirdly, I always wanted to scratch my name in some cave or something like that, didn''t you? What better than having a purpose to do to so.¡± ¡°And the Biblical quotes?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°A promise I made my brother.¡± ¡°But they''re never going to understand them.¡± ¡°And that is the other reason I''m asking them to sit on the probe. It''s a trust exercise. They might work it out.¡±
Flying ¡°Where''s it taking us?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Urm, it''s following my rounds of the field. I don''t know why,¡± Jakav said, ¡°Oh, now this is where I turned aside where the One led me.¡± ¡°So it''s replaying the past?¡± ¡°Maybe. I don''t understand why.¡± ¡°That''s the tree I killed the predators from.¡± ¡°Not much of a tree.¡± Aza said. ¡°No. But it was big enough,¡± Jakav pointed out. ¡°Did you go this way?¡± ¡°Into the desert? No! I''ve never been here, have you?¡± ¡°No. It''s predator land, isn''t it?¡± ¡°Probably. I wonder what it''s going to do with us.¡± ¡°Nervous?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Not very.¡± ¡°I woke this morning sure the One was with us. Don''t be afraid now, Jakav.¡± ¡°Oh! There''s a cave!¡± There was an opening in a low hill which seemed to be made of broken rock. ¡°I wonder why we''re going to a cave.¡± ¡°Maybe she doesn''t know we''re not married and has planned a romantic get away for us?¡± Jakav suggested. ¡°Oh wow, it''s enormous!¡± Aza said as the alien machine took them in, close to the ceiling. ¡°Big enough for small village, anyway. Shame about the predators.¡± ¡°And there''s water, too.¡± Aza said, seeing a small stream making a waterfallIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. and flowing away into a crack. ¡°It''s not natural,¡± Jakav said. ¡°Look, at the corners, at the walls. Right angles. And hey, look, there''s a defence ditch in front of it.¡± ¡°Could a predator jump it?¡± Aza asked. ¡°I doubt it,¡± Aza said. ¡°Look, one didn''t already.¡± There was a dead predator in the trench. It had been shot through the head with an arrow. The probe settled down near the defensive ditch. ¡°Who makes arrows like that?¡± Jakav asked, looking more closely at the dead creature. ¡°Her, probably.¡± Aza said, pointing to a picture of an alien woman engraved on the wall, with a wicked knife and a bow and arrow. ¡°Magdalena.¡± There were some strange symbols underneath it. ¡°Oh come on, who''d bring a bow and arrow when you can fly light-years and cut up rock like this?¡± Jakav asked. ¡°She scared a lot of people with that knife,¡± Aza said. ¡°Fine. If that''s Magdalena, who''s this then?¡± Jakav asked, looking at another picture. Another alien woman, sitting at a desk, obviously writing. ¡°Look at what''s in front of her, Jakav. Someone up a tree, spearing predators.¡± There was more writing underneath it. If only they could read it, they''d have seen it said Rachel Ngbila, daughter of Hannah and Rupert. The next picture was clearly Jakav up a tree, then there was a picture of Jakav drawing triangles. Beside it, the alien numbers, with dots to make them clear, then some geometrical equations, and then more numbers. ¡°Multiplication, division, addition, subtraction,¡± Jakav said looking at the text engraved a finger deep in the wall. ¡°It''s so we can understand their notation, I guess.¡± ¡°And these little unfinished triangles?¡± ¡°Bigger and littler?¡± ¡°Why are they dividing one by zero?¡± Aza asked. ¡°You can''t do that.¡± ¡°You''d get a really big number if you tried. Maybe that''s what this symbol means.¡± ¡°Or maybe it just means stupid.¡± Aza countered. ¡°Hey! They''ve drawn a pendulum!¡± ¡°What good does that do?¡± ¡°Time. Look, there are these marks on the wall as well. Fractions of their unit of time, I guess.¡± ¡°What are these pictures of?¡± ¡°The suns and our planet, maybe?¡± ¡°Look, it is. And there''s our village!¡± Aza said, looking up. The planets were near the bottom of the wall, and above them was a ball, and above that there was a map of the livable lands, and above that, their village. ¡°What does that dotted circle mean, there where your house is?¡± ¡°I guess it means Aza lives here.¡± ¡°Then... look at this one, Jakav.¡± There was another solar system, and two planets circled. Then beside that, there was an unfamiliar pattern of dots, with one circled, and then beside that there was a picture of the night sky, with one bit of space circled. ¡°Jakav, I bet that''s where they came from. That bit of sky there,¡± Aza concluded. ¡°Wow. Long way away. What''s next?¡± ¡°Periodic table, I guess. With lots of extra numbers.¡± ¡°Hmm. Yes. I wonder what we can learn from those. And then some animals from their planets maybe?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Aza, tell me what this looks like to you?¡± ¡°Seven days? The creation story?¡± ¡°And there''s that funny sign. And the sign of the One. Are they saying the One is stupid?¡± ¡°I hope not. I think they''re saying the One is big. Very very big.¡± ¡°And then what''s this? Two aliens in a garden? One taking fruit?¡± ¡°You''ve missed a panel. Look, here two aliens in a garden, and one tree with a skull sign on it. That must be bad, surely?¡± ¡°I assume so. But why did.... Jakav! It''s saying they disobeyed the One! Look, here the One is in the garden, but here they are outside, with the high wall there.¡± ¡°They also fell. The imagery is different, but they fell. Aza, there''s no way we should understand these images so well, but I''m sure you''re right.¡± ¡°What comes next?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Lots of little pictures. I don''t know what they mean.¡± ¡°I sense they are not so important as this one.¡± ¡°Aza, isn''t this like in my mother''s book?¡± Jakav asked. ¡°Yes! A male and a female can produce male and female, but a female.. Oh! A female alone cannot. Let''s go back to those animal pictures. Look!¡± Aza excitedly showed Jakav. ¡°These animals, sperm and egg, sperm and egg. This one just egg, but all the rest are sperm and egg. This thing buds, see the budlings! But hardly any of the animals there can bud, and hardly any can even reproduce at all without sperm! How strange!¡± ¡°Why is this important?¡± ¡°Look Jakav back at this female ¡ª egg only ¡ª but a male offspring. It cannot be!¡± ¡°A miracle.¡± ¡°And the male is marked with the sign of the One!¡± ¡°I hoped, I asked, I prayed, that they would tell us what the One has done. And they tried. But I do not understand these images.¡±
Space [Hey, Maggie!] James thought to her, [After more than a week of not letting me get in contact, God''s told me to think to you, and say don''t go further from home. What''s up?] [We''re about to leave and tell the solar system we''ve found intelligent aliens. At the early radio stage of development.] [Wow!] [And keeping my promise to Mick, I''ve tried to tell the aliens about God. Who is wonderful, even though I turned away from him when Mick vanished. But I don''t know if they understand the pictograms we left. Can you try to talk to them?] [I can try. You think they''re thought hearers?] [I''ve absolutely no idea. But they''re certainly weird to us. They''re collective organisms, made up of lots of different sorts of single-cell organisms. Please try to talk to them, James.] [OK, Maggie. I''ll try.] [They know me as Magdalena. It seemed right. ]
Ground [My name is James,] they heard, and looked around in surprise and fear. [Do not fear. Magdalena who drew these pictures, hoped you would understand them. I am no angel, I am a male friend of hers, perhaps I will even marry her, I know I like her. I have a gift from God, who made the universe and all who live in it, a gift of hearing the thoughts of people across worlds, and to some, such as Magdalena, I can send my thoughts. Among the billions of us on my planet, there are only about sixty of us with this miraculous spiritual gift. I do not know if I will ever be able to talk to you again, so I will try to explain Magdalena''s pictures. Almost two and a half thousand of our years ago, God spoke to a follower of his, a young woman called Mary. He told her he would do an impossible thing, and give her a son, who would save his people from their sin. And he was born, though Mary had never been with a man, and he lived, and he taught for three years. Those he taught were confused, they thought the promised one would be a ruler, and a destroyer of their enemies. Some came to see he was more than that, but it was only later that they truly understood that somehow the infinite One had become a man. Wicked men killed him, and they put him in a grave. On the third day, he rose again returning from death, and appeared to those he''d taught on several different occasions. Fifty days later he left our home planet went to be with the One, who he called his father, and he was given rule and authority and honour and power, for he was and is and is to come, and he has broken the power of sin and death and reconciled people to God, and bought us back into a relationship with Him. In the beginning, he was with God and he was God, and always will be. For the One is somehow also three, who we call Father, Son and Spirit. Does that make sense?] ¡°Of course,¡± Jakav said aloud, ¡°Aza my fianc¨¦ is brain organisms and muscle organisms and bone organisms and digestive system organisms and skin organisms, together she is Aza, and she would not be Aza without all of these things that make her her. It is not the same, but that the One is three without stopping being One we know.¡± [By dying for our sins, Jesus, who''s name means the One Saves, paid what we could not pay, and took the punishment we deserve, and so we trust in him for our forgiveness, and know that we are forgiven. We do not add anything to our salvation by what we do, but we obey God out of love, out of respect. He took our sins on himself and gave us his righteousness. ] ¡°That is what the one did!¡± Jakav said, happily ¡°But are your years are so very short? We heard from prophets that the One had just done something marvelous to save us from sin only about two hundred years ago.¡± [I''ll ask Magdalena. She knows more of your world than I do.]
Space [Magdalena, they wonder why their prophets told them God had just done something wonderful about a two hundred of their years ago. Any ideas? Are their years decades of ours or something?] [No, they''re about the same. It''s a genuine Earth-like planet, or a terraformed Mars, but with two little suns to confuse the astronomers, not to mention sun-dials. As far as we see, they haven''t filled the planet yet. Lovely place to visit, except for highly aggressive predators and it''s over twenty one hundred light years from home.] [That''s a long way.] [Yes. Oh! Of course! James, if you had a good enough telescope here, you''d be seeing Christians thrown to lions, or whatever else was happening on Earth in A.D. two hundred and fifty or something. In this part of space, the cross was only about two hundred years ago, because of propagation delay.] [Maggie, remember I told you God said you shouldn''t go further? Could there be a link?] [I need to stay in the light-cone of Christ? That''s confusing, but OK. I don''t want to go further, James. But I do want to come back here, once I''ve told the solar system we''re not alone in the universe. You said they had prophets? They know God?] [They know God.] [Hallelujah. James, you won''t tell anyone what we''ve found will you?] [Of course not. Can I tell people you''ve got something exciting? Otherwise they might worry.] [OK.] [I''d like to talk some more if I may, but I''ll just tell them... want to stay on the line?] [Of course!] [Jakav, Aza! Magdalena says you are a very long way from here, light would take something like twenty three hundred of our years to get there. Maybe that is why.] ¡°So the message of prophecy came at the speed of light?¡± Jakav asked. ¡°I do not understand. Light is instant!¡± Aza said. ¡°Not quite,¡± Jakav said. [Even from one planet to another, the speed of light is slower than we''d like,] Magdalena pointed out, [One day your scientists will be able to bounce radio from one place to another, and you will hear how slow light is.] ¡°That was Magdalena?¡± Aza asked. [It was, Aza. James is somehow letting you hear my thoughts and me yours. Sadly we would not understand each other without him. He has a mighty gift from God, mightier than I knew. I didn''t know he could do that!] ¡°Do you say light is the same as radio?¡± Jakav asked. [Both are electro-magnetic radiation.] Magdalena thought [But the length of the wave is so vastly different, it does not help much except with some of the maths. Or keeping the physicists happy.] ¡°I''m a physicist.¡± Jakav said. [Enjoy your studies. God''s universe is marvelously complicated.] ¡°How do you travel here? How does your machine fly? How does it carry us here?¡± [Ah, well, my grandparents'' teacher Boris thought he was playing with gravitons, but they worked out he got it a bit wrong, he was actually bending space on a very small scale. Then they put their heads together ¡ª just a figure of speech ¡ª not really, and they worked out how to make a complete bubble of space which could move around much faster than light can, which is impossible of course. The actual equations are too complicated for me, I''m afraid. Just keep on studying, there''s undoubtedly things to learn we haven''t found out, and there''s nothing that says you have to solve one thing before the other.] ¡°What would happen if your grandparents did put their heads together?¡± Aza asked curiously. [So their skin touched? A bit like when they touched hands, but with less padding. So their blood mixed? Depends on how compatible their blood was, but probably bad news. So their brains touched? They''d probably die. Our brain cells don''t even survive being near our own blood. But anyway, my new friends, Rachel and I are leaving, we hope to return, but we must go.] ¡°Why? Is it near harvest time at your home?¡± Aza asked. [Not exactly. We have exciting news, your people are the first we have met.] ¡°But there are thousands of stars, millions!¡± [And a few of them have planets with plants. And a few that have plants have simple animals, and a few of the ones with simple animals have complex animals, which spend all their time eating plants or being eaten. So we were fascinated to find how many animals there are here, and how few seemed to eat each other. Then we found that a lot of what we thought were animals were intelligent beings who could change their shape, and at least one of them was unafraid of drawing geometry for a strange machine.] ¡°The One is great. Many in the city do not agree.¡± [Many on our homes also. But more trust God now than it used to be,] James said, then, sensing that enough had been said for now, he added [Be well, Aza and Jakav. The maker of all things visible and invisible watches over you. It is time that I stop.] [Aza, Jakav.] Magdalena thought quickly [The One bless you in all ways, and if some elements are much more valuable than others, look to their symbols in the periodic table. There is a sample of the ones I can safely touch. I hope to return, but if I cannot, enjoy this cave. Rachel and I enjoyed making it for you. She also sends her greetings, but she cannot hear thoughts like I can, and you are doing now.] James cut the connection, and briefly checked his temperature in the Peace. He was well, and he was hopeful. Maggie''s bitterness towards God and him seemed to have gone entirely. He touched Maggie''s thoughts again and found her deep in excited conversation with Rachel. He didn''t interrupt.
[Maggie?] James thought. [I thought you''d be coming back for a chat sooner than this.] [Rachel needed to not feel left out.] [True. Aza and Jakav seem to have decided to stay at the cave and explore, so we''re leaving soon.] [Just come back safely, please. And check your air tanks are fully charged and everything.] [I will, don''t worry.] [And get Rachel to cross check.] [OK, OK. Who appointed you my mother? It''s not like I''ve not done this before, James.] [That I know. So please follow the checklist very very thoroughly.] [Is there something wrong?] [Not if you get back safely, Maggie. Just people who love you two worry.] [What about?] [Things like God not letting me get in contact.] [Please tell Rachel''s and my parents we''ll be about a week in warped space, assuming there''s nothing we need to slow down for. And please tell the university that Rachel will be submitting her PhD thesis on arrival, and they''ll want to make sure its processed quickly.] [And as I prepare the world for your Earth-shattering arrival, may I request the pleasure of your company for chat and food? I''m on Mars already.] [Ooh, why?] [Because God told me to come, the same time he told me I wasn''t to talk to you.] [OK. That explains that bit then. But I actually meant why do you want to meet?] [Because, Magdalena Space-Searcher Alien-finder Karella (bnt Pania Margaret James hi Jim Sandra Richard) hi John (bn Heather Alice Simon hi Matthew Eliza Albert) we are not cousins except in the seventh degree, we love the same God, and I actually like you quite a lot.] [You... you''re asking me for a date?] [Yes. I would very much like to walk with you, Maggie.] [And if I manage to come back here, you''d be willing to come too?] [I''d pull every lever I could to stay near you. Do you know how valuable some of those elements you left them are? It was a lovely thought. Especially making three of everything so they wouldn''t feel they were destroying the collection.] [So, what''s the most valuable?] [All I heard was their delight. Don''t assume we can repeat that exercise, Maggie. I think from now on you''ll need to rely on linguists.] [Hmm. I know one who''s asked to walk with me but isn''t pressing me for an answer.] [I think it''s called giving you time to think about it. I''ve been accused of not giving you that space to think before now.] [Thank you, James. You are a godly man, who tries to be kind. I''m sorry for yelling at you; I just didn''t want kindness, I wanted someone to be angry at. I''ll walk with you.] [You''re not angry at God any more. Can I ask what happened?] [I remembered I told Mick I wanted God to let me fly to new places and meet aliens. And Mick told me God was great, and I promised him that if I did meet aliens, I''d try to tell them about Him.] [Mick was a good brother, and a good friend. I do keep checking, every so often, Maggie, just in case.] [You do?] Maggie was surprised, shocked. [Everyone says he''s dead.] [Not everyone Maggie, I''ve never been fully convinced.] [Then what?] [Maybe he went too far, and there is a limit to this gift. The light-cone of Christ, perhaps? I don''t know. Or maybe God has been hiding him from me just like he was hiding you.] [For what purpose?] [For his own purpose, Maggie. His plans are bigger.] [I''m going to be really angry with God if it was all about me sorting out my relationship with Him.] Maggie thought. [Are you really?] Maggie thought for a bit [Surprisingly, no, I don''t think I am; I guess I''m past that. God is great, his reasons are not our reasons, but He knows best, and he loves best. It''s not for the creature to tell the creator how to run the universe.]
¡°You are smiling like the cat who''s got the cream. What''s up?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I just told James something he was pleased to hear about God. And he leaked.¡± ¡°Leaked?¡± ¡°Let out a stray thought. Mr perfect control isn''t so perfect after all, which is encouraging.¡± ¡°Is it? I''ll believe you. What did he leak? Interesting gossip, or something?¡± ¡°The well known eligible bachelor, linguist and farspeaker seems to have been secretly planning his future for a while.¡± ¡°You''re being cryptic, Maggie.¡± ¡°He thought to himself, ''Finally Maggie''s back with the Lord. I wonder how long an engagement she''ll want.''¡± ¡°Engagement? Hold on, you''ve not been going out on the sly, have you?¡± ¡°He asked me out about five minutes ago, which was a bit of a shock. First date when we get home, but it seems like he''s been making plans for a while.¡± ¡°You don''t mind him thinking about engagement?¡± ¡°No. I''ve known him most of my life, on and off, I just never thought he might be interested.¡± Ground / Ch. 5: Innocence and ignorance

Ground / Ch. 5: Innocence and ignorance

Ground, near the university [Mick,] the female head of the two headed creature thought to the other, [what is it?] [My sister is leaving,] Mick said, watching the dot in the sky move from its position. James'' focus had not been well controlled at all, and for some reason he''d been echoing Maggie''s thoughts, so Mick had heard both ends of their conversations. It was, as far as Mick was concerned, a God-send. [Didn''t you want to speak to her?] [The One said it was not time; not yet. She''ll be back, she has re-found her faith, at least.] [She still misses you, I expect.] [Yes. I miss her, but she has been learning to cope. It will be easier for her now, I think.] Especially since James had finally spoken about his feelings for her; he''d asked Mick about asking her out before he''d left on this mission, so many years before. [You have been learning to cope. You''re getting better and better control of our muscles every day.] [I suppose I have, yes. I know I''ve said it before, Lana, but you took an enormous risk. Thank you.] [My very own thankful alien,] Lana thought fondly. [What did make you think of it?] [I knew you were an intelligent being, capable of space-travel, I knew you were badly wounded, and would very probably die, since a lot of your insides were broken and on the outside, and I had no idea how you went back together. I knew your strange mind held secrets.] Mick''s mind laughed, [It still does Lana.] [There''s still time to pry them out of you. And I had hosted other minds before yours, in the interests of science.] [You had?] [Yes. Lower animals, mostly. Another person, once. That... that didn''t end well.] [What happened?] [We were colleagues, both investigating symbiosis and mind to mind communication. I wasn''t the first, you understand, but no one had tried a complete person-to-person meld. There are differences between our genders, in mating, females can ¡ª do, sometimes ¡ª take the male apart to find the right cells and then of course put him back together again. So, it was obvious who''d be taking who apart. It wasn''t to be mating, you understand, it was pushing the boundaries of scientific curiosity, seeing if there was some hope of one person being a life-support for another.] [But you ended up mating?] [No. But when I called his brain organisms, they wouldn''t all come, some held on to the rest of his body. It was uncharted territory, but we''d agreed I''d continue if that happened. I shouldn''t have done. If all his brain organisms had come, his body would have been paralysed. But they didn''t, and when the sedatives wore off his body had adult strength, no conscious thought, and extreme panic. It ripped its own arms off to get out of the restraining straps. I managed to sedate it, but his brain was traumatised by the separation from his body too, and it fragmented into a thousand pieces, every bit of it trying to pod.] [To pod?] [To form a new body, using the needed organisms ¡ª mine. It would have killed me, so I had to expel them. Most, I was able to return to his body, but not all. Amazingly, he even recovered his memory, eventually.] [It sounds devastating, though.] Mick said. [It was. That experiment very almost killed both of us, it certainly ended his academic career. His brain didn''t recover that much. I.... I wrote up the paper describing what went wrong, why it should have never been done, and became the tyrant of the safety office you now know me as.] [What do your old colleagues think of you hosting me?] He''d been wondering. No one had made any mention of him in the past few months that he''d understood her language well enough. [I haven''t actually told them.] [How do you explain the second head?] [I told people I was experimenting with extra eyes. If you remember, I always take control of the eyes at work. It''s actually very useful having a second pair.] [Lana, you are an amazing race.] [Thank you.] [And an amazing person.] [You''re just saying that because you don''t know me.] [No? You''ve been hosting me for almost five years now.] [See, and I''ve only just told you what happened two years before that.] [Well, it took me ages to learn your language, didn''t it? We couldn''t have talked like this even a year ago. My life depends utterly on you.] [Well, you not having your own body... that''s true. But once you''re more capable I suppose I could split.] [Does having me around cause you problems, Lana?] [What? No. You''re no trouble.] [Do I impede your desire for society, or solitude, or anything like that?] [What are you going on about, Mick?] [Gearing up to ask you not to split. I like our current arrangement, baring one or two details.] [So do I. Hey, are you making hormones?] [Maybe, not consciously. We''ve got some glands right next to our brains.] [What are they supposed to do?] [Basic things, body growth, sleep cycles, blood pressure, pain relief, sex organ functions] [Interesting. Oh well, sorry, I interrupted.] [Lana, I expect I''ve felt to you like your baby until now. But I''m an adult male, or I was. In the Bible, our holy book, being one flesh is a description for marriage, and we share one flesh ¡ª more and more. I don''t want to ever split from you, I think it would feel like divorce to me. But if you don''t feel like that, I understand. It''s not like a disembodied multi-cellular mind can ever give you children.] [Mick, stop,] [Sorry.] [Mick, you don''t know what I did to you, do you?] [Cut away the dead and dying bits, I guess, and fed my brain-cells nutrients. I honestly don''t know how I survived atmospheric entry.] [Do you remember what happened before?] [I arrived in your solar system, aimed my ship roughly at your planet, since it seemed the most interesting, went to do something, turned round too quickly and hit my head. I woke up just in time to turn off the drive before hitting the atmosphere. I was going much too fast to stop, but if I''d been five seconds earlier, I would have been able to turn on forcefields which would have let me control the ship properly, but I didn''t have five seconds.] [And you landed in a heap of tangled technology roughly at my feet.] [You were at the impact point? I''m amazed you weren''t injured. But instead you saved me!] [I was injured, Mick. I suffered burns and shrapnel wounds, serious ones. And there you were, dying but not totally burnt protein and bones and iron. Just within reach, and just what I needed. I didn''t just save you, Mick. I also saved myself. My skin flowed round you and quite deliberately I consumed you. I took you apart, digested your muscles, and dissolved some of your bones.] [That''s not how you normally eat.] [No. It''s something I learned to do when hosting the minds of lesser animals. But I didn''t know your biology, so there were some bits of you I didn''t know what to do with, and didn''t seem injured, so I left them. So... you''re not just a disembodied brain, Mick. I tried to save what I could of your nerves and confusing bits. Your eyes seemed to be OK, except for pointing in the wrong direction, your breathing and digestive system were a mess, and your heart had a bone through it which I presume wasn''t original.] [I was almost dead then. You digested them too?] [The bits that weren''t spread over or mixed up with the landscape, yes. Well, there are some bits of your muscles left, not much.] [But it''s actually my original nerve cells that are making our muscles move?] Mick asked, fascinated. [Mostly, but the signals are mostly compatible, so there''s some cooperation too.] [I didn''t realise. Thank you, Lana.] [And some of your confusing bits seem to be responding to your hormones, so I''m thinking they might well be sex organs. What happens if I send some some gentle signals to this bit?] [{Shock} Lana!] [Did I hurt you? Sorry, Mick.] [You didn''t hurt. But I beg you... don''t do that until we marry.] [I won''t do it again, Mick. But we''re not going to marry.] [But...] Mick said. [Mick, I''m the scientist, you''re the test subject. Sorry, that''s too harsh. I''m the doctor, your the patient. But still, one day, I expect to meet someone of my own species I can marry and raise podlings with. One day, if your sister comes back with friends, you might meet someone of your species, and I might have even saved enough of you that you can make children your way. Let''s not marry, OK? Sorry for pumping you full of sex hormones. They must work on you differently than our males. I hoped you''d get calm and trusting not brainlessly optimistic about an impossible and probably immoral future.]Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. [You pumped me full of hormones?] Mick asked. [I''ve been feeling guilty about eating you and you not knowing, Mick. When you started making them I helped. I didn''t want you getting angry about it and thought some might help.] [What you did made perfect sense, Lana.] [Tell me that when you''re not on an artificial overdose of hormones, OK?] [I will. Anything else you want to tell me while I''m feeling emotionally crushed and chemically abused?] [Yes. I like you, and I''m glad you''re my friend. And you need to think of this body as a living live-support machine, not actually me, Lana.] [Would one of your people accept muscles from someone else?] Mick asked. [No, we wouldn''t, so OK, it''s more intimate than just a machine. But still... when I give you some cells to make a body, they will become yours. Joining again just for companionship would be.... wrong, disgusting.] [Perverted?] Mick suggested. [Yes. But my patient isn''t healed.] [And your test subject hasn''t earned you your place back on your academic career.] [What?] [Lana, I hear enough of your thoughts to know you''re increasingly frustrated as a safety officer, and you ought to know it. Report yourself for excessive risk taking, breaking experimental protocols, smuggling sentient beings, and get back in the lab where you belong. As long as you''re not planning to digest me, torture me or trigger my reproductive urges again, I probably won''t mind.] [You''re sure?] [Present your findings about the aliens who originated on the land-masses of Sol-3 who have no idea what hormones are doing to them, and get so competitive sometimes they''ve used almost every technology they''ve ever developed to kill thousands or millions of each other. And of course about the peace-loving semi-aquatic sub-species who hid from them for two and a half millennia for fear they''d be wiped out.] [Hold on, what''s this about a semi-aquatic sub-species?] [My people.] [Semi-aquatic?] Lana asked. [Those lovely iron-rich muscles you digested? My oxygen store. Land-folk don''t have as much iron.] [I didn''t digest all of them. I tried to keep some of each cell type.] [That''s very good news, thanks. Keep them safe and maybe we can regrow me a body eventually.] [That''s impossible!] [No it''s not. You just persuade the cells they''re stem cells really.] [Stem cells?] [The cells that haven''t differentiated, that still have the potential of turning into lots of other sorts of cells. I guess you might not have them.] [Oh! You can do that?] [I''m told its much easier using a cell that''s already roughly the right sort, but yes. Not personally, but it''s quite a regular procedure in hospitals.] [I wonder how.] [Sorry, I don''t know.] [You said your people had used technology for killing millions. You were exaggerating, weren''t you?] [Imagine, my friend, that the predators with their rival clans were the technology-using dominant species. Imagine there were fifty million of them in one clan, two hundred million in another, five hundred million in another, and so on until you had reached a population of almost a thousand million spread out over the planet. Imagine that one clan decided they wanted some resource, or they needed to repay some insult, or that several neighbours decided that one clan was treacherous and needed to be removed from its dominant position. And imagine they are organised and each clan gathers the young men who are best at fighting or perhaps just worst at farming, and they go to settle their differences and win their resources. And imagine that is the history of the planet for thousands of years. And then as time goes on, and everyone agrees that fighting like this is a terrible thing, but it still happens as one clan or another forgets that, or thinks this cause is worth fighting over, and then someone invents explosives, and discovers how to make poison gas and someone else discovers powered flight and then and nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.] [You used your own language at the end there.] [I know. As far as I know your people have not discovered those things yet. Which reminds me, the crash site.] [You keep asking about it.] [And you keep changing the subject. Is it far?] [A few days travel. Why?] [I guess I should ask, rather, are what remains of my ship still there, or have they been moved?] [I did not tell anyone it. It was an isolated place, I do not know if anyone has been there since. Someone might have been. Why?] [There are dangerous tools there, things that should not be investigated with the technology your people have.] Lana was cross with herself, and embarrassed. [And in my shame at what I did there, I didn''t understand why you were so interested in it. Sorry. I brought back some things.] [You did? They''re here?] [Yes. That draw over there.] she pointed all four eyes at it. [Want to see if you can imagine some limbs to open it with?]
Ground, The University Jana and Kov were surprised to be met by a person with twin torsos hovering on quadruple wings. It was a very strange experience, they agreed later. Two heads on one body just didn''t seem.... sensible. Why carry all the extra mass? They both also guessed that this person hadn''t been anywhere near predators recently, surely! One head looked perfectly normal, except it supported unreasonably long hair in the city fashion. The other''s hair was quite short, which was more practical, but the eyes seemed to work together, as though it was determined to fix everything in it''s three-dimensional position. That was unnerving. But maybe that in itself was why this person, this academician Lana, chief university safety officer, had grown the other head. ¡°You have a book about to be reprinted,¡± the normal-looking head said. ¡°Yes, Academician.¡± Jana said. ¡°And, on this intervention request you state that you have new information, that you believe there are dangerous errors in it, and that it should be altered before reprinting.¡± ¡°Yes, academician.¡± Jana agreed. ¡°And you are secreting surprise pheromones, and disapproval pheromones.¡± ¡°I apologise, academician,¡± Kov said. ¡°Should I leave?¡± ¡°What do you disapprove of so strongly?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I am not used to city life, academician,¡± Kov said, ¡°and am on the perimeter guard at home. I... I just cannot stop myself thinking in terms of a predator attack.¡± ¡°Ah. And you don''t think I''m exactly fit for survival, although I''m hovering in mid-air?¡± ¡°I am assuming, academician that you have a very light-weight bone structure.¡± ¡°Unfit for lifting more than paper?¡± Lana asked, with a wry smile on her face. ¡°I am experimenting, as you might imagine, as is fitting for someone in the department of frontier biology. A lot of my apparent body is gas-filled. My total mass is somewhat higher than normal, but my stamina is far greater than many, as I''ve not changed most of my bone structure much for several months. Your son reported it.¡± ¡°Yes, academician.¡± ¡°His report crossed my desk, and I have been confirming his results. His paper will be published, along with my confirmation. The great library contains similar data, from a few lifetimes ago, so it''s not ground-breaking, but his documentation and measurements are excellent and well worth publishing. Now, the reason you''re here...¡± ¡°We were told the waiting time for an interview was a week.¡± ¡°Oh, at least. Even for ground-breaking experimental biologists. Fortunately, you have connections in all the right places,¡± Lana said. ¡°We do?¡± ¡°Me. Your son and future daughter-in-law sent another report also, more recently. Alien visitors. My colleagues thought it very humorous.¡± ¡°I didn''t,¡± Mick said, running his five fingers through his hair. Kov and Jana were temporarily stunned that the other head had a lung connection and voice box as well. ¡°You are not a colleague, now hush, experiment.¡± Lana reprimanded him. ¡°They told me they thought the whole thing about them counting in base ten, and getting the circle number wrong was pure genius.¡± ¡°Three point one four one five nine two urm, I forget, is it six or seven?¡± Mick said. ¡°Shh,¡± Lana said to the other head. [You''re supposed to be dumb, remember?] ¡°But on the other hand, they pointed out that interstellar travel has been proven impossible in any creature''s lifespan, and the floating machine with a laser cutting tool was, they decided, a work of pure fiction and not at all worthy of an academic. Thus they don''t expect to be seeing much more of your son''s work in an academic publication. So, let''s not talk about strange lights in the sky that moved off a two and a half weeks ago, and we''ll turn instead to your book.¡± ¡°Strange lights in the sky?¡± Kov asked. ¡°I said we wouldn''t talk about departing space-ships. That''s apparently academic suicide. So, let''s stick to the point, the urgent safety review of your book, Jana.¡± ¡°Yes, academician.¡± Jana said, trying to get her head straight after that mental roller-coaster ¡°My book.... I made a terrible mistake in my research. The right thing to do, the safe thing to do, is have patience, for Threeday''s child, as the rhyme suggests. On day three the ready-cells are mobile, and come in answer to the call, on the sixth day, it becomes dangerous to continue to offer milk ¡ª the ready-cells are not just mobile; according to an ancient book on folklore I read they become equipped to embed themselves into the female''s tissues, leading to involuntary podding the following day. Aza''s ''experiment'' if you call it that, bringing our son back to health led me to the folklore book.¡± ¡°Tell me of your son''s injuries.¡± ¡°Extensive crushing wounds. Almost certainly they would have been fatal if he''d been moved. His ribs and most of his bones were shattered, even his skull was fractured. Digestive system was also a mess. As it was, it took a lot of recovery, and we didn''t dare move him.¡± Jana looked defiantly at Lana, ¡°The alien''s machine had some invisible ability to move things, and it brought him and the pack-leader to the village, on some kind of invisible disk.¡± [Forcefield. Probably entirely invisible.] Mick thought to Lana. ¡°So, continuing to ignore the contact you had with alien life forms who know far more about physics than we do, your son needed more milk than the average patient.¡± Lana said. ¡°Yes, Aza stopped on day four, even then, he was not fully healed.¡± ¡°Far more milk,¡± Lana noted, ¡°and I presume lots of self control?¡± ¡°Yes. They will be building a house as part of his convalescence.¡± ¡°As university safety officer, I agree with your request. The reprint should be stopped until a correction can be made. The general public attempting to get a whole podding room sterile enough for a full internal investigation is needlessly dangerous if there''s a better way. So, the only question is whether the education department pays, in exchange for which I expect they''ll demand lots of your time educating people of their choosing, or alternatively, the biology department might show an interest. I observe an experiment in progress. How far into it are you?¡± ¡°Not long. We arrived yesterday, and then we were told we''d need to wait a week...¡± Kov said, embarrassed. ¡°In other words, your message interrupted what only started this morning,¡± Jana said. ¡°Excellent! Sorry for the interruption of intimacy, but the university has wanted to do some tests on extended exposure to milk for two years, but totally failed to find a single couple willing to be a test case. If you''re willing, then I assure you the biology department would be very keen to publish your book with whatever edits are required, along with granting you ample solitude. We would want to perform some tests, of course.¡± ¡°What sort of tests?¡± Jana asked, suspiciously. ¡°Nothing too intrusive, I assure you. Occasional testing of your milk and his blood, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Why no test couples then?¡± Kov asked. ¡°Because a lot of people in this city say ''Genetic diversity? There''s plenty. I''m far to busy to spend that long away from work, plus of course, much though I love my wife, I don''t want to be so zonked out on her hormones that I''d let her take me apart!'' So, the same reasons that mixing became unpopular, really. There have also been some applicants who were deemed unsuitable, because of maturity issues, and not being aware of the risks of a bad mix. ¡°That reminds me, I''d like you to include at least half a chapter on avoiding mixing between genetically close pairs, as that raises the risks to an unacceptable level.¡± ¡°Could you expand on exactly what you mean with that?¡± Kov asked. Lana looked at Jana enquiringly, ¡°I think your wife is more an expert in that field than I am.¡±
During the discussion that ensued, both Kov and Mick learned that a female could give some guidance to her reproductive cells, and that Jana hadn''t made any conscious decisions about what characteristics she wanted for Jakav except that she wanted genetic diversity, not regressive genes. Lana suggested it be written in the amended book, having declared that to be by far the safest choice. [So you could actually choose the gender?] Mick asked. [Gender? Oh, that''s genetic for you I expect?] [It''s not for you?] [It comes down to whether the individual is inward focussed or outward focussed. Males focus on the outside world, females on the chemistry that makes us people. In other words, gender is random.] [Genetics is random.] [Not when the ready-cells start making gametes that get tasted and inspected and chosen it''s not.] [I guess I need to ask you about ready-cells. I thought they were gametes.] [They''re special organisms, ready to mix genetics with others ¡ª to produce gametes, as I said ¡ª or they wander around the body checking for genetic errors or invaders.] [You''re amazingly complex creatures, even if things work more slowly than I''m used to.] It was a constant problem for him. Reaction times, hand-eye coordination, they were all just... slow. It was the price of a redesignable anatomy: cooperative organisms not all getting the message at the same time, working against each other, links formed by interlocking cell walls rather than permanently bonded chemistry. Muscles were inefficient, bones were weak, and it seemed almost every motion required explicit thought, even for Lana. Running one of these bodies was hard work. [Thank you, you''re not doing so badly yourselves, even if you seem to have no idea what''s going on inside yourselves.] [Hey, I''m genetically male remember? By the way, Kov''s just asked you about the spaceship.] [You watched it.] ¡°The ship was most visible at dusk, reflecting sunlight,¡± Mick said. ¡°I saw it arrive, it stayed in place for about a month, no, more, quite a long time, anyway, and then went away.¡± ¡°You didn''t tell anyone?¡± Kov asked. ¡°The One said it wasn''t time yet. It doesn''t matter, anyway. Magdalena will be back, I''m sure.¡± It was only later, when Kov and Jana were discussing names for their new daughter on the way home, that they remembered that neither they nor Jakav''s report had mentioned Magdalena''s name. If it hadn''t been for the fact that the harvest was due to start soon, Kov would have turned round. But it was due, and perimeter guards were more needed then than ever. He couldn''t put his friends at risk just for the sake of curiosity. Ground / Ch. 6: Sneak Preview

Ground / Ch. 6:Sneak Preview

Space [Magdelena Space-Searcher iwontthinkthenextbit Karella John, am I disturbing you?] James called, as they were about a day from the Solar system. [What next bit? I can put down my keyboard for a bit, what''s up?] [I have been requested to connect you with her majesty, your grandmother.] [Really? Wow. Go ahead.] [Hello Maggie,] Heather thought. [Grandma! Nice to hear your thoughts.] [I understand you''ve got a few things to tell me. You can start with the bit I know, just to get things formal.] Heather said. [Urm. I''m not very clear what you know, grandma, but... God is good.] [I''m very glad you''ve come back to that viewpoint. I think I''ve told you that a few times.] [And James has asked me out.] [Oh has he? That''s certainly been a long time coming.] [It has?] [Probably a decade, from my point of view.] [A decade?] James interjected. [About that long, yes. You two were having a lovely stand up row about the difference between dolphins and porpoises, if I remember rightly, when I pointed out to your parents how shocked you were at catching him in a mistake, Maggie. Any more news?] [Yes, Grandma. Top secret sneak preview {image}. He''s called Jakav, she''s called Aza.] [You''ve found intelligent life. Well done, granddaughter, well done indeed!] [And they know God, they count the week in seven days, but they didn''t know the wonderful thing that Jesus did on the cross.] [You told them?] [Rachel and I had a lovely evening working out which stick pictures to engrave on the walls of a cave we found, and how to explain the gospel in twenty easy cartoons. James helped a lot, explaining it to them.] [Any news of Mick?] [No, grandma.] [Don''t worry, Maggie. He''s there somewhere.] [Thank you for saying so.] [Silly girl! Just listen to your grandma, for once, will you? You''ve seen my hope-book.] Heather thought, [Mick is there somewhere. Just make sure you send him an invitation to your wedding, you don''t want him accused of gate-crashing.] [{stunned joy}] Maggie thought. [{confusion}] was James'' reaction. [James, I''m a seer. I''m not as blatant about it as I was when I was two or three and told Maggie''s great-grandad James he was a boy-mermaid. Mick is alive, Mick is on the planet you''ve just visited, Maggie. Mick will be at your wedding. Hmm, let me write some more ideas down. Ha, that''ll take some organising! Any ideas when you wanted to get married, kids?] [Gran, we''ve not even had one date yet! Not to mention James not proposing to me yet.] [Well, let me know in plenty of time, the Lord says I''m going to be there, too.] [And mum and dad?] [Leave the future some secrets, Maggie. But you can tell Rachel about me being a seer, and about Mick.] [Gran? Can I have some advice, not divine knowledge. You''ve shaken the scientific establishment to its core before now... Should I think of rushing back to gather more data, or spend a decade trying to play politics and get things organised like Mum does?] [Where does your heart lie, Magdalena?] Heather asked. [I don''t know! I want to go back, I want to be with family, I always dreamed of leading a scientific mission to a strange new planet, there''s this nice man who wants to marry me, building and equipping a remote lab is going to take ages, not to mention cost a fortune ...] [Your mother is almost certainly having too much fun bossing people around and analysing interstellar plant samples to go with you, Maggie, that''s a fact. Your James is going to be useful there on your new planet, of course, so I suggest you take him with you. But I point out that my old test lab is still floating around somewhere near Pluto. It probably needs a bit of airing out, since the chances are that someone left a half-eaten sandwich down the back of a sofa, but it''s there.] [Take the whole lab?] [Of course! Why not?] [But Gran! Fitting it with interstellar drives...] [Was about the final thing we did before mothballing it, dear. We knew it''d be needed eventually. Didn''t you ever wonder how it got to Pluto?] [I guess I thought it went there at constant acceleration.] [After a leisurely warp three out to look at Voyager, I drove it to Pluto at warp eleven.] [What?] Maggie exclaimed. [It didn''t take long, I assure you. I''d had Alice and we weren''t planning any more kids. It''s called establishing safe parameters. Warp twelve had been determined to be dangerous, eleven was safe according to the probes, but I wanted to prove it. Eleven is silly speed anyway. Ten is plenty fast enough.] [But eleven is safe?] James asked. [Eleven is probably safer than a clearly life-threatening situation, say you''re loosing blood and going to die unless you get home now. That''s why it''s there on the dial. But no two drives are a hundred percent identical, you know that; it''s not a digital control. The timer was, fortunately. Six light-days in less than a second.] [{pride}My grandma, fastest lab-driver in the universe!] [My Martin acceptance of risk, coming through, yes. Your grandad wasn''t happy when I told him what I''d done.] [What does happen at warp twelve?] James asked. [Is the hand-waving, imprecise, not exactly accurate explanation OK?] Heather asked. [Perfectly] [You need to navigate, and you need to keep a bit of the bubble attached to the real universe. That little connection bit can''t be much smaller than a couple of wavelengths of light, so you can actually detect photons and see where you''re going. On the warp-ship side, you need the connection to be smaller than the ship, or you can''t keep the bubble open. Also, the ratio of those two dimensions determine the maximum speed. You can''t get to warp twelve without breaking those two rules: either your contact point is too small to let any photons in properly or the connection on your side is bigger than the ship.] [Hold on, I thought it was that humongous distances on normal-space side get shrunk on the other?] James asked. [Sorry, no.] Heather said, [You''re making a pocket of space-time, not just space, so things get funny. Plus of course you don''t want to be crushed down to subatomic size. You need to be stretching space more to go faster, and you end up being very glad the photons get stretched as they come through the pin-hole, or you''d be fried really quickly by normal photons being blue-shifted into high energy gamma-rays.] [Urm, I''ll believe you maam.] [Good policy,] Maggie said. [Anyway, I''ll leave you watching out for trouble, Maggie. Fly safely. Just because I know you''ll get home, that doesn''t mean you want to risk flying into a planet.] [I''ll make a point of avoiding that, Gran.] ¡°Rachel,¡± Maggie said, double-checking the flight computer still said there was nothing in their way, ¡°I''ve just had a call from my grandmother.¡± ¡°Her Majesty? She has the gift?¡± ¡°Yes it was her, but no, she doesn''t have the gift. I ought to say it was from James, and Gran was hitching a ride, as it were. She told me that her old test lab was fitted with an interstellar drive before they mothballed it. So it would be ready when needed.¡± ¡°You told her?¡± Rachel asked, feeling a bit betrayed. ¡°Gran won''t tell anyone, don''t worry, Rachel. Gran knows lots of secrets. Like she''s known James and me would be an item for a decade, and she knows Mick is alive, and on that planet.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Gran is a seer. It''s rarer than the gift, and... not as precise. But she can see at a glance if a sentence is true or false. She uses it carefully, because she doesn''t want to know the whole future. But apparently she and Mick will both be at my wedding. She''s not saying when it''ll be, fortunately. But... I get the feeling it''ll be back there. You''re invited.¡± ¡°Can you do that?¡± ¡°As I understand it, the research lab is still her lab, that''s why it''s just been left prepared, not used for anything. There''s space for about fifty people, if I remember right. Assuming you want to do some more research?¡± ¡°Of course I do. There are too many gaps in what we''ve got.¡± ¡°The other bit of news... just before mothballing it, she flew it at warp eleven. To make sure warp ten was really safe for us youngsters.¡± ¡°Wow. That reminds me, those warp numbers.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why twelve times warp-factor over pi-squared? Why not factors going from zero to twelve and ten over pi-squared?¡± ¡°Because someone was a fan of old science fiction films, and thought that a scale of warp zero to warp ten was about right. Apparently they got it wrong, because warp zero equates to light speed and it ought to have been stopped. But basically I think it''s decimal-centric thinking.¡± ¡°But her majesty has flown at factor eleven.¡± ¡°Yes. And in a life-threatening emergency, so could we. I''d heard that, but never realised anyone had actually done it. There are radiation risks, navigation risks, and more nasties just round the corner.¡± ¡°Hence the normal maximum of ten?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Maggie agreed. The collision alarm sounded. ¡°Oh great,¡± Maggie said, ¡°stray bolder in space. Warp factor minus ten, aka about one old mile a second.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°It''ll still hurt at that speed.¡± ¡°I know. Well, it would if we were in normal space.¡± ¡°You mean we could go straight through it in warp?¡± ¡°In pilot training, I read about some early experiments. Yes and no. You can''t see, of course, and it does bad things to the asteroid, and even at this speed, there might be radiation problems from what we might call the impact flash, depending what it''s made of, and it drains power really quickly.¡± ¡°So it''s better to go around it?¡± ¡°Exactly. Hold on, I''m dropping to normal space, so we can use the radar.¡± ¡°One stray rock? Please let it just be one stray rock.¡± ¡°What?¡± Maggie asked, ¡°You don''t want to crawl thorough an asteroid belt? Yes, it''s one stray rock within a few seconds'' of radar range. Sideways we go at point one G, and getting a position-velocity reading.¡± ¡°Only point one G?¡± ¡°It''s not that big, and getting an accurate position takes a while, you know?¡± ¡°Not as slow as if I was doing it by hand.¡± ¡°Oh great,¡± Maggie said looking at the radar screen. ¡°More rocks?¡± ¡°More radar signals, anyway, and we''re in the same patch of space where we had one on the way out, too.¡± ¡°Same procedure?¡± ¡°Yes, sorry. It''s the safest course of action. Follow our radar pulses and watch for echos. Oooh! Gravitons.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°We are in distorted space. There''s a gravity source over that way somewhere.¡± she waved imprecisely. ¡°Just tell me its not a black hole, and I''m happy.¡± ¡°Oh, we''re not going that way, anyway. But we''re certainly going to log it.¡± ¡°This counts as a navigation hazard, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°Uncharted Jupitoid? Certainly. OK, I''m getting it on the radio telescope. That''s the problem with this ship.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°It''s too multifunctional. Radar receiver also radio telescope, and radio decoder and so on sounds good, but really it just means we miss things if we don''t remember to change functions. Like how we almost missed those radio signals.¡± ¡°We''d have caught them before leaving, surely? It''s on the check-list, after all.¡± ¡°I know. Would have been embarrassing though. ''Here''s a description of the plants and trees and the canine-like predators, and by the way we heard someone sending something like Morse code just as we were leaving.''¡±
Ground, frontier village ¡°Welcome home!¡± Jakav said, ¡°How did it go?¡± ¡°The book is re-written,¡± Jana said ¡°the Biology department paid the reprinting fees and our entire travel costs, and say hello to your sister, Rachela, who''s even better documented than you were.¡± ¡°You... wow! Hello Rachela!¡± Rachela didn''t say anything; the tiny little person was much too busy sucking. ¡°We thought it was quite likely you''d want to call a daughter Magdalena,¡± Kov said. Aza smiled, ¡°You''re right. Did you urm, hear anything about Jakav''s reports?¡± ¡°His report on the benefits of avoiding changes are to be published, his report on Magdalena''s visit has been dismissed as a nice joke, for the first bit about ten digits and getting the circle number wrong, but you really lost them when you started talking about her coming from light-years away. Having the laser-wielding flying robot was apparently purest fantasy and they say the way you presented it as fact is entirely unscientific. So they don''t expect to be seeing much more of your work in print.¡± ¡°His reputation is in ruins, you mean?¡± Aza asked. ¡°The academician we talked to noticed Magdalena''s space-ship arrive and depart. It seems no one else did. You have one friend there, I think.¡± Jana said. Kov nodded and added ¡°But she''s... odd though. Very odd. She''s currently got two heads, spends practically all her time hovering, and her second head isn''t just somewhere to put an extra set of eyes, it talks, and seems... semi-independent and male. She addressed it as ''experiment.''¡± ¡°Dad, that''s not odd, that sounds more like seriously deranged or perverted.¡± ¡°While we were on our way home, we realised that neither you nor we had mentioned Magdalena''s name, but the second head knew it, and even pronounced it with the stressed ''e'' in the middle, just like she did.¡± ¡°What are you saying, Dad?¡± ¡°I''m saying that there''s a mystery there, and after harvest you are welcome to go and ask some more questions, but we couldn''t have got back before harvest if we''d turned round.¡± ¡°You almost didn''t, Dad. First day of harvest is tomorrow.¡± ¡°I''ll be there, and ready. You''re right, stamina gets better when you stay in one shape.¡± ¡°No problems on the road?¡± ¡°Not worth mentioning. Oh, the other thing about that second head on Academician Lana''s shoulder ¡ª it had a five-fingered hand and quoted the circle number to seven digits. In base ten.¡± ¡°Hey! Lana was the name of the academician who was involved in that disastrous research project seven years ago, wasn''t she? The one where she tried to host another person to see if it would be a possible form of first aid.¡± Jana remembered. ¡°You think she''s hosting one of them? One of Magdalena''s people?¡± ¡°I doubt it. You''ve heard how the biologists host animals ¡ª they basically digest them! But I do think Academician Lana must have been informed by them, somehow. Maybe she''s met Magdalena, or something like that, and has semi-podded a bit of her mind off to make the other head?¡± ¡°Would that be possible?¡± Aza asked. ¡°Frontier biology? Who knows what they''ve trained themselves to do. I''m sure she can''t have fully podded but imprisoned her podling. That''d be illegal, immoral.¡± Jana said. ¡°I didn''t think frontier biology was very concerned with morals,¡± Jakav said. ¡°She prayed for us before we left,¡± Kov said, ¡°unasked.¡± ¡°OK, so she has faith, and I guess a sense of morality goes with that.¡± ¡°I think so.¡±
Ground, the university, Sevenday morning. [What are you doing, swinging your hand around like that?] [Practicing.] [Practicing what? And what is that rod you''re holding?] [A tool. And I''ve asked you not to be curious, Lana.] [You used to hold it like a pencil, but now you seem to be waving it around as if it was a meter or two long sword.] [Am I? How interesting!] He said, adjusting his grip, and imagining carving rock with the rock-cutter. Then he switched to five swipes at incoming depth-charges, along with taking out the propeller of a boat. It was his old exercise routine. And he was slow; Lana had told him that his original nerves were extending, connecting better to the flesh she''d lent him. His reaction speed was increasing, he''d had her test it, but it was still slow. He''d be useless against another human. Fortunately the predators here had never faced a human and lived to evolve. [I could drug you.] Lana said. [But you won''t, because firstly, you don''t know what the drugs will do. Secondly, because I''ve told you this can be dangerous, and you don''t let drugged people near weapons if you''re sane. Thirdly, you promised you wouldn''t do that again; and finally because this is part of the solution to your nightmares.] [My nightmares?] [The ones where someone accuses you of perversion and wrong-podding.] [How do you know about that?] [I hear your thoughts, Lana, all of them, when I''m not asleep.] [But... I don''t hear anything from you unless you think to me.] [I know. Horribly unfair, isn''t it? Lots of humans can''t hear thoughts at all.] [That''s your word for yourself, isn''t it?] [Yes.] [What does it mean?] [It''s a word from an old language. Basically it means people. What does wrong-podded mean? At root?] [It means that someone has taken their love for their husband too far, that their husband or lover has died, and they''ve taken his genetic material and used that to form a podling. Playing God, giving life to the dead.] [You could do that? Wow. Whereas what you did with me...] [You weren''t dead yet.] [No. I wasn''t. So, not guilty, easily disproved.] [Is it?] [I''m genetically alien, despite the fact we don''t poison each other.] [Do you know much about your genetics?] [Twenty three chromosomal pairs in the cell nucleus, the sex-linked one looks like an X-Y in males and two X''s in females. There''s some little things in the cells but not the nucleus called mitochondria which have their own DNA, and are passed down mother to child.] [Really?] [They process glucose for us. Technically they''re incorporated bacteria, but that was billions of years ago.] [Billions of years ago?] [Probably. All life on earth has them. You don''t?] [We might, I don''t know.] [You''ll need a really powerful microscope.] [What''s one of them?] [Urm, glass lenses, in a tube, lets you look at small things?] [I don''t think we have those.] [Surely... wow. Maybe you don''t. That''s amazing! But you have lenses?] [Yes, of course. For telescopes, things like that.] [Want some transferable alien technology?] Mick offered. [Yes!] [Find someone who knows some optics then, tell them you''ve had a crazy idea about using a telescope that can focus a millimeter away to see small stuff.] [And that''ll let me see mito-whatever you called them?] [Hmm. I don''t think so, at least, not without some kind of chemical dyes. You''d do better with an electron microscope.] [What''s an electron?] [Sub-atomic charge-carrying particle. You boil them off the filament in tubes in your radio.] [You know how those things work?] [I can give you a hand-waving explanation based on half-forgotten school lessons, yes. You don''t?] [Not personally. What about radio?] [Self-propagating electro-magnetic fields.] [Oh, wow.] Lana said. [What? Your physicists must know these things, surely?] [Maybe. But I didn''t.] [Is it time for Church yet?] [You really want to go?] [You trust in God, why don''t you want to?] [Because there are lots of people there who will say or assume very bad things about me having a second head.] [Oh.] He realised why she''d been having so many nightmares in the past week, since he''d asked about worshipping God with others. [So you think it''s a big risk?] [Yes, I do.] [OK. Let''s not go. After all, where two or three are gathered...] [Then what?] [Where two or three are gathered in Jesus'' name, he will be there with them. That''s something he promised his disciples. And then, can we safely go for a walk, or a fly, I guess, somewhere a long way from anyone?] [Why?] [I think I ought to show you what my little tube here can do.] [There have been predator sightings in my favourite spot recently. And... this isn''t exactly a fighting body.] [You''re an intelligent tool-user, me too. I''m sure we''ll think of something. Or we could swim?] [You''re joking. With all my muscles connected to my wings?] [OK, not ideal, I agree. So, show me your favourite being alone spot, and as long as you keep me between you and the predator, I''ll do my utmost to protect you.] [With your tool? Do you even know it works?] [Yes. You mentioned the ozone smell the other morning.] [It''s a spark generator?] [No, it was designed to be an engraving tool.] [You''ll protect me from a predator with an engraving tool?] [If I had my original body, no problem. I''d serve you as much predator as you wanted to eat.] [If I had a whole predator to eat, then... well, I''d never get off the ground. But on the other hand with that much protein I could certainly have a go at letting you try to grow some more of your own muscles.] [So, shall we go hunting?] [Hunting? I thought you were a scientist.] [Hunting for food is something most of my people do, Lana. The semi-aquatic sub-species, that is. You read the report about Magdalena''s knife. She''s killed sharks with it.] [What''s a shark?] [Think of a big fish, maybe as tall as us, with lots and lots of teeth, and a mouth big enough to bite a person in half.] [Nasty place you live.] [The sensible ones avoid us. We are the apex predators, even with just a knife.] [Just a knife.] [Yes.] [What else do you use?] [I don''t have a knife. I''ll have to use my engraving tool.] [You are making no sense.] [You''ll see, Lana.] [You''re going to flatten its batteries, and I''ve no way to charge them.] [It''s OK, it''ll take more than a little hunting trip to flatten the battery. I made sure it was fully charged before I left the last planet I visited before I came here.] [That was years ago.] [I know, don''t worry, Lana. We can give it a wash if you like, in case it''s dried out, but the battery won''t be flat.] [What if it''s leaked?] she asked, knowing what happened to batteries after a few years. [If it leaked, there''d be a big hole here, not your nice flat.] [What''s it got in there? Florine?] [No. Unobtainium.] [What''s that?] [A mythical element that solves all known problems. The only problem is it''s impossible to get anywhere.] [You''re making fun of me.] [Lana, it has a store of energy, I call it a battery, because that''s the closest thing you know of. But it''s not a chemical battery, OK? Just accept that it is a very light-weight way to store plenty of energy, and don''t let any physicists near it. They probably don''t know anything about it, and would get killed if they try to take it apart. Along with everyone else nearby. How accurately can you measure atomic masses?] [Urm. Pass.] [Because you''ll find that Helium doesn''t quite weigh four times what Hydrogen does.] [Oh, yes. I''ve heard that. Its confusing them for some reason.] [No microscopes, but they know about the missing mass problem! Weird planet this. Have they noticed that after iron it goes the other way? Things weigh too much?] [I''m not sure. But you''re going to start talking about unstable nuclei, aren''t you?] [No, but if they''re playing with them, don''t go too near. They are dangerous.] [Because?] [They release energy, alpha, beta particles, gamma rays, neutrons too, some of them. Ionising radiation, it can all damages cells, genetic material.] [Good to know, how could I prove it?] [Genetic mutation? Grow some plants next to it?] [Your particles.] [Photographic film of course, or a cloud chamber, ionisation detector, certain crystals let out a flash, but I don''t remember which ones.] [What sort of film?] [You know... what do you use to make pictures of things?] [Artists? Pencils? Ink?] [Chemicals and lenses?] he countered. [Urm, not as far as I know.] Lana replied. [Oh wow. No photography but you have lasers and florescent tube lighting. Silver Nitrate.] [What?] [It''s a good place to start. Photo-reactive chemical, stick it to a piece of paper, expose to light for a bit, cover it up, and then wash off the rest.] [Oh! Yes, we do that. Leaf prints and things like that.] [One of you ought to try adding a box to keep the light out and a lens. But anyway, stick some of that next to unstable elements, or an X-ray tube, and you''ll see why people get sick who play with them.] [What''s an X-ray tube?] [Another type or radiation. Slightly dangerous, but useful. We use it to take pictures of broken bones. The rays go though soft tissue but not bone.] [Hey, why are you suddenly telling me all about these technological wonders?] [Because I realised that I''m a danger to you, and you need some evidence to show people that I''m really from an alien civilisation. Plus I was making all sorts of wrong assumptions about where you were, scientifically. Your astronomers, for example should really want photographic film if they''re not using it yet.] [You mean, rather than spending the night putting dots on a piece of paper they could be letting the light do it for them?] [Exactly.] [Suddenly, I''ve something to talk to my brother about that he might listen to.] [You''ve got a brother?] [He''s very religious. In the disapproving sense.] [OK. Shall we prove it works first?] [How?] [Some of that paper. If there''s different sensitivities, as sensitive as it comes. A box, black inside. A lens which would focus the light on the back of the box. A night without clouds, and somewhere without people or lights. But we could try taking some of the city at night from up the hill if you want to. It might be easier.] [Hunting predators first then, or next weekend?] [How about we invite your brother to the meal? Is he married?] [I like your style.] Ground / Ch. 7: The wedding of Kana

Ground / Ch. 7: The wedding of Kana

Ground, full moon after harvest The odd academician with two heads walking through the city with a pair of predator carcasses in a barrow turned a few heads, but everyone assumed she''d commissioned a hunter to bring her them. It must have cost a fortune. She spotted a messenger, who was idly waiting around for some trade and looking shocked at the wealth of protein she was moving. She beckoned him over, and gave him a package and an envelope. ¡°Deliver this parcel and the note to Reverend Lak, or his wife, Una, please, the address is on the parcel. They''ll pay you well.¡± ¡°Reverend Lak isn''t known for being rich or generous, maam.¡± ¡°My brother isn''t known for having a scandalous relative with two heads, either. If you are not paid, you may share that gossip. Is that contract acceptable?¡± ¡°Yes, Maam,¡± he agreed. Legitimately obtained gossip was a source of pay for the messengers; it could, after all, be sold to the papers for publication. Signing the delivery contract didn''t take long. The messenger went up to the stern-looking building and knocked at the stern looking door. The verse above it had been changed since he''d been there last, he saw. Now it arrogantly read ''Be sure God will judge the wicked and the arrogant.'' He wondered if the reverend saw the irony. Probably not. ¡°Yes?¡± It was the reverend Lak himself. ¡°A parcel and a message from your sister, Reverend. She said you would be generous.¡± ¡°My sister?¡± ¡°Yes, Reverend, that''s who she said she was. Academician with two heads and two predator carcasses in a barrow.¡± ¡°You''ll allow me to read the note first?¡± ¡°Of course sir.¡± Lak read. ''Dear Lak and / or Una, I know we don''t see eye to eye on everything. But if this messenger has delivered the parcel, and you are reading this, he has done his job well and I promised him generosity. The parcel contains about a kilo of fresh predator meat, properly drained of blood and killed with thanksgiving to the One who is Three and is gracious beyond our imagining. I suggest you give him half of it, or if you''re feeling generous then give him all. I''m sure it''ll be acceptable payment given the prices in he market. I have plenty, and I invite you and your family to share in the bounty of our gracious God tonight, and to take the second carcass for the poor of your parish as you leave tonight. I had no expectation or desire to be attacked by two when I set out this morning, but they both attacked and (praise be to the One), I live. ''Lak, I wish to show you something that I believe will help you and your astronomer colleagues in the years to come. It is not perfect, but then I''m not an expert in optics, so I hope you will see the potential beyond the imperfections of my crude attempt. ''Lak and Una, I do not know if you have heard rumours about the young man on the frontier who wrote a strange tale of meeting aliens who told him of what the One had done. I''ve no doubts about his sincerity, and I believe I can convince you also. I do not ask you to approve of me, but I ask that you honestly consider what I say, and give glory to the One for his infinite mercy. Lana.'' ¡°Do you know what is in this letter?¡± ¡°No reverend,¡± the messenger said. ¡°I am told the parcel is meat, killed in self defence, bled properly with thanksgiving to the One in accordance with Holy Scripture. Would half of it be acceptable payment?¡± ¡°Half a kilo of fresh-killed meat? Certainly!¡± It was worth at least a week''s earnings. ¡°Then I ask you take all, and share the second half with those who have need of protein. And I gently suggest this is the perfect time to ask Kana to marry you, young Thek, and stop trying to sneak.¡± ¡°You... you know about our feelings for each other, sir?¡± Thek asked his girlfriend''s father. They''d been so sure they''d never get his approval that they''d been keeping it a secret. They thought. ¡°You were very discreet and respectful. Kana is in her room. Tell her the whole family is invited to a meal at my sister''s tonight, and she should expect lots of protein, so she can plan accordingly.¡± Thek had never been in Kana''s room before, but he''d been in the house before, for youth group meetings, and he knew which door to knock at. ¡°Thek? What are you doing here?¡± she asked. ¡°Your father''s asked me to deliver a message that the entire family has been invited to your aunt''s house. And Kana, I think you''ve been getting your dad wrong.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°He suggested it might be a perfect time to ask you to marry me.¡± ¡°What?¡± she asked, shocked. ¡°Will you?¡± ¡°Dad approves?¡± ¡°I didn''t even know he knew. He complimented us on being discreet and respectful.¡± ¡°But... we won''t be able to afford a wedding banquet for ages.¡± ¡°I''ve just been paid half a kilo of meat for delivering a kilo of it, and Kana, I''ve got to give the other half to people who need it. How about we offer it to the shelter?¡± ¡°Who sent dad a kilo of meat?¡± ¡°Your aunt.¡± ¡°Aunt Fla, the vegetarian sent dad a kilo of meat?¡± ¡°Your dad''s sister. Oh,¡± Embarrassed, he added, ¡°he, urm, said you ought to expect to eat lots of protein this evening and plan accordingly. She had two predator carcasses. Two!¡± ¡°Dad''s sister?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Now I''m really confused.¡± ¡°I''m shocked, but... will you marry me, Kana?¡± ¡°Thek, I love you. Just let me check what dad actually said, OK?¡± Kana found her father in the kitchen, embracing her mother, as she read a letter. Embarrassed at finding them so close, Kana coughed. ¡°Hello, Kana,¡± Lak said, not releasing his wife. ¡°Do you have something to tell your mother?¡± ¡°I''m confused.¡± Kana said. ¡°Oh? Did I misjudge things?¡± Lak asked. ¡°What things?¡± Una asked. ¡°Oh, hello Thek. I thought you''d left. Was there something else?¡± ¡°Mum, Thek''s just asked me to marry him.¡± ¡°He what?¡± Una asked, shocked and Kana thought, possibly angry. ¡°He''s a good lad with a steady income, Una.¡± Lak said. ¡°And they''ve been discreetly making plans for ages. I thought you knew. Lana''s generosity seemed like a perfect opportunity for them.¡± ¡°I''ve never heard of you having a sister, dad.¡± ¡°Well, Lana and I don''t agree on lots of things, so we gave up having shouting matches. I really didn''t like what she was getting into in frontier biology, and I''m sorry to say I was right.¡± ¡°Dad, are you saying academician Lana, the one with two heads, is your sister?¡± ¡°Yes. And just to throw cold water on any flames of righteous anger, read what she wrote about the preparation of the meat.¡± Kana did as her father instructed. ¡°But, Dad, there''s no need to drain a carcass of blood if it was self-defence. And it sounds like she''s saying she was praying as she killed it. It wasn''t a herd-beast!¡± ¡°But she obviously could, so she did. Can you sense the love for the One in her lines?¡± Lak said. ¡°You don''t think it''s fake?¡± Una asked. ¡°Lana write lies? I''d never believe it!¡± Lak turned to his daughter, ¡°So, Kana dear, you''ve said Thek asked. Are you planning to eat your fill of fresh predator protein and then fight your God-given impulses because the feast has come too soon and you are not ready, or is it God''s hand at work that this letter was delivered by Thek and not some stranger?¡± Kana looked at her parents in embarrassed surprise, ¡°Mum? What do I say to that?¡± ¡°It is a rush, but in the circumstances of such a bounteous provision, it is not unseemly. But Thek would have to take a message to your aunt, and ask if she would mind it not just being family. But equally, we could have the wedding tomorrow instead, if you''d like a bit more time to prepare yourself? Or you could just say no, of course.¡± ¡°Why would I say no?¡± Kana asked, looking full at Thek''s face. ¡°If my aunt agrees, and my messenger will deliver the joyous invitations, I''d be very happy to be your wife, Thek.¡±
Ground, University Thek had been sure he''d heard two voices singing when he''d knocked, but he didn''t see anyone. ¡°Honoured academician,¡± Thek said, ¡°I have a letter from my future father-in-law, your brother, with a question.¡± ¡°You''d better sit down then, I expect you''ll want a reply. Little Kana has all grown up then? How time flies!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And your statement about Lak''s lack of generosity was what exactly?¡± ¡°Urm, I was hoping for better pay, maam.¡± ¡°Is that all? Fleece the customer?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°No maam. He doesn''t have a reputation for generosity among messengers.¡± ¡°Because?¡± ¡°Because he''s stern, doesn''t approve of most messengers, I didn''t think he approved of me, he speaks out against selling gossip.¡± ¡°Because?¡± ¡°Gossip is a sin.¡± ¡°So why should I bless your marriage to my niece, if you profit from sin?¡± ¡°I try hard not to, maam. I''ll accept any payment, even a promise of payment, rather than invoke the gossip clause. My colleagues call me a fool, but it feels right.¡± ¡°It is right. You know what''s in this letter?¡± Thek nodded. ¡°The problem is, the meat was meant to be an excuse for me and my brother to have a long talk. I''d totally forgotten how long it was since I saw little Kana as a podling, and stupidly imagined she was still about six or so. The other problem, as you see, is that I''ve started cooking some of the meat.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Thek said, noticeably wilting at the thought of not marrying Kana tonight. ¡°But, I can put this to one side. It was mostly an experiment anyway. And if Kana''s getting married, then I want to talk to her about genetics. So, you get to bring the second carcass, and I''ll go and see if your future mother-in-law will let me step into her house.¡±
Ground, Revd. Lak''s home ¡°Hello, Lak. Sorry for not remembering Kana has been growing up. Am I welcome?¡± ¡°Of course, Lana.¡± ¡°From Una too?¡± ¡°Una repented of her hatred of you a long time ago, Lana.¡± ¡°I hope I don''t stir it up again. Can you lend me a hand with the meat, I can''t fly through your doorway.¡± ¡°You flew here with that meat?¡± Lak asked, once they''d got the meat inside. ¡°Lots of wing muscles, not much in the leg department. I''ve not changed for months.¡± ¡°Sister, you''re strange.¡± ¡°Kind though,¡± Mick said. ¡°Oh, fine, Mick, well done! Let''s get thrown out right away, shall we? Lak, this is Mick the alien.¡± ¡°Lana has been kind enough to keep me alive long enough to learn your language,¡± Mick said. ¡°Biologically, I used to be a multicellular organism, so there is definitely no romance or sexual perversion involved.¡± ¡°But Mick does have a useful weapon he calls an engraving tool, which helps deal with predators, so I can''t accurately call him a parasite any more.¡± ¡°Lana... are you serious?¡± ¡°My people developed this tool for engraving rock,¡± Mick said, getting his rock-cutter out of the pouch he''d asked the skin at his side to make for it. ¡°It will cut most things though; do not reach out to touch the light.¡± He turned it on, and Lak stepped backwards, his eyes showing his shock. Mick turned it off, and put it back into its pouch. ¡°The One who is is very very good, Lak. I don''t know why he chose that my ship crash in the one place on this planet where there was someone near who could prevent me from dying very quickly, but please do not insult the One or the miracle that He sent to keep me alive.¡± He gave a little apologetic smile ¡°Sorry if that makes any problems for your theology.¡± There was a knock at the door; Thek had finally caught up. ¡°Did I interrupt anything?¡± he asked as he noticed Lak''s face. ¡°Just... my sister''s just told me a bit about her experiment with a second head, that''s all. It''s fascinating, but maybe now isn''t the right time to discuss it.¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°But... can I talk to Kana. Una at the same time, actually.¡± ¡°They''re in the kitchen,¡± Lak said. ¡°I''ve been banned.¡± ¡°Just the right time for me to intervene, then,¡± Lana declared, and went in without knocking. ¡°Hello Una, sorry for not knocking, but I expected you might want to hide having a copy of that book,¡± ¡°And you wanted to catch me red-handed?¡± Una asked, defiantly. ¡°I wanted to make sure if you did, then you had the second edition, which corrects some very dangerous oversights in the first one. Most importantly, a little patience saves a lot of risk, and don''t get tempted to look for specific traits so much as healthy. Here you are, just off the press.¡± ¡°That''s it?¡± Una asked. ¡°Other than me saying that the meat is here, and asking if you want my help preparing it at all.¡± [Mick, please stay silent.] ¡°If not, I''ll go and talk astronomy with Lak.¡± ¡°What do you know about astronomy?¡± Una asked. ¡°Not much. Except that, unless methods have changed recently, they spend far too long drawing dots that could draw themselves, and then can''t really believe some of their results because they don''t trust their pencils were in exactly the right place.¡± ¡°And suddenly you''ve got a solution?¡± Una challenged. ¡°I had an idea, and spoke to a chemist. They''re better at solutions and solutes than I am.¡± Kana laughed, then asked ¡°Why aren''t you laughing, Mum?¡± ¡°It''s an old joke,¡± Lana said, ¡°And I think your mother told it to me. Una, I am not trying to steal your daughter from you, I never was. Nor did anyone in the lab in any way expect what happened to Unth, that his brain would shred itself.¡± ¡°Except me.¡± ¡°Except you and you''d left by then, and it was only later any of us really understood you meant what you said literally, not metaphorically. I regret what happened, and not listening to your concerns, more deeply than anyone else I know, but it was his decision. He told me to go ahead, I was the junior researcher. And I often wake up screaming remembering it.¡± ¡°But you''re still involved in frontier biology. You''ve got that thing on your shoulder. Is that what Unth would have become? Some kind of statement of individuality?¡± ¡°No, Una,¡± Lana said, gently, ¡°The plan was that we see if I could carry him for a few minutes, to see if, after a near-fatal attack, without any other alternative, someone could possibly be brought back home that way. And if everything had gone well I was planning to defy convention and demand Unth become my husband, because it didn''t feel right to take someone apart otherwise, even though we had no intention of podding or doing anything.¡± ¡°I see you are still decidedly single.¡± ¡°Unth, as you well know, is an almost mindless shell. If I go near to him, he screams. If he catches my scent, he becomes violent, dangerous, determined to shred me. He almost killed someone, just because I walked by.¡± ¡°That was a long time ago,¡± Una said, dismissively. ¡°It happened again, six months ago. They''d reassigned him to another area and no one thought to tell me, the idiots. We had no romance, Una, made no promises, I just wanted to insist on it. He might have adamantly refused, I don''t know. Now... Now he''d prefer to kill me than be near me, prefer to kill others than let me escape, prefer to die than be healed.¡± ¡°So, what is that second head that''s watching me so attentively?¡± ¡°A second pair of eyes is very useful in my work. These ones? They''re pretty good...¡± Una came over and looked at Mick''s eyes, studying them. ¡°Single lens arrangement. And the iris is right behind the front lens,¡± she said. ¡°What are you doing, Lana? Everyone I''ve heard thinks you grew some normally, but you didn''t did you?¡± ¡°I am not doing research for the frontier biology department. They''ve not noticed what you just have.¡± ¡°So, what have you done?¡± Una asked. ¡°Six harvests ago, I went for a walk. I didn''t care if a predator got to me. There was... an accident. I was badly burned, and there was another creature there, crushed, mangled, dying multicellular organism. It was really obviously dying, because its insides were mixed up with the landscape and its heart was skewered on a rib. I thought about the risks and decided I had a choice between dying from the burns and wounds and being poisoned, so I consumed most of it. I kept the eyes, which somehow healed, and some other bits. The eyes are interesting, I''m not fully sure how, actually, but they self-focus, and self adjust to brightness. And if it''s dark they see in grey and switch to colour when there''s more light. And they see in a slightly different colour spectrum than ours.¡± ¡°What sort of accident?¡± Kana asked. [Mick, please.] Lana said [Don''t say anything, but get out the rock-cutter?] ¡°I recovered this there, too. It was very effective in killing the predators. As far as I know it''ll cut anything it touches.¡± Mick pressed the button, and the other women leapt back at the light. ¡°What is that?¡± Kana said, in shock. Una focussed both eyes on the tube in her sister-in-law''s hand, the strange markings on it, the detail, the buttons. ¡°We couldn''t make something like that, could we, Lana?¡± ¡°That was my conclusion, too.¡± Una looked at the woman who''d once been her colleague. ¡°Lana, the reports of alien visitors? You''re saying you know they''re true because you ate one of them? You ate someone capable of making that? Of.... of travelling from another planet? Are you nuts?¡± ¡°What should I have done, Una? Died from the accident too? The space-ship crashed practically on top of me. My leg bones were smashed, a lot of my skin burned away. The One says it''s good to stay alive if we can.¡± ¡°But your experiments with predators and things? Couldn''t you have at least tried to keep it alive?¡± ¡°Should I have done that, Una? Just two years after trying to do that with Unth almost killed us both? You know that, you were there in the aftermath. Should I have tried?¡± ¡°If anyone could have done it, you could, Lana. You were the best at doing that sort of thing. You shouldn''t have just eaten the poor being.¡± Lana just looked at her. ¡°I''ve got double standards, haven''t I?¡± Una said. ¡°Yes mum, but we still love you,¡± Kana said, seeing a side of her mother she''d never known. [Can I say something now?] Mick asked Lana. [Not yet,] Lana thought. ¡°If it had worked with Unth, Una, what would you have said? Of if Unth had been similarly wounded? I''m not... I''m genuinely asking, Una. I want to know. I know we were both hurt and wounded and regrettable things were said.¡± ¡°I don''t know, I really don''t know. But you should have tried to save the alien. It could have told us what they know of the...¡± she stopped herself ¡°I don''t know... Do I want to know if they don''t believe in the One? If they are all atheists there or they laugh at our beliefs like the atheists do? I hope they don''t believe in hundreds of gods. Why is my faith so weak?¡± [Your turn, Mick] ¡°''Hear, Oh Israel: the LORD our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength'' and also ''love your neighbour as you love yourself'' and something like a thousand years later on, something amazing happened because ''In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him and without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life is the light of man. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.'' and then there''s a bit I don''t remember but it continues ''And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us for a time, we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth. He came to his own but his own did not recognise him or receive him, but to those who receive him, who trust in His name, he gives the right to become children of God.'' And later ''For God so loved the World that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.'' And you don''t understand that because I''ve left out the Cross, and you can''t leave out the cross! Jesus Christ (which means King Jesus), God the Son, the second of the three who are the One, became a living being, and the leaders rejected him and accused him before a weak judge who would not stand up for truth. They killed him by hanging him on a cross. Then, on the third day, God raised him back to life, and he taught people for fifty days then returned to his heavenly home at the right hand of the Father where he had come from, and where God gave him power and authority other all things. And as scripture says, ''God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.'' and ''we are saved by grace, so that no one can boast.'' And of course scripture says a lot of other things too, and I never could remember most of it very well. Thank you for saying that Lana did the right thing in saving my life, Una. You saying that means a lot to her, I know.¡± ¡°By grace, you say?¡± Lak said, from the door. ¡°''The One has mercy on those he chooses.'' Yes. I need to change my next sermon. I think I''ve been missing something.¡± Kana said ¡°I didn''t understand everything you said. But... you said God became one of you? And... and you killed him?¡± ¡°Yes. He allowed himself to be put to death, fulfilling the old law that said without blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. And he took our sins, and the punishment our sins deserve, God himself providing the sacrifice his justice demanded. He paid the penalty, buying us back from slavery to sin. And in so doing he won the victory over sin and death.¡± ¡°Two hundred years ago,¡± Lak said, ¡°the prophets said, there must be no more blood sacrifices, because God has done something great and wonderful, and we must depend on grace and not dead heard-beasts. The altars in our land were cracked. Some rebelled and denied the prophets, because they loved tradition more than God, and they rebuilt the broken altars. And there was conflict. Many died. And people lost heart or lost their way.¡± Lana shook her head. ¡°Lak, Mick has told me of the wars of those who live on land on their home planet. In comparison, very few have died here.¡± ¡°But here,¡± Lak said, ¡°many deny God exists at all, because of the wars.¡± ¡°Many, or most? On land it is most who do not truly worship the One, among those of us who stayed away from the wars, under the seas, it is many who don''t, but not most. Of those who live on the planet we have changed to make it livable, it is perhaps equal numbers.¡± ¡°Another planet? I know there is our sister planet, but... a third?¡± ¡°We are not from your sister planet. In our skies there is only one sun. In our history, the thing that God did happened about two thousand one hundred years before your prophets heard of it. I think God chose to wait with telling you until light could travel this far. I expect my people will come, and we will talk to you, but I do not know if we will stay. That is probably a decision for governments and rulers.¡± ¡°They are not a united people, Lak,¡± Lana said, ¡°At least, the land people are not. The sea people are.¡± ¡°We sea people have better things to do with our time than argue about governments. And we are not so numerous, either.¡± ¡°How many are you?¡± Lak asked. ¡°I''m not certain, perhaps a million and a half now. You think that sounds many, I know, but our land-living relatives number thousands of millions. But you should know something, I think. The spacecraft that brought me here, it was one of the first of its kind. It is a university research project. We are looking to see where we can find intelligent creatures. So far, we have only found you.¡± ¡°But the other ship...¡± ¡°Piloted by my younger sister. Probably hoping she''d find some trace of me.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°Because God is good,¡± Mick said, ¡°But as far as I know, I''m not going anywhere, at least relative to Lana, but Kana is getting married. So, how about we concentrate on her future, not my past?¡± Ground / Ch. 8: Getting ready

Ground / Ch. 8: Getting ready

Space ¡°Well, James, there it is,¡± Maggie said, ten hectic months after she and Rachel had returned to Mars. ¡°Urm, what am I looking at?¡± ¡°The lab. Home sweet home for the next few years,¡± ¡°No, I mean, what am I looking at. All I can see is stars.¡± She glanced at his screen, ¡°Oh, you''re still looking backwards.¡± ¡°Am I?¡± ¡°Yes. Press the button on the left of the screen. So... my running commentary over the last quarter of an hour has been of approximately zero educational value, hasn''t it?¡± ¡°It was extremely informative. I learned lots and lots.¡± ¡°What about?¡± ¡°Your digressions, your tone of voice, the warmth you feel for this ship, very very educational. And I just learned that I press this button I get another view.¡± ¡°That''s up now,¡± she said, checking. ¡°Up. OK, ''Up'' meaning what exactly?¡± ¡°Above our heads.¡± ¡°How can you tell so quickly?¡± ¡°That star there? That''s Polaris.¡± ¡°I believe you. There''s no indication on the screen at all?¡± ¡°Twist the button a bit. It gives you a zoom control, and at the bottom it says which way you''re looking.¡± ¡°Oh wow, it''s written in Mer!¡± James said. ¡°Of course. Sorry, not of course, but all ship controls are in Mer.¡± ¡°Hold on. Are you saying this works just like the display on a boat?¡± ¡°Ooops. Yes. It''s a boat display. Most of the controls work like a boat. Oh, me stupid, I can put the radar on normal, can''t I? Sorry. I''m so used to having land-folk co-pilots.¡± She flicked a switch. ¡°Hey, now that makes sense to my ears!¡± James said, grinning, as his ears suddenly got all the reference signals they expected. Realising he was in far more familiar territory than he''d thought, he was quickly able to switch the display forwards and zoomed in. ¡°There she is, all right.¡± James said, ¡°I''m hearing that as a hundred meters away, what is it really?¡± ¡°Ten kilometers. The hull is a hundred meter diameter globe, made of crystal. Assume it to be arranged like a small Atlantis.¡± ¡°Complete with boat bays?¡± ¡°Well, there''s no water, but yes, they''re underneath. The flight desk is where the council chamber would be.¡± ¡°No Turnbull ring, I presume.¡± ¡°Not as far as I know. This is my first visit too.¡± ¡°But it being modelled on Atlantis... there are towers?¡± ¡°Just two towers, apparently. One for offices and labs, another for accommodation. In true Mars fashion, there''s space for root-crops and rabbits for special-occasion meat, but mostly we''ll be eating from hydroponics if we''re not eating local. Did you hear that for once there''s absolutely nothing toxic in the crop plants we tested, by the way? Back to the lab, most of the below-ground stuff is supposed to be research labs, fabricating, and the like.¡± ¡°Fabricating?¡± ¡°For simple stuff, so we don''t need to constantly call for spares from Atlantis. If for example one of those dog-things attacks again. Oh, and personal forcefields all round, for going down, just in case.¡± ¡°Did you have one, when you went to the rescue?¡± ¡°Yes, I did.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°I just forgot to turn it on. Rachel wasn''t very impressed at that. Especially when she realised she might have had to fly home alone if I had got eaten.¡± ¡°But she could pilot, in an emergency?¡± ¡°Yes, she could. But not while writing her PhD.¡± ¡°And she''s coming with us?¡± ¡°Yes, she''s coming, my second in command. We have me, her and three more general biologists, you and two more linguists, three anthropologists, five botanists, one marine biologist, one specialist in funghi, two specialists in pathogens, two specialists in animal behaviour, one applied-theologian-cum linguist ¡ª he''ll be with you linguists most of the time, one doctor-cum-paramedic, one regrowth therapist who my grandmother said we''d definitely need, which is a bit scary, he''s happy to teach and cook, too, which is good. Two nurse-cum-teachers, a psych-counsellor, a physicist, an astronomer, an electronics engineer and we managed to persuade a fully fledged member of the fabricator''s guild to join us, too. Oh, and there are three kids so far; somehow I expect there''ll be more. The expectation is that we''ll add more staff later on, and probably lose some too.¡± ¡°As in going home, I hope.¡± ¡°I hope so. Oh, I expect most friction to come from the anthropologists. They''re already up in arms that we dared to make contact with the people, not to mention squirt bits of semi-intelligent pseudo-canine back at its pack-mates.¡± ¡°And the pseudo-canines are actually on the civ-scale?¡± ¡°Tribal markings made with a particular kind of tree sap, potentially some language skills. On the negative-side; opportunistic cannibalism, even within a tribe, and far more interest in trying to bite the coloured spot on the ground than interest in the geometrical patterns it was drawing.¡± ¡°OK. What''s the plan when we get to the ship?¡± ¡°Once everyone''s unloaded, and the room assignments are settled, then I give a ''make sure everyone knows what the plan is'' speech, do a final check, and then we drop out of normal space, and sit down for a formal meal.¡± ¡°And then we go straight to the destination?¡± ¡°No, it''s too far, there''s not enough photons to be safe.¡± ¡°I''m sure you can explain that.¡± ¡°So am I, but it''s part of the speech,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Oh, OK.¡± ¡°At this speed, we''ll be docking in five minutes, James.¡± Maggie hinted. ¡°And you''re busy.¡± ¡°Not for the next four minutes. After that, I''m probably going to be busy for weeks.¡± ¡°Maggie, are you hinting you''d like a hug?¡± ¡°That too. Some prayer time and maybe even some second-hand peace wouldn''t come amiss either.¡± ¡°Of course! And Maggie?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I know I have been assuming we''ll get married since your grandmother said she''d be at your wedding, and Mick too. And I know it''s not really the right time to ask, so soon after your grandfather''s funeral. But like you say, we''re going to be busy, and so we probably can''t be spontaneous. I love you and I''d be very happy to be engaged to you, land-folk style, if you agreed.¡± ¡°I love you too, James, and I''ve always expected a land-folk style engagement.¡± ¡°Will you marry me?¡± ¡°Yes, James. I will. Shall we ask grandma when she can come, say in six months? I got the impression she''s feeling a bit lost, after grandpa''s death.¡± ¡°Unless she wants to come now?¡± James suggested. ¡°That... that has a nice feel to it. Can you connect me?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± [Gran? It''s Maggie.] [Hello, Maggie. You''re off already?] [Not quite. We''re just about to dock at your lab. And I was wondering if you wanted to take a risk.] [What are you thinking, Magdalena?] [James has just asked me to marry him, Gran, and unsurprisingly I said yes.] [Congratulations.] [And I was thinking that we needed to set a date. But I also had a thought about how nice it would be to have some tips from an experienced pilot in flying the behemoth I see in front of me, and of course, how much easier looking for Mick would be if we had a seer with us. And it would feel right, at least to me, if you were involved in meeting Jakav''s people.] [You think, young Maggie, that I''d be prepared to just drop everything, leap aboard some kind of guillemot and expose my poor old bones to a constant G of acceleration for a week?] [Urm, you''re in a constant G at the moment Gran.] [Oh, that''s why they''re hurting, is it?] [But actually I was thinking I could drop James off and bring you by this little scout ship my beloved Grandma designed.] [And you think it''d be fit and proper for me to dump everything in your aunt''s hands, do you?] [I think she''d be expecting you to, Grandma. Well, not dump but... have handed over things already.] [I have, don''t worry. She was almost princess-regent for the last few years, anyway, Matthew wanted it that way. So... invitation to see a strange new world, eh? One of the worst things about having this gift, is you get tempted to use it too much and get so few surprises.] [You''re saying you knew you''d be coming?] [No, dear, it''s really a surprise. But I know my travel bag looked useful. Let me talk to her Majesty.] [No problem, Gran.] [What role were you thinking of for me longer term?] [Hmm, take your pick. Scientist, interspecies diplomat, wise adviser, honorary great grand-mother to the little ones.] [Blurter of well-kept secrets?] [If you like, Gran.] [Well, call back in about an hour if that''s OK with your schedule?] [That''d be fine, Gran.] [You can give her a kiss now, James. She''s a kind grand-daughter.]
Spacefolding Research Lab. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, sorry, boy and girls, as you may know, this marvelous crystal ball was given to Queen Heather, now queen-mother of the Restored Kingdom, as a joint wedding present, by a rich industrialist, Sarah Williams and the Queen of the Mer, Karella Farspeaker. It is Queen Heather''s private property but she is graciously allowing us to use it. It will, God willing, be our home for the next few years. This talk will start with a basic introduction to how we''re getting to where we''re going, why we''re taking the route we''re taking, and then what we''re going to do when we get there, just so everyone knows, and no one gets any nasty surprises. ¡°So, later on, we will engage the bubble field and bend space-time. Our bubble of space-time will only be connected to this universe by a spot, well, actually a ball, but never mind wrapping your minds round that, a couple of wavelengths of light across. ¡°Henry, wave please! Thank you. That''s Henry, he''s a physicist, and he can very happily answer all you want to know about how a ball a few wavelengths of light compared to the mass of this ship means that we are not in any way making a black hole for ourselves. I could too tell you too, of course, but Henry likes that stuff. So, we''re not going to be in a black hole, we''re not going to tear holes in the fabric of space. We will, on the other hand look like something a bit denser than a chunk of neutron star to the outside universe. So we don''t want to crash into anything, or it would make a mess. Not of us, we''re not going to suddenly slam to a halt or anything like that, in that respect we''re safe in our bubble. But if we drove through a big rock, it would also mean a lot of wasted energy, and we''d get more atoms and sub-atomic particles coming through our little spy-hole into the universe than we''d like. I seem to remember learning that the radiation levels in the bubble would be roughly like being outside in a storm on Mars, probably survivable, but nasty. So, we don''t want to do that. "Fortunately, the researchers who developed the bubble drive invented a very simple way to make sure we don''t crash into anything. We pick a star, fix a telescope on it, and head towards it. If the brightness dips then we know there''s something in our way, and the computer stops us. At the speed we''re going to be going, warp ten, it''ll measure the star''s brightness about every five hundred metres. Henry can show you the maths, but that basically means we can see anything bigger than a snowball in our path and stop in time to avoid it. It''s a strange concept, but because we''re going to be so small, if there was a snowball in our way, we''d miss almost all of it. So, us running into a snowball is about as dangerous as someone running into a snowflake, that''s to say, we don''t need to worry about snowballs. And because, according to the laws of the universe, we''re not actually moving, thus we don''t have any momentum. Stopping us is easy. ¡°You might think that there is a risk of something crashing into us on the side. Well, at the speed it is going to be moving at compared to us, that''s a bit like a sleep-walking snail with a painful foot crashing into the side of a supersonic bullet. Only the reality is even more extreme than that. Warp ten is a hundred and ninety thousand times light speed. We won''t be able to see many photons hitting our sides. We won''t see any hitting us from behind, of course. ¡°You''ve seen science fiction films of people watching the stars shoot past. Sorry, that''s just film-maker''s imagination. The sky at high warp speeds is entirely black, except for the light from the star we''re heading towards. At warp zero ¡ª the speed of light, even at warp minus nine, which is less than orbital velocity, we can''t see much, because the bit of real space we''re inside is so small most photons miss us. On my way here, I looked for the sun when I was next to the Earth. I could see where it was, but only because I knew where to look. In theory, we could stop every minute or so and return to normal space to have a look around. Sadly, that wouldn''t be a good idea. It takes a lot of energy to make the bubble. We get most of it back, as long as we don''t crash into anything big, but even then, nothing is a hundred percent, and if we stopped every minute then we wouldn''t be able to get back home. Even once an hour would be wasteful of energy we might need. ¡°If we have to stop because of an unexpected rock, then we''ll almost certainly have a look around. Because the place we''re going to is so far away and it''s two suns aren''t very bright, we''ll need to stop and swap navigation stars a couple of times. So, expect three scheduled stops, twice when we''ll stop and admire a different star from fairly close and look at a different sky, and there''s also a patch of patch of space we need to go though where there''s a failed star with some rocks around it. We''ll be stopping there for a while ¡ª probably about a day ¡ª since it''s both a navigation hazard we''d like to know more about and also somewhere rather interesting for astronomy. Otherwise... sorry to disappoint, but this is one type of space journey where watching the stars is not going to keep anyone occupied most of the time. ¡°You''ll notice I''ve not been very precise about how long we''re stopping for, or even how long the journey will take. There''s a reason for both of those things. I don''t want us to rush on if there''s something interesting, we are here for a long trip, and I hope none of us will begrudge any astronomers an extra hour or six if they need them to take better measurements. You''d better be very convincing if you want us to wait for more than a day though. As for journey time... warp ten has been defined as a precisely calculated amount of space warping. Again, ask our friendly physicist for the equations if you''re interested. But the warp factor is adjusted by very small differences in the signals and the calibration of any bubble-ship''s controls to an actual warp factor is never exact. The higher the warp factor, the less precise it gets. In other words, when we tell this vessel to go at warp ten, it might be going the same speed as the scout ship Rachel and I went on, or it might be going at a speed that ship''s controls would reach when set to ten point two, or nine point eight. But, in case you''re worried at going past warp ten, I can tell you something I only learned recently. This vessel has travelled at what its controls called warp eleven, and it did so entirely safely, with queen Heather as pilot. Warp twelve has been determined theoretically unsafe, but warp eleven in this ship has been determined as being safe. We''ll travel at warp ten ¡ª about a third that speed ¡ª to be entirely safe and so our navigation telescope can see clearly, unless there is some medical emergency where we need to take risks to get home as quickly as humanly possible, or when there is some reason to think there are far more rocks around than normal, in which case we''ll go at warp eight so we can avoid even snowball-sized things. We don''t want to go too slowly, because that''s needless, boring, and actually increases the risk of things moving into our path. Here ends part one of this lecture. Are there any questions about travel? If not, I''ll be moving on to talk about food and research phases.¡± One of the mothers asked ¡°You say you''re being vague about the travel time, and I guess I missed it in what we read beforehand, but I''m afraid I''ve no idea if our journey''s going to be days, weeks or even months.¡± ¡°When Rachel and I came back from there it took us a week. We were in the bubble for all but four hours of that, and spent half a day at warp zero, getting an idea of how many rocks are in the rocky bit. But you don''t travel at warp ten when the pilot and co-pilot are asleep, that''s needlessly risky. So, of that week, we spent four and a half days at nominal warp ten. It ought to have been four point four days, so Interstellar Bubble Ship Nine''s nominal warp ten is actually warp nine point nine eight.¡± Kyle, the astronomer raised his hand, looking puzzled, ¡°You''ve talked about photons missing us, which I sort of understand, though I admit to having some questions, but what about red-shift and blue-shift? Shouldn''t we be blue-shifting the microwave background into visible light or something like that?¡± ¡°OK, Kyle, for a full mathematical proof you need to talk to Henry, but the quick and imprecise answer is that as we move through the universe stretching space-time in front of us and squishing it behind us, that cancels out redshift. We get more photons from the direction we''re going in, but we''re not moving in our bubble, hence no red-shift, no time-dilation, and no relativistic mass gain. I spoke earlier about crashing into things, but officially we''re not colliding, we''re ripping atoms apart with a very steep gravitational field gradient. In terms of interacting with photons from the side, which I expect is your other question, you shouldn''t think of us appearing to approaching photons as a moving two-wavelength disc-shaped detector. You need to remember that we''ve got shape, and photons have an interaction time just like anything else, and we''re going past thousands of times faster than any photon. If we hit them with the front half of our ball, we theoretically see them, but we might not because of the interaction time. And if we did then we''ve got problems because we want to navigate. If they almost hit the back half, we''re long gone. If they manage to just hit us on the exact rim, well, we''re just not in the vicinity long enough to interact with them. That problem with navigating is a real one, by the way. We cannot navigate at high warp numbers with a brighter star behind us than the one we''re going towards, otherwise we constantly run into its photons, and not the ones from the star we''re going towards. Nor can we go fast close to any star, for the same reason.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°From what you''ve said, it sounds like you''re saying we''ll be navigating by dead-reckoning a lot of the time,¡± Kyle said, shocked. ¡°I hope you don''t have a big problem with that,¡± Maggie said. ¡°I don''t. We know exactly the direction we''re travelling in, we know roughly how fast we''re going. We can slow down and take bearings if we need to get a more exact fix. And space is big.¡± A little boy raised his hand. ¡°Which way is our bow?¡± Maggie smiled. ¡°If this square was the central plaza of Atlantis, do you know where it would it be?¡± The little boy looked around, saw the tower he''d been telling his father looked just like the High Council''s tower and unerringly pointed the other way. ¡°Well done. That''s our bow. And you can go and press your nose against the dome there if you want to. I know I loved doing that when I was little. Just remember to wipe the dome before and after. Anyone concerned about radiation might want to know that there''s a forcefield just inside the dome, but that in the viewing areas there''s an extra layer of crystal for all-age nose-pressing, just like on Atlantis. Any other questions? I see a conversation at the back?¡± ¡°We''ve just realised neither of us asked,¡± the husband of the disputing couple said, ¡°and I hope it''s not too late... childhood vaccinations?¡± ¡°Important, I agree. Medical people? Don''t be afraid if the answer''s no, I''m three-quarters expecting to make a dash back to Earth in the scout ship before we leave anyway; we might be having a surprise extra crew member.¡± Pete, the paramedic stood, ¡°The answer from me is I''m not sure. It didn''t occur to me, sorry. We have a full stock of known antibiotics, including things that aren''t any use any more on Earth, just in case, and we have antivirals, anti-tetanus, lots of anti-inflammatories, along with blood pressure regulators, and the normal space medicine pharmacopoeia. So we''re well equipped in case of accidents or encountering strange new diseases, but... I think we forgot about the children.¡± ¡°And looking at the ages of the children and their parents,¡± one of the nurses said, ¡°I would feel happier if we had a fully-trained midwife along too, for antenatal checkups if nothing else.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Maggie agreed, ¡°We do have a trained midwife who was due to join us, but she''s part-way through regrowth after a nasty injury right now, and she said she''d be happy to come out in a few months rather than be in the way. Is the feeling of everyone here that that''s OK? Or is the regrowth ward up and running and ready for a patient right away? And if so, would it would be better to ask her to change plans again?¡± Rodger, the regrowth therapist stood. ¡°The ward is mostly up. What''s her injury?¡± ¡°Shark bite. Rachel, can you fill Rodger in?¡± Maggie asked. She didn''t want to detail all of the woman''s injuries in front of the children. Addressing everyone she said, ¡°If Rodger thinks it''s possible, can I see a show of hands who thinks she ought to come with us today or tomorrow, so she''s as much part of our little community as she can be, right from the start, if she''s willing? Thank you, I''ll let her know so she can take that into consideration. Does anyone want to risk general disapproval for taking an alternative view?¡± One person stood, ¡°I''m all in favour of her coming, but I know from my own experience that interrupting regrowth is a really bad thing. So, I''d want to make sure all the medics agree to exactly what''s happening and any of them can veto it.¡± ¡°Another question,¡± Maggie said, ¡°is whether having a patient right from the start is going to mean other things don''t get done which ought to be done. I know I told some people there''d be at least a week of flight-time before we got there.¡± ¡°Accident clinic is all ready,¡± Pete said. ¡°I''ve got good helpers.¡± ¡°Regrowth clinic is ready for her class of injuries,¡± Rodger said, ¡°and one patient won''t stop me getting the rest of it set up. So I''d say let''s get her on board assuming my counterparts agree. Shame about the delay. It''ll take hours to even ask her.¡± ¡°Believe it or not, Rodger,¡± Maggie said, ¡°communication delay is not a big problem for us.¡± [Is it time for me to tell everyone I have the gift, Maggie?] James thought to her. [Wait, James, Rodger''s got a blind spot.] ¡°You''re going to move the lab to Earth?¡± ¡°No, Rodger. There''s plenty of good reasons we''re still parked out here at Pluto. I''m aware it''s not exactly been convenient, but for reasons of hull integrity, which I''m sure we''re all in favour of, when the bubble drive was put in, a lot of the more conventional so-called antigravity drive units had to be removed. Therefore, the lab moves quite slowly, barely faster than a reaction-engined ship, unless we use the bubble drive. Even if we were prepared to I''ve also been warned that if we suddenly turned up in Earth orbit we might set off someone''s missile defence system.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Then, please cast your mind forward six or twelve months and tell me how you''re going to request new supplies.¡± ¡°I''m going to hand a long list to the ship''s captain,¡± Rodger said. ¡°Are you? What am I supposed to do with it? Stick it in a bottle and throw it towards Earth? As has been explained Doctor, the delivery flights will be coming out with personnel and supplies and returning after a two-week change-over and acclimatisation period.¡± ¡°Captain, we''ve had this conversation before, I believe,¡± Rodger said. ¡°I know,¡± Maggie said gently. ¡°and I am very glad you are with us on this trip, doctor. But your earlier observations and questions suggest that you''re still not happy to acknowledge instantaneous mind-to-mind communication as a simple fact, without any religious overtones. And that useful fact is something that ¡ª in an emergency situation where information is critical ¡ª people''s lives might depend on. So, I''m taking this opportunity to remind you, and everyone on board, that I and a number of other people on board hear thoughts, and so can be on the receiving end of such instantaneous communication. Therefore, if we got called, we could ask for things on a list as well as we are able to understand it. But the best method I can think of for getting your list of required supplies to Earth or Mars, without problems of miscommunication, would be for someone on board with the ability to initiate such a communication to get in touch with a pharmacist or regrowth therapist thought-hearer and allow them to hear the sound of your words and talk the words they say back to you, don''t you agree?¡± ¡°Well, if there were such a mythical person on board, then yes, I suppose so, it would certainly avoid the problem of so-called Chinese whispers.¡± ¡°I''m glad we agree. I don''t particularly think he''s very mythical though. Do myths pick their noses?¡± [Thank you, Maggie.] James thought to her. Maggie grinned, ¡°Perhaps I ought to add that the last time I saw him picking his nose he was about fifteen, so maybe he''s got better self control now. I think this is maybe the right time for you to say something, James.¡± ¡°Hello, if you don''t know me, I''m James. I''m happy to say that when she was fifteen and spotty, Maggie picked her nose too. But I''m even happier that she''s not spotty now, or fifteen, and if you''re wondering why it took us so long to dock, part of that is that she''d just agreed to marry me sometime we get to the planet we''re going to and things settle down. The other part is that we were deep in conversation with our mystery extra passenger. I''ve just called her again, and she will be coming. ¡°So, If someone ever has an urgent message for home, feel free to knock on my door or whatever. The truthsayer associations are quite happy to deliver messages for us. But I warn you, they do charge for the service these days. Now, doctor, as I speak there''s a thought-hearing nurse in the regrowth clinic telling the consultant there that the reason she''s so able to judge levels of pain in clients is that she is a registered truthsayer, and she''s asking his opinion of moving his patient out here. Can you and I please go somewhere more private so you can answer any questions he might have? Like how well equipped the facilities we have are on the Ansgarp-scale, whatever that is, assuming I pronounced it right. I don''t think I did.¡± ¡°Anskark scale,¡± the doctor corrected. ¡°We''re currently ready to operate at level seven, but that''s just because it''s a new facility and the equipment needs flushing and calibrating properly. By the end of today I fully expect to be at Anskark eight; nine if I could borrow one of the nurses to help?¡± ¡°All of them, if it''ll help,¡± the surgeon said, ¡°We''ve no patients to look after anyway.¡± ¡°Thank you. We''ve equipment and all relevant supplies that that I fully expect we will be at Anskark fifteen within a week,¡± he added proudly. ¡°Apparently the reply is ''All right, all right, no need to show off.'' Next question is who''s the therapist in charge.¡± James passed on as they walked into a side-room. After passing on what Rodger had said, James said, ¡°Reply is ''And before that, Mars?''¡± At Rodger''s nod, James said ¡°Apparently you''re communicating with a Dr Bill Chalmers, on Mars.¡± ¡°Oh! What a small universe! Old class-mate.¡± ¡°I''m hearing the same. He asks ''What are you doing talking through mind reader? I didn''t think you believed in such things.''¡± ¡°I don''t but the patient''s needs come first.¡± ¡°Bill says you''re a brave man, and you''re welcome to free up a bed for him. Magdalena answers that the journey ought to be less than an hour from Mars, He will make sure her dressings and everything are ready for three hours just in case, and the nurse can dictate exact concentrations and the like once the patient is on the move.¡± ¡°Thank him for the compliment.¡± ¡°I will.¡± James said, deciding that, in the circumstances, Rodger didn''t need to be told who the midwife was. After all, the patient''s needs came first. He called to her. [Barbara?] [Hello, James, long time no chat. Are you off?] [Not yet. Two more crew members to pick up. You being one of them if you want to come.] [Do I want to come? Of course!] [Maybe not. I''ve just learned that the regrowth therapist is called Rodger Braithwaite, of Chicago, but before that of Mars.] [You''re going to put me under Rodger Braithwaite''s charge? Do you want to give him a nervous breakdown?] [He has just declared that the patient''s needs come first. It is the same guy you were constantly witnessing to at university, isn''t it?] [I''m sure. Reacted to the doc here, I presume?] [Yes, declared him to be an old class-mate. And your doc declared him a brave man. I think Rodger thought that was referring to coming out with us, not for accepting you as a patient.] [He doesn''t know, does he? That I''m to be his patient.] [No.] [That''s not fair James. You can''t get him to treat me without warning like that.] [You don''t think he''ll be happy to see you?] [Half-eaten by a Martian shark? Come off it, we were almost engaged before I turned to Christ and ended it.] [I didn''t realise you were that involved.] [How are you and Maggie?] [Maggie said ''yes''. Wedding date to be decided.] [Congratulations! But go and tell Rodger that I will say I''m bottling out if he doesn''t want to treat me. I''m not sure it''s a good idea. Please.] [OK, cousin. Do I tell him you recognised his name and play all ignorant?] [No. What you do is claim me as cousin, and say you weren''t sure until you checked with me. And if you really want to earn my eternal thanks, you sneakily invade his privacy and see if he still feels romantic towards me or hates my guts.] [I''ve taken an oath, Barb.] [Oh, I forgot that. Go tell him.] ¡°Dr Braithwaite, I thought your name sounded familiar, and I''ve just been thinking to my cousin Barbara. She urm, tells me you were almost engaged once, at university, and if you''d feel uncomfortable treating her then she''s not sure it''s a good idea either, and while she''d love to come, she doesn''t want to put you in a difficult position.¡± ¡°Your cousin Barbara,¡± Rodger repeated. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You are the definitive proof of God that she kept going on about?¡± ¡°Urm, I guess so. She said she had a cousin with the gift?¡± ¡°Yes. Who told her end the relationship.¡± ¡°Barbara is Mer, Dr Braithwaite. She has some non-mer blood, of course, lots of us do, but she''s Mer. And Mer take oaths very very seriously.¡± ¡°So do I. The needs of the patient come first.¡± ¡°I understand. What best meets Barbara''s needs? A doctor who can see her as a patient, or one who will be thinking about ten year old might-have-beens?¡± ¡°She said that?¡± ¡°No, I said that. She forgot I''d taken an oath and asked me to tell her if you hated her guts, or whatever.¡± ¡°Hate her? I can''t hate Barbara.¡± ¡°I understand that she rather rammed God down your throat until you were sick of the topic and then some.¡± ¡°Sick of the whole lot of you, in fact. Especially impossible cousins who can talk from planet to planet.¡± Rodger shook his head. ¡°There''s a psych-counsellor on board, isn''t there?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If Barbara can avoid talking about God, I will treat her, and talk to the psych-counsellor.¡± ¡°And if she can''t? If she really wants to convince you about God because that''s how she expresses her love for people?¡± ¡°She still loves me?¡± ¡°I don''t know. She didn''t say.¡± ¡°Can you talk to her for me? Now?¡± ¡°Of course. She''s listening.¡± ¡°I hear you''re to be my patient, Barbara.¡± ¡°She says if that''s what you want.¡± ¡°Of course it''s not what I want!¡± Rodger snapped, ¡°I want ten years back. I want her back! But I''m not going to get that, am I?¡± ¡°She says, ''not if denying God is really so important for you.''¡± ¡°Tell her that her God is destroying my life, piece by piece. I left Mars to get away from memories of her, I signed up to on this trip because the centre in Chicago was a dead end, and the alternative was back to Mars. I''m running out of options!¡± ¡°She says, ''you can''t run away from God and end up in a good place.'' But she''s not chasing you, she''ll stay on Earth.¡± ¡°This ship needs a midwife.¡± ¡°What, the ship''s pregnant?¡± ¡°The paramedic-trained G.P. and the surgeon forgot about childhood vaccinations. I don''t know what else they forgot, it''s never been something I''ve studied. I''m a sculptor who happens to work in cells. The nurses are theatre nurses, not health-clinic nurses. The whole medical staff are geared up for emergency response, me included, not keeping people healthy. Barbara, we need a community health-worker, like you trained to be before you became a midwife. The crew of this ship needs you. Probably a dentist too, I don''t think we''ve got one.¡± ¡°The dentist dropped out last week,¡± James said. ¡°He declared that since there was the possibility of getting back in a week, it would be better to plan for medical evacuation than waste his time serving such a small community.¡± ¡°He''s got a point, I suppose. And annual check-ups could happen with someone doing a three-week round-trip, I suppose.¡± ¡°That''s the new plan. And if someone gets an abscess then we do have the dental equipment. Maybe the good surgeon can lean some emergency dentistry.¡± ¡°Hmm. Thank you for not suggesting me. Tell Barbara I want to see her here, and I want to see her well, and I will feel privileged if she allows me to treat her.¡± ¡°Barbara says she is happy to come.¡± ¡°I wonder if she will be my only patient the entire time.¡± ¡°I suspect not. Have you seen the canine-like creatures? They are more intelligent than dogs, and the males are the size of bears and persistent to the point of being suicidal. There will be landing parties, and sadly I expect someone will forget their personal forcefield or a personal forcefield will be found ineffectual against precision positioning of teeth, or something like that.¡± ¡°What do the natives do, faced with that threat?¡± ¡°Magdalena has a nice video to show what first aid looks like for them. She asks that we rejoin them.¡±
Maggie was part way into her speech about planet-side safety when they got there. ¡°so, I''ve said this before and I''ll say it again. The people in a small village out in the back of beyond have canons as a way for dealing with predator attacks, know Pythagoras'' theorem, have valve radios and something like Morse code for long distance communication. In other words they are probably within fifty to a hundred years of discovering nuclear fission. Their eyesight is superior to ours; the one I rescued had spotted the probe when I thought it would be out of sight, and did a first-contact routine on us. "So, what we''re doing is contacting a well-developed very alien civilisation, and we''ve no idea if soap is the equivalent of a nerve agent to them, or human hair would cause a fatal allergic reaction. If you go on-planet, and some of us will, then if we take plant samples we do so under the assumption that it gives off a plastic-eating nerve toxin when picked or cut until we''ve proven otherwise, and we leave absolutely nothing. Total decontamination before you go and when you come back. I can tell you that is not pleasant. So far, we''ve not found anything that''ll kill us, but the plants they harvest are nutritious to us, and the samples of predator flesh suggest that the muscle-proteins of multicellular organisms are very similar to ours, even if their blood is different. Put that together and it probably means that we are nutritious to something there. ¡°I said multicellular organisms. If our genetic ancestry goes back to proto-fish and earthworms, and the predators have something similar, that of the people there goes back to slime-moulds, collections of individual organisms who cooperate for the common good. They can change shape, grow wings or armour at will, as long as they''re well fed, and they can apparently digest meat within a couple of minutes. They have books, they breast-feed their young, but they also breast-feed their injured too. They don''t need hospitals, infusions and the like, just a sterile knife to cut away infection, and food for their cells ¡ª I should say their organisms ¡ª to rearrange themselves. "They have social rules we know nothing about, they have language, they worship God, have religions symbols and they give vaccinations against diseases. We don''t know anything about how long they live for.¡± ¡°So, phase one: We get there, and we observe. We don''t send probes to the big city where we might cause panic, we try to limit our contact to the isolated village where I''ve already been, and where we have some hope of friendly relations. We try to work out their language and we study their environment. The pictures I saw in a book there gave me the impression they are at home in the water as well as on land, but I might have misinterpreted that. There''s just the one land-locked ocean, and we didn''t see many creatures on the edges. Maybe that just means they''re all underwater, or maybe the sea is the home of scary predators, or it''s just that all ocean life is microscopic. We don''t know if the people have clans, tribes or countries. We believe the population is relatively restricted to the narrow zone where their crops grow. Perhaps the fact that clothes would interfere with their shape-shifting means that they don''t cope well with varying climates. Or, perhaps the problem is the predators. As I hope you realise, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but in any case, north of the city, there''s dense forest where there are a few clearings with crops and fairly well fortified villages which become rarer the further you go. South, there are crops and also grassland where there a lot of very similar looking animals. We''ve seen some aliens watching them, whether that''s curiosity, a hunting party or if they''re farmers, or cowboys, we don''t know. South of the grassland, there''s range of reasonably sized hills, then a semi-forest, interspersed with crops, and fortified villages, and then scrubland which has some smaller animals on it, at least, we assume they''re animals, and then you get to desert pretty quickly. The grassland tapers out to the east, and the hills and semi-forest and scrubland come up and meet the Northern forest, by which time the Northern forest is has becoming more sparse. Further east at the same latitude there is more desert, which turns into arctic scrub and tundra when you go north. There are grazers up there, and the dog-like predators, but no people we''ve seen. In other words we seem to have a water-poor world, with prevailing winds which produce a very fertile area, roughly bounded by a range of hills though actually extending a bit past them, I guess thanks to run-off, and that area is where the alien population are, and that inner plain is almost entirely predator free. We can guess they''ve pushed the predators out of it, but the predators control far more more territory. So, compared to the planet, it looks far more like the Merfolk clustered near Atlantis, than land-folk spreading out everywhere. Is that because they are afraid of the predators, or because they don''t feel the need to expand further? No idea. Of course, the fact that they''re shape-shifters might mean we saw some of them but didn''t recognise them. The anthropologists will want me to mention that there are roads, street-lights in towns and villages, and they have wheeled transport, but it seemed to be moved by muscle power when we were there. ¡°But in any case, we dare not risk introducing an infection into their only city, and if, heaven forbid, the village that I visited appears deserted, or there is sign of fear when the probe visits it, then we don''t risk going down at all until we find out what happened to the people I interacted with most closely. Unless there are well-founded objections, we''ll base ourselves above the plains, to the South-East of the city, where we can see just about the whole occupied area. ¡°I talked about different phases of research. Phase one we''ll be watching interactions, sampling plants and the linguists will be trying to study their language, via remote observation and picture drawing. Phase two will begin when we are able to communicate to a reasonable degree, and we might be able to get permission to follow individuals, which I''m sure the anthropologists will enjoy. If we observe repeated patterns of trade, we might be able to trade for the same things, which would give us samples. We probably won''t be buying enough to feed us, both because of the toxicity issues and we don''t know if they''ve planted enough food to feed us. ¡°Phase three interaction will start when we know about diseases and what''s toxic and dangerous there, and at that point we''ll know if the kids can go down there and play in the open air, if we can maybe grow some their plants for our needs and so on. Of course, biosecurity rules mean we won''t be planting Earth crops on another planet. That might be a total disaster for the entire ecosystem. Anyone going down will of course have to understand things like irate farmers shouting ''oi, get off my cabbages'', or perhaps even better, ask politely if walking there would cause any harm. "Phase four will not start until we are able to ask them about what''s allowed and what''s taboo, and what they don''t want us to do. Other than the predators, there will be no sampling of any animal''s blood or other tissues until we''re well into phase four. The shape shifting aspect means that what we think is just an animal life-form might be some of them, and we also need to extend our concept of animal. For all we know, they may have some part of their life-cycle when they appear more like a pool of slime to us. As far as I was able to tell, from the ''facts of life'' book I got shown, they divide biological phyla into plants, multicellular organisms and multi-organism creatures such as themselves. They probably consider multicellular organisms as a lower life-form, and for all we know it''s taboo to disrupt a slime-mould colony, or maybe what we think is just a slime-mould colony is actually Uncle Fred having a rest after a busy year. We certainly don''t know how they would react to the idea of even one of the organisms that make them up being analysed. ¡°Regarding that, we think we have a hint in the film I''m about to show, which shows a bit of field first-aid. Parents, it''s possibly unsuitable for your children. Rachel has analysed it to death in her thesis, and I''ve seen it before. So we''re happy to look after the children while you watch it through first. The first clip shows a medical procedure. After that we''ll be showing a longer film which gives the context for that first aid, which again might not be suitable. Mer parents, think a defence against a shark attack, with one injury, and no fatalities among the people.¡± ¡°Any questions before we start the film?¡± ¡°Will there be a phase five?¡± ¡°If there is, then it''ll look like us going in person to one of their weddings, them coming to one of ours, standing shoulder to shoulder fighting off predators, that sort of thing. And then there might be the tricky issue of technology transfer. Again we''ll need to be very careful about that.¡± ¡°You haven''t spoken about when any theological discussions might start.¡± ¡°They opened the discussion, trying to draw some symbolic theology indicating the Godhead as triune. They count the week as seven days. As part of the first-contact cave drawings, we felt it entirely right to leave them with line drawings of the creation, the fall, the virgin birth, the cross and the ascension. Needless to say, we were struggling to represent them. Then James was allowed to hold a Gift-enabled discussion with two of them. At least some of them believe in a triune God and were eagerly awaiting news of what awesome thing God has done, James told them about the cross. We know that they have been waiting for that news for a couple of hundred years. If you work back, that means they heard God had done something wonderful roughly when the light-cone reached here from the time of Jesus. We don''t know the exact timing, but... it''s bound to provide many theologians with an interesting few centuries of discussion.¡± ¡°And our names will live forever in infamy in anthropological circles, no doubt,¡± James added. ¡°My duty to God is more important to me than proving anthropological theories right,¡± Maggie said. ¡°And I had no idea how long it would take for us to get back there, or even if we would. I''m happy with that decision, and more importantly, Aza and Jakav, the two aliens we talked to were too.¡± Ground / Ch. 9: Final preparations

Ground / Ch. 9:Final preparations

Spacefolding Research Lab. After the second re-showing of the footage of the battle, and the fourth of the ''first aid'', Maggie had left Rachel in charge and gone to fetch their last two crew members. Now she was back. ¡°Hello Rodger, long time no see,¡± Barbara said. ¡°What did you think you were doing, feeding sharks like that?¡± he said, moving to check her dressings, and apart from being surprised at her age, he ignored the other person on board. ¡°I''d been having a nice swim, before the dumb thing decided to eat me. It attacked from behind, as you can probably tell.¡± ¡°Got a good mouthful of you, too.¡± ¡°Yes, and the pain-killers are wearing off, I think. But God is good.¡± ¡°How can you say that?¡± ¡°I''d no idea that you''d be on the crew, and I''d just been praying that I''d get a chance to talk to you again. It looks like we''ve got weeks of talking time.¡± ¡°Doctor,¡± Maggie said, ¡°sorry to interrupt, but we''ve got to do some in-space maneuvering to get ready to depart, that''ll mean some acceleration ¡ª a tenth of an Earth gravity ¡ª for about half an hour. When we engage the bubble drive there''ll be a bit of a lurch, and then we''ll be in an absolute zero gravity environment. As far as I''m concerned, we can start any time, but I don''t want to interfere with the treatment.¡± ¡°How strong a lurch?¡± ¡°Grandma?¡± ¡°You think I remember after all these years? I don''t know. Not vastly different to normal, I guess. Nothing broke or fell over as far as I know.¡± ¡°So, expect a brief moment when it feels like you''re falling.¡± ¡°Unlike now, when it feels like I''m falling.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. It feels more like falling than this.¡± ¡°You could just turn on the artificial gravity, Maggie.¡± Heather said. ¡°The what?¡± ¡°You don''t think we spent years and years in zero G do you?¡± ¡°But... how?¡± ¡°Oh dear, oh dear.¡± Heather said. ¡°You''re saying no one''s thought to turn it on?¡± ¡°I didn''t think it was possible!¡± ¡°Hmph. It''s a bit tricky to get right, but we tweaked Boris''s equations to get it working. We must have written it up, surely?¡± ¡°I studied interstellar navigation and exo-biology, Gran, remember?¡± ¡°Yes. Good job someone on board has some idea how this ship works. Doctor, would say... one Mars gravity be a good thing?¡± ¡°Certainly! Once I''ve got Barbara to the ward, anyway. Ten minutes?¡± ¡°No problem. We''ll turn it up slowly, anyway, so no-one gets hurt. Let''s go down to the control room, Maggie.¡± ¡°Down? The bridge is up, isn''t it?¡± ¡°I obviously need to give you a more thorough tour of your ship, captain,¡± Heather chortled. ¡°Thanks for inviting me! Did they tell you only had one meter per second acceleration too?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh silly silly people! Oh, it''s not your fault, Maggie, don''t worry. That low acceleration is all you can get from the original Boris drive, and the original bridge is up in the council chamber, and we left those controls in place. There just wasn''t room for the extra cables in the conduit. That''s why we made the second control room.¡± ¡°I''ve been all over the plans, Gran. I didn''t see anything about a second control room.¡± ¡°I expect they need updating,¡± Heather said, with a shrug. ¡°Can we get Rachel too?¡± ¡°Of course. Hmm, she''s that way too. There''s not much else there, so maybe someone''s asking her why the children''s play area has a locked door and a big notice on it saying ''not the play area any more.'' At least, we can hope it does.¡± ¡°You put the second control room in the children''s play area?¡± ¡°It was big enough, in the right place, and it makes much better sense to be in the middle of the ship if there''s a radiation field round the lab.¡± ¡°And the children''s play area?¡± ¡°Used to be the radiation shelter. Someone pointed out that it made lots of sense have the adults join the kids, rather than freaking the kids out by snatching them from playing.¡± They reached the general area of the so-called children''s play area, and found a knot of six confused parents, puzzling over the maps of the ship and the sign on the door, and three kids who were happily bouncing off the walls and ceiling. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen,¡± Maggie called, ¡°I''ve just been told that the maps need updating, and the play area is now the room on your maps called ''Radiation shelter.''¡± ¡°That''s full of what looks like racks of spare parts,¡± someone said. ¡°Hmm,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Can I get through have a look at this room, then?¡± ¡°If you can get in. There''s a security lock on it.¡± ¡°Well, that bit sounds right.¡± Heather said, puzzled. ¡°Oh,¡± Maggie said, ¡°allow me to introduce our final crew member, Queen Heather, queen mother of the Restored Kingdom, inventor of the warp drive, my grandmother, and also the last captain of this ship, so hopefully she remembers what''s happened to the children''s play area.¡± The adults tried to bow or curtsey, which didn''t work very well in freefall. ¡°Oh stop that, and just call me Heather, please. As for what''s happened to the play area, well, it''s been a long time, but let me have a look too. This room ought to be the new bridge. Gangway please, young people. Grandmother coming through!¡± Heather said, kicking off and aiming right through the middle of the flying children. Her othersight-enhanced timing was perfect, earning her a number of amazed looks from the parents, who''d been sure she''d end up in a tangle of small bodies and limbs. ¡°Free-fall almost makes me feel young again,¡± Heather grinned. ¡°Come on, Maggie, what are you waiting for?¡± ¡°Your amazing sense of timing, grandma.¡± ¡°Hmm, tricky one that. Kids, can you let my granddaughter though? She''s the captain, and hopefully she knows how to open this door.¡± ¡°Hopefully that door recognises my I.D. I was assured they''d programmed the bridge systems to it.¡± ¡°Ah, right.¡± Heather said. ¡°You sound doubtful, Grandma.¡± ¡°Did you, by any chance get a pile of papers in an envelope with ''Keep absolutely everything that''s in here, they''re really important.'' on it?¡± ¡°That was in my cabin.¡± ¡°Oh good,¡± Heather said. ¡°Try the I.D. first dear, it might work.¡± It did. ¡°Well, that''s a pleasant surprise!¡± Heather said. The room lights came on. ¡°But that is not.¡± There was a layer of dust in the room, and the computer screens looked dead. ¡°I think, Maggie, that the re-commissioning team didn''t come in here, or didn''t know what this room was.¡± ¡°So, before we get gravity, we need some cleaning supplies and to find the switch panel?¡± ¡°Yes. Well, the switch panel is no problem, it''s just here.¡± ¡°I see a lot of switches, Gran.¡± ¡°Yes. And you probably need to turn them on in the right order. Or delegate.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Do you happen to know what the right order is?¡± ¡°Try that one at the end, for now,¡± Heather said. ¡°Communications? OK.¡± ¡°Right. Wrist units ought to be working now. Can you call Rachel and find out where she is, you never know, she might have found the missing play area, and then get someone to get your electronics engineer here, and your envelope full of really important data.¡± ¡°Don''t bother calling,¡± Rachel said from the doorway. ¡°I''ve found the Children''s play area, and the radiation-shelter, they''re in the same place, and to get there, you just need to zig-zag past the racks of spare parts.¡± ¡°Oh, great!¡± and ¡°Thank you!¡± several parents said, and launched themselves and their children in the right direction. ¡°What''s this room?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°It sort of looks like a much bigger version of upstairs, with more interesting controls.¡± ¡°Well spotted,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Apparently the ''main control room'' got demoted, but the plans didn''t get updated. Hi, James? Can you please go to my cabin and get an old envelope which says something like ''Really important paperwork about lab, don''t throw away, all of this is really important''?¡± ¡°Urm, OK. And your cabin will let me in?¡± ¡°It ought to. I told it you could go in and so could Rachel.¡± Heather had been looking at the familiar but half-forgotten controls, ¡°Thank you for bringing me back here, Maggie. I never thought I''d be back.¡± ¡°Old memories?¡± ¡°Lots, like your father jumping up and down in the corner there, trying to get out of the play-pen. He only managed a couple of times, when the gravity was low, which was good for his nose.¡± ¡°His nose?¡± ¡°He landed on it pretty regularly.¡± Eventually James arrived, and with him Ernest, the electronics engineer. ¡°I hear there''s a problem?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Heather said, ¡°but the recommissioning team forgot to check in here. This being the main control-room.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Maggie said, ¡°Option one is we just play flip the switch, option two is we call them back, option three is we see if there''s anything in the paperwork, is that right, Gran?¡± ¡°Sounds about right. I seem to remember there was something important about the sequencing, but you''re relying on ageing grey-matter there.¡± ¡°So let''s not go for option one, please.¡± Rachel said. ¡°I whole-heartedly agree. It''d be a bit sad to turn on the bubble drive power and find the computer needs to be fully operational first, or something.¡± Maggie slid the papers out of the folder. Enclosing the bundle was a sheet which read ''Documentation for bubble-space lab. Don''t power up without reading.'' ¡°I hope the recommissioning team read this.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Heather said. ¡°OK...¡± Maggie said, ¡°We''ve got information on turning on the bubble drive, about using the Boris drive, about using the bubble drive units to be a Boris drive. You can do that?¡± ¡°Of course, it''s how your probe ship works,¡± Heather replied. ¡°And here''s one that talks about powering up the main bridge, and another which talks about the secondary bridge, and a note stuck on which expresses confusion because they can''t find a secondary bridge, and the instructions for the main bridge don''t seem to apply.¡± ¡°And no one thought to ask anyone?¡± ¡°I guess not. Oh, I''ve got another note dated a few days later saying they''ve set up the secondary bridge, and presume the main bridge is this room, but can''t get in, the passcode included in the attached document doesn''t work.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Heather said. ¡°It used to. Good job we''re in.¡± ¡°Can I see that block diagram?¡± Ernest the engineer asked. ¡°Certainly.¡± Maggie passed him the diagram. ¡°That''s odd. Was this room made first or second?¡± ¡°Second.¡± ¡°Oh. That makes more sense. So... the secondary bridge functions can be controlled from here, but the secondary bridge has the access controls. I guess they broke the access code without realising it. Can I see the repair log?¡± ¡°Here.¡± He hummed and hahed for a while and then said ¡°Oh, the idiots. There was a problem with one of number pads and they decided they needed to swap the access control system at the same time because the new pads aren''t compatible with the old system. There''s a pile of spare pads in the parts store I''ve just been inventorying. Why didn''t they look?¡± ¡°Is it a problem?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Not if everything works. According to this diagram, it might not, and if it doesn''t then we''ll need to be going back to the old panel and resetting IDs.¡± ¡°And everyone gets locked out of their bedrooms?¡± ¡°Yes. And you get locked out of the navigation controls, Captain.¡± ¡°Lovely. Let''s hope it works, then.¡± ¡°OK, think I''ve seen enough,¡± Ernest said. ¡°Does anyone have a problem with me following this procedure to the letter?¡± ¡°Well, we''ve already turned on the communications unit, to get a wrist unit signal,¡± Maggie said, ¡°but otherwise, go ahead.¡± ¡°Hmm. I''ll turn that back off. Just to be safe. There''s probably a reason that''s in the middle of the procedure. Here, just after ''wait at least ten minutes until screen says self-calibration tests completed''.¡± A look of horror appeared on Heathers face. ¡°Thank you for your wise words, young man. There is a reason, I remember. In fact I remember being very very annoyed with the man when he explained it to me.¡± ¡°Would you like to tell us, Gran?¡± ¡°There''s a presumption that communications is down while the self-calibration is done. The calibration hardware indicates that self-calibration is finished, but there''s no interlock to stop it from happening if communications is turned on.¡± ¡°And it''s bad if it is?¡± James asked. ¡°It turns off the B.A.D to check the bad problem detector is working. If communications was on, then it would have engaged the bubble generators before doing that, because the B.A.D only works when it thinks they''re on.¡± ¡°Eeek.¡± Maggie said quietly, going pale. ¡°Can someone tell me what a B.A.D. is?¡± James asked. ¡°Blackhole Avoidence Device. A bad problem means the B.A.D is not functioning correctly, and we risk triggering a black hole and simply dying or alternatively losing our connection to the universe.¡± Maggie said, ¡°the bad problem detector triggers a crowbar circuit on the bubble generators.¡± ¡°Which means ¡ª if there''s communication link to the bubble generators ¡ª one almighty bang, fried electronics, terrified crew if they''re not too near the exploding circuitry to survive, and no bubble generators any more.¡± Heather added, ¡°but at least the stars should still be shining outside the dome and some people have a hope of being rescued alive. I was absolutely livid when I understood what they''d done, but the calibration hardware is permanently embedded in the crystal of the floor, and apparently it''s exactly the same hardware they used in the initial scouts, so they just thought it was perfectly normal, and they didn''t want to tamper with the design. I insisted they did for the second generation scout ships.¡± ¡°But the calibration hardware only gets used once?¡± James asked. ¡°No, it checks things on a regular basis at other times too. But it only checks the B.A.D at turn-on.¡± ¡°There is a warning on the switch for it,¡± Ernest said, looking at the switch panel, ¡°But it''s a bit faded. Captain, would it be OK if I got Sathie to work out if she an make some kind of mechanical interlock that would fit over this panel and turn off communications when you turn on the calibrator?¡± ¡°Certainly, Ernest. Or you can re-design the panel if you like, once we''re on-planet, to enforce any other critical turn-on sequence things.¡± ¡°Hmm. I''ll need to talk to her about that option too,¡± Ernest said, smiling. ¡°Do I get the feeling you enjoy talking to her, Ernest?¡± Heather asked. ¡°Gran, stop stirring.¡± ¡°Why can''t I stir? Young Ernest here has just saved us from terrifying the crew and maybe killing some of them, and I''m more than happy to praise him in front of the lady if she needs a prod in the right direction.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t presume to say I''m the right direction, maam,¡± Ernest said, humbly, blushing even more. ¡°Maggie, do you want to call Sathzakara down here so we can get this sorted out?¡± Heather asked. ¡°The switch panel or Ernest''s romantic hopes?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°I meant the switch panel, dear,¡± Heather said, ¡°but thinking romance is much nicer than thinking of dropping ourselves in a black hole.¡± ¡°I''ll start the turn-on process,¡± Ernest said, blushing furiously. By the time Sathzakara arrived he''d reached the ''wait ten minutes'' bit. Ernest had recovered from his embarrassment and described the problem to her. She blanched at the thought of no interlocks, and agreed they ought to do something, and stood close to Ernest to look at the checklist; closer to him than was strictly necessary. ¡°Why are you all looking at Ernest and me with grins on your faces?¡± Sathie asked, after a while. ¡°Nothing you need any help with, young one,¡± Heather said, ¡°But I''ll just point out that while we''re not exactly close to Atlantis, we''re closer than we''ll be for a long time. If you''re as certain as it looks to me, I''ll add that I can follow that checklist as well as Ernest can, and since Maggie and Rachel don''t really both need to be here, one of them could zip you two off to Earth so you can spend half an hour meeting one another'' parents while we start up the systems here. We''ve got another two hours to go, looking at that list.¡± ¡°Gran, you are shocking!¡± Maggie said, grinning. ¡°Rach, do you want to play taxi-driver this time or shall I?¡± ¡°We''re neighbours.¡± Ernest said, bright red again, ¡°we''ve met each others parents lots of times.¡± ¡°Oh, OK.¡± Heather said, ¡°You obviously just need time to talk, then.¡± ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about, Maam,¡± Sathzakara said, primly. Heather switched from English to Mer, ¡°Didn''t your grandmother ever tell you not to try lying to a seer, Sathzakara Shipbuilder? I know what I see.¡± ¡°What have you said, Ernest?¡± Sathie rounded on him, angry. ¡°You know I am not free to walk with you.¡± Turning back to Heather she asked ¡°Did you not see that? That my heart is torn in two?¡± ¡°Yet again, I spoke too soon, jumping to conclusions based on part-knowledge.¡± Heather said, ¡°I am sorry, Sathzakara, for the pain I have awakened. I did not look deeply, but saw the barrier and thought it was merely shyness, or convention. I see now it is deeper.¡± ¡°Far deeper,¡± Sathzakara said. ¡°For I made a promise, full of hope, and joy and happiness.¡± ¡°And now your joy is pain and you happiness, mourning, and where there was hope, it has weakened and you are not certain, yet here is this friend who has known you your whole life, and loves you, yet is not sure if he loves you as a brother loves a sister or if it is a different love.¡± ¡°You called me Shipbuilder. It is not a name I wear with pride anymore.¡± ¡°Will you tell me why not? My grandson''s ship was well made.¡± ¡°You... you are Queen Heather?¡± ¡°Maggie, didn''t you tell anyone I was coming?¡± ¡°No, Gran. It was supposed to be a surprise.¡± ¡°My ship failed your grandson, your majesty,¡± Sathzakara said. ¡°Rubbish. The only thing that failed my grandson was the idea of him going out alone. We''ll have to ask him exactly what happened when we find him.¡± ¡°You... you are certain, your majesty?¡± ¡°If no one told you that, then I am very very sorry, Sathzakara. It is Mick you mourn?¡± Sathie nodded. ¡°Far too often I blurt out things I shouldn''t, and sometimes I worry about things. I keep thinking that I''ve beaten the blurting, and then I do it again, but I can see the difference between written truth and falsehood. Let me show you four images of things I''ve written, to stop me worrying.¡± Heather offered her hand. Sathzakara took it and saw the first image of a page. ''The ship failed Mick.'' ¡°See the black of it?¡± Heather asked, ¡°That''s a lie.¡± The second image ''Mick would be home if he''d not been alone.'' ¡°Truth, see the gold?¡± Sathie nodded. The third image; ''I will see Mick alive,'' also glowed gold as did the fourth: ''Mick will be at Maggie''s wedding.'' ¡°Then... why couldn''t he be contacted?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°God''s purposes are not ours, blessed be the name of the Lord,¡± Heather said, and looked at Ernest. ¡°Ernest, I am guessing here, not speaking with any supernatural knowledge, but I think you would be wise to think of Sathie as a sister-friend, and look elsewhere for romance.¡± ¡°Urm, any advice?¡± he asked. Heather laughed kindly, ¡°I''d have thought you''d have seen enough of me in action to know better than risk that, young man.¡± Ground / Ch. 10: Waiting

Ground / Ch. 10:Waiting

Ground, The university [Mick, you''ve been very quite recently.] Lana thought to him. [Have I?] Mick replied. [Yes.] [Oh.] [That was supposed to be the beginning of a conversation.] [I guessed,] Mick thought. [Talk Mick.] Lana commanded. [It''s been longer than I thought it might be, since Magdalena left. It''s been a year since she arrived.] [Oh, right. You mean, ''where are they''?] [Not really. But... sort of. I''ve just started thinking... if they do come, then what?] [You get to grow a new body, you mean? Is that a problem?] [No. It''ll be a long painful, process, lying in a bed, but no, that''s not it.] [I could leave you with some organisms, you''re getting better at organising them.] [Unless I''m asking you to do it for me, subconsciously. But I wouldn''t accept them, not if you can''t or won''t take them back if my immune system starts killing them off, once I''ve got one. That doesn''t seem right.] [Send organisms to be killed? No, that would be... unthinkable betrayal.] [But you wouldn''t accept them back either, would you?] [Re-absorb my podling''s organisms? That''s as bad as wrong-podding, worse.] [And I''m automatically your podling if we separate?] [Urm... I think so.] [In which case, since I''m not going to survive long enough to get back home to get to a hospital to grow a heart, skin, blood, etc. if you just spit me out, and we no idea what regrowth stuff would do to you, let alone antibiotics or pathogens, how does this separating thing work?] [OK, I admit it, it sounds tricky,] Lana thought. [And, if we do somehow separate in an ethically acceptable way, then what? I''m going to need to be a translator or whatever for the next five decades, aren''t I?] [What''s a decade?] [Ten years.] [five decades?] [Until I get too old.] [Mick, how long do you live?] [Normally about eighty years. Some people live to a hundred and twenty.] [Gulp.] [What?] [How old are you now?] [Thirty-five years.] [Oh. Me too.] Lana said. [How long do you live?] Mick asked [It''s different. Collective organism, you know. Mostly... we just get slower, hang on to too much, don''t like to learn new things. Something about podding clears that up. Some people will do a complete podding, splitting into four or even ten podlings, but that''s rare, egotistical. Most others... just give up fighting infection, or concentrate so hard on something they forget to breathe. But you won''t find many of us older than sixty.] [When do you reach reproductive maturity? Oh, that''s probably instantly possible, isn''t it?] [Not quite. You can''t do it without organised thought. And it''s really bad to do it while a kids and at school still, so eight to twelve years, something like that.] [Among us, it sort of becomes possible around thirteen to fifteen, but it''s dangerous and children that age are too young to take wise decisions. Legally possible from eighteen, recommended is more like twenty, which is when most of us we leave school. Risks of genetic problems increase after forty, and it''s pretty much impossible for a woman to have children after fifty, they run out of eggs.] [You lay eggs?] [What? No, live birth. After forty weeks.] [Forty weeks of what?] [Growing, after the fertilisation of the egg.] [Sorry, I''m forgetting how odd you are.] [Have I told you how odd you are? Well, I suppose we do have some creatures a bit like you on our world. Colony creatures.] [You do? Really? Are they sentient at all?] [No. Sorry, they''re only like you in the sense that they''re collectives, and you''re probably going to say I''ve horribly insulted you. They''re members of a roughly similar style of life. Like I am to... urm, a simple multicellular organism.] [So, not similar at all.] [Only in the category that I worry that some of our cleaning products might be chemical weapons for you.] [What''s a chemical weapon?] [I''ve told you humans can be very nasty. A chemical chosen to kill, wound or maim people, loaded in a bomb.] [You use airborne poisons against each other.] Lana couldn''t imagine it. [It has happened. Wars between land-people. My people stayed away, terrified they might find us.] [And that''s what you''ve been quiet about? The thought that your landpeople might decide to kill us all and take over our planet, like in plays?] [What, no! No, we wouldn''t do that. There are thousands of planets we could live on. We''ve been looking at how wonderful God''s universe is and failing to find intelligent life for more than twenty years. Number of human inhabited planets? Still two. No plans to inhabit any others I know of. Ultimately, we came because some of us felt God was telling us to bring news of what he''d done to you and people like you. But the reason I''ve not been saying much is more personal.] [Personal?] [Before I left home, I made a promise, that I''d spend a lot of time with someone, a woman, and hope we got on well enough to marry.] [And you don''t want to keep your promise?] [I want to. But she probably thinks I''m dead, she''s probably married someone else. But... what if she hasn''t? She''s got important things to do where she is. She made most of my spaceship, that''s not exactly a common skill. How can I just turn up from supposed dead, and ask her to come and sit beside me and talk to me while I''m in a regrowth ward for the next year and a half or something like that, and then come back here so I can be an interpreter? How can I marry her when we''re going to work twenty one hundred light-years apart? How can I keep my promise to her, and leave the people who come here to struggle without me as an interpreter?] [Well, presumably they''d not expect you to be alive, so they''re planning for that.] [Yes, OK, but.. wouldn''t it be selfish of me to leave you and them struggling to communicate?] [You don''t think she''d come with your sister, when she comes back?] [What''s she going to come in? There are twenty five ships like hers. Maybe Sathie''s made some more like mine, so let''s say there are thirty now. I don''t expect many of the pilots will want to drop their research into the life on other planets to come and look at this one. Well, maybe just for a quick look, not to stay. Not to do useful work. But... I don''t know. Maggie shouldn''t really have come down in person. Too dangerous for your people. She might bring some kind of infection. It''s not like she can lead a group of people to start farming here. She''ll need some kind of space station, if she''s going to come back like she said she''d like to. How is she going to come back in less than ten years?] [I don''t know. You need to pray, though.] [I know. I wish my wrist unit had survived. Then I could read my Bible and remind myself that God''s in charge.] [You could read mine] Lana suggested. [God is the same here there and everywhere.] [Thank you, Lana. You''re a very kind sister to me.] [Sister?] [You''re not my mother or my wife. We''re closer than friends. You must me my sister.]Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. [You, Mick, amaze me sometimes. Thank you. I''ve never had an alien brother before.] They''d just finished reading a song about God being in control when there was a knock at the door; it was Thek. He''d been running. ¡°Have you looked at the sky in the last fifteen minutes?¡± he asked. ¡°No. Why?¡± ¡°Strange things. Lak asks if you want to join him at the telescope. You might need the predator-engraving tool, though. Things are getting fraught.¡±
University telescope building. The dome was crowded, the debate was in full swing, there were several lines of conversation going on and tempers seemed to be very thin. ¡°It shows a crescent. It can''t be a supernova.¡± The astronomer at the telescope said. ¡°It must be a supernova! You can see the thing unaided.¡± ¡°Well it wasn''t there an hour ago, I''m telling you, I just took a plate of that bit of sky.¡± ¡°It''s not a crescent, it was a definite ball when I saw it.¡± ¡°So something that size just blinked into of existence?¡± ¡°It''s an alien ship,¡± someone said. He was looking with his unaided left eye, but he''d changed his unaided left eye to turn it into a small dimensioned telescope. ¡°Shut up you freak. There''s no such thing.¡± ¡°Are you sure you didn''t just knock the focus?¡± ¡°The stars are in focus, and that ball of rock is in focus. It''s just not a point source. It''s a ball. Showing a crescent.¡± ¡°You''re going to prove a negative by resorting to the proof by intimidation, are you?¡± ¡°I said shut up.¡± ¡°It''s too bright to be a rock. It must be a comet.¡± ¡°If that''s a comet, where did it come from?¡± ¡°Stifling of observation by threats isn''t going to get us anywhere.¡± ¡°Maybe it''s just started emitting gas.¡± ¡°If it''s really a crescent it''s got to be closer to us than the suns.¡± ¡°What? It can''t be.¡± ¡°I still say it''s alien, and it''s just podded.¡± ¡°You''re imagining things, let me get at the observer''s chair.¡± ¡°It''s my turn. You''ve had your minute. But he''s right. Double-podded. Two tiny dots next to it.¡± ¡°I suggest we pray for peace and unity,¡± Lak said. ¡°And victory against the alien invaders. Ow! You collaboration of putrefaction! How dare you!¡± ¡°Almighty God, holy and gracious father, give us peace and unity, and I beg you keep the people from panicking,¡± Lak said. ¡°That barbarian just poked me in the eye! I want witnesses!¡± ¡°I demand respectful silence during times of prayer,¡± Lak stormed. ¡°No one agreed. You can''t demand silence when you just start praying.¡± ¡°I demand witnesses to an unprovoked attack.¡± ¡°There are three podlings now. I give up my observer''s seat.¡± ¡°Not to him! He attacked me!¡± [Are you going to say anything?] Mick asked. [Me? Get involved in this riot?] [Well I saw the alien-invader guy getting poked in the eye, the one that looks like a telescope.] Mick said. Lana mentally sighed and took to the air. ¡°I, Academcian Lana of the University Safety Office, witnessed an attack on the enhanced eye of the guy who''s unable to stop obsessing about alien invasion forces. I observe said victim looking like he''s on the verge of changing to war-form. He will stop or be permanently barred from the university. A formal complaint concerning the attack may be made at the appropriate time and place. I observe unsafe crowding around a delicate piece of university property. I observe distinguished scientists acting like a bunch of podlings. Do I need to close this facility on safety grounds?¡± That threat seemed to bring a modicum of order in the group. ¡°Can I patiently remind you that about ten moons ago this university received a note about a visit from a helpful alien, who indicated she would return? Can I point out to you that the author of that report has sent the university rubbings and sketches from cave engravings that this reported alien made, indicating the bit of sky she came from, and that unless my memory is incorrect that object is coming from the same direction? Do I need to remind my astronomer colleagues that last week there was great debate in the dining hall about the fact that the pattern of faint stars only observable with the latest generation of plates exactly match the dots on the cave rubbings? Why is this department so sure an advanced civilisations can''t do things you can''t? We can do more than our parents'' parents'' could, after all. Maybe they''ve had two or three thousand years of progress uninterrupted by inconvenient wars.¡± ¡°You can''t change the laws of physics, woman!¡± ¡°I know. What are they? How does light travel? What is gravity? How do the suns burn? What are unstable isotopes sending out that makes plants die or grow deformed, plates fog, and researchers'' organisms sick? Don''t you think they might find that the things we think are laws are mere approximations? Might they not know more about physics than we do?¡± ¡°Who made you such an expert?¡± A voice in the crowd asked, rudely. ¡°I have been in communication with the young man who was shown the cave. Along with pictures showing creation, fall and redemptive history of God''s interaction with them, and a lot about the biology of their home planets, it shows a copy of the periodic table with no gaps, samples of most of them, including the valuable ones, and numbers that seem to correspond to the lifetime of unstable elements. He''s perfectly willing to prove to the university that the cave is real, gentlemen. It''s apparently even got a water source, so a survey group could have been staying there and studying it for a while. But its not very easy to get to, because of nearby predators. Let''s join the reverend Lak in praying that these visitors are the same friendly ones, and that no one will panic. Of course, I don''t know why he''s worried, most people will probably ignore it, like they did when the first ship was parked in our sky for a month and a half.¡± ¡°You saw it?¡± Telescope-eye asked, excited. ¡°Low on the horizon, South-East of us, at dawn and dusk?¡± ¡°Physical impossibility,¡± someone muttered. ¡°You did too, did you?¡± Lana asked, ¡°I was beginning to think I was the only one.¡± ¡°What about the one before that? Five or six harvests ago? It crashed, in the forest. But I couldn''t find it.¡± ¡°See, he''s got an alien fixation, it is just fantasy!¡± ¡°I''ve been to the crash site, once when I was distracted and didn''t give it much attention, and then a second time,¡± Lana said, glancing at Lak. ¡°I went with my sister the second time. I have no doubt that these aliens exist, but I had no desire to force the issue. I have enough problems in my field of research.¡± ¡°What did you find? Weapons?¡± ¡°No. We found some personal items, and some bones, scattered by predators and mostly gnawed to pieces. We buried them. We''re not sure what the ship is made of but it was transparent and is still mostly intact.¡± ¡°We could learn a lot from it!¡± ¡°Or die because you accidentally blow up the power source, or from a predator attack.¡± ¡°The large unusual object has just vanished.¡± ¡°What about the little ones?¡± ¡°I can still see them.¡± ¡°They''re missiles!¡± ¡°Can someone please find me a gag before I''m tempted to violate university procedures?¡± Lana asked.
Space ¡°Urm, Maggie?¡± James interrupted the planning meeting, ¡°You asked me to check if we''d been spotted before we went back into the bubble?¡± ¡°Uh oh.¡± Maggie said, ¡°I did, yes?¡± ¡°In the city, in a circular building that houses what looks like a telescope, there are a about twenty dots. One or two in the countryside.¡± ¡°Oh great. So much for sneaking into position during daylight. Anthropologists! I want some uninformed guesses from you experts. Is it better for us to pop back into sight now, or should we wait until we''re masked by daylight to move closer to the planet, like we''d planned, and potentially scare them when they look up at night?¡± ¡°Please add to your deliberations,¡± Kyle said, ¡°that based on my readings of their atmosphere, we''re going to be a daylight object whatever happens. That''s to say, they won''t just see us when the sky''s dark and we''re in the sun, but we''ll reflect enough light to be visible all day long." ¡°So, whatever we do they''re going to see us when we''re in position?¡± ¡°Unless we hide around the far side of the planet,¡± someone suggested. ¡°Since the probes we''ve just launched don''t have radios that can communicate through planets, that''s not going to work.¡± Rachel stood up and said ¡°I don''t think they get afraid of strange things. Unless the ones we met are really unusual, anyway. When they saw the probe they came close and one of them prodded it with a stick. And there was a bit of fear when you went running through the town with your knife in hand, but I think that was more the scary weapon than scary invader from outer space.¡±
Ground, University telescope building. ¡°The three podlings are still separating,¡± said one. ¡°Let me see, you''ve had ages,¡± said another. ¡°You''ve forfeited your turn, you knocked the telescope, and poked a fellow astronomer in the eye,¡± the head of department said. ¡°It''s my turn.¡± ¡°You''ve only just got up!¡± yet another one said. ¡°Hmmm-mmh¡± said Telescope-eye, through his gag, his hands were also bound, but he''d been allowed to stay. He was bouncing up and down, and not looking towards the three probes, Mick saw. He turned and grinned. [Lana, expert binder of hands and mouths, look what I see.] ¡°Oh podlings!¡± Lana called, ¡°look behind you.¡± As far as Mick could judge, the spaceship was taking up station just where Maggie''s ship had been parked. That was good news as far as he was concerned. Very good news. He wondered how long it would be before the sensors picked up the homing beacon from his ship, and someone went to investigate. He hoped the first thing Sathie heard was that the beautiful ship she''d made had saved him from burning up in the atmosphere, not to mention saved the city from a nasty case of a strange ball with antimatter in it ending up in the hands of curious physicists. If it hadn''t been for the hole in the nose and the fact that three quarters of the drive elements had burnt off in the plummet through the atmosphere, he could have flown up said hello to whoever just put that... leviathan into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Thinking that raised another thought. [Lana, can you ask them to work out how big it is? Assume it''s at the top of your atmosphere.] [Where''s the top? It just fades away, doesn''t it?] [Where you can''t fly because you need to go so fast you''re in orbit, but urm... I presume you don''t have artificial flight, do you?] [No. What does ''in orbit'' mean?] Lana asked. [Orbit is planets do around the sun, that sort of thing. But Jakav said it wasn''t visible from where his home, didn''t he? Probably because of the hills. Can we work on that basis? Geometry?] [Is it important?] [I can''t guess what it is until I know how big it is. It must be bigger than Maggie''s ship, but is it five times bigger? Ten times? A hundred?] ¡°Out of curiosity,¡± Lana asked, ¡°can someone please guess how big that is? Jakav, the man with the cave, said the last ship could be seen from the cave, which is two hours walk past their village, but couldn''t from the village itself, because of the barrier hills. I know it''s just guessing to say it''s in the same place as the last one, but it certainly looks like it from here.¡± ¡°Hmhk mm-mm-mm ¡°, said Telescope-eye. ¡°I''d bet your life they''re not planning to kill you, if that''s what you said,¡± Lana said conversationally. He bit through the gag, but controlled himself enough to speak quietly, ¡°I said, where''s the village?¡± ¡°Oh. It''s right on the edge of the desert, two weeks by wagon, little place called Yasfort.¡± ¡°Yasfort? That thing''s invisible from Yasfort?¡± ¡°Yes. You know it?¡± ¡°Don''t you know anything?¡± Telescope-eye asked, rolling his eyes. ¡°Not much about Yasfort, except it''s a long way away, and some clever people live there.¡± ¡°''Yasfort, little Yasfort, your time will come?'' Ring any bells? The last prophesy of Zah?¡± ¡°That unapproved, not-submitted prophesy,¡± Lak said, ¡°is not a part of any school curriculum, the last time I looked.¡± ¡°Of course he didn''t submit himself, it was granted to him on his deathbed. My great grandfather heard it, though.¡± ¡°And you know it off by heart, I presume, Kalak?¡± Lak asked. ¡°Yasfort little Yasfort, your time will come. The star you will not see, but the light of truth will burn. Yasfort''s daughter, Yasfort''s son, guard your borders well; through pain you''ll learn salvation''s song, with writing on the wall. The scholars foolish arguing, two heads will rise above. Stop shouting all your pettiness, and listen to what God''s done!¡± ¡°Well, Lana!¡± Lak said, ¡°Did you know you were famous?¡± ¡°It could mean hundreds of different things, Lak.¡± Lana said. ¡°Kalak, I don''t think they heard you,¡± Lak said. And then he thundered at the top of his voice, ¡°Be silent and listen to the last prophesy of the great prophet Zah, and know that Jakav whose life was saved by the alien, lives in the village of Yasfort, from where the ship just before harvest was not visible.¡± Kalak repeated the prophecy, and then Lana found that talking to a crowded room, something she''d always hated, was a lot easier when the topic was God, her brother was standing beside her and she knew that Mick was praying. She was quietly amazed when she saw Kalak and several of the others weeping, she hadn''t done much except talk about Magdalena''s message about God''s amazing grace, and the love he had for his creation. Then she realised that was why they were crying. They hadn''t known, hadn''t understood. By the end of the evening, the entire astronomy department had put their trust in God''s grace. Ground / Ch. 11: Contact

Ground / Ch. 11: Contact

Space ¡°Captain, I''m getting a pulsed signal from the planet,¡± Ernest said. ¡°The local Morse code equivalent? I''m not surprised.¡± ¡°No captain. Ten centimetre band, it registers as a probe-ship homing beacon. I''d like your permission to deviate the nearest probe from the survey to investigate.¡± ¡°Do it, Ernest,¡± Maggie said, ¡°We didn''t pick up anything when we got here the first time. We almost missed the pseudo-Morse because we listened so long.¡± ¡°I know, Captain,¡± Ernest said. ¡°Well? Go on, send the probe down! We don''t want to lose the signal if it''s intermittent.¡± ¡°Oh, urm, I rather anticipated your order captain. I wonder if you''d like to pilot the probe yourself? E.T.A. to the site is five minutes.¡± ¡°Go, Maggie.¡± Rachel said. ¡°I''ll get a message to your Gran as well.¡± ¡°And Sathie?¡± Ernest asked. ¡°Yes. Even if it''s nothing, I don''t want to exclude her.¡±
Space ¡°I just don''t understand what''s happened to the ship,¡± Sathie said, ¡°The hull looks so thin in places, and the field generators are just gone. Did I make it so poorly?¡± ¡°Look, there''s a... it looks like a marker-stone, set against the ship''s hull,¡± Ernest saw. ¡°I''m sending the probe down for a closer look,¡± Maggie said. ¡°I see writing on it.¡± ¡°It looks like English, Mer and some other script. Can you get it bigger, Maggie?¡± Heather asked, ¡°my eyes are getting blurry.¡± Maggie read ¡°''This stone marks the place of the first contact between planets. Here crashed Mick Karella John of Earth and of the University of Mars, through his own stupid fault, almost on top of Academician Lana of the University of Ground. Let it be known that both were very badly injured, but both live to write this stone on the sixth anniversary of their pooling resources to survive. Let it be known that the probe-ship''s antimatter battery is whole, for Sathie''s ship was wonderfully made, (though no one expected it to enter atmospheres at interplanetary speeds with its forcefields off). Do not investigate the ball, the power source of this ship, it contains annihilation, and you may crack the mountains. It''s a lovely planet, let''s keep it that way. ¡°Beneath this spot lie a few of Mick''s long bones. May the predators that scattered them and ate the missing ones not eat you. Keep your eyes open and your knives sharp, Mick. ps. hardly anyone knows I''m here.''¡± ¡°His bones?¡± Sathie said, shocked. ¡°His long bones,¡± Heather said. ¡°I guess Mick needs some serious regen.¡± ¡°Majesty, is it true?¡± Sathie asked Heather, in a whisper. ¡°Oh, it''s true.¡± Heather said. ¡°The ship you built was wonderfully made, Sathzakara Shipbuilder. It sounds like its unprotected hull survived an unplanned and uncontrolled atmospheric entry, so well done, young woman!¡± ¡°I''m just wondering what ''pooling resources'' means in the English and ''eating each other''s fish'' in the Mer might actually mean,¡± Maggie said, ¡°especially when some of Mick''s bones are under the ground.¡± ¡°I don''t know, but he''s given us a Rosetta stone for their script.¡± Ernest said. ¡°That''ll make the linguists drool,¡± Maggie pointed out. ¡°And that postscript means we can''t just skip to asking people where Mick is, doesn''t it?¡± Sathie said. ¡°It does. Sorry, Sathie. It also means that we still need to avoid sending probes into the city, even if no one seems to be worried about the strange lights in the sky.¡± ¡°James still hasn''t been able to talk to anyone?¡± Heather asked. ¡°No. He can''t call Mick, for some reason, and feels uneasy when we ask him to talk to the people he talked to before. Maybe we should ask him if he can talk to this Academician Lana?¡± ¡°Please,¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Ernest, can you take over here? I want lots of lovely imagery of the marker and the crash site. But watch out for the predators, especially the big sort. They can leap at least five metres high and their bite force is enough to damage probes.¡± ¡°Lovely neighbours for your picnic,¡± Sathie said. ¡°No wonder Mick said keep your knife sharp.¡±
Ground [Academician Lana, I am James, has Mick told you of the Gift? I have it.] [I greet you James. He has, yes. But shouldn''t you be calling Mick, not me?] [I try, but cannot.] [Can you hear me now?] Mick thought. [{shock} How on Earth?] [The planet here is called Ground, old friend.] Mick said [Not much of me survived the crash, James. Lana has been my life-support ever since.] [I''ve seen your message at the crash site, the... pooling resources, that''s what you meant?] [I wondered how you thought to call Lana. Ready for the full gory details?] [OK.] [James, I don''t know if you need to spread this very far.... but Lana lost a lot of skin and flesh in the crash. My bod represented protein and fat and iron she desperately needed if she was to survive, and I had a rib through my heart. She... used a rather dangerous technique she''d learned in her studies, and wrapped her skin organisms around most of my flesh that wasn''t too mixed with landscape. She tells me that eating is faster, and much safer, but her stomach was injured, and this way she could keep bits of me for study. She''s very good with painkillers, by the way. We were a bit surprised neither of us died from toxic anything, but there it is. My eyes and thick head survived, I''ve even got my own hair, but my neck comes out of her shoulder, and my central nervous system and some other bits are hosted in her body. My lungs work better than hers, but it''s her blood that goes though them. We can chat mind to mind, and I''m learning to ask her organisms to do things, and I''ve got a human-like hand I can do stuff like wield a rock-cutter with, but it''s out of her organisms. Most people think she''s just made herself an extra pair of eyes to help her catch people violating safety rules. If she''d done this with someone else here, she''d probably be burned as a necromancer or the local equivalent, so I''m not public knowledge.] [Wow. That''s a lot of regrowth therapy there, my friend.] [Yes. Also, she''s ethically and morally opposed to betraying any of her organisms to needless death, and if she separates from me then it''s a big cultural taboo to accept organisms back ¡ª that''d like eating your kid.] [Well put, Mick.] Lana thought, [That''s almost exactly what it would be like.] [Mick, Sathie''s here, wondering what''s taking so long.] [Sathie''s there?] [So is Maggie, she''s captain of this ship, and your Grandmother.] [Does that mean Grandpa Matthew has died?] [Yes. The funeral was just before we came.] [The cancer came back?] [Yes.] [With what the doctors were saying... I can''t say I''m surprised. Poor Gran.] [There''s a fair number of people who want to hug you up here. Any chance of a visit?] [Tricky. A cold virus might kill me. We''re not sure if I''ve got any immune system. I''ve certainly got no long-bones full of marrow or a liver, even.] [You have got a liver.] Lana corrected, [I kept some, and it regrew itself. And truth be told I''m sort of relying on it at the moment, like your lungs. I told you that you''re no parasite. I''ll be sorry to see your liver go, actually. I worked out that it''s helping me fly, by cleaning things up so well.] [Feel free to keep some, like you said, it regrows.] Mick thought. [You mean that?] Lana was surprised. [Basically I''ve no idea what goes on inside me, Lana. We used to do organ donation, before we learned to get our own cells to regrow. If it helps you and doesn''t hurt me, feel free to keep bits.] [No problems with rejection?] Mick asked. [That''s an immune function. I expect Lana''s organisms eat anything that''s a threat, like T-cells and white blood cells, if I''ve got anything that''s making them.] [I''m sure they do, yes. I hope you don''t mind.] Lana agreed. [Sorry if the concept offends Lana, but to me they''re just some cells that would cause problems. Killing problematic cells I can''t control isn''t a problem at all. Even killing cells that aren''t problematic isn''t an issue, as long as they''re not important ones and they don''t trigger pain cells. You didn''t consume my reproductive organs, you didn''t consume my nervous system, and you''re very good at making sure I''m not hurting. These days they know how to regrow the rest. One of the modern wonders of technology. We didn''t used to be able to do that.] [Like faster than light travel,] Lana thought. [Yes, that too. That was impossible until Grandma worked out how to do it.] [The one who''s here?] Lana asked. [Up here in the lab, yes.] [''The lab''.] Mick said, processing that. [You came in the bubble lab?] [Apparently your Gran thought ahead and fitted it with bubble generators before it was mothballed. Oh, she also flew it at warp 11 before parking it there, just to prove that was safe. Most of the time was looking for crew. We have a regen therapist. I somehow doubt he''s ever started with a severed head though.] [Not a severed head, you''re exaggerating. Urm, Lana, I know I have my neck, do I have my backbone?] [Most of it.] [There, see? Head, backbone, lungs, liver. But like I say, the problem is going to be rebuilding me without killing any bits of Lana.] [Yes. So a quick slice with a rock-cutter and then he can do a whole severed head reconstruction, can''t he?] [You, my friend, are a maniac. I hope you''re not going to suggest anything like that in front of Sathie.] [No.] James agreed [How much do you want to tell her yourself?] [I don''t know. I guess you need to tell her pretty much everything, or she''ll wonder why I''m not rushing to cover her with kisses. If she could come up with a comms unit that can be fully sterilized, I''d not let her or Lana get any sleep.]The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. [Don''t be stupid, Mick,] Lana said, [If Sathie can cope with seeing you like this, I expect my organisms can cope with any germs you catch from kissing her. You''ve not died from any of the sicknesses I caught in the last six years, so I don''t think our diseases cross the inter-species barrier. I''m prepared to take the risk if she is. I''m healthy, after all, and I''ve met the ones you had. Or... I think we could separate.] [And I try to keep your organisms?] [You look after them, protect them, reassure them, and tell them to bud if your immune system really can''t leave them alone, and then you look after your podling.] [But... I thought your other organisms needed brain organisms to bud.] [They will. And eye organisms, and stomach organisms, and so on, and you''d have to think of the brain organisms, eye organisms and the rest that I give you as part of you, unless you decide to bud them off. You cannot, must not, think to them as different to you, or you''re making a podling and it would be evil to keep a podling prisoner in yourself. You''ll need to discuss it all with Lak.] [So really... I''d end up a bit like people think you are? Two heads, but I''d have to think both are me?] [Whose hand is this?] [You''ve sort of lent it to me, and it''s a good arm. The wings are all yours.] [I thought you might feel like that. So I don''t know if it''s going to work.] [I''d need to think of the bits you lent me as being as much me as the bits we''re hoping to grow back, wouldn''t I? Until I sadly had to send them on their way.] [Exactly. If I''d thought of this earlier, it might have been easier for you.] [Except the thing about the brain organisms... I don''t know how to think of brain organisms which I guess are going to think differently to me as not something separate.] [Mick, what do you think of your autonomous nervous system?] James asked, [Would that be a model?] [Interesting idea,] Mick agreed. [I guess you''ll need to fill me in about that. Otherwise I''ll need to work out to convince your cells they need to grow enough that you don''t die when I give birth to you, won''t I?] Lana thought, using the English phrase [Is that the phrase you use, Mick?] [{stunned} How did you learn that? Yes, it is.] [I''ve been talking to your brain about words, Mick.] [Talk to Rodger about what''s needed to start regrowth.] James said. [Rodger?] Lana asked. [Regrowth therapist. Any idea what the Anskark scale is, Mick? He''s got a level fifteen facility here.] [Back when I was a lad, it only went up to ten. Missing cartilage was one if I remember rightly. Maybe he can cope with a severed head. But I still want to keep what Lana calls my interesting bits, so no getting out your rock cutter without Sathie''s written permission.] James laughed. ¡°Sorry Sathie, I''ve just been having a discussion with Mick and Lana.¡± ¡°Mick''s all right?¡± ¡°For a given value of all right, yes. He''s in good spirits, he''s not in any immediate danger as long as Lana stays out of trouble. On the other hand, Lana is apparently ''hosting him'' as a sort of walking life support. Except she''s got wings, so I guess she''s flying life-support, actually. It''s sort of symbiosis, that''s what they meant about pooling resources. Her blood in his blood vessels; his lungs helping oxygenate it. He''s got his head, hair even, spine and quote ''interesting bits'', which Mick seems to feel you have some claim on. And Lana is happy to take the risk of letting him cover you with kisses if the way he is now won''t gross you out. Separating them is going to be easy in one way and hard in another. I get the impression that Lana can easily spit him out, except she''s just thought of it as giving birth to him, but then there''s the problem of him immediately dying due to lack of blood, etc. They were talking about different options... Lana''s very protective of the organisms that make her up, and some sort of ''she-lends him some and then takes them back'' would be akin to giving birth and then eating your baby.¡± Sathie sat down. ¡°So he''s stuck? Glued to this alien?¡± ¡°No. One option was she offered to split him off with enough of her organisms so he''d be independent, but the issue there is if he regrows his own immune system, does that kill the organisms that she gave him. That''d be the worst kind of betrayal, to just leave them to die. But if he asked them to leave, to become his ''child'' that would be bad too, unless he had some brain organisms to send with them. But he can''t accept brain organisms from Lana if he''s going to think of them as not part of him. Once he does that then they''ll become a separate entity, and he has to let them go, and the nearest equivalent to how she felt about him not doing so would be child abuse.¡± ¡°And other options?¡± ¡°One extreme is we ask Rodger if he can cope with a decapitated head and leave all the rest with Lana to do with as she likes. That''s where Mick said you''d need to give permission for him to leave his other bits behind. Another extreme is that Mick just doesn''t regrow anything. Another option was that somehow Rodger teaches Lana how to make regrowth solution.¡± ¡°It''s not just one thing,¡± Sathie said. ¡°I''m really not surprised to hear that.¡± Sathie sat and thought for a long time. ¡°Has he got his ears?¡± ¡°His ears?¡± ¡°Yes. If he''s still got his ears and his hair and his nose, then I don''t think I''m going to be grossed out.¡± ¡°Hold on, I''ll ask.¡±
Ground, University safety office ¡°What are you writing?¡± Lana asked, in the lull between the last inspection and the office closing. ¡°Something about you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°A description of your work, your skills, and so on.¡± ¡°For your financey?¡± Mick laughed ¡°Fianc¨¦e. Finance is a fancy word for money and what you use it for and things like that. Yes. But technically Sathie isn''t my fianc¨¦e. We promised each other that we''d spend enough time together when I got back so we could decide that. There are two sayings in English: ''out of sight, out of mind,'' and ''absence makes the heart grow fonder,'' we wanted to find out which one applied.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°You might have noticed I''m pretty fond of her. But... it''s been a long long time.¡± ¡°You wrote the sign in English and in Merish. Why?¡± ¡°Because I wanted to say some things where the meaning was clearer using both.¡± ¡°Oh. But why do you have two languages? I mean, the predators have their language, and we have our language, but the Mer and land-folk have surely mixed enough, and been near enough for the languages to not be that far apart.¡± ¡°Urm. Lana?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°There are thousands of languages on Earth, and hundreds, probably thousands more that have died out.¡± ¡°Oh. That''s... that''s too complicated. No wonder you have people who study language. How can someone speak thousands of languages?¡± ¡°They don''t. Most people only know one to three. My sister speaks more than most, my grandmother too.¡± ¡°Then how do you understand each other?¡± ¡°We don''t. Thousands of millions of humans, remember? What I don''t really understand is why there are so few of you.¡± ¡°The more we pod the weaker and stupider we become, unless we mix, which brings other problems. Oh.¡± ¡°What?¡± Mick asked. ¡°You mix, you always mix. Every generation grows up having learnt from the generation before, and everyone speaks a bit differently. Differences multiply...¡± ¡°You don''t learn from the generation before?¡± ¡°If I had budded, my podling''s ¡ª technically my budling''s ¡ª brain-organisms would remember the language it knew before podding, it''d need reminding but not training from scratch. Same with my other organisms and lots of the skills they knew, and so on. If I podded with someone, it would be a mixture, depending which donor gives which organisms.¡± ¡°You can donate more than one organism when you pod, yes? But you never combine skills or knowledge?¡± ¡°What, take organisms of the same type from both donors? Bad suggestion.¡± ¡°Immoral?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Not just that, it causes all sorts of problems. Mental instability, growth problems.¡± ¡°You mean that the organisms can''t cooperate within one type.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And yet you wonder we and the predators fight amongst ourselves? I think it''s what theologians call a consequence of sin.¡± ¡°Predators have sinned?¡± ¡°That''s one interpretation. Or the chief bearers of the divine image here are caught in disunity and who should expect them to be any different. But you said podlings from a budding or a podding don''t need teaching, just reminding, but those from mixing do?¡± ¡°Yes. It puts mixlings at a disadvantage, but they have advantages too. Normally they''re far more inventive, for example.¡± ¡°You have an amazing skill-set, don''t you, in frontier biology?¡± ¡°I am fourth generation in this field.¡± ¡°Una was right. You were the only one who could have done it. And yet you risk that inheritance?¡± ¡°I''m not convinced about frontier biology as a field now, any more than Una was.¡± ¡°You''ll excuse me for holding an alternative view.¡± ¡°But what''s the use? I can understand Predator speak. What good does that do? They still want to eat me.¡± ¡°You can? Wow! James will want to talk to you about that.¡± ¡°OK, I''ll talk to James about that. I''m still not going to bud just to continue my knowledge. Maybe in a decade or two. And there aren''t any romances on the horizon, before you make that suggestion.¡± ¡°Kalak,¡± Mick said. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°He''s on the horizon. Much nearer, actually. I''ll go dumb.¡± Kalak came through the office door. ¡°Academician, Lana.¡± ¡°Hello Kalak. Is this to do with the other night''s incident?¡± ¡°When did you first visit the crash site, Academician?¡± ¡°You smell of suspicion, Kalak,¡± Lana said, ¡°It''s not a very pleasant odour.¡± ¡°I saw one of the three small dots that have been circling the planet drop from its unnatural path, and disappear into the forest. I marked where it went, shifted my position as far as I could until I saw it leave again. I applied the laws of geometry and visited the place that it had visited. And so I found the crash site.¡± ¡°I must congratulate you on the precision of your vision, Academician Kalak.¡± ¡°What is annihilation?¡± ¡°My brother is the person to talk about theology, Kalak,¡± Lana said, ¡°but approximately it means total and irretrievable destruction.¡± ¡°The sphere contains annihilation,¡± ¡°It does, yes.¡± ¡°How did you learn that?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°Kalak, you are a fit person, obviously, to have visited the crash site and returned. And brave too, to enter predator territory. Are you well fed and capable of another long walk?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To meet the being who engraved that rock, and perhaps others who can explain to you annihilation better than I can.¡± ¡°You are saying you can contact the aliens?¡± ¡°I think I can do something that should probably attract their attention. I don''t know if they''ll come, but I think it''ll help you understand. Unless you want to accuse me of something now?¡± ¡°I am interested to know exactly what happened six harvests ago, Academician,¡± Kalak said. ¡°You met an alien.¡± ¡°Call me Lana, please. I interacted with an alien. I think that met is not the correct verb.¡± ¡°What do aliens look like?¡± ¡°Have you not seen the sketches from Yasfort? That one is a better example. The alien I interacted with looked like he had been thrown from his ship at high speed and his body was not designed to withstand the impact force.¡± ¡°And you also were injured.¡± ¡°Yes. Follow me?¡± She took to the air and flew. [Is Kalak a mixtling?] [A mixling? You know, that''s entirely probable.] [He seems like a bright person.] [''The aliens are coming to kill us all!''] Lana quoted. [So, he''s been educated by silly plays and books. Does age matter to you? That''s to say, if he was ten years younger than you, would it matter?] [You''re thinking I ought to be thinking romantic thoughts about him?] [I don''t know. You''re not quite expressing fear, as far as I can work out.] [Abject terror?] Lana suggested. [No, something else.] [You''ve promised to defend me. Will you?] [You mean would I kill him to save you and me from certain dismemberment? Is that what this journey is about?] He''d heard her decided she needed to take Kalak away from the University, but Mick had been trying to not pay attention to her every thought. It made it easier to write the assessment of Lana''s skills he''d been working on. [No, it''s about getting him somewhere he can''t scream when we tell him he''s right.] [Is he? Is he right if he thinks you''ve violated ethics? Neither Lek nor Una did. Where are we going?] [Where you killed some predators for me.] [Good choice. And if they attack, I''ll kill some for him too? I''m happy to do that. Or to defend you if he attacks you physically.] [What if he attacks you?] [Then I expect you can make some kind of hypodermic claw that will inject him full of chemicals to put him to sleep. I think that''d be better than cutting him up.] [You have a strange morality.] [Me?] Mick asked. [You''d have me violate his biochemistry?] Lana asked, in outrage. [You''d have me burn away lots of his organisms? The rock-cutter''s not a knife, Lana, that organisms can try to blunt to save others or avoid if they react quickly enough; it shreds molecules and atoms in its path and turns them to dust and gas. If he attacks me, if he gets close, I''d have to turn it on as soon as it''s out of its pocket, and burn away his insides from the inside out. Is that what you want?] [No, Mick, I wouldn''t have you do that,] Lana thought to him. [So, why do I have a strange morality?] [Because to us, it would be more acceptable to rip him to pieces than to put him to sleep.] [But to burn him?] [Not acceptable.] [I hope he appreciates the distinction when he wakes up, then.] [So do I.] [So... back to my question.] [You asked a lot of questions,] Lana pointed out. [How much does age difference matter to you?] [I don''t need your help in finding a husband,] Lana thought, annoyed. [I know, I know, you had so many suitors before I turned up.] [You know I didn''t] [Why not? You''re a very nice person.] [I''m also a very dangerous person. I don''t ''fit in the mould'' as I think you say. You might have noticed.] [None of your kind fit the mould, you change shape too easily.] [Did I get it wrong?] [No. I just don''t understand why you consider yourself so different to other women.] [I''m no nurturer.] [Oh, of course not, mum. Who do you think you''re fooling?] [I have principles. Lots of principles.] [What''s wrong with having principles?] [I will not chase a male as if my only purpose in life is to find a mate. I will not become a subservient home-maker.] [Oh. Is that the expected path? Get married and bang, no more career?] [Some think it should be that way.] [I bet a few of the women genuinely like that idea, and the men they say it to think they speak for all of the women, who tell everyone and hold them up as examples, and their voice gets heard, and so on. Let me point out that my Sathie made my ship for me, and I expect her to continue building ships and making other beautifully complicated machines after we marry. Assuming she''s not so disgusted by my current state that she doesn''t want to marry me. But actually, she''s a bit odd too. Among us Mer, it is normally the men who hunt, and the women are the fighters. A woman who doesn''t like the thought of cutting up sharks is fairly odd. I heard that, by the way.] [What?] [You hoping Kalak is more interested in truth than being a shark.] [You want me to get used to the idea of a suitor, don''t you?] [Look, Lana, I''d much rather he was your friend than your enemy. That way no one gets hurt, and you don''t get lonely when I''m not there to talk to when you wake up in the night.] [I''m not going to just marry the first person who shows an interest, Mick.] [Good. Make sure you only marry someone with a living faith in God, for instance. Oh, Kalak fits that. Has Kalak shown an interest?] [I do not have to answer that,] Lana thought firmly. [True, but I''d rather I heard it from your deliberate thought, that way you know I know it.] [Maybe I should just reject you here and now?] [Sorry, Lana. I''m being too curious, aren''t I?] [Yes.] [Sorry.] [And you have a very nasty habit of telling people things that shouldn''t be blurted.] [Lana, if people make decisions about me I hear them, or about you since what affects you affects me. It''s part of my ability as a thought-hearer. I really don''t understand how it works cross-species, and so on. But then I don''t understand how I can understand your thoughts either. Anyway, I have taken a vow that I won''t share what I hear, but that doesn''t mean I can''t react to them.] [You''ve heard Kalak decide something about me?] [I may not reveal it if I have, Lana.] Mick looked down. [He''s keeping up with you well, though, isn''t he?] Ground / Ch. 12: Personal history

Ground / Ch. 12: Personal history

The forest, North of the city, Ground Half way to Lana''s favourite viewpoint, she was getting bored at the speed they were going at. [Would it be cruel of me to see how fast Kalak can run?] she asked Mick. [I don''t know what the normal behaviour is, Lana, when male person and female person here are testing out the other''s suitability, health, dedication, and so on. But my lungs can breath quite a bit faster if you want more oxygen.] [You mean you think I''d be ''showing off'', as you put it?] [Wouldn''t you?] Mick asked. [I just want to get there faster, and away from your persistent match making.] [Why not ask him if he can comfortably go faster, then?] Mick suggested. ¡°Kalak, how is this speed?¡± Lana called. ¡°I heard a rumour you flew with a predator across the city,¡± he panted, ¡°I begin to believe it.¡± ¡°For my niece''s wedding. It wasn''t a whole one, or all the way across the city.¡± ¡°You''re not,¡± he gasped, ¡°even breathing hard!¡± ¡°A second set of lungs is helpful,¡± Lana said. ¡°I don''t need to stop talking to keep on breathing. If you tire, I can go slower, I suppose. I have not changed my wings in several months. My muscle organisms are, I believe reaching peak efficiency, and my circulatory system can provide them with a constant flow of well-oxygenated blood.¡± ¡°You sound like that is rare.¡± ¡°You know that when you first change you are weakest. It is not just that you have expended a lot of energy in the change, but also your muscle organisms are not fully aligned. Some pull in the wrong direction, or they do not all pull at the same time. Your blood-vessel organisms cannot simply flow like muscle or bone organisms, they must retreat and shrink before they expand and branch. So to begin with they are delivering blood to the wrong region, and often they must grow new organisms.¡± She saw him stop, and look at her in shock. ¡°I didn''t know that.¡± ¡°Is it so surprising?¡± ¡°I thought... blood is available everywhere in our bodies.¡± ¡°Of course it is, but it it not oxygenated everywhere.¡± ¡°No, It makes perfect sense, I just hadn''t thought of it. You have studied biology?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said, and looked at him again, ¡°How have you not heard?¡± ¡°Not heard what?¡± ¡°About my reasons for leaving the department of frontier biology?¡± ¡°Frontier biology? What''s that?¡± ¡°Seeing what our organisms are really capable of. For example, did you know that our skin organisms can extract oxygen from water? Not much, but enough to keep us alive, if we do not thrash about. That was one of my early findings. It explains some of the strange stories of sailors who were lost from their ships and manage to return home even without growing gills. Academician Kalak, just what did you suspect me of?¡± ¡°I did not know. I still don''t.¡± ¡°But you are suspicious.¡± ¡°You appeared, it seemed, from no-where. You have two heads, suddenly Lak calls you his sister, you fly where others walk, you show unnatural stamina in flight, unnatural strength too.¡± ¡°And you spend all of your spare time watching plays or reading silly books about aliens. You thought perhaps I was not from this planet? Why then are you coming with me?¡± ¡°I am too curious.¡± ¡°You said I appeared from nowhere. Where were you eight harvests ago?¡± ¡°Urm. In prison.¡± ¡°Prison?¡± ¡°I overreacted when someone moved my telescope.¡± ¡°And that got you sent to jail?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How badly did you overreact?¡± ¡°If you were at the University nine harvests ago, you have probably heard of the case, academician. I now follow the One, my name has been changed, I would rather not dwell on who I was. And... and I wish to thank you for acknowledging the attack the other night, and for interrupting my change to war form.¡± Lana remembered the case. [Did I hear you decide his name used to be Unf?] Mick asked. [Yes. Two young students thought it would be funny to ruin his night''s observations. It was not just any night, but a rare event, when the sister planet passed in front of a star. They ran away laughing, he caught up with them in war form. He cut their legs from under them, and then stamped their bodies together mixing their organisms with each other and with dirt.] [That''s not nice.] [It was actually quite mild compared to what he might have done,] Lana thought, then asked ¡°What do you think would have happened if I hadn''t?¡± ¡°I hope the God we serve would have rebuked me or struck me dead, academician Lana, before I let rage overcome me. But if I had fully entered war form...¡± ¡°You would not have been conscious of anything but your rage. And the courts would not have been lenient this time, Kalak.¡± [What is war form? I thought it was just another shape?] Mick asked. [In war form, the skull grows spikes, outside and then inside. They strengthen our skull with internal rods of bone, so a predator cannot easily crush our skulls, but there is impairment of thought. Recovery takes some years. Also muscles react differently. More power, less control. You saw how Unth was, when he switched into it.] ¡°I have no doubt you are correct,¡± Kalak said, ¡°Now you know my shame.¡± ¡°I have not changed my name. My shame, my pain, is is linked to the fate of Unth, who I believe you will have met as he has done some cleaning work in the observatory.¡± ¡°I know Unth. And Lak told me of his experiment. He never told me who else was involved. That was in frontier biology?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And Lak is your brother?¡± ¡°Yes. We had not spoken for years until recently. He did not approve of what I was trying to do.¡± ¡°What were you trying to do?¡± ¡°At that time? I had been researching multi-cellular organisms, how their brains work.¡± ¡°By... enveloping them?¡± Kalak asked, as another tirade from Lak against the biologists dropped into his memory. ¡°Yes. It takes a lot of skin organisms, but yes.¡± ¡°And then digesting their skin.¡± ¡°And muscles, yes. The abilities of our simple ancestors lie within us still.¡± ¡°I am sure that sends shivers up the spines of the predators. It does me.¡± ¡°It is not fast. We have better ways of consuming them now.¡± ¡°And the animals you enveloped did not fight?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°I tranquillized them. Most males think they cannot generate the necessary chemicals, but it is not so complicated.¡± ¡°And then you just got the data you needed as you dissolved them and then spat out the bones, like the slime creatures?¡± ¡°I am conscious. I was able to stop the process. Eventually, I hosted a half-grown predator long enough get a grip on its language, before Unth decided to ask me to host him. You know Una? Lak''s wife?¡± ¡°I''ve met her.¡± ¡°She had been associated with the research until that point, part time, since she also had a podling to look after. She said it was a very bad idea for me to try to host Unth, and left, refusing to be associated with it. But Unth was the senior researcher, and I was proud from my success with the predators, and foolish, and didn''t listen to her. Now I work to assess the risks of other people''s research, and Unth hardly has a mind and cleans floors and tries to kill me if he sees me or catches my scent.¡± A twig snapped in the undergrowth. ¡°But I think we should move on,¡± Lana said, ¡°This is not the territory of any predator tribe, but there are some outcasts around.¡± ¡°I am too tired to change much,¡± Kalak said, somewhat scared. ¡°Save your energy. If a predator attacks us, it''s dead. I just don''t want the hassle of butchering it properly, or to leave it on the path here to attract others.¡± ¡°You are very confident,¡± Kalak said. ¡°They smell fear, but I am not afraid. And if you are not afraid then the intelligent ones live,¡± Lana said. She turned towards where the noise had come from and imitated the sound of a predator''s snarl. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Leave or die.¡± ¡°You challenged it?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°No, it was not a challenge, it was the sound that a senior female makes to a junior.¡± ¡°But might not the junior retaliate?¡± ¡°I smelt hunger and uncertainty. It is not a confident senior female. If it wishes to live, it will leave. If it is too hungry, then we cannot do much except kill it. I will fly just beside you. If one does attack, drop to the ground and do not get in the way, OK? I have been practising mostly with my right hand but with my left also.¡± ¡°To do what?¡± ¡°You will see, if there is a foolish predator. Mick the alien does not want me hurt.¡± [You''re right about that.] Mick said. [You still don''t want me to say anything?]If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [No.] [If it does come on the left, just turn, can you, like last time?] [Yes.] They kept on walking. ¡°You have an unusually acute sense of smell.¡± ¡°Compared to a male?¡± ¡°Compared to anyone I know.¡± ¡°My mother, grandmother and great grandmother all worked in frontier biology. I have inherited their organisms and their skills.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°I wonder, Kalak... You seem unusual, adventurous. These are not common traits. You are a unique individual, I think.¡± ¡°You make it that sound like an advantage.¡± ¡°Your parents mixed?¡± ¡°My parents... were religious extremists. They believed it a sign of pride to dictate the characteristics of podlings. Yes, I am a mixling.¡± ¡°And you rejected their faith?¡± ¡°Until I was in jail, yes.¡± ¡°How long were you there?¡± ¡°Four years.¡± ¡°And you have totally recovered from war form?¡± ¡°Does anyone totally recover? It comes over me easily, as you saw. I cannot blame war-form for obsessing about aliens, as you say, I''ve spent a lot of time reading fantasy books and watching silly plays. Before I started wondering if you were an alien, I... I wanted to thank you: you were kind when you gagged me, Academician Lana, frustrated with me, but still kind.¡± ¡°It is my hope, Academician Kalak, that this journey ends with both of us breathing, and neither of us heading towards prison or worse.¡± ¡°Calling the aliens is dangerous? Illegal?¡± ¡°All knowledge is dangerous, Academician, if misunderstood or misapplied. Look at Unth. Is it legal of me to have spoken to aliens? Is it legal of me to carry an alien tool? No one has told me it is not, but perhaps it is illegal for a reason I do not know. Will you attack me? Will you threaten my existence? Will you, learning a little more of what is in that sphere, seek to master it even though you have no way to do so, and so crack mountains? Are you that curious? If you were to become that curious, would it not be better for me to kill you before you did, since your curiosity might cover the world in unstable isotopes?¡± ¡°The sphere contains unstable isotopes?¡± ¡°No. I am told using unstable isotopes as a power source is dangerous and messy. This is more dangerous, but not as messy, unless the sphere is broken.¡± ¡°The suns, I believe,¡± Kalak said, ¡°make Helium. I do not understand how this is, but I have observed that most suns have Hydrogen and yet the largest suns have none, or only a little, but have a lot of Helium.¡± ¡°You do not think, then that they give up energy from their collapse?¡± ¡°It is not enough.¡± ¡°Ah. I misinformed the aliens about what you astronomers thought. I am told you are right, that the difference in mass between four Hydrogens and Helium is the power of suns.¡± ¡°The power of suns is the energy contained in the sphere?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°No. It contains something which destroys mass.¡± ¡°That is impossible!¡± ¡°So is what I have just done.¡± ¡°What have you done?¡± ¡°Told you enough of my history and my studies that you could guess the truth, without you trying to kill me.¡± ¡°Why should I try to kill you?¡± ¡°For hosting Mick, here,¡± Lana said. Kalak stopped walking, and stared. Mick turned to him and said, ¡°Hi, I''m what''s left of a multi-cellular organism. I needed a supply of oxygenated blood, Lana needed protein and so on, and here we are today. And as you can guess I''m not from round here. Take the speed of light, square it and multiply it by the difference in mass, and you get a stupidly big number in units that say energy. Assuming you''ve got a consistent set of units, anyway. Bang hydrogen together hard enough you get Helium which doesn''t weigh quite as much, and that''s the energy that powers stars. The sphere on the ship contains a certain stuff that when it gets in contact with normal atoms, reacts so you get nothing but stupid amounts of energy. Not stupid compared to the output of a star, of course, but stupid compared how much you want instantly released near any city or mountain you care about. Did you want me to shut up now, Lana?¡± ¡°I think so, yes.¡± ¡°Sorry, Lana. One more thing to say. You''re right, Kalak, Lana is kind. That didn''t stop her digesting my muscles and spitting out the bones, though, so be careful.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that, Mick?¡± Lana asked. ¡°You can be entirely ruthless when you see the need to be, beloved sister. I don''t think you made a bad decision, but... maybe I am wrong. I see kind people as being in two groups, those who on seeing an injured herd creature would do all they do all they can to help it recover, even if they were quite sure that their care would be wasted, and the other group, who would kindly examine the beast and on determining that its injuries would not let it survive, makes sure that it does not suffer for long and the flesh does not go to waste. I see you in the second group.¡± ¡°Is that meant to be a criticism, or a compliment?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Neither, just an observation,¡± Mick said. ¡°And which group do you put yourself in?¡± ¡°The sort who is neither expert enough to know if an injured creature can recover nor persistent enough to look after one. The sort of person who would ask you for your advice, wield the knife if needed, and ask someone like Kana to care for it if you thought it would live.¡± ¡°But you would not ask me to care for it?¡± Lana asked. ¡°You would do an excellent job, and probably learn its language so you could have a conversations with it, but I think Kana would gain a great deal of pleasure in sitting up late into the night fussing over it, and go to visit it in the field after it had recovered. Not to mention persuade Lak to take light-pictures of it so she can put them on her wall beside her own sketches.¡± Lana laughed, ¡°I suppose you do know us quite well, don''t you? Kalak, our little discussion has given you time to think, I hope.¡± ¡°What can I think? Must I think you have brought me here not to meet aliens but because you plan to threaten me?¡± ¡°No. But because this is my favourite spot. Aren''t the views of the city beautiful?¡± ¡°It would be a good good place for an observatory,¡± Kalak said, looking at the expanse of sky. ¡°Well, maybe over that way a bit.¡± ¡°That''s just where it was,¡± Lana said. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°The observatory, before the wars. This is the edge of observatory hill.¡± ¡°But... but the location of the old observatory is a mystery.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± Lana asked. ¡°No one ever told me that, sorry. My grandfather told me there was a lovely view from up here once and told me the name. Want to go and see them?¡± ¡°What do you mean by ''see them''?¡± ¡°The remains of the observatory. I spotted them when I was flying around up here last time.¡± ¡°May I ask, does Lak know this?¡± ¡°I''m not sure. I remember asking grandad where a good place to see the whole city was, and he said observatory hill, and pointed it out to me. It might have been before Lak was podded.¡± ¡°You are older than Lak?¡± ¡°Yes. I''m his disreputable thirty-five year old big sister.¡± ¡°I''m sorry. I''d assumed....¡± ¡°I was a flighty twenty-something?¡± ¡°You look rather good at flying to me. I never was a flyer.¡± ¡°Flying is not very energy efficient, but it is fast. And you are avoiding the subject.¡± ¡°Am I? I thought the question was whether I''d decide you were guilty of podling-withholding or of some other despicable crime.¡± ¡°If I separate from Mick with some of my organisms, he would be my podling, would he not?¡± ¡°In some senses, I suppose. But it is different. Podling-withholding is preventing a podling from leaving. Mick does not wish to leave, I presume?¡± ¡°I have no blood except Lana''s. If she just spat me out, I would die, and I have no desire to die.¡± ¡°But you could leave with some of Lana''s organisms.¡± ¡°Cripple Lana by taking half of her organisms with me? What thanks would that be?¡± ¡°Such a major budding would probably extend her life.¡± Kalak said. ¡°And when my immune system is regrown and tries to destroy the organisms Lana has given me? Then what?¡± ¡°It''ll almost certainly fail,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°Does a predator not fear the touch of a slime creature except at its mouth?¡± ¡°You have mentioned slime creatures before,¡± Mick said, ¡°But I do not know what they are.¡± ¡°They are multi-organism collaborations,¡± Lana said. ¡°Brainless, but hungry. The predators have enzymes that kill them on contact, but even a small slime-creature, just tens of organisms, that got into the wound of a predator would eventually consume it.¡± ¡°What would one do to you?¡± ¡°My organisms would recognise it as an invader and either expel it or consume it.¡± ¡°What would one do to my sister or her colleagues?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Possibly the same as to a predator.¡± ¡°Next question, how quickly would one consume the predator?¡± ¡°Expect each organism will consume its own mass in maybe two hours, and then reproduce.¡± ¡°And the predator just goes somewhere to die when it gets a slime creature infection?¡± ¡°They might, if it''s a big slime creature, or they can''t get to it with their teeth. If they realise what''s happening, they bite it out. The problem with that is that they then have a much bigger wound, ready for the next slime-creature they meet.¡± ¡°Last question,¡± Mick said, ¡°Nothing you''ve said tells me I''m safe from one. Are there any around?¡± ¡°Not near here, no. And before you ask, not near the desert, either. But there are slime creatures in the grasslands. And another type in the sea. They can get quite big.¡± ¡°Quite big meaning how big?¡± ¡°Big enough that nothing bothers them, except us.¡± ¡°You?¡± ¡°Not as tasty as predator or young herd animal, but the sea ones are OK if you''re hungry.¡± ¡°We can eat the land ones too, of course,¡± Kalak added, ¡°But it''s best to fry them in thin strips, otherwise there might be some organisms left alive.¡± Mick heard Kalak decide not to keep secrets, and then he added ¡°I learned that in the war.¡± ¡°You learned that in the war?¡± Lana said, staring at Kalak. ¡°I am quite old, young Lana. Quite old indeed. And rather forgetful about some things. Thank you for reminding me where the old observatory was.¡± Lana said, ¡°Back at the university, you said that your great grandfather was at the death-bed of the prophet.¡± ¡°I know, that was a lie, I''m afraid; it was me, before I first entered war form. War form alters so much, it''s like I was another person. My parents were real extremists, you see; I was barely out of podling school, and they sent me to kill the prophet before he uttered any more prophesies. I heard that one, though, before he died. He knew I''d come to kill him, and he said it would be better for my soul if he just stopped breathing. And then he did, after saying his last prophesy.¡± ¡°Kalak, Lana has told me that it is rare for your people to live even sixty years.¡± ¡°Oh, it is,¡± Kalak agreed. ¡°You want to know why I''m still alive? All I can attribute it to is that I''ve wanted to live. There''s always been more to find out, new and interesting things to study, rare phenomena I''ve wanted to see. Too curious, I told you.¡± ¡°Your past experience of war-form is how you avoided killing the youths?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I suppose so. Yes, probably. I remember thinking that they just needed to be made an example of and learn a lesson, not that they should be killed. My father really did not like disrespect. He would have crushed their heads.¡± ¡°That is how war-form attacks normally end,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°You''ve made a study of that too?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°I have, yes. Unth enters war form when he smells me nearby. Well, he''s done it twice.¡± ¡°You''d better stay well away from him then. Does he say anything as he changes?¡± ¡°Yes. He shouts, ''destroy her mind''.¡± ¡°Oh dear. Why isn''t he getting jailed for attacking people? Who''s protecting him?¡± ¡°Me,¡± Lana said. ¡°You think you are being kind? He will not recover.¡± ¡°You are an expert?¡± ¡°I was instructed how to enter war form, Lana. Spontaneous change is more dangerous. There is only one driving thought in war form, only one. If people enter war-form with a cry of ''destroy the threat'' because a predator has entered the village and is chasing down the podlings, then the predator going away is not enough to satisfy. The attacking predator must be killed before the people in war-form can return to normal, normally the entire predator''s pack. If one pack-member survives, then seeing the pack markings is enough to bring back the war form because the war-thought remains. The change is not Unth''s decision any more, it''s his war-thought and is etched into his bone-organisms.¡± ¡°I know that.¡± ¡°And I know he will not recover.¡± Kalak said. ¡°Surely, you cannot know that,¡± Lana insisted. ¡°I first entered war-form to stop the disrespect. That is my war-thought. Because of my training, because my war-thought was carefully chosen, I can choose how to stop the disrespect, I can let, for example, a kind University Safety officer stop others showing disrespect for me and tell me that me changing would be disrespect for university rules. That was very clever, by the way. But even then, I can''t ignore disrespect. I cannot teach, because students tend towards disrespect and if there is disrespect, I change. I can know, kind one, that Unth will not recover, unless there is a miracle. I have had almost a hundred and fifty years of trying.¡± ¡°And my describing your colleagues as podlings was not disrespect?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I personally found it entirely accurate. Not to mention funny. Look after your friend, Mick the alien. She is a rare one.¡± ¡°Who will look after her when I am no longer joined to her?¡± Mick asked. Noticing the sound of cracking twigs, he reached for his rock-cutter. ¡°That is my question.¡± A predator, probably the lone female from earlier, chose that moment to break cover. It was at it''s lumbering top speed within a few bounds, but it had too much ground to cover to catch them by surprise. Its puzzlement at their failure to run did not last long, as the rock-cutter sliced through its legs long before it reached the half-way point. Mick adjusted the cutting depth control with his thumb and tried to cut off its head, but the angle was wrong and its thrashing meant the cutter removed first one side of the head, then the jaw and then the top of its head. ¡°Sorry for the mess, Lana, Kalak,¡± Mick said, ¡°I intended that to be a clean cut.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°A tool my people invented for making beautiful furniture out of rock. As you saw can make holes in other things too. Technically, it does not cut, it rips molecules into dust and gas.¡± ¡°And that was to be my fate?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°It depends,¡± Mick said, ¡°If you''d tried to attack Lana, then I would have defended her with this, since I''ve nothing else to protect her with. If you''d tried to attack me, I think I''d persuaded her that injecting you with something to make you sleep was better than me burning away your organisms.¡± ¡°And if I say that I must report the existence of this... alien death-ray?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Because it is proof.¡± ¡°Proof of what?¡± Lana pressed further. ¡°That you wish us no harm.¡± ¡°I do not understand the logic,¡± Mick said. ¡°You have the ability to kill, but you do not. That is different to being harmless messengers.¡± ¡°I think, Kalak, that there are better proofs,¡± Lana said. ¡°Are there?¡± ¡°Yes. The little probe rescuing Jakav, for instance. Or the way that it melted a strip of sand to glass to try to keep the predators away. Those ought to be good proofs. The fact that you paid them no attention means that no single report is going to be believed, and I do not want you to face disrespect. Especially if I''m not there to keep the situation under control.¡± ¡°You are kind, once again, Lana?¡± ¡°I am greedy, Kalak.¡± ¡°Greedy?¡± ¡°Yes. I have had a good companion in Mick here. And maybe... I do not know, but maybe I will soon be separating from him. I find myself thinking that companionship is not such a bad thing in this uncertain life.¡± ¡°And you would think a worn out specimen such as myself would make a good companion?¡± ¡°You arouse my curiosity, Kalak.¡± ¡°Ah. Now that I understand. You arouse mine also, Lana.¡± ¡°But, for the moment, would you like to investigate the old observatory first, or shall we see if we can attract some alien attention?¡±
Ground / Ch. 13: Rescue party

Ground / Ch. 13: Rescue party

Space ¡°Rodger,¡± Maggie called over the intercom, ¡°are you busy?¡± ¡°I can talk.¡± ¡°We have detected what looks distinctly like a rescue flare on the planet surface.¡± ¡°No chance it''s a natural phenomena?¡± ¡°Not very likely.¡± ¡°You think it might be your brother and the alien biologist?¡± ¡°Yes. I''ve no idea what, if anything, has been decided; James has been spending night and day trying to analyse the language from first principles.¡± ¡°Why, when there''s an interpreter trying to get in contact?¡± ¡°Why do people do anything? If nothing else, it''s his favourite intellectual pastime, he doesn''t want to cheat, or look at the answers at the end of the book until he''s had a decent stab at coming up with some of his own.¡± ¡°Oh. OK. I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°Also, he''s thinking that regrowth will take time, and if we rely upon Mick too much then we''ll be at a total loss if it turns out you need to anaesthetize him for a month, or something like that.¡± ¡°That also makes sense, yes. I''ll just finish adjusting Barbara''s therapy for today, then I''ll be free for whatever is needed.¡± Maggie closed the connection, and looked at the probe''s video feed. Fortunately, Mick had turned off the flare, so it wasn''t being totally dazzled now. ¡°Sathie?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Your call, do you want to watch the approach? I''m currently looking at a hillside above the city.¡± ¡°What I''d really like to do is go down there myself.¡± ¡°Tempting, isn''t it?¡± ¡°We know that Mick''s been fine living on Lana''s shoulder for the past six years. Why do we need quarantine?¡± ¡°Because he''s not got his own blood. What if there''s something that would destroy your red blood-cells?¡± ¡°You took that risk.¡± ¡°I was wearing a helmet all the time, just in case.¡± ¡°OK. Deal!¡± Maggie groaned, ¡°I walked into that one, didn''t I? Go on, then. But a total decontamination before you step out of the ship and when you get back in, and if there''s any problem you''re in quarantine for maybe a month.¡± ¡°Thank you, Maggie!¡± ¡°The probe is on channel fifty-six. Fly safely.¡± ¡°I intend to.¡±
Ground, Observatory hill ¡°Hi Mick, hello Lana, if you understand me,¡± the voice sounded from the little probe. ¡°Maggie? Is that really you?¡± Mick asked. ¡°In the disembodied voice. Sathie is in the little dot that your friend is watching, and under strict instructions not to remove her helmet, just in case.¡± ¡°That''s not a bad idea. As you see, we''ve got some predators around here, too.¡± ¡°I noticed. What did you do to its face?¡± ¡°It was rolling around after I de-legged it. So much for a clean kill. It was on a kill or be-killed attack plan, so I''m claiming self-defence and defence of others.¡± ¡°OK, I''m sure the pictures of its brains will keep someone happy. You''re certain it was a do-or-die attack?¡± ¡°Lana has studied them, and can understand their language. It was starving and half-mad.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°Starving, because you can see its ribcage, half-mad, because it tried what should have been a surprise attack from thirty meters away instead of three. Plus of course she''d warned it to get lost or die, but it still attacked.¡± ¡°She''d warned it?¡± ¡°You learn something new every day. Lana not only understands them, she can talk predator too, but communication doesn''t stop them from eating each other, so I guess it''s fair they still think Lana makes a good meal. Oh, spread the word, Maggie, in case I forget. There are some nasties around in the grasslands and the sea. Multi-organism, brainless, hungry, cooperations called ''slime creatures'' that are OK fried and not that dangerous if you''re a multi-organism creature but if you''re a multi-cellular organism and they get into a wound they''ll try to eat you up. Generation time is about two hours, during which time they consume their own mass. The preds resort to self-surgery by teeth if they can.¡± ¡°No swimming then?¡± ¡°I don''t think so. A sharp knife probably won''t help much against a brainless slime creature that eats whatever it can. You''d probably just give yourself extra problems if you sliced it up.¡± ¡°How big do they get?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Sometimes they are long and thin,¡± Lana replied, ¡°exploring for food. Other times they are balls, digesting. As a ball, they might be the size of a village house. If they are too hungry, they bud and the budlings swim until they find a meal. If the budlings do not find food, their organisms start to die, and the living consume the dead, and on they swim. There are swimming multicellular sea creatures that will try to eat them, at that stage.¡± Mick was shocked: ¡°I thought you didn''t speak English?¡± ¡°I told you I''ve been learning. You decided a few weeks ago you wanted me to learn, and your mind is a good teacher.¡± ¡°And you''ve learned that much in a few weeks?¡± ¡°No, of course not. But your mind told me what to say.¡± ¡°I need to start paying more attention to what you''re thinking again, don''t I?¡± ¡°Don''t you trust me, Mick?¡± Lana asked, in her mother tongue. ¡°I''m remembering you once told me I was an experiment, and you talking to my brain behind my back is just a bit creepy.¡± ¡°I thought you knew, Mick. Sorry.¡± In the pause Kalak said, ¡°I do not understand how that ship stays up,¡± ¡°It makes the gravity flux look the other way,¡± Mick said. Then looked at Lana, ¡°How did I know the expression ''gravity flux''?¡± ¡°Fair is fair, Mick. To help me learn your language, I moved some memory organisms so they can talk to your brain. They are collaborating, just as they should.¡± ¡°That''s how you learned to speak predator?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Yes,¡± ¡°And did the predator find it could understand you?¡± ¡°It had a simple brain. It''s thoughts were about attack and defence, about territory, how to get to places. It didn''t want to communicate with me, it wanted to get home to its pack or failing that, kill me. It might have found my spacial memory, if the experiment had carried on longer.¡± ¡°You ended it?¡± ¡°I had to expel it,¡± Lana said, ¡°It was trying to take over my eyes and mouth and make me bite myself to death.¡± ¡°Anything Sathie needs to know before she lands?¡± Maggie called from the probe. ¡°That while I can cope with Lana and her people without clothes on, I really hope she is properly dressed.¡± ¡°Oh, I don''t think you''ll complain on that front, Mick.¡± ¡°Is there some other front I''ll complain about?¡± ¡°Yes. The five minute decon once she''s landed, me interrupting your reunion, and numerous people wondering how to get you into your own body. Rodger the regrowth therapist ought to be available for discussions in about three minutes.¡± ¡°I have been making assumptions,¡± Lana said, ¡°But I don''t really think discussions are what is needed.¡± ¡°No?¡± Mick asked. ¡°I need to know what chemicals and enzymes and so on are involved in regrowth, Mick, and if they will harm my organisms. And you know that your wonderful knowledge of chemical structure is mostly useless to me.¡± ¡°You need to taste the chemicals?¡± Mick asked, in Lana''s language. Lana replied in Mer, ¡°Yes. And then we can made decisions if it is better if I regrow you, he does while you''re attached to me, or if we separate.¡± ¡°I noticed what you did there, Lana,¡± Mick said. ¡°Did you, Maggie? She''s going to speak to you in fluent ancient Hebrew or something next.¡± ¡°How? You never learned to speak it fluently,¡± Maggie said. ¡°So those are the options?¡± ¡°Or James gets to decapitate me, yes.¡± ¡°I do not like that option,¡± Lana said, again in Mer. ¡°Me neither,¡± Mick wholeheartedly agreed. ¡°I mean,¡± Lana continued, ¡°I''ve been carrying around all this extra mass, on the assumption it''s going to be useful one day...¡± ¡°Maggie, as you might have noticed, Lana is quite a funny person. Please tell me that you have some way of letting us on board.¡± ¡°You''re serious?¡± ¡°Yes. Kalak found my ship, and the inscription, by triangulating on the probe''s path. Others might do too. Furthermore, Lana''s previous field research has a reputation for dabbling in very dangerous and morally questionable things. Individually, so far we''ve been able to convince people that she''s a good person. But you know what crowds can be like. And as of last month the traditions party is in government, so she''s in an even more precarious position.¡± ¡°''Traditions party''?¡± ¡°Expect political sciences departments to go crazy. Revolving government on a semi-fixed cycle. Each party gets something like twenty changes to law they can make before its swap time. The traditions party prefer stability and time-honoured solutions, the progress party like novelty, and the reason party prefer things that promote health, education and knowledge. There''s some popular voice element, because if a certain number of people agree on a measure then up to two laws in a cycle can be declared the people''s choice in which case they don''t count.¡± ¡°So a party happy with the status quo stays in power indefinitely?¡± ¡°No, because it''s more complicated than that,¡± Lana said, ¡°The other parties can call a popular vote to end the cycle early, and there''s also a cost to staying in power. Members of the party in power have no income. So tradition party members are poor and have power for longer, the progress party are rich, because they plan most of their decisions before they''re in power and rarely stay in power more than half a year. And some policies change back and forward and back and forward until one party ¡ª normally the reason party ¡ª makes a pair of interlocking laws which refer to each other and each of them pleases a different one of the other parties. It would take three changes to cancel them and put back the law that they approve of, so they''d need to think hard about doing that. Especially since their opponents could easily undo it.¡± ¡°And you think the traditions party won''t approve of you hosting Mick?¡± ¡°Let''s ask Kalak what he thinks,¡± Mick suggested. Lana did. ¡°I expect they would say it is obvious that frontier biology has once again put the whole race in danger, kind one, declare all such hostings to be wrong-podding, and try to claim that there is no need for a change of law because wrong-podding has always been punishable by death.¡± Mick translated, adding ¡°Wrong podding is when a female takes organisms from a dead male and pods with them, that''s to say makes a child.¡± ¡°How....?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Technically the male is only legally dead when his organisms have started to separate, so a wife can pod with her husband after he''s had a catastrophic head injury, as long as she''s quick. But the accusation is easily made and very hard to defend against, unless there''s a witnesses to him starting to separate.¡± ¡°May I ask, what happens to the organisms when they separate?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°They are no longer the person they were, they are lost, without direction, and collaboration ceases. They seek to hide in the soil, first the muscle organisms, lastly the bone organisms. Larger scavengers would consume them if they stayed on the surface, but the small creatures will consume them eventually. A podling formed with organisms that have known such loss does not react well to stress. Especially not the bone organisms. They are dangerous to themselves and others, and if the stress is bad enough then wrong-podded organisms will fully enclose the brain organisms trying to protect them. It causes brain damage, and bone-organisms will stop even bloodflow. Thus the death penalty applies for making such a podling.¡± ¡°But you are not making a podling with Mick.¡± ¡°Am I not? If I separate from him leaving a being with some of my organisms and some of his, all here would call that being my podling, and I find you would call him a chimera, a monster. And Mick''s body was certainly not in one piece when I joined with him. I have no desire to be tried for wrong-podding, or podling-withholding. I could also be accused of other things, like eating a person. Mick is forgiving, but not everyone will be, I''m sure.¡± ¡°So the sooner you separated from Mick, the better?¡± ¡°Probably. But even then, accusations might come. You will forgive me, I hope, Magdalena, if having saved your brother from certain death, I now do all I can to become indispensable to you, and hide behind your protection.¡± ¡°If only she knew the concept, I expect Lana would like to claim asylum,¡± Mick said. ¡°Oh thanks, Mick,¡± Maggie replied, ¡°A potential diplomatic crisis before we''ve even got diplomacy; lovely. I am suddenly very glad that Sathie''s not in that ship alone.¡± ¡°She''s not?¡± ¡°No, Gran''s on board too, apparently. Ah, and Rodger is here.¡± ¡°Hello Rodger,¡± Mick said, ¡°Speaking as a fully conscious head with lungs, most of my spinal column, liver, and other bits Lana considered to be of scientific interest, without many muscles below the neck, let alone any guts, skin, heart or even my own blood, what would you say the prognosis would be if she just spat me out into your care?¡± ¡°About five seconds before brain-death if you''re conscious. If I somehow first put you into a coma and dropped your temperature to about just above freezing, then maybe we''d have an hour to connect some blood vessels for you, and plumb you into an artificial heart. The surgeon would probably prefer to have about six hours. If the operation was successful and we managed to wake you up... Well, after six years of your accident? I''ve got the equipment to do it, but your chances of regrowing everything properly would be about thirty percent. And it would take about five years of intense pain while the nerves regrow.¡± ¡°Lana''s kept quite a lot of my nerves,¡± Mick said. ¡°And various glands too,¡± Lana added. ¡°I can regrow bones and cartilage, they''re relatively easy in fact. But I can''t regrow them in situ around living nerve cells. There''s no way to do that I know of.¡± ¡°But couldn''t you grow them with a slot or something for the nerves and then let the bones heal over the top?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Do you know what you''re asking?¡± Rodger asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I didn''t think so. But I suppose I could grow you some bones and then let the surgeon at them with his power tools. That might work. Getting them in place without damaging the nerves, though...¡± ¡°Is not hard at all,¡± Lana said. ¡°I move bones around in myself anytime I change. What is hard is knowing if the chemicals you use are poison.¡± ¡°I can tell you the formulae.¡± ¡°Useless to me. Maybe a chemist can make sense of them.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Lana''s organisms can decode enzymes and analyse hormones, Rodger, but it''s a translation problem.¡± Lana thought to Mick and he translated it. ¡°Lana says she tell you that I make a lot of stuff that''s roughly speaking sugars, but with a bit of sparkle, and a bit of stink at the other end, and I''ve got receptors in my skin which seem to be related to how fast my beard grows. And she was really tempted once to see if she could make patterns in my beard by playing with the concentrations, but she says she wouldn''t do that. She also says she''s had to put filters to keep the high concentrations of it away from her brain organisms, because they don''t like it. Cue jokes from Maggie about finally having proof of testosterone being bad for the brain.¡± ¡°I never said a syllable,¡± Maggie replied. ¡°I was sure I heard you thinking it.¡± ¡°Your ears are working better than they used to then.¡± ¡°Probably, Lana thinks ear-wax build-up is disgustingly wasteful, and we won''t mention dead skin-cells. I don''t want to know what she does with them, but her skin organisms send out clean-up feelers every so often.¡± ¡°I was joking, Mick.¡± ¡°So was I, about hearing you. I''m used to Lana''s organisms tickling my ear-drums, but I thought it was worth making the point. They don''t have microscopes, because why would you need them other than a children''s toy, when an expert in the field can feel the molecules on the outside of a virus and tell the chemists how to adjust the vaccines?¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Rodger said, ¡°You''re telling me Lana''s people can communicate at an individual cell, sorry, organism level if they want to.¡± ¡°It''s sort of like movable and individually addressable taste buds, yes.¡± Mick agreed. ¡°Why does the ship fly like that?¡± Lana asked in her mother tongue. Mick looked up. It was coming from the opposite side of the hill to the city, maybe a kilometer away, and it was weaving left, right, up and down as though in a slalom. ¡°They are coming in over the archery camp,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Would arrows hurt the ship?¡± ¡°No,¡± Mick said. ¡°Ah. They seem to be trying to catch the arrows.¡± ¡°I''m sure Sathzakara will have a good explanation,¡± Lana said. ¡°Samples, probably.¡± Mick declared. Then asked, ¡°Lana, might an archer lose skin organisms when firing an arrow?¡± ¡°It is sad, but it happens, yes.¡± ¡°Could you tell me of the ethics concerning such organisms?¡± Mick asked. ¡°The ethics?¡± In English he asked, ¡°Would it violate ethics to study organisms that flew with an arrow? Or should they be reunited to the person they came from?¡± ¡°Ah. I understand. Every podling knows it would be a betrayal of cooperation to knowingly send organisms to their death except to save others. Soon they learn it would be betrayal of cooperation to risk organisms unless there is a very good reason. A large mass of organisms unwillingly separated from their person will keep integrity, hoping for rescue, an individual organism or small group of organisms will be lost, traumatised, certain they will die. It is not kind to prolong the life of such. But... yes, with your microscopes to see how they react, it would be ethical to try Rodger''s chemicals on them.¡± ¡°And if we find that Rodger''s chemicals make them grow and multiply?¡± ¡°There are some such chemicals, yes. Kill them quickly, burn them. You should not make a new kind of slime creature.¡± ¡°Did you catch all that, Maggie?¡± ¡°I did, thank-you Lana.¡± ¡°But the podlings would be very happy to get their arrows back,¡± Lana said, as the probe-ship silently landed, and Sathie leapt out. ¡°Hello, my beautiful Shipbuilder!¡± Mick said, ¡°I thought you were supposed to suffer five minutes of undignified decontamination?¡± ¡°I did, your Gran''s been having fun as pilot,¡± Sathie said, coming over and reaching out for Mick''s face. ¡°I''ve missed you. I''ve missed you so much.¡± ¡°I''ve missed you too, Sathzakara, and I''ve been very very annoyed with myself that I didn''t just chain you up and drag you with me.¡± ¡°Barbarian throwback. You can''t do that, Mick, you''d have been arrested.¡± ¡°I know. That''s why I didn''t. But about a week into my flight I was certain that I did love you. I''m still certain I do love my memory of you, I really want to replace that out of date memory of you with happy recent memories.¡± ¡°Six years is a long time,¡± Sathie said. ¡°I know. So, may I cover you with kisses now, or do I need to woo you with roses again?¡± ¡°Roses?¡± Sathie asked, half-outraged once more at his first gift to her. ¡°Well... technically it was sea weed, wasn''t it.¡± ¡°It was, yes. And no seaweed by another name does not smell as sweet as roses,¡± ¡°I''ve made you this, Sathie.¡± he presented her with the necklace he''d made, an interlocking chain he''d made by cutting sliver after delicate sliver from a piece of local marble. ¡°It''s local stone?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°All rock-cutter work? From a single slab?¡± ¡°Yes. There''s one piece of metal in the latch, but otherwise, yes.¡± ¡°It''s beautiful, Mick. I didn''t know you could do work this fine. And I know why it looks like its made with roses and seaweed. Thank you. Can you help me put it on? I didn''t bring anything to give you.¡± ¡°You''ve brought yourself,¡± Mick said, kissing her hand. ¡°That''s more than I hoped.¡± ¡°I hope that''s not a proposal. We need to get to know each other again.¡± ¡°I know, Sathie. But you''re here. It''s a nice planet, isn''t it?¡± ¡°It is. A bit short on swimable water, I hear.¡± ¡°That''s true. Sathzakara, can I formally introduce you to Lana? She''s about our age according to the clock, which means in relative terms, she''s almost twice our age.¡± ¡°Thank you for keeping Mick alive, Lana.¡± ¡°It has been... challenging and interesting and given me lots of nightmares. And in case you''re wondering, your presence here is doing all sorts of things to his biochemistry.¡± ¡°You don''t really surprise me. And I expect him kissing me is doing things to mine too. Don''t stop, Mick, it''s nice to be appreciated.¡± ¡°I can probably lift you by wing power more easily than hold you up with my legs, I''m afraid,¡± Lana said, as Sathie leaned into Mick''s kisses. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Mick,¡± Lana said, then added ¡°The One be with you, podling,¡± in her mother tongue. ¡°What?¡± Mick and Sathie said, both shocked. ¡°I cannot hold onto a podling.¡± Lana said to Sathie, then explained to Mick, in her native tongue ¡°You''ve just started to pull organisms away from me, Mick.¡± ¡°I have?¡± he replied, in the same language. ¡°You have. You wanted another hand, your own hand, to hold Sathzakara better.¡± ¡°But... I can''t survive on my own!¡± Mick objected. ¡°You can, my podling, I''d be a very poor mother indeed if I didn''t make sure of that.¡± ¡°But we need to make plans!¡± Mick said. ¡°You''ve made the necessary one, my podling,¡± Lana said, her voice full of pride, ¡°all that''s left now is the biological imperatives you''ve triggered. The brain organisms that helped us learn each others languages are yours now. Your desire for an hand, your exertion of selfhood, severed them from me. I''ll keep my wings, Mick. And I''ll leave you with the legs, and then I plan to make very good use of that predator carcass. You should do too, of course, but for that you''ll need to grow yourself a digestive tract, so don''t eat too much to start with.¡± ¡°This is crazy, Lana, we can''t do this, not here not now!¡± ¡°It''s done Mick,¡± Lana insisted. ¡°Congratulations on the most well-educated podling, not to mention most argumentative podling of all time, Lana,¡± Kalak said, grinning. ¡°What''s happening?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Apparently, mid-hug I half-aware decided I needed another hand to hug you with better, which Lana''s organisms have interpreted as a kid making a bid for freedom from mum. Thus making all discussions about how Lana could maybe grow me a new body null, void and irrelevant. She''s going to give me a chunk of hers instead.¡± ¡°What, here and now?¡± ¡°Process has started already, and nothing I can say or do will alter it. I hope you''re filming, Maggie.¡± ¡°What does Maggie need to film?¡± Heather asked, coming from the ship. ¡°Sathie, can you explain?¡± Mick said, ¡°I need a quick lesson in not being a parasite.¡± [Lana, how do I develop a digestive system?] [Eat, chew. Wait a bit, eat chew, wait some more, decide where you want the undigestable residue to go. Now, I''m trying to sort out your interesting bits... I''m guessing it''s going to be easier for me to move them than you, but you''ll need to learn eventually. Did you originally have them in a stomach-pouch like predators do?] [No. {embarrassed} they''re exposed, which is one reason we wear clothes.] [Hmm. I never did ask what the second tube is for.] ¡°This is too much! Now Lana''s asking me about where I want the internal and external plumbing.¡± ¡°You mean I get to choose?¡± Sathie asked, ¡°That could be interesting.¡± ¡°Not until after your wedding day, dear,¡± Heather said. ¡°Mick, have you tried giving her a memory ball?¡± ¡°Doesn''t work, nor do images. And I don''t get the feeling I''ve got time to learn how to move things myself.¡± [Nonsense. It''s not hard.] Lana said, and once she''d sat down she patiently explained how he could move the legs to his side of the body, and the wings to hers. It took him a few minutes. [Don''t worry, my podling, you''ll get faster. You meant it about the liver?] [Yes, Lana.] [Now, you remember how you felt where things were? Think about what''s inside you. Feel what shape they are, and where they are. OK?] He had no idea how, but he managed to do it. [Urm, yes. What''s that hard round thing?] [Oh, I never did ask you about that, did I? It was in one of your bones. You don''t recognise it?] [Lana, if that''s what I think it is, it''s not part of me. Well, only emotionally. And I''ve no idea how it got into a bone.] [Well, bring it to the surface and ask the skin organisms to let it out then.] [You''ve carried it around all this time?] [It wasn''t doing any harm.] ¡°Sathie, this might be gross.¡± Mick said, holding his hand to his stomach, where the thing was going to leave him. Sathie ignored his warning and looked. ¡°Really?¡± The ring wasn''t nearly as messy as he''d thought it would be. ¡°Apparently Lana thought it was part of me.¡± ¡°Well, I did say to look after it, Mick.¡± ¡°Can I put it where it belongs?¡± ¡°After it''s been in your guts?¡± ¡°I''ll wash it first opportunity.¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± ¡°But, otherwise?¡± ¡°I thought we''d just agreed we needed to do a lot of talking.¡± ¡°Oh yes. We did didn''t we. Me optimist, you sight for sore eyes.¡± ¡°By the way, Sathie,¡± Heather said, ¡°if you want to break the seal on your helmet, I won''t tell on you, and no one will come to any harm from it.¡± ¡°I heard that, Grandma,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Oh, bother, I''d forgotten about our electronic eavesdropper here. Tell you what, Maggie, why don''t you fly those arrows to the camp?¡± ¡°I thought you were going to give them to the biologists?¡± ¡°Not those ones, the crystal ones Sathie made.¡± Mick looked at Sathie, confused. ¡°I brought a little extruder with me. Apparently, it looked useful; it was. Setting it up gave me something to think about while I was getting fully decontaminated.¡± ¡°Nice touch,¡± Mick agreed. ¡°What''s crystal?¡± Lana asked. ¡°What my ship was made of,¡± Mick supplied.
Ground, archery camp ¡°Strange alien device coming, sir!¡± one of the students called out. ¡°Well no one shoot at it this time, that looks like the thing that the report said smashed a predator.¡± ¡°Why do we get top marks for hitting a space ship, but mustn''t shoot at little robots?¡± ¡°Because I didn''t think any of you would hit the spaceship.¡± ¡°Only Runth did before the spaceship started helping.¡± ¡°Yes, and Runth got ten points on his own merits, and the rest of you get ten points because I didn''t think to say you weren''t allowed help. Now get back to making arrows.¡± ¡°It''s coming closer, sir,¡± Runth said, ¡°And it''s carrying something.¡± ¡°Your eyesight''s as good as your mother''s,¡± the teacher complimented him. ¡°Thank you sir!¡± ¡°Arrows,¡± the teacher saw, increasing the magnification on his own sight. ¡°If it''s bringing back our arrows, does that mean we don''t need to make any more?¡± ¡°Of course not. I''m sure you didn''t find all the ones you shot, did you?¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± The probe flew towards where the target had been rested against the hut at the end of the lesson, tilted slightly, and turned off the forcefield. The arrows pierced the target in a gentle hiss. Perfectly centred around the pred''s-eye. The probe retreated. The first student to the target stopped, confused. ¡°The fletching is in our colours, sir, but they''re not our arrows.¡± ¡°How can you tell?¡± ¡°They''re glass.¡± ¡°Who ever heard of glass arrows?¡± ¡°No idea sir. Aliens, I guess.¡± ¡°They don''t feel like glass.¡± ¡°Absolutely straight, sir.¡± Runth added, picking his one out. ¡°The right weight and balance too.¡± ¡°Hmmph, warm glass. Just don''t cry if it shatters.¡± ¡°It''s got a hunting point, sir. Very sharp,¡± Runth added, looking at the spot of blood on his finger. ¡°Shoot rubbish training arrows and get glass hunting arrows in exchange, strange.¡± The probe suddenly dropped down to head height, and they heard, ¡°Urm, like this? Really? Oh, apparently you can hear me already. I''m academician Kalak of the astronomy department. I''ve just been told that the aliens were very happy to get your arrows, because they''ve not had anything to study that we''ve made before. I''ve explained they were just practice arrows, so you don''t need to be too ashamed of your work. The arrows they''ve given you in exchange are made from something they make their spaceships out of. It will crack if you really try to break it, but it''s harder than clearcoal, and doesn''t crack easily, so feel free to use them. ¡°The aliens have a tradition of granting names to people who do exceptional things. They''ve called me Kalak Accurate-Eyes, for instance. But it''s not really for people to call themselves, but for other people to call you. According to that custom, the person who managed to hit the spaceship without it changing its path is given the honorable name of Sureshot, and they''ve written that on your arrowshaft in their script. What''s that? Oh, one of their scripts. That''s all I''ve got to say. No it isn''t. Please don''t shoot any aliens, they''re friendly. But they are multicellular organisms and one of them has just demonstrated that she can gut a predator before it could even leap. The evidence of that encounter will be delivered to you, fairly soon.¡±
Ground, Observatory hill ¡°Very well done dealing with that predator, Gran.¡± Mick said. ¡°Slow ambling target, as befits my ageing bones. And I did get more warning than anyone else did. You aren''t in any fit state to move much, are you?¡± ¡°Err, no.¡± Mick agreed. The process of separating was almost over, Mick and Lana had no blood connection now, just an area where they both needed skin. But Mick''s lack of much of a stomach was taking its toll. He was low on blood-sugar and his skin organisms were stretched and hardly growing at all. He''d also adamantly refused any more organisms from Lana, on the basis that she''d already given him more than half her skin organisms. So they were still joined along their sides, and Mick had put any plans to move his internal organs on hold. ¡°Mick,¡± Lana said. ¡°You''re being ridiculously stubborn. If another pred comes, I''m just going to ignore you and finish separating. And if you can''t digest faster, I''m going to feed you. That''s what ought to happen if a podling gets low on energy.¡± ¡°Please don''t,¡± Mick said. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Let me try, Lana,¡± Heather said. ¡°It''s because in human male minds, breasts are not at all about caring for the sick, and for most not really about feeding babies. He''s an adult and you''re not his wife, so it would feel wrong for him to get near them.¡± ¡°So if I put milk into a cup it would be OK?¡± ¡°Better, but not really good,¡± Mick said. ¡°Let''s tackle this another way,¡± Sathie said, ¡°Can you tell us what Mick''s organisms need most?¡± ¡°Energy, salt, minerals.¡± Lana said. ¡°Sugars or fats?¡± ¡°Yes, either.¡± Sathie went to the ship, and brought back a dark green bottle, ¡°Is this dangerous for Mick, Heather?¡± ¡°Doesn''t look it to me.¡± ¡°What''s in it?¡± Lana asked. ¡°It''s something I like when I''m exhausted. Water, sugar, glucose, fructose, plant extracts including caffeine, salt, and a mixture of minerals that are probably different to the ones you were after.¡± ¡°May I sample some, just to make sure?¡± ¡°Of course, I''ve got more.¡± Lana took a little on her finger, and put it on her bottom lip. Her eyes opened wide. ¡°Well. I don''t know which of the ''plant extracts including caffeine'' it is, but something in that mixture is going to make his life interesting. But maybe it won''t work on him.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Mick asked, suspiciously. ¡°I''ll tell you later. It''ll do you good and won''t hurt you. Drink, Mick.¡± ¡°OK,¡± he said, pulling a face, and taking a swig. ¡°You know, I used to drink far too much of this when I was a student? It doesn''t taste much better now than it did then.¡± ¡°Why did you drink it then?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Social reasons and helping me stay awake.¡± ¡°Oh? What were the social reasons?¡± ¡°There was this beautiful girl I wanted to get to know who seemed to drink nothing else,¡± Mick admitted. ¡°You can''t be saying you were after me back then!¡± Sathie said. ¡°I was... optimistic you might come to faith one day,¡± Mick said. ¡°Drink some more, Mick,¡± Lana commanded, ¡°Stop wasting your energy talking and instead think about feeding your skin organisms. Everyone will be certain now that I was withholding freedom from a podling, whereas the truth is more that he''s not letting go of me because he''s wasting his energy talking and re-arranging his innards. Stop that, Mick. Your skin organisms are practically starving to death.¡± ¡°Is that why they''re itching?¡± ¡°Yes, that''s an urgent plea for help, now keep on drinking that love potion.¡± ¡°Love potion?¡± ¡°And stop talking. If you drink a hormone to keep you awake, that''s your fault. It''s not like you''re likely to start lactating when you''re that low on energy.¡± ¡°Lactating?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Yes, lactating, some time when he''s actually got a proper digestive system and he doesn''t have any organisms that are malnourished, give him some of that drink and he might be able to produce a few drops of milk for your scientists to analyse. Or he might not. There''s not much of it there.¡± Heather returned from the ship carrying a snack assortment. ¡°This one looked like something I shouldn''t give him,¡± she said, holding up a packet of peanuts, ¡°But the rest look good to me.¡± ¡°Hush Mick,¡± Sathie said, preemptively. ¡°He''s allergic to peanuts, Heather.¡± ¡°Oh, I knew that! So, any opinions, Lana?¡± ¡°These are foods?¡± ¡°All considered unhealthy for us but OK in moderation. This one is basically sugar with some plant extracts, this one is fried slices of plant tuber ¡ª full of starch ¡ª with salt and dry plant leaves for taste. This one is crushed plant seeds including the husks, with dried fruits, animal milk extract and sugar. This one is made from meat, fat, and various chemicals to stop it going bad. This one is fried plant starch and lots of plant extracts and chemicals to overload his taste-buds.¡± ¡°The sugar one and then the meat one would be best.¡± ¡°Mints and salami it is then, Mick. I hope you''re not going to suggest he alternates them,¡± Heather said, ¡°His taste buds would probably rise up and strangle him. Figuratively speaking.¡± ¡°You do realise I''ve not eaten anything since my accident?¡± Mick said, ¡°My pseudo-stomach is full already. And the itching is getting steadily worse.¡± ¡°I was afraid of that,¡± Lana said. ¡°His stomach''s not big enough to meet his organisms'' needs.¡± ¡°What about putting him on a glucose-saline drip?¡± Sathie suggested. ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Injectable food. I''ll get it.¡± ¡°Injectable food?¡± ¡°In case of accidents, when there''s been a lot of blood lost,¡± Heather said. ¡°Strange idea. You don''t actually mean injectable do you?¡± ¡°Straight into a vein. Dripping in slowly.¡± ¡°That sounds impossible,¡± Lana said. ¡°Assuming it''s not, would it work?¡± ¡°Urm, probably.¡± It didn''t take long to set up the drip, and it started helping fairly quickly. Half an hour later, he and Lana were separated, but the drip was still necessary. ¡°Good stuff that,¡± Mick said, ¡°thanks Sathie.¡± ¡°Shut up, chew your salami, and grow yourself a stomach,¡± she replied, stroking his head, ¡°and enjoy the sunset. Suns-set? Sun-sets? Whatever the word is, it''s pretty.¡± [I am enjoying it. Am I allowed to think to you? While I chew?] [That might be habit forming.] [Is that really such a problem?] [I suppose not, Mick. I used to think it was, as you know.]
Back from delivering the second predator carcass, the probe let Maggie restart an earlier conversation. ¡°Lana,¡± Maggie asked, ¡°are you still thinking you should ask for asylum?¡± ¡°Now more than ever, yes. It''s obvious I''ve done a major podding, and they''ll look and where Mick''s head was, decided that he was a podling all along, and I''ll be in the condemned cell.¡± ¡°Capital punishment?¡± ¡°Approximately. There is a grid. Small budlings are not held guilty for their parent''s crimes.¡± She indicated with her fingers, the height of a tiny budling. ¡°No food for me but my budlings would be fed. I''d have to bud myself out of existence, starve my organisms to death, or stop breathing.¡± ¡°No chance to appeal?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Not that I''d want to risk my existence on.¡± ¡°Grandma? You''re the expert on this stuff.¡± ¡°Like I told Sathie, Maggie, ¡± Heather said. ¡°The biologies are so different that the disease element doesn''t much come into it, which is really fortunate for Mick. You don''t have diplomatic ties that can be messed up, so you can present it as ''we listened to what you might accuse her of, and decided she wasn''t guilty, and she''s saved the life of my brother, so of course we let her come.''¡± ¡°May I ask,¡± Lana said, ¡°How is it you know what''s dangerous?¡± ¡°A gift I have from God. He lets me see danger, truth, happiness, sadness, love, fear, trustworthiness, tiredness, kindness. You, for example are more exhausted than you''d have us think, quite afraid, and a bit hopeful when you look at Kalak, and sad when you look at Mick. Which is not that surprising, since you''ve given birth to him and he''s firmly put Sathie in your place.¡± ¡°I think, more, it was that I''d usurped her place from the start.¡± ¡°Not entirely,¡± Heather said. ¡°It is useful us being able to talk directly, but it excludes Kalak, and I would like to have him as part of this conversation. Will you translate for me?¡± ¡°OK,¡± Lana called Kalak over. ¡°Kalak, I would like to ask you if what Lana says is true. Will she be condemned for hosting Mick?¡± Lana translated, and Kalak agreed. ¡°It''s almost certain that she would be condemned, and so would her previous field of studies.¡± ¡°We have very little knowledge of what is dangerous for her that we consider normal. I have a very rare gift from God that I can see what is safe and what is not, among other things. Some of the food I thought of bringing was not safe. It would be good for us to know more before we accidentally hurt her or Mick''s organisms.¡± ¡°What was dangerous?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°So far, things with ginger, garlic or onions, and the decon unit.¡± ¡°Hmm. Glad to have you along, Gran. Sorry for interrupting.¡± ¡°The other issue is that Lana is weaker than she admits after what she has done.¡± ¡°She says I''m weaker than I admit,¡± Lana told Kalak. ¡°I''m not surprised,¡± Kalak said, ¡°You have undergone a major budding.¡± ¡°So,¡± Heather said, ¡°I ask for your advice, yours and Lana''s. We will protect Lana. But where should we protect her? We can feed her with our food, but we cannot be sure it will be good for her, and I cannot understand how she eats so much, so quickly. If that is normal, we will have to go home for more.¡± ¡°If I ate that much every day, I would be unable to fly,¡± Lana said, laughing. Then she translated. ¡°Their marvelous ship could take you anywhere, is that what they ask?¡± Kalak asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You have friends in Yasfort.¡± ¡°I can''t just turn up on the doorstep and expect them to give me a home.¡± ¡°Magdalena could, on your behalf, I expect. But it is better if she asks for a home for her brother. If they will take me and if you will permit me, I will ask for a home for you.¡± ¡°I am tired and confused, Kalak,¡± Lana said. ¡°I expect my parent''s home in Yasfort is lived in, but it is still my native home. If you do not mind being associated with me.¡± ¡°You claiming your home would also be re-claiming your name, would it not?¡± ¡°It would. And you do not know what it is, kind Lana. You are thinking, I expect, of Unf, the name I wore before the students showed disrespect. I wore another one before that.¡± ¡°One I have heard of?¡± ¡°I expect so, young Lana. Unless the history books have decided to leave the history of the wars untold.¡± Ground / Ch. 14: Returning home

Ground / Ch. 14: Returning home

Yasfort The probe hovered over the village square; the people of the village had got used to that, it seemed to do a that so often these days it wasn''t worth commenting on. Really, after the excitement of the aliens'' return had been blunted by the distinct lack of them doing anything exciting, the novelty had worn off entirely. Then, unusually, it was joined by another one. That raised a few glances, and more than the normal number of people wondered what had happened to young Jakav and Aza. Shouldn''t they have been back from looking at their cave by now? Half an hour later, Jakav and Aza were back, riding on a probe, and carrying a podling. No, people corrected themselves, hearing it''s wordless cry of hunger, a mixling. They were greeted by a growing crowd, and asked what was happening. ¡°Absolutely no idea, except that little Magdalena is hungry,¡± Jakav said. ¡°Don''t blame me,¡± Aza said. ¡°This probe seems to think that regular feeding times aren''t important.¡± ¡°You''ve not heard any mysterious voices, then?¡± someone asked. ¡°No, just Magdalena''s,¡± Aza said, and kissing her little bundle of joy, sat beside the wall and started to do just what her little mixling wanted. ¡°But Tung was right,¡± Jakav said, ¡°there is another picture on the cave wall, and it wasn''t there last month.¡± ¡°What does it show?¡± one well-wisher asked. ¡°A broken ship, overgrown with forest creepers.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Has that probe been doing that for long?¡± ¡°What?¡± They all turned and looked. The probe was drawing a map of the village on the side of the theatre building. There was a circle where the square was, and a dot that seemed to be tracing an arc, swinging backwards and forwards like a pendulum. Then some of the alien numbers appeared, counting down. ¡°Well, that''s a bit clearer then isn''t it?¡± Jakav said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Something''s going to happen, I guess when that count gets to zero.¡± Jakav said. ¡°But what?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°Oh look! There''s little dots going from the square and getting more dots!¡± someone else pointed out. ¡°They want a village meeting?¡± her neighbour asked. ¡°It sure looks like it to me,¡± Jakav agreed. ¡°Why didn''t they just ring the village bell?¡± ¡°No one''s explained that to them yet, I guess.¡± ¡°Nice of them to invite us, then.¡± Aza said.
Space ¡°Having fun with the pictures?¡± Rachel asked the linguists. ¡°I believe we are communicating,¡± James answered pointedly. ¡°How are you coming with the writing system?¡± ¡°Not looking forward to having my friend Mick and his friend come and explain it to us, but on the other hand, not very far.¡± ¡°There''s just not enough repetition in the text,¡± Stephen, another linguist, said. ¡°We don''t even know if they write left to right or right to left.¡± ¡°Or centre to edges.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Probably not. Some peoples have done that though. Now edges to center would be a real challenge for hand-written text.¡± ¡°Pretty though.¡± ¡°How do you know it''s not up and down?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Whoever used the rock-cutter centered the text horizontally, but there''s no vertical alignment.¡± ¡°OK, so horizontal it is,¡± Rachel agreed. ¡°You could just start with a guess that words and numbers go the same way though, couldn''t you? As in the first contact video?¡± ¡°I thought that was just geometry?¡± ¡°Let me bring up the bit I''m thinking of,¡± Rachel offered.
Ground, Yasfort village square. Two strangers entered the square just as the timer reached zero. One, who was small enough to be a podling but was obviously an adult female, flew. The other walked. They approached the platform where the village mayor was. ¡°I see the aliens managed to call the whole village together,¡± Kalak said. ¡°They did. Do you know why?¡± ¡°I asked them to,¡± Lana said. ¡°My friend here has something to say.¡± ¡°I am known, now, as Kalak, an astronomer from the University, where I was just yesterday morning. It seems far longer ago than that. As you can guess, the aliens brought us. But mostly I don''t want to talk about that. I said I''m now known as Kalak, but when I was a mixling, I wore a different name. I am old. Older than you will guess, for I was born curious and have never stopped being curious. Before I chose the name Kalak, I wore the name Unf. That is not a popular name any more, so after my imprisonment, and I chose to be called Kalak. But Unf was not my podling name either. As at least one here knows, and I will make clear to all, Unf the astronomer reacted very badly when provoked, and entered war-form. Full war-form. It was not my first time entering war-form. And when I first took it on I did not enter it as a grieving parent, but deliberately, and with care. Hence Unf the astronomer did not kill. But war-form marks me still; the words of my war-thought are etched into my bone organisms: ''stop the disrespect''. "The study of war-form is not a common topic for anyone, but let me tell you a little of it. It is not my mind organisms, but my bone organisms that take that choice of entering war-form, unless my brain-organisms can convince them disrespect will stop without them taking over. If I see, or experience, disrespect, and there is none other to stop it for me, then I cannot even stop myself breathing to prevent the transition to war-form. My bone organisms need little air, and they will step in to protect my brain organisms, and shout the war-thought above all reason. That is what war-form does, young ones. And compared to me, you are all young. So I beg you, good people of Yasfort, listen well to me. I have been asked to speak to you. I do not do it very willingly, because the very young tend to disrespect. Parents, I beg you: do not let disrespect occur, or if it occurs do not let it continue. When in war-form I have killed, when in war-form as Unf, I have wounded, very seriously. I have spent most of my life hiding from people who might trigger the war-thought rising up within me and turning me into a monster. Not as much a thoughtless destroyer as those who enter war-form through grief or rage, I have a little control. Because, as I said, I willingly entered warform. Why, you might ask, you should ask, would a person enter war-form willingly? The answer is simple, and I assure you it is true: I finished podling school just before the last war. ¡°Let me tell you a story of the time when person killed person in the name of respect. A story of horror, of tradition, of betrayal, of disrespect. "But first, are there any here who will agree with me that this village is not, in fact, Yasfort, but Little Yasfort?¡± Kalak asked. The village mayor stood, ¡°I have indeed seen the name on old documents.¡± ¡°This village is Little Yasfort. Yasfort is a cave in the dessert. I was curious, hearing of Jakav''s cave, but it is not the same one. In the cave of Yasfort, Yas, my grandfather, made his fort, expecting war. There, he and his people defied the prophets in the name of tradition, and continued the sacrifice of dumb animals. There, he and his people, convinced that the One would bless them for ignoring the prophets, slowly starved as many of their crops withered in the heat, until finally the predators that the sacrifices had tempted to the desert decided to eat my grandfather and the animal he had been preparing to sacrifice. My father became the leader then, and he moved the people here, where crops grow well and there is water the whole year round, vowing to return to Yasfort if war ever came here. But of course, war never came this far south. The prophets did not come so far from the city either. ¡°Here, in the far south, I and my classmates at podling school heard biased propaganda, tales of altars broken and desecrated with the blood of predators. In the North, the biased propaganda spoke of altars repaired and people sacrificed instead of dumb beasts. And so a generation grew up on tales of horror and disrespect. And I was the son of the village leader, the son of the son of Yas, the great anti-prophet. I hope you''ve forgotten Yas, he might have given your home a name, but he founded a community in a stupid place, and he was an arrogant bully. When I was still at podling school, my father led maybe half the males of the village to battle for tradition and respect. Most did not return, but my father did, with a desperate and haunted look in his eyes. A podling asked too loudly if the reason he looked haunted and had survived but the podling''s father had not was because he was a coward. The answer was swift, and brutal; his war-form, which he had entered in unprepared ignorance, took over. The unthinking war-form that inhabited my father''s body crushed the skull of the podling, and mixed his brain organisms with the soil. No one was disrespectful to my father after that, no one accused him of being a coward. No one spoke to him after that. Except my mother, my sisters, and me. It was his request. He knew what happened when he was called a coward. That was his war-thought, you see, that he was no coward. In schools you learn of the first war and the second war and the third war. Well... maybe. But the first war was really a little series of minor skirmishes. My father fought in the second war, which was better organised, and I fought in the third war, the great war, which had leaders and tactics, and no one won. I repeat that, no one won it. The two sides fought for different purposes. The city-folk fought to stamp out the sacrifices of people, which were not happening. The outer villages fought to stamp out the desecration of altars, which was not happening. How can someone win such a war? No one won the second war either, but that war was not a war with principles and objectives, that was simply a war of rage. And it stopped when the rage had been vented, when the soldiers ran out of food, when harvest was due and the predators were around and the soldiers realised that their families would starve if they didn''t go home. ¡°So, my father came home. He had seen how his own rage-born war-form was out of control, but he had also spoken to others, who had chosen to enter war-form, and learned how they could have some degree of control. And all of us knew that the war my father had fought in would not be the last, that it had simply stopped because people could not forget their responsibilities. And so it was that I was taught how to enter war-form, when I was barely out of podling school. And because I was curious, I was sent to be a spy, and an assassin. ¡°You have heard of the prophet Zah, I hope. The last great prophet from the time before the war. My father had learned where he was staying, and I was sent to kill him, to root out the so-called infection that was destroying tradition. I found the prophet, and he welcomed me. He told me that I was no servant of the One, that I had no faith, and that it was disrespectful for me to claim faith.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He also told me that he''d stop breathing soon, that he''d delivered all the messages he had to give, except one, and I had no need to kill him, I had no need to damage my soul, but rather I should run and call his podling, Azak. Yes, the Azak who later came to Yasfort. You have, I expect, heard the last prophecy of Zah, but if not, I will repeat it, as I heard it with my own ears, before the third war. ''Yasfort little Yasfort, your time will come. The star you will not see, but the light of truth will burn. Yasfort''s daughter, Yasfort''s son, guard your borders well; through pain you''ll learn salvation''s song, with writing on the wall. The scholars foolish arguing, two heads will rise above. Stop shouting all your pettiness, and listen to what God''s done!¡± ¡°I was there when it was pronounced. I was there when the prophet died, and his organisms flowed away. Yasfort''s daughter and Yasfort''s son, you know you have them among you, and many of you have, I hear, seen the writing on the wall. I also had the privilege to witness, no, to partake in the scholar''s foolish arguing, and to see one with two heads, flying above the crowd, calling on them to stop shouting their petty reasons why they ought to be the next one to use the university telescope to look at the ball that''s above our heads. But, I get ahead of myself.¡± ¡°I witnessed the death of the prophet, and his words troubled me. Indeed, they did. My village, figuring in a prophecy? But I didn''t think about it for long, because as soon as I turned south I met people heading for the great army for tradition. I told them that the prophet was dead, I told them I was the son of Yakan, Yas''s son. They knew of my mission, but I did not tell them that the prophet had stopped breathing to save me that stain on my soul. And I had been curious as a podling, and had been taught strategies and tactics, I knew scavenging, and I knew how it was important to enter war-form deliberately, before a battle, rather than in the midst of it. I soon found myself a leader among those soldiers, and after some battles I became a leader in the great army. We fought, for tradition, for pride, for lies, and many died. Those who entered war-form without preparation fought brutally, and those of us who entered war-form prepared could easily out-think them. But war-form is no good for cooking and eating. It is just not possible to eat in war-form, and a cannon shell hurled me from my campfire before I took my first bite. As I landed, I crashed into an already wounded enemy. So, I was wounded, and hungry, unable to change. Beside me was my enemy, also a leader, also badly wounded, also hungry. We could not fight, we could barely heal ourselves, but we could shout. And as we hurled insults at each other, we sat there with our wounds, and our insults turned into a denial, and denial debate, and our debate turned into shock, and our shock turned into resolution and friendship. And our resolution and friendship turned into action, once we''d found a slime-creature and fried it, for that is the only way to eat a land slime-creature that is the least a bit palatable. He had the frying pan, I had a spark-maker and fuel. Slime creatures were quite common those days, for there were plenty of corpses for them to digest. I add that we carefully chose one that was not digesting any organisms, of course. And when I had recovered, when I had rejoined my commanders, I stopped the disrespect. I stopped the disrespectful lies, I stopped the disrespectful slanders, I stopped the disrespectful accusations, I stopped the disrespectful war. And then I stopped the disrespectful killing, and tried to convince myself that I had done good. You have learned that the great army of tradition disintegrated because of an attempted coup within the leadership. That is true, in some senses. But it was not that I, Takan, mixling of Yakan and Tana, was due any special respect, but I was shown disrespect when I told the other leaders that I had found we were fighting a pointless war, for lies and not honour. But I was shown respect after that, when I was the only leader to emerge from that tent. And I called for the lower commanders, and told them, the enemy have been told we sacrifice people. We have been told they defile altars with predators, but there are no altars there now, their broken pieces were removed years ago. The war is built on lies, and if you believe in God then you bring dishonor on his name, and if you don''t then why are you fighting? And they said ''prove it''. So we dressed as normal people, as farmers, and I went with them, and we saw. We saw where the broken altars had been stacked, reverently, with the plaque saying ''their time has past, for the One has done a new thing, but treat them with respect, for here we once met with the One, and they are dedicated to Him.'' We saw families huddled in their homes, terrified that the great army outside the city would take their daughters for sacrifice, and we saw no other altars. We also saw people praying for peace. And so we sent messages to the generals of the city, and said, ''We have been told lies about you, and you have been told lies about us. We are ashamed of the lies we believed, and to prove our shame, we return home to our farms. Let there be a political solution that shows respect, better roads so that truth travels faster than lies, and mixing of city an country-folk. You can guess, I hope, the name of my enemy who became my friend.¡± ¡°Kovan¡± Kov said, naming his famous ancestor. ¡°Kovan, who married my sister Yana,¡± Kalak said, ¡°and who invented the system of laws we have now. These days I am known as Kalak, I do not want honour for the terrible things I did, but I want you to understand the power of lies, and the power of truth. It is important that some people do. ¡°You may have heard of Lana here, some of you have met her, even. She rescued the brother of Magdalena, when his ship crashed. But a lie might be told about her that she grew a podling and withheld its freedom. Not so. She rescued an multicelular alien whose body had been smashed and taught him the joy we all know of being a community of organisms. She did not hold her enormous podling, she merely provided for his needs long enough until he could survive, as a good mother should, and it took a long time. You can understand this, I hope, this difference between truth and lie. But the city is a terrible place for lies spreading unchecked, and a mob cannot easily be taught the truth. I hope that you will understand the truth, and not show her any disrespect. I would find that hard to ignore.¡± ¡°You address us, then, in search of a welcome and shelter for academician Lana, son of Yasfort?¡± ¡°I do. I think she will find much to interest her here, and I am sure the aliens would find it useful if she were here, for she knows their language, as Mick knows ours. Lana will not lack for work or resources, I am sure.¡± ¡°And for yourself?¡± ¡°I do not know if Lana wishes me to stay. I am still curious, so I would be very happy to. But war-form still lurks. It would be better if I did not stay unless I had someone who would act as a buffer between my war-thought and others, as she has done once already. I admit, I have not spoken to her of this.¡± ¡°Do you ask me to act as a total buffer for you, as you and your family members did for your father?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I think I both ask for something more and less, Lana. I would not do you the disrespect of clarifying what I would ask in public, unless you ask me my conditions for staying.¡± ¡°I would like you to stay, gentle Kalak.¡± Lana said. ¡°Here, and in public?¡± ¡°I will try not to be disrespectful, unless of course, you ask me something disrespectful.¡± ¡°I find I am nervous,¡± Kalak whispered. ¡°Yes,¡± Lana agreed, ¡°you are.¡± Then she whispered, ¡°Yes to what I strongly suspect you''re nervous about asking too; I will accept you as my suitor.¡± Emboldened, he said, ¡°Lana, if you will accept my firm intention to woo you, and agree that until we marry or we decide I hope in vain you will accompany me whenever I am away from the place I sleep, then I will stay.¡± ¡°I accept those conditions, Kalak.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lana.¡± ¡°So we must find two homes,¡± the mayor asked. ¡°I understand from Kov and Jana that the alien Magdalena has been made an honorary daughter of this village,¡± Lana said. ¡°That is true.¡± ¡°Then, as we are speaking of searching for homes, let me add that there are foods the aliens often eat and drink that are believed to be poison for the organisms of my podling Mick, Magdalena''s brother. Until that is better known, he would be safer here too. This is a strange request, I know, to give welcome and shelter to an alien. If he stays here, then aliens will be a common sight here, coming and going, talking and trading. Moving faster than a predator, wielding strange tools, speaking strange languages. This is why the aliens asked the whole village to decide. If the village says it would be too strange, then Mick will live in Old Yasfort.¡± ¡°What will he eat?¡± someone asked. ¡°While the crops were not enough to feed a whole village, what still grows wild there looks enough to feed my podling. It is not too late to plant, either. For various reasons, the aliens do not like to eat predators, but they will happily trade dead predator for other meat. Last night Mick traded with a very surprised beast-herder; the haunch of a predator for the haunch of a full-grown herd-beast, both were very happy.¡± Hearing the noises of disgust, Lana added ¡°Their sense of smell and taste must be very different I guess. So, if Mick lives in Old Yasfort, he will happily eat what grows there, and the other aliens will also farm there, and trade predators that attack for dumb beasts we only really keep alive to make cheese and leather. If Mick lives here, then perhaps he will still farm at Old Yasfort, or perhaps there will be other trade. This is the other question for the village. The aliens wish to be friends, to stay, to talk, to learn, and do no harm. But they know their presence here will change things. They do not want to start a riot.¡± ¡°Why are they camping on our doorstep, not the doorstep of the city?¡± ¡°Maybe they want to be asked?¡± Kalak said, ¡°Or maybe they''re as cautious of us as we are of them? I have met two of them. Both wore helmets like I hear Madalena wore. They do not want to spread infection or be infected. They have visited planets where the most beautiful flowers gave off a gas that would have poisoned them.¡± ¡°But Magdalena visited us,¡± Aza pointed out. ¡°She did, yes.¡± Lana agreed. ¡°And she left some information, but not much. Mick lived on my shoulder for six years, and once we could talk gave me a some information. But mostly it was historical, not technological. They want to be careful, and they have reasons for that.¡± ¡°But you can tell us all about them!¡± Jakav exclaimed, excitedly. ¡°I can tell you about the planet they were created on and the planet they changed and are in the process of making livable, I can tell you they live unimaginably far away, I can tell you about their long history and their many wars. I can''t tell you about the weapons they used in their wars, but I don''t think it was their knives or their bows and arrows. I can tell you lots about their biology, and I have seen some of their medical technology at work, and I can tell you that only two of their lifetimes ago, when one of them lost a leg, an arm or an eye, they could not grow another, yet they are quite careless of the cells that make up their bodies, unless it brings permanent damage, and sometimes not even then. They are strange, and they are strange to one another.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean they are spread across the whole planet and because every one of them is a mixling, they do not all speak the same language, they do not even all have the same laws. Imagine something like the territoriality of the predators, across a whole planet, with some bits of land separated from others by the sea, with only one in ten or twenty acknowledging the One. That is the old history of their people that live on land. But there is a smaller group of them, who made the sea their home, who consider themselves a subspecies, and who hid unseen and afraid of a war between species that would destroy them. They avoided the wars that ravaged the land, they avoided detection, for thousands of years, until they decided it was time to make themselves known. That is the culture from which Mick and Magdalena come. We are the first aliens they have met, but they have also met one another recently. In some ways, they follow that pattern, in other ways... like that ship hanging up there in defiance of physicists, they do not.¡± ¡°And they do not know the stories that books and plays that tell about invading aliens,¡± Kalak said, ¡°but they have their own.¡± ¡°They do,¡± Lana agreed, ¡°And they have some that speak of things very much like slime-creatures, and others that speak of dangerous killers able to change their shape, others that speak of diseases spread by aliens by accident, others that speak of alien civilisations accidentally destroyed by diseases that are no worse to them than foot-itch is to us. So when Madalena came to Jakav''s rescue, first she ensured that there were no bacteria on her skin, and when she returned she did the same, and then she restored the helpful bacteria that help her body fight infection. That is their rule. That is why they do not come often among us. Some of the chemicals they use to sterilise their skins are poison for our skin-organisms; and even they are harmful for her skin cells too. I asked one about that, she said that to kill some of her skin cells was not pleasant, but ultimately it was of little importance to her: her skin cells grow all the time, die all the time, in fact the outer layer of their skin is made up of dead cells, because their skin cells die when they are exposed to air.¡± ¡°But you traveled in their ship?¡± Aza asked. ¡°We, that is to say Mick my podling, the female Mick expected to marry before he crashed here, Kalak and I traveled in the part of their ship where these dangerous chemicals are used. A place between worlds. It was not very big, and I would not want to travel that way for long.¡± ¡°Mick does not expect to marry now?¡± ¡°Mick and Sathzakara have happy memories of one another, but that was a long time ago,¡± Kalak said. ¡°When I went to the war, I expected to marry. But when I returned, I had caused many pointless deaths, and she thought war was something easily forgotten. She spoke of love and forgiveness and dreamed of the plains full of flowers. I spoke of politics and betrayal by those we trusted and dreamed of the plains full of horror. I knew she was a better wife for Azak, son of the prophet, than for me.¡± ¡°Famous son of Little Yasfort,¡± the mayor said, ¡°Kovan always said that you played the greater part in ending the war than him, and that it was right that this your home village keep the house of your parents unused in case you returned, or failing that as a museum. Such it is today, a museum, swept and kept clean, but unchanged since your sister''s death except that there are more books, more exhibits. Only the front rooms are the museum, the back rooms have been used to accommodate visitors, but not recently. I do not know if it would be a suitable home, or if it would stir bad memories.¡± ¡°Ah, what more suitable place for a relic such as I than a museum?¡± Kalak asked, smiling, ¡°But perhaps I should visit it before deciding. It has been a long time, and long-forgotten memories might be pleasant or unpleasant. Perhaps it would be best if I explore my old home with Lana while the village decides on the home of her podling?¡± ¡°It would allow the conversation to be freer, I''m sure,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°Will you find it, Kalak?¡± ¡°If I do not, then we can tour the village and then discretely ask someone,¡± Kalak said. Ground / Ch. 15: Family fortress

Ground / Ch. 15:Family fortress

Takan''s family home, Little Yasfort ¡°That is a big house,¡± Lana said, seeing it from the road. ¡°It was before the time of electricity, Lana. Having servants was normal, and the house was built to be defensible as well. My grand-father thought he was an important man, and had a house this sized built in the cave. The people of the village were so happy to move out of the cave when the harvest came that they made this building, both in thanks to my parents, and as a fort.¡± ¡°So actually this is Little Yasfort?¡± ¡°Urm, I suppose, you could say that.¡± ¡°And it was built as a home for several families?¡± ¡°Not quite like you''re thinking, I expect.¡± ¡°We should have asked for the key.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± Kalak asked, bemused, ¡°This is not the city, Lana.¡± ¡°You mean there are no locks?¡± ¡°Let us see. I wonder how much has been changed and how much is really the same.¡± ¡°It must have locks if it is meant to be defensible,¡± Lana said. ¡°I am sure there are still big heavy bolts to lock the doors from the inside,¡± Kalak said, approaching the door. ¡°It''s an interesting porch,¡± Lana said, ¡°why is it set back into the house like that?¡± ¡°So that if you don''t like the visitors knocking on the door you can shoot arrows into his head from the room above.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Or from the side rooms, of course. But let''s see if the latch in this arrow slit still works.¡± He pulled on a metal ring, and there was a click from the door. ¡°That''s just so insecure!¡± Lana said, opening the door into the hallway. ¡°If you''re running from an enemy, you want to get in fast,¡± he pointed out. ¡°And so does the enemy.¡± ¡°They can want to,¡± Kalak said. ¡°But you can disable that latch, or you could.¡± The hallway was about twelve steps long, and had solid looking doors to the left and right. The muzzle of a cannon was pointing at them from the far end. ¡°I''d forgotten that,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Another surprise for unwelcome visitors.¡± ¡°So every time you came home from podling school, you stared down the mouth of a loaded cannon?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I hope it''s not loaded now.¡± ¡°I expect it is,¡± Kalak said. ¡°In case of predators.¡± ¡°As Mick would say, ''Gulp''.¡± ¡°What would he mean by that?¡± ¡°It''s one of their fear reactions, to swallow what''s in their mouths.¡± ¡°You''re scared?¡± ¡°Not really, but... maybe.¡± ¡°Let me show you the house, Lana.¡± He turned to the left, ¡°This used to be the village library.¡± Opening the door, he saw it still was, and indeed there was a young person reading a book. He looked up, ¡°Can I help?¡± ¡°Just showing my friend around,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Oh. Urm, how did you get in?¡± ¡°The latch in the arrow slit still works,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Urm, pardon?¡± ¡°You pull on the ring in the arrow slit, and the door opens,¡± Lana said. ¡°How did you know that?¡± The youngster asked. ¡°I saw my nurse or my mother doing it every day when they brought me back from podling school, and when I was grown big enough I used it myself, and let my sisters in,¡± Kalak said. ¡°You weren''t at the village meeting, I presume,¡± Lana said. ¡°Oh, is that where everyone went?¡± the youngster asked. ¡°Yes,¡± ¡°I''m just visiting so I guess no one told me. Anything interesting?¡± ¡°Depends if you''re interested in village history, the wars, aliens and future opportunities to talk to them,¡± Lana said. ¡°The wars?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I guess I should have been there. It''s my research topic. Well, specifically, why this village. Why is it so important in history, well, not inherently important, but important people came from here or died here. And now why did the aliens choose to come here?¡± ¡°Have you heard of the last prophecy of Zah?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I have. One source says that Takan wrote it down which makes no sense, he was on the wrong side to hear it, and he would have been barely out of podling school, too.¡± Lana smiled, ¡°You certainly should have been at the meeting.¡± ¡°If you say so. Sorry, I should introduce myself, shouldn''t I? My name is Reneg.¡± ¡°Let me introduce Academican Lana, who''s recently resigned from the university safety office, I''m currently known as Kalak. Before that, I was known as Unf, before that... well, I had other names, but was podded with the name of as Takan, and yes, I witnessed the last prophecy of Zah. Lana can bear witness that I still don''t respond well when there''s disrespect. Politics was full of it, Astronomy less so, and full of things to be curious about, so I took up that instead. I''m particularly curious about aliens.¡± ¡°Without intending any disrespect... urm...¡± Reneg didn''t finish his thought, but his eyes were flicking between the two. ¡°Kalak told the entire meeting his past,¡± Lana said, ¡°mainly as a lesson about how believing lies and spreading them can cause wars. You may verify it with anyone who was there.¡± ¡°And you spoke also about your second head, academician?¡± ¡°That was the specific truth and lie I wanted to discuss,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Some people might not accept the truth that Lana rescued the brother of the alien Magdalena, taught him and provided him with nourishment and released him with joy as soon as he showed he could think of any organisms as his own. There are many lies that might be told about it, but those would have bad consequences, for example that she withheld his freedom from him. I have in my time witnessed a few podling-buddings. I''ve never seen a podling so reluctant to leave his mother as Mick was, nor as argumentative about why he wouldn''t accept more organisms from her.¡± ¡°The aliens are multicellular organisms,¡± Lana said, ¡°and he was an adult. Learning to think as a collective organism was very difficult for him.¡± ¡°Where is he now?¡± Reneg asked. ¡°At old Yasfort. Probably talking to other aliens about what it was like being attached to me. Can I ask you where your politics lie, Reneg?¡± ¡°My politics?¡± he asked, surprised at the question. ¡°Urm, I''m not much of political person.¡± ¡°But when there''s a vote, would you tend to vote for progress, tradition or reason?¡± ¡°It depends on the vote, really. I guess that means I ought to vote for reason but I don''t always agree with them.¡± ¡°No one ever said you had to,¡± Lana said. ¡°Sorry, I''m just a bit nervous. Kalak has just assured me the porch-way was designed so you could stab attackers and that the cannon in the hallway is probably loaded, and while I don''t think I''m guilty of podling withholding, I do miss him...¡± ¡°The accusation would be easily challenged, academician,¡± Reneg said, confidently. ¡°I have never heard of a successful appeal,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Successful appeals are not publicised. Publicising appeals would give those tempted to the crime some hope they might get away with it. You have a witness to your podling-budding, and evidently you were generous with your organisms. That is not the way of a withholder.¡± ¡°You speak with knowledge, Reneg.¡± ¡°I first studied law, and for two years worked in the relevant section. It was too distressing for me. It was distressing seeing the innocent mothers dragged from their families and needing to be relocated. It was distressing seeing the stunted podlings of the guilty, podded with barely an organism from their mothers. So now I study history, and meet history it seems. But I can tell you that a withholder does not withhold for the benefit or company of their podling, academician. A withholder withholds freedom because they hate their podling, and reject the thought of losing any organisms to an enemy.¡± ¡°Thank you, Reneg,¡± Lana said, ¡°You are reassuring.¡± ¡°The charge you should be more concerned about is wrong-podding,¡± Reneg said. ¡°But I do not believe that applies either.¡± ¡°What could that apply to, other than podding with someone dead?¡± Kalak asked, curious as usual. ¡°There have been cases of the deranged attempting to pod with lower collaborations. One even of a male who thinned his skin for a slime creature.¡± ¡°That''s disgusting,¡± Lana said. ¡°Not to mention stupid.¡± ¡°As I say, the deranged. Academician, in the circumstances I''ll tell you that I saw records in my old department investigating your research with the predators. The conditions were not met then, I do not believe they would be met with your podling. You have not reproduced or attempted to reproduce with a lower animal.¡± ¡°Have I not? What is Mick if not my podling?¡± Lana asked, despondently. ¡°He''s your podling. But where is the father of your podling? I assume you did not take only half his brain? Where is reproduction?¡± ¡°Nowhere,¡± Kalak said. ¡°But while we consider possible crimes... Sorry, Lana, I''m letting curiosity run away with me and not considering your feelings.¡± ¡°I would also like to hear another opinion about all the things I might be accused of. Mick told me he would happily testify on my behalf if I''m accused of cannibalism, but that the accusations most likely to succeed against me were concealing an illegal immigrant, harbouring a spy, concealing alien artifacts and engaging in an unregistered and unsafe experiment.¡± ¡°You forgot attempted poisoning,¡± Kalak said. ¡°Attempted poisoning?¡± Reneg asked. ¡°A joke. I gave him some predator meat, he said it tasted far worse than it smelt.¡± ¡°It smells delicious,¡± Reneg said. ¡°Not to his nose.¡±
Old Yasfort ¡°What did the predator meat taste like?¡± Sathie asked Mick. ¡°There''s a faint smell of mildew when they cook it. When you bite it, it tastes mouldy. And not in the blue cheese sense either; in the gag, spit, wash your mouth out and don''t swallow it sense. Their herd animal, however... that was tasty, a bit like steak in garlic and chilies.¡± ¡°But garlic is on the banned list from your grandmother.¡± ¡°I know. Probably why they don''t like it. But Lana tells me it''s not that adult herd-beast is actually poison, it just tastes like one.¡± ¡°So the predators eat the herd-beasts and people, the people eat the predators but not the herd-beasts. I don''t get why the herd-beasts are kept.¡± ¡°Herd-beasts are basically their cow equivalent. They don''t like the meat, but can eat it if they''re too poor to buy anything else, but they love the cheese, and also young Herd-beasts are quite palatable to them. Slime creatures will eat young herd-beasts and predators but not the adults. The Herd-beasts therefore stay around slime creatures if they can, because being eaten by a slime creature is a predator''s worst nightmare. There are hardly any predators on the plains because of them. Well, that relationship is sort of symbiotic too: when a predator attacks a herd, the herd animals will try to wound the pred, and then lead it to a patch of slime-creatures.¡± ¡°And the people don''t wipe out the predators because...?¡± ¡°Too tasty, and they''re not dumb beasts. Killing a talking beast is allowed, but only to defend yourself or others.¡± ¡°Hmm. Being a young heard-beast seems quite hazardous.¡± ¡°Yes. Survival rates are not great, but the adults give birth to four per breeding season, and confusingly there are two of those per year.¡± ¡°And the people have no desire to expand into the rest of the planet?¡± ¡°They''re not very plentiful, Sathie. It''s a bit like us, when we were in Atlantis. Birth rate keeps up with fatalities. Plus of course they haven''t been around that long.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean that their history as tool-users goes back about two thousand years as far as they can work out. They might have street lighting, but don''t think twentieth century, think they''re doing this for the first time round. A fall, but no instruction to fill the world; no Babel. No barbarian hoards. They had a civil war, but it never amounted to very much in terms of the total population. The lie behind it was discovered before the army got to the city; the Library wasn''t destroyed. No collapse of this or that empire, they have been slipping a bit, but they''ve not collapsed yet.¡± ¡°How have they been slipping?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Their scientists have been saying we''ll have it all worked out soon, that they understand chemistry, physics only has a few minor oddities, like radio-activity, and there are some odd things in astronomy. Biology they''ve got a pretty good handle on, they think, too. So, they think they''re running out of challenges. Also, they''ve got three possible reproductive strategies, only one of them actually involves genetic scrambling, and that''s fallen out of favour, so the gene pool has been shrinking. They know that''s not a great idea, but it''s still happening. So, like I say, they''re slipping, getting a bit decadent. Oh, and it''s really hard to make them act surprised.¡± ¡°How do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, in the past week or so, I''ve said ''Hi, I''m Mick the alien'' to half a dozen people. Not one of them leapt out of their skins. Some of them frowned a bit, but really! Even Lana was a bit disappointed sometimes.¡± ¡°You''re saying they don''t get surprised?¡± ¡°Oh they do. But... I guess new information doesn''t surprise them. They... process it and decide what to do. Relatively slowly. Maybe that''s the key. Actually, I''m wrong.... when they''ve not formed an opinion, they don''t get surprised. So Lana''s mysterious second head being an alien, that wasn''t a surprise, but when Lana''s brother told his daughter''s supposedly-secret boyfriend to go ahead and marry her quick, well, the kid''d been utterly convinced that the reaction would be more like ''over my dead body''... The youngster was still claiming surprise by the time he came and told Lana all about it.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Yes, Mick, it is. And I''d love to stay...¡± ¡°Then do,¡± Mick suggested. ¡°You have your choice of strange alien houses to choose from.¡± ¡°Why are they like this?¡± ¡°Probably because of how they make them. A door is a door, really, unless you''ve got forcefields and the like, making them round rather than rectangular is just a pain, so why bother? Flat floors, well, they''re so much easier to keep clean. In the city they have tiles, often, or carpets. The walls... well, it''s sort of glued together earth.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What do they glue it together with, do you know?¡± ¡°Slime creature slime is apparently the best glue. That''s what the guy I bought the meat from was doing.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Slime creatures won''t eat the meat of an adult herd beast, but they''ll happily gobble the squishy bits and the bones. So, you take an elderly herd-beast, butcher it for the meat, and spread some of what''s left around and put the rest in a buried barrel and wait. When enough slime creatures are happily munching on the dead beastie, you push them in and nail the lid down on the barrel. I''m not sure if they then boil it down, or what, but I''m pretty sure the slime creature doesn''t survive.¡± ¡°That''s... just a bit yuck.¡± ¡°A slime creature is entirely without a brain or central nervous system, remember. And lime is processed dead sea creature skeletons, after all.¡± ¡°That''s different,¡± Sathie said. ¡°Potion?¡± he challenged her. ¡°That''s medicine,¡± ¡°Cucumber?¡± ¡°Can''t get it here; your sister refused to bring any.¡± ¡°She always did think it was gross.¡± ¡°Whereas building a house out of a dead creature isn''t?¡± ¡°They might not have used slime-creature slime,¡± Mick said. ¡°There''s an alternative?¡± ¡°Yes. It might be person slime. My skin organisms are just telling me they remember how to make it.¡± ¡°What for?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Sticking things together, I guess. Oh! And wound repair.¡± ¡°You... you can ask your skin organisms things?¡± ¡°Yes. All of my organisms communicate. I spent all that time embedded in Lana, but I didn''t realise... I guess it was one of the barriers she put around me.¡± ¡°Barriers?¡± ¡°Yes. I learned her language and only then did she give me her language memory. I got her surface thoughts, her feelings, but I wasn''t privy to her telling her legs which way to move, or that sort of thing. You realise part of why I was so in need of glucose yesterday, don''t you?¡± ¡°No, why?¡± ¡°I wasn''t telling my stomach to digest stuff. I just assumed it would, but it doesn''t work like that. I really need to work out how to connect up my brain stem to operate an autonomous nervous system or something. But it''s sort of nice, every individual skin organism that you touch is saying ''ooh, she''s stroking me, that''s so pleasant, will she do it again? Oooh! Lovely!''¡± ¡°Your skin organisms are falling in love with me?¡± ¡°Is that a problem?¡± ¡°No... it''s just weird,¡± she said, and absent-mindedly scratched the back of her left knee. Again. ¡°Sathie, that''s the third time in the last ten minutes you''ve scratched there.¡± ¡°It''s itching.¡± ¡°What''s the first rule about strange itches on strange planets?¡± ¡°Assume they are serious, look at them or let someone else.¡± ¡°I don''t think you''re a good enough contortionist to look properly, so will you allow me to check it for you? Or do I break my heart and hit your panic button?¡± ¡°OK, you get to have a look at my exquisite leg,¡± Sathie said, and started to roll up her trouser leg. The fabric was a little frayed-looking at the bottom, and as she rolled it up, the seam pulled apart. ¡°What on Earth?¡± ¡°Nothing on Earth.¡± Mick said, ¡°Nor Mars. Something''s been eating your trousers. Any idea what they''re made of?¡± ¡°Mixed fibres, I expect.¡± ¡°Scientist in me says we should cut and bag, beloved.¡± Mick said, apologetically, getting some sample bags and scissors. ¡°Forget the scissors. You''ve seen me in a swimsuit, I''m not wearing half-eaten trousers when I''ve no idea what is eating them or how fast it climbs.¡± She said, pulling off her shoes and socks before removing her trousers. The lining of the shoes was mostly gone, but the socks were intact. ¡°Three samples for someone to analyse,¡± Sathie said, trying to hold her voice firm. ¡°And a fourth on the back of your knee,¡± Mick said. There was a small grey blob, there, about the size of a pea. Her skin around it was looking a bit red, but not very. ¡°I think it''s a slime-creature. It must have got into your shoe when you stepped into the grass yesterday.¡± ¡°But I went through decon last night!¡± ¡°But your shoes stayed outside, remember?¡± ¡°Stupid mistake to lose a leg for,¡± Sathie said, on the verge of tears. ¡°Who said you''d lose a leg?¡± Mick asked, scraping the mass into a bag with his finger nails. He''d imagined it would be sticky like glue, but it wasn''t, it was more like mashed potato. His skin organisms told him it was a slime creature. ¡°Shouldn''t you be using my knife or something.¡± ¡°Lana told me her organisms would expel or consume slime creature organisms, so I''m assuming I''m immune.¡± ¡°But if it''s not a slime creature?¡± ¡°My skin organisms say it is. So, hopefully ninety-nine point I''m not sure how much percent is in the bag, and I propose to ask my skin organisms to pick off the rest, if that''s all right with you?¡± ¡°How do you mean?¡± ¡°A bit like this,¡± Mick said. He placed his hand on Sathie''s leg and asked his skin organisms to find slime-creature organisms. Could they eat them themselves? Yes, but not very well, it was better to let the ready-cells help to do that. His ready-cells reported that they were on their way, they liked being called on for action. They liked Sathie, she made nice pheromones. Would he be mating with her soon? How did that work? ¡°Not time yet for what?¡± Sathie asked, responding to the reply he thought. ¡°I was thinking to my ready-cells. Did you hear them?¡± ¡°No. What are they? And why red?¡± ¡°They''re sort of general purpose genetic soldiers, ready for action. They said they were very happy to mount a search and destroy campaign on your skin, they like you, you make nice pheromones, and the bit I was reacting to was would we be mating soon?¡± ¡°You''re thinking of sex while I''m getting eaten alive?¡± ¡°No, my ready-cells are apparently curious about how it works. They''re very involved in mating here. Just so you know, there''s now a sort of tree-shaped network of my skin organisms spreading over your skin, so please don''t move. What does it feel like?¡± ¡°A bit ticklish. I presume I mustn''t scratch.¡± ¡°That wouldn''t be nice to my organisms when they''re getting rid of every slime-creature organism they can find.¡± ¡°I want to be nice to your organisms. They''re really going to get rid of every last one?¡± ¡°That''s the aim. Hmm. I don''t suppose you know what''s supposed to be lurking in your skin pores, do you?¡± ¡°What do you mean, what''s supposed to be in my skin pores?¡± ¡°They''ve found some other things that don''t seem to be you and aren''t slime creature.¡± ¡°I did total decon this morning. There shouldn''t be anything in my skin pores.¡± ¡°OK, so for the moment those are on the collect and destroy list too.¡± ¡°You''re really checking every single skin pore?¡± ¡°Would you like me to exclude some? Think nano-bots, Sathie. Skin organisms are a bit like nano-bots which specialise in keeping good things in and bad things out. Therefore they can recognise things, and they can also round them up and pass them on to the ready-cells which do the interrogation and extermination bit.¡± ¡°Urm, OK.¡± ¡°But so far there''s just that one type of thing mentioned earlier in your pores, (which my ready cells say is definitely not Sathie D.N.A.) no slime creature organisms. There is an enzyme that my skin organisms say isn''t very nice to most organisms. Slime creatures in other places though. Oooh, right. My skin organisms have just spotted something they describe as very angry latching on to a slime-creature organism. Bye-bye slime creature, I''m telling my skin organisms to leave that well alone.¡± ¡°Sensible. So, immune system one, slime creature zero?¡± ¡°I''m not sure about that. It might be slime creatures one thousand, immune system one; it was subcutaneous. OK, there are more angry guys around, so I guess my skin organisms ought to come home from there.¡± ¡°I don''t want to get allergic to you.¡± ¡°Good plan,¡± he grinned. When all his skin organisms were home, he asked them to expel the slime creature organisms they''d collected. Another blob went into another bag, this one about the size of half a lentil. ¡°Sample number five,¡± Mick said. ¡°What happened to your ready-cells killing them all?¡± ¡°They claim they got all the ones from on top of your skin. These were invading you through a scratch. So, my beloved Sathie, you are now going to take these samples up to biology and find out if anything the doctors have kills them, along with what enzyme it is that''s in the predator''s saliva. And whether my useful organism''s bit of surgery was fully successful or not. I don''t think any got to your blood-stream, but they were close.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°There was a scratch. That''s how they get into predators, too.¡± ¡°Mick?¡± Sathie said, in a small voice. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Before I go, check more of me please. My foot, my whole leg. Both legs and my fingers. The thought of those things creeping over me, in me...¡± ¡°But you don''t mind my organisms creeping all over you?¡± ¡°No, Mick.¡± ¡°OK. I''ll start with your hand, shall I?¡± ¡°Please.¡± Fifteen minutes later, Mick''s organisms had removed a small slime creature colony ¡ª barely a score of organisms ¡ª growing under one of Sathie''s finger nails, another micro-colony between her toes, and one slime creature organism inching its way up her leg above her knee, and after some arguments about not trusting the decon procedure she persuaded him to stop just using one hand and let more of his skin organisms check her over. There was just one more micro-slime creature colony, where thinking back she realised she''d touched her neck with her contaminated hand. As before, they alternated which of them was hiding their thoughts. Mick didn''t really understand why Sathie didn''t want to share thoughts, but that didn''t matter. He caught enough of her thoughts as they swapped over to know she wasn''t hiding disgust. ¡°That was a nice comprehensive hug, Mick. Thank you.¡± ¡°Have I told you I want marry you?¡± ¡°Several times. Each hour.¡± ¡°And did I hear you making a decision or two?¡± ¡°You know you did. Your organisms have quite possibly saved my life, and while I know they''re not original you, I''m very pleased you''ve got them.¡± ¡°And you really want me to grow wings and fly?¡± ¡°Why not? Isn''t it everyone''s dream? I know I wouldn''t mind you being able to lift me into the air one day.¡± ¡°Because... consciously managing legs is about all I feel up to at the moment.¡± ¡°So, get your autonomous nervous system in the act and practice. I expect I''m still going to be in medical quarantine for a while, so you''ve got time.¡± ¡°Probably. Unless you want to send up for clean clothes and stay here.¡± ¡°Should I? I thought you were the one campaigning for me to get a professional look.¡± ¡°I know I was. I am still. But once they decide to quarantine you...¡± ¡°You''d like to keep me company?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You''re obsessed, aren''t you?¡± ¡°I''ve missed you, Sathie. I''ve missed having my legs and I''ve missed having you. Anything that takes you away....¡± ¡°Isn''t going to be met very rationally. I know. I''ve missed you too; but I don''t trust sudden powerful emotions. You might have noticed.¡± ¡°So that''s why you''re not saying much about how you feel?¡± Sathie looked at the idiot she loved more than reason, ¡°Idiot.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Mick asked totally confused. ¡°You''re supposed to be a mind-reader.¡± ¡°Urm.¡± ¡°What haven''t you done, Mick. Not once.¡± ¡°I must have asked how you feel about me.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°I must have.¡± ¡°I''ve been waiting. I''m sure I would have noticed.¡± ¡°Sorry Sathie. Will you tell me how you feel about me?¡± ¡°Not now,¡± Sathie said, smiling. ¡°What? Why not?¡± ¡°We need to call in that med-evac.¡± ¡°Then will you tell me?¡± ¡°We''ll see,¡± Sathie said, grinning at her private joke. She called the lab. ¡°Anyone listening up there?¡± ¡°Receiving,¡± It was a woman''s voice, but not one Sathie recognised. ¡°Sathzakara here, planet-side. I have six samples of flesh- and clothes-eating slime creature, believed picked up yesterday and lurking in my footwear. They don''t seem to be able to get through skin, but some got into a barely visible scratch of mine. Heather should check her shoes too.¡± ¡°Are you saying you''ve got an alien infection?¡± the voice sounded scared. ¡°I certainly did have. Mick''s skin organisms have removed all they could find, and he does not believe any entered my blood stream. He also reports that my immune system has been activated, and that something unrecognised was in about one percent of my skin-pores, which makes me think total decon is not as effective as it''s supposed to be.¡± ¡°Urm... I''m triggering a med-evac.¡± ¡°Good plan. If Heather has an infection, I highly recommend Mick''s skin-organisms for a comprehensive search and destroy scan.¡± ¡°Urm... I don''t know who Mick is.¡± ¡°Magdalena''s brother? Man I''m going to marry? Crashed here six years ago? Rescued by one of the locals? Human head and shape-shifter body?¡± Sathie prompted. ¡°Oh! Yes, sorry. I''m just a bit stunned... You''re sounding so unflustered at having a flesh-eating microbe infection.¡± ¡°Well, since Mick''s organisms checked my every pore and did a complete sweep of my skin, I''m not feeling nearly as terrified as I was immediately after he found there was a colony tunneling under my skin.¡± ¡°You''re exaggerating on the every pore, I assume.¡± ¡°Yes, a bit. He checked most of them though. We''re assuming I''ll need to be in quarantine.¡± ¡°Urm... Probably. Sorry, I''m a linguist, I''m here because most of the time it''s somewhere guaranteed to be quiet.¡± ¡°Peace and quiet hard to find?¡± ¡°Certain people are extroverts. Certain other people are used to having their own room in which they can mutter to themselves. We have two assigned rooms. One is in use by the extroverts to work on the recordings. The other room has those of us working on the stone tablet.¡± ¡°Want to talk to the author?¡± ¡°Sorry, she''s not here,¡± Mick said, ¡°Lana wrote it. I just traced.¡± ¡°Can you read it?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Not all of it. I''ve learned a bit.¡± ¡°Am I right that it''s not an alphabet?¡± the voice asked. ¡°I wouldn''t go that far. There''s just a few short-cuts. And of course there''s the three cases.¡± ¡°Three cases?¡± ¡°We have upper case and lower case, they have normal case, person case and verb case.¡± ¡°You''re joking!¡± ¡°Egyptians wrote names specially, so do the locals. If you want a hint, remember people here are collaborations, and change shape, but they''re still the same people.¡± ¡°You''re talking about ornamented letter forms, aren''t you?¡± ¡°Who me?¡± Mick asked, grinning. ¡°Did the post-script go in all of them?¡± ¡°Yes, but Lana signed her version, so it went more like ''p.s. hardly anyone talks to Mick.'' which was true, but nice and ambiguous, it makes me sound like a hermit or something.¡± ¡°And the last word is your name?¡± ¡°Probably. Oh, look at the letter size for another clue. They don''t do bold.¡± ¡°And they really distinguish ''ground'' from ''earth''?¡± ¡°So do you. Compare the meaning of a house with only an ''earth floor'', with one with only a ''ground floor''. If they dig up ground you get earth or sand. Naughty podlings can throw earth and sand, but not ground. They wouldn''t plant stuff in earth or sand, it needs to be good earth or sand for that.¡± ¡°You said a word in there I didn''t recognise.¡± ¡°''Podling''? A youngster resulting from two adults podding, but also the generic word for any non-adult. Not to be confused with a mixling who is the result of true genetic interchange, or a budling who is the result of one adult deciding make a chip off the old block. And Sathie''s lift has arrived, by the sound of it.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± the radio operator-stroke-linguist said. ¡°No problem. Thank you for answering Sathie''s call,¡± Mick said. ¡°Mick say hi to Pete the Paramedic,¡± Sathie said. ¡°Hi!¡± Mick said, ¡°Nice space-suit.¡± ¡°Where''s the infection?¡± Pete asked. ¡°All in the sample bags, we hope.¡± Sathie said. ¡°How much did the operator relay?¡± ¡°Total decon might not be total and you got infected by a flesh-eating microbe.¡± ¡°Sample four here was on Sathie''s skin, removed by my fingernail. It was clustered around a scratch behind Sathie''s knee. Sample five was in the scratch and tunnelling its way under her skin, removed by my skin organisms, who reported that a lot of angry somethings had turned up ¡ª I guess white blood-cells ¡ª and were munching the invaders. Some of the sample were busily ingesting those defenders when I got them out, though. Sample six was between her toes, and sample seven was trying to get under her helmet, I think. There were other micro-colonies but I didn''t think it was worth trying to bag them.¡± ¡°So, what happened to them?¡± ¡°A snack for my hungry organisms.¡± ¡°So you think you actually got them all.¡± ¡°I hope I did. The battle with the immune system was close to blood vessels. I hope that Sathie''s immune system can cope with the few I left them fighting. It certainly looked like it, and I didn''t want any of my skin organisms to get in the way of her immune response.¡± ¡°Can I have an arm for a blood sample? Thanks. You think these creatures survived total decon?¡± ¡°They were probably on or in my boots,¡± Sathie said as he swabbed Sathie''s arm, ¡°I walked in the known habitat of them last night, and didn''t remember to decon my boots before putting them back on this morning. Something''s eaten the lining and then it ate the stitching in my trousers before Mick pointed out that I was scratching the back of my knee.¡± ¡°A well-fed colony can double in two hours, did I hear?¡± Pete asked. ¡°That''s what I was told, yes.¡± Mick agreed. ¡°And you''ve got about a half cubic centimeter of them here.¡± Pete said. ¡°Yes. And there''s only been time for five generations since this morning, which means Sathie ought to have noticed something funny in her boot. So I wonder if there''s something they really like in shoe lining. If it was /ten generations we''d be down to a cubic millimetre and it''d be unnoticeable.¡± ¡°Warm, damp environment?¡± Pete suggested. ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°So why did I get a message about total decon not working?¡± ¡°Some things lurking in Sathie''s skin pores, which my skin organisms didn''t recognise.¡± ¡°Hmm. That''s not good.¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly. Please look after Sathie, Pete.¡± ¡°I''ll do my best, Mick,¡± Pete said. ¡°And if that''s not enough, I''ll make him talk to Lana,¡± Sathie added. Mick, gazing at her face, noticed a small black lump running down the inside of her face-mask. ¡°Sathie, I think some got into your mask.¡± Without hesitation, she ripped it off, and hugged him once more, her face pressed against his bare chest. Mick clasped her to him, and sent his skin organisms into action once more, from both directions. ¡°Feel free to film this, Doctor.¡± Mick said. ¡°Hopefully it''ll be the last time anyone needs slime-creatures individually removed.¡± The doctor, amazed at what he was seeing, started to film, and gave a commentary. ¡°His skin organisms are flowing across her face in a fern-like pattern. I can see them encountering a small slime creature and beside her ear... I guess pulling it inside them. It''s vanishing, anyway. The slime creatures seem to have been looking for orifices. The skin organisms are retreating from her ears, I guess they''ve finished. They''ve reached her eyes, and are searching around the edges.¡± ¡°Sathie?¡± Mick sounded serious. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Your ears are fine, and now mostly wax-free, but I''ve just caught one practically in your eye. Can you close your eyes please and keep them shut until I say?¡± ¡°You''re planning to check my eyeballs?¡± ¡°Yes. And then into your tear ducts, if you''ll permit me.¡± ¡°You''ve cleaned my ears and now you''re going to make sure there aren''t any in my tear ducts?¡± Sathie asked, amazed. ¡°If you don''t mind.¡± ¡°Of course I don''t mind, Mick. I love you.¡± ¡°The enzymes in her tears won''t harm your organisms?¡± Pete asked. ¡°I don''t think so. They''re skin organisms, after all. Pretty hardy things. They say it''s not a strong enough concentration to be any kind of problem for them. Do you feel anything, Sathie?¡± ¡°It''s a bit strange, but nothing unpleasant.¡± ¡°I''m glad I''m checking; one was trying to get behind your eyeball. It wasn''t very healthy though, so maybe it wasn''t going to cause too much trouble. Right eye is clean, Sathie, including tear-duct.¡± ¡°And my left eye?¡± ¡°Thats the one that had the nasty. I''ve asked a ready-cell to double-check something.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Probably nothing,¡± Mick said, ¡°Oh, oops. OK, ready cells really don''t like your tears. So, the something which is probably nothing is now going to the ready cell instead.¡± ¡°What is a ready cell?¡± Pete asked. ¡°They are... really confusing Mick at the moment.¡± Sathie said. ¡°They are fearless and curious surgeon-soldiers,¡± Mick said sadly. ¡°And one has just died telling me about the virus that killed him. Your left eye is clean now Sathie, your scalp is clean, and I think I need to get a message to Lana. Doctor can you record something for me?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Mick spoke in Lana''s language, ¡°Lana, Sathie had a slime creature infection. I''ve checked her and I''m pretty sure she''s OK now, but she''s going to go up to the ship and eat lots of stuff we know is poison for organisms, just in case. While my skin organisms were checking her eye they found an unusual slime creature, which was spiky, but not anything they recognised. I asked a ready cell to find out what was wrong with it. I''m probably going to get this badly wrong, but what I think he communicated before he died was deadly, fast-spreading, a relative of the virus I had when you first met me, but changed, unstable, different ends on the spikes, but the same core. Expel the spiky with zing, fire, athlass and bite at the root. I think it was athlass, My brain organisms from you say that was the word, but I don''t know it. That was the command of my brave ready cell. And then the slime creature burst, and the organisms near, including him, started to became spiky. And my skin organisms obeyed his instruction.¡± ¡°That''s the end of the message?¡± Pete asked. ¡°Yes. That''s the end.¡± ¡°What is it, Mick?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°A virus, deadly to my organisms. It got a hundred skin organisms and the ready-cell investigating it. It was in a slime-creature organism which had been in your tear duct, I could have just expelled the slime creature, but I was curious.¡± ¡°But your organisms can produce more ready cells, can''t they?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°I don''t know, Sathie. I don''t know, and I didn''t think.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, Mick.¡± ¡°I''d had a cold, Sathie, a week before. That''s the only virus I know anything about.¡± ¡°As far as I know, I don''t have one, but yeah, there have been some coughs and sniffles around the lab. But now your organisms will recognise it?¡± ¡°Yes. But the organisms I''ve had from Lana are experts at this sort of thing. Most people''s organisms aren''t. When my ready-cells said deadly, I got the impression it could kill someone.¡± ¡°So that message needs to get to Lana immediately, yes?¡± Sathie said. ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Pete, while you fly me up for what I presume is a nice boring time in quarantine, I''ll get Maggie or whoever to deliver that message, OK?¡± ¡°Good plan.¡± ¡°Sathie, eat lots of onions and garlic, just in case.¡± ¡°Won''t that make me poisonous to you?¡± ¡°I''d rather you were poisonous for a bit than turning into a slime creature. I mean, I didn''t check all your sinuses, or down your throat, or...¡± ¡°Or various other places,¡± Sathie supplied. ¡°Thank you Mick, for taking care of me. I''ll call you when I''ve got through to Lana.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°And Mick, you wanted to know how I feel about you? I love you. That hasn''t noticeably changed at all, as far as I can tell. And right now I would be very happy to agree to marry you just as soon as I''m out of quarantine, unless you think that I''m too full of dangerous viruses. Whether by bed-time I''ll have decided that I was being much too to silly and emotional in saying that sort of thing I really don''t know.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying, Sathie ¡°, Mick said, punctuating his sentence with a kiss. ¡°Since you''re not sure, why don''t we decide on not deciding a wedding date for a while?¡± ¡°You don''t mind?¡± ¡°No. Let''s plan when we have some idea where we''ll be and when. But if you''re fairly certain you''ll be happy to marry me one day, I''d be honoured if you''d wear this ring.¡± ¡°I''d be honoured to wear it. Thank you Mick.¡± Ground / Ch. 16:Caution

Ground / Ch. 16:Caution

Ground, Little Yasfort ¡°Mr Mayor, I need to talk to the village pharmacist.¡± Lana said quietly, ¡°Quite urgently.¡± ¡°Kalak is ill?¡± ¡°No. My podling just lost a ready cell to a virus.¡± ¡°What? But ready cells are... they''re virus proof!¡± ¡°What makes it even more surprising is that I and my mother before me have worked with unknown viruses before, have analysed them for the university. The ready cells I gave Mick were not of an administrator, although I''ve done that job recently. If a virus could overcome such a ready cell, I worry.¡± ¡°Do you recognise Kov and Jana? At the edge of the crowd?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The woman next to Jana is Uza, Aza''s mother and our pharmacist.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Do... do you know where this virus came from?¡± ¡°The friend of Mick, Sathzakara, travelled with us, and stepped out of the spaceship on the plains. It seems a slime creature stuck to her boot, and the boot was not washed and scrubbed and subjected to the treatments that Sathzakara and her grandmother put themselves through. This morning it ate her boot, and some of the cloth that covers her body, and was invading a scratch in her skin when they found it. Some more slime creature organisms had found her eye, and were trying to invade her body that way. Mick found them, and one of those slime-creature organisms had this virus. So perhaps it was in the slime creature, or perhaps it was an alien virus.¡± ¡°So, we do not know,¡± the Mayor said. ¡°Not for sure.¡± ¡°But when there are new and deadly viruses around, caution would be advised.¡± ¡°Indeed. I am pleased you agree, academician. We.... before I saw you approaching we were wondering how to say that to invite your podling to live in the village, and the thought of constant visits of his alien friends, seemed like too much change, too quickly.¡± ¡°I will pass on the message. Oh, Kalak is very happy to stay in his old home, and I have seen what he calls the old servant quarters at the rear. If the village has no objections, then I would happily stay there. They are larger than my flat on the university campus.¡± ¡°One of the servant''s quarters? You are sure, Academician? It does not seem very fitting....¡± ¡°I have no objections, Mr Mayor, none at all. Now, if you''ll excuse me...¡± ¡°Certainly, academician, you must talk to Uza.¡± Lana flew to beside Kov and Jana. They were cuddling their own little mixling, and Uza was cuddling Aza and Jakav''s. ¡°I apologise, but Uza, I must talk to you about a vaccine.¡± ¡°A vaccine? Any in particular?¡± ¡°A new one is needed. And my podling needs unthat.¡± ¡°Unthat? Why would...¡± Uza broke off, putting the two together. Unthat was a plant extract that helped helped trigger the creation of ready cells, normally it was the parents who needed it, after giving their best to their podlings. ¡°The dispensary is this way,¡± Uza said, returning Magdalena to Aza. ¡°Your podling contracted a bacteria that nasty and new?¡± ¡°I have told the mayor, Mick lost a ready cell to a virus.¡± ¡°A virus?¡± ¡°Yes. The ready cell I gave Mick recognised the core, but the spikes were different. Before it was overcome, the ready cell told him the virus was deadly, fast-spreading, and unstable.¡± ¡°Those are not three terms to give me an easy night. How can it be recognised then?¡± ¡°By the root of the spikes, according to the ready cell. There is zing, fire, athlass and bite at the root.¡± ¡°Athlass? Your podling is well educated. That''s rare in a virus, too.¡± ¡°The brain organisms I gave him remembered enough to interpret what the ready-cell said, but Mick didn''t know the word.¡± ¡°Who ever heard of a male who did!¡± ¡°Mick''s so recently podded... I wonder if his brain-organisms still act as though he''s female.¡± ¡°That ought not to be possible.¡± ¡°Then perhaps he is even stranger hybrid than we thought, a male alien coupled with organisms that are female. But I don''t think so. He said that his ready-cells were curious about mating, anyway, which is a male trait. He was cleansing his future wife of a slime creature infection. An infected slime creature organism was behind her eye.¡± ¡°Behind her eye?¡± ¡°I would not have thought of it. But their eyes are like a ball in a socket, surrounded by a liquid full of enzymes to destroy bacteria. The muscles that move them do not stop something from getting behind. His skin organisms found one slime creature on the edge of her eye, so he searched around the eye too.¡± ¡°She could not expel the slime creature herself?¡± ¡°Multicellular organisms... everything is specialised, everything has its special place. Everything is fixed. They cannot ask their skin to part for anything.¡± ¡°One wonders how they survive.¡± ¡°Quite well. They''ve got specialist cells for everything. They decide what to eat, put it in their stomachs and forget about it, everything else is automatic until it comes to excretion, well, actually, they need to train their young to pay attention to that, so that is automatic too. "Even standing or running is automatic for them, once they''ve learned how to do it deliberately, they push the job to another part of their brain and tell it to just get on with things. As for dealing with infection... there''s basically no communication there at all, other than pain.¡± They reached the clinic. ¡°I have unthat leaves. Will he be able to make the infusion?¡± ¡°They have strange habits. One of their favourite drinks is an infusion of plant leaves. Another drink that Mick likes but Magdalena finds disgusting involves the flesh of a certain lower life-form found in the sea. What temperature should he infuse the unthat in, though? I''ve only ever had the pre-made infusion. He''s going to use boiling water if he treats it like his favourite drink.¡± ¡°Constantly boiling? That''d ruin it.¡± ¡°According to him, the only way to drink his drink is to boil the water, pour some into another vessel, so it gets hot, throw that water away because it''s too cold, put in the leaves, and pour more boiling water on top.¡± ¡°Interesting! Tell him to do exactly that, and then throw that away immediately. The first wash is a mild poison. Then he should pour more boiling water on and leave the leaves in until the infusion is a nice body temperature for drinking.¡± ¡°And then he should drink it cold?¡± ¡°Warmer is better, actually. It doesn''t make much difference, but the efficacy reduces with time, unless you add preservatives.¡± ¡°But he shouldn''t be tempted to drink it hot?¡± ¡°He likes hot drinks?¡± ¡°He does, yes. He had some of the leaves for this drink of his in his spaceship. He persuaded me to drink some, and was most offended at the thought of waiting until it was cold.¡± ¡°Well, really, the active ingredient is in the infusion by the time it''s cooled to half-boiling. After that you just get the good taste.¡± ¡°You are talking about someone who said ''mmm, tasty'' to full-grown herd-beast, and spat out his first bite of predator as if it was poison.¡± ¡°Crazy alien! ¡°, Uza said, ¡°But OK, if he likes the taste of herd-beast, he can take out the leaves any time after five minutes.¡± ¡°I''ll tell him.¡± ¡°And you''ll submit this virus report, I presume?¡± ¡°Would you be willing to test it first? We are not sure the virus is from the aliens, but it probably is.¡± ¡°But how do we test it? Your podling''s ready cell died.¡± ¡°We ask his skin organisms if it matches what they expelled.¡± ¡°I''ve never had much success getting sense out of skin organisms,¡± Uza said. ¡°I spoke to Sathzakara ¡ª Mick''s future wife. He was telling her what his organisms had found, and where.¡± ¡°That''s unusual.¡± ¡°Yes. But he had reason to want to know, reason to learn, and an rational mind when he was podded. I left him yesterday with instructions to learn to listen to his organisms... because yesterday he wasn''t listening at all. I guess he''s been making up for time. Plus of course, he knew what a slime creature would do to his beloved.¡± ¡°Yes. The almost-certain death of your future spouse. That''s very powerful motive for not sitting back and doing nothing.¡± Uza said. ¡°And not thinking about the consequences.¡± ¡°You sound like you''ve experience,¡± Lana said. ¡°Aza''s father was dying?¡± ¡°Yes. A predator got his head. I wasn''t sure all his brain organisms were dead. You''re not the only one who might be accused of wrong-podding.¡± ¡°Your daughter may be late-podded, Uza, but I''m sure she''s not wrong-podded. She shows none of the signs.¡± ¡°Late-podded? I''ve not heard that term.¡± ¡°Late in your husband''s life, but not so late it would be wrong.¡± ¡°In any case, it was wrong ¡ª we were not married. I held him as he died, and called his muscle organisms, his bone organsims, his skin organisms, but I forced myself on him; we were not married.¡± ¡°Did his organisms flow to you, or away from you, Uza? I expect the strongest and the best of them flowed to your call very eagerly. Bone, skin and muscle may not understand much, but they know who our brain has chosen as husband or wife. There was no rape there. If your husband had recovered, you would have said vows that evening, I''m sure. If not before.¡± ¡°I did say them. I... I think I heard him respond, even. But..¡± ¡°Do not hesitate to call him your husband, Uza. The biological imperative of reproduction cannot make muscle organisms talk, but it can encourage dying brain organisms to do so.¡± ¡°The back of his skill was gone, his ears with it. He could not hear. How could he respond?¡± ¡°You have not heard of two people being attuned to each other''s thoughts?¡± ¡°During podding, yes. Otherwise, it''s a myth.¡± ¡°No, it''s something we''re taught is a myth and so people who can do it at other times keep it an intimate secret, lest they be accused of starting to pod in public. Some of the aliens can hear any surface thought of someone they touch, and Magdalena''s future husband John has a gift from God that allows him to hear anyone''s thoughts anywhere, and speak to those who can hear. We are all capable of hearing one another''s thoughts, Uza, just many do not stay that close. And even if we were not, if God chose, he could have allowed your husband to hear you take your vows to him.¡± ¡°You speak kind words, Lana.¡± ¡°You cannot blame me if the truth is kind, Uza. Has no one spoken such words before?¡± ¡°Not so forcefully, with such conviction.¡± ¡°Then it is past time. To make the vaccine will take a long time?¡± ¡°Yes. A vaccine to tell the cells to reject based on the root, that will be more complex than normal. If I started now, it would almost be the middle of the night before the first injection could be given.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Lana didn''t hide her disappointment, ¡°Can I help somehow?¡± ¡°With making the vaccine? It is... as much an art as a science. I prefer to work methodically, and alone. But can you repeat for me the what the ready cell said? And write it down here?¡± ¡°Of course. Zing, fire, athlass and bite at the root. The spikes are unstable.¡± ¡°You realise athlass is normally the hidden core of a spike, sometimes exposed at the very tip? It''s going to be a real challenge to do that. A trial sample, though.... Perhaps the best way is if I do not rely on chemistry for a trial. How long would it take to walk to your podling? I am not a good flyer and don''t like to fly in the dark.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Would you accept a lift from the alien machine? That is the fastest way.¡± ¡°You can arrange for that?¡± ¡°It was offered.¡± ¡°Then I will apply my organisms to the challenge of zing, fire, athlass and bite. It is a terrible combination, you realise? Zing and fire together in one virus?¡± ¡°It infected a ready cell. It must be terrible.¡± ¡°I''m still surprised, about that. I wonder if there was some other factor that weakened it.¡± ¡°I don''t know. We''ll have to ask Mick more.¡±
Old Yasfort ¡°Hello? Mick?¡± Lana called at the entrance to the house. ¡°Lana?¡± Mick''s voice came from within. ¡°I''ll be right there.¡± A glow suddenly appeared from under the door, then a shadow, and then Uza met her second alien. ¡°Mick, this is Uza, the village pharmacist.¡± ¡°The virus is very unusual. I do not know how it would infect a ready cell.¡± ¡°By which we mean, Mick, that getting your skin cells to take it to a ready cell was the right thing to do, and we''re as shocked as you are.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying so. But it''s still my fault, isn''t it?¡± ¡°Mick, it''s not just saying. A virus infecting a ready cell is unheard of.¡± ¡°Maybe you shouldn''t be here, then. If there''s a deadly, human-carried ready-cell destroying virus... I don''t want to be responsible for wiping out ready-cells as a species.¡± ¡°Mick, your organisms can produce ready cells. They''re a different class, not a different species of organisms. And Uza has some unthat for you, which will help ready cell production. So, stop being miserable, put some water on to boil, and be prepared to answer lots of questions about what you ate and drank, and anything else that might have possibly made your ready cell more vulnerable to the virus than it ought to have been.¡± ¡°Not to mention which ready cell it might have been,¡± Uza added. ¡°It might make a difference.¡± ¡°How do I tell?¡± Mick asked. ¡°As far as I know all my ready cells went with my skin organisms to check what was attacking Sathie.¡± ¡°They moved? All of them? And you asked your ready cells to protect her?¡± Uza asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And they went all over her skin with your skin organisms?¡± Uza asked, amazed at what she was hearing. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But now she''s back on the space-ship?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Yes. Why is that important?¡± ¡°Your podling needs some remedial classes, Lana.¡± Uza said, with a smirk. ¡°Mick, how do you feel about Sathzakara being gone?¡± ¡°Miserable. Like all of me wants her back.¡± ¡°All of you does want her back, Mick,¡± Lana said, ¡°How can you protect your wife unless she''s with you?¡± ¡°She''s not my wife yet.¡± ¡°Sending your skin organisms to remove an infection is unusual, but it can count as first aid. Getting your ready cells to deal with what the skin-organisms bring back to your body would be normal. The podlings at the back of the class will be sniggering, however, because thinning your skin like that is stage one of podding. Your ready cells being that mobile means you''re still dosed up on my mixing enzymes, I guess. A male asking his ready cells to roam a female, asking his ready cells to protect her? That, my ignorant podling, is a few steps into a mixing. The stage before that would be the female''s ready cells entering your body to meet up with your ready cells, give them a few extra doses of mix hormone if they''re not mobile and starting to mix genetics with the finest specimins. Then the rest go on patrol because otherwise she''s vulnerable. If it was just a podding then the male''s ready cells wouldn''t be involved much; her ready cells would be calling the best of the male''s organisms to implant. But note that it''s not male ready cells that implant, remember the story of the many-mother. That''s because ready cells, as well as everything else they do, are the ones most ready to subdivide. I expect that your skin ready cells divided at least five times yesterday, the poor things..¡± ¡°Which will have left them weak.¡± Uza said. ¡°And podding leaves them weak, as well, of course, let alone mixing.¡± ¡°We weren''t podding,¡± Mick said, deeply embarrassed. ¡°Your brain might think that, but your organisms almost certainly think differently, Mick. And I don''t know what God thinks, but if you dared to ask anyone in the village about sending your ready cells all over Sathzakara when you''re not married and they''d say you needed to repent of that sin and take your marriage vows.¡± ¡°I''d better make a call then,¡± Mick said. ¡°Several, I expect.¡± Lana said. ¡°One should be enough.¡± He called Sathie''s wrist unit. ¡°Hi Mick, I miss you too. What''s up?¡± ¡°Sathzakara Shipbuilder, I have just been told that in sending my ready cells to patrol your skin I crossed a line I did not know, and sinned against God and against you, and did what is only right for husband and wife. I do not want to expose you and our race to public shame, that we behave like moabites. Will you take vows with me, my beloved?¡± ¡°You''re saying that your ready cell was dropping a huge hint and we totally missed it?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Good job the doc says he doesn''t see any sign of a current infection in any of my blood tests, just a past infection, isn''t it?¡± ¡°So you''re not in quarantine?¡± ¡°All indicators show nothing active any more. He''s convinced you''ve got them all, my beloved. So, with Maggie''s permission, I will come and make vows to you, Mick Shapechanger. And if she will not permit me, then I''ll take vows by wireless. I do not want to dishonour God.¡± ¡°Thank you Sathie.¡± ¡°But I warn you, Mick. I did dose myself on onions and garlic. And raw it is certainly toxic to the slime creatures, and Pete says that he''s part way thorough an experiment using his blood. Drip one, before eating any onions was lapped up, drip two ten minutes afterwards, sent the slime creature running to the corner of it''s dish, and drip three, which he put straight on top of one blob, seems to have killed it.¡± ¡°That''s reassuring. So you ought to be entirely free.¡± ¡°Well, reassuring in terms of the slime creature, yes. It probably means you don''t want to kiss me though. I''d hate to marry you and then poison you.¡± ¡°I''ll be appropriately cautious,¡± Mick said. ¡°Good plan.¡±
Space, Space-folding lab. ¡°You''re serious?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°It''s worse,¡± Sathzakara said. ¡°We got the doctor to film Mick wrapping my head in filaments of his skin to get rid of the slime creatures that were in my mask. It probably counts as a pornographic film down there.¡± ¡°Oh, Sathie!¡± Maggie exclaimed. ¡°So, can I please borrow a probe or something to go down and take vows with Mick?¡± ¡°I don''t think that''s a good idea,¡± Maggie said, ¡°Gran might fall off. Anyway, you''ll need to take an alchemy kit if you''re going to make a nice pool in that cave.¡± ¡°A pool?¡± ¡°Are you objecting?¡± ¡°No, but...¡± ¡°If we can get permission from the locals, who seem to have quite a lax attitude to planning regulations from what I''ve heard, then I''d like us to have somewhere we can swim and relax, and I wouldn''t mind putting up a tower or two.¡± ¡°You mean a permanent base?¡± ¡°An embassy, yes. Not that I expect them to have a word for that. But we''ve promised Lana sanctuary if she needs it; to me, that means walls she can run and hide behind, live behind, not just the portable forcefield she''s got now.¡± ¡°The planetary government might not like that,¡± Sathie said. ¡°Oh, I know. But if the local mayor says OK, then I''m not going to try to gainsay him. And then of course there''s what Kalak said about him having some kind of rights to the governorship of old Yasfort...¡± ¡°Cunning indeed is my soon-to-be sister in law.¡± ¡°That''s the royal cunning of my grandmother, actually,¡± Maggie corrected as she got her wrist unit to put through a call. ¡°Grandma?¡± ¡°Hello Maggie. My formal dress is looking really really useful at the moment. Have you and James had set a date, by any chance?¡± ¡°No date from us still, sorry. Will it take you long to change? Sathie can tell you why.¡± ¡°Sathie''s in isolation, isn''t she? ¡°The doctor says there''s no reason for her to be. In initial tests onion looks like it''s highly effective, but Mick got there first. Let me pass you over.¡±
Ground, Old Yasfort ¡°I don''t think that''s right, either, sorry.¡± Mick said, to Uza''s second try at a vaccine. ¡°At least, my skin cells deny they''ve ever met or heard of anything like that.¡± ¡°And they''re the ones that moved the spiky?¡± ¡°Yes. Sorry, I was almost sure I''d get it wrong. But they say they remember that one. Deadly, like the ready cell said.¡± ¡°Zing, fire, athlass and bite at the root.¡± ¡°Yes. Here, let me show you something. I don''t know if it helps.¡± Mick moving flicked on his display. ¡°Your ready cell sent you a picture?¡± Lana was surprised. ¡°This is a standard first year university biology image, sorry. It might not even be the right virus. But my brain organisms just labeled my picture. Here''s the core, and here''s a spike. Here is the zing, still on the core, here''s the fire, then there''s athlass somewhere here, and then there''s bite. And there''s probably more more bite going up here, but who knows? Further up the spike is unstable. Assuming it is this type of virus, every fifty years for the past three or four centuries someone''s claimed to have developed a vaccine against all known strains. By the time they''ve announced it the thing has mutated again. It takes our immune systems a bit under a week to beat it down to manageable levels, and then a couple more days to get rid of it. It''ll survive two or so days outside a body. Which is why I felt I should apply some fire to where I was when my skin expelled them.¡± ¡°That... that was appropriate, yes,¡± Lana said. Uza looked at the image, a while longer before saying, ¡°No wonder what I''ve been making don''t match. I thought they were beside the root, on the core. but to my mind, they are the root.¡± ¡°I still don''t know how you go deliberately making antibodies, but feel free to try again. You should have time before our guests get here. What did you call this drink?¡± ¡°That medicine is called unthat.¡± ¡°Is it a common plant?¡± ¡°It grows all over the scrubland,¡± Uza said, ¡°there''s loads growing outside of here, but it''s hard to get in civilised places. People who are brave enough to harvest it can''t really make a living from doing that, but it certainly buys some luxuries. Why?¡± ¡°This isn''t bad at all, but the bit you made me throw away smelt delicious,¡± Mick said. ¡°Told you, Uza,¡± Lana said. ¡°Don''t drink too much,¡± Uza said, ¡°it can be dangerous if you do.¡± ¡°Dangerous in what way?¡± ¡°Ready cells are important, but they use a lot of energy and cause disruption doing what they do,¡± Uza explained. ¡°Too many ready cells and you''ll become weak, because they''ll all be checking your other organisms for problems. They are one of the problems for people getting old: as people get older they get more cautious, and their brain-organisms lose flexibility. As they get more cautious and less adventurous, their ready cells don''t meet as many challenges and live longer, especially brain ready-cells, and too many brain ready cells means their thoughts get interrupted too often. Which makes them uncertain and more cautious.¡± ¡°I don''t think I''d heard that bit before. So to keep young and clear-thinking, a bit of risk is important?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Or curious. Curiosity is an important motive to trying new things. Trying new things keeps the brain organisms flexible, and you''re not as likely to forget to breathe while you''re asleep.¡± ¡°Can I ask about that? Or rather, about what Kalak said about the prophet stopping breathing?¡± Mick asked. ¡°What about it?¡± Lana asked. ¡°I''m confused why it''s not wrong among you to give up on life like that. For us, it''d be considered a sin ¡ª self-murder.¡± ¡°But you''ve said you can''t stop your lungs from breathing, not for long,¡± Lana pointed out. ¡°True.¡± ¡°So it would take doing violence to yourself to do it.¡± ¡°OK, I agree,¡± Mick said. ¡°But for us there''s no violence, there''s no self-poisoning or self-mutilation. And you''ve said that on the cross, Jesus gave up his spirit; in other words he chose to die.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So what makes it OK for Jesus to choose to die? And what about people who put themselves in danger to stand up for what''s right?¡± ¡°You''re saying that it was OK for Jesus to choose to die because in doing so he didn''t do any violence to himself?¡± ¡°Well? This is your ethical system we''re talking about. All I know is that when my mother was starting to feel too old, and her organisms were not functioning together as well as they did when she was first podded ¡ª in fact none of her organisms were really healthy enough to divide any more, let alone give to a podling ¡ª she told Lak and me she wouldn''t bother to keep on breathing very much longer, and she committed her soul to the One and stopped breathing, and her organisms all flowed into the soil at the same time.¡± ¡°I didn''t realise all of someone''s organisms... would get old like that.¡± ¡°It''s not inevitable,¡± Lana said, ¡°It''s more to do with attitude, expectations. That''s to say how willing someone is to let their older organisms die and be replaced by younger ones.¡± ¡°Oh, wow. You can decide even that?¡± ¡°Yes, just like you needed to decide your skin should be growing.¡± ¡°And that my stomach organisms ought to be trying to digest the food that was in my stomach,¡± Mick added, humbly. ¡°Why did you tell them not to?¡± Uza asked. ¡°I didn''t. Well, Lana told me to I needed to tell them to let me know when they couldn''t take any more, I didn''t know I needed to add ''and digest it''. That bit just goes without saying where I come from.¡± ¡°So what happens if you''re on a long journey?¡± Uza asked. ¡°We''d carry extra food in packs or pockets, not in our stomachs.¡± ¡°That sounds inconvenient,¡± Uza commented. ¡°Not really. It means you can take spare, in case of emergencies, and if you''re in a group it gives the opportunity for people to help each other. But of course, gravity on Earth is three times what it is here.¡± ¡°But what happens if your emergency lasts too long?¡± ¡°We get hungry, and use up some stored fat. I once heard that a typical human can last up to forty days without eating if there''s no food, but by that time most wouldn''t be doing much except lying down and absorbing their muscles.¡± Uza looked at him in horror. ¡°Multicellular organisms, remember,¡± Lana pointed out. ¡°He tells me his body normally discards every skin cell he has every few weeks.¡± ¡°That''s horrible!¡± ¡°They die when they contact air, and our pain sensors go all the way up to that layer.¡± Mick said, ¡°I had to tell Lana to stop cleaning off my protective outer layer of dead skin cells, because she was triggering my pain receptors.¡± ¡°It''s part of how they can react so fast,¡± Lana said, ¡°you''ve got to be impressed, really; there''s a direct connection from the pain nerves to the muscle nerves. They don''t need to think ''that''s hot'', they just automatically pull away from it, and because they''re surrounded by dead cells anyway they can stand a far wider temperature range than we can. Plus of course, they never change shape, so they can add extra insulation.¡± ¡°But there''s got to be limits.¡± ¡°Some,¡± Mick said. ¡°But having a few layers of still air near your body does help a lot.¡± ¡°We can grow body fur if we need to,¡± Uza said, somewhat embarrassed. Growing fur was a last resort; it made you look like an animal. ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Mick said, smiling. ¡°Lana tells me it ruins her aerodynamics and she''d rather stay inside.¡± ¡°That''s a nice rational motive,¡± Uza complimented Lana. ¡°I just can''t imagine going anywhere I''d ever need to get furry. Yuck. Right, let me try this batch,¡± she said, carefully using the syringe to suck up some fluid from the tip of one fingernail. Mick watched in fascination. ¡°Is that an ability any other cooperative organism has?¡± ¡°What, making vaccines?¡± Uza asked, bemused. ¡°I presume not, though it''s an amazing ability. I was more thinking of the more basic ''poisoned claws'' option.¡± ¡°There''s one kind that does, in the forests and mountains.¡± Lana said. ¡°They can be quite territorial.¡± ¡°Dangerous?¡± ¡°They''re not very big.¡± she indicated with her hands, about the size of a guinea pig or a small rabbit. ¡°Oh, OK.¡± ¡°And most of that is fur. But if one thinks it''s trapped, it''ll attack and the venom can hurt you, yes.¡± ¡°But it''ll kill a predator?¡± ¡°No, the venom is actually a drug for them. It makes them sleep.¡± ¡°Oh! That''s a nicer approach to staying safe than killing it.¡± ¡°Then they call the other bone-eaters and eat the predator.¡± ¡°Alive?¡± ¡°Not by the time they''re consuming its bones.¡± ¡°Did I ever tell you that you live in a scary place?¡± Mick said as Uza injected the sample. ¡°My skin organisms say: yes, that''s what the deadly spiky is like, and are passing it on to all my other organisms.¡± ¡°Well finally!¡± Uza exclaimed, and put the needle cover on that syringe. She picked up another, ¡°Lana, your turn.¡± ¡°I''ve met things like it before, Uza, and I can''t do what you''ve just done. Vaccinate yourself.¡± ¡°I''m ethically bound to vaccinate those at risk around me.¡± ¡°Exactly. You need to be alive to do that. I am not at risk.¡± ¡°How not?¡± ¡°I''ve spent a long time working in frontier biology, Uza.¡± Lana said grimly. ¡°My mother taught me well; I won''t hope that a sick organism will recover unless I know what''s causing the sickness.¡± ¡°You''d expel your organisms at the first sign of illness?¡± ¡°In the right circumstances; like when in the previous month I''ve hosted another species, or when I''ve been spending time with aliens. I think that''s why my mother was so reluctant to let her organisms pass away from old age. She had spent most of her lifetime close to other life-forms. One of her colleagues early on didn''t expel a sick organism. He died from the infection.¡± ¡°So you insist on me being vaccinated next?¡± Uza asked, looking at the syringe, which was now full. ¡°Absolutely,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°I''ve never been able to inject myself,¡± Uza admitted. ¡°Common problem, I hear. Mick, tell Uza about your people''s first vaccinations. It''ll distract her I think.¡± ¡°Urm, OK. A long long time ago, disease was common among us. Some were mild, others killed almost everyone who became infected. People didn''t know what caused them, which didn''t help, of course. They thought it was bad air, evil spirits, or you had too much blood.¡± ¡°Too much blood?¡± Uza asked, surprised. ¡°One of their favourite responses to illness was to stick blood-sucking water-creatures on the sick person; as far as I know it didn''t help most of the time. This was a few hundred years ago, though. Anyway...¡± He continued the story of cowpox, and as he reached the climax of the horrific, compelling story, Lana injected her. ¡°You timed that deliberately, didn''t you?¡± Uza accused. ¡°Of course!¡± Lana agreed. ¡°And the boy survived?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lana said, ¡°And the so-called medic even became famous without being locked up. Now, make sure your organisms know what to do with that vaccination.¡± Ground / Ch. 17: Chemistry

Ground / Ch. 17:Chemistry

Ground, Old Yasfort ¡°You are mine and I am yours until death parts us.¡± Sathie said as she completed her vow, putting a ring on Mick''s finger. ¡°May the One True God keep us true to our vows,¡± Mick said, giving the traditional reply, ¡°may He let death take us before we fail to keep and honour our vows, may He preserve us by His mighty hand and grant us children and grand-children who honour Him.¡± He took a breath, grinned, and said ¡°Now, James, your turn.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± James replied. ¡°Don''t pretend I didn''t hear you.¡± ¡°Oh! Right. Maggie?¡± James asked, a bit sheepishly. ¡°Yes, James?¡± Maggie asked with a slightly distrustful note in her voice. What was he planning, what had Mick heard? ¡°Is there any specific reason that we don''t say vows to each other? I mean, generally you''re busy, and I''m busy. But...¡± ¡°Now you mean?¡± Maggie asked, surprised. ¡°I''m pretty sure we''re both certain about each other, after all. And...¡± he indicated the little crowd of witnesses they''d rounded up at short notice, ¡°We do have all our closest friends and family this side of Alpha Centuri here, and...¡± he suddenly found himself very shy. ¡°Everyone''s on this side of Alpha, but I''ll let you off that. It''s rather short notice, don''t you think?¡± ¡°Sorry. I know springing it on you like this means you don''t get to wear your grandmother''s dress...¡± ¡°I didn''t really expect I would, James.¡± ¡°Sorry to interrupt, you two,¡± Heather interrupted. ¡°But if you could wait a bit more, I''m sure your parents would be really happy to witness the happy event. Oddly enough, they dropped everything as soon as they heard we''d made contact with Mick.¡± ¡°Mum''s actually left her lab?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Of course she has,¡± Heather said, and then turned to James. ¡°I think there''s your specific reason, young man. Give Maggie''s parents the chance to share your joy.¡± ¡°Of course! That''s OK, isn''t it, Maggie?¡± ¡°Of course it is. And we''ll also give them a day to recover from travel, another to see the sights, plus a day to catch up with Mick.¡±
Ground, Little Yasfort By the middle of next morning, Uza had started the chemistry to produce the vaccine, and sent the radio message about a new deadly virus, found in a slime-creature colony. The query came back: slime-creatures on the edge of the desert? No, she replied, the virus had been found by a traveller, now at the village, in a colony that was presumed to have attached itself to their travel kit before they crossed the mountains. It was partial truth, but truth nevertheless, and the situation wasn''t at all unusual, nor was the approach of ensuring the slime-creature had been removed by checking it with skin organisms. It shouldn''t arouse suspicion. ''How deadly?'' someone wanted to know. She replied: the odd spiky slime-creature organism had been noticed and taken to a ready cell to investigate; the spikes were unstable, and the organism had burst while being examined. The ready cell had been infected, as had skin organisms. The traveller had communicated the dying ready cell''s description, and their organisms confirmed the formulation. She added that so shocking was the virus that fire had been used to destroy the expelled virus carriers. That deadly. There had been no more questions. But Uza still had some, and was glad when Lana arrived. ¡°Mick said he sent his ready cells onto Sathzakara, yes?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Might some of her defensive enzymes have weakened it?¡± Lana thought back to her hosting of Mick''s body. ¡°Yes. Or even other parts of her biochemistry. I had to filter some things out of his bloodstream.¡± ¡°So there is no guarantee that the virus is always a ready-cell killer.¡± ¡°No guarantee it''s not, either.¡± ¡°No. We must be careful around these aliens, and they must be careful around slime-creatures,¡± Uza said. ¡°Unless they''ve been eating poison bulbs.¡± ¡°These aliens are very alien. They have so much to teach us!¡± ¡°Much they could teach, yes. Some of their technology is beyond our wildest fantasy. There is a party amongst them who say we are damaged by any contact at all, that we should find our own future.¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I worry about what politics will do to this.¡± Lana said, ¡°Tradition will take that side, progress will be in paroxysms of joy at more changes than they can imagine. I look forward to the return of the reason party to power, for some sense of balance.¡± ¡°I admit that I''ve not thought about the political dimension at all. We''re too far away for it to bother us, really.¡± ¡°Yasfort is about to be in the centre of a storm, Uza. Let''s hope it''s not a war.¡± ¡°Will we? Will we really be noticed? Jakav''s report was laughed off as a career-damaging joke. Will the political parties really take any notice?¡± ¡°They might. I did preach about what the One has done to the combined astronomy department, and I''ve heard that my brother''s church is growing now that he''s lacing his sermons with grace.¡± ¡°You preached? That in itself will upset the tradition party.¡± Lana grinned, ¡°Well, I expect they''ll say I just declared God''s goodness. But a lot of them really respect Lak. Speaking of Lak, last night Magalena asked me what the interpretation would be if they built a tower outside old Yasfort that almost reached to the clouds. I think I need to pass that one onto Lak, but I''m asking you, too. I did ask why, and her reply was ''because that''s how we build them at home, you get really pretty views from the top, and it''d make it even harder for people to deny that we''re not just some strange atmospheric effect if everyone crossing the mountains can see an impossibly tall building. But also, perhaps as offices and classrooms.¡± ¡°She was exaggerating, wasn''t she?¡± ¡°The material that Mick''s ship was made of is incredibly strong, and quite light. They use it for building too. She said that a hundred rooms high is not unusual, but they need good rock for the foundations, like at old Yasfort.¡± ¡°That sounds like a lot of stairs to climb.¡± ¡°That''s what I said. They have machines to help, apparently. She wanted to know if it would be taken as some kind of threat, or a sign of pride or something like that.¡± ¡°Probably someone would. I don''t suppose they could make a tunnel through the mountains instead? That''d be useful.¡± ¡°Oh, I''m sure they could. But would you really want slime-creatures and herd-beasts wandering through and eating the harvest?¡± ¡°No.¡±
The university, Ground, ten days later. ¡°Reverend Lak, we wonder if you can shed some light on the disappearance of two individuals of your acquaintance?¡± ¡°One being my sister, by some chance?¡± ¡°Yes. The other being Kalak of the astronomy department. Do you know where either of them are?¡± ¡°Right now? Not precisely, no. I expect in the far South, talking to the aliens.¡± ¡°Talking to the aliens,¡± the official reiterated, looking bemused. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You say that as if you believe these aliens are not just an elaborate political hoax.¡± ¡°I am a scientist and a pastor, officer. I split my time between considering revelations from God and exciting developments in our understandings of the universe he made. I''m not so good keeping up with politics. I have no doubts that my sister has talked to at least one alien, and she sent me a message telling me that she was going to talk to some more of them.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Her university flat is empty.¡± ¡°She has resigned from her post at the university, how could she keep the flat?¡± ¡°What does she intend to live on then?¡± ¡°I imagine that life in a frontier village like Yasfort is not as expensive as here. She knows how to live frugally.¡± ¡°Yasfort?¡± ¡°She has contacts there, I don''t know if that''s where she is, but it''s where I''d start looking. I have my suspicions that Kalak has connections to there too.¡± ¡°Kalak, previously known as Unf.¡± ¡°Yes. A permanent staff-member of the astronomy department.¡± ¡°For how long?¡± ¡°Permanently, as I said.¡± ¡°No, I mean how long has he been accorded that privileged post?¡± ¡°Unf held the post forty years, before transferring it to Kalak. Before Unf held the post, it was held by one bearing the name of Kev, before Kev, by Win, before Win, by one called Thamek. He held the first permanent post in Astronomy.¡± ¡°Are you aware of the significance of that string of names?¡± the officer asked, shocked. ¡°I am not entirely ignorant of history, officer, nor did I fail to read the personal memoirs of Kovan when Kalak offered them to me.¡± ¡°I''m not aware of that publication... I must look it up, but as a scientist, what do you think the chances are that the Astronomy department offers its permanent post only to people named after the conspirators against Takan?¡± ¡°If I may correct you, officer, Kovan''s memoirs have not been published. The copy I read was bequeathed to his friend Takan, who having retired from public life, survived him. As to the names, well, perhaps there is a message there for those able to join the pieces.¡± ¡°I do not have time to bandy words, Reverend Lak. Please tell me what you know.¡± ¡°I suspect, officer, that the permanent chair passed from name to name, but not person to person. Kovan''s description of Takan was as a quiet man with great curiosity, who disliked public roles because disrespect triggered his war-form, but who was nevertheless able to step to the fore in times of crisis. This matches the enigmatic Kalak who was once known as Unf. The permanent position was explicitly ruled as not a teaching role, so there would be no disrespect from students. When Unf entered war-form, his war-shout was the same as that of Takan, according to the histories ¡ª ''stop the disrespect''. I further notice that he did not kill, a thing attested to in histories of the war, but not normal in spontaneous war-form cases. The death of Takan has never been recorded, property historically held by him is still listed as his.¡± ¡°You make quite a convincing case.¡± ¡°I have not discussed this with anyone, certainly not the good Kalak. I have merely noticed it. I feel it would be disrespectful to the one who ended the war to force him into publicity.¡± ¡°The flaw in your argument is that no one lives to eighty years, let alone a hundred and eighty.¡± ¡°Kovan lived to eighty-five, officer. It was reported that those who had survived fighting in the wars had more drive to live than most people, and baring accident did not die until they had achieved all their goals for their lives. Kovan writes that his friend was always curious, always wanting to find out more. If that''s been his goal in life...¡± ¡°Do you really expect me to not only believe that the aliens are real, but that Takan is still on Ground a hundred and eighty years since the end of the war, and he''s gone off with your sister to talk to them?¡± ¡°What you believe is up to you, officer. May I return to preparing my sermon?¡± ¡°No, reverend. I believe your fantastic tale means that you are in some way also involved in the conspiracy to overthrow the government alongside your sister and the astronomer Kalak. I am placing you under arrest.¡± Lak laughed. ¡°Lana plot to overthrow the government? She''s a scientist, she has no interest in power. Let me point out to you that there is no scientific explanation known to our astronomy or physics that can hold that ball up there. No process known to our physics or engineering to make the arrows that were given as gifts to the archery club last week by an alien probe. But you think it''s a conspiracy? Arrest yourself and whoever sent you for political bias and wasting police time, officer.¡± ¡°I am placing you under arrest,¡± the officer repeated. ¡°I understand that. I do have rights, however, officer.¡± ¡°Lak?¡± Una called, ¡°What''s happening?¡± ¡°Apparently I''m being arrested on charges of planning to overthrow the government because I told the officer here that it''s probable that Kalak who used to be Unf had yet another name as a podling, that is to say ...¡± ¡°Takan,¡± Una interrupted, nodding. ¡°I used to do some work at the pay office, officer, and the pay office knows all. We just don''t say; that would be really disrespectful. Oh, does that mean you''re going to arrest me and the rest of the staff at the pay office? And how does knowing the name of a hero who wants to be left in peace mean someone is planning to overthrow the government? I''m missing several logical steps here.¡± ¡°Neither of you leave the city, under any circumstances,¡± the officer warned. ¡°I believe, officer, that you will have to allow us some exceptional circumstances, such as an official summons.¡± ¡°You know what I mean,¡± he said, turning and leaving. ¡°May the One guide your steps,¡± Lak said.
¡°Lak?¡± Una said. ¡°Beloved?¡± ¡°What was that about?¡± ¡°The tradition party are in power. The aliens are not traditional, so it seems they deny they exist, and warp truth.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Your intervention prevented my arrest. Once again, I owe you my life and my freedom. It may be that the tradition party will make it illegal to talk to the aliens, or even of the aliens. We must do what we can to prevent that.¡± ¡°How can we? You surely can''t plan to undermine the authority of the ruling party? That''s what he accused you of!¡± ¡°I will stay within the law as it was last week, but I will not keep silent about the message of grace, or about accepting reality. Nor will I ever deny the truth, that we have talked, in this house, with an alien about God''s grace. I will also remind all who listen of the constitutional law on parties that states any party that tries to pass laws to distort the truth shall be expelled from office.¡± ¡°I''m scared Lak.¡± ¡°Let us spend some time in prayer.¡±
Old Yasfort ¡°Sorry I couldn''t come up to meet you, Mum, Dad,¡± Mick said, hugging them. ¡°The whole decontamination protocol thing is too dangerous for me.¡± ¡°Maggie told us, yes. But you are OK?¡± ¡°I''m OK, because most of my skin isn''t my original skin, most of my muscles aren''t my original muscles, and so on. Did you hear what almost happened to Sathie?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± his mother replied, with a shudder. ¡°I''m sorry you missed the wedding,¡± Sathie said, ¡°but, urm, we felt it better to marry as soon as we heard we''d ignorantly crossed a moral line.¡± ¡°Especially since we had ourselves filmed doing so,¡± Mick added. ¡°And now you''re living down here, full time, Sathzakara?¡± Mick''s father asked. ¡°Yes. The air is perfectly breathable, if rather dry,¡± Sathie said. ¡°So far, we''ve found that colds are potentially lethal to the people here, but so far nothing they catch crosses the species barrier. The micro-biologists are more worried about some diseases and parasites that the grazers and the semi-intelligent canine-like animals have, but it looks OK. Plus of course the canines are all dangerous sharks as far as we''ve discovered.¡± ¡°And the plants?¡± ¡°I''ve lived here for six years, Mum. Not even a rash so far. OK, Lana was managing my biochemistry, but... she didn''t tell me about any special treatment. I''ve got a lot of her organisms and I''m getting better at communicating with them.¡± ¡°You''ve had problems?¡± ¡°Sometimes they''re too helpful. I dreamt of flying last week ¡ª Lana flies pretty much everywhere, these days, so I was certainly used to the experience. I woke up famished, with my arms half-changed into wings.¡± ¡°Ah, oops. Did I hear something about you having powerful digestive system?¡± ¡°Sort of, yes. I''ve been discussing how it works so fast with Lana and some others. My so-called stomach is actually a pouch of specialist organisms and blood vessels; I shovel food in and then my organisms grow into the food, just as you might expect with a mould, but sped up. So it goes straight from pseudo-stomach to bloodstream in one step and the potential digesting area is massive. I just have to tell them what to digest from of it, and in a few seconds I''ve got extra sugars or proteins in my blood. An odd thing is I don''t have much of a fat store ¡ª just my original one. Changing shape takes a lot of energy, and burns up protein, too, and so on, and with not much buffer except my bloodstream and of course undigested food, I need to tell my stomach what I''m going to need in a few minutes. Lana was pretty staggered at the thought of humans able to go for a week with an empty stomach.¡± ¡°Very different biologies,¡± his mother replied. ¡°Very. But nerve signals work in almost entirely the same way. Lana could tap into my optic nerve and see, and use my ears to hear. Our eyes are intrinsically more sensitive than theirs in the dark, by the way, and more sensitive to motion, but they see in higher detail, and they usually grow extra lenses so they can zoom in for a better view. I''ve got some eye organisms from Lana, otherwise when I regrow my own body then my podling ¡ª the organisms she gave me and that I''d send on their way as a separate person - would be blind. So I plan to try using them sometime ¡ª that''s sort of needed too, for them to be passed on properly ¡ª but at the moment I''m not /at all/ sure how to wire extra eyes into my visual cortex.¡± ¡°So you will be regrowing your body?¡± Mick''s father asked. ¡°At least partially. Having reprogrammable muscles and skeleton are wonderfully flexible, but also slow, Dad. I''ll never catch fish in this body, and my thought-hearing range is rubbish, worse than landfolk. So I want to grow a bit more of old me back if I can: arm and leg muscles, for example. Also, if humans have to leave... at the moment that means I''m morally obliged to stay behind, or get Sathie to make something to freeze and then cut off my head, to let the regrowth guys try to grow me a whole new body. I''d like to not have to make such a drastic decision. Taking my cooperative organisms off-planet means condemning them to death, and that''d be the worst sort of betrayal. My organisms and me are a really connected team.¡± ¡°And I like his head just where it is, your highness.¡± Sathie added, remembering that as well as being Mick''s father, the man she was addressing was also presently second in line to his sister''s throne. ¡°Rule number one, for daughters in law when addressing my highness: call me John.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°John¡± Prince John insisted. ¡°Yes, John.¡± ¡°Good, I''m glad that''s settled. Now, did I hear you''re planning to move Mick''s ship?¡± ¡°What we can, yes. Certainly the antimatter battery, it wasn''t meant to be a teething ring for canines.¡± ¡°What are you planning to do with it?¡± John asked. ¡°Build Mark-II?¡± Mick''s mother suggested. ¡°That was my idea,¡± Mick said. ¡°If I do, then before Mick goes near it I''m going to work out how to give it enough sense of self-preservation to turn on its own forcefields and/or put on the brakes when it''s heading for a planet.¡± ¡°You make it sound like it was all my fault.¡± ¡°It was, Mick,¡± Maggie said, ¡°You stood up into the cupboard door that you had left open and knocked yourself out, and you ignored protocol about leaving the ship accelerating when not in the pilot''s chair.¡± ¡°Fine, you can be the pilot, sister dearest.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°I know. And I can''t be; my reactions aren''t fast enough. I wouldn''t cope with the slightest bit of turbulence.¡± ¡°But you are alive, not to mention mine.¡± Sathie said. ¡°I''ll settle for those things.¡±
Ground / Ch. 18: Respect

Ground / Ch. 18:Respect

Little Yasfort, ten days later. ¡°Kalak? My sister-in-law has sent a telegram. Lak has been arrested.¡± ¡°On what grounds?¡± ¡°His sermon. She writes ''Lak preached about the importance of truth and grace, and that he himself had discussed grace with an alien. He said the law that declared aliens a falsehood and talk of aliens to be a political conspiracy was denying the fulfilment of prophecy, denying truth, and in violation of the constitution. Arrested soon after.''¡± ¡°They have passed such a stupid law? With the ship sitting there so plainly?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°They show disrespect to the constitution, to my friend Kovan''s life-work.¡± ¡°They abolish themselves and will face the consequences, Kalak. I will talk to Magdalena, to ask if she will consider proving their lies false.¡± ¡°You will not go to the city, please?¡± ¡°I have no desire to go into danger, nor to take you where you will be tempted to take direct action, but... will you come with me to Old Yasfort, to talk to Mick and Magdalena? I do not know how long I will be, and I see your distress.¡± ¡°With this news... I do not trust myself away from your side, Lana, wherever you go.¡± ¡°Wherever I go?¡± ¡°I find I have grown quite used to your company, these past three weeks. You have recovered from your podding well, very well indeed.¡± ¡°That''s got a lot to do with how much I''m eating, I expect,¡± Lana said, laughing. ¡°And I find I am curious.¡± ¡°You''re always curious, my gentle friend.¡± ¡°True, but there is one aspect of my curiosity that has never been satisfied, which I have pushed away. I find my resolve breaking in the presence of your youthful enzymes. Kind Lana, this truth-denying law from the tradition party might separate us, and I do not wish us to be separated. It brings risks of rage and even war, and I do not want to face those alone, without your calming presence. Before we go to talk of intervention and action, of strategy and tactics, will you come with me to talk to the pastor? I am selfish to ask thus, I know, but I would be happier to face this crisis if I held the coveted title of your husband.¡± ¡°You wish us to marry? Immediately?¡± ¡°I am sorry, I said it was a selfish desire. I should not have asked.¡± ¡°Yes, you most certainly should have; I have been ready to say yes for the last two weeks and was beginning to worry you might resist my pheromones forever. I am just surprised at the immediacy. Let us talk to the pastor, Kalak, by all means. But... can we delay the ceremony until evening? I don''t want to attract more gossip.¡± ¡°You are wise, Lana. I don''t want to encourage disrespect. I wonder though... would it be wiser if I married you as Takan? I laid that name aside a long time ago, but this house, old Yasfort, and some other property are still in it. My secret is out, and it might be... better, strategically, if I no longer wear the names of the dead.¡± ¡°Can I ask... Why have you worn the names of the dead?¡± ¡°I felt it... appropriate to wear the names of those who had been my colleagues, almost friends, even some of them, before I destroyed them for the sake of peace and truth. I became convinced that given time, I could have convinced them what I convinced the others of. But they did not listen, not one of them, when I first spoke, and they did not have a second chance.¡± ¡°Will you tell me more, or is it too painful?¡± ¡°I will not keep secrets from you, Lana. I told them the war was based on lies, and must stop. Some said we could win and ransack the city, take power and treasure, and slaves, why stop now? I said shame on them, were we fighting for principles or for greed? One made a joke at my expense, called me gullible, feeble-minded. The others laughed. He was a poor thinker, but a good fighter normally, only he had just changed, not just out of war-form, but also shedding his armour for wings, and was slow, very slow. I had been resting from my injuries, but I had not changed for a long time. He did not recognise his danger, even though I demanded an apology, from him, from all of them, for all had laughed. In my just-healed state, my war-form came on me quickly. I had no weapon, none of us had weapons, but my claws grew faster and longer.¡± ¡°You struck him down?¡± ¡°I did. And the one who had suggested ransacking the city for fun and treasure, and the one who had spoken of taking slaves. Then the others: Thamek, Win, Unf, Kev, and Kalak, whose names I have worn, said I was insane and tried to overpower me. Perhaps I was insane, but to attack one in full war-form when you are not, and have no weapons, no net, no ropes? That is also a form of insanity. In my war-form, I took their saying what they said and their attack as further disrespect; and I stopped it. They were brave men, and not greedy or lovers of war. I could have convinced them I am sure, but they did not think to tell me I was showing disrespect to the council, they did not think to tell me they would listen to me, and stop the war.¡± ¡°Takan is the name by which I will marry you,¡± Lana said, ¡°gentle stopper of war. But I ask that as we bind ourselves together, you swear to always give me the right to tell your war-form it is not the time to destroy, to demand time to find other ways to restore respect. I ask that we make that part of our marriage contract.¡± ¡°You wish to balance the power of my war-thought with it not being respectful to our marriage contract?¡± Takan was shocked. ¡°I do. I won''t demand you never enter war-form, Takan. I know that is too much to ask, but I do ask that if I say hold, give time for other solutions, you will back down. Speak to your bone organisms, please, see if they can understand what I ask.¡± ¡°They are not good at understanding, Lana, but I will try.¡± ¡°Thank you, Takan.¡± Lana said, and gently taking his head in her hands, she kissed him. It wasn''t the first time they''d touched ¡ª as Kalak, he had courteously helped steady her on occasions ¡ª but it was the first time that the only reason for touching was intimacy, their first touch as himself, Takan ¡ª and the effect on his skin organisms was electric. [Lana touches us! Female skin organisms greet us! This will happen again?] His other organisms responded too, so that Takan''s mind was filled with a mixture of joyous and curious thoughts about this new experience. [Bones,] he thought. [Do you understand? Lana will be wife if you understand this. If Lana can stop the disrespect, there is no need for warform.] [Disrespect?] [Bones will not show disrespect to Lana. Bones will cherish Lana, bones will listen to Lana, Lana will be wife.] [Lana-wife bones will explain, yes. Bone to bone, flesh to flesh, mind to mind. Good to have wife. Bones respect, cherish, protect Lana-wife; nurture, protect Lana-mixlings and Lana-podlings. Good plan.]Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°My bones said they''d let urm, you explain,¡± Takan said. ¡°You are embarrassed about something.¡± ¡°Your kiss got all my organisms attention, actually.¡± ¡°That''s nice. Let''s do it again sometime.¡± ¡°But my bones actually said bone to bone, flesh to flesh, mind to mind.¡± ¡°Bone to bone, eh? What have you been reading?¡± ¡°They came up with the idea themselves. My bones also said it''s good to have a wife and they''d respect, cherish and protect Lana-wife, and nurture and protect Lana-mixlings and Lana-podlings.¡± ¡°Is that your preference, both, and in that order?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Mixlings first, podlings later?¡± ¡°I hadn''t given it much thought at all, Lana.¡± ¡°Perhaps we should discuss it this evening? While our bones are getting to know each other?¡± ¡°We can''t do that, can we?¡± ¡°Of course we can, Takan. It''s not a necessary part of podding or mixing, it''s not even helpful, in terms of deciding which organisms to put together, but it''s certainly possible for us to embrace each other that comprehensively. We just ask flesh to part as well as skin.¡± She thought for a moment, ¡°If they''re willing to talk to me, and it sounds like they are, then I do want to talk to your bones, so I''m happy to do it. Just let''s make sure we''ve eaten enough protein and are not going to be disturbed.¡± With a shy giggle, she added ¡°Now, do you want to talk about podding and family planning some more, or shall we go and talk to the pastor first?¡± ¡°Let''s talk to the pastor, my beloved.¡± That endearment earned him another kiss.
Ground, Old Yasfort ¡°So, dad, grandma, any ideas?¡± Mick asked, after translating what Lana and Takan had said. ¡°Yes, it sounds like you''ve got two weddings to go to, how about asking everyone if it could be a double wedding?¡± ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°Oh, about the Lana''s brother, you mean? Well, it would have been nice to head it off before people went around passing laws that say we don''t exist, wouldn''t it? Perhaps before asking what you ought to do now, you ought to be asking if there''s anything you ought to have done, and if there''s some way that you can persuade the government to change their minds without exposing them to public ridicule. Opening official lines of communication might have been a good thing, for instance.¡± ¡°It''s too late for that now,¡± Mick replied. Fortunately, Lana had taken over translating for Takan. ¡°Not necessarily. And if you want a calm response, don''t rub people''s noses in their mistakes, accept some blame, and so on.¡± ¡°Wise words,¡± Lana acknowledged, ¡°thank you. I feared the government''s reaction to me hosting Mick, Magdalena feared a panic, and now we have what might have turn into another war.¡± ¡°Which we can assume no one wants. Unless I''m wrong? Would anyone wish for war?¡± ¡°No. Political advantage, more authority, more respect, less changes in society, a change of the system perhaps; but war? Surely not!¡± Lana said. ¡°You say less changes in society?¡± ¡°Disrespect for elders has become normal,¡± Takan said, ¡°Adults consider careers more important than their families, morality is slipping, scientists are pushing beyond ethical and safe boundaries. Yes I know that assessment hurts, Lana, but you also know it''s true; things are done because they''re possible, or to see if they''re possible, without thinking of the consequences. Not just in biology, but in physics and chemistry too. Pride in accomplishment, or in point-scoring, has become the norm. A complicated hoax to make fun of the party which thinks they stand for tradition, but more accurately stand for disapproving of change? What a great point-score that would be!¡± Mick added, ¡°Jakav''s report on Maggie''s first visit was dismissed as unbelievable fiction. I expect the Tradition party saw that dismissal, and decided that all alien sightings were equally laughable, because scientists said interstellar travel was impossible. And having heard that interstellar travel is scientifically impossible, they have no doubt decided that the lab is actually a helium balloon rigged up by some pranksters.¡± ¡°I see two problems,¡± Sathie said, ¡°Convincing them that we''re not pranksters, and also convincing them that we''re not part of a conspiracy against them.¡± ¡°You left out convincing them not to arrest and/or execute you or your messenger,¡± Lana said. ¡°Let''s go back a bit, like Dad said.¡± Mick said. ¡°What should we have done as visiting aliens? Lana? Kalak, sorry, Takan?¡± ¡°The problem is...¡± Lana said ¡°you do not seem so very alien, except for the fabric you cover yourselves in.¡± ¡°We could make a feature of that, I suppose.¡± ¡°But in plays sometimes actors wear fabric, to be other creatures,¡± Takan pointed out. ¡°So clothes just make us actors?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Yes,¡± ¡°Technology?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Maybe,¡± Mick agreed, ¡°But what should a visitor to a village do? Send gifts? Knock on the gates and demand ''take me to your leader?'' Sit outside and wait to be invited in? What did we get wrong?¡± ¡°Traditionally ¡°, Takan said, ¡°a wandering visitor or group of visitors waits at the edge of the village. If none come out to greet them for a whole day, then one visitor goes to the gate and asks if there is sickness or if he has offended, then the village head must issue a welcome.¡± ¡°Should we, then, go to the gates of the city and ask if we have given offence?¡± Lana shook her head. ¡°The city is not a village, the government is not a village head.¡± ¡°What happens if someone from the village goes out?¡± Takan replied, ¡°They find out about the visitors and their intentions and call a meeting and say, we have visitors, they are ten people from such and such town, they wish to stay for three nights, and so on, and then people make room.¡± Lana added ¡°Or like Takan did, say ''I ask for a house for my friend.''¡± ¡°And that was my right, but I cannot do that again the next month, or even the next year, except of course that by taking Lana as my wife that changes things and I could daask that the house she lived in be given to another visitor.¡± ¡°But someone can say, ''This is such and such family, whose village was destroyed by predators. I cannot ask for a house for so many, but I present their need.''¡± ¡°Does that happen often?¡± John asked, ¡°A village destroyed by predators?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lana said, ¡°Once in two generations, maybe. But people remember.¡± ¡°We have talked to you,¡± Takan said, ¡°Lana has learned your speech, and what you plan. What would be appropriate now, is for us to return to the city, and call a meeting.¡± Heather, who had been watching said, ¡°Don''t. That''s a bad idea.¡± ¡°Traditionally, it''s the right thing to do,¡± Lana said. ¡°I''m not talking of tradition or culture, Lana; I speak as a seer. The Lord God who made us and loves us says that is a bad idea. The person with the right idea is Sathie.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, dear.¡± ¡°But I haven''t said anything.¡± ¡°But you''ve been doodling.¡± ¡°This?¡± Sathie held up her pad. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But it''s just a stupid idea.¡± ¡°Let''s hear it, and let the others judge.¡± ¡°I was just thinking, about our technology proving we''re aliens and the thing about locals coming to see visitors, and that Mick didn''t manage to burn off all of the field generators from his ship...¡± ¡°So you''re thinking fly the wreckage out?¡± ¡°Not all of it. But it''d be really quick to put up a forcefield around the crash site to keep out the dogs, and those bone-eaters Lana was telling us about, and then cutting away the useless bits of hull wouldn''t take an hour, if there were some people to help move stuff. We could end up with a nice big open platform for guests and setting up the extruder to make a shelter for the flight controls and a couple of beds is easy. We could set up camp a few hundred meters up and see who got curious...¡± ¡°And how long would it take to get an unbalanced, battered, roasted and quite possibly fungus-laden bubble drive to emulate a Boris drive?¡± Heather asked. ¡°I''ve got my field calibrator, and a whole new mainboard if we really need it. Not very long. Probably less than a day.¡± ¡°Have I ever told you my wife''s an engineering genius?¡± Mick asked the room in general, his voice filled with a mixture of love and pride in his beloved. Sathie shrugged in embarrassment. ¡°I''m a fabricator. Making things is what I do.¡± ¡°Takan? What do you think?¡± ¡°I think it depends on who was on this platform.¡± ¡°Mick and me, and some other relatives too, maybe,¡± Sathie said. ¡°And when they ask why are we here, Mick explains that he crashed here by accident, and Lana saved him, and now his family and friends have come to rescue him, but he cannot leave yet, because your original cells regrow very slowly, and because so much human food and our cleaning chemicals are poisonous, leaving the planet would be betraying the organisms that he received from Lana to almost certain death.¡± ¡°Then I apologise for not speaking to the government earlier,¡± Mick added, ¡°but it took me years of Lana''s patient teaching to learn to speak to her and to understand how to ask muscle organisms to move and my stomach organisms to digest, and we''ve only just salvaged this sorry remnant of my beautiful ship....¡± ¡°It sounds like a reasonable plan to me,¡± Takan said. ¡°As long as they do not try to arrest or destroy you.¡± ¡°If they try, they will find that it is hard to get through a forcefield,¡± Sathie said, ¡°And death to try to pass my knife or rock-cutter.¡± ¡°I thought you did not hunt, Sathzakara?¡± Karella asked, surprised to hear her so forceful. ¡°I prefer to create than destroy. But I can and will defend myself and others who depend on me. Mick''s muscle-organisms are too slow. If a dangerous shark refuses to heed warnings, and mend its ways, it will not get a second chance...¡± Ground / Ch. 19:A repaired ship

Ground / Ch. 19:A repaired ship

Outside the city, Ground It was mid-morning, and from where they were, the little group of meat-traders would get to the city two hours before night-fall. That was good; it meant they would sell their goods before the ice melted and obtain maximum price. Then, as the trudged along with their wagon, the group of meat traders saw a large, very strange wagon approaching on a side road. It looking like it was made from glass, with glass wheels, too, and was being pulled along by a person. He was pulling it quite quickly, as though he wanted to meet them. That was all strange; very strange, as was the fact that the person had wrapped cloth on his body, like the traders had done three days before, when gathering ice in the high mountains. But the most surprising thing was how the person did not seem to be struggling with the load of the enormous, impossible wagon. Surely it must be very heavy, but he seemed to be having more of a struggle slowing it down than lifting it. It could not be so well balanced, surely? ¡°Greetings,¡± Mick called. ¡°I am Mick. A foolish predator tried to eat my wife a couple of hours ago, and so now we have meat to trade. Do I see you are traders in meat?¡± ¡°We are,¡± agreed the chief trader. ¡°But poor ones, we have not the money for predator meat. I am Yuth.¡± ¡°But you have heard-beast meat; fresh and killed with thanks to the One, Yuth?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Yuth asked, confused. ¡°Will you accept an exchange? We ourselves prefer to eat dumb beasts killed with thanks to the One than foolish talking beasts. Maybe we will have guests who prefer the taste so much they don''t mind finding pieces of shattered spine between their teeth, so I do not offer all. But... perhaps half the predator for the same amount of herd-beast meat? Left or right half, I don''t mind.¡± ¡°You''re offering to give me half a predator for the same weight of herd-beast?¡± Yuth asked. It was a bit like being offered silver instead of lead. ¡°Would that be acceptable to you?¡± ¡°Very!¡± the trader said, not believing his fortune. ¡°Great!¡± the person let go of his load, and climbed on to the waggon. The impossibly large two-wheeled wagon should have tipped up at that point, but it didn''t. It just stayed there. ¡°What did you mean, ''left half or right half''?¡± Yuth asked. ¡°My wife was annoyed and she keeps her sword sharp,¡± Mick said. Then he called out some sounds that Yuth didn''t understand. Another person, probably female under the differently arranged cloth, appeared from the covered part of the wagon. She opened a large box and easily lifted two halves of a large female predator that had been cut right down the middle, one half in each hand. Yuth''s trader''s eye saw the all the tell-tale signs that said the meat was fresh and cold. Maybe there was ice in the box? It looked too small. Mick called to Yuth. ¡°Do you have a preference? I think the left half has the most backbone and all the tail.¡± ¡°Backbone and tail are good for calcium and for soup,¡± Yuth found himself saying. ¡°Then by all means, have the left half,¡± the person called Mick said, taking that half from Sathie and handing it down to Yuth. He''d been right, it was perfectly chilled. Who were these strange people? ¡°You really prefer herd-beast?¡± Yuth asked. ¡°Herd-beast is delicious,¡± Mick said, bringing laughs from most of Yuth''s companions. ¡°You are those aliens that we are not to talk of, aren''t you?¡± Yuth''s wife asked. ¡°I crashed here,¡± Mick said, ¡°this wagon used to be my ship. Now my wife and other friends and relatives have found me, but I cannot leave yet. But do be careful of that word alien if you talk of meeting us, you might be arrested for using it.¡± ¡°Surely there is space for you in their ship?¡± she asked. ¡°It is... much more complicated than that,¡± Mick said, ¡°Also, we have found lots of planets with nothing, quite a lot with plants, a few with large animals, but this is the first planet we have found with people. The One who is, and who is three, told us we should find people and tell them of the wonderful thing he has done. He became a person and then allowed evil people to execute him. He then rose to life again, to prove that he was innocent of all wrong. In doing this he took the punishment that people deserve on himself. That is why sacrifices had to be stopped: the One has given the best one possible as a free gift, and all who trust in him will be saved.¡± ¡°And are your strange beliefs why you wear cloth?¡± ¡°No, we wear fabric because we are multicelular organisms, who cannot change shape. We wear it for different reasons; to hide parts of our bodies, for warmth, for fashion.¡± ¡°You are strange,¡± Yuth said, handing Mick the herd-beast meat. ¡°Very,¡± Mick said. The alien''s wife, who had returned to the covered part of the wagon made some more incomprehensible sounds. ¡°Ah! Good! My wife says she has finished her calibrations, I don''t need to pull any more.¡± Then the strange creature Mick made some incomprehensible noises to his wife, and she shook her head and made some back. Yuth guessed it must be a language. ¡°Oh,¡± Mick said, ¡°My wife doesn''t think we can carry your beasts without them panicking. Otherwise we''d offer to take you close to the city much more quickly than your beasts can move. Travel safely, Yuth.¡± ¡°You go to the city?¡± Yuth asked. ¡°We will camp outside, as befits visitors. Perhaps the party of tradition will acknowledge we exist if we act according to tradition.¡± ¡°Hani and Vic go to be students at the university, and only travel with us for safety,¡± Yuth said. ¡°They are most welcome to come with us,¡± Mick said. ¡°Now that what is left of my ship can fly again, it will not be a long journey.¡± ¡°Your wagon can fly?¡± Yuth asked. ¡°My smashed and broken spaceship was very out of balance, and wanted to fly nose-up, which made it hard to sit on, hence the wheels. Now my clever wife has solved that. You may have the wheels if they are useful to you. I see they''re about the same size as your wagon''s.¡± ¡°Glass wheels? No thanks.¡± ¡°It''s not glass, it is what my spaceship was made from.¡± Mick said, then offered ¡°Cannon-fire might break it, but if you can break it with a hand-tool, I''ll give you half of the half-predator that I still have. But don''t blame me if your hammer or whatever you try to use is dented or breaks. I''ll warn you, clear-coal does not scratch it.¡± ¡°It''s still going to make my wagon too heavy.¡± Mick made some noises, and his wife fiddled with something; the wagon lifted off its wheels. He knocked the pin out of the axel, and to Yuth''s surprise, removed the wheel easily. ¡°It does not weigh as much as you might think,¡± Mick said, setting it down in front of Yuth. ¡°It feels warm,¡± Yuth said. ¡°It is not like metal, glass or stone, that take heat quickly from whatever they touch. It is more like wood, except you have no tools that can work it.¡± ¡°You do?¡± ¡°I have a tool that will cut it, my wife can use the tools that mould it. She is very skillful.¡± Yuth lifted the wheel and judged it to be lighter than his wagon''s wheels had been when they had last had their iron tyre-bands replaced. That had been a long time ago, and he knew the tyre-bands were dangerously thin. ¡°I do not doubt your word,¡± Yuth said, ¡°but I will ask Refek to break it. The meat you offer is too valuable to turn down such a challenge.¡± ¡°Yuth, you''re being greedy,¡± his wife scolded. ¡°Maybe Yuth is being sensible,¡± Mick countered, ¡°he knows that carrying spare wheels will cost him space on the wagon, fitting them will cost him money or effort and perhaps he does not wish to pass up an opportunity to look after his family.¡± ¡°Refek! Come and try to smash this!¡± Trading meat was not the safest job: predators wanted the meat, thieves were not unheard of, and suppliers and customers sometimes tried to cheat the traders. Refek was regarded by the rest of the traders as the solution to this problem and several others. He was big, strong, highly muscled and very handy with his sword or hammer. He never had any problems with cheats, or the draft-beasts either. Refek brought his biggest hammer, and a cold chisel. But he also looked at the tracks Mick''s wagon had left, and at the stones broken or crushed by its passing. He looked at the optically smooth running surface of the wheel and its pristine edges, and handed his chisel to Yuth. ¡°Wheel''s beautiful, Yuth. Not a scratch on it after smashing those stones. I reckon it''s worth far more than a few dead preds. You really want me to try?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Yuth said to his cousin. He said, ¡°I''ll use the chisel if you want, but I reckon it''ll skid, and you''re going to be holding it. When it skids, it''ll like as not go into your arm or stomach, or fly out of your hand and hit someone. The other thing that might happen when it skids is your hand will still be in the way and get crushed by my hammer. Do you want me to use the chisel?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Sensible man, Yuth. And if the handle on my hammer breaks, you buy me a new handle, OK?¡± ¡°OK, Refek. might manage that.¡± Refek swung a mighty blow, and the crystal wheel rang like a bell. A shard flew off from the impact point, turning over in the air, reflecting light from its metallic surface. Refek examined his hammer and shrugged philosophically. ¡°I should have thought of that too. Oh well, it''s an old hammer. So, Yuth, where did I hit the wheel?¡± ¡°I can''t tell.¡± ¡°Good strong stuff that. It''ll probably chew up your axles, hardly any give at all, but it ought to last you a lifetime. ''Course, I thought that about my hammer, too.¡± Refek looked at Mick, and said, ¡°And we get arrested if we say anything about you?¡± ¡°As far as I understand it, if you say you met aliens then you''ll be arrested as part of a conspiracy to undermine the government. I don''t think there''s a law against calling us strangers.¡± ¡°Travel well stranger, the One be with you.¡± ¡°And with you,¡± Mick said. ¡°Hani, Vic? Will you travel with us?¡± Vic agreed readily, but Hani looked nervous. ¡°I don''t know. You seem generous and kind, and as a biologist I am intensely curious about you, but I am also nervous of trusting strange people.¡± ¡°How about Yuth gets moving and we go behind while you decide?¡± Vic suggested. Yuth, aware of how much time had already passed, readily agreed. ¡°Would it help if I showed you this?¡± Mick said, handing over a letter of introduction Lana had written. ¡°This is by Academician Lana? The one with two heads?¡± ¡°Read on,¡± Mick said. ¡°Oh no!¡± Hani said, part way through the letter. Then she asked, ¡°Where''s Yasfort?¡± ¡°The far south.¡± ¡°Lana is my relative, I was going to try to stay with her.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Oh, of course, it was arranged about this time last year, I remember. And now Lak is in prison for preaching about talking to aliens.¡± ¡°I am surprised you even know him.¡± ¡°The rift between Lak and Lana is healed. Possibly helped when Lana and I provided a predator for Kana''s wedding.¡± ¡°Kana is married? Who to?¡± ¡°A messenger, Thek, much to his surprise.¡± ¡°To his surprise?¡± ¡°Thek thought they had been too discrete for Lak to know about it.¡± ¡°I''m confused... But it is only Lak in jail?¡± ¡°As far as I know, so you have other relatives you could stay with.¡± ¡°Who do not approve of biology.¡± ¡°I expect they approve highly of biology, as biological creatures, but not some streams of research. And even their attitude to Lana''s research has changed, given what she succeeded in doing to save my life.¡± ¡°But Lana no longer carries out research.¡± ¡°Lana was hurt more than you know. She is healing, with the help of Takan.¡± ¡°Who is Takan?¡± ¡°A famous son of Yasfort. A long time ago, I hear, Kovan called him the most curious person he knew. These days, however, he''s an astronomer and Lana calls him ''husband''.¡± Mick''s wife handed him a small box, and said something to him. ¡°Lana, in another one of those pre-ordained coincidences, we''ve met a relative of yours, Hani. She''s wondering if she ought to trust strange aliens.¡± ¡°Oops. I lost track of the weeks! Sorry, Hani, I was going to write but after I got declared ''probably an enemy of the state'' I wasn''t sure that was wise any more, and I was hoping it''d all be sorted out in time. I''m so glad you''ve met Mick and Sathzakara.¡± ¡°It''s all true?¡± ¡°Not knowing what all is, all I can say is probably.¡± ¡°You''re in Yasfort?¡± ¡°I''m in old Yasfort, under the protection of the aliens, until the government comes to their senses. And the predators still haven''t learned that our herd-beasts aren''t for eating, so I''m on a very protein-rich diet at the moment, with the inevitable consequences.¡± ¡°Inevitable consequences?¡± ¡°Mick needed almost half my organisms, Hani, so I feel quite young again, and I''m married... You''ll have a couple of second cousins soon.¡± ¡°A couple?¡± ¡°Yes, dear. I''ll tell you more when we meet. I really don''t recommend going into the city right now: Una''s been arrested too, and Kana and Thek managed to get out and are on their way to your parents''.¡± ¡°How do you know all this?¡± ¡°A little box like the one you''re talking to me on. Things are getting bad, dear.¡± ¡°I can''t go home, Lana!¡± ¡°Mick could take you, I''m sure.¡± ¡°That''s not what I mean. I had an almighty row, in public, with Gunth.¡± ¡°Gunth being your fianc¨¦?¡± ¡°Gunth being the boy who blackmailed me into not saying I wasn''t his fianc¨¦, even though I detest him.¡± ¡°What did he blackmail you with?¡± ¡°I''d rather not say in public. But everyone thinks it was just a lover''s row, and if I go back they''ll expect a wedding!¡± ¡°Mick, do you want to make room for her, or bring her down to Yasfort?¡± ¡°What about Vic?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Who''s Vic?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Our other passenger, who I''ve not had time to talk to yet. Vic? Do you want to stay around people who are getting arrested because of their family connections, and so maybe get arrested too, or change your mind and travel with the meat-traders and pretend this never happened?¡± ¡°I guess I''ll go with the traders. Bye, Hani, been nice knowing you. Maybe we''ll meet again sometime, who knows?¡± Mick didn''t miss the look of betrayal on Hani''s face.
A thousand meters high ¡°It''s not too cold up here, is it?¡± Mick asked. ¡°No, no worse than winter,¡± Hani replied, ¡°And we can see so far!¡± ¡°Yes, that''s what the city looks like from up here, Yasfort is the other side of that mountain, your home is that way.¡± Mick said, ¡°And you''re almost crying. Want to talk about it?¡± ¡°Why would I talk about it?¡± ¡°Because I''m semi-family, don''t know anyone involved, and won''t tell. Oh, and because on the day after Lana budded me, we found a lot of slime-creature colonies trying to get inside Sathie, and I had no idea at all that asking my ready cells to help clean Sathie was at all problematic.¡± ¡°The day after you''d budded, you were podding with your wife?¡± ¡°No, the day after I''d been budded I was saving the life of a girl I loved, and hoping that she''d be able to marry me soon. Then we found out that what we''d been doing counted as three-quarters of the way to reproduction for you, even if it doesn''t for us, and she agreed that marrying that evening would be OK. By which I''m telling you that while Lana and I have the same God, we don''t have the same reactions or ethics. Speaking of which, you know what predator meat tastes like to my taste-buds?¡± ¡°No, but I expect you''ll tell me.¡± ¡°I don''t think I can. You probably like the extra taste that fruit gets when it goes brown and spotty, don''t you?¡± Hani looked at him for a while, ¡°When it''s started to ferment, you mean?¡± ¡°Fermentation is OK, that''s caused by a single-cell organism. No, I mean when the... I don''t know the word, when the little air-carried proto-cells get in and are starting to cover it in a mesh of joined-up organisms and eventually they burst out of the surface and even Lana says, oops, that''s been in the cupboard too long.¡± ¡°When it''s growing mushroomy?¡± ¡°I guess so. What would you do if you found you''d bitten on something that was growing mushroomy?¡± ¡°It''s poisonous. I''d spit it out.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°But it tastes good, that''s why it''s so dangerous.¡± ¡°See? I told you. Is there any flavour for you that tells you you''re eating food that is too old, and you not only want to spit it out but when you''ve spat it our you still taste that horrible taste, and you need to wash out your mouth or eat something else to get rid of it?¡± ¡°Old fish. You''re telling me that predator tastes like old fish to you?¡± ¡°I doubt it, but it''s the same psycho-emotional response anyway.¡± ¡°Wow! That''s gross,¡± ¡°Want to cook some predator steak? I''ve just thought the taste might spread to the herd-beast.¡± ¡°It''s not lunchtime yet.¡± ¡°No, but we might as well do something as you tell me what you were being blackmailed about.¡± ¡°I can''t.¡± ¡°Can''t tell me?¡± ¡°I can''t eat predator. That''s what I was being blackmailed about. A predator ate my big brother, and, and I was there. Crunch, splat, Fik''s head was gone, his brain-organisms... I''m not going to eat Fik, not by proxy, not...¡± ¡°Not by accident either?¡± Mick asked, guessing. ¡°Fik''s knife was there. While it was eating him, I wounded it, wouldn''t stop attacking it until it ran off. I got wounded a bit, and covered in predator blood, and to start with I licked it off myself. Then... then I realised that it wasn''t just predator blood, it was Fik, too. I had been eating my brother. "And in disgust, I expelled them. All the ones that had been involved, my digits and my lips and the bits of my stomach that had touched and tasted Fik. I expelled them and they fell in the soil. I told my organisms to do it and then I realised how wrong I''d been and how in horror I''d betrayed my own organisms.¡± ¡°You couldn''t accept them as part of you, they were contaminated,¡± Mick said. ¡°Yes. I betrayed them and what''s worse, I would do it again.¡± ¡°I''m not surprised, I expect I''d react the same way. But I want to correct you: you didn''t tell them to eat your brother, you told them to eat predator.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You told your organisms that predator blood was good to eat, I presume, healthy iron source?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And it was only your eyes that told you you were eating Fik. You felt disgust, revulsion, horror, that your organisms had made you guilty of cannibalism. You assumed they''d know the difference, but they didn''t, because you were young, and no one had told you, I presume, that predator tastes like person.¡± ¡°It what?¡± ¡°According to Lana, predators will eat herd-beast if they are hungry, but they specialise in eating multi-organism collaborations, that''s what they prefer eating, that''s the food that tastes best to them. They eat each other because pred tastes good too. Guess why.¡± ¡°Predator and person taste the same? How could anyone find that out?¡± ¡°Taste is just certain molecules, Hani. You''re the biologist, analyse some of your own blood and compare with pred blood.¡± ¡°You''re not going to convince me to eat predator.¡± ¡°No, but I''m hoping to help you understand why what happened happened, and why you reacted like you did, and why rejecting those organisms wasn''t really betrayal.¡± ¡°Why wasn''t it betrayal?¡± ¡°Let me ask you a question instead. Have you had the new vaccination?¡± ¡°The highly contagious and deadly?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I have.¡± ¡°That''s good. What would happen if one of your organisms had that?¡± ¡°My organisms would expel it.¡± ¡°Would that be betrayal?¡± ¡°Of course not. It had an infection, and would be doomed anyway, expelling it would be saving the rest of my organisms.¡± ¡°Lana tells me that when she had close contact with other creatures, she assumed any infection she had was deadly.¡± ¡°A sensible precaution,¡± Hani said. ¡°Even if the infection was just an irritation that would pass quickly?¡± ¡°She couldn''t know that, she had to assume it was dangerous.¡± ¡°Did your organisms understand anything about eating your brother?¡± ¡°They were traumatised, they felt horror,¡± Hani said in a small voice. ¡°What would keeping them have done to you, Hani? Traumatised organisms with no reassuring message from the rest of you?¡± ¡°It... it would be terrible. I''d hate part of me.¡± ¡°And you had to assume it was dangerous. Even more dangerous than keeping an organism with an unknown disease.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So was it betrayal?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Hani said in a small voice, ¡°They were doomed anyway, they would have destroyed unity.¡± Mick allowed her time with her thoughts, and looked out over this strange world. ¡°Thank you,¡± Hani said, eventually. ¡°Gunth saw the attack, I presume?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And saw you rejecting your traumatised organisms?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°And yet he wants to marry you? Someone that traumatised?¡± ¡°He saw me looking in horror, and spitting out. He thinks I spat out Fik. He claims he loves me. He threatens that he will say I ate my brother, but he actually thinks I did not. He says it is best that he hold the threat over me, to keep us together until I grow to love him, so that everyone expects us to marry.¡± ¡°And his blackmail was stronger than he thought, because you thought you were hiding a greater crime.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And now? What do you do to the predator called Gunth? Knowing that your reaction was right and proper?¡± ¡°Predator?¡± ¡°Is he not? Is he not trying to consume you with no thought for what you want? That''s not love, that''s a sort of greed.¡± ¡°I don''t know. Maybe I will just tell him he''s wrong, that I did eat some of Fik''s organisms, and I''ve slowly being growing crazy since.¡± ¡°That''s one possible approach, yes. Back home, a predator like him... well, blackmail is a crime, and so is trying to force a marriage.¡± ¡°What''s the punishment?¡± ¡°Do you see Sathie''s knife? It''s for dealing with predators that look like they''re going to hurt people, no matter how many legs they have. Where we come from there are different laws in different places, in the place that Sathie used to live, the law is that if a male tries to force himself upon a female, then the female can use her knife to wound, to neuter, or to kill. Other places, it would be imprisonment.¡± ¡°To neuter?¡± ¡°The exact anatomy is different, but much as is done with draft-beasts.¡± Hani looked at Mick''s arms, puzzled, and he laughed. ¡°I did say the anatomy is different. I was very surprised when I realised why some draft-beasts had scars on their elbows, and others had bulges.¡± ¡°But milk-glands are in the same place,¡± Hani pointed out. ¡°Just the right place for cradling young when upright, yes. Further discussion on this subject should, I think, wait until Lana can interpret for you, with Sathie doing most of the answering.¡± ¡°You have been kind.¡± ¡°You are the relative of my half-mother. I do not know what else to call Lana. She calls me her podling, and I inherited many organisms from her, but I was alive for over thirty years before she rescued me, and when she rescued me she consumed quite a lot of me for her own needs. And in case you''re wondering, my parents and Lana have met.¡± ¡°In some ways, you podded with Lana, didn''t you?¡± ¡°No. Or you are saying that Lana also podded with animals she hosted?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Good. Reproduction was never the goal, it was about research and then rescue. I think there will need to be a new term for what exists between me and Lana.¡± ¡°Your saviour?¡± ¡°That''s a term I use for Jesus, the man who was God.¡± ¡°Your theology is wrong. A man cannot be God.¡± ¡°Thousands of confused theologians would agree with you. But nevertheless, the second of the three who are One became a frail human baby, was born, was raised, lived, called the first of the three his Father, and the third of the three his Spirit, taught, fulfilled prophecies, was arrested and died a criminal''s death although he was perfectly innocent, and in accordance with the will of the first of the Three, returned to life. He offers life to all who choose to accept his free offer of total and absolute forgiveness, and he has been given all power and authority and worship, that at his name all will bow, either willingly or later, when he returns to judge the living and the dead.¡± ¡°Total and absolute forgiveness?¡± Hani asked. ¡°Yes. You can choose to accept it as long as the day it is called today, but of course eventually the day becomes too late.¡± ¡°As it is too late for Fik.¡± ¡°The judge of all the universe will do right. Fik will be judged according to how he responded to what he had heard.¡± ¡°He trusted the One. That didn''t keep him safe.¡± ¡°Eternally speaking, I''m sure it did.¡± ¡°A lovely cop-out. Why does pain happen, then? Why do bad things happen?¡± ¡°You mean, things like, why did I bash my head, crash my space-ship on Lana''s head, burning half her organisms, get a rib through my heart, get digested alive by a strange alien life-form ¡ª Lana ¡ª and separated from everyone I love for six years? I think that all happened so I could have conversations like this one I''m having with you, Hani. Normally, I''m not a patient language learner, ask my sister, but I didn''t have much option when I was embedded in Lana''s shoulder, did I? Other than going totally mad, I mean. I contemplated it quite seriously, but the One told me to be patient. What I''m saying is that perspective helps a lot, Hani. And maybe Vic''s leaving was to allow you to have this conversation with me. I don''t know. But feel free to discuss it all with Lana. We''re here, and Sathie and I have to go back.¡± ¡°What do you mean, we''re here?¡± ¡°That is Yasfort, down there, and the cave we''re heading to is where old Yasfort is. Magdalena''s cave, if you''ve heard of it, is that one over there, with the rectangular trench in front of it.¡± ¡°It''s real? I thought it was just a story!¡± Hani exclaimed. ¡°Feel free to go look for yourself, I''m sure Lana can arrange it.¡±
Outside the city, noon. ¡°I''ve discovered something. I hate not knowing what you''re saying,¡± Sathie said. ¡°You''d like a crash-course in speaking local?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Mick looked at his lovely wife. ¡°Did you know that Rachel''s grandma and my grandma knew each other?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°When they were working on the bubble drive.¡± ¡°Oh. What''s the relevance of this?¡± ¡°Rachel''s grandma learned a trick from her mother, who had the gift: how to pass on memory balls. Gran learned it, and taught me. It''s risky.¡± ¡°Risky how?¡± ¡°Well, say I give you a memory of when I first saw you. You then have a memory of seeing yourself for the first time and thinking wow she''s fascinating, and it''s your memory. Remembering starting to fall in love with yourself can get really confusing.¡± ¡°But you could give me a memory of being on Lana''s shoulder?¡± ¡°And then it would be your memory, influence your dreams and the way you react to Lana, and everything. People with the gift can keep them separate, consult them like a reference library. We don''t get that privilege. It''s a direct write into your long term memory.¡± ¡°So you need to keep it really neutral, facts and figures, things like that?¡± ¡°And pronunciations of words, but not when I learned them. The best thing, apparently, is if I''m actually in a room with lots of actual objects I can name. Second best is a picture, but again, nouns are easier than verbs.¡± ¡°Not in a mangled spaceship hovering a hundred meters above the road, you mean?¡± ¡°Well, I guess I can think of the words for the things I see.¡± ¡°Could you?¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°You''d better get behind me, then, beloved. And no, I don''t mean hug me.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°You want emotionally charged thoughts wrapped up in your vocab list?¡± ¡°I guess not.¡± ¡°I know, I''ll start in the kitchen.¡± ¡°OK. Any reason why?¡± ¡°Tradition. That''s where Rachel''s grandma first gave someone a language lesson by memory ball.¡± ¡°Who was that?¡± ¡°A friend of hers, Renata Dubois, who also worked on Bubble theory for a while.¡± Ground / Ch. 20:Educating visitors

Ground / Ch. 20:Educating visitors.

Outside the city, late-afternoon. ¡°Stand up,¡± Mick said in the local language. ¡°Sit down.¡± ¡°You''re just trying to get me tired.¡± Sathie grumbled. ¡°Turn round.¡± ¡°What, sitting down?¡± ¡°Shall we stop?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Carefully pick up the red fork,¡± she did. ¡°Put the blue fork down quickly.¡± ¡°How do I do that? I''m not holding it.¡± ¡°Onto the floor.¡± ¡°Oh. Doesn''t it mean put something down that I''m holding?¡± ¡°Same sentence, different context. Where is the predator?¡± ¡°There,¡± Sathie said, pointing at the picture. ¡°No, bottom left screen, see? In the ditch beside the road.¡± ¡°What''s it doing so close to the city?¡± ¡°Tracking that cart, maybe?¡± ¡°Isn''t that Yuth''s cart?¡± Sathie asked, maneuvering the probe for a better view. ¡°I think it might be. Yes, I see our old wheels. Can you send the probe down?¡± ¡°Is that wise?¡± ¡°Well, if the predator bites the probe, then just do a full power lift and squirt the stupid thing if it doesn''t let go.¡± ¡°What are you thinking of doing? Warning Yuth?¡± ¡°Not directly, that might make life dangerous for him. I was thinking of a forcefield to block the ditch.¡± ¡°Oh, good idea.¡± ¡°Maybe an audio signal too?¡± ¡°Standard siren?¡± ¡°Try something around thirty kilohertz dropping to ten kilohertz, then send morse code for ''CQ'' three times.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Hearing test, and strangely enough, Morse for ''CQ'' is the local equivalent for ''danger''.¡± ¡°Amplitude?¡± ¡°Normal speech.¡± ¡°OK, sixty decibels at one meter it is. And you want me to drop the probe between the predator and the cart?¡± ¡°Yes. Drop half way between them, then start the signal when you''re there.¡± ¡°OK. Camera one pointing at the predator, camera two at the cart, here goes. I''ll make the forcefield start if the pred gets too close. I don''t want to squirt it all over the landscape just because it likes chasing silver balls. Never mind having it out of action while I try to get the teeth marks out of it.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± The probe followed its assigned program precisely. The predator was a bit spooked either by its sudden arrival or its utter failure to hit the ground, and viewed it with suspicion. The ultrasonic whistle had no effect on the predator until it got into to the normal range of land-human hearing, at which point it shook its head and backed off. The traders, however, didn''t react at all. Not until the Morse code started its second repeat. At that point, Refek the guard grabbed his sword and shouted ¡°Hey, come out where I can see you!¡± ¡°Did he just say ''come out?''¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Wow! Language learning does work!¡± She made the probe lift so Refek had a better view, and let it repeat ''danger'' once more. Then, engaging the force field, she moved the probe towards the canine. It hadn''t expected to meet an invisible disk as it lept to attack the strange thing, and yelped in surprise as instead of catching the probe in its teeth, it was hit in the chest by the edge of the forcefield. Winded, it fell to the ground. ¡°I don''t think your hearing test worked very well, Mick.¡± Sathie observed. ¡°Me neither, not on the people, anyway. Oh well, the predator is now Refek''s problem.¡± ¡°Going back up, then.¡± They watched as the predator recovered its feet under the watchful eyes of Refek. It assessed him in turn, paying particular attention to his sword. Out in the open and facing a significant chance of death, it decided discretion was the better option, and loped away along the mainly empty road. Refek gave a strange yodel, and other wagon teams got out their weapons, repeating the call. Soon the predator realised it was on a road with swords and clubs in front and behind. It jumped the ditch and ran across the fields. Refek looked up at the probe and said, ¡°Assuming you can hear me, thanks for the warning, but the right one is that call I gave. There''s a village that way, though, and there might be podlings playing.¡± ¡°Sathie, beloved, the pred''s heading towards a village, where there might be kids at play. If I fly the probe, can you program the probe to duplicate the yodel Refek gave?¡± ¡°No problem. That''s the ''there''s a pred coming'' call?¡± ¡°Refek said that''s the signal we should have given. It might only be for carters, I''ve got no idea.¡± ¡°OK, I''ll alternate. Who uses the Morse code thing?¡± ¡°Telegraph operators, students might use it as a sort of semaphore thing when the lecturer''s coming.¡± ¡°And you''re sure it doesn''t mean ''help''? I''m just thinking, a telegraph operator might send ''S.O.S.'' but ''danger''? When would they send danger?¡± ¡°You might be right. Lana said it meant ''danger'', but, I suppose ''help'' and ''danger'' are related concepts.¡± ¡°I''ve just decided I''m not going to alternate, unless the yodel gets no response at all.¡± ¡°Your choice, beloved.¡± ¡°And if the pred starts trying to eat people, I assume you don''t mind slicing it up.¡± ¡°No, I don''t. Certainly not to defend kids.¡± He checked the second camera. ¡°And there they are, as advertised.¡± ¡°Activating yodel.¡± ¡°Kids looking around, confused and a bit scared, and we''re just about in position.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Sathie said, ¡°Now I think you''d better let me take over. Because I can''t speak local well enough.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°We wanted visitors, didn''t we? About fifty coming.¡±
Outside the city, early-evening. ¡°Is that the last of them?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°Yes, curiosity seems to have been satisfied, at least for the evening.¡± ¡°How many students are there at the university?¡± ¡°I''m not sure, I never asked. Maybe I''ll ask tomorrow, if more show up. Thanks so much for setting up the voice-response thing, I was getting really hoarse, saying the same thing over and over.¡± ¡°No problem! It actually struck me as a perfect opportunity for some language learning. Now... can you please fill me in on what the main questions actually were?¡± ¡°Just the questions?¡± ¡°Just the questions to start with. You don''t mind giving this data set to the linguists, do you?¡± ¡°Not at all, that''s why I put up the notice after the first batch.¡± ¡°What does it say?¡± ¡°It says ''Anything you say may be used to help our relatives learn your language''.¡± ¡°Why ''our relatives''?¡± ¡°Because I don''t want to be accused of talking about aliens.¡± ¡°Mick! I saw some of those diagrams, you were talking about space travel!¡± ¡°So? That isn''t a banned subject. But everyone was very careful to avoid using the ''alien'' word.¡± ¡°No one asked where you''d come from?¡± ¡°I said, ''I crashed here six years ago, and I spent most of that time healing and learning to understand your language. Now my family have found where I crashed, and with them came my clever wife who has got my ship to at least move again, but of course it''s still very broken.''¡± ¡°Which question was that?¡± ¡°Number ten or twelve, I think.¡± ¡°What''s question one?¡± ¡°Why are you floating up here?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Oh bother, I want to know the answers too.¡± ¡°I don''t mind. I said, ''Isn''t a visitor supposed to camp outside a village, and wait to be asked who they are and what their plans are?'' That led on to question two: ''What are your plans?'' to which I say ''Camp up here until I get told my family officially exist, and my friends aren''t in trouble.''¡± ¡°Question three?¡± ¡°''Who told you what you should do?'' to which I said, ''A leader who retired a long time ago and doesn''t want to come out of retirement.''¡± ¡°Well done. Question four?¡± ¡°''What''s keeping this ship up?'' to which I say ''We''ve worked out how to get gravity to ignore the ship,'' To which point one of them says, ''It''s not ignoring us, I still feel heavy.'' and I reply ''you''re not the ship'' and they say ''no but I''m pushing on the ship'', and I ask ''Are you? How do you know it isn''t the planet you''re pushing?''¡± ¡°You didn''t!¡± Sathie said, outraged. ¡°Sathie, can you tell me what''s happening, in nice plain Mer and then nice plain English, beyond that simplification? The Boris drive makes gravitons skip the ship, but they''re still there for people the other side of the ship. Why doesn''t every other force move the ship around?¡± ¡°Because even the Boris drive is doing more than cancelling gravity, it''s also producing a local pinch in the curvature of space-time which effectively gives us a fixed anchor referenced to the current positions of major local gravitational masses.¡± ¡°The bulk of which is produced by the gravitational mass of the planet. Can we use a Boris drive to exert a force on the planet, or even an asteroid in an otherwise flat space-time? No, we can''t, because that would be just like pulling yourself up by your own boot-laces. What we can do is move ourselves caterpillar-like relative to those fixed points. Therefore to all intents and purposes, we''re effectively anchored to the centre of mass of the planet, even while we''re a long way above it. That''s the way Gran explained it to me when I was a kid, anyway.¡± Sathie stared at him. ¡°Your grandmother said that?¡± ¡°Yes. I know it''s full of holes from a theoretical level, but in a hand-waving, horribly over-simplified way, it''s what happens.¡± ¡°Horribly, horribly over-simplified. But... who am I to contradict your grandmother?¡± ¡°My wife, who I love with all my head, all my heart, all of my skin organisms, all my muscle organisms, and so on,¡± Mick said, with kisses for punctuation. ¡°Hmmmmm, you do, don''t you?¡± Sathie said, doing some punctuation of her own.
Outside the city, after sunset. As the evening temperatures fell, the winds increased, and clouds moved in from the sea, and it rained. The rain splashed on the crystal of the ship, ran in little rivulets under the support of their cooking fire, and drops occasionally hit the coals under their herd-beast kebabs, sending up clouds of ash and steam. It was still a warm evening by her standards, and Sathie relished the cool spots on her skin and especially the sense in her eyeballs that they were longer feeling constantly too dry. ¡°I''ve decided: cooking in the rain is a fun activity.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± Mick asked, with a grin, turning a kebab. ¡°Yes. Much more fun than cooking under a forcefield dome that doesn''t really let the smoke out.¡± ¡°There is the opinion here that anyone doing anything in the rain is somewhat lunatic and risking catching some awful illness.¡± ¡°Who says that? Farmers?¡± ¡°Of course not, city people. Farmers know that rain brings out the slime-creatures and it''s an important time to keep the herd-beasts together. But I really doubt anyone at all will visit us in this. And it''s probably going to carry on for ages.¡± ¡°That''s not a problem, is it?¡± ¡°No, not a problem, it just means we won''t need the predator kebabs. I presume the probe''s waterproof?¡± ¡°Only to a hundred metres depth.¡± ¡°That ought to do, I don''t think it''s going to rain that much.¡± ¡°I should hope not,¡± Sathie agreed, then Mick saw her hand go to her knife. ¡°Not students, I''d say.¡± Mick turned round, and saw a small group of locals coming their way on the ground, probably ten minutes away. Mick guessed that they weren''t happy about the wet, but also that their marching in step meant they were some kind of military or police force. ¡°Sathie, what do you think of us using the probe''s forcefield to shelter them from the rain?¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± ¡°I apologise if you are enjoying the rain, or if my sheltering you from it using this tool offends in some way,¡± Mick said, via the probe''s speaker once it was in place, ¡°But my mother taught me it was more polite to offer help than wait to be asked.¡± ¡°Squad halt!¡± said the being in the middle. ¡°Winged officers, circle this theatrical prop and cut its wires.¡± ¡°You may, if you wish, stand on the invisible circular disk that''s currently around the base of the device, and keeping the rain off you, in order to get wet and assure yourselves there are no wires above, below or around the device.¡± Mick said, adding. ¡°The device is powered by something rather like unstable isotopes; so for the safety of the city, I will do what I can to prevent damage to the probe, as that might release such dangerous materials. Any motion or order that I interpret as an attempt to damage the device will result in the invisible disk disappearing and the device doing all it can to get away from you as quickly as possible. I apologise if either of those steps causes injuries, but the safety of innocent citizens must come first. If you have read the account of Jakav''s encounter with my sister Magdalena, this tool is the one that reduced one predator pack-leader to a bloody mist, and the invisible disk that shelters you from rain is how it carried the injured Jakav back to his village. I further add, that if you would like to lay down your weapons and eat out of this rain, my wife and I will be very happy to make space for you at our fire, and let you cook some of the predator she killed this morning.¡± ¡°What did you say to them?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°The officer told the ones with wings to cut the probe''s wires. I guess as if it were hanging from some trees. I told them they could stand on the forcefield and check for wires if they liked, but that we wouldn''t tolerate them trying to damage it, because that might be dangerous. Then I invited them to roast some predator with us.¡± ¡°OK. Shall I cut some steaks?¡± ¡°I''m rather doubtful that they''ll accept.¡± ¡°Huh. On the assumption they won''t I''m turning on our field.¡± ¡°What about the smoke?¡± Sathie grinned, ¡°my favourite setting: air can come in, stuff can go out, stuff can''t get in.¡± ¡°I thought you said you liked the rain.¡± ¡°That''s fun, yes.¡± ¡°But you could have let the smoke out and not had rain?¡± ¡°Of course I could, Mick. I just said rain was much better than an impenetrable forcefield.¡± ¡°Sathie?¡± Mick said preparing to declare his love to her. ¡°You love me, don''t you?¡± ¡°I don''t know I''ll ever understand you, though.¡± ¡°Oh good. That keeps life interesting, don''t you think?¡± ¡°No wires found, Sergeant, sir!¡± declared one of the flying guards. ¡°And this invisible disk?¡± the sergeant asked. ¡°Can''t see it, sir.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± ¡°But we can feel it.¡± ¡°Sathie, can you make the field glow a bit?¡± ¡°I can make it spell ''I love you'' if you want.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Given enough time. Want to pick a colour?¡± ¡°Can you make it change? Rainbow-like?¡± ¡°One cycling-rainbow forcefield coming up. What does the rainbow signify here?¡± ¡°It''s stopped raining. But also, God defends his people.¡± ¡°Good symbolism. Hey, they do a trinity symbol, don''t they?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are we allowed to use it?¡± ¡°Can you put one on the dome here? Painting one on your house is fairly common as a sign that you''re a believer.¡± ¡°You should have said, Mick.¡± Sathie chided him, ¡°you could have used your rock-cutter and engraved one, couldn''t you?¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± he turned back to the microphone. ¡°We''ve made the disk glow, lieutenant, does that help?¡± ¡°More special effects! There''s a hidden lamp somewhere.¡± ¡°They don''t have projectors or televisions, do they?¡± Sathie asked. ¡°No. They have a few experimental audio-recorders, but until I explained the principle to Lara, no form of cameras at all.¡± ¡°What about I use the field as a display screen?¡± ¡°You can do that? Really?¡± ¡°Not very detailed, but yes.¡± ¡°From the camera?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Yes. Or any image, really.¡± ¡°How about showing the probe''s video from a minute ago?¡± ¡°Oooh, nice. So they see themselves?¡± ¡°Are they going to be able to recognise each other?¡± ¡°Probably. But like I say, it''s not going to be high definition.¡± ¡°Lieutenant,¡± Mick said into the microphone, ¡°I don''t think you have the technology to do this either. We can make much better pictures than you see, but not on something that can bounce cannon balls and destroy predators like the disk can.¡± The lieutenant stood motionless, looking at his squad arriving, orders being given, and then fliers obviously circling the observer. After a minute or so, of watching with growing incredulity, the lieutenant started to wobble on his feet and sway, his eyes still glued to the sight above his head. ¡°Sathie, display off! Someone remind the lieutenant to breathe now!¡± ¡°Not possible,¡± the lieutenant murmured, and sat down. Mick was reassured to see him take a breath, before he repeated ¡°What I have seen is not possible.¡± Sathie took Mick''s hand and thought to him, [Mick? What happened?] [He was so engrossed in the playback that he forgot to breathe. If you distract someone who''s holding their breath for some reason, say about to shout a command... then they might forget to tell their lungs to ''breathe normally'', and with no autonomous systems... it has been known to be fatal, sometimes.] ¡°I apologise for the distraction, lieutenant.¡± Mick said, via the probe. ¡°As the One is my witness, I have no desire to cause you harm, nor turmoil or panic in the city. But it would be my preference that the government see fit to rescind certain laws I have heard of, because while I do not doubt they were passed with integrity... scientists make mistakes, truth is stranger than most people knew when they were passed, and the present law hinders truthful conversation.¡± ¡°Who knew?¡± the Lieutenant whispered. ¡°Who knew what, Lieutenant? Talking through a nameless device is not ideal. I repeat my invitation to join my wife and I on what is left of the ship which she originally built, but which I bear the responsibility for crashing on this strange planet some six years ago, and which my amazing wife has now repaired enough that it can at least fly once more. We also have half a predator killed in self-defence. Since my wife and I find the taste of predator as revolting as you would find the taste of old fish, we are very happy to offer it to any who would enjoy it.¡± ¡°I wonder what happened to the other half, then,¡± the lieutenant commented to his nearest soldier. ¡°The other half I traded for some herd-beast meat.¡± Mick added. ¡°A good trade; both parties left with something of far greater value to them.¡± ¡°Soldiers, pay heed!¡± the lieutenant ordered, then whispered, ¡°I have no confidence in the pronouncements of a voice of a machine, nor do I feel that the eating meat offered via such a strange device is something I would recommend, let alone order. But it is nevertheless our duty to investigate this strange visitor, for if there is truth in the stories he has referred to, untold peril may await our city.¡± ¡°Lieutenant, I hate to keep on interrupting,¡± Mick said, ¡°but just so you''re aware, this probe has really good sound detectors, and I just can''t help overhearing anything you say so close to it. I promise my wife and I will still be here tomorrow morning if you want to discuss things in private. Or I suppose I could just move the probe away, since you seem to prefer the rain.¡± ¡°We do not prefer the rain. My squad will return to the city, I will come to your strange floating habitation, I will listen to what you say.¡± ¡°I humbly suggest, lieutenant, that if ¡ª as I believe most likely to be the case ¡ª your squad contains some who have a family connection to the leaders of the Tradition party, you allow one or more of them to be your witnesses, that your conduct and speech was at all times beyond reproach. A matter confirmed by several honest witnesses is, after all, more to be believed, no matter how incredible.¡± ¡°How did you come to such a belief?¡± The lieutenant demanded of the probe. ¡°I have been told that it has been a tradition of the party of Tradition to encourage their offspring to serve in the city guard, ever since the parties were formed after the end of the third war, and furthermore, that about half the recruits now come from this source.¡± ¡°You are well informed, but I will not have any soldier among my troops who makes such connections known, as that might be a route to corruption. Thus ignoring all matters of family connections, but preferring instead the question of personal reputation, do I have four trustworthy volunteers?¡± Five soldiers stepped forward. ¡°Rek?¡± The lieutenant asked, ¡°If I remember you are quite well known to the city police, and not in a favourable sense.¡± ¡°Exactly sir. I am known as someone who fights too-readily, but not as someone who tells untruth. Indeed, the police often ask me what happened, and I tell them.¡± ¡°They do not question your word?¡± ¡°Not often sir. If I say I threw the first punch, they believe me and lock me up. If it was the other guy, they tell him, ''Rek here says it wasn''t him. Do you have a lot of witnesses who agree with you?'' And of course he doesn''t; they agree with me if they''re being truthful, sir.¡± ¡°OK, Rek, you''re in. Who shouldn''t I pick, Rek?¡± ¡°Saneth, sir,¡± Rek said, naming the squad''s most scholarly member. ¡°Oh? Saneth, do you agree with Rek?¡± ¡°I disagree with Rek on principle, sir, almost always.¡± ¡°Even when that makes you wrong?¡± ¡°How can it be right to agree with Rek? If he''s right then either he''s right for the wrong reasons, or it''s an obvious truth and there''s no point having an argument about it. What we''ve seen has been imagined but not done in any laboratory on Ground. The very idea of apologising for the low quality of a moving picture, a recording of vision, when such things are just fantasy... I prefer to believe in technology than magic, especially when the voice commanding it calls it technology.¡± ¡°Rek, Tatha, Ziv, Guna: follow me. The rest of you, report to the watch officer.¡± ¡°What do we say happened to you, sir? ¡°Say that having determined there were no wires holding up the strange device, and witnessed various powers it had that have no reasonable explanation, I accepted the invitation of the visitor to sit at his fire and listen to his tale, even though his fire is on a glass barge fifty meters above our heads, and I detest flying.¡± Ground / Ch. 21:Powerful exchanges

Ground / Ch. 21:Powerful exchanges.

Mick''s ship, outside the city. ¡°You are most welcome,¡± Mick said. ¡°Come and go in peace in accordance to all rules of hospitality.¡± ¡°Thank you for not requiring me to grow wings,¡± the lieutenant said, as he climbed aboard. ¡°No problem. Our main reason for flying was to attract attention, after all.¡± ¡°Your had other reasons?¡± ¡°Our people are not naturally immune to slime creatures, and if my wife eats poison bulbs to prevent their unwelcome attention, then it would be death to my organisms to kiss her. I am Mick; my wife, Sathzakara does not understand much of this language we now speak, so I will interpret for her every so often. I welcome questions.¡± ¡°I do not understand how you can eat poison, but then it would mean you cannot kiss.¡± ¡°I was born a multicellular organism, my wife still is one. When I crashed here I almost died, and so did Academician Lana of the university safety office, who had previously been working in frontier biology, as had her mother and her mother before her. Lana had the skills to host the dying alien whose crash had burned half her organisms, and knew how to envelop the alien''s muscles and extract from them the protein and iron she needed, even though her throat had been burned away in the fireball and she could not swallow. Lana preserved much of me, but not all. Some of me was spread over the landscape. I was a slow learner, and so she carried me as her podling for almost six years before I understood enough to survive without her. Even then, I did not realise that I needed to tell my stomach organisms to digest the food I was trying to feed myself with. Such things are automatic and out of conscious control among my people.¡± Mick shrugged dismissively: ¡°differences. I am experimenting with trying to regrow some of my original muscle tissues, which respond to thought faster than a predator''s. But many of our foods are deadly poison to collaborating organisms. If I were to leave with the others of my people who are in the craft that hovers in the evening sky, it would almost certainly mean I condemn the organisms I currently call mine to death, and without them I would die. I have no desire to betray them like that, nor to die. I therefore beg the government to grant me official recognition and permission to stay at least long enough that I can grow enough of the original me that I have some hope of surviving after budding away all my organisms. I also ask that the government acknowledge as a work of the One the miracle that the one person on this planet capable of keeping me alive was exactly there as I crashed, and having admitted the miracle, also admit that her actions should not in any way be held against her. I further ask that the laws that declare me and my family and friends a fiction be rescinded, and those who are in prison for telling the truth about meeting me or others of my friends and family be released. I hope no one considers these requests unreasonable.¡± ¡°From your point of view, I am sure they seem reasonable,¡± the lieutenant said. ¡°But am I to understand that academician Lana consumed the flesh of a sentient being? That she engaged in an unsanctioned experiment? That she brought a potentially dangerous life-form into the city? That she held a podling for about six years? There are so many crimes here...¡± ¡°As the podling concerned, I assure you, she did not withhold freedom from me. Indeed I was most unwilling to have the plans we''d just developed ruined, but she insisted. As for consuming bits of me, she needed the nutrition or would have died herself from the burns, and she carefully restricted her consumption to muscles and bones, the parts most easily regrown. I bear her no ill-will for what she did. As for sanction for the ''experiment'', I am certain that came from the One, as I have indicated. You may dispute His authority in the middle of this thunderstorm if you really want to, but please do it a long way from my wife and me.¡± The squad member called Tatha smiled at that suggestion, and said ¡°I do not believe the lieutenant is foolish enough to do that. May I enquire how the predator died?¡± ¡°The world we come from is larger than this; we are used to three times the gravity, have fast reactions and are used to faster predators. When the foolish beast sprang at her, it met her blade rather than her body, and discovered that my wife keeps her knife very sharp indeed.¡± ¡°It was impaled, then?¡± Mick said something to his wife, and then said, ¡°Because of the angle of her blade, the lower jaw and tail remained with the left half of the beast. As my wife was annoyed at the stupid animal for interrupting her careful work, and covering her with its blood, she needlessly removed the head with a second cut. I warn you not to touch the blade. It will cut with the slightest pressure.¡± Sathie laid the knife on the table in front of Tatha, who saw that it was as long as a short sword, and its mirror-finished sides seemed to have no sign of sharpening as they tapered to nothing. ¡°May I hold it?¡± ¡°Carefully pick up the knife, yes.¡± Sathie replied, grinning at Mick. Tatha felt the weight of the blade ¡ª it was even heavier than she expected ¡ª and then she tried to catch a reflection from the firelight from the honed edge; she didn''t get a single reflection, there was no honed edge she could see, no sign of the metal ever needing to be sharpened. Reverently, she put it down. ¡°Sir?¡± Tatha said, ¡°you were impressed by the pictures. I am far more impressed by this blade. Having heard of its use and seen it and felt its weight, I very much wish to be friends with these people.¡± Her feeling was redoubled when she saw Sathzakara picking up the blade lightly and re-sheathing it with total precision and a practiced air. ¡°It betters your father''s work?¡± the lieutenant asked. ¡°My father''s best blades need the grindstone and regular sharpening. That knife, while clearly a thing of metal, has an edge like a flake of obsidian.¡± Turning to Mick, she asked ¡°it is an alloy?¡± ¡°A complex one, with ingredients that might surprise you. There is no iron in it, for the people of my mother and my wife live and hunt in the sea which covers two thirds of the surface of our planet.¡± Guna asked ¡°You said in the sea? You can take air from water?¡± ¡°Only with machines. But those of us who are of the sea store a lot of oxygen in our blood and in our muscles. My father''s people ¡ª land-people who outnumber us greatly ¡ª cannot do this as well.¡± ¡°And you? How do you count yourself?¡± ¡°I was born in a city under the sea, I hunted fish larger than myself. I was of the sea. Now? I am kept alive by my wonderful organisms, who give me the ability to change shape which is amazing to me. But I do so slowly, and it confuses my brain. I have neither oxygen store, nor speed; at sea I would be an easy meal for the fish I used to hunt. I am alive, for which I thank Lana and praise the One, but in most other respects, I am crippled.¡± ¡°A city under the sea?¡± ¡°The city of my mother''s people. Under a dome of this material,¡± he tapped the edge of his ship. Rek asked, ¡°You do not seem slow to me. How fast were you?¡± ¡°I will let you see for yourself,¡± Mick said, picking up a thin straight stick from beside the fire. ¡°Sathie, reaction-time demo requested.¡± ¡°Oh? OK.¡± ¡°I will let this stick fall. When she sees my fingers release it, my wife will catch it.¡± Rek nodded, he had done this at school, but with a longer stick, the stick the alien had picked was barely as long as Rek''s hand, too short, surely? ¡°First, my wife will catch it with the reactions only a little better than most land-people, based purely on sight,¡± Mick said. Rek''s puzzlement at these strange words turned to surprise as the stick fell only three centimetres before she caught it. ¡°Now, she will use the other advantage many of my people have: not needing to wait to see my hand move, but hearing the thought that releases my muscles.¡± This time, the stick barely moved one centimetre. Rek decided that these aliens clearly had no need to poison anyone, and he''d be very happy to poison-test a kilo of the predator-meat they''d been offered. Mick laughed, ¡°Rek, you are very very correct. But I think you''ll have to open your mouth if you want to persuade your lieutenant.¡± Rek looked at Mick in shock, who said. ¡°Yes, I heard your forceful decision.¡± ¡°What did you decide, Rek?¡± The lieutenant asked, curiously. ¡°How about I whisper it to one of you first, if Rek is willing?¡± Mick suggested, ¡°just as further proof.¡±
City guard HQ, the city ¡°Sir,¡± the lieutenant said, adopting the traditional pose of supplication, with one hand in his belt-pouch, the other hanging loosely at his side, ¡°My mission failed. Rather than proving the manifestations false, I have seen numerous proofs that have utterly convinced me the visitors are in possession of technology we do not know. Biological samples were also provided for testing by the forensics department.¡± ¡°Biological samples? You persuaded them to sacrifice some organisms for testing?¡± ¡°They offered, sir. They state that they are multicellular organisms and almost every type of their cells are constantly being shed and replaced with no direction or intervention from themselves. The female cannot speak to us very well though she learns; the male states that he learned our language while on academician Lana''s shoulder.¡± ¡°And where is academician Lana?¡± ¡°I asked that question, sir. I was offered a small box and told it worked by radio. I was able to have a two-way conversation with someone who claimed she was ex-academician Lana, and said she was in Old Yasfort, and had accepted an offer from the aliens for protection, knowing that some of her actions might not be acceptable in the present political climate. She said that the aliens have the technology to break rock into water, metals and gases and that although it would take a long time, they would rather create a second sea on the other side of the planet than allow her and their friends in Yasfort to be imprisoned. She also said, sir, that the aliens are quite capable of locating and releasing any prisoners they wish, but prefer to be polite and allow us to do it.¡± ¡°Polite?¡± ¡°Her words, sir.¡± ¡°I have heard reports of an invisible disk, that can show moving pictures.¡± ¡°Yes, sir. That demonstration was stopped when the alien noticed I was so shocked I was forgetting to breathe. The disk was formed by the small research device the visitors have. On their larger device, I saw items the size of small windows that showed me what the ''eyes'' of the research device saw. They flew the device to a piece of forest north of the city where they said the male had crashed six years ago, almost on top of academician Lana, injuring both him and her. I saw a stone memorial to that event, and I also saw evidence of what geometrical shapes the small device can create, and what happens if the disk or other shape should be formed where there obstructions nearby.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°The obstructions are cut, sir, instantly. According to what I saw on the window-device, near to the crash site there is now a circle of trees cut by a cone and another by a disk. An expedition could be sent to verify these things, if that is felt necessary.¡± ¡°What was the purpose of this demonstration?¡± ¡°It was, I believe, a demonstration that they have these tools, that they are not tricksters, and that it is not inability that stops them from choosing a military solution. Oh, I also saw a long knife that they said the females normally carry ¡ª of exquisite quality and sharpness ¡ª and a demonstration of the female''s reaction speed. The male held this stick level with the bottom of her fingers. She caught it here, sir. Several times, including when I had been holding it.¡± ¡°I wondered why you were carrying the stick. So: technology, personal equipment and reaction times are all in their favour?¡± ¡°Yes sir. They also have a personal device that they say is a relative of the disk-forming mechanism. When activated, it forms a barrier around them. The male placed one of these devices on a small bush, and invited me to attack it with sword, arrows or claws. All I managed to do was break some arrows and dull the edge of my sword on the ground as it bounced off, and bend the branches of the bush a little when I clawed at it with all my force.¡± The commander stood and faced a plaque on the wall; engraved on it, the simple words of the constitution, which started ''Let there be no wars, only truth and law.'' ¡°So, aliens have come, and they have given you a demonstration of their military superiority, have they?¡± ¡°They say they wish to be friends, sir, but...¡± ¡°If not, they would win any conflict?¡± ¡°It is not my place to say so definitively, sir. Certainly I believe that even without her invulnerability device, the female could have routed my whole squad on her own; she can move so fast! I also believe their device could force an entry to any location, even the government chamber, and that once inside its disk that cuts hundred year old trees in an instant could seriously injure anyone present.¡± ¡°What are their demands? I presume they have demands?¡± ¡°They made requests, sir. Mick, the male, as I said, says he crashed on top of Lana, who ''hosted'' him, as she had ''hosted'' lower animals during her research. She ¡ª assuming it was her I spoke to ¡ª described this as a process much like a large slime-creature enveloping a beast, but being selective in what was consumed.¡± he shuddered at that horrible thought. ¡°Otherwise Lana believed she would probably die from her burns and that Mick''s death would also have been certain, from his devastating wounds.¡± ¡°They can be wounded, then.¡± ¡°They can be, sir. Lana told me he had a bone through his heart, and very little remaining blood. When Mick was finally able, after 6 years, to think of having organisms as his, rather than Lana''s, Lana budded him off with almost half her organisms. Mick states that it is possible, by their most difficult medicine, for him to regrow the lost parts of his body, but that it is a very slow process. His first request is time to do this, and to bud his organisms away before he departs, because leaving for his home would be death to his organisms from Lana and a betrayal of cooperation. He requests permission for his wife, his sister, and other friends and relatives to continue their discoveries in the Yasfort area, and to continue discussions they are having with the people there. He requests that laws denying their existence be repealed and those who have been imprisoned under them be released. He requests that we acknowledge what a miracle from the One it was that he crashed next to Lana, the only person with the knowledge and experience to keep him alive, and thus pardon the many questionable aspects of that process and their life as still-joined mother and podling.¡± ¡°And if the government will not listen to these requests?¡± ¡°Then I expect the conversations with aliens will continue, and the cries of those who say the government makes laws suppressing the truth will grow. Of course, the laws currently in force were based on what the government knew at the time. Now, however, as the city guard is constitutionally a non-political wing of government, the government knows better.¡± ¡°You believe, then that your report will be passed on?¡± ¡°Of course, sir,¡± the lieutenant said, his fingers straying to a small device in his belt-pouch. ¡°Despite the fact that you introduced it as a failed mission?¡± ¡°The mission parameters did not correspond with reality, sir.¡± ¡°What is reality? Is it not reality that you have broken the law you are sworn to uphold?¡± ¡°I have carefully avoided certain terms except in reported speech, sir. I believe that keeps me on the right side of the law.¡± ¡°Of which party are you a member, lieutenant?¡± ¡°The city guard are constitutionally apolitical, sir.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, of course. But once you are not a guardsman, where would you plan to devote your efforts?¡± ¡°It is my hope to continue within the guards, sir, eventually moving to a training role.¡± ¡°We live in interesting times, lieutenant. It is entirely possible that in the near future, especially considering the dangerous situation that you have appraised me of, the constitution will be... adjusted, and that the inefficiencies of tripartite government will need to be swept aside. In that situation, it could be very important to the fate of a soldier that the soldier''s superior officers know who his friends and family are, where his allegiances lie.¡± ¡°It could indeed, sir,¡± the lieutenant said, his left hand deliberately locating the switch on the strange little device, his right not quite moving towards his sword, but added, ¡°were corrupt officers to allow such chaos to return. Myself, I find my allegiances lie in the constitution, to history of which I have made a study, and to the system that my ancestor created, and my forefathers have preserved for the generations since.¡± ¡°To history?¡± the officer asked, amused. ¡°An interesting place to trust for the future, but never mind. I was quoting, by the way. Who need not concern you, at least, not yet. There will be no disrespect to the legacy of your forefathers from me; I too am a descendent of Kovan. Take the samples to forensics, let us ensure all our troops and assets are in position before we strike at the constitution''s enemies.¡±
Government chamber, the city. ¡°Ruling party members and other party members here as observers, I thank you for allowing me to bring you this important news.¡± ¡°Why do you fill the room with soldiers, general?¡± an observer from the Reason party asked. ¡°This squad of soldiers, under my orders, and the command of the lieutenant here, approached the strange ¡ª apparently floating ¡ª camp outside the east gate of the city. They approached with the intention of learning how the deception was being carried out, who by, and what their purposes were before causing them to stop.¡± ¡°I notice the camp is still there,¡± ¡°They are sir. So it is time for the misunderstanding to be stopped and replaced by facts. The living platform is somewhat larger than this chamber, weighs approximately seven hundred kilograms, and is of a tough transparent material which is considerably less dense than glass. The two occupants also have under their control an hour-glass shaped device which can also apparently defy gravity. They provided biological samples which our forensic experts, who also accompany us, have analysed. I have asked each member of the squad to describe one thing they saw or noticed during their visit. Proceed soldiers.¡± ¡°There were no wires or poles holding up the metal hour-glass, but there was a disk at the base which three of us sat on. The metal hour-glass bounced a bit, but was able to hold us up.¡± ¡°The disk was initially invisible, but then displayed moving images of us approaching it and looking for wires.¡± ¡°The male occupant of the camp stopped the images when he noticed that the lieutenant had forgotten to breathe.¡± ¡°He also told us we were welcome to stand on the disk, and warned us not to try to damage the device, because it was powered by something like unstable elements, and the safety of people in the city must come first.¡± ¡°He makes strange noises to his wife we cannot understand, but she does. To us she said some things, but it sounded like the first intelligible words of a mixling, like she was just learning to speak.¡± ¡°His wife has what he calls a knife, with which she killed a predator. I was permitted to lift it; it is is more a short sword which weighs more than my sword, but she lifted it easily. The blade was sharper, more perfectly sculpted, than any a master-swordsman would make, because such a blade would never hold its edge. This one remained perfect after cutting predator bone.¡± ¡°Her reactions are ten times faster than mine, and he was able to sense a decision I made, and to quote it exactly, although he was a predator length from me. He found my decision amusing.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°They find the taste of predator meat disgusting.¡± ¡°The metal hour-glass records sights as well as sounds. They have a thing like a box with a window on the front, that lets them see what it has seen. They ascribe this all to technology, not magic.¡± ¡°He and his wife worship the One.¡± ¡°The disk we sat on has no thickness. It is not sharp, because it has been bent back on itself, but a hand-span in from the edge my fingers could feel the fingerprints of my other hand, but could not penetrate it.¡± ¡°The disk can be turned on an off, like a tap. The male told me that the blunt edge only develops after a few seconds, that it is thinner than an molecule, and grows much faster than sound travels.¡± ¡°The disk is not always a disk. It can also be a cone or a rod or other mathematical shapes. I saw the disk cut huge trees, in the forest to the north, and have brought back a sample. The mirror-smooth side is what the disk cut, the other is the mess I made with my saw.¡± ¡°As a fan of science-fiction plays and books, I say they possess and demonstrated to us technology that our most imaginative playwrights and authors have not imagined.¡± ¡°I analysed the samples given from the couple ¡ª scrapings of their skin. The samples are clearly and without doubt from multicellular organisms, and as with skin-scrapings from a predator, contained no living organisms. My professor once pointed out to me that all samples he has analysed from plants to bacteria to animals (multicellular and multi-organism) have the same molecular structure for converting sugar to energy. I have, until now, observed this in every sample I have analysed, and like my professor, assumed this must be the only structure for life. The skin-scrapings contain a different structure, though its function is clearly the same. The skin-scrapings show many many similarities and but also differences. Differences in hormones and differences in genetics, so I am convinced they must represent male and female from the same species.¡± The forensics expert took a deep sigh of regret and went on ¡°I further add that a month ago, I was shown a sketch that was reported to have come from the so-called ''Yasfort Cave''. I concluded at that time that the sketch was based on purest fantasy and did not in any way represent the genetics of any living creature. I must retract that statement and admit my error, for the samples I analysed last night exactly correspond to those sketches.¡± ¡°You do not believe it possible that the samples were carefully constructed falsities?¡± ¡°If such falsities could be created, it would only be possible by possessors of far greater technology than any mentioned yet, or even the hand of God alone.¡± ¡°You conclude then that if we assume that God himself does not trick us, the least unlikely possibility is that the visitors are, as they have claimed, not from Ground but some distant star?¡± ¡°I cannot comment on the studies of physicists. Biologically, I find it most unlikely that they are from anywhere that we have obtained samples from. But, perhaps they are from the far side of the planet, where our most intrepid explorers have not visited, but if so, why do we only find out about them now, if they have such technology?¡± ¡°You are aware, I presume, of the so-called ''common ancestor theorem''?¡± a member of the reason party asked. ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°Could you describe it to everyone here?¡± ¡°It is an attempt to explain why so many biological processes are the same, between us and slime creatures, of course, but also in less-related creatures and so on, all the way back to simple bacteria. It suggests that at some point in the past, (whether through divine intervention or some natural process, and whether over a period of time or within the space of a day), a change or changes were introduced that split the types into two, and that if we go far enough backwards in that process there was a single common ancestor to all life, or, as some would prefer, that the creator shaped all life by successive modifications.¡± ¡°Given this theory, and given the way that it appears to be a rule of biology that all life is inter-connected in this way, and the way that we know bacteria can be carried in clouds and dust, can you imagine it would be at all likely that there should be no matching bacteria or any other related life-forms if these tool-users came from elsewhere on our planet?¡± ¡°No, I cannot consider it likely at all,¡± admitted the forensics expert. ¡°Thank you, no more questions from me.¡± ¡°There is a tradition to be observed here, if not a law,¡± said the leader for the party of tradition. ¡°When a party finds that its own laws have been made in error, it is only honourable to unmake those laws, including in their unmaking compensation for those adversely affected. This is a tradition we must uphold, and I suggest we make it a law. Furthermore, when the erroneous laws have become a tool of oppression, it has long been the practice of the other parties unite to propose a vote of no confidence in the ruling party. It is my suggestion that we overturn this tradition, because I have heard strong rumours of Tradition-party members expressing a lack of respect for the constitution, and therefore I myself have no confidence that some of my fellow party members are considering what is best for the people, but instead are falling into the self-serving ways of corruption. As leader of my party, I therefore declare the party of tradition has become disunited. Let it be entered into the record books after the laws of nullification and the law regarding rectification.¡± There was a shocked silence. The constitution was clear; a disunited party could not be in power, and legal experts had long agreed that a high party official making such a declaration automatically made it true ¡ª either they were united agreeing with him about the disunity, or disunited about the truthfulness or appropriateness of the declaration. ¡°What, then, of the laws proposed immediately before this declaration?¡± asked a member of the progress party. ¡°The constitution is clear that a disunited party cannot rule, but that laws declared beforehand need to be enacted,¡± the general said. ¡°Unmaking the law is an easy task, and other than including a clause that says compensation will be made to those adversely affected, setting appropriate compensation should probably be left as an administrative matter ¡ª every case will be different, I''m sure. Having said that, perhaps some guidance regarding who can and cannot claim may be appropriate, as there have been corrupt practices.¡± This got murmurs of agreement from all around the room. ¡°As for enshrining this idea of compensation as law, I suggest that the new ruling party discuss the phrasing and wording of that law with all parties. It would not be right to have such a law become a matter for constant change.¡± ¡°What new ruling party?¡± the progress party member asked. ¡°Why, the rotation falls to your own, of course,¡± the leader of the reason party said, with obvious relish at the other''s panic. ¡°But... we expected the tradition party to rule another year or two! We have not even brainstormed about our legislative goals yet!¡± ¡°Perhaps, then, this will enter the record books as your party''s longest stay in power. I''m sure your finances will recover eventually. Who''s your party leader?¡± A look of panic grew on the faces of all the progress party members in the room as they realised that their current state of bickering over the leadership could well be taken as a sign of disunity in the party, losing them this unexpected power and the massive legislative advantage over the tradition party that it brought. One young member, very hesitantly got to her feet and said ¡°I am sure that my party is ¡ª or will be once they hear ¡ª united in surprise at the unexpected turn of events while being most appreciative of the tradition party leader''s honourable withdrawal from power as they urm, reestablish respect for the constitution in their ranks, and err.. fully united in its desire to elect a new leader to carry forward a progressive program of legislation that will properly reflect the opportunities presented by the alien visitors.¡± Despite gabbling the last bit, her speech got her a standing ovation from the other members of her party. The tradition party leader said, ¡°I thank the young progressive whose name I''m afraid I don''t know for her vote of thanks, and remind all assembled here that this is not the first transfer of power when a party has been without an agreed leader, indeed it has happened three times before. The young lady, indeed her party colleagues present, may not be aware that the tradition in such a case is that the first to show the necessary leadership by making a unifying speech to which all agree is therefore the agreed leader by the common acclaim of the ruling party she has just united. May I be the first to offer my congratulations to my opposite number.¡± ¡°That''s not funny,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, I think you''ll find it is hilarious with hindsight, Dantho,¡± one of her colleagues said, with an enormous grin, ¡°And as our honourable opponent has so eloquently explained, you are the one who found a way to unify all of us here, and I don''t think any of us would want to bring disunity to our party while we have power. Three blessings upon the new leader of our people!¡± Dantho wished the ground would swallow her as they cheered and congratulated her and told her that she''d be an excellent leader. She wasn''t so sure. Before she''d dared to open her mouth, she''d been a student member of the party for a year and a full member for two weeks, and she was only at this meeting because she''d been interviewing some senior party members for an essay about how government actually worked compared to the constitutional ideals.
Mick''s ship, the next morning. ¡°Hello again, lieutenant,¡± Mick greeted his visitor, ¡°Have you brought a friend to see us?¡± ¡°I am called Dantho,¡± she said, ¡°and I hear you gave the lieutenant a list of requests to the government.¡± ¡°That is true,¡± Mick agreed. ¡°What my colleagues in the progress party would like to know is... well, other than everything of course, but more precisely whether there would be any benefit to us Groundlings from you being here?¡± ¡°Ah, and they''ve sent you ask the questions?¡± ¡°Actually, they''ve proclaimed me the leader of the government. Tradition have acknowledged they vastly misunderstood the situation and passed laws too quickly, and after revoking those laws have honourably resigned from power.¡± ¡°Wow! I didn''t think that was possible.¡± Mick exclaimed, then apologised. She waved it away and said ¡°A disunited party cannot govern, and some very non-traditional thoughts had entered some tradition party members'' heads. Our party, not expecting power, had no leader, and I foolishly said something everyone could agree with, and so they declared me their leader. Yesterday I was a student of political science and the most junior party member, today I lead the ruling party.¡± ¡°Our little camp, such as it is, is most honoured. You will excuse me, I hope, if I interpret what you''ve said to my wife.¡± Mick reached for Sathie''s fingers and thought to her what Dantho had said. ¡°Dantho, welcome.¡± Sathie said, only slightly wrongly, then she thought to Mick [she needs to talk to someone who knows, Mick], and said, ¡°we go, talk to Takan?¡± Dantho was confused, ¡°''Talk to Takan''? I don''t want to waste time!¡± ¡°I think it might be a good idea, if you''re willing, honourable Dantho,¡± Mick said, doubling her confusion. The lieutenant said ¡°I think you and your wife do not know that the expression ''talk to Takan'' means to waste a politician''s time ¡ª I think because no one could persuade the great war-ender to return to politics. So I wonder what you do mean.¡± ¡°Lana has married, her husband is Takan,¡± Mick said. ¡°Who dared to name their child Takan?¡± ¡°If I remember correctly I think his mother was called Tana, I certainly remember his father was Yakan, son of Yas.¡± ¡°I know who that Takan was. Who is this Takan who married Lana?¡± ¡°Lana married ''the most curious man in the world'', the son of Yakan son of Yas, who says he has always been too curious about things to stop breathing, who accepts organism replacement rather than interruption to his studies. I don''t think he will be very willing to be involved in politics ¡ª there is too much disrespect ¡ª but on the other hand he has reclaimed his name, is as curious as ever, and has probably been learning a lot about us aliens. Perhaps he will be willing to share his thoughts.¡± ¡°You are not willing to share your own?¡± ¡°I, myself do not know how much influence it would be sensible for us to be upon your culture, your technology. We certainly do not want to cause chaos and disruption by overly rapid progress.¡± ¡°You forget which party I represent.¡± Dantho said. ¡°Too rapid progress destroys lives and brings anger, honourable Dantho. The city has messengers, we carry devices that allow each of us to call any other person''s device, at will. Will you take the jobs of messengers? You have carters who move people and goods, but you have the power of steam, and even electricity. Why do you not move people and goods with electricity? It could have been done. Do you want to go to the far south, to Yasfort, and talk to Takan and Lana for an hour or two before returning to the city for an evening meal? Assuming you have broken no solemn oaths, nor encouraged others to do so, we can do that for you. But would you really like us to make the carters hungry and angry by stealing all their custom? We do not think that would be wise. Would you have us make all our knowledge available so that the university professors would have to study harder than their students, or be constantly ignorant? Would that be kind? Would you have us sell a tool that fits in a belt-pouch and which can burn though the side of a house, a predator or a person in a few moments? Those tempted to theft or murder would be very happy if such a tool was available, I think, the police less happy.¡± ¡°You exaggerate,¡± the lieutenant accused. ¡°Your floating device cannot fit in a belt-pouch.¡± ¡°No, but this does,¡± Mick took out his rock-cutter. ¡°I did not want to scare you too much, lieutenant. This was not invented as a weapon, but it can certainly kill.¡± He turned to Sathie, and asked, ¡°Can you set up that piece of rock?¡± Sathie nodded, and put a fairly large piece of rock, flat on one side, on to a table that was near the ladder. Mick stood next to their visitors, maybe two metres from the rock, and said, ¡°the light will be bright, but it is safe to watch from this distance.¡± Then he set his rock-cutter and sliced a half centimetre thick slab off the one side. Sathie repositioned the chunk and moving close, he quickly sketched a small flower on the corner of the perfectly smooth side he''d just cut. ¡°This flower is called a ''forget-me-not'' where my father is from. It is a bit smaller than I''ve drawn it and blue. A gift, honoured Dantho; the rock is from Ground, and the flower from Earth. An image of collaboration if you like. I have lived on Lana''s shoulder for six years, you have a beautiful planet, and I do not want to inadvertently spoil the beauty of Ground. No matter how much you like progress, I am sure you do not want Ground to become like Earth, where our people originate.¡± ¡°Because?¡± ¡°Because Earth has a population of thousands of millions; it is crowded, full of divisions and inequalities, there are parts of Earth where the people are frequently either at war or hovering on the edge of it. In the past, we so polluted our planet that we altered the weather, and caused hundreds of millions to die in famines and floods. I know that lessons learned from ones own mistakes are the best learned, but please learn from us without repeating our mistakes.¡± ¡°Earlier you spoke of us not wanting carters to replace their horses with steam-power, and yet that is a policy of my party to allow this. You imply that electricity is even better, But, as to the rest... perhaps I should listen to you about your planet.¡± ¡°We actually have two now. The second is much more like this one. But will you then, come to Yasfort, and will you accept this gift?¡± ¡°I do not know what the significance of accepting the gift is,¡± Dantho said, carefully. ¡°If you will accept it, I do not need to offer it to the lieutenant, who is probably unable to accept gifts while on duty. I would prefer to leave your government with some evidence of this dangerous little engraving tool, that''s all. It is the end result of many years of progress, designed by my mother''s people to cut rocks before they stopped hiding from my father''s. Meant as a tool for making homes and decorating them, her people eventually realised that it could also be a weapon and cause a lot of harm.¡± ¡°Yet you still carry one.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Mick agreed, ¡°In this respect, I am counted as one of my mother''s people, not my father''s. I do not know if father has ever asked for training to use one, I am not sure it would be permitted.¡± ¡°And it burns?¡± ¡°That is the easiest description, unless you are a fan of science fiction.¡± ¡°Assume I am.¡± ¡°It produces an energy beam and a complex arrangement of forcefields: an outer enclosure that protects the energy beam from being scattered in air or water and also stops most of the rays from escaping the beam, and an inner one that sets how deep the cut will be, and reflects the energy beam back. There are other forcefields that allow me to cut in perfectly straight lines, set curves, and so on. The energy beam shreds the molecules into atoms and other forcefields sort them. Some hydrogen atoms from the rock are recovered and combined in the device to produce helium, as in the suns. Other hydrogen atoms are stored for future use, and some of the energy from making helium is stored as annihilation, so it recharges itself as much as possible. Oxygen is released into the air, other atoms are collected into small grains so that they drop to the floor, rather than floating around as dust.¡± ¡°It not easy to make,¡± Sathie added, then made some other noises to Mick. ¡°My wife wishes to add: ''it is not safe to take apart, even for me, who made it.''¡± ¡°You made it?¡± ¡°Me? No, Sathie. She has great talent for making such things.¡± ¡°Who is Sathie?¡± ¡°My wife. Oh, it is our custom: often when we shorten a name we add ''ee'' to the end.¡± ¡°And it cannot be taken apart?¡± ¡°It can be taken apart, but it is designed to last centuries. To take it apart you must remove the annihilation, or it will live up to its name.¡± ¡°You used that word before. What do you mean by it?¡± ¡°What do you understand by it?¡± ¡°A description of what might happen to unbelievers according to some: to become nothing.¡± ¡°I understand that some say unbelievers will become nothing because of the condemnation of the One, others say they cannot become nothing, because souls are eternal, and therefore they will live on, suffering an eternal state of regret and knowledge that their condemnation is right and correct, because they refused to trust the One. I hope that you have a better future than either. In my own language we call atoms and molecules ''matter'', which means stuff. There is a very very rare substance that is made for a brief time in stars that we call ''antimatter'', which is to say, stuff''s enemy. It destroys atoms, leaving only energy. Annihilation is what Lana felt was the best description, as the word is also used poetically for the destruction of war. ¡°Then this annihilation, this stuff''s enemy, once released into the world, would destroy the whole planet, surely?¡± the lieutenant said. ¡°It is very rare because stuff destroys it, just as stuff is destroyed by it. Nothing remains except vast amounts of energy, though it is possible that the energy will be changed back to stuff and annihilation. The same processes that happen in the centre of a star also happens it in the forcefields in this device, and the annihilation is stored: not much but enough to re-start the conversion of Hydrogen to Helium which powers the device a few hundred times.¡± ¡°So if the device was opened, there would be a vast energy release, an explosion?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°As much as a tonne of cannon powder?¡± ¡°I will ask my wife, she probably knows.¡± Switching to English, he asked Sathie, ¡°Rough guess about how many equivalent tonnes of gunpowder there are in a rock-cutter?¡± ¡°Yours or a normal one?¡± ¡°You changed the spec?¡± Mick guessed. ¡°Remember I told you I''d made it so it could recharge? You don''t need as much as most people''s. You''ve got fifty micrograms of antimatter and ten grammes of hydrogen. Let me work out what that turns into,¡± she tapped her wrist unit. ¡°two tons of TNT or three tonnes of average-yield black powder for the antimatter, and urm, something like two hundred tonnes of black powder for the hydrogen, once you take into account the power it takes to muck about with the weak force to trigger positron emission.¡± ¡°But it can''t actually make the hydrogen go at once. Can it?¡± ¡°That''s called the self-destruct mode, Mick.¡± Sathie said, ¡°and that energy requirement is why it takes a while.¡± ¡°So it''s not so you can get away?¡± ¡°Well, yes, there is that factor too, yes.¡± Sathie agreed. Mick turned to the lieutenant, ¡°My wife tells me that if someone were to trigger the self-destruct, then the energy released would be about the same as two hundred tonnes of cannon powder, but that only about two of those would come from the annihilation. It takes some time for the self-destruct to activate, not just so people can get away, but because it must use some energy from the hydrogen before it can make the conditions correct for what is left to all explode at once.¡± Dantho looked at Mick with a mixture of respect and acceptance. ¡°A device that can deliberately destroy itself and people investigating it is something that has figured in some stories of war, to protect great secrets. You speak openly about your secrets, but only in ways that convince that we should not investigate, an answer that consistent with what you have told the lieutenant, and what has been reported from Yasfort. You have secrets that you are prepared to die to preserve.¡± ¡°Yes. I am prepared to die to preserve the lives of others.¡± ¡°That is not the same thing.¡± ¡°If the secrets this contained were known to all, then someone in the rage of war-form could destroy half the city.¡± ¡°Your people have war-form?¡± ¡°No, but those who live on the land at home have had many wars. The most serious of those used bombs using the power that keeps the suns hot to destroy cities. Not just hundreds of tonnes of cannon-powder, but multiple bombs on a city, each bomb giving a power like of millions of tonnes, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Sathie''s people ¡ª my mother''s people ¡ª managed to hide, but they knew that their technology would be used to destroy them if they let the land people get it. The technology that brought us here was a cooperative work of people from both land and sea, but they were people who trusted God, who all took vows to not allow the technology to fall into the hands of others; three thousand years of mistrust fades slowly.¡± ¡°Three thousand years?¡± Dantho asked. ¡°About two thousand years passed before my mother''s people stopped hiding; that was just after my grandmother was born. For a thousand years before they hid, they lived separately, increasingly worried by the way the land people did not keep oaths, did not stick to treaties.¡± ¡°How did they hide?¡± Mick looked at Sathie, who grinned, ¡°My city is under the sea.¡± It was one of the sentences she''d practiced with. ¡°You breathe water? Like fish?¡± ¡°No, we have a strong roof.¡± Mick said ¡°It used to be that our city moved by sail, and our houses had doors that kept out most of the water and roofs that kept in the air; we sank the city when land-folk ships were seen. Then we made a dome of rock, and moved the city with a certain type of steam engine. We had long pipes for air and to release the smoke that let us move underwater. Some centuries later we replaced the fires with unstable nuclei; and then we found a better way: the power that warms the sun, using hydrogen and producing helium.¡± ¡°You have harnessed this power for a long time?¡± Dantho asked. ¡°About a thousand years.¡± ¡°And we do not even have a word for it, or know it exists.¡± ¡°Kalak, the astronomer knew that the suns make Helium, but not how. In only a few years you would have worked out the solution, and how it is linked to unstable isotopes.¡± ¡°Research on unstable isotopes is often banned by Tradition.¡± ¡°They are dangerous,¡± Mick pointed out. ¡°That is not why they ban the research. They think it will bring a change and they reject all change.¡± ¡°And now you are in power,¡± Mick said, ¡°one who delights in all change,¡± ¡°I thought so, but I would not delight in a change to war, nor to a change to our constitution.¡± ¡°Even though it means constant swapping backwards and forward of laws?¡± Mick probed. ¡°That is not how the constitution was originally thought of. The thought was that the parties should discuss, that cancelling laws would happen rarely. The authors of the constitution would say the current system has become a decadent, bickering abomination. Ever since I came to real faith I''ve been praying that the One would sort it out.¡± She gave a little smile, ¡°Now it looks like He''s giving me the chance to. I would like, I would love to play some part in returning it to the way it''s supposed to be.¡± Her eyes almost glowed at that pronouncement. ¡°I pledge you my prayers, my sword and my life in support of that quest, my lady Dantho,¡± the lieutenant said, shocking everyone. ¡°Lieutenant?¡± Dantho asked looking shocked, ¡°I thought the guard were entirely apolitical.¡± ¡°We are the fourth party, my lady, the guardians of order, guardians of all laws, but most especially the constitution. On constitutional matters, we may be political, with our swords if necessary.¡± ¡°So I should expect unanimous support from the guard?¡± Dantho asked, surprised. ¡°You should, my lady. Sadly, many of my fellow officers wish to retire into politics, and already listen more to their future sponsors than the constitution. Some, I believe, even enforce the laws of Ground unequally, lending a political bias to their efforts in investigations. It is very hard to prove, however, certainly from within, without authorization or authority. Who in political authority would ever support such a move?¡± ¡°Well I certainly would,¡± Dantho said. ¡°I''d have thought anyone in the Change party would, since we don''t get many ex-guardsmen.¡± ¡°But the Change party are mostly out of power, my lady,¡± the lieutenant said, simply, ¡°and such an investigation, merely an administrative data-gathering exercise at first....¡± ¡°Would easily be cancelled,¡± Danthoxs said. ¡°Exactly, dear lady.¡± the Lieutenant said, then blushed that his lips had betrayed his attraction to the head of government. Dantho instructed her face not to show the surge of emotion she felt at seeing him blush ¡ª the lieutenant seemed a fine specimen of his gender, and the file she''d read about him before this trip had been positive, hence her visiting with just his accompaniment. But she couldn''t think about what the future might hold now, so somewhat coolly she said, ¡°Lieutenant, I''ve decided we''re accepting the offer of a trip to Yasfort. As we''ll be among strange and powerful aliens, I''d like to know who''s going with me. What''s your name?¡± ¡°Vokan, honoured lady,¡± he said. Earlier on, reading his file, she''d guessed that he''d pronounce the first vowel short, but he didn''t, so she was glad she''d asked. ¡°And Vokan, do you have a living faith in the One?¡± ¡°I first begged the One for mercy as a recruit, and then learned a lot from the Reverend Lak, my lady. I feel though, that my faith really began to grow when I understood the message of grace he preached before he was arrested.¡± ¡°I have much to learn in Yasfort, Vokan, and need to be able to concentrate. Maybe on the way back I can discuss with you in what sense you have been calling me your lady since I spoke about my faith and my dream. For the moment, call me Dantho. I am not used to any title, and it seems titles might be ambiguous.¡± ¡°I''m sorry, lady Dantho, I spoke out of place.¡± ¡°I told you to call me Dantho, Vokan. We share faith in the grace of the One, and throwing titles around is confusing and may well be inappropriate.¡± ¡°I am sorry,¡± he said, trying to hide his renewed embarrassment at his social misstep. ¡°As I said, we will need to fully concentrate on the business at hand in Yasfort, and I hope you have no plans that would prevent long discussions once we return, because I think we will be talking about all that has happened today long into the night.¡± ¡°I had planned to attend a scripture study group, at an hour after sunset, assuming this trip permits.¡± Dantho nodded, ¡°Lasting about two hours?¡± she guessed. ¡°Yes, about that long.¡± ¡°Mick?¡± Dantho asked, ¡°Would it be possible for us to get back to the city on time for Vokan''s study group?¡± Ground / Ch. 22: Water

Ground / Ch. 22:Water

Above Old Yasfort ¡°You have been building, I see,¡± Dantho said, observing the alien tower. ¡°The mayor of little Yasfort gave permission.¡± ¡°I don''t object. You have made a road also?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The material is the same?¡± ¡°Yes, but we make it smooth for walls, and rougher for roads, so it''s not slippery.¡± ¡°And it''s a good material for roads?¡± ¡°We think so. And it helps people find the way.¡± ¡°How long does it last?¡± Dantho asked. ¡°The main road in Atlantis, Sathie''s home, was remade with it five hundred years ago, and barely shows signs of wear, but we don''t normally use iron tyres on wheels these days.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Our city is small, we mainly walk. For heavy loads, we borrow a land-person technique and put tubes of hard rubber, inflated with air, instead. It gives a quieter and smoother ride, and reduces wear on the road.¡± ¡°You''ve progressed beyond them, you mean?¡± ¡°Yes, you could say that. But the problem is an inflated tube can be punctured if the road surface is not good.¡± ¡°And land-people use this road surface too?¡± ¡°No. The do not have the technology.¡± ¡°What technology do they use?¡± ¡°They embed stones in hot thick tar or something else which is a bit like slime. While it is hot it can be made flat, when it is it is cold the stones cannot be moved. Such roads need repairing every ten years or so, but if made properly, can cope with very heavy traffic.¡± ¡°And your road material cannot?¡± ¡°I am sure it can, Dantho. But there might be problems because it is so hard. Your most proficient miners do not have a tool that will cut this road, except that perhaps cannon-powder might smash bits off. You would not want such roads in a city where one day you might need to dig up the road to replace a pipe.¡± ¡°But you use it in your city.¡± ¡°We have rock-cutters, Dantho,¡± Mick pointed out, ¡°And before we had them, we had larger devices that work on similar principles.¡± ¡°Hmm. So you are saying that this would be too much progress?¡± ¡°I''m saying that a thing we could give you, as an alien artifact, would be useful for some long-distance roads which are not likely to need repair. Whether that is a good thing or not, I don''t know. It would speed travel, it would change many things, I''m sure, but if for some reason a bridge was moved, or a mountain pass became useless, it might be very very frustrating that you can quickly get to nowhere useful.¡± Dantho looked at him. ¡°Yes, I begin to see what you mean. Are there other wonders you wish us to see?¡± ¡°Just one,¡± Mick said, and nodded to Sathie, who moved the ship slightly. ¡°The device we made the tower with, do you see a mechanical device down there, where we have hidden it from the road in that hole?¡± Dantho cringed away. ¡°It is a thing to inspire nightmares.¡± ¡°Lana and Takan agreed. That is an automatic device that turns rock into the material for the tower, the walls, and the road. At home it bears a resemblance to a certain sea creature, which is no real threat to anyone, but Lana tells me it looks rather like a dangerous sea predator. It is my final reason that I do not think that building such roads is a very good idea. We have no desire to cause panic from such a machine crawling across the countryside.¡± ¡°Can we move away? I don''t like seeing it,¡± Dantho said, still staring at it from some kind of primal compulsion. ¡°It is just a machine, isn''t it?¡± ¡°It''s just a machine,¡± Mick said. ¡°It''s horrendous,¡± she said, still looking at it, with her muscles trembling. ¡°Dantho, look away.¡± Vokan said in a voice that commanded obedience, also blocking her view. As she lost sight of it, her legs became weak and she collapsed against him. ¡°That was unkind, and needless, Mick.¡± Vokan reprimanded him as he caught her. ¡°I''m sorry. I didn''t expect such a powerful reaction.¡± ¡°Dantho¡± Vokan said, ¡°it was not a devourer. Breathe!¡± ¡°I understand,¡± she said in a small voice. ¡°My mind understands, but my organisms are still in fright.¡± ¡°You come from the coast?¡± ¡°My parents,¡± she said in the same tone, then added ¡°Please don''t let me go.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± he said, and held her. ¡°You need blood-sugar, Dantho.¡± ¡°And reassurance.¡± ¡°I will defend you, Dantho. You have my word.¡± ¡°Against real ones too?¡± she asked, in a timid voice. ¡°Against real ones too,¡± Vokan said fervently. Convinced, she wrapped her arms around him, and relaxed in his arms. Vokan turned to Mick and said, ¡°Get that monstrosity off my planet, preferably in a box or in unrecognisable pieces. You see what the sight of it has done to her.¡± ¡°She forgot to breathe,¡± Mick said. ¡°And she almost budded herself out of existence.¡± ¡°What!¡± Mick said, shocked, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Her organisms are from the coast. I suspected from her name, the ''o'' ending is most common there, just as ''a'' in the south and the plains, and ''i'' in the northern hills. There is no fleeing from a devourer when it has seen you, none. And if you see it, it has likely seen you. The only escape is if you have a weapon that can stand against it, if you can wound it, it will retreat. Otherwise... while it is a fearsome hunter, it is quite a slow eater; a two or four-way total budding before it comes for you means half or three-quarters of your organisms may survive.¡± ¡°Lana said it was scary, nothing more, or we would not have kept it here, I''m sorry. It is the shape it is because although they do not really grow to that size, the land people we hid from thought they might. That was also our design: once every ten or twenty years, we created broken pieces of fake shells or legs, and allowed them to be washed up on coastlines after a storm or become caught in fishing nets, so that if one was seen, then they would not think ''unknown device'', but enormous living example. We took such precautions to save ourselves from discovery; to keep our race alive. In not changing the shape when we brought it here we meant no harm, we had no idea the reaction of anyone might be so strong.¡± He then called Maggie on his wrist unit, ¡°Maggie, we need the extruder out of there, and invisibly so. Lana vastly under-communicated the abject-terror it could cause just sitting still. Think a lone kid standing in waist-deep water with nothing more offensive than a toothpick, spotting a hungry shark. The head of government was apparently within a hair''s breath of budding herself into two or more pieces so some of her organisms might escape.¡± ¡°Please convey to her our deepest apologies.¡± ¡°I have, I will again.¡± ¡°And ask her if some kind of sword or spear would make her feel safer.¡± ¡°Dantho,¡± Mick said, ¡°Magdalena, who is the commander of this mission and my sister, sends apologies that the machine caused you such fright, and asks if a sword, spear or bow in your hand would help to reassure your organisms.¡± Dantho looked at Mick curiously. ¡°You have that rock-cutter in your pocket, but also swords and spears?¡± ¡°The rock cutter is not threatening unless you have seen it working or understood its function. I would expect that anything with more brains than a slime creature recognises a sharp point in the hand as threatening.¡± ¡°And you yourselves would not feel threatened by me?¡± ¡°It is trust. It is normal, among my people for the women to always be armed.¡± ¡°Both your father''s and your mother''s people?¡± Dantho asked. ¡°My mother''s, but my father left our home-world and I was mostly raised as one of my mother''s people. I have visited my father''s parents, including for some longer times when I was growing up, but I was a student in Sathie''s city. Mostly I think of myself as Mer, one of the sea people.¡± ¡°Your father left your home world. For space?¡± ¡°To live on another planet that we are making more like home. It is where my grandmother was born, and also where my sister and I were born.¡± ¡°But your father was ...born ¡ª that is like what predators do? A young one comes from...¡± Dantho pulled a face, ¡°an orifice in the mother''s body?¡± ¡°Yes, it is very painful for the mother, but it is how God made us.¡± ¡°So, your mother and father were born on your home planet?¡± Mick laughed, ¡°My mother was born on Mars, our second planet, and actually, my father was born in that ball up there, which was then a laboratory where my grandmother was designing and testing our first ships that could travel between stars.¡± ¡°How did you parents meet?¡± ¡°You may ask them yourself, Dantho. We have landed.¡±
¡°What was she asking?¡± Sathie asked, as Lana was introducing Dantho to people. ¡°Lots about families, things like that, at the end. The last question was how my parents met.¡± ¡°I didn''t notice you giving a long answer.¡± ¡°No, I didn''t,¡± Mick said, smiling, ¡°I told her she could ask them.¡± ¡°Have I heard that story?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Mick said. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°It was Gran''s fault: she decided to use a bubble ship to bring her parents and some old family friends from Mars to the palace, grandkids and all. Then she told Dad to look after the people his age and younger. That turned out to be mum and some little kids ¡ª I think between eight and twelve.¡± ¡°And it was love at first sight?¡± ¡°Not exactly, no. Mum had mainly agreed to come along for the kudos of flying in a bubble ship, but the alternative had been going by albatross on a gem-hunting trip with some friends. She wasn''t really impressed at finding herself stuck with some strange boy and some little kiddies all day, and told her parents that in very piercing Mer, thinking no one would understand it in the palace.¡± ¡°Bad guess, that,¡± Sathie said. ¡°Very. Gran told Dad it''d be a great idea to take the kids for a ride in the family peace-sub, and that if they happened to find where Mum''s friends were diving he could let her out the airlock to swim with them.¡± ¡°Urm, why was that punishment?¡± ¡°It was a day at the palace. Mum wasn''t wearing scale, let alone scuba gear.¡± ¡°And your dad lent her some?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°No, but he did take them for an underwater tour on the way to a warm beach he knew, where they could build some sandcastles. On the way he spotted something sparkling on the sea-bed and he picked it up with the sub''s forcefield.¡± ¡°Really? He had pretty impressive control to do that with a peace sub.¡± ¡°Mum thought so too, and she decided he wasn''t such a bad chap when he offered it to her in lieu of her gem-hunting trip.¡± ¡°Diplomatic.¡± ¡°He''d been using English to her until then, too, playing dumb. He offered it to her in old Mer.¡± ¡°What a charmer! How old was he?¡± ¡°Eighteen. Mum was sixteen. When they got home, Gran took one look at them and said something like ''Well, that was faster than I expected''. They then spent a lot of time writing back and forth until Dad went to university on Mars, which had been the plan anyway.¡± ¡°Welcome back, you two,¡± Karella said, ¡°The bit Mick missed out is my gem-hunting friends all caught colds when they stopped off in Atlantis to play tourist, and so didn''t do much scuba diving at all. I was the only one who ended up with a stone that summer. They wouldn''t believe I''d not only got a gem but a handsome prince too.¡± ¡°Was it that trip you met the clan, too, Mum?¡± Mick asked. ¡°No, that was the next summer, but rather than swap old stories, Mick, can you fill us in on who you''ve brought back?¡±
Old Yasfort ¡°So... do I understand you to be saying that using fossil fuels is a mistake and you''d prefer to help us leapfrog them?¡± Dantho asked. ¡°Fossil fuels are very useful, but they''re also polluting. Your own experience with smoke-fog ought to show you the potential problems. But what did you mean about the water, Lana?¡± ¡°Well known fact: life locks water and carbon into the ground, where eventually they form fossil fuels. So releasing the water isn''t such a bad idea,¡± Lana said, ¡°the fact that we''re not doing it is probably why the sea level is going down.¡± ¡°Life doesn''t account for that much, Lana.¡± Takan corrected her, ¡°It''s losses from the atmosphere to space that are the bigger cause.¡± ¡°You''re saying that you don''t have much water on your planet compared to historical levels?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Of course there isn''t as much water,¡± Dantho said, ¡°The city used to be near the edge of the sea, that''s why it had the walls, to keep out the devourers.¡± Mick did a double-take. ¡°Doesn''t that water loss scare you?¡± ¡°It''s a blessing,¡± Dantho said. ¡°The devourers don''t range nearly as far as they did in my grandparent''s time. And it''s logical, surely? You can''t expect the same amount of water to get back to the sea as evaporates from it! That''d be like... perpetual motion or something.¡± ¡°Let me translate for a bit, please,¡± Mick said, to them, feeling a shiver down his spine. ¡°You know those dry river beds we''ve seen and wondered when they were made? They''re losing water, at historically noticeable rates. They all seem to accept that as perfectly natural, with various attributed causes. Lana thought it was biological life, Takan corrected her to say it''s lost to space, Dantho''s just said the city used to be on the coast.¡± ¡°That''s unlikely,¡± Maggie said, ¡°Maybe on that river''s delta, though.¡± ¡°It would explain why the plane is a plane, if it used to be marshland,¡± Sathie said ¡°But surely they can''t be losing that much water.¡± ¡°I''ll get the physicists on it,¡± Maggie said. ¡°There are the twin suns and that massive solar wind the astronomers were talking about to confuse things a bit compared to home, and their planet gets an Earth-like solar input.¡± ¡°Not to mention the sister planet to locally reduce gravity every so often, and the fact that the low scale height of the atmosphere means it goes up a long way,¡± Mick pointed out. ¡°I heard someone say that global heavy water is really high compared to home.¡± Sathie said, ¡°That might suggest they''ve been losing hydrogen.¡± ¡°If they are losing water fast enough to record,¡± Mick said, ¡°that''s a pretty scary rate, surely?¡± ¡°Their ocean is only a tiny fraction of the planetary surface, so the effects on it are going to be magnified that much more.¡± ¡°I meant scary for the continuation of life.¡± Mick said. ¡°And we have the technology to help, don''t we?¡± Maggie said. ¡°The knowledge, yes. But the resources? Setting up a full-scale comet-shredding scheme for Mars was hard; Robert, Boris and the rest didn''t get much sleep for the first ten years, and they started with MarsCorp''s shepherds already in place, with all the infrastructure of an industrial Mars, and half of Atlantis at their beck and call.¡± Lana, freed from translation as Dantho was speaking to Kalak had gravitated to the English-speaking group. She asked, ¡°You knew the people who made your sea?¡± ¡°Yes, Lana. I knew them, I half expected that one of my grand-children would marry one of theirs. Maybe it''ll happen next generation. And of course for that to happen I ought to stop calling Boris my uncle, because he''s not, and my calling him that confused some people I know.¡± ¡°Gran, I was only six,¡± Mick protested. ¡°But you never thought of marrying Hathella again, did you?¡± ¡°Well, no.¡± ¡°Because?¡± ¡°Because, Gran, though we got on well enough at age six ¡ª that was when auntie Ursula was really sick, remember ¡ª and Hathella the older pointed out that it might get very complicated to end up with the princess of the outer Mer being queen of a landfolk country and there was a risk of someone getting her crowns confused.¡± ¡°That sounds like Hathie,¡± Heather agreed. ¡°I''m glad that risk has passed, though,¡± Mick said. Heather looked pained, ¡°No one''s told you, yet?¡± ¡°What?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Your cousin Albert had mumps of all things, a couple of years ago. He deliberately refuses to have himself tested, says he wants to leave such things in God''s hands, but there''s a risk Albert won''t be fathering any kids, even if he does manage to get his act together and find himself a wife.¡± ¡°And you''ve not peeked?¡± ¡°No,¡± Heather said, ¡°it''s not at all obvious, and if he doesn''t want to know, then I''m not going to abuse that.¡± Then she glanced at Sathie, and smiled. ¡°Gran, what does that smile mean?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Your wife has just made a decision about me peeking that I fully intend to honour, Mick, that''s all.¡± Mick looked at Sathie, and said, ¡°You don''t think you''re pregnant already, do you?¡± ¡°No, Mick,¡± Sathie said, ¡°I''m pretty sure I''d tell you if I suspected. Has Albert asked you to help him look for a soul-mate, Heather?¡± ¡°He asked, and I told him I would warn him if he was clearly making a mistake, but wasn''t going to stick my oar in with the risk of misinterpreting what I saw. I''ve made that mistake a few times too often.¡± ¡°So for the future of the monarchy, should we be sending you home soon?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Don''t you dare try, young man,¡± Heather said sternly. ¡°But do answer Lana''s question.¡± Lana looked surprised, ¡°Which question?¡± ¡°The one you want to ask, dear.¡± ¡°Do you become ruler if your cousin does not have children? Is that what has just been said?¡± ¡°The rule is that the crown goes to the oldest child, and then their children in order of birth. My aunt has just one son, so if my cousin does not have children, then after him the next in line is dad and his descendants, and if Maggie and I die without children it goes onto my aunt Eliza''s family after us, and so on.¡± ¡°It''s complicated.¡± ¡°Not very,¡± Mick said. ¡°Not nearly as complicated as working out who will be leader of your government after Dantho.¡± ¡°Whoever''s leader of the Reason party.¡± ¡°Unless she resigns or has an accident while Progress are still in power?¡± ¡°Well, yes,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°In which case, there''s no automatic candidate for the job, or is there?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Lana said. ¡°Let''s keep her safe then,¡± Heather said, ¡°I like her attitude.¡± ¡°So does the lieutenant,¡± Mick said, ¡°but I think we''d better get back to talking about the water crisis. Lana, do you know when the city was beside the sea, or the stream was a large river?¡± ¡°I''ve read old stories, but I really don''t know. I do know there were wet ages and dry ages. In a wet age there are more rivers and the sea becomes deeper and in a dry ages the sea shrinks. I''ve no idea how the wet ages works, it seems a bit counter-intuitive to me. But it has been a dry age for a long time now, since before the war.¡± ¡°But it used to cycle?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± ¡°How long did these cycles used to be?¡± ¡°You''d have to ask Takan, it might be something to do with astronomy.¡± ¡°We don''t know enough to plan an intervention,¡± Sathie declared. ¡°If the sea has shrunk before and grown again then there must be some local store, say under the icecaps, and we''d need to understand what''s going on.¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± Maggie agreed, ¡°Just because we can do something doesn''t mean we should. Rushing ahead with partial knowledge would be a disaster.¡± ¡°So you young people can breathe a sigh of relief because you don''t need to immediately try to set up a comet shredding programme,¡± Heather said. ¡°Instead you want some kind of joint research programme, unless the local experts have got it all worked out already.¡± ¡°I don''t think we have,¡± Lana said. ¡°So... ongoing contact would be nice,¡± Karella said, ¡°most of the local animals want to eat us or absorb us, so I presume there''s never going to be talk about a viable colony, even though more than three quarters of the planet is unoccupied by our friends. Travel is worse than Mars, but not as bad as Mars before the Boris drive. I''m sure that the Mars university would love the idea of more research students and the like, but that doesn''t make for an economic case for any serious intervention. The local ecosystem might or might not need fixing which would be seriously expensive, far more than the university could fund. That makes me think about falling back to grubby issues like how to get Earth so interested that they say of course we''ll help our new friends twenty-three hundred light years away.¡± ¡°Is there anything we can offer in exchange?¡± Lana asked. ¡°Extreme life-support?¡± Mick asked. ¡°Not to everyone''s taste, I expect. I''m really impressed by the way Uza made the vaccines too.¡± ¡°Not to mention the way Mick''s skin organisms cleaned me of slime-creatures.¡± ¡°Lana, do you know what ''cancer'' is?¡± Heather asked. Lana looked puzzled, and asked in her own language ¡°Mick? Your language memories are confusing. A deadly disease where cells don''t die? How is that deadly?¡± ¡°Because the sick cells multiply, and grow where they must not.¡± Lana nodded, ¡°That is one of the consequences of wrong podding. Traumatised organisms grow uncooperatively; it is terrible to see. You say it can develop in adults?¡± ¡°Yes. There are treatments, if it is caught early enough, depending on the type of cancer, depending where it is. Our regrowth treatment is very dangerous in that respect: if the solutions are used wrongly they can cause cancer.¡± ¡°You want to encourage division, but not that much, yes. I understand.¡± ¡°They have something similar to it, Grandma,¡± Mick said, ¡°but it''s a congenital thing.¡± ¡°If,¡± Heather said, then took a deep breath, summoning her courage, ¡°if we had known you before my husband died from a cancer slowly growing in the innermost portions of his brain, do you think you could have helped him?¡± ¡°I don''t know, Heather,¡± Lana said. ¡°It is possible, but... at what cost? I hosted Mick, but... it was a traumatic thing to do. I would not willingly host another, except in very similar circumstances. Mick will tell you I did not like the idea of altering another''s biochemistry, so to invade another person? To eat part of them, when my life did not depend on it? To ruthlessly rid them of their immune cells? What I had to do to Mick for us both to survive was necessary, but, I do not know if I could bring myself to do it again.¡± ¡°We have drugs to stop the immune response. Assuming they were not poison to you, and to save someone''s life, do you think you that if you were asked to remove certain cells, to throw them away if consuming them is distasteful, you could?¡± ¡°My ready cells are capable of identifying genetically wrong organisms, cells in your case, but to invade like that...¡± she gave a horrified shudder. ¡°Mick can you explain?¡± ¡°Gran, what I think your asking is an ethical dilemma. You''re asking Lana if she could save someone by doing something that''s pretty close to mating with them in her book. Quite possibly more like a vile form of rape, not that they have that crime here.¡± ¡°You''re wrong, Mick.¡± Lana said, ¡°it has happened. But it''s rare. And yes, you''re right; that''s exactly what it''d be like, and that''s how I''d be judged by the courts and my conscience.¡± ¡°They don''t have surgeons, Gran. They don''t need to stitch one another back together, or rearrange broken bones, or surgically extract a buried splinter, or clean out an infection. Their organisms can do that themselves, and even reattach a severed limb. Even during the wars, most deaths ultimately came from starvation ¡ª people fighting past when their stomachs were empty, then getting wounded and not having have the energy reserves to heal themselves or even eject a slime creature.¡± ¡°The other causes were freshly poisoned blades, decapitation or a wound to the heart or lungs so terrible that it could not heal in time. Mick tells me your bodies will absorb your own cells if you''re starving. That sort of cannibalism wouldn''t happen among us. Unthinkable! It would cause trauma, the end of collaboration. Our dead organisms are returned to the ground with respect, not consumed.¡± ¡°Sorry Lana. I didn''t mean to offend,¡± Heather said, ¡°and I don''t want to offend, but what you''re saying, I think, is that you''d be ethically but maybe not emotionally OK with the idea of hosting someone in an absolute emergency, say when their insides were outside, but a you''d draw a firm line between hosting someone and the sort of surgery I''ve just asked about.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Even though what Mick did, picking slime-creatures off behind Sathie''s eyes, would have been acceptable to do to a stranger if he''d not sent his ready-cells there?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And picking off slime-creatures out of a wound?¡± ¡°Equally acceptable,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°So is the unacceptable line actually that of breaking the other''s skin?¡± ¡°You''re then going to ask what if one of your surgeons had cut a hole in your husband''s skin, aren''t you?¡± ¡°And cut a hole in his skull, too, and then said, ''As my colleagues said, sadly immune therapy doesn''t work on this sort of cancer. I''ve cut out what I can safely, but honestly, we had to stop sooner than I''d have liked because of the blood vessels, I don''t know if I got it all, I''m sorry. If there''s more, then it''s too deep for surgery.'' And there was more, and six years later, it killed him.¡± ¡°If I had been there, when the surgeon was giving up, I would have been willing to try to get out the rest, yes.¡± Lana said. ¡°Thank you, Lana. You couldn''t have been there; Mick didn''t leave home until after the operation.¡± ¡°I don''t know how knowing it would help though.¡± ¡°It helps because it is horrible to have a medic say, ''There''s nothing more we can do, try to enjoy the weeks you have left together''. It helps because it means that if I know of someone else with a similar cancer, then I can bring them ¡ª and their whole surgical team if necessary ¡ª to the lab up there and ask you, or maybe Hani or one of her future colleagues, to be available, and to try. Or take you to Mars.¡± ¡°Mick talks about travel as death to his organisms.¡± ¡°Mick is wisely thinking of what would happen if he went back to his old life, and what the chemicals used every-day in people''s homes would do to his organisms. I am thinking about things like making travel safe for you, but I think it''d probably too dangerous for your folk to interact freely with us humans until we know more about cross-species infections. Too many of us walk around spreading too many viruses.¡± ¡°Did I just hear my name?¡± Hani asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Lana asked. ¡°You''re young, how would you like to cut open aliens for a living?¡± ¡°That''s not funny.¡± ¡°They call the job ''surgeon''. One of the most highly respected jobs among them.¡± Hani looked at Mick''s face. ¡°Mick, why is Lana saying such things?¡± ¡°Because my grandmother asked her how she would feel about removing diseased cells that grow and grow with no thought for collaboration or what they do the rest of our bodies. We call them ''cancer'' cells, and they kill us. Some we can kill by poison, or by alerting our immune systems that they are dangerous. Others, we need to cut out with a knife. Some cancers, we cannot cut out, and they kill us. That happened to my grandfather. ¡°The person who deliberately and carefully cuts people open in order to kill them, we call a murderer. The person who deliberately and carefully cuts people open in order to heal them we call a surgeon. There are lots of reasons that someone might need a surgeon, because our cells cannot move parts of us around, we cannot eject foreign objects, and so on. But even the sharpest, smallest knife is a very crude tool compared to what your organisms could do, once they had been trained to recognise the difference between healthy cells and sick ones. What I think Lana is suggesting is that you could study our medicine, our medical technology. You would certainly be learning about our biology, which I think could certainly count as work on the frontiers of biology to the university here. Also, you could be applying what you learn from our techniques to problems here. And if you were mentally able to remove cancer cells, then you would save lives. Lana still feels guilty about consuming bits of me to save her own life, I think, as if that didn''t also mean that I survived.¡± ¡°Lana consumed bits of you?¡± ¡°When she enveloped the bits of me that were still attached with what remained of her burned skin organisms, yes. I imagine it wasn''t a very pretty sight.¡± ¡°Unless you like red,¡± Lana agreed. ¡°Personally, I''ve gone right off the colour.¡± Ground / Ch. 23: Agreement

Ground / Ch. 23:Agreement

The fact that Mick had been missing for six years hadn''t entirely escaped the press''s notice, but the circumstances had never been publicly acknowledged. The idea that he might have been a bubble-probe pilot who had vanished had been one of many guesses, but living most of his life on Mars, and then attending university in Atlantis, he''d never been very visible to the press anyway. No one was invading privacy on Mars, either, much to the dissatisfaction of the Earth press. Maybe he''d been eaten by a shark or got lost in a storm, or some other tragedy, maybe he''d done something shocking in Atlantis and the response had been shockingly direct. Nobody knew, and nobody wrote anything any more, and Prince Mick as he was inaccurately called, the missing son of the prince, went missing from people''s consciousnesses. So it was that it took a while before even the most assiduous royal correspondent realised the full implication of the small notice, hidden away among the miscelaneous section of royal press releases. It had said, ¡°Her majesty and the entire royal family rejoices in the discovery of missing bubble-probe ship 3S001 and restoration of contact with pilot Mick Karella John.¡± The one the following week, caused a considerable stir. It read ¡°Prince John and princess Karella rejoice at the marriages of their son to Sathzakara Shipbuilder and their daughter to James Farspeaker, in small cermonies on the planet Ground. Both weddings were attended by local dignatories as well as by family members including the Queen Mother. Both young couples will be continuing in their roles on the planetary contact team, and do not expect to return to the solar system for the next year or so. Prince John and princess Karella are expecting to begin their return journey to the Restored Kingdom in just over a week.¡±
Space ¡°Well, any thoughts about about treaties and things?¡± Maggie asked her mother. ¡°Lots, but not to keep us here. You''ve enough to keep you busy, and James is a good man. You don''t need us taking your time.¡± ¡°Mum! You''re no trouble!¡± ¡°But we are an extra distraction you don''t need. You could be spending quality time with James right now.¡± Maggie pulled a face. ¡°He''s in a meeting. The Linguists are rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of having a permanent someone or three to talk to. Plus, of course, Dantho is very keen on us having an official status here.¡± Her mother nodded, ¡°Your medical staff and biologists have all agreed to a trainee or two, you''re going to be a regular little training centre.¡± ¡°But that''s part of the official agreement with Mars Uni. And it''ll take at least 2 weeks for a them to get us a messenger back here from Mars.¡± ¡°You''re forgetting James." ¡°No I''m not, I''m giving Mars time to react, have a few chats with Atlantis, and work out if they want to send a formal envoy and/or a geologist or two.¡± ¡°Ah, so the message you were planning to send with Rachel, and I''m going to convince you to give me, is what, just a fiction?¡± Maggie sighed. ¡°It''s to confirm what James sends to any sceptics and convince people that we''re not suffering from some kind of brain rot. But Rachel is going to take it still, Mum.¡± ¡°That''s a waste of Rachel''s time, don''t you think?¡± ¡°No, It''s an entirely good excuse to get her to her dentist before she becomes an emergency, which is why I don''t want you suggesting to her that you could take it, Mum. Please?¡± ¡°Too late, but actually I was making noises about leaving to your father at lunch, and she asked me.¡± ¡°What does Dad think?¡± ¡°Your father is pleased to see his mother enjoying herself, and is keen to tell Ursula she needn''t worry. I expect we''ll be back in half a year or so, if that''s ok?¡± ¡°You''re utterly decided then?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°It was never meant to be a long stay, dear. We can''t ever stay this far away for more than a month, you must remember the rules.¡± Maggie was confused. Until Albert had turned sixteen, and been deemed mature enough to take up the reins of power, there had been rules; her father had been second in line to the throne and could not be more than a day''s travel of the Restored Kingdom for more than a month, or it would trigger a constitutional crisis. It meant that as she''d been growing up on Mars they''d always had to have a bubble ship available. ¡°I thought that was just before Albert was old enough?¡± ¡°Ursula is queen now, Maggie. Until Albert has kids old enough, your Dad is back to being second in line again.¡± ¡°Oh wow. I should have realised. I hope Albert isn''t getting ideas from his name, and waiting for another Great-grandma Eliza to walk into his life,¡± Maggie said. ¡°You think he might be?¡± ¡°I don''t think he''d be quite so stupid.¡±
The Capital, Restored Kingdom ¡°Any news, Albert?¡± Queen Ursula of the Restored Kingdom asked her son, who''d just been talking to a truthsayer. ¡°Yes, there is a distinct possibility of some interesting collaborative research with the shape shifters of whatever that planet was officially designated, and Russia are getting concerned about there not being enough workers for their forests on Mars, but I''m not volunteering. There''s also a personal message from uncle, they''re coming home with Rachel, which gives them three pilots.¡± ¡°And Rachel is coming home because it gets them home sooner, or for some other reason?¡± ¡°Rachel has a recurring tooth ache, and Maggie convinced her it made more sense for her to fly out in company before it turned into medical evacuation.¡± ¡°That sounds sensible. And are you looking forward to seeing Rachel again?¡± ¡°Not romantically, if that''s what you mean, Mum. Rachel is family,¡± ¡°She must be what, your sixth or seventh cousin? That''s distant enough even for Mer.¡± ¡°She''s a scientist, Mum. I''m not going to try to steal her from her research to force a crown on her she doesn''t want.¡± ¡°You''ve spoken, to her, then?¡± ¡°I don''t need to mum. I know she''s not interested in me.¡± ¡°Sure? I''m not the only one who''s noticed the pair of you making a beeline towards each other at clan meetings.¡± ¡°We''ve got things in common. Parents getting press attention, things like that.¡± ¡°It does seem to run in both families, doesn''t it? And I notice she coped very well with the furore when she and Maggie came home. I expect she''ll cause more with the news about Mick. I''m not going to intrude more, Albert, but I wanted to point out some facts and to say that if you do end up wondering about romance, you''ll hear no objections from the older generation.¡± ¡°You mean you''ve arranged it all for us, Mum?¡± Albert asked, shocked. ¡°Arranged, no. But considered? Absolutely, about five years ago.¡± ¡°That''s just a bit shocking, Mum.¡± ¡°Tough. Your dad and I love you, and wanted to be prepared, in case you''d been reaching your own conclusions about where things were going to end up and Rachel didn''t agree.¡± ¡°Are you saying that she was interested in me five years ago, Mum?¡± ¡°I didn''t know. Which was the problem, of course. We didn''t know about either of you. Hannah faced roughly the same conundrum. We knew what it had looked like since you were teenagers, but weren''t getting a peep out of you, our beloved matriarch, or even Mum.¡±
Bubble space ¡°Have you got any idea what''s going to greet us when we land, Rachel?¡° Karella asked. ¡°Feeding frenzy?¡± Rachel guessed. ¡°The information starved news channels of the world will be turning cannibal in their desire for copy.¡± John laughed. ¡°Very poetic and sadly accurate, I''m afraid.¡± ¡°As well as my appointment with a dentist to arrange, I''m under instructions to see if there are any reporters interested in living in a news-vaccum of a type that hasn''t existed since the discovery of the telegraph.¡± ¡°That''s a bit unfair on James, isn''t it? We were getting some news.¡± ¡°Yes, but not much ¡ª there''s just too much happening for anyone to think of it all, and it''s not like he''s able to talk to spend all day passing on messages to people.¡± ¡°I''m glad Mum is planning on dusting off the automatic bubble probes.¡± John agreed. ¡°It gives future grandparents some hope of getting baby pictures and so on.¡± ¡°I''ve got about a kilo of data crystals to deliver,¡± Rachel exaggerated. ¡°I expect some of them are related to research papers, but not all by a long shot.¡± ¡°You too, eh?¡± Karella asked. ¡°There are going to be hardly any spare crystals left in the lab stores.¡± ¡°Maggie had a very simple policy on that.¡± John said, ¡°Stores never had any, everyone was responsible for bringing their own.¡± ¡°Which is probably why I''ve got orders for ten times as many as I''m bringing back.¡± Rachel agreed. ¡°I don''t think most people realised what it would be like.¡± ¡°But you did?¡± John asked. Rachel shook her head, ¡°I was expecting that we''d still be at the ''quiet observation'' stage, not the ''come to our wedding'' stage.¡± ¡°But you''re actually at the ''let''s negotiate a treaty'' stage, aren''t you?¡± John said. Karella laughed, ¡°As of the last couple of days before we left, I think they''ve progressed onto ''what about student fees and accommodation?''¡± Rachel shook her head. ¡°No mentioned fees as far as I know. Actually it''s ''can my family come to visit so they don''t think I''m being abducted, and do they really need to walk?''¡± ¡°That''d be really hard from Earth.¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Rachel nodded, and then, far more seriously, asked ¡°John, can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± John replied. ¡°Is your mother''s gift ever wrong?¡± ¡°Her gift? No. Her interpretation, yes. Why?¡± ¡°She came to my room when I was packing and she basically told me to pack everything I have of sentimental value.¡± ¡°In those words?¡± ¡°No, she went, ''there''s something in that box you should take, and you''ll want that necklace,'' and so on.¡± John nodded. ¡°That sounds familiar, she used to do that all the time with me.¡± ¡°But what does it mean? Why will I want my grandma''s necklace, but not the plans I''d been planning to work on on the way back?¡± ¡°You think it might mean that means you''re not going back, Rachel?¡± Karella asked. ¡°I can''t think of what else it might mean.¡± ¡°Well, maybe you''ll have such interesting company on the way back that you wouldn''t get to work on things you expect to, or maybe you''d have to decide between those notes and something else when you pack to go back?¡± John suggested. ¡°But I do need some ear-rings that someone gave me when I was silly sixteen and I thought he was quietly planning on sweeping me off my feet?¡± ¡°But he wasn''t?¡± ¡°If he ever was, then I guess he''s changed his mind. He''s certainly been resolutely silent on the issue ever since. Before too, actually. So much for teenage hopes...¡± Rachel was surprised to hear the emotion in her own voice. ¡°Well, if Mum says you''ll want them,¡± John said, ¡°maybe there''s still hope?¡± ¡°Maybe you ought to wear them for your next appearance on international news, see if it prompts him to reconsider?¡± ¡°That''d be much too embarrassing,¡± Rachel said, starting to blush. ¡°Why? It''s not like anyone but the two of you would know the history. And us of course, but we''re not going to tell.¡± Rachel considered. ¡°Well, that''s a happier reason to not go back than any I could think of. I was half wondering if I would have an accident or if mum or dad would.¡± ¡°But if he''s as observant as the average man, he probably won''t notice anyway,¡± John said. There was a ping from a timer. ¡°But speaking of next appearances on international news, we need to take some bearings. We ought to be within a few light-days of the sun by now, and it''d be awkward if we got so close to the sun we couldn''t use the bubble drive.¡± ¡°Extremely embarrassing.¡± Karella agreed. There was a lurch as the ship returned to normal space. As sometimes happened, the ship came out of warp space with a gentle spin. Rachel looked around. ¡°Hmm, the sun isn''t very bright, but the constellations look entirely familiar. My guess is we''re somewhere near. Oh!¡± Her exclamation was as the sun swam into view and the cabin was suddenly lit brightly. ¡°I guess that wasn''t the sun.¡± ¡°First rule of astrogation. Don''t get your stars confused.¡± Karella agreed. ¡°John, what does the computer say?¡± ¡°Pale blue dot over that way has lots of ocean to swim in, my love.¡± ¡°We''ve got to get away from the world''s press first, John. Don''t get this merwoman''s hopes up.¡± ¡°We''ll need to pick up our scale anyway.¡± John pointed out. He glanced at the read-out. ¡°Now ladies, we''re about a light-hour from Earth approach, and half an hour after that there''s a press-conference. How fast do we want to go? I for one want a shower and a shirt that doesn''t show that I can''t catch floating tomato juice as well as I used to.¡± Karella looked at her husband in a fond and exasperated way. ¡°See, Rachel, they don''t really grow up, they just get better at hiding it.¡± ¡°If we''re really going to face a full press frenzy, then let''s go warp zero.¡± Rachel suggested, ¡°Or maybe minus one. I''d like my hair to get dry.¡±
¡°Earth approach, don''t adjust your scope, this is bubble-probe 2R25 just popped into space-time at five lunar orbits, heading for the restored kingdom.¡± John said into the radio. ¡°Bubble probe, please set your transponder to report your geocentric latitude and longitude. Right ascension and declination are a foreign language to our systems.¡± ¡°Rachel? Do you remember where that is? It''s ages since I''ve had to switch.¡± John asked, scanning the control panel. ¡°There''s a flick switch, top left on panel five.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°Earth approach, is that better?¡± ¡°Very good, but I''m not getting speed. Be aware there''s a Mars-bound transport on its way to about where you are in about twenty minutes, so I hope you''re moving.¡± ¡°Geocentrically we''re probably not moving by much. Can we please do a bubble jump a bit closer, say to one lunar orbit, without confusing your traffic patterns?¡± ¡°How long will that take you?¡± ¡°We''ll come nice and slowly. Twenty seconds from your go-ahead.¡± ¡°One lunar orbit at your latitude and longitude is clear. Report when you''re in position and please do a half-gee polar overpass approach.¡± ¡°Is that half gee relative to the planet or to free-fall?¡± ¡°Take your pick, sir. Half-gee is not natural, so won''t trigger any meteor defences.¡± ¡°OK, controls set for half a gee above free-fall, once we''re out.¡± ¡°Go ahead for bubble transition.¡± Another two lurches, and the Earth looked a lot bigger. John said, ¡°Earth approach, probe 2R25 is now on polar overpass approach.¡± ¡°Rodger, 2R25, I have you. Please contact Restored Kingdom approach on channel forty seven, once you''re near the pole.¡± John adjusted the radio and made the call at the relevant time. ¡°Restored Kingdom approach, Bubble probe 2R25 on polar flyby, approaching from deep space. Requesting routing towards Airbase forty.¡± ¡°Urm, Negative 2R25, Airbase forty is the centre of a flight exclusion zone, please state alternate destination, over.¡± ¡°Restored kingdom approach,¡± John said. ¡°I guess I''m on the wrong frequency. Can you give me the channel for military approach?¡± ¡°This is combined approach.¡± That farce over, John said, ¡°One-time scrambler setting seven-zero-one-three-five.¡± ¡°Seven zero-one-three-five, acknowledge. Confirm?¡± ¡°Confirm.¡± John flicked on the scrambler, and started the conversation once again. ¡°Restored Kingdom approach, requesting routing to airbase one, I''m also scrambling my transponder frequency, and changing vector.¡± ¡°Rodger, sir, nice to have you back in the area. Route via beacon 1QR, altitude 50 kilometers, and then enter normal east-west traffic at beacon 3QZ before a straight-down approach.¡± ¡°Rodger, 1QR and then 3QZ. Please alert Security of our imminent arrival.¡± ¡°Certainly, sir.¡± Rachel looked at Karella as John set up the autopilot. ¡°Is that normal?¡± ¡°Air traffic control acting dumb, and not being told the right details?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It''s a security measure, just like everything else. The press conference will first be called at a third airbase, and then moved, or maybe not, as the case may be. Anyone who thinks they can gate-crash by listening in on approach control gets interviewed and warned not to do it again.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°And the scrambler setting is never going to be used again?¡± ¡°Exactly, and if John names a used one, then that''s a duress code, but the guy at the other end just says, sorry, you used that one before. If John only says something like ''my mistake'' then that confirms the duress, but if he calls himself forgetful then that cancels it.¡± ¡°Wow. Urm, should I know that?¡± ¡°You''re clan, Rachel. You might need to know it one day. By the way, James checked in while you where having your shower. I asked if he could ask Heather if the ear-rings need wearing, and she said ''of course they do, but wait until after the press conference.''¡± ¡°That''s good. They''d be a bit unlikely for everyday space-travel.¡± ¡°Am I allowed to know who the young man is?¡± ¡°I''d rather not say. Except that he''s clan, so I expect I''ll meet him soon enough.¡± ¡°Heather also added ''Beware, useful doesn''t mean that I''m saying anything about what the future holds. Just that not having the things would be a pain.¡± ¡°In other words, I might want them as a defence, not to lead to romance? I guess I mustn''t get my hopes up.¡± Karella pulled a face, ¡°If you want a weapon, then I''d recommend a knife rather than ear-rings, but each to her own, I guess.¡± Rachel smiled, holding the little package in her pocket. ¡°I don''t think these will kill, but they have their uses, which is what made me hopeful.¡±
The press conference took longer than Rachel had expected. Inevitably someone asked about what Mick had been doing on the planet, and how had he survived. Mick had been adamant that no secret be made of his current state, so an information pack had been made for all the accredited reporters. The packs would be given out after the conference. Rachel summarised that he''d been injured, and had been rescued by a local, and that he had been able to learn the language, which was a massive advantage to communication. She also said that because of dangerous wildlife, he''d only been able to go back to the crash site after Maggie''s ship had left, which is why the beacon had only been re-enabled at that time. ¡°Wasn''t it automatic?¡± someone asked. ¡°The antenna cable got damaged in the crash. Mick cut the cable from the transmitter so that it wasn''t short-circuited any more, and stuck a piece of wire into it that was about the right length.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°Why didn''t anyone with the gift know where Mick was?¡± ¡°We presume God had his reasons.¡± John replied. ¡°How severely injured was Mick?¡± ¡°Very.¡± Karella replied ¡°Please see the full report in the press pack.¡± ¡°When will he be coming home?¡± ¡°As the only native human to speak the language fluently, the answer is ''not for a long time''.¡± ¡°Has he fully recovered from his injuries?¡± ¡°No. See the press pack,¡± John said. ¡°Will princess Magdalena be returning home soon?¡± Karella replied, ¡°Technically my daughter is not a princess since she''s neither on the direct line to the throne nor married to someone who is. As the expedition leader she has no plans to leave at the moment.¡± ¡°What about holidays?¡± ¡°There are some pleasant places to walk and camp on the world there, most untrod by human foot. The local people have advised us about what areas and what wildlife we should avoid.¡± Rachel said. ¡°Are there local carnivores?¡± someone asked, who obviously didn''t have much of a memory. ¡°Yes, there are plenty of things that would want to eat us. Many of them find onions and garlic extremely toxic, however, and avoid anything that smells of it.¡± ¡°Are there parasites?¡± ¡°There are things that will invade a scratch, and eat until only your bones are left. There are related organisms in the sea that grow to the size of a house. Shall we say there are lots of ways to die if you''re not careful and leave it at that?¡± ¡°How did Mick end up getting married so quickly?¡± Rachel turned the microphone to Karella, who said ¡°Mick and Sathzakara have known each other since university. They had planned on walking together as soon as Mick returned from his trip. Absence made their hearts grow fonder, and so they were inseparable from the time they met.¡± Rachel added. ¡°We could all see their marriage was inevitable.¡± ¡°Has anyone been attacked by any of these flesh-eating creatures?¡± ¡°Sathzakara walked in an infected area, and was, yes.¡± Rachel replied ¡°Mick was able to remove it from her using techniques he''d learned from his rescuer. It was after her infection that we proved how effective onion and garlic are.¡± ¡°What are the local people like?¡± ¡°The ones I''ve talked to are friendly, and intelligent. Technologically they have radio and thermionic valves, are near controlled fission, and are very alien.¡± ¡°Could you expand on what you mean by very alien?¡± ¡°As we reported after our first visit. They are themselves colony organisms, they are often shocked at the way we treat our cells, because each of their cells is actually an individual organism in it''s own right. A broken bone means dead organisms, and mourning, but because they reform their bodies easily, it doesn''t mean incapacity as long as they''ve got food in their stomachs. Which they mean literally, since that''s where they store excess, not in fat cells. They don''t give birth, they open a way out for the baby, after a couple of weeks incredibly rapid weight gain, which might start with genetic interchange or a less complex mix and match process where the parents literally get under one another''s skin and give bits of themselves to make the kid. Shall I carry on?¡± ¡°Thank you. We get the idea. Very alien.¡± ¡°Oh, and their eyes have a zoom control, and none of them has ever needed glasses,¡± Rachel added. ¡°Will any of them come to Earth?¡± ¡°It might be possible, Mars is more likely, because of the gravity.¡± John said, ¡°But soaps and detergents are poison to them, so a child with bubble mixture would count as a would-be assassin.¡± ¡°Miss Ngbila, you''re co-leader of the expedition, is there a reason you''ve come to Earth?¡± ¡°I have some recruiting to do: we''re thinking that a journalist to document discoveries and events might be an asset, for example, and I need to talk to Mars university about expanding the research goals, which would need some more researchers. But also I need to visit my dentist before an annoying toothache turns into something more serious.¡± Her wrist unit buzzed, and she added. ¡°Hopefully that''s her now. Excuse me!¡±
At the dentist''s ¡°All sorted, Maam?¡± asked the Internal Security agent who''d been assigned to Rachel as she returned to the waiting area. ¡°For now, yes. I have a hole in a tooth and a temporary filling. I still don''t understand why you''re assigned to me, though. Don''t I just go home from here?¡± ¡°You''re a guest at the palace, tonight, Maam. Which isn''t as a glamorous as it sounds, by the way, it just means that you can get quizzed by the royal family without needing to find a hotel or travel in the early hours of the morning.¡± Rachel nodded ¡°It''s happened to me before, I must have missed the invitation. I''m in the guest wing, I presume?¡± ¡°Princess Karella said that she''d prefer you to be in their spare room, I hope that''s acceptable.¡± ¡°Very.¡± ¡°She also said she thought you might prefer to change before we go to the royal apartments? I think you''re perfectly suitably dressed, maam.¡± ¡°I expect she was thinking of these.¡± Rachel said, lifting the little sparkly cylinders out of her pocket. ¡°And I expect you''ll want to check them. Mer construction; a gift from prince Albert when I was a teen. Queen Heather said these looked like they''d be useful, so I intend wearing them in public, assuming that''s acceptable? Also I wouldn''t want Albert to think I''d forgotten or lost them.¡± ¡°They''re active?¡± ¡°Yes. Active sparkle is their normal mode, but they''ve got a dazzle function too.¡± ¡°Manually triggered, or by flash-photography?¡± ¡°Both.¡± It wasn''t a full lens-detector system, but the net result was similar after dark or inside: if a flash-photograph was taken involving Rachel''s earrings, then faces would be lost in the gloom as the earrings produced an intense burst of light in reply and outshone any reflection. ¡°Can you suppress the automatic response?¡± ¡°Yes, no problem.¡± ¡°Good. There are some similar pieces around the palace, and the thought of them all setting each other off...¡± Rachel grinned ¡°Really lights up the room, yes. We had a go, and both of us ended up with spots in front of our eyes for the rest of the day.¡± ¡°You were close to his royal highness?¡± Rachel thought she heard a trace of envy from the woman, who was a little younger than herself. ¡°I''m clan, he''s clan, we grew up seeing quite a lot of each other, but there were another ten of us you could say the same about. As far as I know we''re not avoiding each other, but somehow our paths haven''t crossed in years. Do you think any reporters might have followed me?¡± ¡°Entirely possible. Do try to remember to turn them off once we get to the palace,¡± the agent said, ¡°but it would be a shame to not put them to the test, wouldn''t it?¡± As they stepped out of the dentist''s there was a series of bright flashes and a number of photographers were left blinking away the spots in their eyes. Some of the cameras shut down entirely in protest. ¡°No photographs, please!¡± the agent said, ¡°Miss Ngbila values her privacy and I''m on duty.¡± To Rachel she added quietly, ¡°it looks like they work quite well.¡±
The palace Rachel, Albert decided, was even more beautiful than ever. And she was wearing the dazzle-earrings he''d given her. He decided that was a good sign. It was actually quite hard to pay attention to his food or to the discussions he was supposed to be taking part in with her in the room. Rachel noticed Albert noticing her during the meal, but it was a while before they were able to talk without the whole room being a party to the conversation. ¡°Hi Rachel.¡± Albert said, ¡°do I hear the ear-rings still work?¡± ¡°They seem to, yes. Half a dozen reporters with spots before their eyes.¡± ¡°That brings back memories.¡± ¡°Yes. You know, I''ve not worn them since then?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Told off too severely, I guess. But your grandma said they''d be useful.¡± ¡°And they were?¡± ¡°I suppose so. I''ve faced a barrage of flash-guns before.¡± ¡°I''ve been following your career; you''ve coped really well with the press.¡± ¡°Thanks, you haven''t made too big a mess of things either. Except that one time...¡± ¡°Basse-Monaco harbour?¡± He''d stepped onto a boat to get past a cameraman, only the boat had just left. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Thank you, Rachel, for reminding me of my most embarrassing moment. I love you too. Lime jelly.¡± Rachel grimaced at the memory from her student days. ¡°Oof, I deserved that, OK. Who told you? No, don''t answer that. But Albert, more seriously: Your grandma pointed out a whole lot of things that were useful to bring with me ¡ª half-way here I realised it was basically all the stuff I wouldn''t want to abandon there forever, and she also told me all the work related things I was thinking to bring to work on for the return journey wern''t going to be useful. I worried for a bit that meant an accident, but there are other reasons to change careers, aren''t there? ... Did you mean what you said when you gave me these?¡± ¡°That you light up the room without them? Yes. I.... I just didn''t think you were interested in anything but making your mark on science. I''ve never met anyone who lights up the room like you do, Rachel.¡± ¡°Sometimes, Albert, you say the very nicest things. Other times you can entirely fail to ask important questions. For instance, entirely consistently after you gave me these, there''s been this question you''ve not asked.¡± ¡°Urm, do you think you might change careers? ¡°When I was sixteen, I''d have said not for just anyone, no. Still true.¡± ¡°For me?¡± ¡°It really depends what new career you have in mind for me, your royal highness,¡± she said, very pleased with the way the conversation was going. ¡°It''s been a long time since we spent much time together, Rachel. Would you do me the honour of putting your return to the lab on hold, at least long enough for us to get to know each other again? So we can make sensible life changing decisions?¡± He laughed, ¡°If you''re contemplating saying no, you want something more definite, then I''ll warn you that if you do I''m probably just going to propose on the spot.¡± ¡°That would be silly, Albert. Don''t do that, I might be tempted to say yes, just to call your bluff. But I''ll happily let you add me to the long list of royal girlfriends though.¡± In response he ignored protocol and gave her a hug. "Is it a long list?¡± Rachel asked. "My girlfriends? No one on it at all." ¡°There was Sue,¡± Rachel pointed out. ¡°When I was five.¡± ¡°And don''t forget Janice.¡± ¡°On the rebound from Sue. She wasn''t very fun to be with, but her brother had a neat remote controlled car, if I remember correctly.¡± ¡°So, who else?¡± ¡°I think I totally abandoned the idea of a girlfriend after Janice. Except of course there were all sorts of fascinating conversations with you since I was ten.¡± ¡°What about buxom young Jasmine? I think her name was that, anyway.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Security person I was looked after by this afternoon. Turned slightly green when I said you''d given me the ear-rings.¡± ¡°Oh, her. Occasionally seen fluttering her eye-lashes at me, but not a Christian. Warned off by gran on several occasions. On the other hand, my mother, bless her perceptive vision, declared rather pointedly the other day that us being sixth cousins isn''t a problem in anyone''s books.¡± ¡°You''re really saying you''ve been infatuated with me almost a decade, and never said?¡± ¡°I did say. I thought you weren''t interested.¡± ¡°I thought you got cold feet, or distracted by Selina.¡± ¡°Selina has a good voice, and makes delicious cakes, but no.¡± That, as far as he was concerned was where Selina''s good points ended. He looked at her wistfully. ¡°It''s been ages since I''ve heard you sing, actually.¡± ¡°You think I''m going to sing for you in the middle of this crowd?¡± Rachel asked, in embarrassed horror. ¡°I''m sure Selina would.¡± ¡°Yes, well, feel free to give her a royal summons.¡± ¡°Do you still play the piano?¡± ¡°No piano on the lab, certainly no piano in the probe ship. Therefore, I claim to be too out of practice.¡± ¡°But if I played, would you sing?¡± ¡°In the right context, Albert. I''m fairly sure this isn''t it. You''re supposed to be quizzing me on the planet Ground. You might want to think about embassy and trade links.¡± ¡°Oh? What do they want to export?¡± ¡°I had a little private chat to Lana, Mick''s rescuer. As shape-shifters they don''t do clothes, but they do have a cottage industry making a gorgeous fabric they use for wall-hangings. Its falling out of favour in the city, because of the labour costs involved, but if you were looking for a high value, medium volume trade product that''s got a declining home market and so over-capacity and livelihoods at risk....¡± ¡°How gorgeous?¡± ¡°I''ll let you judge that when you come to dinner tomorrow night.¡± ¡°Oh? Am I invited.¡± ¡°Yes. I''m also going to bully mum into calling a clan gathering sometime. And as stated at the press conference I''ve been commissioned to do some recruiting. Otherwise, I think my time is entirely available for reestablishing and deepening old friendships.¡± ¡°Not to mention the odd bit of orientation?¡± ¡°Hmm. I''ve had some already.¡± She looked across the room at at Karella, and decided she''d have to ask her if she''d suspected. Karella flashed her a grin in reply. ¡°What''s my aunt been up to?¡± Albert asked. ¡°Telling me all about duress codes on arrival in Kingdom airspace.¡± ¡°Oh, Yes, those are worth knowing.¡± ¡°Especially when I decide to kidnap you.¡± ¡°I thought it was supposed to be the other way round?¡± ¡°Who''s got an almost undetectable bubble ship at her disposal?¡± Rachel pointed out, entirely reasonably. ¡°Would that actually work?¡± ¡°What, hiding in a bubble? Almost certainly. Maggie was giving it serious consideration before Mick suggested a mountain get-away. Do you realise how limited a chunk of land is actually inhabited there? And then the entire habitat for all collective organisms and large predators stops at the frost line. Above there its only rodent-like things and the things they live on. Oh, and some bird-like things.¡± ¡°None of which are dangerous?¡± ¡°Rodents eat grass and bugs, birds eat rodents, blood-sucking bugs don''t like the smell of human.¡± ¡°And the birds?¡± ¡°Against all probability, seem to be higher on the civ-scale than the dog-like predators. Mick asked Lana about why no one ever hunted the birds, and she said ''what, hunt a talking beast?''¡± ¡°Do the predators actually talk?¡± ¡°Not the same language as the people, not as wide topics. But to a certain extent, yes. They organise vocally, pass on information, teach their kids, and so on.¡± ¡°And the birds?¡± ¡°All the above, plus make pockets to enable them to carry things. One intrepid explorer-type who Takan, Lana''s husband, met on a few occasions, spent his lifetime visiting some and reported that that one the things they carry includes fire, which they use to keep warm in winter. Takan reports that the guy himself admitted he might have been delusional due to cold and fashion when he wrote that down.¡± ¡°Cold and fashion?¡± Albert asked. ¡°They can grow hair if they want to, but it''d be seen a bit like one of your security people wearing animal skins and wode, and wielding a club. On duty.¡± Albert laughed, ¡°That''d get him in trouble with mum.¡± ¡°Or her?¡± Rachel asked, noticing a fearsome looking woman in her mid forties who might make a truly impressive cave-woman. ¡°Yes.¡± Albert said noticing her gaze. ¡°I must introduce you to Daphne, she''s in charge of Royal Protection.¡± ¡°If she''s a thought hearer, then I might have just ruined her first impression of me¡± Rachel admitted. ¡°Well, let''s go and see if you need to explain yourself, then.¡± Ten steps later, he said, ¡°Daphne? A quiet word?¡± ¡°Yes, sir?¡± ¡°I''d like you to meet Rachel, who is probably the reason I''ve never managed to find anyone to trouble your staff. Apparently I didn''t make myself clear enough when we were sixteen and she thought I wasn''t really serious, despite her hopes. Is that a fair summary, Rach?¡± ¡°Pretty much. I buried myself in my work, trying to get over my shattered dreams, when it seems I should have just kidnapped him and used truth serum on him or something. Anyway, we''re talking now.¡± She looked at Albert, ¡°Still more about my work than anything from Mr silent here. But it including such wonders as the possibly deranged writings of a researcher on Ground who''d rather freeze to death or at least insanity than grow fur.¡± ¡°Which Maggie described as having a similar social impact as one of your team turning up to work dressed in animal skins and wielding a club. And then I made the unpardonable mistake of assuming she was only talking about the normally clean-shaven males of the species.¡± ¡°And suddenly I came to mind, did I?¡± Daphne asked archly. ¡°Remind me, Rachel, how old do you think this young whipper-snapper is?¡± ¡°I''m sure his I.D. ought to say twenty-six because he was born a week before me, but computers can be deceived, and maybe someone has updated it to show his mental age? But, personally I feel like someone has been playing sillies with my mental age too, so its hard to guess. Blame it on an excess of gravity and a slight dose of euphoria.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, please don''t decide I''d make an impressive cave-woman ever again, even if I did once play the role, and then assuming you can keep him out of too much trouble we''ll be friends.¡± Rachel looked at Daphne''s face, and said, ¡°The ''dawn of time'' remake, you ¡ª well, your character ¡ª took out the sabre-tooth.¡± ¡°Albert primed you, did he?¡± ¡°No. The film regularly gets used in training for the Bubble-probes. You''re normally voted the character we''d most like to emulate. Watchful, alert, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Getting mauled to death in the almost-final scene?¡± ¡°Not your fault. Silly so-called heroine let you down badly.¡± ¡°Well! I never knew I had a loyal fandom! Who else gets the vote?¡± ¡°Who else? Mr action-hero. At which point the older students point out all the things he gets wrong.¡± Daphne grinned. ¡°I had just finished basic training when we were filming. Mr action-hero, as you so wonderfully name him, on the other hand, was proud of his credentials as an actor and his muscles, until I innocently suggested we really do the two-day walk without water to add to the realism.¡± ¡°I noticed he didn''t do any more work in the genre again after that, for all the awards the film got.¡± ¡°So, what''s Ground really like?¡± ¡°Dry. The air temperature isn''t that bad, even in the deserts I was in, because there''s a constant breeze. But the humidity is so low there that it''s painful on the eyes. The locals can''t imagine why their sea shouldn''t be evaporating from one generation to the next. Water evaporates from the sea, cools to clouds and then rain falls on the mountains, some flows into the dessert and that never gets back to the sea. That''s what their version of the water cycle looks like.¡± ¡°Where does the water go?¡± Albert asked. ¡°Some into space, some into rocks, they think. There used to be wet years, maybe from comets or vulcanism or something, but no one really knows and the last one was centuries ago. It''s a Mars-like world, with Mars-like problems, only there are three sorts of tool-using life-forms. I''ve been asked to recruit some people who want to write a doctorate on where the water''s actually going to, and the long-term habitability of the planet without intervention. Not to mention some people who want to study ecological stresses and maybe fossil collections. Some of the biologists are suggesting that the planet looks like it might be in the middle of a mass-extinction, but it''s not their field, etc.¡± ¡°You''re going to need another lab!¡± Albert exclaimed. ¡°There are caves, it''s predator country, but the other dangers are just the normal sharp rocks and so on. We''ve got permission to seal it against water loss and make a collaborative research base there. Plus to farm the surrounding area if we don''t want to eat hydroponic gloop.¡± ¡°Wow, that was fast! How did you get the traditionalist party to agree to that?¡± ¡°They effectively resigned from power to sort out some internal issues. New change-friendly party in power, young idealist party leader, bringing in a new way of working, even for them. Except it''s actually an ancient way of working, so the traditionalist party are scratching their heads wondering what''s happened to what amounts to their moral basis.¡± ¡°Sounds like fun,¡± Daphne said. ¡°Shame I''ll never get there.¡± ¡°Never say never,¡± Albert advised, ¡°Mum might decide to let Rachel convince her we need an embassy there. I imagine survival skills are going to be as important as diplomatic if we do.¡± ¡°And you can actually breathe the air there?¡± ¡°Yes. And its got a magnetic field, so no significant storms either,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Hey, are you sure you''re not reading my mind?¡± ¡°If I am, it''d be a first,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I just thought to myself, this woman might have been born a jit but she surely grew out of it before she started to carry her own pack.¡± It was the highest Martian compliment, and given without hesitation. Rachel had remembered her host-family''s comment at hearing about the film she''s watched. ¡°I thought you two grew up rubbing shoulders?¡± Daphne asked. ¡°I spent five years growing my own with some good people called Durrell, Daphne, and also have a full bottle of original recipe thunderbolt if your tastebuds ever get that homesick.¡± ¡°Albert, lad.¡± Daphne said, barely keeping back her tears at this news that Rachel had lived with her childhood friends and neighbours, ¡°if you don''t treasure this girl then so help me I''ll pour my last spoonful of thuderbolt in your tea to make sure you''re really sorry.¡± ¡°Should I know what thunderbolt is?¡± ¡°Infidel,¡± Rachel accused, ¡°Forgetful, fraud! I thought you said you''d always treasure my every letter to you!¡± ¡°When did I say that?¡± ¡°When you were twelve or so.¡± ¡°And did you write about thunderbolt?¡± ¡°I''m sure I did. I suppose I might have called it the elixir of life.¡± ¡°The one that''s like gently sipping boiling tabasco from a red hot poker?¡± ¡°That''s the one.¡± Daphne agreed, ¡°But only if you dilute a drop of it in a glass of water first.¡± ¡°Which is a complete waste,¡± Rachel said. ¡°What you need to do is open the bottle and let the rabbit sniff it. Then it begs you with pleading eyes for a swift and merciful death and the flavour is beautifully even through the meat.¡± Daphne laughed, ¡°Oh that''s a new one! I like it, I like it! It beats the shark one.¡± ¡°I don''t think I know the shark one. How does that go?¡± ¡°I heard it from a Mer: ''the fastest way to serve shark is you light a barbecue and then put a drop of thunderbolt into the water just in front of a dangerous shark, which then leaps out of the water onto your hot barbecue to cool the heat in it''s gills, and rips out it''s own guts to save them from the fire in its belly.'' But It lacks the realism, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°I have to agree, yes.¡± ¡°Whereas a rabbit pleading to die has it?¡± Albert asked, earning himself a whithering look of absolute scorn from the two women. They then burst into laughter at his face. ¡°Come on, Albert,¡± Rachel said, after she''d calmed down. ¡°You''re going to tell your mother.¡± ¡°Am I allowed second thoughts?¡± ¡°Not until I''ve cooked you some chiie-con-root-veg, no.¡± ¡°I don''t really like very hot food, Rachel.¡± ¡°Which is why you want me to cook it for you. I''ll do some with and some without, so you can taste the difference and know why its so highly prized.¡± ¡°It''s not just a bravado thing?¡± ¡°Wait and see, Albert, wait and see. But it might be a good idea if you ply me with what you count as pleasantly spicy first.¡± ¡°OK, I can cope with that idea.¡± Albert approached his mother who looked up from her conversation with prince John. A smile formed on her face when she saw Rachel and Albert holding hands. ¡°Mother? I''m happy to say that you were right and I was wrong. It looks like it was a miscommunication thing.¡± ¡°I don''t suppose it''ll be your last. You''re holding hands in public already, I see?¡± ¡°Rachel has agreed to be known and gossiped about as my girlfriend, yes.¡± ¡°And invited him to dinner with my parents'' tomorrow, so hopefully the news won''t get out before I''ve had a chance to tell them myself.¡± ¡°Maybe you ought to call them,¡± John said. ¡°Actually, it''d be far better if it wasn''t public knowledge until I''ve finished recruiting.¡± ¡°Yes. What did you say to Daphne? I don''t think I''ve seen her in such good spirits for a long time.¡± ¡°I lived with her childhood neighbours on Mars. I''m afraid we then mercilessly made Albert the butt of an insider-joke. But I think I''ve convinced him to let me cook him a meal with the locally infamous flavouring in question, which will make Albert an insider too.¡± ¡°Thunderbolt?¡± Ursuala asked. ¡°Yes, Maam.¡± ¡°Well, it''s always good to broaden one''s horizons, Albert. Just make sure you don''t upset Rachel or knock her while she''s adding it, and I predict an enjoyable meal.¡± ¡°You''ve had it, maam?¡± ¡°The inventor babysat my mother, Rachel. I''m definitely an insider. It was a thunderbolt-serving tip that had you in stitches?¡± ¡°Yes. Albert didn''t think that a rabbit pleading for a swift death after sniffing some was realistic.¡± ¡°Then he truly deserved your scorn, the silly boy. And obviously needs to spend some more time on Mars.¡± ¡°You know that serving tip? Daphne didn''t.¡± ¡°She didn''t? Oh, that''s an old one. But you have tasted thunderbolt, Albert. You had it properly, at the embassy, last time.¡± ¡°That tasty sauce?¡± ¡°Yes. And of course you also stuck your finger in a drip from Mum''s bottle of it when you were about three, and licked it. Expect an extreme caution regarding unknown condiments from my son, Rachel.¡± ¡°You just licked undiluted thunderbolt off your finger?¡± Rachel asked, looking at Albert in amazement. ¡°I just remember it as grandma''s sauce,¡± Albert said. ¡°What was it like?¡± Rachel asked, with morbid curiosity. ¡°Well... you know that rabbit? I understand now.¡± Ground / Ch. 24: Research

Ground / Ch. 24:Research

University office A week later, Rachel handed over a piece of paper to the university receptionist who dealt with external visitors. ¡°In case some of your students and researchers near the end of their contract might be interested. Or academics wanting to branch out, of course, we''re open to all sorts, really, including collaborative research projects.¡± The receptionist read. Research opportunities. Research posts are available on the planet Ground (formerly designated 34-98-C, approximately one week''s bubble-ship travel from the solar system),in: Planetary geophysics Geology Exo-planet atmospheric modelling Archeoology Paleontology Ecosystem dynamics and collapse and related subjects, under the joint auspices of the Extra-Solar System Contact Group (ESSCG, a collaborative venture of the University of Mars and Atlantis academy, with support from the Restored Kingdom, the Imperial House of Russia, and GemSmith Interplanetary) and the university of Ground. Ground has a single sea, covering approximately 3% of the surface. The ESSCG research team is expanding its field of research to investigate the causes for reductions in sea-level by approximately 1cm per annum observed over the past two centuries, historic fluctuations in this decline and the past and likely future consequences to ecosystems and the entire biome of the decreasing supply of water. Postings are indefinite in length, (but not less than 2 years, barring exceptional circumstances) and would suit physically active researchers not averse to subsistence farming. Young families are welcome (currently the oldest children are aged 6), parents with older children will need to consider educational options and impact of no network connection to the solar system. The air is breathable and surface radiation levels are Earth-normal. Gravity is Mars-normal. There are three tool-using species on the planet, one of which is considered dangerous and the other largely unknown, even to natives of Ground, as there is no overlap in inhabited zones. Several other local creatures are considered highly dangerous, but do not inhabit the area where the research base will be sited. Mer law applies to ESSCG ships and facilities, local law applies in dealings with locals and at other locations. Suitable candidates for the posts will not be oath-breakers, and will be fully able to integrate into a team where the humans are mostly evangelical Christians and the local population either honour the same trinitarian God as revealed in their scriptures or have no faith. Adherents to other faiths are not excluded, but will undertake not to proselytise in either community, or discuss their beliefs with locals except on a case-by-case basis with the prior approval of both the University of Ground and the Government of Ground. The Government of Ground warns that while they are not a theocracy, their long-established laws on disseminating unapproved religions, philosophies or prophetic utterances dictate that violators are condemned to imprisonment with a full stomach but nothing but water for 50 to 100 days. As we have no control over our metabolic rate, and cannot store food in our stomachs, this would amount to a death penalty by starvation for humans. Orientation to other aspects of local law and custom will be given to applicants passing initial pre-selection interviews. The ESSCG routinely holds meetings in English, however Merish translation is always available and may be preferred in some sub-meetings. Language learning skills will be a big plus for most candidates, easing collaboration with the local university staff. It is anticipated that transferrable skills will be taught in both directions and that colaborative papers will be jointly authored and published, both by the University of Ground and the ESSCG in peer reviewed journals. Transport, food, medical care and lodging will be provided by ESSCG, and a small stipend paid (amount depends on citizenship and employment laws in force). The ESSCG has a full surgical team and regrowth specialist in case of accidents. Under agreement with the Mars council, participants in the ESSCG are deemed to be contributing to the public good of Mars, and receive a grant of 5 improved hectares per annum. Under agreement with the high council of Atlantis, ESSCG participants in good standing who learn the Merish language and are not otherwise barred from residency in Atlantis may apply for full Mer citizenship, with all associated rights, after four years. Those banned from Atlantis may apply for a reconsideration of their case and/or apply for limited citizenship. Her Majesty''s Government of the Restored Kingdom has decreed that ESSCG participation is fully compatible with the vows of civil service. Civil servants should, however, first discuss application with their supervisor. Successful applicants may also apply to join the civil service. Initial applications for the research posts describing your citizenship, health, past research, qualifications and suitability for the post should be made to Dr Rachel Ngbila, care of your nearest GemSmith office. Couples/families should submit a joint application, listing everyone. A number of non-research positions are also available and priority will be given to suitable spouses of research staff. Be aware that safety rules dictate that no Bubble ship travels so far from the solar system without at least one thought-hearer on board. If you possess such an ability and do not mind it being known, please mention it on the application or at a subsequent interview. ¡°That is one of the longest position adverts I''ve seen in a while,¡± the receptionist said. ¡°And I hate to make it longer, but you don''t say that applicants to the Restored Kingdom civil service would need to be citizens, or what the non-research posts might be.¡± ¡°Non-research posts are really quite flexible, and Her Majesty''s government don''t demand that people be citizens. Or rather, if they pass our interviews and want to join the civil service, then they''ll happily grant citizenship.¡± ¡°Really? I''d heard that''s quite a hard test, normally.¡± ¡°I''m afraid our tests are probably tougher.¡± ¡°OK, I''ll make a note of that. Will there be truthsayer-conducted interviews?¡± ¡°If there''s someone who has a problem with that, then I''d like a full and frank discussion about what their objections are, but I won''t say they are 100% required. But they will be required to work with thought-hearers, since that''s a large portion of the staff.¡± ¡°You say ''related subjects'' what does that mean?¡± ¡°It means ''explain to me how your expertise can help, and I''ll listen.'' ¡± ¡°And you''re not specifying if this is postgraduate work, postdoctoral or what.¡± ¡°No, we''re not. That''s because attitude and aptitude are far more important than paperwork. I''m not going to reject an excellent candidate just because she failed to submit her PhD in time because of complications in her pregnancy, for instance.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Sorry if this is getting too personal, but I like to know who I''m talking to. I think it''s a crying shame they didn''t take circumstances in to account.¡± ¡°No thesis, no doctorate,¡± she said. ¡°No compassion, not much respect.¡± Rachel retorted. ¡°The decision not to let you submit sounds like it was fundamentally flawed, and you ought to have appealed. You still could, actually.¡± ¡°Who to? I took it up to the vice-chancellor.¡± ¡°University chancellor, or failing that, her majesty.¡± ¡°I was quietly informed that that counts as bringing the university into disrepute.¡± ¡°I think that anyone saying that knows someone has made a bad call and are just covering for them or for themselves. But it''s not my decision. What I can say is that if you and your husband want to apply, then I''m going to consider you has having attained your doctorate. Which is why I thought I''d come in person.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying so, Dr Ngbila.¡± ¡°Do you miss research?¡± ¡°Yes, but not enough to scrape and grovel or slog though writing another thesis on a totally unrelated subject.¡± ¡°Will you allow me to make a call on your behalf?¡± ¡°Who to?¡± ¡°My boyfriend''s mum. Very sharp mind, and quite influential, has been known to persuade your chancellor to reopen things he thought were done and dusted. I presume you''ve not shredded your thesis?¡± ¡°I had it bound, even. In the prerequisite number of copies.¡± ¡°No grovelling, I promise.¡± Rachel said, and rang a single-use number. ¡°Hi, Ursula? It''s as you expected, they''re holding ''bringing the university into disrepute'' over her head. Her thesis is bound in the prerequisite number of copies, for crying out loud, they just wouldn''t let her submit it.¡± ¡°You''re with her now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Pass me over will you, Rachel?¡± ¡°You''re on speaker.¡± ¡°Oh, well done. So, let me confirm, your are Anabeth Colier?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is that your full name?¡± ¡°Anabeth Rhianna Colier¡± ¡°And was it your initial submission or your corrections that were late?¡± ¡°The corrections were half a year late, according to some measures.¡± ¡°And that was because of a medical emergency?¡± ¡°You want the full story?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± ¡°I was pregnant when I had the defence. We had a week''s holiday afterwards, in relief, and then I got down to the corrections, part time, because I had this receptionist job I still have too. And I was tired from the pregnancy too. And then maybe a bit extra-slowly, because mostly it was what the internal examiner called grammatical mistakes and I called my normal way of speaking. That''s not exactly a thrilling change to have to make, to make it all sound like someone else. Then I got food poisoning and my pregnancy went into crisis. My husband asked if I could have extra time and they gave me a week. He complained, saying that wasn''t enough, and they gave me three months. He wanted to work on it for me, but I wouldn''t let him because it all had to be my work. Then my boy was born. He was early, very early, and I didn''t have time to think about the thesis. My husband went to the office and asked if I could have more time, and they said, in the circumstances, they''d be able to give me another three months. He said great, and left. They claim they gave him an exceptional cirumstances claim form, but either he left it there by mistake or they never did and it wasn''t in the papers they gave him. But they did give him a piece of paper that gave me a new date. My lovely boy was just out of intensive care, at home, and I was nursing him, and working on getting the corrections done. My husband took it to the printers. Then they lost it in a computer failure. Then they did it, but my boy was back in hospital, on the critical list. The last date on that slip of paper, I left my baby, with all the tubes there, to take the thesis to the office. "They said I didn''t fill in the form. I said, look, my baby''s in intensive care, I''m submitting my thesis on the due date specified. You''ll have to fill in this form, they said, Oh, sorry, the computer''s down, come back after lunch. I said, ''My baby''s in intensive care. I cannot be away from him'', and left the thesis there. Three months later, after the funeral, and after I''d got my mind back in order, I went back to the office. They''d left my thesis exactly where it was, with a note on it, ''unsubmitted thesis, to be collected by owner for disposal''. I said, ''my baby is burried, you didn''t say when after lunch, where''s that form?'' And they took one look at my face and let me fill in the form, and took the thesis. The next week they delivered it back. Six months and a day past the original extension, second extension deemed invalid, past the time in which appeals can be made by a day. So I checked back into the psych-department for a month or so, because I realised I wasn''t really sane, and then went back to to Church, because I realised I really needed God too.¡± ¡°Thank you, Anabeth. I''m sorry if retelling this has been hard on you, and I''ll pray for you. Were there any substantive corrections, or all just minor ones?¡± ¡°Just minor.¡± ¡°In other words, purely at the discretion of the internal examiner?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Thank you for your time, Anabeth. You ought to hear from the university quite soon. If you don''t hear by tomorrow, then get in touch with Rachel. Are you happy with that Rach?¡± ¡°Very happy. Thank you, your majesty.¡± ¡°Rachel you''re going to make me cross.¡± ¡°Sorry, Ursula.¡± ¡°Much better.¡± The line went dead. Anabeth looked at Rachel in shock. ¡°I''ve just been talking to her majesty?¡± ¡°Shhh, you''re not supposed to know that.¡± ¡°You''re really going out with prince Albert?¡± ¡°I''ve known him for a long long time, I thought he was interested when I was sixteen, but then he never followed up. Turns out he thought I''d turned him down. But talking about history reminds me. Does my surname ring any bells at all?¡± The receptionist glanced back at the advert. ¡°Ngbila? Not that I can think of.¡± ¡°What about the word ''clan'', in connection to your mother?¡± ¡°Clan?¡± Rachel heard the recogniton ¡°Yes. As in, ''ran away from the clan.'' ¡± ¡°Because they were too scary.¡± ¡°Sorry you think that, Anabeth. I don''t think we''re scary.¡± ¡°You can phone up the queen and you''re not scary?¡± ¡°Don''t blame me that royalty married in. We''re just a mixed up bunch from all walks of life as ever. Please tell your mother about my visit, and remind her that we remember her, we pray for her, and she''s still welcome to come back to the clan whenever she wants to be. There''s a gathering at Blackwood on Saturday. She''s welcome to bring you and your family along, and as always, there''s a cabin in her maiden name..¡± ¡°So where were you when I was going through something like hell?¡± ¡°We didn''t even know you were born, Anabeth, your mother cut us off and we respect that sort of decision, however much it hurts. It''s only because I read your paper a few days ago and wondered about your maiden name that I read what you''d posted about yourself, and asked my grandad. Ursula might guess, but I''ve not told her. She''s just involved because of the injustice of it. Oh, you probably don''t know it, but you''ve got cousins.¡± ¡°Mum said she was the black sheep of the family and had been kicked out.¡± ¡°Not true by a long shot, according to the version I''ve heard. More like ''if you don''t stop going on about Fred being no good for me, then I''m off''.¡± ¡°Who was Fred?¡± ¡°I presume no relation to you. Your mum left the clan, left home when she was just eighteen.¡± ¡°She was thirty when I was born.¡± ¡°Exactly. I guess Fred had left her a long time earlier.¡±
Blackwood Cabins Anabeth''s mother, Daisy, looked around the station. ¡°Not much has changed, I see. Lets get this over with.¡± She walked up to the courtesy desk, and said ¡°I''m told you have a booking for Daisy Quy.¡± ¡°We do, maam,¡± the young man said, doing a bit of a double-take. ¡°That''s me, or used to be. This is Anabeth, my daughter and her husband.¡± ¡°May I phone ahead, maam? Grandma doesn''t handle shocks well.¡± ¡°Grandma?¡± ¡°Yes. Your aunt Rhianna.¡± ¡°You''re clan?¡± ¡°Yes. Gap year job.¡± An elderly lady got to her feet, ¡°Heather always said you''d come back to us one day. I didn''t think it''d take this long. We''ve missed you, Daisy. Thank you for coming back.¡± ¡°Maggie?¡± ¡°In the flesh.¡± ¡°And you... took over from your mother?¡± ¡°I didn''t want the job I assure you.¡± ¡°Anabeth, this is Maggie. If there''s anyone who can box the queen round the ears, you''re talking to her.¡± ¡°You''re confusing your daughter and son-in-law, Daisy. ¡± ¡°Well, I''m right aren''t I?¡± ¡°I don''t think I ever boxed anyone''s ears, Daisy, you''re confusing me with someone else. And I wouldn''t dream of telling Ursula what to do. Not these days anyway. She''s not turned out too badly, has she? I seem to remember her screaming at you quite a lot.¡± ¡°I think she screamed at everyone except your mother.¡± ¡°I wonder why that was. I screamed at mum quite a lot, especially before I met Heather.¡± ¡°Who then whisked you off to Mars.¡± ¡°Fun days. Pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge and all that.¡± ¡°Keeping secrets, you mean.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what a badly built, cheap copy of a bubble ship could do to a planet you know and love?¡± ¡°See, Anabeth? I told you the clan was full of scary people. Maggie here designed the bit that stops bubble ships turning into black holes.¡± ¡°Helped design. Don''t make it all my work, please.¡± ¡°Frank died, you know?¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°And I blamed you ¡ª the clan, I mean.¡± ¡°Daisy, you know what he was doing, don''t you?¡± ¡°When he died, you mean? Yes. He was trying to break into the bubble lab, and the security guards killed him.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°That was the official story. Sorry if no one told you the truth. I thought you''d have been told.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°He was a very professional spy. I know you loved him. I know he loved you, at the end, even though he''d set out to trap you to get at one of us. Me, or more probably Mandy, she would have been the real coup, if you ask me, since she had all the design parameters and everything. But he wasn''t outside. He''d got inside, and was trying to make one of the robo-probes jump to China, and probably would have succeeded too, but for two facts.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Which were?¡± ¡°He gave himself away, made a phone call. He also didn''t know middle Mer. He''d got the coordinates written in old Mer, that''s how we know where he wanted to send it, but middle Mer doesn''t use cuniform. He was seen in the lab puzzling over the control panel.¡± ¡°And shot.¡± ¡°Not with bullets; darted. But as I said, he was a very professional spy. Mer muscle relaxant drugs work on the major muscles first, he must have known and was prepared. He swallowed, and he was dead before they realised what he''d done.¡± ¡°I''ve always wondered.... I guess if you know all this, you know more. The meteor strike in China....¡± ¡°The Mer concept of justice is quick, and proportionate. Someone was expecting a device to materialise in a certain place, they were trying to steal part of a ship, which is to say Mer military technology. A device did arrive there.¡± ¡°Booby-trapped?¡± ¡°They sent an empty probe shell, one which just had the Boris drive and the a self-destruct device, they all have, and it also had the antimatter store the bubble drives use. It was marked in multiple languages ''extreme danger, do not open. If found return to Atlantis.'' It would have been perfectly safe if whoever picked it up had obeyed the notice.¡± ¡°They sent an antimatter bomb?¡± ¡°The probes all had a self-destruct. They all had antimatter on board. The Mer reduced the amount of antimatter to ensure that the Chinese research site was destroyed, but no more. It was, and the Mer ambassador delivered a note that said, ''You thought to risk all live on this planet from foolish pride and greed. Do not think I will let you try that again. I know who you are and where you are, and there will be no escape from my rigtheous anger against those personally responsible. We have plenty more antimatter if you seek to shelter underground, and I vow we will risk total war and the destruction of our city to save the planet from ignorant meddling that risks a black hole on Earth. You know we do not bluff, nor break our vows. Karella Farspeaker, Sovereign of the deeps and shallows, Empress of space.'' I think a copy went to the United Nations.¡± ¡°You''ve got that well memorised,¡± ¡°We all did. It''s not often that a Mer ruler swears an oath threatenning total war, after all.¡± Anabeth turned to her mother, ¡°Mum, you said Frank was a boy you ran off with.¡± ¡°Sorry ''Beth. Too many lies and false names. Your dad the reporter, Frank the computer programmer, Wen Chu, the spy. All the same man.¡± Maggie turned to Anabeth''s husband. ¡°Samson, I think its almost time for Ursula''s train. Why don''t you take Anabeth and Daisy up to the cabins? I''m not sure Anabeth needs more company right now, or surprises.¡± ¡°There are more coming? Other than strange old ladies knowing your name, Samson?¡± ¡°I guess there are a few more coming. I don''t know how she knows my name though, or that there are more surprises.¡± ¡°No? Well if you''ll get out of the mud, young man, then I''ll explain as you drive all of us up to the cabins.¡± ¡°It''s automatic,¡± Anabeth said, ¡°Samson always hides from thought-hearers.¡± ¡°Come on, the car''s this way.¡± Maggie said over her shoulder. ¡°Saying it''s an automatic reaction doesn''t mean he can''t control it. And sometimes it''s just plain needless. Now, one little surprise I''d like to gently break myself is to ask Samson if he''s noticed how beautiful Anabeth is looking these past few days?¡± ¡°I have.¡± he said, enjoying the pleasure of looking at his wife, ¡°She''s a lot more relaxed since she had the apology from the university.¡± ¡°Hmm. Then, young man, since you''re in a romantic beauty spot with a private cabin, you''d better make sure she keeps taking these.¡± Maggie said, handing over a little bottle of folic acid supplement. ¡°Who are you?¡± Anabeth asked, getting the implication of Maggie''s words and actions, even if Samson didn''t quite. ¡°I''m Maggie.¡± Maggie said simply. ¡°Not to be confused with Magdalena. Sometimes I''m also known as Mystery, but really I''m Mystery the second. And, yes Samson, this vehicle is entirely secure, neither Anabeth nor Daisy are going to tell on me giving away class delta state secrets about myself, and you don''t need to stun anyone.¡± ¡°I don''t understand,¡± Anabeth said, looking at her husband, who she thought was an accounts clerk. ¡°Let me guess,¡± Daisy said. ¡°Not content with Anabeth''s dad being dead, and not trusting him not to have somehow hypnotized her into being a secret agent for China when Anabeth thought all her life he was from Luton, their majesty''s secret service used the same trick on Anabeth as China pulled on me?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Maggie corrected, ¡°They just said ''excellent'' and reassigned Samson to other duties when he admitted to falling for the client he was supposed to watch over as a friend. Samson was always more of a guard than a spy-catcher. You see, they weren''t worried about you husband having made her an agent, one glance told Heather that wasn''t true, but they were worried about the Chinese trying to recruit her. For good reason.¡± ¡°The break-in?¡± Anabeth guessed. ¡°Yes. You realise that sleep-gas releasing security systems aren''t exactly common?¡± ¡°Dad''s work... as a foreign spy?¡± Anabeth asked, ¡°And as an investigative journalist. He was a good one. There are a great deal of similarities in the work, really.¡± Samson said. ¡°The gassed criminals weren''t just thieves, and they''d seen that you had access to the house computer, Anabeth. I got asked to make sure you didn''t know anything, and be there in case anyone thought you did know something.¡± ¡°But how would you know any of this?¡± she asked Maggie. ¡°Sorry... Mystery Voice is the name used by the gifted person who lends a hand to the civil service. I argued with God a lot about not wanting the gift, but in the end He asked ''who knows best?'' I admitted defeat and then something like two decades later the original Mystery asked me to take over. My kids had grown up by then and I could see the positive side of having it. God did know best, see?¡± ¡°Sorry, what''s your kids growing up have to do with it?¡± Daisy interrupted. ¡°My parents ¡ª both of them ¡ª had the gift as I was growing up. If you think growing up with a pair of thought-hearers for parents was hard, Daisy; it really doesn''t make for a normal childhood when you know your mum could well still see reading your mind as the perfectly normal thing to do if she''s wondering what you''re up to, rather than, say, going to the trouble of asking.¡± ¡°So,¡± Anabeth said, ¡°You have the gift, and you also knew about me and Samson.¡± ¡°Yes. And I knew about your PhD and your baby too. Samson poured his heart out to me because he knew he could and I wouldn''t say anything to anyone.¡± ¡°But a few days ago Rachel said the clan didn''t know I existed,¡± Anabeth said. ¡°The clan didn''t. What I know as Mystery is very distinct to what I know as matriarch of the clan. And how would people trust their matriarch if she couldn''t keep secrets?¡± ¡°And you don''t pass what you know on to the queen?¡± ¡°Not except in a few specific cases, no. In the case of your doctorate, number of people in danger, zero, number of criminals going to escape justice, zero. Number of people turning to God as they realised how humans can''t be relied on, one. Number of injustices that wouldn`t be resolved without me intervening.. ¡± ¡°Zero¡± Anabeth said, in resignation. ¡°Maybe, but I couldn''t resist pointing Rachel at your paper, and also planted certain ideas in her mind by my comments on the first draft of that research advert.¡± ¡°Are you saying that God wants us to be part of that team?¡± ¡°No, I''m not. The thought occurred to me that you might be useful additions to the team, that''s all. If God wants you there, he can make it clear without me sticking my oar in.¡± ¡°Can I ask a bit differently?¡± Samson asked. ¡°If we asked you if we should be going, would you see if God puts us in that category?¡± ¡°If you get through the various interviews, prayed through it with your church leaders, and still can''t think of an over-ridingly good reason to go or not to go, or you''re coming up with different answers, then I''m happy to talk, pick holes in arguments, or suggest other people to talk to. But I hate using this gift as some kind of Gideon''s fleece. As I told you before you got married, Samson.¡± He grinned, ¡°Nothing helps like a little confirmation, though.¡± ¡°You asked her if you should marry me?¡± ¡°I was in love with you, and interested in finding more about God. I asked her if marrying you would be a sin.¡± ¡°What did you answer?¡± Anabeth asked Maggie. ¡°If remember right, I told him if he waited to be a Christian before he married you, then he''d have to wait until you were too, that that was the best option, and that it would have been better to think such thoughts a lot earlier in the relationship, not to mention talk them through with you. Welcome to my Earthly paradise, Blackwood cabins. It''s a ski resort in winter, by the way. Very competitive prices if you book early.¡± ¡°You sound like you own shares in it.¡± ¡°Only ten percent these days. I handed the rest over to Hannah, my daughter, decades ago. She''s much better at business than me.¡± ¡°That''s Rachel''s mother?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I had the impression her father was the long-standing clan member,¡± Anabeth said. ¡°Oh, he''s got more generations of clan memership that me, but they were both born clan members, and before you ask, not relatives back for umpteen generations. We''re not all genetically related, not by a long shot.¡± ¡°So people can just... ask to join?¡± ¡°Quentin and Rhianna did, a bit before I came on the scene. You do realise you''re a relative of Rachel''s, from her dad''s side?¡± ¡°I''ve gone from assuming I was related to everyone to assuming I wasn''t related to anyone.¡± ¡°Quentin Quy married Kara Ngbila. Kara was Timothy''s middle daughter, so that''s two generations down from Mama Ng, so you''re four generations down from her. Now.. ooh, this is complicated, Zach was Edwin''s daughter Kayla''s son, so he ought to have been a Winner, not an Ngbila, but for some reason he and his wife chose to use his mother''s surname, and I never did get that straight, it was just de-facto before my time. Then Zach''s boy Rupert married my Hannah. So that makes Rupert your fourth cousin Anabeth, and Rachel''s your fourth cousin once removed.¡± ¡°You manage to keep that level of detail in your head?¡± ¡°Memory balls are a very useful. Now that I''ve got the gift I can actually keep them separate from my own memories, too. Now, my cabin is this one here, so I don''t need to walk too far. Daisy, you''ve got the same one as ever, if you remember that far back.¡± ¡°You''re not going to tell me the daisy''s still painted on it, are you?¡± ¡°It''s faded a bit, and the outline has been re-painted a few times, but yes.¡± ¡°Maggie?¡± Daisy asked, close to tears, ¡°Why did I leave?¡± ¡°Because you didn''t want to hear the truth about why Frank was being so charming, Daisy.¡± ¡°But when I found out, when he told me? Why didn''t I come back? Or when he died.¡± ¡°Force of habit is a powerful thing. Especially a habit of thinking that you''re not welcome somewhere, or that you had to choose between him and us.¡± ¡°One last question. Are there more surprises coming?¡± ¡°Rhianna''s not very healthy, and is staying with me. There''s one more for Anabeth and Samson, which is private, and not urgent. Oh, but they can either stay with you or the twin cabin just up the hill is booked for them, which ever you prefer. Come and say hello to Rhi, Daisy, introduce her to your lovely daughter. She''s been praying that she''d be able to see you come back for a long long time.¡±
Blackwood Cabins The sun had risen over the woods, and the birds were in full song when Anabeth and Samson knocked on Maggie''s door. [Come on in,] Maggie sent to Samson. [I''ve been talking to Daisy and Rhianna most of this morning, and I''ve just sat down for a cuppa.] [We can come back.] [Don''t you dare go away. I want to talk with you two, and then pray with you, too. Go on, open the door, man!] ¡°Maggie says to come in,¡± Samson said to his wife. ¡°I did.¡± Maggie said, ¡°Now, Anabeth, stand there, and let me look at you. Yes, I was right. You''re bunching yourself up, girl. Take it from me, it gives you really bad back trouble. Stand up properly and be as tall as God made you.¡± ¡°Yes, maam.¡± ¡°There, that''s better. Now, in case you don''t know, you''ve got a lot of ancestry in you. Well, don''t we all? There''s been a lot of thought-hearers in your past, quite a few of them Mer. Karella Farseer knew what was happening to Daisy, how Frank twisted her into being his happy accomplice, and for all that we weren''t allowed to interfeer in his plots, the last thing you needed, Anabeth, was to learn about your father''s double life. So when you were born, she saw you could hear thoughts, and she and I prayed a rather unusual prayer for you, and God answered it.¡± Maggie focussed her eyes on the young woman. ¡°Anabeth, to protect you from a lot of evil, to protect your innocence, God took away your inborn ability to hear thoughts. That danger is past now, and He tells me that if you want me to, I should ask him to let you have it back.¡± ¡°Oh Anabeth!¡± Samson said, amazed, ¡°we could share thoughts!¡± She looked at him, and said ¡°I would learn about my husband''s double life, wouldn''t I?¡± ¡°Samson''s double life does not involve murder, extortion, blackmail, computer crime and the like. He honestly does do a lot of paperwork, he does work for the civil service, just not the bit of it you thought he did, and he does train his branch''s sports squad. It''s not actually just the sports club, or in football, but hopefully you''ll accept that little fib. Certainly, when he comes home wet and muddy, that''s because he has been training people in a wet muddy field, not because he dragged someone into some woods and threatened to carve out their girlfriend''s eyes if he didn''t give him his password. Yes, you''d learn about his double life, but you can also learn about that by asking Ursula to tell him he can tell you about it. She''ll probably want an oath from you that you''re not going to break any official secrets laws, of course.¡± ¡°But you won''t?¡± ¡°God didn''t tell me to. But His word does say to obey those in authority, and you know it. So I assume you''re not planning to break any laws anyway.¡± ¡°I''d be happier if you took that oath, love, anyway.¡± Samson said. ¡°And happier if I ask Maggie to pray for me?¡± ¡°Absolutely, thinking together... knowing what''s on each other''s mind....¡± ¡°Can be really embarrassing if you get sidetracked in the middle of kissing each other.¡± Maggie said. Anabeth looked at Maggie, ¡°Will it also help me know God''s thoughts better? So much of my life''s been surrounded by lies... I''d like to know some absolute truth. Absolute peace wouldn''t come amis, either.¡± Maggie closed her eyes. ¡°Thy will be done, Lord. You know my thoughts, I''m not going to argue with Anabeth, or you, father. Lord, you know what I said, and didn''t say not wanting to tempt, and you know her thoughts better even than I can, and you know the future. Release her, Lord, from that protective silence and help her know the truth of her husband''s love for her. You know my reluctance to pray more, but your will be done. Enable me to teach her what she must learn from me, and give her good teachers, a loving family, as many kids as she would wish for and teach her to rejoice in your love and just as you loved us first, to love you with all her heart and mind and strength. Amen.¡± Anabeth said amen, and looked at Maggie. ¡°That... sounded like you were almost arguing with God, Maggie.¡± ¡°Bad habit of mine, I said. Hold hands with Samson, he''s still wondering if God''s answered. Samson, you''ve heard of feedback. It feels like getting soaking wet, if you can''t wait to get back to your cabin.¡± Rebelliously, Anabeth sat on her hands. ¡°What didn''t you want to ask God for, Maggie?¡± ¡°One thing at a time, Anabeth. Can''t you see how Samson desperately wants a kiss? Don''t mind me, I''ll just go get a bucket of cold water.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we love each other, Anabeth,¡± Samson said gently, and caressed her face. She felt his love in his touch, and more, she felt his anxiety, his hope, his joy, and their emotions intertwined together. [This is feedback, beloved.] Samson thought to her [Nice] [I''m told it can get nasty if there are negative emotions involved.] [Why was Maggie talking about buckets of water?] [We''ve had our honeymoon, this intimacy doesn''t blot out thought, plus of course I''m holding back a bit, observing, making sure you''re safe.] [As always] she nestled into the warm blanket of his care. [Since it changed from my job to to my joy to, yes.] [hmm, that early?] she said. [It took you a long time to tell your boss, didn''t it?] [I didn''t think that to you,] [Am I prying too much?] [You, can''t pry without the gift, love. I just didn''t expect you to hear those thoughts,] [Layers of thoughts. Some on the skin, others deeper, like geology, only more dimensions, more complicated.] He heard the detachment in her thoughts, the patient observer. The scientist he loved was dissecting his thoughts, like Mystery could, but how? [You''re right, Samson. I know what she didn''t want to ask God for.] [Please learn how to avoid overheating.] [Yes. Joy! I''m not going to worry about you being late home any more.] Anabeth said to him as she gave him a final mental caress. Opening her eyes she said, ¡°Maggie? God has given you a student. And fascinating as Samsons thoughts are, I don''t want to die from gazing at them.¡± ¡°Hmm, You mean I might need that cold water anyway? Let''s check. Instead of examining Samson, examine peace. Samson, she''ll go comatose, catch her.¡± ¡°I don''t know how I ended up examining Samson.¡± [Like this] [Oh, yes, I let go and snuggled...] [Well, you don''t need to snuggle anyone but Samson, but you do need to focus and relax your grip on your physical senses.] Maggie had a thought and called, [Rhianna, come and look what our Lord has done.] Maggie thought. [Do I need to move, youngster?] [ I just thought you''d like to see your granddaughter at peace. Hmm maybe.....] [You''re thinking you can take me too?] [Special occasion. Hold on.] Maggie held on to Rhianna''s thoughts and carried them to Peace, just as she might connect them to another thought hearer. She''d never tried it before, and was mildly surprised that it worked. [Still pushing at boundaries, and experimenting, Maggie? ] the infinite Lord of peace asked. [You made me, Lord. Did I do wrong to bring Rhianna?] [You have done well, daughter, to sense Rhianna''s distress. Be welcome, Rhianna, and Anabeth. Soon you will be in a better place than this, Rhianna. Have no fear of the future or regrets for what had to be. Anabeth, daughter, this is a place for healing; lay down your burdens.]
Old Yasfort [Magdalena, this is Maggie.] [Hello Maggie. Long time no contact!] [You''ve been busy. Daisy has come back to us.] [That''s answered prayer!] [And she brought her daughter Anabeth. Who I knew about, Karella knew about, Heather knew about, too, come to think about it. Heather you secretive woman, you didn''t say.] [Me? Secretive? You must have got the wrong person.] [Anabeth.] [Urm, remind me?] [Daisy''s girl.] [What didn''t I say? Innocent, ignorant....] [Fully Trustworthy] [Coming from you that''s quite a compliment.] [I mean every syllable. ] [You think I can see that?] [Ah hmm?] [I saw you next to Kevin, that''s different. But she wasn''t even a thought hearer.] [You knew Karella prayed for her to keep her ignorance about her father, surely? She has her power back, and the gift. And Rachel is going to be sending the two and a half of them in your direction.] [Oh?] [Effects of binary twin stars on exoplanetary atmospheres, comparison of model results to recent bubbleship measurements.] [Sounds like a worthy study programme.] [Its even understandable, too.] [It''s written? I thought you were saying it was going to be her topic!] [Written, examined, corrected and not accepted until a few days ago, because someone thought they would ruin her carreer to get back at her for getting the job they wanted.] [Nasty.] [Yes. Unemployed now too. So, she''s never been off Earth, newly gifted, new to thought hearing at all, and suspects I''ve been dropping a hint or 3 that she''s pregnant but hasn''t been brave enough to ask me yet. When do you want them?] [What''s he?] Maggie asked. [A challenge for you. Heather interviewed him, and made sure they met, if I remember correctly.] [Samson?] Heather asked. [Yes.] [Do you mean we''re going to have to beg Ursula for one of her civil servents?] Magdalena asked. [Serving there counts as civil service, as of last week. But what job do you want to put him in? ] [Oh that sort of problem! What''s he good at?] [He might fit your desire for a reporter, actually.] Heather said. [But it''s rather under-using his skill set. Oh, vaguely connected, has Rachel shown off that fabric she took?] [Albert''s eyes almost popped out of his skull.] Maggie chortled. [Albert?] Magdalena asked. [Oops, Rachel''s message didn''t say? They are very much a pair these days. The press haven''t been in the right spot to see them together, but it won''t be long, they''re not hiding it. Well, maybe they are. But not from family, at least. You''re going to need a new second in command, and that cloth is goingto get a lot of publicity, because Rachel turns out to be quite the dress-maker. I wholeheartedly expect her to be on the front pages wearing a gorgeous irridescent dress sometime soon.¡± [I''m getting more confused every sentence,] Magdalena complained. [Rachel has a plan for some trade-links.] Heather said [Starting with the wall hanging fabric, and making use of a little line in the contract I signed with Maggie''s mum for her support that GemSmith would be able to have space on bubble ships for fairly traded goods. The wall-hanging fabric is a cottage industry that''s starting to fall apart due to lack of demand, so Rachel took some rolls home for her Mum to look at. I guess she got creative on her way.] [Oh. What did she trade for it?] Magdalena asked. [You know she was carving those crystal coasters in her time-off?] [Oh! Right. And the wall-hanging sales person was happy to swap fabric for exotic alien craft?] [Entirely. Except she went with the sales-person to see the producer, and had a little chat about billions of people on Earth and Mars, and every expectation there''d be a high demand for the fabric, but it would be limited by how much could be shipped there, and how few people on the planets were able to make the things she was offering, and how long it took to make, but that they were smaller. But local market for the coasters was going to dry up long before the export market did for fabric, but of course the first few samples in each direction, properly sold, could be extremely valuable, and there were plenty of other alien trade items that could be offered. So what was a fair exchange rate given it was going to make them rich if they handled it properly?] [So that''s where she and Lana went that evening?] Magdalena asked [Yes.] [I thought I was the one who was supposed to be descended from Karella Iron-trader.] [So''s Rachel,] Maggie said, [didn''t you ever hear about why so many GemSmith companies are called Emerald this or that?] [Oh! That''s right!] Magdalena agreed. [So, as the only company with transport rights to alien markets GemSmith''s fortunes are looking up?] [So are ESSCG''s. Heather said. They get a shipping fee. I think it''s three percent of sales price.] [That''s not much.] Magdalena said. [Given how much cash GemSmith have invested over the years,] Heather thought, [I think it''s very generous. I wouldn''t be surprised to hear that Rachel''s first bolt of cloth sells for more than gold.] [Is it really such an impressive material?] Magdalena asked. [Mick thought it looked pretty but the pictures I''ve seen didn''t look that great.] [But you''ve not actually touched it?] Maggie asked. [Feels nice?] [And changes colour.] Heather said. [What, with temperature?] [As far as I can work out, it''s some kind of mechanical, or piezo electric color change,] Heather said. [In other words if you move, it changes colour, and if there''s a breeze, it changes colour, and if there''s a loud noise it changes colour. And, according to Rachel, if you''re somewhere quiet an not moving, it even responds to your heartbeat. The changes move too quickly to see in one direction, but ripple from the point of contact in the other.] [Ripples?] [The blue-green looks rather like sea, if you ask me. Miscellaneous other colours apparently available.] [Well, that does sound like it''ll sell. And it''s now a GemSmith exclusive?] Magdalena asked. [The relevant bit of the contract says: to all goods shipped for trade and related activities, Atlantis trade law applies,] Heather said, [with ESSCG as shipper, GemSmith either recognised as an enabling agent for the deal or the market developer if there are GemSmith associated people involved in the initial trade.] [So Rachel''s inheretance gets even bigger.] Magdalena said [Fair enough, she put in the work, and GemSmith has been wonderfully supportive.] [Yes they have, thanks Maggie.] Heather said, [Oh, I''ve just remembered, there''s also a bit about Svetlana''s heirs getting part of the first shipment, I can''t remember how much, though. Oh, also, Mick has been recorded as enabler, as has Lana.¡± Heather supplied. [Good,] Maggie thought to them, [I was hoping she hadn''t forgotten their role. But Rachel looks like she''s on the way to being queen consort, so GemSmith needs someone else to be heir apparent or caretaker.] [That''ll set the cat among the pigeons. No, wrong metaphor.] Heather thought. [It''s Hannah''s choice entirely?] [The one you''re probably thinking of is reopen ancient wounds, but yes, I''ve left it all up to her these days. There are loads of options. She could decide to put it in a trust for a descendant, she could break up GemSmith among the non-voting shareholders, theoretically she could even sell up to someone she trusts to look after the workers...] [I imagine that idea goes down fairly well with everyone except you, the workers, Rachel, and Hannah.] Magdalena thought. [Less people that that, actually. No, it''s a trust or family member, for a given value of family. And a series of failed businesses doesn''t exactly inspire workers'' confidence, no matter how much we love someone.] [George?] Heather asked, naming Maggie''s youngest son, who was thirty six. [Still going with gut feelings rather than doing all the homework, yes. This last one was a gradual decline rather than a crash, so he managed to recoup his investment before he had to shut it''s doors. But it wasn''t the dramatic turn-around the workers might have hoped for.] [Are you saying no one could have saved the company?] Magdalena asked. [I''m saying that it just wasn''t management, like George thought, it was the competitive market, and the fact he basically had no control over his key costs. I wouldn''t have been able to make a massive success of it as a separate company, without entirely modernising the equipment.] [Is he letting you talk him through what went wrong?] [Claire is, so there is some hope.] [Urm, who is Claire?] Magdalena asked. [The one very positive in the latest takeover fiasco. George has finally met an intelligent godly woman who can see past the rather flamboyant mask he hides behind, and actually connect to his heart. She was the accountant there, so she knew there was trouble, she also saw what he was trying to do, and wants to know why it didn''t work. He actually told her to talk to me.. So I count that as a very a positive sign for the future.] [And there are wedding bells in the future?] [There''s a distinct possibility.] [She''s his age?] [A few years younger. Cautious, as you might expect in an accountant. This is her first clan gathering.] [I hope she survives the experience, then. But we''ve wondered off topic a bit, it''s only Albert taking up the crown, that triggers this, isn''t it?] Magdalena asked. [So if Ursula lives until Albert and Rachel''s children have grown up, Rachel could inherit as planned, couldn''t she?] [It''s a bit more complicated, but yes, almost,] Heather replied. [And that''s not the topic. The real topic is what role Rachel should be offering Samson. You think reporter? Unless Ursula wants to make him a reporter- ambassador like my mum was?] [Want me to drop some hints?] [No. What else might he do? Teacher?] [Well he''s been instructor in practical sneaking and such tasks, plus he''s got good people skills And he''s good with the occasional admin tasks too.] [Record keeper and official archivist?] [Don''t stick him in a dusty office. ] Maggie warned. [I was more thinking of getting people to say what they''re up to. So I know about trade goods going to Earth, for instance.] Magdalena said, somewhat archly. [Any objections to me putting you in touch with Anabeth?] [None at all. Have you introduced her to James and the others, yet?] [Not yet. One at a time is best I think.]
[Maggie? Samson''s asleep. Did you see that I''m pregnant?] [I made an exception and peeked ahead. I don''t know anything about any adventures on the way, but when you''re packing, assuming you''re going, that is, you need to know that you''ll be breast-feeding in nine months, Anabeth.
Ground / Ch. 25:Applicants

Ground / Ch. 25:Applicants

GemSmith offices, the capital, Monday morning. ¡°You seem a little nervous,¡± Rachel observed, as the man entered. He was in his mid-thirties and was practically shaking like a leaf. ¡°I was warned to expect a tough interview,¡± the man said. ¡°Oh? Who said that?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°University receptionist I got the details from,¡± he replied. ¡°Fair enough, I told her we were fairly tough. But please, relax. I''m not trying to catch you out. At this stage, it''s more about trying to judge if you''re someone who can fit into the team. There will be some probing questions, of course. Like for instance, I''ve read your C.V., and I see a gap.¡± ¡°In my employment record?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I was, urm, concentrating on a hobby.¡± ¡°You worked for six months after graduating, and then gave yourself a six month holiday?¡± ¡°I went on tour with a band I was in,¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°That marked the end of the band.¡± ¡°I meant, why didn''t you put it in?¡± ¡°It wasn''t a time I like to bring up at interviews.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Rachel pressed. He sighed, and said ¡°Because when the lead singer of a band you''re in gets convicted of drug-dealing, even though you had no idea and still find it hard to believe, some of the mud sticks. I mean... we were playing, we were travelling, when did he find time? Not to mention what did he do with the money? He still owes me some of my share of the concert takings.¡± ¡°What do you play?¡± ¡°Bass guitar, well, I did.¡± ¡°You''ve given it up?¡± ¡°I''ve left that scene,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Still got the guitar?¡± ¡°Them, yes.¡± ¡°Style of music?¡± ¡°Age of chaos rock.¡± ¡°Oooh, as in ''sex and drugs and rock ''n'' roll?''¡± ¡°I guess that''s where he got the idea from. I just liked the music.¡± ¡°What do you think of Martian styles?¡± ¡°Ah, this is where I step carefully, isn''t it?¡± ¡°I''ve lived there but I''m not a native. Honest answers, please.¡± ¡°I prefer something with more beat and more bite than what I''ve heard from Mars. All that flowing water stuff? Not for me.¡± Rachel smiled, ¡°Ah, you mean export music. What about the local music? Folk roots, by which half of them mean fitting new words to chaos-age melodies.¡± ¡°Oh? I don''t think I''ve heard any of it.¡± ¡°Not even Code Red? To the tune of ''House of the rising sun?''¡± ¡°That''s Martian Folk?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°OK. Urm, reappraisal, I guess I''m a fan of Martian Folk. That song was what got me playing bass.¡± ¡°What about Mer melodies?¡± ¡°I can''t play them, out of my skill-set. What is this? A complete get-to-know my taste in music?¡± ¡°It''s quite simple, really. We don''t have the net out there. There are recordings of course, but reruns get boring pretty early on, and tastes vary too much. Like on Mars, the tendency is to socialise together. If the music is going to drive you crazy, or your music is going to drive others crazy, then you get excluded. You get too excluded, you don''t survive well.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± ¡°Next issue on the social level. Attachments?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Do you have a wife, fianc¨¦e, or significant other figure whose smile lights up your day and who''d have the emotional power to make you change your plans?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± he said. Rachel thought he looked a bit hopeful. ¡°Like me, for instance. I''ll almost certainly not go back, unless my new boyfriend decides he can come along too.¡± ¡°Are there rules about dating?¡± ¡°No oath-breakers. That means Christians and non-Christians don''t even consider romance. There are a few unattached in each category, but not in your age-group.¡± ¡°I''m not opposed to dating someone younger.¡± Rachel laughed. ¡°Sorry, the oldest in the ''someone younger'' category is about six so far. Let''s get on to religious affiliations and attitudes.¡± ¡°Lapsed Catholic,¡± he admitted. ¡°which gets me kicked out the door, I expect.¡± ¡°Were you confirmed?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You''d better sort that out with God, then hadn''t you? Otherwise some Mer might indeed decide you''re breaking an oath.¡± ¡°But I don''t really feel I can go back; too many things I don''t accept. But I do believe in God.¡± ¡°I have been taught that there are good things as well as bad in every human embodiment of God''s universal church, which is of course what ''catholic'' eans. I said sort out your relationship with God, not with a particular denomination. See if there''s another denomination you can accept.¡± ¡°I''ve been meaning to, but...¡± he shrugged, ¡°I''ve not made it a priority.¡± ¡°Tell me about why you applied,¡± ¡°You''re going to laugh, I expect.¡± ¡°You''ve always wanted to meet some aliens?¡± ¡°I''ve always wanted to know what aliens think of God. They really believe in a triune God?¡± ¡°They call him ''the One who is three'', or ''the One who is, and is three''. They used to have a sacrificial system until the light-cone of the crucifixion got there and all the prophets said ''God has done a wonderful thing, there must be no more sacrifices and we must trust in the One''.¡± ¡°The light-cone of the crucifixion?¡± ¡°Yes. You know how physics tells us events on a light-cone are simultaneous. God has told us not to explore past it. The theological implications are yet to be fully developed. I''ve heard some people suggest that us meeting the Groundlings might be enough to trigger a church council.¡± ¡°Dare I ask what their attitude is to iconography? Representations that don''t look like people really do?¡± ¡°They''re shape shifters. They can''t represent people in a way that doesn''t look like a person. They also haven''t had an incarnation. Therefore no images of creatures or animals used in worship. They have religious symbols, such as the three-lobed trinity symbol. chronologically they didn''t have any photography until recently, but they''ve no problem with putting pictures of historic people on the wall. But they''d probably think you were starting a new religion if you dared to start praying to it. That would earn you a hundred day fast, which they think is an appropriate time for meditation.¡± ¡°A hundred day fast?¡± ¡°Yes. They can survive it, I''m told, if they enter a semi-coma state that can cause memory loss but normally brings a new respect for God. But most people wouldn''t do that, they''d try to hang on and then hunger triggers their survival instinct, and they''ll bud themselves, splitting up into a group of clones with no memory of what the parent did, and held innocent by the law. The little ones are then fed and found foster parents.¡± ¡°Wow. That must make an impact on the gene pool.¡± ¡°The gene pool is rather poor anyway. Not much genetic mixing happening. It takes longer takes more trust.¡± ¡°That... sounds rather like bad news.¡± ¡°It is. So is the vanishing ocean.¡± ¡°Why aren''t they panicking?¡± ¡°Because that''s the way of the world, the system has losses. Maybe there''ll be another wet cycle like there was a few hundred years ago when the sea level went up again. They''d view Earth''s water cycle as akin to perpetual motion, I think.¡± ¡°The sea-levels went up?¡± ¡°So their legends say. According to a compilation of them, in the wet cycle was fire in the sky and water in the air, the ground was shaken, the rivers filled and the waters rose year on year.¡± ¡°And you want an exo-geologist to come and look at the rocks, wave a magic wand and tell you if it''s some kind of tectonic action or comets or what?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That''s urm... optimisitic. Do you know how many PhD-decades it took before someone finally worked out what killed the dinosaurs?¡± ¡°I thought the answer was nothing, we just call them birds these days.¡± ¡°Exactly, we didn''t even know what the question was!¡± ¡°The people of Ground have three guesses, depending who you ask. But they didn''t have microscopes until recent months, they relied on what you might call sense of taste instead. So really, experimental geology beyond hitting outcrops with a hammer doesn''t exist there. And they certainly don''t have Mer cutting tools.¡± ¡°Nor do I.¡± ¡°One of the little known facts about the crew that''s out there at the moment is it includes a full-member of the fabricator''s guild. That is to say, if you can accurately describe the tool you need, she probably can make it for you. Want a big version of a rock-cutter that sits on a tripod and drills core samples, lifting them out by forcefield a meter at a time and can go down a kilometer or ten, depending how long you''re prepared to wait, not to mention how much space you''ve got for cores? She''s working on it this week. More complicated forcefield designs might need the help of a forcefield designer, but Queen Heather''s out there too, and she was trained in forcefield design when she was a student, and the bubble ship is an extension of that technology. She says her physics brain is a bit rusty, but it''s slowly getting back in gear.¡± ¡°And I''d really get to play with such magical tools and rub shoulders with the queen-mother?¡± ¡°If you get past the next few interviews, pass the psych exam, take some tests, sort out your relationship with God, take the requisite oaths not to divulge any secrets of the deep, and so on.¡± ¡°The next few interviews?¡± ¡°Yes. You don''t think I''m going to send someone who hasn''t thought it all through, do you? Have you told your parents?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°OK, Dr Denson, between now and this time next week, or arrange another time with the secretary if that doesn''t suit, I want you to speak to your parents and any other family members, read what''s on this crystal ¡ª don''t panic, it should only take an hour or two ¡ª and take some serious steps about getting back in touch with God. If you''re interested in helping us find out what''s going on, that is.¡± ¡°I am, Dr Ngbila, I am.¡±
GemSmith offices, the capital, Monday afternoon. ¡°Please, take seats!¡± Rachel told the family. ¡°You really want to interview us all?¡± asked the boy. He was fourteen. ¡°Unless you''re planning on not all going, in which case, good-bye, I''m not going to split up families.¡± ¡°So, like, if I ran away from home...¡± he said, earning looks of horror from his parents. ¡°You could be picked up by the police in about half an hour, and brought back to your loving parents, and get enrolled in with a psych-counsellor who''d be very interested in exploring your negative attitude to this unique opportunity.¡± ¡°I''m not negative.¡± ¡°No? Then what was that about running away from home?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Well, since I''m talking to you anyway, what do you imagine it''d be like living on a different planet?¡± ¡°School all day, just somewhere different, none of my friends, grown-ups doing grown-up things, no network. I''d probably just read and be bored.¡± ¡°What would you like it to be like? If, knowing what you know about it, all your fantasies came true.¡± ¡°All of them?¡± ¡°Let your imagination run riot,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Hopes, dreams, anything.¡± ¡°There was this one dream. It was weird, not scary like getting eaten by blobs of jelly, but odd. Jessica was there, and we went for walks and watched the twin suns go down. You know, like we liked each other or something weird like that. Then we''d stay in tents in the desert and stay up too late looking at the stars and working at the same time. "Hopes... I''d love to learn the local language and play sports or something with alien kids my age. I''d get to use some really wonderful technology and discover some stuff so that I''d get my doctorate by the time I''m twenty. Not going to happen, is it?¡± ¡°I''m not aware of Jessica''s parents applying, no.¡± ¡°They can''t, they''re dead. Jessica lives with foster parents. She''s a genius, you ought to be taking her.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Rachel looked at Tina, his mother, for confirmation. ¡°Always been good at languages, and maths, she''s skipped ahead two years, and last I heard considered what she was doing to be baby-stuff.¡± ¡°OK, well, the problem with staying in tents in the desert, well, it''s so dry that your eyeballs would dehydrate, so you need a forcefield. That helps with the predators too. Language learning would be a good thing to do. Close-contact sports with the kids your age... might be too risky. So far we know that the common cold is potentially deadly to them, we don''t know about other diseases. But they do do archery. In general, we''re stronger and faster, they''re much more adaptable, not just because they can sprout wings and so on, but their eyes have zoom lenses, so they can really pick out a target.¡± ¡°Cool.¡± ¡°Want to tell me about the wonderful technology you think you''ll be working with?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I dreamt about one bit, no, two, the same dream as with Jessica. There''s this tripod thing, and every minute or two it lifts this rock-core out of the ground, and goes ''ping'' and we have to take it out and lay it on the ground, so it can dig another one up. And then we get this other gizmo, about this big.¡± he gestured with his hand, ¡°and first we press one button and it puts a barcode on the top end of the core, so you know which way is up, you know? But not stickers or ink, it cuts it in with a laser. Then we press another button and scan along the length of the core, top to bottom, and then a third button and it puts a more complicated code on the bottom. Then we put the rock-core on the pile with the others, because it''s too dark to do much else, and then we''ve got another minute to back to looking at the stars. And her hair is past her shoulders.¡± ¡°Does Jessica know how you feel about her?¡± Tina, his mother asked. ¡°That''s the funny thing, I don''t. Her hair''s short and she says keeps it that way so she looks ugly. And she''s right, so she''s just a weird friend from Church. In the dream she was really pretty, though.¡± ¡°Do you get many prophetic dreams, Theo?¡± his father asked. ¡°Prophetic?¡± Theo almost shrieked. ¡°Well, we''re not there yet, are we? And yet there you are, planning your wedding with Jess...¡± ¡°Don''t tease, Steve,¡± his wife chided. ¡°We''ve known Jessica''s foster parents for ages.¡± ¡°Jessica really likes them,¡± Theo supplied, ¡°she really doesn''t want to move on.¡± ¡°Any reason she should?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Jess''s foster-mother''s ill, going down hill.¡± Steve said ¡°Jess can be pretty fragile herself, emotionally. The two together... it''s not good for anyone.¡± ¡°Can''t you foster Jess, mum? dad?¡± Theo asked. ¡°And take her to a dangerous planet where we don''t know of any harmless creatures?¡± ¡°There are a few,¡± Rachel reassured them. ¡°You''re taking me,¡± Theo pointed out. ¡°That''s different, you''re our son. Social services can''t just let us take her away and not be able to do visits and stuff. They''ve got a duty to protect her, you know?¡± ¡°Jess told me once she was old enough to choose her foster parents under Mer law.¡± ¡°Is she Mer?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°Partly,¡± Theo said, ¡°on her mother''s side. I think it was her mother''s mum.¡± ¡°Well, that must complicate things for Social services,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Who''s training her in the womanly arts?¡± ¡°The womanly arts?¡± Tina asked. ¡°Disembowling sharks, blow-darts, that sort of thing?¡± ¡°No one, it''s not come up, as far as I know.¡± Tina said. ¡°Oh dear,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I think social services have seriously dropped the ball there. Even if she''s not being fostered by Mer, they shouldn''t deny her that part of her heritage. Knowing Mer, I expect that there will be treaty provisions about that sort of thing.¡± ¡°You mean that she''d be able to demand to choose her foster parents?¡± Theo asked. ¡°I mean that if she went to the Mer embassy then that might be the last Social Services saw her, but it wouldn''t be the last they heard of it.¡± Rachel said, ¡°I also mean that she probably ought to be fostered by a Mer family, or live somewhere there are lots of Mer around so she can get some remedial training.¡± ¡°Like Ground?¡± Theo asked. ¡°We don''t even know we''re going yet, Theo,¡± Tina pointed out. ¡°Theo''s quite accurately described a couple of devices that are just being designed by a Mer fabricator on Ground, though,¡± Rachel said, ¡°so why don''t we get on with finding out when his prophecy comes true and leave getting Jessica there to others for now?¡±
¡°Jessica?¡± Theo whispered into the phone, ¡°It''s me, Theo. We''re going to Ground.¡± ¡°You are? You lucky dog!¡± ¡°No, we, not me. I just wanted to be the first to tell you. Don''t call back, we''re in a meeting. Bye!¡± ¡°What do you mean? Theo? Theo!¡± But he''d hung up. Then she screamed in inarticulate rage at her unresponsive wrist-unit. ¡°What''s the matter, Jessica?¡± her foster-mother asked. ¡°Theo just rang, whispered something about being in a meeting but that I''m going to Ground like he is and rang off.¡± ¡°Going to ground? What, hiding?¡± ¡°No, Ground, the new planet.¡± ¡°Are you saying you''ve applied?¡± ¡°On my own? No! Don''t be silly.¡± ¡°Would you like to go there?¡± ¡°Yes! If you can''t come, then as soon as I''m old enough.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Bring me the house unit, can you, dear?¡± Her foster-mother said, waving in it''s general direction, and musing on the thought that Jessica probably didn''t know she''d earned a PhD in paleontology before declaring it all far too well known to hold her interest any more. Maybe... maybe there were better things to do with her last few years on Earth. Or not Earth as the case might be. ¡°You''re going to phone his Mum?¡± ¡°Not yet. Close the door as you go out, I need to talk to dad in private, and then some other people in about how to get us all there.¡± ¡°Be serious, mum.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I studied paleontology. It got boring because everyone had found out almost everything already. It doesn''t sound like that''s true on Ground, now, does it? God''s going to call me home in his own good time, and having interesting problems to solve would stop me feeling sorry for myself. Plus of course, if Theo''s going, then having someone his own age to shout at him when he''s being silly might help keep him sane, don''t you think?¡± Jessica grinned, A lot of her relationship with Theo involved her correcting his faults, it seemed. She didn''t know why, but it passed the time.
GemSmith offices, Wednesday morning. ¡°Hello Veronica, Colin, Vivian and Rodger,¡± Rachel welcomed the next family, ¡°Vivian, you look like you''re bursting to ask something.¡± ¡°I don''t know why you need me here,¡± the girl said. ¡°We''ve got really important hockey match today and I''m supposed to be goal keeper. Can''t I please go to the match? I could get to the station on time to join the others, I''m sure.¡± ¡°Vivian, we''ve discussed this,¡± her mother said. ¡°When does the match start, and where?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°It''s up north,¡± her father supplied, ¡°it starts at two o''clock, and we thought it would be fine, but the connections are terrible. First a hypersonic, then two maglevs, with each connection wasting fifty minutes because everything connects in the wrong direction.¡± ¡°And total travel time is what, something like an hour and a half otherwise?¡± Rachel asked, working backwards. ¡°Yes,¡± ¡°OK, Vivian,¡± Rachel said, ¡°If you promise to count this interview as at least as important as the hockey match for your future, your education, your job-prospects and for the key relationships in your life, and if you can agree with your team that you''ll meet them there without upsetting the person who''s expecting to be goal-keeper right now, AND ¡ª this one''s important ¡ª give me the exact coordinates you need to get to, then I''ll get you there on time as long as no one''s declared a no-fly zone in the area or something.¡± ¡°By helicopter?¡± Vivian asked, amazed at the privilege that''d be. ¡°Boring, not very fast, and noisy,¡± Rachel said, ¡°I''ve got a bubble-probe sitting on the roof, though.¡± ¡°We''d go faster than light?¡± Vivian asked, amazed. ¡°You don''t really want to be surrounded by gravitationally shredded bits of atmosphere, do you? It makes an awful lot of radiation and wastes a lot of antimatter. But hypersonic at the edge of space is a real possibility. It depends on where we''re going whether that''s worth getting that high though or not. Deal?¡± ¡°You''re serious?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°Vivian, you''re here because as a family you''re applying to travel more than two thousand light-years away. So far, there are only four people alive that have been there and back, and I''ve been there there and back twice. Let''s compare that with Everest, shall we? Every year for the past two centuries or so about five hundred people get to the top. So there have been a hundred thousand trips up it. Compared to five. That makes going to Ground it about a twenty thousand times rarer than getting to the peak of Everest. It takes a week at warp ten, plus any delays in places you need to stop, and you can''t go faster than that. Well, it''d take a real life-or-death emergency to persuade anyone to go to warp eleven, because it''s so risky. At warp twelve you just can''t navigate or maintain the bubble safely. So, if me taking half an hour to drop you off for a hockey game helps you to realise what you''re getting into and concentrate, then I''ll happily do it.¡± Vivian''s mother, embarrassed for her daughter, who''d gone bright red, said ¡°thank you, Dr Ngbila.¡± ¡°Can I go too?¡± Rodger, Vivian''s younger brother, asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Rachel said, ¡°there''s space for all of you.¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°So, Vivian, you have a call to make, I think,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I can miss the game, I''m sorry,¡± Vivian said. ¡°But there''s no need, is there? You don''t need to let your team-mates down, you don''t need to disappoint Rodger, and you don''t need to miss the chance to fly in a bubble ship. You never know, your parents might decide not to go to Ground after all.¡± ¡°I know the advertisement talked about young families, and ours aren''t exactly young, so thank you for considering us. Has anyone else applied with older children?¡± ¡°Yes. Through to the next stage, there are two families, also with with a fourteen year-old each. They''re long-standing friends, a boy and a girl, not yet girlfriend-boyfriend but all the relevant parents are spotting signs of a deep attachment, sorry Vivian. Then, I''m interviewing yourselves today, then there''s a family with some younger kids, I think seven and ten, coming on Friday, and there''s another family with a fifteen year old son and a twelve year old daughter seriously considering coming, but wondering about boarding school for their son. I''ve said it''s their choice, but we certainly can''t fund it.¡± ¡°And everyone is considering home-schooling options?¡± ¡°Of some kind, yes. I''m encouraging the others to consider the older ones making the most of every informal education opportunity they get, and lending a hand teaching the younger ones. I don''t think any university would consider refusing a student who''d spent a few years on Ground, learned to speak the local language, interacted culturally with the locals, helped out in everything from geophysics, archeology, paleontology, and medical emergencies to report writing and statistical analysis, and had a few ground-breaking papers to their names.¡± ¡°Ground-breaking papers?¡± Rodger asked. ¡°You''re twelve, so it''s been Shakespeare this year, am I right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°OK, Rodger, what if, rather than having to write basically the same end-of-term essay on Shakespeare as every other English-speaking twelve year-old for the last generation or two, your history-and-English project was to talk to kids from Ground about one of their famous plays, and rather than summarising the plot of the Shakespeare play, you summarise the plot of the play from Ground. Then, your Mum or Dad or whoever is teaching you, gets you to read a Shakespeare play, or at least watch a film version, and you learn about life in Elizabethan England, but for your project at the end you compare the themes, see if you can find any that are the same, and so on. You probably get a grown-up to help make the write-up of it sound less like a child has written it ¡ª during which you learn about those things ¡ª but the content is yours, and your name is on it as the main author. "Then it gets published in the ''Young Authors'' section of the ESSCG''s reports. Your summary of the play from Ground ¡ª with a translation of the script even ¡ª would be the first time that anyone from the Solar System had read the play. And that is called a ground-breaking contribution to academic knowledge, and people at universities who want to learn about the culture on Ground will read what you''ve written for a long long time.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°I don''t know I''d want people reading what I wrote when I was twelve,¡± Vivian said, from the lofty age of fifteen. ¡°That''s why I suggested getting a grown-up to help.¡± ¡°So you''re thinking that this sort of... education by doing things would really be acceptable to universities instead of formal qualifications?¡± ¡°Crafts, design and technology: they help Sathzakara Ship-builder to rebuild Mick''s crashed bubble-ship; geology, they help document the strata of Ground, and identify key identifying features in them; astronomy, they ¡ª very respectfully ¡ª study some of the local planets with astronomer Takan of Ground, who''s something like three hundred years old and rose to be a general in their civil war. Biology, they have some knowledge-swapping sessions with Academician Lana ¡ª she''s the one who rescued Mick ¡ª and in exchange teach her how we''d use dyes with a microscope to highlight different parts of plant cells. And so on. That sort of an educational background, combined with a desire to learn more, would certainly be sufficient to get them entrance to study at the Atlantis Academy, assuming they''ve picked up Mer on their way, which they probably will. Mars University would also be happy to accept them.¡± Vivian''s eyes had been growing bigger and bigger as Rachel laid out this plan, ¡°Please can we come?¡± ¡°It''s go, Vivian. I''m not likely to go back.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because someone I''ve liked all my life but I thought wasn''t interested in me asked me out when I met him again a couple of weeks ago. And he''s not allowed to travel much.¡± ¡°Not allowed? Because of his job?¡± ¡°Sort of. Now... part of you getting ready to go to Ground means you''ll need learn things that you need to to keep secret. Secrets that people around you would be really impressed to learn. Things that you wouldn''t learn unless you were Mer, for instance about Mer forcefields and bubble-ships. Things that foreign spies have killed to try to find out. So, I''m going to tell you a little secret, and if you can keep it that''ll be a good demonstration that you can be trusted. And if you can''t then.. well, it would be sad to gossip away your chance to go to Ground, wouldn''t it?¡± Vivian and Rodger nodded. ¡°OK, well, my boyfriend''s name is Albert. He can go to Mars, because with a Mer-built ship he can get back from Mars in a couple of days, but he''s not supposed to be anywhere that he''d be unable to be contacted, or from where getting back would take more than a week. Getting back from Ground might take more than a week, it depends on what gets in the way. And those rules are because when Queen Ursula dies or gets too old, then Albert''s due to be king.¡± Vivian gasped, ¡°and you''ll be queen!¡± ¡°Albert is rather hoping for that, yes. I''m not really looking forward to the being queen bit, but I do like the idea of Albert as my husband. We''ve been careful and kept away from cameras so far, and Albert has been much better at not blurting out that he''s in love than his great-grandfather was. But there have been comments about him looking happy, and rumours are bound to start. At some time you''re probably going to be asked if you''ve heard anything, since you''re getting lifts in a bubble ship from me, the woman who was on the news with Prince John and Karella about Mick''s discovery. And you mustn''t lie, because a thought-hearer will know you''re lying, but you mustn''t tell the truth either. You mustn''t even think ''I mustn''t say anything that Rachel told me'', because a thought-hearer would hear that, too. What you must think is things like ''it is wrong to gossip'', ''what I know or don''t know is nothing to do with these people'', ''keeping secrets means keeping trust'', or if the questioning is getting really pointed, ''I won''t hurt people who have trusted me.''¡± ¡°Would it hurt?¡± Vivian''s mother asked. ¡°I have another seven interviews to do, maybe more. There are more press around every day, just because of the interviews. Imagine what it''d be like if you were someone who got nervous in a crowd and there were five hundred reporters blocking the doorway? People have to work here. If the press were trying to climb into the airvents, like they did last time there was a royal wedding likely, then I''d have to do the interviews in Atlantis or something. Yes, it would hurt. Broken trust always hurts. And in this case, of course, it would also hurt you. What I''ve said is a secret, probably some kind of low-grade official secret, actually, but isn''t a secret of the deep. If you can''t keep my little secret, though, no one is going to trust you with secrets of the deep.¡± ¡°And we don''t get to Ground without knowing them?¡± Vivian''s father asked. ¡°In case of food poisoning, or that sort of thing, everyone travelling a long way on a small bubble ship needs to learn how to get out of the bubble, how to get the computer to locate where you are, how to set off the emergency beacon, stabilize it enough to help yourselves get rescued, things like that. In other words you need some control over the ship. All Mer ships are military vessels, treasure-troves of secret technology ¡ª secrets of the deep. To get to Ground, therefore, yes, you need to be trusted by the High council of Atlantis to know and preserve secrets of the deep. That is why the position announcement spoke about being full citizens of Atlantis after four years. You''ll be honorary citizens before you start there.¡± ¡°I now understand why the initial application form was so long and detailed,¡± he said. ¡°You passed that part, or you wouldn''t be talking to me. Your academic and technical expertise makes you suitable, your attitude is commendable, and so on. Basically this is a get-to-know-you session, to help me judge if you''re ready to uproot yourselves from your friends and family, move to a new world, fit into a new community and so on.¡± ¡°Have you rejected many people?¡± Rodger asked. ¡°Not many, no. It is bad to gossip, remember?¡± ¡°Gossip means talking about people?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Don''t newspapers do that, daddy?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± his father said, ¡°We do. But we''re supposed to make sure that either what they say is not secret or it''s very important that it not be secret.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°And you really think it''s appropriate to have a reporter there?¡± he asked Rachel. ¡°Let me ask you, Colin. Why might Queen Heather, daughter of Alice Findhorn-Bunting, have suggested that having a reporter there would be important?¡± ¡°Because you want the Solar system to know about the people on Ground. It might become a tourist spot, I guess, in a few decades, but... there''s a million alien people there and a lot of stupid ideas about aliens already.¡± ¡°In some ways, if you take on the job, you''re going to have a much tougher job than Alice F.B. ever did. Mars didn''t have flesh-eating monsters that would be right at home in an age-of-chaos B-movie, for instance.¡± ¡°Ground does?¡± Vivian''s mother asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Rachel said. ¡°There are brainless life-forms there that would be quite happy ¡ª if I can use the word happy for a brainless life-form ¡ª to digest your soft bits and leave your bones.¡± ¡°And you need to shoot them up with a big gun?¡± Rodger asked, enthusiastically. ¡°Nope, that wouldn''t really hurt them. If you cut them up you just get two smaller flesh-eating life-forms, or a hundred, or a million that are so small you don''t spot them slowly eating your shoes before they start on your feet. You need to eat onions or garlic so they get poisoned if they try to eat you, then you''re entirely safe against that threat.¡± ¡°And the other threats?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°Wolf-like pack animals that paint one another to show what tribe they''re in, and have a vocabulary of about six hundred words. You could probably out-run one, but a sharp knife or spear is quite effective too. Because they''re intelligent, you may not hunt them, only kill them to protect yourself or others. They think the locals are very tasty, and by the looks of it think that humans might be tasty too. From the other perspective, the locals think they''re very tasty, and the only humans who''ve tried the meat say they taste like they''d imagine a mixture of rotten meat and bread that went mouldy a month ago would taste like.¡± She paused while the children made gagging sounds, before continuing, ¡°And then we''re told that there are cute little fluffy creatures about rabbit size that the doggies hunt too, which if they can will inject one of those wolf things with a fast-acting sedative and then call their friends to the party. They''re called bone-eaters.¡± ¡°They eat their bones?¡± Rodger asked in horror. ¡°And their squishy bits too.¡± ¡°Cool¡± Vivian said, ¡°Revenge of the killer fluffy bunnies!¡± ¡°We don''t know what the sedative would do to humans yet, but if you see a cute little furry bunny-sized thing, then don''t try to pick it up, kids, instead leave the area quickly.¡± ¡°Is this stuff secret too?¡± Colin asked. ¡°Dangerous animals on Ground? No.¡± ¡°So... am I allowed to write about this interview?¡± ¡°You are, yes. Please leave out personal details, but I''ll make it clear if there''s anything that I don''t want published. But there are a few more dangerous animals. Here''s the full pamphlet,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I''m a bit confused about something,¡± Veronica admitted. ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Well, firstly, shouldn''t you be asking me about my past research or something, like that, and secondly, why are you speaking to the children as if we''re going when by the sound of it we''ve got a lot more interviews and things to get through.¡± ¡°OK. Well, it''s quite simple, Veronica. I''ve skim-read your doctoral thesis, your recent publications, and your application form. So have others. You''ve told a truthsayer that you wrote the truth on the application forms, that there''s nothing you know of that would prevent you being able to go, that you think you''re prepared for the total change of lifestyle. You''ve both lived on Mars for a bit so I know you understand about dome-living, that gloop needs some flavouring, and growing your own food isn''t that bad... Basically we''ve agreed that your skills would be helpful. Nothing I''ve seen so far says to me that you''re not going. Your kids have reacted well to everything I''ve said, and all the interviews and things that are coming are to help everyone to be as sure as possible what you''re getting into, that it wouldn''t be a mistake for you to go, and things like that.¡± ¡°In other words, we''re not on a short-list where we''re competing with others, but we''re provisionally on the team already?¡± ¡°Yes. Some people aren''t at that stage yet ¡ª maybe there are questions I''ve got about their application forms, that sort of thing. But I don''t believe in calling people in to interview just to keep them on tender-hooks. Until you decide to withdraw or we discover some reason that it wouldn''t be a good idea for you to go, you''re on the passenger list.¡±
Newspaper Article Going to Ground No, not hiding, but going to talk to aliens. Unless we decide not to, or one of us is discovered to have some kind of physical or mental illness that means we shouldn''t go, that is. Comments from the staff in the office here about us needing to be mad to consider going seem to be muted. To quote A.A.Milne, ''Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday''... (except, apparently it was actually Wednesday), the beautiful post-doctoral researcher in my life, asked me what I thought about her plying her trade on another planet. ''Back to Mars again? I think I could swing it with the boss.'' I replied, thinking of where we''d met. Nowhere nearly that close, came the reply. ''What would I do?'' I foolishly asked. Apparently my beloved had anticipated my question, and she said ''Basically the same job, but a bit further from your office. See what your boss thinks.'' My boss, bless his tiny little soul, took all of thirty seconds from the first mention at the possibility of him getting rid of me for two years or more before he said ''So.. you go there, send us science reports about an alien world the readers can''t get enough of, and maybe even get eaten in the name of Science. If so, we''ll put up a little plaque. Now, where''s the catch again?'' That was Wednesday evening. On Thursday, things really got moving. We got a big pile of forms to fill in, some things to read, and the short and intensely personal questionnaire that anyone whose ever contemplated visiting Atlantis will recognise. Unusually, it actually came in the hands of a truth-sayer. She was very polite, but said, ''don''t bother going filling in the rest unless the answer to all these questions is no, or not-applicable, or the answer to the last one is yes.'' The last one being ''did the above events happen only before you became a Christian if you are one''. We both filled in ''not applicable'' to that box. Apparently, if you murdered your husband, wife or child before becoming a Christian, Atlantis won''t automatically object to you going to Ground. Having filled in lots of ''no''s on the short form, and sworn to the truth-sayer that it was accurate, we were handed a drop-in appointment for basic psychological testing. The truthsayer said that waiting times were quite long at peak times, so it might be a good place to start filling in the long forms. She was right, and according to the report from that test, I''m entirely average on most things except for cynicism. My wife could have told them that. ''Hurry up and wait'' is a common description of life in the military, and for a while I felt that we were in a military operation. They asked if we were free the next day ¡ª last Friday, and as soon as the children were out of school we were whisked off to GemSmith offices where there were forms to fill in, introductory assessments with computers and with people, confirming that we were who our forms said we were, that we''d discussed this as a family, that our kids didn''t mind the thought of going, had we told our parents we were applying (no, we were planning to at the weekend), and filling in yet more forms about work and our attitude to growing our own vegetables, and would we prefer to be vegetarian or eat rabbit? Rabbit''s not kosher, but neither of us are Jewish, and we''ve lived on Mars, ''We''ve eaten it before.'' ''Really, dad?'', ''Yes, son''. ''Have we ever eaten bunny?'' ''I don''t think so.'' ''Why not? I want to eat bunny burgers!'' ''Me too! Less greenhouse gasses!'' My wife and I look at each other in a moment of mutual shock. Why didn''t we know our beloved offspring wanted to eat Peter Rabbit and friends? Did you know that rabbit meat is far less environmentally guilt-laden than beef, pork or intensively-raised lamb and chicken? We just thought our little ones wouldn''t be easy to convince. Apparently they''re past that stage where furry things need cuddles; now they need cooking instead. That''s good, actually, well... almost: apparently there are furry rabbit things in the mountains of Ground that are dangerous killers known as ''bone eaters''. They didn''t manage to get their general-anesthetic-laden claw into the research probe that was filming them, but according to a little data-crystal we got given yesterday, one of them tried as soon as it spotted it. But I''m getting ahead of myself. Due to popular demand, we did indeed find someone to sell us some bunny-burgers, and yesterday we got called back for what we thought was yet another round of pre-interview assessments. We were wrong. We had a very pleasant chat with Dr Rachel Ngbila, who is due to inherit the GemSmith corporation and, as she pointed out, is the only living person to have come back from Ground twice. Four people have now made that round trip. Bubble-ship travel is as safe as anyone can make it, but there have been accidents, and the problem with moving at multiple times the speed of light is you can have no idea what''s going to be in your path at the time you get there. Fortunately the physics of space-time compression means that you can stop instantly, and return to normal space in just a few milliseconds. But what if the reason you''ve just stopped quickly was because of an asteroid that has not only just blocked the path of the star you were aiming at, but it is also sufficiently close that it hits you just after you emerge from bubble-space? There were a lot of reported near-misses and one damaged probe before the navigation program could be changed to make the automatic response if something blocked the view of the navigation star to simply drop to something massively sub-light but stay within the bubble. A collision while in the bubble is not good ¡ª ripping nuclei apart by gravity and accelerating the resultant bits into an established bubble drains power ¡ª but it is unlikely to kill unless the object you run into is a large planet. Dr Ngbila, early in the interview, offered my daughter a lift to a hockey-match in the bubble-ship. Later on, she informed us that although we still had some more assessments to go through, we were on the passenger list unless we changed our minds or something comes up that would make going a bad idea. I have the impression that in Dr Ngbila''s mind the main reason for the personal interview was to judge how our children would react with potentially scary new information and unexpected changes of plan. She deemed their reactions reasonable and told us we were going. I don''t know what she throws at individuals or couples without children, nor where she has had experience dealing with grumpy teen-agers, but she did well. We had been under the mistaken impression that there were a set number of research posts, but no. The main issue for Dr Ngbila seemed to be would we contribute to the research and would we fit in. It seems that the government of Ground have not set a quota on how many people come to look at their planet. So, we''re probably going. Sorry, Mum, it looks like we won''t be visiting for Christmas.
Space, Thursday morning. ¡°Bubble probe 2R25, to Russia approach. I request permission to enter your controlled airspace and land in St Petersburg.¡± ¡°Purpose of your visit?¡± ¡°I have a passenger with diplomatic status from the Restored Kingdom.¡± ¡°Name?¡± ¡°My name is Dr Rachel Ngbila, citizen of the Restored Kingdom and of Atlantis.¡± ¡°And your passenger?¡± ¡°He will identify himself on landing, sir. His Imperial Majesty''s Ambassador in the Restored Kingdom was involved in arranging this flight, with His Imperial Majesty''s full knowledge and approval.¡± ¡°Bubble Probe you are clear to enter Imperial Airspace and dock at the foreign dock of St Petersburg military port.¡± ¡°Thank you sir.¡±
St Petersburg ¡°Welcome to Russia, your highness,¡± the Tsar greeted Albert. ¡°Thank you, your Imperial Majesty,¡± Albert replied, ¡°let me introduce Dr. Rachel Ngbila, who I have known for most of my life, and who, as the Mer say, I now walk together with.¡± ¡°Welcome to Russia then also, Rachel. So, is it just a social visit? The ambassador said not quite.¡± ¡°Her Imperial Majesty Svetlana the Great supported the Bubble Ship Research programme most generously, Imperial Majesty. Under the terms of that support, I have an obligation to the Imperial House of Russia, thanks to something I brought back from Ground. Meaning no disrespect, I remind your Imperial Majesty that the terms state that one third of the demonstration sample (if it is a significant quantity) or of the first significant shipment belong to your house, sir. I don''t imagine I will be the only person to bring back something that could be traded, either, so my colleagues would like to know how they should discharge future obligations to your Imperial House. Albert was kind enough to arrange the visit... Otherwise I imagine it would not have been easy for me to ask such questions in person.¡± ¡°Mother would have been pleased to hear the programme was bringing results, scientific as well as material. But what exotic item have you brought back with you?¡± ¡°A cloth, Imperial Majesty,¡± she handed him a handkerchief-sized square of it. ¡°It is used as a wall-hanging on Ground, because as shape-shifters they do not wear clothes. As you see, it feels a bit like a warmer version of silk and changes colour when touched or when there is a loud noise. I brought back three bolts of it, two of which like that sample change between blue or green. The third changes between red and yellow.¡± ¡°Ah, and the red and yellow one is for us?¡± ¡°I would not presume to dictate, Imperial Majesty. I used some of one bolt to make myself a dress, but have the other two bolts in the ship.¡± ¡°Strictly speaking, it ought to be a third of the red-yellow and two thirds of the blue-green, shouldn''t it?¡± Albert interjected. ¡°I leave the choice to his Imperial Majesty,¡± Rachel said. ¡°And I leave the choice to my wife and daughters,¡± the Tsar said. ¡°What can you tell me about the manufacturing process?¡± ¡°Very little, imperial Majesty. I can tell you it is a cottage industry on Ground, but that the local demand is reducing because of changes in fashion. I''m fairly sure that at least part of the process involves secretions from the producer themselves, quite possibly all of it. ¡°A bolt of fabric takes perhaps a month to produce, and different producers make different colours, but there are only three colour-pairs on the market. Also, no one can tell the producer once they''re on the shelf. Apparently there is quite a lot on the shelf... I exchanged them for some of my own craft-work which I''d signed. I''m sure Magdalena''s signature would be worth more, as she''s far more famous there, but she''s not really into handicrafts. So, they considered the rarity value of what I was offering, the fact that I was providing support to Magdalena when she broke lots of rules and rescued Jakav, and they decided it was a more than fare trade.¡± ¡°And you expect to be importing lots of this cloth in the future?¡± ¡°I expect that three bolts of it will be coming back with each supply ship ¡ª which I think are planned for four to six a year.¡± ¡°So the cloth will be very rare.¡± ¡°That is the expectation with all trade with Ground, Imperial Majesty. There is not much space on a supply ship, and we are bound by Atlantis trade laws ¡ª only material that is in surplus or plentifully available can be traded, and never at rates that do not give fair profit to both sides.¡± ¡°You will become very rich. The person who made this cloth too?¡± ¡°The three people who made the cloth, and the person who introduced me to them and who will rent out what I traded. Their society is not as unequal as ours, nor as large. Even the richest could not afford to buy many great luxuries. Instead, they are normally rented out. The people who made the cloth ought to derive a regular income from the pieces I made.¡± ¡°Until they are broken.¡± ¡°I traded crystal coasters.¡± Rachel said, ¡°I doubt anyone will manage to break one by accident.¡± ¡°Ah. You have the instinct for business, I see.¡± ¡°I was raised to look after the family company, Imperial Majesty.¡± ¡°Hmmm, yes. Future trades are likely, you think?¡± ¡°I see no reason they should not be,¡± Rachel replied. ¡°And it is, as I presume you correctly supposed, a family and not a state matter.¡± ¡°I had help reaching that conclusion: I discussed the matter with Queen Heather before I left Ground.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, of course! I had not remembered that honoured lady is there. Hmm, she will be staying there long?¡± ¡°She said nothing to me about leaving, Imperial Majesty. I believe she is quite enjoying herself being in the middle of a research community again.¡± ¡°Very good. Very good. You are named as contact person for the question of water-loss on Ground, are you not?¡± ¡°Yes, Imperial Majesty. I hope to speak to the Imperial University and the Imperial Academy of Sciences, regarding the apparent lack of interest from their staff, and to discover if somehow a mistake in communication or in procedure had been made.¡± ¡°No mistake,¡± The Tsar said. ¡°It is simply that land on Mars and citizenship of Atlantis are not great inducements for most, and there has not yet been a formal decision on the issue of academic cooperation.¡± ¡°You are very well informed, Imperial Majesty.¡± ¡°You are not the only young person interested in the results of that deliberation.¡± He pushed a button on his desk, and spoke to the servant who entered, ¡°Please inform my wife and daughters that Prince Albert and Dr Rachel Ngbila are about to be offered a cup of tea, and they will then escort any of them who wish to go to the bubble ship parked in docks. Those who go may then choose which of two rolls of an exotic fabric that has come from the planet Ground belongs to the family, and also discuss other matters.¡± ¡°All your daughters, Imperial Majesty?¡± ¡°You may inform Anastasia that I expect her to talk to Dr Ngbila. And that if she wishes to hand her something, she may.¡± Ground / Ch. 26:Fabric

Ground / Ch. 26:Fabric

St Petersburg docks, 2pm Thursday afternoon, 2361 ¡°It is beautiful,¡± Anastasia said in quiet Mer, ¡°the messenger did not make a mistake? My Imperial father said I could give you some paperwork?¡± ¡°I did not know you spoke Mer, Tsarevna Anastasia,¡± Rachel replied, to the Tsar''s second-youngest daughter. ¡°I was surprised that your Imperial father spoke English to the servant. Your Imperial father did not speak of paperwork. However, if the message was that your he expected you to talk to me, and that you could hand me something if you wished, then the messenger did not make a mistake.¡± ¡°I wonder what made the difference?¡± Anastasia said, more to herself than to Rachel. In her quiet, unassuming voice she continued, ¡°Mer is rapidly becoming an important world language, is it not? My first degree was in chemistry. I have since been studying Terrestrial and Extra-Terrestrial Geology and geochemistry, including two years at Mars University. My doctoral thesis has just been accepted. I would like to study the geology and geochemistry of Ground as well. I am also a truthsayer.¡± ¡°You show great trust in me, Tsarevna, thank you.¡± ¡°It can save embarrassment, later on. I believe it also counts in my favour, meaning that in my fathers eyes I am less vulnerable to plots than the average noble.¡± ¡°And thus you were able to study?¡± ¡°We all studied, but I was able to study without going to as great lengths to protect my identity. It is not too late to apply?¡± ¡°It is not too late. You have visited Atlantis?¡± ¡°Yes, and I am neither shark nor shark-food.¡± ¡°The group are not at all strong in the geological sciences. Nor are they at all well-supplied with single women.¡± ¡°You mean, if I go then I will have suitors?¡± ¡°There is just one geologist, he is single, and asked if there was anyone he could date. I imagine that if you were to work with him then he would be seeking to win your affection within a few days, yes. When I spoke to him last he called himself a lapsed Catholic, but that he could not agree with that part of the church on many points. I suggested he should make it a priority to renew his relationship with God. If he claims to have done so, and a truthsayer confirms it, I would not have a reason to turn down his application.¡± Anastasia closed her eyes in silent prayer, ¡°I am a Christian, and single, and one of the arguments my father gave against me going was that there would not be many suitable husbands for me on Ground. If I volunteered to be the truthsayer who listens to his confession or faith, what would that do to my application?¡± ¡°You want to meet this potential suitor as soon as possible?¡± Rachel asked. ¡°I long to go to Ground, for so many reasons. But if there are only the two of us as single people, and I were work closely with this man, and he was unsuitable, yet he did not take no for an answer... I think it would quickly become an impossible for me to work. I would value the opportunity to meet him where I can hide behind my mask, where he does not know I am evaluating other things as well as his honesty.¡± ¡°Do you feel that is fair? To him, I mean?¡± ¡°Not particularly. But I do not want to get to Ground and then be pestered for what feels like a lifetime.¡± ¡°There will be a number of opportunities to meet before getting to Ground. The initial group of researchers arrived together, I wish to avoid thoughts of ''them'' and ''us'' but a certain amount of that is inevitable. Travel will be different between the two groups too. They travelled in the space-folding laboratory, but that is hospital as well as home and office for most of them. This second influx of researchers will have to travel in smaller ships, which means from Mars, realistically. But before you all meet on Mars, there will be plenty of planning meetings.¡± ¡°Dr Ngbila,¡± ¡°Rachel, please.¡± ¡°Thank you. Rachel, I''m not opposed to the idea of a suitor, but I believe my parents would be opposed to the idea of one who they had not met and approved of, even if the man himself did not know he was being considered in that light.¡± ¡°And my daughter would much prefer this also,¡± Anastasia''s mother chipped in, in English, ¡°But it is a simple matter, Anastasia. Your father will add a sentence or two to the bottom of Dr Ngbila''s description of what benefits accrue to expedition members in good standing after suitable time, and we will use that as an excuse to invite all members to the Palace. And perhaps your father''s sentence will also encourage some of your colleagues to apply also.¡± ¡°Thank you mother,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°I... I thought you were opposed to the idea of me going.¡± ¡°Only because you were so hesitant, Anastasia Kristovna. Two or five years is a long time at any stage of life, but especially at a time when so many life-changing decisions are made.¡± ¡°Is there a maximum number of places, Rachel?¡± Anastasia asked. ¡°I believe the cavern would be able to house about three hundred. But if there were that many going then we''d need a bigger bus. An additional twenty, including children, and in a variety of subjects, would be about what I was thinking of. Included in that twenty are six candidates waiting to be interviewed on Mars.¡± ¡°I imagine it is not hard to get to Mars with this ship,¡± the Tsarina said. ¡°It depends on the time of year, but no, as long as the planets are not aligned with the sun, it does not take long. But I would not like to bounce between planets too much. It takes time to adjust.¡± ¡°Mother, do you know what father plans to add?¡± ¡°Yes, dear. We''ve been discussing it. Those who take such risks without seeking financial gain are working for a noble cause. Formal recognition of that through ennoblement for those who are willing to take the appropriate oaths seems only appropriate.¡± Anastasia nodded, ¡°and it is in keeping with the other honours. Thank you, mama.¡± ¡°Do you think it would appeal to your colleagues?¡± ¡°Ludmilla has a title, but otherwise, I believe so.¡± ¡°Ludmilla has excluded herself in other ways, and her behaviour is not really consistent with her keeping her title much longer. Perhaps it would be kind to Dr Ngbila if you alerted the others that she is here, in case they are sitting on completed application forms like you have been.¡± Switching to Mer, Rachel asked, ¡°Would you be able to vouch for them, your highness? That they are not shark or shark-food to your knowledge? And normally there are quite a number of pre-interview tests, much like the ones taken to become a truthsayer.¡± ¡°I will contact only those I can vouch for.¡± Anastasia said.
Duchess of Moscow Court, 3pm ¡°Friends,¡± Anastasia said, once everyone had arrived at her flat. ¡°Dr Rachel Ngbila is currently talking to the Imperial Academy, after which she''ll come here. She''s accompanied by his Royal Highness prince Albert of the Restored Kingdom and before any of you get their hopes up, they spent a lot of the time I was talking to them holding hands. As you might expect, they''re being accompanied by some of the palace''s most competent agents. And... I''ve a little confession to make, about how I knew Dr Ngbila was here.¡± ¡°Your flat is in a more exclusive area that I thought it was, too. You brought us in through some kind of back-entrance last time?¡± Tatyana asked. ¡°I did, yes, and then got well and truly told off for not letting the security guards do their jobs.¡± ¡°You''re not going to tell us you''re actually the Duchess of Moscow, are you?¡± Maria asked. ¡°No... that''s an aunt, on my father''s side.¡± ¡°On your father''s side?¡± Mikhail asked, deciding that meant her father must have been Svetlana the Great''s son. Her only son. ¡°Gulp.¡± ¡°I think Mikhail Borisovich has just worked out why he has never met my parents at open days or graduation,¡± Anastasia said, ¡°that wasn''t meant to be such a big clue.¡± He''d asked why they never came to the university, when in his experience everyone''s parents came to be proud of their children at such times. He''d been really sweet, actually, hoping she wasn''t an orphan, or her parents sick. ¡°I apologise if I have given offence in any way, Tsarevna,¡± he said, formally. The others gasped. ¡°You will if you go throwing titles around like that,¡± Anastasia retorted, ¡°but he''s right. I''m daughter number five. My Imperial father has decreed that the Ground project is a noble task. One that will, if completed competently, with good conscience and if then followed by a vow of nobility, result in the ennoblement of those who have served there. Quite which level of nobility, I really do not know. I do know that there are no baronies in Russia vacant, which is by far the most difficult noble position to fill. It may be that he has in mind a title over the tundra or taiga on Mars, which would be more of a technical-administration post than an legislative one. But in any case there is no such thing as a noble rank without an ongoing duty, a home, an income, a pension, and access to royalty. If your desire is to stay in research, then do not take up the vow. If you see research as a step to a stable administrative position, then perhaps you should think of it. The other thing he has said is that I should tell my trusted friends ¡ª you ¡ª who I am, and that as far as Dr Ngbila and I know, I will be going to Ground. I would like to not be the only Russian present, I would like to not be the only single woman our age present, especially as there is a young single man from the Restored Kingdom going. It would not be bad if there was another young man going.¡± Mikhail, the only male in the group, said, ¡°Anastasia are you saying...¡± ¡°I am saying, Mikhail Borisovich, that I know you all well enough and I trust you enough that I have told Dr Ngbila you are all genuine Christians and neither shark nor shark-food. That is all I mean. But we all also know that in the context of data-gathering field-trips, one single man in the company of one single woman is a very bad idea and with two or three single women is not the best situation either, and that a man he can talk to and pray with and so on is much healthier.¡± ¡°Not to mention vie with over our affections?¡± asked Maria. ¡°I''ve not noticed Mikhail Borisovich doing much vying, have you?¡± Tatyana asked. Mikhail blushed. ¡°Surrounded by so many of us, and seeing us at our kind and considerate best so often, can you blame him for hoping to find love elsewhere?¡± Anastasia rebuked her friend. ¡°So are you suggesting we draw straws? One gets Mikhail, one gets the mysterious stranger, and anyone else going suffers years of loneliness?¡± Maria asked, ¡°I am suggesting that for anyone who wants to find love and raise a family, then Ground isn''t the place to go. But alternatively maybe if you''re not picky it is because there''s not going to be much choice. I just don''t want it to be a case of me having to leave because there''s just me and one guy who thinks that makes us an instant couple.¡± Anastasia said, quite sure this wasn''t going how she''d hoped it would. ¡°I have considered applying,¡± Mikhail said carefully, ¡°and honestly could not make up my mind. If you would feel more comfortable with me as friend, bodyguard, or merely as a counter-balance to the assumptions of this unknown, then I am happy to apply at your request, Tsarevna.¡± ¡°And when you use my title like that, I think you are swayed by it.¡± ¡°I am. But if it were to be Anastasia who asked me to go with you, I think I would believe you were asking because you had real feelings for me, no matter what you said. An imperial princess has additional concerns to merely the question of does she want to go somewhere with a high chance of being pursued by a foreigner just because she''s the only single woman around.¡± Tatyana looked curiously at Mikhail ¡°Since we''re on such dangerous ground already, can I ask, Mikhail Borisovich. Is that why you''ve always been so infuriatingly unmoved by any of our attempts to get you to show a preference for one of us? Because you don''t like the assumption that one of us in going to get you?¡± ¡°I expect he didn''t think any of us were serious, and that we were just Mikhail-baiting as a form of amusement,¡± Maria said. ¡°Well, you were weren''t you, Maria?¡± Anastasia accused. ¡°Not all the time. He''s a nice guy, one of the nicest around, and if you weren''t a princess I''d very tempted to go to Ground just so you don''t get him all to yourself, Anastasia.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Tatyana chipped in. "We now begin our Bible study on the verse ''you shall not covet your princess''s boyfriend'',¡± Yulia, who probably had the sharpest humour of the lot of them, said. Mikhail winced. ¡°I am not the Tsarevna''s boyfriend, Yulia. I think I''m her friend, and I guess I now know why she''s never played little games about who can out-flirt whom, which is what it''s felt like. Just for the record, you''re all attractive, you''re all Christian, but I don''t really trust any of you to not make fun of me except Anastasia, who''s not interested and now I discover is so high in the nobility that I never stood a chance. Maybe I shouldn''t go to Ground, highness, because I''ll keep on hoping it was Anastasia who wanted me to go with her and I might end up pestering you more than the foreigner.¡± He got up, and reached for his coat, embarrassed at his outburst. But couldn''t stop himself saying ¡°and I am a thought hearer, so thank you to those of you who''ve decided you''d just pushed me too far, yes, you have. Don''t blame yourself for bringing up the topic Anastasia, it was them, and history and things like that.¡± ¡°Mikhail, wait!¡± Anastasia said, as he reached for the door handle, Switching to Mer, which she knew he spoke, she said. ¡°If you must leave, then do not leave without hope. I do not know if it is the princess or Anastasia who asks you to come. But I ask you come, and I ask you to sit beside me, which I''ve just realised you never do.¡± ¡°If you command, I will sit with you, highness.¡± ¡°I cannot command you, Mikhail Borisovich. Unless you are a noble yourself?¡± ¡°My grandmother had the honour of serving your father''s mother, highness. But I am not noble.¡± ¡°Then we have much more to talk about than geology. Please?¡± she moved along the sofa to make space for him. ¡°What just happened?¡± Maria asked, not understanding the Mer, or Mikhail''s shifting moods, or why he was suddenly sitting down beside her. ¡°Did you just ask him out, Anastasia?¡± ¡°No. I just asked him not to leave, he said only if I made it a royal command, I pointed out I can''t command commoners, and said ''please'' instead.¡± ¡°There was more to it than that.¡± ¡°A bit,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°But it''s really none of your business, Maria, unless Mikhail Borisovich wishes it known.¡± ¡°My grandmother spent many hours in this court, though I don''t know which flat,¡± Mikhail said, ¡°first as a child and then eventually as a royal secretary.¡± ¡°Is she still alive?¡± Anastasia asked. ¡°Yes. And well cared for, Tsarevna.¡± ¡°And your grandfather?¡± ¡°He also, though he is not so mobile as he used to be.¡± ¡°And they live in St Petersburg?¡± Anastasia asked, ¡°Or Atlantis, maybe?¡± ¡°St Petersburg, though they do visit Atlantis sometimes.¡± ¡°You also?¡± ¡°I''ve been a few times, visiting cousins.¡± ¡°The things you suddenly learn about someone you think you know!¡± Maria said. ¡°All it took was a few questions too.¡± Tatyana said ¡°And some insider knowledge? You know his grandmother, Anastasia?¡± ¡°I think she probably explained spear-fishing to my sisters and me, when I was four or something like that.¡± ¡°And you are the one who then tried it in the fish-ponds?¡± Mikhail asked. ¡°I did, yes, and your great-grandfather made a crystal cover over them, basically to keep me out.¡± A thought occurred to her, and she grabbed his hand [Are you sufficiently Mer to be allowed a rock-cutter, Mikhail?] [{shock} You hear thoughts?] [Not at all, I just do this as a reaction to exciting thoughts. Rock-cutter?] [Yes.] [And drive your great-grandfather''s extruder?] [I have done.] [And are you any good at engraving coasters?] [What on Earth? I''m not bad, if there''s a tracing I can follow. I''m not good on the imagination bit. Why are you so excited? ] [I''m coming over all Martian.] She sprung up and said aloud, ¡°I''m going to the kitchen to make some teas and coffees. Will you walk with me, Mikhail Borisovich?¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± Mikhail said, then as they got to the kitchen he added, ¡°You realise that was an ambiguous question.¡± ¡°And one like it caused all sorts of trouble for your great-grandparents didn''t it?¡± ¡°You phrased it that way deliberately?¡± ¡°Deliberately delightfully dangerously ambiguous. Yes. Can we keep it ambiguous for now? To be revisited when I''m not so excited?¡± ¡°What are you excited about?¡± ¡°Rachel Ngbila came here to deliver some beautiful cloth to my family, from Ground. A treaty obligation that a third of the first real shipment belongs to the Imperial House. She got it in trade for coasters. Of course, she being famous there, etcetera will get a better deal than we would, but ornately etched crystal coasters are potential trade goods. I can do ornate designs, it''s a hobby, but I don''t have a rock-cutter.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Ah, so you''re just falling for my access to high technology?¡± ¡°No, I just like you and like the way we''ve got family ties of a sort. And I like the way that you said ''I never stood a chance'', which implies you''ve liked me quite a lot for a long time and I just didn''t notice. And all the little kind things that you''ve said and done take on a slightly different significance.¡± ¡°I''m over-stating it to say the others made a game of throwing themselves at me, but...¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°If you''d have done it too I don''t know if I''d have grabbed you or turned away in disgust.¡± ¡°I think Maria might see what I''ve done as not so different to what she''s tried.¡± ¡°Urm. That''s a scary thought.¡± ¡°Then let''s resolve ambiguity. I like you, Mikhail. I did not think I had a suitor in you at all, and I prayed this morning that I would not face the situation of a complete stranger being my unwanted suitor. I admit, when I called everyone together, I thought how awkward it would be if only you and one of the others came with me and she had caught your attention before we left, and I sort of hoped there might be another solution.¡± ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever seen you this happy.¡± ¡°I don''t think I''ve felt this happy recently. But I''ve done the ambiguous question which could be seen as incredibly flirtatious. I hope you''ll allow me to rely on you to resolve ambiguity." ¡°Are you saying you''d like me to ask you to walk with me?¡± ¡°Only if that''s what you want to.¡± ¡°I''m still confused. And what has the cloth has to do with anything?¡± ¡°Can we stick to one topic? Oh, and I''d better put the kettle on too.¡± ¡°You most certainly had,¡± Yulia said coming down the corridor. ¡°Three teas and two coffees, and five of us wanting to know what you were doing grabbing Mikhail''s hand and practically dancing down the corridor.¡± ¡°I got excited about a trading opportunity.¡± ¡°Trade?¡± Yulia said. ¡°You got excited about trade?¡± ¡°About trade and about being allowed to be a bit Martian again,¡± Anastasia said, ¡°Imperial princesses aren''t supposed to have chipped fingernails from gardening work while on Earth, but Mikhail Borisovich has a rock-cutter or can get one, and engraved goods are trade-items on Ground.¡± ¡°So it''s about trade and getting your fingernails chipped, and nothing about wrapping poor Mikhail Borisovich about your finger?¡± ¡°Anastasia''s finger would be a much friendlier place to be than being the only worm amongst a flock of birds,¡± Mikhail said, ¡°which is a bit what it felt like earlier.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Yulia said. ¡°I forgive you.¡± ¡°So you two aren''t in here planning happily-ever-afters? Even though it looked very much like it?¡± ¡°I think that''s a bit ambiguous at the moment, isn''t it, Tsarevna?¡± Mikhail asked. ¡°At the moment, yes.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Yulia asked. ¡°On one level, it means we''re talking, rather than assuming.¡± Anastasia said, ¡°On another, it means I''m waiting for Mikhail Borisovich to feel bold enough that he can ask me something. On yet another, it means that perhaps I ought to say now that everyone''s invited for dinner tonight.¡± ¡°You don''t have time to cook for us all, surely?¡± Yulia asked, getting the cups out of the cupboard. ¡°Or enough dishes.¡± ¡°I don''t, no. But Mama suggested it would be nice to meet you all, and Daddy agreed, so you''re all invited and expected.¡± A cup crashed to the floor, and its handle broke. ¡°Oops. My bad timing, Yulia, don''t fret,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°You''re serious?¡± Yulia asked. ¡°I''m going to let Mikhail phone home first,¡± Anastasia said, ¡°Shall we tell the others before they get hot drinks to spill?¡± ¡°I think you ought to, yes.¡± ¡°There''s the phone, Mikhail. Entirely not bugged, so I''m told, but feel free to ask the person listening in to see if they can confirm it.¡± Seeing his confusion she said ¡°that was supposed to be a joke. Sorry. Tell your family, and pass my greetings to your grandparents, too.¡± ¡°Tell them what precisely?¡± ¡°Well to start with, that you''re eating at the palace, that''s just polite. You''d better tell them who passed on the invitation too, hadn''t you, otherwise it''ll be a bit hard to greet your grandparents from me. Just don''t let your tea get cold,¡± she said. Pressing the cup into his hand, she thought to him [You can tell them what I asked, too, if you like.] [You asked me to leave things ambiguous until you''re not excited any more, then talked about me deciding when to ask. I don''t understand.] [Ignore the request to wait, it was silly. I just want the unambiguous question to come from you,] Anastasia thought to him. And before he could reply, let their fingers separate. ¡°Tsarevna Anastasia Kristovna, before I talk to my family...¡± ¡°Yes, Mikhail Borisovich?¡± ¡°Will you walk with me?¡± ¡°From Anastasia, the answer is yes. From her Imperial Highness the Tsarevna... I will introduce you tonight as the kind young man who has hoped to ask me to walk with him for a long time, but whose feelings I failed to interpret correctly. If my parents object to the idea, which I do not expect, I will try to convince them. If they still object, I will ask them to not give a definitive answer immediately, and will seek to convince them this evening. If they still object tomorrow... I hope they will not. As a noble my father can command me. Come along, Yulia, don''t faint.¡± ¡°You didn''t notice how he kept looking at you?¡± Yulia asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I think the rest of us all thought you knew but just didn''t want to encourage him.¡± ¡°Well, let''s see if anyone faints at the thought of dinner at the palace, shall we?¡± ¡°Or witnessing a stand-up row between you and the Tsar?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Anastasia mused. ¡°It''s been at least a fortnight since we had one of those at dinner time.¡±
Mikhail''s home ¡°Svetlana, can you call Mummy?¡± Mikhail said to his younger sister. ¡°Mummy''s in the kitchen,¡± his sister said. ¡°I''m not surprised, the news review is on the radio. Tell her I''ve been invited to dinner at the palace, and I''ve got more news too.¡± ¡°Oooh, can I listen?¡± ¡°Yes, Svetlana, you can listen.¡± It didn''t take long before his mother came into view. ¡°Hello Mummy, guess where I am,¡± Mikhail said. ¡°That''s not your kitchen, and why aren''t you at work?¡± ¡°Not my kitchen, no. The office Bible study group from university got a Royal invitation to the Duchess of Moscow Court, about the expedition to Ground. Dr Ngbila''s actually in St Petersburg and will meet us here later.¡± ¡°And you''re really going to apply?¡± ¡°Yes, mama. Anastasia Kristovna has already been accepted and would like me to go too. Urm, we have decided we''d like to start walking together.¡± ¡°Anastasia Kristovna your work colleague? The one who you described as very nice but a bit withdrawn, like she was a secret high noble?¡± ¡°Yes, Mummy. This is her flat, and she''s a lot more relaxed here. Some of the others have visited but didn''t realise, I guess.¡± ¡°You''re going to be walking together with someone who lives at Duchess of Moscow Court?¡± his mother asked. The implication was clear to her: a royal relative, and with a patronymic of Kristof, there weren''t many possibilities of who she had as a father. His mother could only think of one. ¡°Yes, Mummy, well, we hope so. Her father needs to give permission. Actually... Anastasia remembers Grandma teaching her about spear fishing and great-grandpa protecting the fish from her, and sends her best wishes to Grandma and Grandpa.¡± ¡°But that story was about one of the princesses!¡± Svetlana burst out. ¡°Yes, Svetlana, exactly,¡± Mikhail said. ¡°Can you believe that after working out who I was she actually said, ''I''m going to make tea in the kitchen, will you walk with me?'' In memory of great-grandma and great-grandpa?¡± Her mother said. ¡°She asked you?¡± ¡°Ambiguously, yes. Urm.. context.. The trip to Ground, she''s already been accepted, but there''s no other single women and one single man on the list too. She said she didn''t want that sort of pressure, and then the whole me being the only guy among lots of girls thing was getting a bit out of hand, and I over-reacted and said some things I wouldn''t have normally. I''d almost left in acute embarrassment at saying them but then Anastasia called me back. Apparently she didn''t have any idea I liked her. Somehow I said something about Grandma working for her Grandma, and she worked out who I was. It''s all a bit of a blur since then. But we do like each other, we are unambiguously planning to walk together, assuming she gets her father''s permission, and then go to Ground together assuming I pass the interview.¡± ¡°Well! How does that work if you don''t decide it''s not going to work out?¡± ¡°I have no idea, mother, no idea at all. Except of course there''s just been two semi-royal weddings there. Somehow, I expect we''ll come home though.¡± ¡°Are we allowed to we meet her?¡± Svetlana asked. ¡°Not for dinner tonight, that''s certain. I''ll have to ask.¡± ¡°She''s not there?¡± ¡°She''s letting me tell you in private while she shocks the others with dinner at the palace. I''ve heard screams of ''I can''t wear this to the palace''.¡± ¡°You''re not exactly in your best suit.¡± ¡°I know mummy, so does Anastasia. I don''t know if I get to rush home and change or something more complicated happens. Grandma can probably guess better than I can.¡± ¡°So can I. At least, I used to get torn away from my homework to go and collect things.¡± ¡°Was that bad?¡± Svetlana asked. ¡°No, dear. And their Majesties were very good at giving me a letter for school.¡± ¡°Mummy?¡± Svetlana asked. ¡°Did you know the Tsar when he was little?¡± ¡°Yes, Svetlana. I was a lot younger than him though. Anything else to say, Mikhail?¡± ¡°Just that I love you, mummy, and I''ve no idea when I''ll be home.¡± ¡°I''ll try to remember to pack your toothbrush too. First impressions count, after all.¡±
Duchess of Moscow Court, 4.30pm ¡°Sorry, we''re so late, it that took longer than we expected,¡± Rachel said. ¡°I don''t think we''ve been wasting our time,¡± Anastasia said, ¡°Let me introduce everyone. Crown prince Albert of the Restored Kingdom, Dr Rachel Ngbila, co-discoverer of Ground, allow me to introduce Mikhail bn Renata bnt Krista Olga Xavier hi Yuri Yelena Mikhail hi Boris bn Zelda Mia Sean hi Thomas Zelda Tristan. If any of those names mean anything to you. Assuming my parents agree, Mikhail Borisovich and I have just worked out that we''d like to walk together. Then, still looking gobsmacked at that news, my true identity and the meal invitation, we have Tatyana, Yulia and Maria, who you will find the most vocal of the group, and then sitting more quietly we have the twins ¡ª can I give your positions?¡± ¡°Yes, Tsarevna,¡± the twins said, in unison. ¡°We have the twins, ladies Freya and Yelena, daughters of grand-duke Yuri of Kaliningrad and Smolensk, who are almost noble, but stand to inherit no title. Interestingly enough, we''ve worked out that Yelena is named after Mikhail''s great-grandmother, Freya is named after a friend of hers and both Yuris are named after the same unorthodox general.¡± ¡°It''s a small world,¡± Albert agreed. ¡°And of course I have heard of Yelena and Mikhail; my grandfather knew them in Atlantis. I can''t help wondering if Yelena''s professional skills were passed down the family, but that''s probably a secret.¡± ¡°Very probably,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°I can assure you that I certainly don''t have them,¡± Mikhail said, ¡°Though I did grow up with a certain familiarity with electronics.¡±
The Palace, St Petersburg, Thursday night ¡°Mama, Dada, last but in no means least, I present to you Mikhail Borisovich, whose grandmother taught me spear fishing, whose great grandfather made the crystal covers to protect the fish, and whose Mer great-grandmother flew the prototype guillemot that took General Yuri and his wife to Atlantis to save their daughter.¡± ¡°And you have been comparing family trees, my daughter?¡± the Tsarina asked. ¡°We have been, mother. And before that, on learning that Mikhail had been hoping for me to realise that it was more than just his kind nature that prompted his kindness to me, and realising that our family histories are so intertwined... I was deliberately ambiguous and quoted his great-grandmother Olga to him.¡± ¡°Daughter, are you saying that you asked this young man to walk with you?¡± the tsar asked. ¡°I did, father,¡± Anastasia said, meekly. ¡°I hope I do not disappoint you.¡± ¡°I take it this was not a carefully thought out plan?¡± the Tsar asked. ¡°Not in great detail, father, but I prefer the attention of someone I know to be a faithful follower of Christ to a foreigner who has not cared about his faith for years. Beyond that...¡± she didn''t finish her thought. ¡°Do you have regrets already?¡± her mother asked. ¡°I like Mikhail, Mother. But I should have consulted my parents first,¡± she said. ¡°Ah,¡± the Tsar said, nodding. ¡°You should have, yes. Alternatively you could have waited until you were safely on your way to Ground to publish your feelings for each other, could you not?¡± ¡°Would you have expected that of me, father?¡± Anastasia asked in the soft, warm, voice that had always had a special place in Mikhail''s heart. ¡°No more than I would of the son of the girl I knew who introduced me to your mother. Ha! I have surprised both of you, I see. What do you think, Valentina? Should they ask Renata about it themselves?¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± the tsarina agreed. ¡°Perhaps tomorrow night, when I presume you plan to invite Anastasia to meet your family, Mikhail?¡± ¡°I would be most honoured to do so,¡± Mikhail said. ¡°And Anastasia, you must find when it would be convenient for Mikhail''s family to come for dinner.¡±
Friday night, Mikhail''s home ¡°Svetlana?¡± Anastasia asked, ¡°how would you describe your walk with God?¡± ¡°Urm, OK I guess. I''m not proud of how irregular my quiet times have been this last few weeks. I was much more organised before lectures stopped.¡± ¡°How is revision going?¡± ¡°Revision is stressful. Future is stressful. Stupid dreams in ruins is stressful. And so on.¡± ¡°Stupid dreams?¡± ¡°There''s a guy at the C.U., who''s on my course too... He''s nice, funny, we get on well. Well, we used to. In the winter he said he was going to invite me to the grand ball, but he suddenly told me he wasn''t going last week. That rather triggered an argument. I don''t know what to think now. His final words were that he''s really sorry for lying to me but he''s been studying under an alias, and he''s been told he shouldn''t go. I''d been dreaming that he''d maybe propose during the ball, but now I''ve got a useless ball-gown and shattered dreams, and after the way I screamed at him I''ve probably not even got a boyfriend. Hence, I came home for a good cry on mum''s shoulder. You know the really stupid thing? I thought it was lovely and romantic that we always met in person and never talked by phone. Now I can''t call him, I don''t know his network ID, I don''t know his number, nothing, so I can''t say sorry for calling him all the names I did.¡± ¡°Does he know yours?¡± ¡°I don''t even know that, even. He never me asked for it.¡± ¡°Want to tell me his alias?¡± ¡°Is there some kind of imperial register of aliases?¡± ¡°I could ask around, certainly. But... your ball-gown isn''t useless. Feel free to wear it when you come.¡± ¡°When I come?¡± Svetlana asked, confused. ¡°Oops, I didn''t say, did I? You''re all invited to the palace for dinner. Tomorrow night is possible, as are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. And if you tell me you''re going to wear your ball gown, and you don''t mind, then I''ll wear my new dress, so Mikhail can see what got me so excited. Have you said anything about that Mikhail?¡± ¡°Urm, I don''t think I know about your new dress.¡± ¡°Yes you do,¡± Anastasia said, ¡°the one with the colour-changing fabric from Ground.¡± ¡°You mentioned the fabric, not anything about a dress.¡± ¡°Well what else would you do with a gorgeous silky luxury fabric?¡± Anastasia asked the room in general. ¡°Well, you could make it into a blouse or a skirt,¡± Renata offered. ¡°So you think you might be able to send some apologies to Svetlana''s friend for calling him names? What was his alias, Timor Yureivich?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Svetlana confirmed. ¡°Urm, maybe. You''re at the Imperial University?¡± ¡°No, Smolensk.¡± ¡°Hmm. How much of his background did he tell you?¡± ¡°He said he was the youngest in his family, needed to do really well because he needed to get a good job and his Dad wasn''t going to support him after university and he didn''t like the idea of a military future. Oh, and he had a sister who earned a study place on Mars, but he didn''t even apply.¡± ¡°That ought to shorten the list,¡± Mikhail said, ¡°Did he say why not?¡± ¡°He said his sister liked risks, but he didn''t. But for all I know the whole lot is a lie.¡± ¡°So...¡± Anastasia said, ¡°on the assumption that I manage to find out which noble this Timor Yureivich is, and I decide he''s not going to be a total embarrassment, or he''s been lying about far more than you think, what do you think of the idea of me extending the invitation to him too? Whoever has been advising him about risks can''t object to a private ball at the palace, now, can they?¡± Svetlana blushed, ¡°I don''t want him to come just because of where he''s being invited to.¡± ¡°I''ll be cautious, have no fear,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°I was going to suggest that tomorrow night was a good time for us,¡± Renata said, ¡°but surely it''ll take a while to find out who it is?¡± ¡°I have some ideas already, Renata. Let us leave it that if it is who I think it might be, I''ll get father to order him to be there, and if it''s not then I''m sure my sisters will have no objection to lending Svetlana one of my brothers for the evening.¡± ¡°And your brothers don''t get a vote?¡± Mikhail asked. ¡°My brothers, as far as I''m aware, have entirely failed to form any emotional attachments amongst staff, daughters of staff, and anyone else they''ve been in regular contact with, and probably need to practice their dancing skills. Unless of course they''ve been hiding things from me,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Which reminds me, Renata... Daddy says I need to thank you for introducing him to mummy, and thus my existence.¡± ¡°He said that?¡± ¡°Yes. Well, not in those exact words. He said we ought to ask you.¡± ¡°When I was eight or something like that, after a sermon at church on marriage, he said something like if he didn''t find someone to marry in the next ten years, then would I consider marrying him. I probably burst into tears ran to your mother, who was my Sunday school teacher; and I know I told her he was teasing me. She didn''t recognise who he was ¡ª I''m pretty sure she didn''t expect the Tsareovich in jeans and a tee-shirt ¡ª and let him know exactly what she thought of a twenty plus year old bully reducing a little girl to tears. Who did he think he was, and so on. If I remember correctly she got him to formally apologise to me, and I said something like pick on people his own size, like Valentina. And he agreed that was a much better idea, did I think she''d make a good tsarina and I said something like of course she would, and remembered to put a ''your highness'' on the end.¡± ¡°What did mum say to that?¡± ¡°She didn''t,¡± Renata''s mother, Krista, said. ¡°She''d noticed that she''d barged past a number of smartly dressed and very athletic looking visitors in her anger, and that everyone had gone absolutely silent. And so she heard him ask Renata what she thought of her as tsarina and her reply, and I think she was just about on the verge of fainting at the thought of publicly shaming the heir to the throne. Your father spotted me in the crowd of interested bystanders and asked me to do the formal introductions. But getting back to Svetlana''s mysterious maybe-boyfriend, don''t you even have one picture of him, girl?¡± ¡°Urm, yes, I do. I don''t know if he knows I do though. He doesn''t like being in photographs.¡± ¡°It''s a security thing,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°Someone might recognise him and blow his cover. Woo-hooo, not much cover there, is there? You sure you''re not just after him for his muscles, Svetlana?¡± It was a beach volleyball game from earlier in the spring. ¡°He''s nice. The muscles were a pleasant surprise.¡± ¡°Personally I find him a bit annoying, but OK, you didn''t grow up with him pulling your hair seemingly every chance he got when he was three to six. So, good news: I know who he is when he''s not hiding, he''s at the palace pretty often, he looked pretty miserable when I saw him yesterday, and I know where he lives. So, I predict he will be there tomorrow. Bad news: you need to keep that photo very much to yourself, Svetlana, or even better, talk to him about getting it properly deleted. You''ve got recognisable buildings in the background which make it even more risky. Also... sometimes he does get sent places, delivering messages for my dad, that sort of thing. If he''s not going to be there, I''ll definitely collar him, pass on your apology, and tell him to visit. OK?¡± ¡°So he is a high noble?¡± ¡°Yes. Details beyond that, I''ll let him tell you in person.¡± ¡°No clues?¡± Svetlana asked. ¡°No. Oh! I forgot to say...¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do not be surprised if you see increased patrols around, you find yourselves being discretely followed, and so on. I''m afraid it goes with the territory of having a princess over for tea.¡± ¡°We figure on the kidnap-risk lists again?¡± Renata asked. ¡°Of course we do,¡± her mother said, ¡°Absolutely no question about it.¡±
The palace, St Petersburg, Friday evening. ¡°Tibor, talk,¡± Anastasia commanded her little brother. ¡°The sky is dark. The sun will not come up until it''s morning.¡± ¡°Truth,¡± she agreed, ¡°but not in any way explaining the pile of shredded paper in that dustbin, or the misery on your face.¡± ¡°How do you tell someone you really like that you hope she''ll change her mind about dumping you?¡± ¡°Do mum and dad know you''ve got a girlfriend?¡± ¡°I don''t have a girlfriend. Not any more.¡± ¡°OK, did you tell mum and dad you had a girlfriend?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I wasn''t planning on getting dumped.¡± ¡°What did you do to get dumped? Insult her deeply?¡± ¡°Probably. I suddenly realised that everyone going to the university ball got photographed. And I can''t get photographed, can I?¡± ¡°Hmm. Did you say that to her?¡± ¡°I tried.¡± ¡°You''ve actually got a bigger problem, little brother.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°I''ve just had tea with her. You forgot to swap family trees, and then you didn''t talk to Mummy and Daddy, and not only that, she''s got a lovely photograph of you playing beach-volleyball.¡± ¡°You... you talked to her?¡± ¡°I told her she ought to talk to you about getting that picture properly deleted. You''re not out and about tomorrow evening, are you?¡± ¡°No. What''s happening tomorrow evening?¡± ¡°Family visit. You were so miserable you didn''t hear what we were saying last night, weren''t you? The mother of my Mikhail and your Svetlana is Renata bnt Krista Olga Xavier hi Yuri Yelena Mikhail. Their father, Boris, is half-mer by blood, Mer by upbringing, and grandson of the Zelda who flew the guillemot which took General Yuri to Atlantis. Faithful friends on all sides of the family. Have you given your Svetlana any oath or promise, Tibor?¡± ¡°I have not given an oath. But I have said I must break a promise. And she said she never wants to see me again.¡± ¡°You upset her and ruined her dreams; surprise, surprise, she wasn''t happy. She''s now changed her mind, and when I met her she was calling herself a fool for not having any way to tell you that. Saying you must break a promise is not the same as breaking a promise, little brother. If you want my advice, then consider other options, consider talking to Mummy and Daddy about her, and consider brushing up your Mer for when you apologise.¡± ¡°What other options?¡± ¡°Failing anything else, you could just take along a bodyguard to stand in front of the camera when they try to photograph you. Alternatively, buy me and Mikhail some tickets and I''ll go and show off my lovely new dress. Bing, lots of bodyguards and not many cameras at all.¡± ¡°Anastasia!¡± ¡°What? Why not? I might not need the tickets, actually, since I''m royal patron of the charity the ball is in aid of. But let''s not play that card, it smacks of corruption. What would the risks be, really? Surprise royal visit, they happen all the time, relatively speaking.¡± ¡°Have I told you I love you, big sister?¡± ¡°Not recently. Just promise not to pull my hair and I''ll love you back.¡± ¡°If Svetlana''s half Mer, at least culturally...¡± ¡°She can disembowel sharks, I expect, yes.¡± ¡°I was just wondering about that Mer dance...¡± ¡°The one with the knives? Oh, yes, that''d liven up the ball, certainly,¡± Anastasia grinned. ¡°I was thinking how nice it would be if she shared her knife with me.¡± ¡°You definitely need to talk to our parents before you ask that one, Tibor. Not to mention hers.¡± ¡°Yes. I suppose so.¡± ¡°How long have you been walking together?¡± ¡°Almost this whole academic year. I noticed her earlier, of course.¡±
Letter to Svetlana, from ''Timor Yureivich'', delivered by special courier, 1am Svetlana, I know I said that I would have to break my promise to you. I did not want to, and in my distress at thinking of cameras, I was not thinking clearly. I have been trying to write this letter to you all day, but now I have heard from A., who says she has an excuse to wear her new dress at our ball, and will bring with her appropriate company. Thus cameras are much less a problem than I feared, and I can keep my promise. She also chided me for not comparing family trees, and told me of some of your famous ancestors. Did your father raise you as Mer? I am very pleased we are not close cousins. I am most glad you only lashed me with your tongue and did not decide I was a shark and needed disemboweling. I cannot write in Mer, I am sorry, but my spoken Mer has been described as ''not terrible''. Perhaps you can help me improve? I expect you can swim circles around me, and wonder if I actually saw you in Atlantis last summer? I do not desire to break any promise I make to you, Svetlana, nor make myself shark or sharkfood. But I have not yet had the courage to speak to my parentsabout you at all, and I expect they are asleep. I give you my oath that unless they are unexpectedly called away, I will do so before we meet tomorrow. Oh, correction, before we meet later today. I pray that you sleep well. I will also tell the courier to deliver this letter quietly. I hope he remembers. If you wish to berate me before that meeting, then excepting meal-times and the time I will need to clean up, before dinner, I''ll be keeping fit by helping the gardeners deal with some dead wood in the garden of the meeting place. Assuming I''m not totally forgetful, the gate-keepers will be told you might turn up. If I am totally forgetful, or they object to your I.D. for some reason, then I expect the seal on this letter will cause them to fetch me. Your humble servant, T.
Ground / Ch. 27: Tree

Ground / Ch. 27: Tree

Svetlana''s home, 9am ¡°What are you looking at, Svetlana? I thought you''d read that letter at least a dozen times by now.¡± ¡°Do you recognise this seal, Mum?¡± ¡°Not specifically, no.¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°Who has a seal, daughter? Barons don''t normally. Counts don''t normally, either. Who''d be able to convince a special courier to deliver a letter at gone midnight?¡± ¡°I don''t know, mummy,¡± Svetlana said. ¡°Well, let me teach you a bit of basic heraldry, then. This of course is the imperial dragon. There''s a surprise, he''s got his authority from the Tsar, then there''s these three coats of arms. Almost certainly the major baronies or counties in his domain. That crown, that''s a ducal crown. So, the guy you told you never wanted to see again is a duke. That rod there, I''m not sure. It could mean a descendent of a Tsar or Tsarina, past or present. But the thing is, while this is a ducal seal, and it''s his, it might not be a current ducal seal. An extra layer of precaution, you see? The precautions about photography tells us he''s got royal connections anyway, as do the fact that he grew up pulling Anastasia''s hair. Ditto, of course, the fact that he''s not writing anyone''s name except yours and his alias: he can''t risk committing an official secret to paper.¡± ¡°So you''re not going to guess.¡± ¡°Svetlana the Great had an elder brother and about nine cousins, some of whom must have had grand-children or great-grand children your age. Tsareovich Tibor is your age, as are Tsarevna Olga''s twins. But there are other dukes, other people who have ties to the crown. And perhaps I''m wrong about the rod, and it''s something else, in which case we''re potentially into family of husband or wives. There used to be thirty-five dukedoms, if I remember correctly, but the number varies. No, I''m not going to guess. If you want to know, go and watch him cut up the wood. I don''t recommend you take your rock-cutter or your knife on your first visit to the palace. Security would get very nervous.¡± ¡°He was in Atlantis last summer,¡± Svetlana said. ¡°And?¡± ¡°It doesn''t prove anything, does it?¡± ¡°No. Lots of tourists, official visitors and so on.¡± ¡°I think I''m going to go help him cut wood this morning. I''m not going to be thinking about revision, am I?¡± ¡°You don''t think it would be more fun to drive him crazy by standing within reach but untouchable because he''s all sweaty and you''re wearing your ball-gown?¡± her father asked. ¡°No, daddy. I want to be able to pin him to the ground and force him to admit he plans to propose to me sometime soon.¡± ¡°What if he doesn''t?¡± ¡°Then I want to know why he felt he needed to swear an oath about talking to his parents.¡±
Palace gate, 11am ¡°Name?¡± the bored sentry asked the young woman wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. He guessed she was visiting one of the palace servants. He didn''t bother getting up. ¡°Svetlana Borisova, I''m told I''m half-expected.¡± ¡°Who by?¡± he asked, checking her I.D. and looking at the relevant list. ¡°Good question. My boyfriend, who''s been dating me for the last eight months using an alias. Hopefully he''s going to tell me who he really is soon.¡± ¡°What''s the alias?¡± ¡°Timor Yureivich¡± ¡°Not on the list. No admission without prior approval. Either you''re in the wrong place or he didn''t expect you.¡± ¡°He wrote last night, said he''s be helping the gardeners with some dead wood, and this seal would at least get someone to fetch him.¡± The guard took one look at the seal and snapped to attention, and Svetlana was amazed at his change of attitude. ¡°Very sorry my lady, I was checking entirely the wrong list. You are most certainly expected.¡± Turning to one of the soldiers, he ordered ¡°Attention! V.V.I.P visitor, as forewarned. Escort her to her friend with all due deference.¡± ¡°This way, please,¡± the soldier said, ushering her towards a horse-drawn buggy.
Northern Palace Gardens, St Petersburg ¡°I guess I should have come in my ball-gown,¡± Svetlana said, as Tibor helped her get down from the buggy. ¡°One of the rules, don''t keep horse-drawn vehicles around if you''re not going to use them. Plus, of course, no motor vehicles on the grass.¡± ¡°What''s that then?¡± Svetlana asked, nodding towards a tractor he''d been helping to load. ¡°Sorry, let me rephrase ¡ª no motorised passenger vehicles on the grass. No problem at the gate?¡± ¡°Not once the guard looked at the right list, which happened half a second after I showed him the seal. I suddenly got promoted to a very very important person, apparently.¡± ¡°Well I think so, and my parent''s don''t disagree with me. Shall we walk?¡± ¡°Is this my cue to wondering aloud if I''m going to find out who you really are.¡± ¡°I promise you will by the end of today. But do you want to scream and shout at me a bit first? I don''t want titles to go making you feel all inhibited.¡± ¡°Mummy interpreted your crest and said you''re some kind of duke, and the photography thing meant royal connections.¡± ¡°So you''re going to be on your best behaviour anyway?¡± ¡°I''ve got a check-list of things I want to do. And Tsarevna Anastasia told me I needed to get you to tell me about deleting a picture.¡± ¡°She told me too. Dad, however, says you''re a sensible girl with Yelena Petrichna''s wrist unit, which would give anyone breaking into it a nasty surprise, and you took the photo a month ago, so what exactly are we worried about?¡± ¡°Your father knew about me?¡± ¡°Apparently so. Mummy did too. Apparently you got checked up on about a year before I made my mind up to ask you out.¡± ¡°And you know about my great-grandmother''s wrist unit?¡± ¡°It gets mentioned in some of the family legends, yes. Recognising prince Rudolph''s face, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Hmm. It doesn''t do that these days. No access to the relevant databases, not that that would have stopped great-grandma. I guess I''m a bit more conservative than she was.¡± ¡°You mean you''d like to be granted official access, or are you saying you''d like permission before you break in?¡± ¡°Timor, not that that''s your name... there are laws against breaking into government databases.¡± ¡°There is, I''m told, a deliberate loophole.¡± ¡°A deliberate loophole?¡± ¡°Apply the following law to your great-grandmother: A person found to have broken into a government database who is not listed as a registered member of the Secret Services shall be liable .... etcetera etcetera.¡± ¡°It doesn''t say that, stop teasing.¡± ¡°It does say that, feel free to look it up and whisper it around in the right circles. There are, of course, strict penalties for registered members of the Secret Services who misuse their position, access, and authority.¡± ¡°Are you offering me a job?¡± ¡°No, I''m indicating one particular career path that might be available to graduates in microelectronics and computer security. There are plenty of others, of course. And if I chose to take that path, then I''d apply in the normal manner. I''m just ... I don''t know what I''m doing, actually. I don''t want you to think that if you do decide to dump me properly, then you''re never going to be able to get a job, or something silly like that.¡± ¡°You''re being very confusing, Timor.¡± ¡°Tibor.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°My name''s Tibor, Svetlana. As in Anastasia''s annoying little brother.¡± ¡°So my handsome prince is actually my handsome prince,¡± Svetlana said. ¡°Say that in Mer, and you''ll make me a very happy man. But I think I ought to wait until I''ve spoken to your father before asking you how seriously you meant that possessive, and what you think of the idea of becoming my beautiful princess.¡± ¡°Oooh... how long do you think that''s going to take you?¡± ¡°I did promise to help with these trees.¡± ¡°And promises are important. So I was thinking I''d help. And I was also thinking you might be all mucky and I might like a kiss or two, hence no ball-gown.¡± He took her hands and asked, ¡°You really think I ought to kiss you in front of everyone?¡± ¡°Everyone is a bit of an overstatement,¡± there were three gardeners, valiantly trying to look like they were working and not get spotted glancing to see if the prince was going to kiss the young woman, and if so for how long. Unfortunately, one of the ones glancing was also using a chain saw, and cut much to deeply for the undercut he should have been making. Also, their walk had taken them into an area Tibor had just marked off by cones. ¡°Look out!¡± the foreman called, uselessly, as the dead tree started to topple over, directly towards where Svetlana and Tibor had walked. It had once been a mighty oak, hundreds of years old, and for all it''s crown had been trimmed, there was no way, Svetlana realised, they could get out of the way before its branches reached them. She took decisive action, and wrapped her arms around Tibor. As she did so, she pressed an extra button on her wrist-unit that she''d added the previous summer in Atlantis. The smashing branches of the ancient tree pummelled the forcefield, and their ears were buffeted by the sound. They were, however, entirely not crushed. The downside was that the field, anchored to her wrist unit, transferred a fraction of the forces to her. ¡°Ow. That''s definitely a design flaw.¡± ¡°What just happened? Other than us surviving a tree smashing itself on top of us?¡± ¡°Personal forcefield and maybe a broken arm. And the forcefield is pinned to the ground, so I know I''m pushing you over backwards, but please don''t lean on my arm, I can''t move, and it hurts.¡± ¡°You saved my life,¡± he said, adjusting his footing, pressing himself to her body, not her arm. ¡°Better?¡± ¡°Yes, thanks. I was just thinking the chainsaw-guy was concentrating more on us than what he was doing.¡± ¡°How long will the forcefield stay on?¡± ¡°I don''t know. A minute or two?¡± ¡°I love you, and I don''t want to hurt your arm. Is there any way to untangle ourselves?¡± ¡°Maybe, if I can undo the strap on my wrist unit. Can I lean on you more?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Hold me; I might pass out if it is a break.¡± ¡°Like this?¡± He put his arms around her waist. ¡°Very gentleman-like but assume my legs are going to give way, OK? Less decorum, more support. Testing your support three two one, much better. Keep on hugging. Owwwww.¡± She didn''t faint, but she was glad of his support. ¡°You''re free?¡± ¡°Yes, you can probably put me down now.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°You''re not going to faint?¡± ¡°No. You don''t faint at the sight of blood, do you?¡± The wrist unit had been twisted into her arm and its casing had cut the back of her wrist. ¡°Not so far. Oh, Svetlana!¡± ¡°Could have been much worse. No artery damage, no bones smashed, and my fingers even work. Ow. Mostly, anyway.¡± ¡°Is the forcefield just going to blink off, no warning?¡± ¡°Yes, sorry.¡± He looked around at the debris and the branches resting on the forcefield, and the two-metre trunk above their heads. ¡°If that one there holds, then the tree''s going to try and turn that way.¡± ¡°And if it doesn''t hold then the next one to hit the ground is on the same side, but the trunk is going to drop half a metre, right on top of us, and the branches might sink into the ground. Lying down might be best.¡± ¡°Or turning off the forcefield and diving that way,¡± he suggested, pointing to where there was a gap. ¡°I don''t really feel like diving, with my hand like this.¡± ¡°Do you feel like trusting me to, for both of us?¡± ¡°You just want the seize every opportunity to get more hugs.¡± ¡°Hugs are nice but I''m actually thinking I want us both to get to our wedding day without being crushed.¡± ¡°I like that idea too, Timor. Sorry, Tibor.¡± ¡°So, how do I turn off the force-field?¡± ¡°Three second press on the top edge.¡± ¡°And the edge of the forcefield is just here,¡± he said feeling. ¡°OK. You hold on to me for grim death, and let me take your weight, and I''ll hold on to you because you''re the most precious and wonderful mermaid in the whole universe, here goes.¡± There was a tiny amount of give in the forcefields invisibly holding the wrist unit in place, but he couldn''t really brace himself against it much. What he could do was use it to hold himself at the right angle to spring forwards. He pressed the button, and as soon as the unit moved, sprang away from the collapsing tree, holding his beloved tightly.
Northern Palace Gardens, St Petersburg Tibor groaned. His head seemed to be resting on something soft, but his body wasn''t. One of his hands seemed trapped underneath him. He couldn''t see anything. Was it night? He groped about with the other hand trying to make sense of what he felt of this strange bed. There was some grass, and then a kind of soft, yielding stuff, wrapped in fabric. He went a bit higher and touched skin. Was it really skin? She giggled, ¡°Hey, stop it! You had me worried there, Tibor, but stop exploring under my tee-shirt.¡± ¡°Svetlana?¡± he turned his head, breathed her hair, and saw her luminous eyes. ¡°What...? Oh. The tree.¡± ¡°Is now flat on the ground. So, on one hand, very good call to get out from under it, and you did a really good job of jumping clear, not to mention protecting me from the fall. On the other hand, landing on your unprotected head wasn''t the most sensible move known to man.¡± ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°Hmm, long enough for me to shout to people that we were still alive, decidedly not crushed under anything, but you''d just bashed your head, though don''t seem to have a cracked skull. Then your hand went exploring.¡± ¡°I was really confused, and couldn''t make sense of anything. Why couldn''t I see?¡± ¡°I was looking at the back of your head. Light doesn''t get through knees very well. You''ve got a lovely big lump. If you feel like staying still, apparently they called the ambulance and the army too, probably, for heavy lifting gear. On the other hand, it looks to me like we might be able to crawl out.¡± ¡°I think let''s see if I can move without throwing up. I couldn''t last time.¡± ¡°Last time?¡± ¡°Last time I knocked myself out.¡± ¡°Does it happen very often?¡± Svetlana asked. ¡°I almost always manage to avoid it, actually.¡± ¡°I do not want to lose you, Tibor. Don''t do it again.¡± ¡°I''ll try not to,¡± he said, grinning up at her. ¡°You look absolutely gorgeous from this angle. Can I have a kiss before we try to move?¡±
The palace, St Petersburg, 6pm. ¡°You look beautiful,¡± Tibor greeted Svetlana, as Anastasia welcomed Mikhail and his parents to the palace. ¡°That''s just the bump on your head. How is it?¡± Svetlana asked in reply. ¡°The doctor says I''m allowed to honour your ball gown with a slow waltz, but nothing more energetic, and I need to make sure I don''t get at all dizzy. How''s your wrist?¡± ¡°One tendon got a partial cut.¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°I like painkillers. But on the other hand, one mermaid and one boyfriend didn''t turn into jam, so fair exchange, I think. What''s going to happen to chainsaw-guy?¡± ¡°Good question. It''s complicated.¡± ¡°Dropping trees on royal blood presumably carries stiff penalties.¡± ¡°Yes. Except he was a trainee, and I put out those cones.¡± ¡°The ones the horse stopped beside?¡± ¡°Yes. And I got told on no account was I to let anyone go inside them, and I was so enjoying walking with you I didn''t see them.¡± ¡°I just thought they meant don''t let the horse go past here. Basically lovers shouldn''t go walking near dangerous trees.¡± ¡°Exactly. And it was dangerous; that''s why it was being felled. The trunk cracked because it was partially rotten. Can''t really expect a trainee to know that.¡± ¡°And his supervisor?¡± ¡°Signalled him to stop, but the trainee didn''t notice.¡± ¡°Distracted by us?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So we''re into the territory of he should have stopped, but it shouldn''t have mattered as much as it did?¡± ¡°Using a dangerous tool without proper care.¡± ¡°That''s going to be the charge?¡± ¡°That''s one charge. Then we''ve got things ranging from ''recklessly endangering life'' through to ''causing serious injury to a high noble'', and if dad really threw the book at him, ''treasonable negligence''.¡± Svetlana winced. ¡°I hope your father''s feeling forgiving. What do I get accused of for taking you into dangerous places?¡± ¡°I was leading the way, I knew what was happening, you didn''t. So nothing on that front. But, urm... your wrist unit.¡± ¡°Is unregistered foreign technology?¡± ¡°Might be.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Several options... Who put the modification in? I presume it''s not original.¡± ¡°I did, last summer. I''ve got a cousin who''s a fabricator and she let me do some stuff in her workshop.¡± ¡°Wow. Not the answer I was expecting at all. So you.. you actually understand how it all works?¡± ¡°Not the precise theory, no. I''m not a forcefield designer. But I understand enough to use her tools, her design computer, and so on. I swapped the battery for a little fusion generator and had space for what she called a mark-1 personal forcefield. We agreed that Yelena would have approved. There wasn''t space for anything bigger, and I didn''t want to expand the case or pay the royalty fees for a mark-2.¡± ¡°It''s pure fusion, then? No antimatter?¡± ¡°Fusion and clever capacitors, but still a secret of the deep. Do I get it back some-time?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, of course you do, blame my bang on the head,¡± he fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her. ¡°Thank you. I had visions of...¡± ¡°Of what, me handing it over to a bunch of top-secret imperial researchers? We''re not China, Svetlana.¡± ¡°I know. I just thought, the temptation, you know...¡± ¡°The biggest temptation I feel right now is to ask my favourite genius a question before talking to your father.¡± ¡°You realise that''s not part of Mer culture, don''t you?¡± ¡°Yes, but it''s part of mine. I hope you''re not expecting us to marry at Mer speed. I think a bit of getting to know one another without secrets is a good idea.¡± ¡°I agree. Like me trusting you enough to tell you about all of Yelena''s ''little toys'' up in the attic, and not suspecting that you''re going to break treaties just because temptation passes.¡± ¡°Treaties are very important. What toys? Family legend says she might have made herself a quantum decoder.¡± ¡°Tell you what, you go talk to Dad, and I''ll talk to mum about when you can come and have a guided tour.¡± ¡°With you as my tour guide?¡± ¡°Grandad Yuri would have been better from a technical point of view; he helped her make some of them. But he told me all about them as I was growing up. Go on, talk to dad and stop keeping me waiting.¡± Tibor sensibly followed that instruction. ¡°Your highness,¡± Boris gave a formal bow, ¡°I''m pleased to see you up on your feet.¡± ¡°I am very sorry that I took Svetlana into the path of danger,¡± Tibor said, speaking in Mer. ¡°A shark, an unexpectedly strong current, a tree... what does not kill, teaches.¡± ¡°One thing I''ve learned is that it is better to be in good company when there''s danger. I do not know what the future holds, where God might call me or if my father will direct me to some career, or if he will leave the choice to me. But I do know I would like Svetlana beside me.¡± ¡°And Svetlana does not object, I think,¡± Boris replied. ¡°I do not think so either. But there is a tradition that I must ask for your approval before I ask her to marry me, when we have had time to know each other more, and probably have some arguments too.¡± ¡°I understand that tradition. And I understand that your weddings are so complicated that arranging them takes a lot of time. Can you explain to me why, if you are not sure, you are willing to bind yourself by promises?¡± ¡°My heart tells me I am sure enough to bind myself to her by an oath. My head tells me I have kept many secrets from her, and I wish to give her time to change her mind as she comes to know me without that veil of secrecy. She likes mysteries, I think. I do not wish to bind her by oath if there is a chance she is in love with the mysteries that have surrounded me, rather than me myself. I would rather she break my heart than she take an oath she regrets before a wedding day we have vowed will come.¡± ¡°And so saying you, prove your love for her. I am satisfied, Tibor Valentina Kristof, by your words and actions, that you will protect and cherish Svetlana with your life, and have no objections to you telling her of what we spoke, of giving your oath or promise as she desires, and asking only her promise in return.¡± ¡°I thank you.¡± ¡°But allow her the certainty of accepting her oath if she offers, once you have explained yourself. She may speak words in anger she quickly regrets, but she does not often change her mind.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Five minutes later, Tibor found himself formally introducing Svetlana to his parents, rather than asking her to marry him. ¡°Tibor is decidedly reticent about what job he wants to do when he grows up,¡± the Tsar said. ¡°Do you have any ideas about what you''d like to do? What''s your ideal job?¡± ¡°Imperial Majesty, I am sufficiently Mer that my ideal job almost certainly has to allow time for swimming,¡± Svetlana said. ¡°Otherwise... my unattainable dream used to be to follow my great-grandma Yelena''s footsteps and be embassy-attached secret service, but I think that was probably based on too many happy stories and not enough reality.¡± ¡°And now?¡± asked the Tsarina. ¡°Last night, before I got Tibor''s letter, I was wondering who I''d really been going out with and if the whole thing had just been part of his cover, and I was wondering if I might summon up the effrontery to ask his imperial Majesty if I could hide my tears and humiliation as assistant artificer and part-time ambassador on Ground. Since I''m pretty sure that Tibor''s just convinced dad to let us make some promises to each other, that''ll turn into vows, then I''d prefer to explain that crazy idea to him first.¡± ¡°So it''s not the diplomatic nightmares but the reality of secret-service roles that you''re not keen on?¡± ¡°I have far more than my fair share of ambassadors as grandparents and great-grandparents. I started taking courses in diplomacy, but spoke to the lecturer and persuaded him to let me take the final year exam at the end of my first year.¡± ¡°I didn''t know that!¡± Tibor exclaimed. ¡°You were too busy discovering Countess Ludmilla Yurevna wasn''t really a Christian.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Tibor said, embarrassed, at that mistaken almost-romance. ¡°She fooled a number of us for a while, so I suppose you don''t need to be too embarrassed ¡°. ¡°I still don''t understand what was going on in her mind,¡± Tibor said. ¡°I asked her,¡± Svetlana said. ¡°Ludmilla said she really likes Christian music, and Christian attitudes to lots of things. But she wasn''t prepared to let God be in charge, didn''t think she needed to repent of anything, rejected the idea she''d done anything wrong. Felt it was very unfair that the Christian Union revoked her membership.¡± ¡°''Just'' for lying about her faith?¡± Tibor said, ¡°I guess she was a very happy ''cultural Christian'' and now she''s an annoyed atheist. I don''t know which is a better starting point for her, spiritually.¡± ¡°At least she''s not tempting people into oath-breaking,¡± the Tsarina said. ¡°Well done there, Svetlana. Oh, don''t look so surprised. I''ve been re-reading some old reports, and the Secret Service do notice when the ethics of a countess are questioned.¡± ¡°I thought the Imperial Truthsayers were anonymous, your majesty.¡± ¡°They are. I was talking about you querying whether any action had been taken against her and handing that report to the C.U. committee.¡± ¡°Oh! Yes.¡± ¡°You reported her?¡± Tibor asked. ¡°I spoke to the Truthsayers, saying that she had signed a membership card of the Christian Union, but didn''t seem to sing any lines about commitment to God. I stood next to her one meeting, it was really odd. ''As the dear pants for water, la la la, and then looking at boys when she got to the line about ''you are all I desire''.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the Tsarina said, ¡°Well, now it seems Ludmilla is getting what she desires, the silly girl. But your assessment, is that apart from the CU membership card which might have not been as unambiguous as hoped, she was careful not to actually promise anything to God?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Thank you, Svetlana. That''s helpful; we have1 laws about nobles breaking oaths, but don''t have any banning them from acting in accordance to their lack of morals. So it looks like she''s not put herself on the side of illegality, at least, not yet.¡± ¡°She''s going to get a warning, then?¡± ¡°She does no honour to her position. I''m going to have to tell her that.¡± ¡°Would you like me to be there, mummy?¡± Tibor offered, ¡°At least for part of it?¡± ¡°To make her think of how far she''s fallen?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I don''t think it''s necessary. I''ll simply tell her the truth: if she''d been a Christian, there''s a chance it might have been her you were getting everyone''s permission to get engaged to, and then not asking for time to talk to your beloved alone.¡± ¡°Is that a hint?¡± Tibor asked. ¡°No, it''s a commendation for your favourite mermaid for extreme patience. Go on, Tibor, go for a walk! Just make sure you stay away from falling trees, and don''t bump your head on anything else.¡± ¡°I''ll try to make sure he doesn''t, your majesty.¡± ¡°I''ve been trying for the last twenty-two years. Maybe you''ll have more success.¡± ¡°Mum, I''m twenty-three.¡± ¡°Yes, it was fairly easy to stop you ramming your head into things before you started crawling. Have you ever seen a baby in a crash-helmet, Svetlana? Maybe we shouldn''t have gone to that extreme, he might be more aware that it hurts. But anyway, embarrassing photographs available on request.¡± ¡°Oh, far be it from me to embarrass my Tsar and Tsarina,¡± Svetlana said, with a straight face. ¡°Hey, what about me?¡± ¡°I reserve the right to embarrass you every time you damage your braincells, scalp, or any other bit of your anatomy for that matter.¡± ¡°Not publicly, I hope.¡± ¡°Of course not, Tibor.¡± she said. Then added with a playful smile, ¡°Unless you''ve been really careless.¡± ¡°Beloved Svetlana, will you do me the honour of taking a little walk? I need to tell you what your father said.¡± Watching her youngest son go, Tsarina Valentina turned to her husband, ¡°Do you think he remembered the ring?¡± ¡°Probably. What do you think about her idea of going to the planet Ground?¡± ¡°Tibor didn''t like the idea of Mars,¡± Valentina said. ¡°Tibor didn''t like the idea of Martian girls deciding to take risks with his emotions, straight after experiencing roughly the same with Ludmilla. But I was thinking that the role such as ambassador''s wife does fit what I''ve seen of Svetlana.¡± ¡°And you think Tibor as potential ambassador?¡± ¡°If there will be imperial princesses and ambassadors going to Ground, it would be fitting for there to be something between the size of the space-folding lab and the probe ships, don''t you think?¡± ¡°You think perhaps Atlantis would finally allow us to have some forcefield-hulled ships?¡± ¡°No, but they might allow us some bubble drives to go on a ship we design, or perhaps just the latest generation of Celestia-class ships? It strikes me that an imperial fianc¨¦e who is also counted as mermaid and apprentice artificer brings the opportunity for even better relations with our underwater allies. If Tibor and Svetlana can negotiate that, they''ll have done well indeed.¡± ¡°What would be the point though? Trade?¡± ¡°Your dress is beautiful, but no. I have different motives. One is moving water. You know the Boris drive cannot easily move a comet. Or rather, not without throwing itself in the other direction, but a Celestia with no cargo could do that. Quite easily, in fact. And if you could load a comet on board, it might even be able to bubble jump the comet to where it was needed! Then we wouldn''t need all the infrastructure to play cosmic billiards, and if there was an emergency, a Celestia class vessel could stop playing cargo ship and get our precious eggs to safety.¡± ¡°You have been doing some thinking, I see, husband.¡± ¡°I have been thinking since I understood Rachel to say they were planning to have too many people there to evacuate without first destroying the medical facilities on the bubble lab. Your question helped me put all my thoughts in line. Actually, I think we should make more than just one. Allow for crew rotation and maintenance, and so on.¡± ¡°Let us hope Atlantis agree.¡± ¡°I think it would be good for Tibor and Svetlana to discuss things with Rachel first. If we convince her...¡± ¡°And through her, her mother''s company?¡± ¡°I was thinking her fianc¨¦''s family.¡± ¡°Who are very pleased that Mick is not dead. Yes. So, shall we also float your excellent plan with Anastasia''s conversation partners?¡± ¡°Let''s wait until dessert is served,¡± the Tsar said. Ground / Ch. 28: Sailing

Ground / Ch. 28:Sailing

Space [Magdalena?] James called, [Tsarevna Anastasia of Russia would like to think to you.] [I''m honoured!] Magdalena said, putting down her report. [I''m excited that it looks like I''m coming to work with you, Magdalena Karella John. But my father wishes to bully... sorry, persuade Atlantis that a plan he came up with over tea last night has merit, and he''d like your formal support.] [The Tsar of Russia wishes to have my support?] Magdalena asked, intensely surprised. [Yes. It goes like this: He has agreed to allow me to come to Ground and study the geology. Mikhail Krista Boris, another geologist with whom I walk, will also come. His sister and my brother have secretly ¡ª at least from me and Mikhail ¡ª been walking together this past academic year and are now semi-betrothed, and may be named the ambassadors of Russia to Ground. Father does not want the four of us to be so far from home when there are just not enough ships to evacuate everyone. I''m not going too fast am I?] [No, I think I can keep up. What do you mean semi-betrothed?] [Tibor, my brother, has vowed he will marry Svetlana if she''ll have him, he wouldn''t let her vow she''d marry him, because he''s been Mr Mysterious Incognito until yesterday, so apparently she said ''Of course I''ll marry you, you great big romantic, now get up off your knees and give me a kiss and name a date. And don''t say next week, we''ve got exams. Oh, will it upset the great Russian people if I marry you wearing scale and carrying my knife?''] [She and Mikhail are Mer?] [Three of their grandparents were born in Atlantis: one full-blooded Mer, one full-blooded Jersais, one full-blooded Russian, and the other grandmother''s half Mer half-Russian.] [Well that''s more Mer blood than me, and it sounds like she knows how to disembowel sharks.] [Yes, and apparently she swapped her wrist-unit battery for fusion power and a personal forcefield while staying with an artificer cousin last summer, so she''s getting some pearls accruing in Atlantis for the design idea.] [That sounds a handy modification. Not to mention a nice income stream.] [But anyway, with two or four of us coming to Ground, not enough space to sensibly evacuate if we find out that one of the suns is about to go unstable or something, and the possibility that we''ll find out that Ground needs some water delivered, Dad declared that what Ground really needs is two or three bubble-drive equipped Celestia mark-V transports. If you need a comet, then open cargo hold, grab comet and either just turn the engines up full or drop into bubble-space and take it to Ground orbit, or maybe both, depending on what physics says we can and can''t do.] [Wow. And he wants my support convincing Atlantis?] [Yes.] [What sort of quid-pro-quo are we talking about?] [Well, kudos, of course and diplomatic relationships, those sorts of things. And then either Atlantis says it''s a great idea, we''ll provide the bubble drive free for any ships you decide to make for the project or preferably the royal family get declared to have demonstrated 3 generations of peace-loving attitude and under appropriate oaths allowed to use forcefield and drive technology and access Mer artificers. Which we''ve almost got with Svetlana, especially if she were to put into practice the physics which for good diplomatic reasons we''ve pretended we didn''t know Svetlana''s family have been passing down from generation to generation. Well, Svetlana''s mother wasn''t really interested so Svetlana''s grandpa taught it all to her before he died.] [Her grandfather worked on the bubble-ship programme?] [No. His mother was Mrs Ambassador to Atlantis, though. If the name Yelena Petrichna means anything at all, it was her.] [It does, yes. Quite the electronics genius,] Magdalena said. [She utterly infuriated the Secret Service though: she got Emperor Rudolph to declare all her best work a secret of the deep.] [What did your Imperial grandmother say to that?] James asked. [She said that she wanted peace as much as it depends on her, so please stop shouting about her friends. There''s a very heavily protected attic in Svetlana''s home ¡ª it''s quite big ¡ª where the children were apparently allowed to squirt peas out of a forcefield at a dart-board, fly around on an anti-gravity mat, and other such fun games, assuming they''d been good. Not to mention a quantum decoder.] [A quantum decoder?] Magdalena asked. [Yes.] [In private hands?] James asked, in shock. [Svetlana''s right now, she''s the only one with the access code to the attic, other than the Mer ambassador, just in case. But you see, what''s in Svetlana''s attic isn''t Mer technology, it isn''t Mars technology, it''s Russian technology. She learned a bit, asked around a bit, and then she experimented and made her own things. But because we knew the risks, and because back in grandma''s time we weren''t that confident we''d win the battle against corruption and stuff like that, the fact of its existence has been a secret. I didn''t know about it, Tibor had no idea until Svetlana was sure he was going to propose, and even then she just hinted, not even Mum knew, just Dad and the Mer ambassador once Dad had told him he had a duty to go see the family, and Svetlana''s grandad proved it wasn''t just an elaborate ''embarrass the ambassador'' thing. So.. ideally Dad would really like a section of the Imperial University, or maybe Smolensk, to have full equality with Mars university, eventually teaching this stuff on a similar basis to Mars. And if, as Rachel said, you''re going to be teaching forcefields and fusion to Ground, then Yelena''s tech is probably a better starting place. The circuits sit on glass, not crystal, for instance.] [Yelena made a fusion generator too?] James asked. [That''s what powers the defences, apparently.] [Using direct conversion?] [Yes.] [And the Tsar has known this technology existed and done precisely nothing about it?] [Oh, he''s done something: there''s a law that declares the attic a top secret research area, which only family members, the Mer ambassador, and people acting on explicit instructions from the Tsar can enter without permission, on pain of summary execution. Svetlana''s father apparently had great fun showing the imperial seal to a housing inspector last year, who thought they must be housing some kind of illegal factory up there because they couldn''t scan it.] [Trying to scan it wasn''t illegal, then?] [Just pointless and dangerous. Their drones fell out of the sky, that sort of thing. Apparently Yelena''s son and my Grandma set up a prize fund for an annual competition for Secret Services to try to find out anything about the inside layout without detection. On other days the defenses are on full automatic, so detection means high signal jamming, high powered lasers, that sort of thing. After a while, they gave up. Like I said, it''s very well protected.] [Well, if it contains secrets of the deep, I''m not surprised. And you''ve proven that a few in Russia can keep secrets of the deep. But you know why the Mer have been very cagey about letting those technologies enter the general Earth population.] [Because a lot of Earth-folk are sharks, and an aggressive Russia with this technology would be unstoppable.] [Exactly.] Magdalena agreed. [Has the Restored Kingdom abused the Mer''s trust?] [I don''t believe we have, no.] Magdalena said, [And nor have Svetlana the Great nor any of her descendants.] [Thank you. But I''ve deviated a long way from what I wished to ask. Would a small fleet of Bubble-drive equipped Celestia class ships be useful? Do you as expedition leader like the idea?] [I love the idea that we would not need to always be pulling probes from other research any time someone has a toothache. I love the idea of having the capability to move heavy lifting equipment and so on here. And yes, I do like the idea of delivering comets to orbit chunk by chunk, though I don''t know if the numbers actually add up. Even the little comets like the one that hit Restoration weighed hundreds of kilotonnes each.] [Oops, that''ll embarrass dad. How big were they?] [Oh! The Celestia class are a few hundred meters diameter, aren''t they? Yes, one of those would fit in the cargo hold, it''s just the mass wouldn''t work with conventional engines. I think you need to speak to Heather or actually, maybe Maggie, Rachel''s grandmother. She''s the lady who invented the black-hole avoidance detector. There just might be a problem with filling a bubble with comet.] [Oh. How do I get in contact with her?] [I can get her a message,] James thought, [if you don''t mind her knowing how you were talking to Magdalena?] [I don''t mind.]
St Petersburg [Imperial Tsarevna,] Maggie called Anastasia [I understand you want to talk to me about physics I''ve not used in decades.] [Mystery?] Anastasia asked, recognising the mental voice. [Shh, don''t let on. I''m Maggie, in this conversation, Tsarevna.] [But in other conversations...] [We''ve spoken before, Tsarevna. We probably will again. I don''t know if you know about memory-balls; you can learn how to give and receive them, but they become your memories then, so it''s dangerous. Believe me; I know. But with this gift memory balls can be a library, and a wrapped up memory doesn''t give me nearly as many sleepless nights, so I try to keep Mystery''s memories wrapped up in memory balls. If you need me to remember something we''ve discussed as Mystery, then I can look it up, but don''t assume I remember it normally.] [That sounds... odd but very useful.] [It is. I can even look up memories the Mystery your grandmother knew about passed on to me, which is also useful sometimes. But ask your question, young one.] [Father had an idea; delivering comets to Ground via bubble ship. Would it work? Magdalena thought it might be risky.] [You wouldn''t get much comet in a scout ship.] [What about in a Celestia mark-V class transport? Cargo volume with collapsed cabins is a hundred metres long, two hundred and fifty metres diameter, with a fifty metre diameter core.] [And it has to be a cylindrical?] [I don''t think so.] [Just the bubble has to be spherical. Also, the modern Celestia classes still have the engines on a long tail-gantry, don''t they?] [The older marks yes. The five series have them on telescopic arms, which apparently helps if the load is a bit offset, and also so they can be pulled closer when docked. I think they can be pulled in to about fifty metres away from the back of the ship.] [Hmm. OK, let''s assume someone can help you get the emitters into the right places, so you don''t need to rebuild the whole thing entirely. But Magdalena was worried it would be dangerous?] [I think she was thinking you don''t normally put four million cubic metres of comet material into a bubble.] [That''s how much volume you''ve just told me about? You have, haven''t you.] [Four point seven, actually.] [Hmm, and the ship itself won''t weigh nothing, will it? Let me get my calculator. And if we assume that it''s a bit mucky then your comet might come in with a density of more than one. So, let''s give ourselves a nice big margin for error, and lets say ten megatonnes. Sounds explosive already, doesn''t it? Schwartzchild radius for ten megatonnes is one point lets call it one point five times ten to the minus seventeen metres. You want to see so your minimum aperture is a couple of wavelengths of light, or ten to the minus six metres. You''re not going to make a black hole once things are stable. But... I do see Magdalena''s point. Initially they''re not stable, which is why we once feared there might be very briefly, a one hundred kilogram black hole heading off in the general direction of the centre of the galaxy.] [Only briefly? What would have happened to it?] [Hawking radiation would have turned it into a burst of light that started a hundred times brighter than the sun and then got brighter and brighter until it vanished in a puff of extreme gamma rays, all in a matter of pico seconds. Someone forgot that getting brighter problem, to start with, so we briefly toyed with the idea of testing a heavier probe, or testing the theory from ten astronomical units away, but decided that that the gamma ray and neutrino flux might not be healthy even at that distance. So, we put the probe away and worked for a few more months. Eventually I had the idea of what if we didn''t actively pull spacetime right into a bubble, and then try to stop it contracting more, but merely pulled it a fraction past open, and let it spring back itself. Then we could make sure it all happened a bit more gently. We even worked out how to give some more gentle pulls to make sure everything happened in microseconds rather than picoseconds.] [So the problem''s all solved?] [No. Space-time''s snap-back is dependant on the total mass density of what''s in the bubble, and the bubble drive needs to be programmed to get things roughly right. You can''t just hit the button and then measure how things are going, because of slow boring lightspeed the ''slow-down'' pulses need to get triggered before any measurements are possible. Humans don''t normally weigh that much compared to a ship, so there''s enough slack, normally to get things roughly right. And once things are roughly right you''ve got time to measure space-time curvature and get things really right. But if you go loading a cargo that weighs far more than the ship and don''t calculate the initiation parameters for the bubble drive based on the total density to within about ten percent, modelling predicts you''re going to be in trouble.]A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. [But what actually happens has not been tested?] [One short test series was done, once we''d worked out all the other issues and parameters. We then sent two automatic probes out, about a light-year away, if I remember correctly, one as data recorder, one as test device. First the mass density was overestimated by five percent; result, all OK. Next the mass density was overestimated by ten percent; result was a rather messy transition, lots of antimatter loss but it survived. Then they tried five percent under. That worked OK too. Claiming the density ten percent under reality, the data sent back from the probe says the curvature got really really close to singularity. Then they tried fifteen percent overestimation. The pulse that should have slowed down the collapse flung the probe back into normal space but the circuits weren''t expecting that at all. Based on telemetry, we guessed there was a massive voltage surge and the antimatter containment circuitry got fried. Certainly there was no sign of a black hole forming, but there was sufficient radiation exposure to the recording probe that it ended up radioactive. We didn''t want to go near it, and instead we got it to to fly through a comet on its way to the sun, gathering some more data and depleting its antimatter battery.] [Ouch.] [So... my conclusion: it is possible, but only if you''ve got some pretty accurate scales.] [Which we don''t.] [No? What are those engines, then? I went to Mars University on the Celestia-2, when I was eighteen. You''re not going to convince me all that measuring mass down to a fifty grams was to make sure they had enough fuel.] [No, It was so they could set the engines to the right power to get the necessary acceleration.] Anastasia thought. [So you''ve got scales, if you can measure the acceleration accurately, which I admit is going to be a complete pain in deep space with low numbers and without very much available as a reference point. But it can be done. Probably not quickly, but it''s possible. Then all you''d need to do is convince everyone that the bubble generator needs to be redesigned to allow for a variable mass density: that''s hard-coded on most bubble probes these days. Oh, and also convince the captain and quite frankly the whole crew how absolutely critical it is that nobody makes any guesses.] [Not to mention never ask for a few hundred kilos of rock samples to be flown home on a bubble probe.] [You haven''t, have you?] Maggie asked, horrified. [We had a discussion about how useful it might be with Mars University''s geology department. Professor Bethany Stephens.] [And she probably wouldn''t know how dangerous that is. I''ll get in touch with people to make sure she does know.] [Thank you, Maggie.] [Am I assuming his Imperial Majesty is planning on donating a Celestia?] [He doesn''t like the idea of not being able to evacuate everyone from Ground if there''s some kind of problem.] [Sensible man. Concerned for you?] [Not just me. There''s a possibility that Tibor and Svetlana will come too, and Mikhail of course.] [Tibor being your brother?] [Yes. It''s a weird coincidence, but Tibor has just announced that he''s not only got a girlfriend but they have been going out for almost a year and he hopes no one minds him asking her to marry him, and in the mean time I''ve started walking with Mikhail, her big brother.] [I take it there were no family objections?] [None whatsoever, long-standing family links: Their mother grew up at the palace, daughter to Grandma''s secretary, and told Dad he ought to be dating Mum. Their father''s descended from the Merwoman who flew my mother''s grandparents to Atlantis.] [You''re not talking about Boris Zelda Thomas''s kids are you?] [Yes.] [Well! Small world. Say ''Hi'' to Boris for me, and tell young Svetlana that my offer to her when she was ten is still remembered and valid, but I perfectly understand if she has other plans now.] [Will she remember?] [If she doesn''t, then tell her to look up ''Blackwood cabins''. Your mother''s looking for you by the way. Tell her from me... I guess as Mystery, actually, ''yes'', and ''definitely''.] [That''s suitably mysterious.] [I''m sure she''ll fill you in if she feels fit. Go find her in the library, Anastasia, she''s worried. Also tell her I''m happy to help. I''ll check where you are every few minutes or so. If you''re in the same room as your mother and beside a window, then I''ll take that as a sign you want me to intervene. OK?] [Urm. OK. This sounds serious.] [This is certainly me being Mystery, sorry.] Getting near the library, Anastasia saw her mother. ¡°Mystery says you''re looking for me, and I need to say ''yes'' and ''definitely'', and she''s available to help.¡± ¡°She''s listening in now?¡± ¡°No. If I want her to then I need to be in the same room as you, and beside a window.¡± ¡°Window, sit there, please.¡± the Tsarina said ¡°I spoke to Ludmilla yesterday. I told her she''d have stood a chance with Tibor if she hadn''t been so anti-God, and then told her her behaviour was dishonouring herself and the nobility, did she prefer her lifestyle or her title?¡± ¡°And she''s now gone missing?¡± ¡°Sort of. Last seen going sailing in the company of the Mer ambassador''s son. You know they used to be in each other''s company a lot before university.¡± ¡°I also know he''s a Christian, and so does she.¡± ¡°So the questions I was asking myself are is this this a dangerous or good, and is this because of what I said to her.¡± ¡°To which the answers are ''yes'' and ''definitely''. That''s not exactly encouraging.¡± ¡°But not disasterous either. So I guess she''s not planning to throw herself off the boat or something like that.¡± [She hasn''t totally rejected that idea.] Mystery said. Anastasia passed on that message. ¡°Can you say more?¡± ¡°Mystery says ''I was talking to Anastasia about something totally different, when I felt that I ought to check on Ludmilla. She''s churning over different conflicting thoughts. Some are about the unfairness of what you said to her, Tsarina, some are her feelings towards Tulag, some are suicidal, others are about God. So, my guess is she''s on a knife-edge.''¡± ¡°What are Tulag''s thoughts about?¡± ¡°Mystery says, ''Roughly speaking, he''s on a knife edge too. He''s out at sea in a boat with half-clad temptress half-heartedly asking questions about God, and he''s not got his Bible with him. My gut feeling is lots of prayer. My guess is if he rejects her then she''ll reject God, if he falls then oath-breakers the pair of them and she''ll reject God.''¡± ¡°What about if someone were to deliver a picnic hamper and a pair of Bibles?¡± Tsarina Valentina asked. ¡°It might depend who,¡± Anastasia said. ¡°I know just the man,¡± Valentina said, with a smile.
Off the Russian coast, near St Petersburg ¡°You''re not concentrating,¡± Ludmilla accused. ¡°Oh Sorry,¡± Tulag said, ¡°Blame the circumstances, I mean, here I am, miles from the coast, not having eaten any breakfast, with a very beautiful non-Christian girl I''ve been attracted to since I was about twelve, who''s admitted that she''d be very happy for me to give into her charms, even though she ought to know that means breaking my oath to God and making me sharkfood, and for some reason the idea''s actually tempting, and every time I try to tell her about God she flutters her eyelids at me, and I think, if only this dangerous shark wasn''t my best friend I could just tip her into the ocean with a clean conscience but maybe she''s just testing me and she really is interested in turning from her blatant sins and getting right with God, in which case she''d be a gorgeous, beautiful forgiven ex-dangerous shark and I wouldn''t need to feel a total fraud of a Christian for being in love with her for the past decade and crying myself to sleep about what she''s been doing to herself for the past year. The whole situation makes it quite hard to think, you know, Ludmilla? It never was easy for me to think clearly around you.¡± ¡°You''ve been in love with me for a decade?¡± Ludmilla asked, surprised. ¡°Roughly. I mean, ''in love'' ought to be two sided, so it''s probably more like ''lusting after'' but, well, no, it''s more dignified than that because I''ve been praying for you too...¡± ¡°You never said.¡± ¡°What''s the point? I don''t want to break my oath to the God I love. And now you''ve got another weapon to tempt me away from God. Please don''t, Ludmilla.¡± ¡°And you''ve been crying abut my behaviour?¡± ¡°Crying to God, yes. Sad prayers. I mean, you''ve been all over the papers basically treating yourself like you''ve no value to anyone! Why would anyone do that? You''re smarter than that, surely?¡± ¡°Me just being in your boat is going to harm your reputation, isn''t it?¡± He shrugged, ¡°Not if I manage to convince you to change your mind about God.¡± He watched her face, hoping for some sign he was getting through to her. ¡°What would you do if I just took off all my clothes? ¡°, she asked conversationally. ¡°Turn my back, ask you to put them on again, and if you didn''t, swim away. I know it''s my duty to kill dangerous sharks, but I just can''t.¡± ¡°The wind is away from the coast, and I can''t sail.¡± ¡°So? I lose my yacht and you die from exposure or drown or maybe you get rescued but at least I don''t have to kill you. Sorry to say this, but the reality is you''ve lived the last year or more like a moabitess, Ludmilla. That''s to say maybe quarter of a step up from a prostitute, with a lot of shark thrown in. A known moabitess trying to tempt a Christian to break his oath to God? Don''t you know our laws?¡± ¡°An oath must be kept.¡± ¡°That''s the first one, yes. For an oathbreaker is shark or sharkfood.¡± ¡°Then there''s something about not all sharks needing to be killed.¡± ¡°Only the dangerous ones. Law three: what is hunted is not possessed, what is caught is owned, what escapes is free. Law four: the destruction of an innocent is a greater wrong than breaking an oath. Law five: Only a dangerous shark would knowingly entice another to break an oath. You have knowingly enticed me to break my oath, Ludmilla. Are you really suicidal?¡± ¡°The Tsarina informed me I could continue with my behaviour and lose my rank or keep my rank and change.¡± ¡°I have just told you I''m bending the law by not killing you.¡± ¡°Except you won''t because of how you feel.¡± ¡°If you tempt me further I''ll swim away, and you''ll be dead to me.¡± ¡°Don''t do that please. I don''t want to drive you away. I don''t want to ruin your life. Nor your relationship with God. Not really.¡± ¡°But you don''t want to listen to me talking about God, either do you?¡± ¡°I''ve sat through so many meetings, so many sermons. I just turn off, and think of other things.¡± ¡°Like debasing both of us,¡± he said. ¡°Sex is a pleasurable activity,¡± she said, fluttering her eyelids again. ¡°So I''ve heard. More precisely, sex is a pleasurable activity that welds two human beings into a spiritual union, the state of being one flesh. That weld is recognised by and is only appropriately made within the oath-framework of marriage, otherwise it is defilement, which is why law seven: the rapist condemns himself. The spiritual union is broken only by death or unfaithfulness. To treat sex as some kind of more enjoyable alternative to playing tiddly-winks is to mistreat a precious gift of God. If someone went to a museum and spray painted over all the works of art then you''d call them a stinking rotten vandal, and that''s the image that comes to mind when I call you, my friend, a moabitess: a stinking, rotten ruiner of her own live and others'', covered in the moral equivalent of dog-muck, that is to say sin. I am part of the body of Christ. Is the holy body of Christ to be united to the stinking flesh of a dog-muck-covered moabitess?¡± Ludmilla curled herself into a foetal ball, ¡°You hate me.¡± ¡°I don''t hate you, Ludmilla. I''m trying to help you understand what you''re suggesting from where I am when I''m sane. I''m trying to stay sane. It wouldn''t be sane to want sex with someone covered in dog muck, would it? It would be disgusting. My human nature says it doesn''t see the dog muck, just a very appealing woman who I shouldn''t be hurting by telling you the way things are, but I''m a Christian. I''m trying to put to death my human nature and live for Christ, to live according to my spiritual nature. And having sex with you outside marriage would be worse than smearing myself in dog muck, spiritually speaking.¡± ¡°You don''t hate me but I disgust you,¡± Ludmilla said in a hollow voice. ¡°I weep at the thought that what the papers say about you is right. I pray they''re wrong. Wouldn''t you react like that if you saw someone you cared for playing in a sewer? I want to drag you out and get you washed off. But I''m not going to join you for fun and games in the sewer to get you out.¡± ¡°Sorry. I thought... I thought I was offering you something you wanted, and that I''d be happy to give, not earning your disgust,¡± Ludmilla said. Tulag''s utterly reliable friendship had been the last refuge of her self esteem, she''d come out here to entrap him, yes, but to convince him to promise himself to support her, to be her rock. She''d thought she''d been so close to achieving that when he''d admitted he loved her. Now she realised how wrong she''d been, and despair filled her mind. ¡°I just wanted to be precious to you. But I''m a dangerous shark, a useless, stinking whore, and shouldn''t be defiling your beautiful boat. I understand now. You don''t need to push me overboard.¡± In a quick motion, she sat on the edge of the boat and rolled off, into the water. She didn''t try to swim, simply breathed out, intent on self-destruction. Tulag dropped the sail, dropped the sea-anchor overboard, and dove in after her. His scale was in the boat, but he didn''t take the time to pull it on. No matter what she named herself, she''d convinced him she wasn''t a dangerous shark, just a broken human. A broken human looking for reassurance in all the wrong places, through all the wrong ways, but a broken human in need of rescue. He prayed that he might rescue her physically and God might rescue her spiritually. She fought him off initially, rejecting rescue. But he''d caught unwilling fish plenty of times, and her muscles were weaker than his under any circumstances, let alone when she was in water not that far above freezing. It didn''t take long before they broke water, her with her arms held behind her back. She coughed and spluttered, berating him for not letting her drown, for torturing her more, and then noticed there was a shadow above the water. ¡°That was overly-dramatic, countess,¡± the Tsar said, from the doorway of the peace-submarine. ¡°Not to mention meaning you entirely missed the stunning effect of my graceful descent. How''s the water?¡± ¡°Cold, Imperial Majesty, but perfectly bearable.¡± Tulag replied, ¡°At least for me.¡± With one hand he held the edge of the boat, and with the other he helped Ludmilla up. It was good sailing weather, which is to say, not the warmest. She was shivering. ¡°Hmm. And does your little sailing boat have such conveniences as blankets and dry clothes?¡± ¡°Not really, Imperial Majesty,¡± Tulag replied. ¡°I was just going to deliver a couple of Bibles and a picnic hamper, but that''s not much good if you then freeze to death. So, countess, I''m going to give you another choice to go with the one my beloved wife gave you yesterday. Will you stay in the boat with your rescuer, and borrow an Imperial blanket or two, or will you ask your rescuer to let me pilot his yacht back to harbour while he takes you somewhere suitable for further dry conversations in this venerable vehicle? I recommend something like the countess''s own domain as somewhere without mountains she might be tempted to dramatically hurl herself off, which is also warm and dry. And I presume you have more decent attire there, countess, as befits one of your station?¡± ¡°I do, Imperial Majesty,¡± Ludmilla said through chattering teeth. ¡°But.. I would not like to expose Tulag to public censure for entering the home of a moabitess alone.¡± ¡°A former moabitess, I hope,¡± the Tsar said. ¡°I guess I do too, Imperial Majesty. I can''t seem to persuade him to be sensible and let me drown myself, as befits a moabitess and dangerous shark. So I don''t know what else I can do except try to not be one.¡± ¡°Imperial Majesty, I don''t think Ludmilla is a dangerous shark. She''s a broken human who''s looked in all the wrong places for reassurance that she''s valuable, but I don''t think she really wants to be more dangerous to my relationship with God than she is just by existing. But I think it would be more dangerous if I needed to hug her to get her warm.¡± ¡°No, we can''t have that, can we? Wait a moment, and I''ll let this Guillemot get it''s feet wet.¡± ¡°He wasn''t serious, was he?¡± Ludmilla asked. ¡°What about? Me taking you to your home? I''ve flown a Guillemot before.¡± ¡°Why?¡± she demanded, through chattering teeth, as the space-submarine settled itself into the water. ¡°Why should the his Imperial Majesty the Tsar of all Russia and Taiwan put himself out for me?¡± ¡°Why should the Lord Jesus Christ, creator and sustainer of the universe, allow himself to be tortured to death on a cross for you, Ludmilla?¡± the Tsar asked. ¡°Sorry, I couldn''t help overhearing. Guillemots don''t have very sound-proof walls. I don''t mind sailing one bit, though I''d prefer to have my wife along with me. Now, young countess, climb aboard. Please guide her Tulag, we don''t want her getting any ideas about more swims, do we? Now, Ludmilla, I know you''ve heard about grace, and I know you''ve heard about repentance. There''s a shower in there, with a hairdryer thing which doubles as a clothes dryer. Put your clothes on that while you wash the sea off you and warm up.¡± ¡°And while you''re getting warm and clean, think about the idea of getting clean in God''s eyes too,¡± Tulag said from outside. ¡°Imperial Majesty, I''d be happy to sail back without Ludmilla.¡± ¡°But..¡± Ludmilla protested, then hung her head in shame. ¡°Would you also be happy to take her to her official home, and make use of the picnic my wife prepared for you?¡± ¡°I would, Imperial Majesty.¡± ¡°Then that is what you''ll do. But perhaps, if I could leave you on the yacht while I fetch Tsarina Valentina?¡± ¡°Certainly, Imperial Majesty.¡± ¡°And Tulag, even if our every hope comes true about where your conversation goes, I very strongly recommend you have a long discussion with your parents before you make any decisions or promises.¡± ¡°I understand, and I obey, Imperial Majesty,¡± Tulag said.
The Palace, St Petersburg ¡°I''m a bit confused about your message, husband,¡± the Tsarina greeted him. ¡°Ludmilla decided to try to drown herself, and you know what the water''s like this time of year. I''ve suggested that Tulag and Ludmilla have their picnic and finish their conversation somewhere where she can''t do anything else dramatic and suicidal, and where it''s warmer, say her official residence. Which leaves us with a little sailing to do.¡± ¡°And who chaperones Tulag and Ludmilla?¡± ¡°I was thinking Tulag had coped well enough with her so far. But OK, yes it''s not very wise, is it?¡± ¡°Not very, no.¡± ¡°She''s warming up under the shower, feel free to make some suggestions.¡± ¡°OK. And then Tulag flies everyone back at the end of the day?¡± ¡°I presume so.¡± ¡°Countess Ludmilla? It''s Valentina. Would I be correct in presuming that you''re going to find it a lot easier not to get distracted by what''s under Tulag''s clothes if you were at least partially looking after a four year old?¡± ¡°A four year old?¡± ¡°Olga and Vladimir need some time to talk, you need some time to talk, and a chaperone wouldn''t come amiss, either. And Rudolph needs some time outside burning off some energy.¡± ¡°I''d be... honoured, Imperial Tsarina.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Tulag explained my spiritual state, majesty, in words that got through. I... I''ve just been thinking I sank to where I was because I felt excluded and rejected. But I jumped overboard because I realised I was contaminating Tulag just being near him. I don''t understand why he rescued me, why you''re being kind to me. Why would you let me near prince Rudolph? I don''t deserve such honour, such trust. I don''t understand. But I won''t reject it.¡± Ground / Ch. 29: Bubble Density

Ground / Ch. 29:Bubble Density

Ground Restoration [Heather? It''s Maggie.] [Hi Mags, what''s up?] [I''ve just been talking to Magdalena and Rachel. Someone cut some bubble dynamics from the basic introduction course, and didn''t put it in any other module.] [Are we talking curiosity or scary?] [How critical the total density of the bubble is. Rachel remembered being told ''don''t ever take much high density cargo, low density is OK, more details next course,'' but she now realises she was never told those more details.] [Yep, that''s scary. And Magdalena?] [Ditto for Magdalena, except she asked her parents at the time and got a quick ''oh that''s really important, you mustn''t alter the total mass in the bubble by more than about 5 percent.''] [Well done to them.] [So, if it''s OK with you, I''m going to send out a ''all pilots'' alert, and then roast some ears at the university. In my book, anyone who doesn''t know that shouldn''t be piloting a bubble ship. The ''low density'' thing is a mistake too. Rachel had the idea she could pretty much fill the ship with anything ¡ª living space included ¡ª as long as what was in the cargo pod wasn''t denser than water.] [You roast away, Maggie. I''ll run a remedial course on what happened and what almost happened to probe two on people here. I think you ought to go in person, Maggs.] [At my age?] [You''ve still got more flight time than lots of recently qualified pilots. Take number five out of it''s vacuum chamber.] [You really think so?] [It''s been there twenty years, Maggie. If we don''t end the experiment soon then everyone will have forgotten about it. And young Rachel ought to know how do put one in too. It''s only right.] [OK Heather. Preserving knowledge, shocking the young, and so on.] [Exactly.]
Restoration ¡°Rachel, thanks for coming. It''s time for you to learn something about bubble ships.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Probably. What happened to the first bubble ships, Rachel?¡± ¡°Urm, they got retired, didn''t they? New designs were made, and they were redundant.¡± ¡°New designs were made and the old ones were too flexible. The old designs had all the flexibility of the automatic probes. Fully programmable, in other words.¡± ¡°Oh. Sort of like an accident waiting to happen, in the wrong hands?¡± ¡°That too. You''re still second in charge of the Ground expedition, Rachel, and you''re doing important stuff down here. So in my book you shouldn''t assume that your association with the programme will ever end. The bubble programme needs an ambassador now more than ever, especially with what Russia are planning. You''ve heard of that?¡± ¡°I''ve had some discussions with Tsarevich Tibor,¡± Rachel said, nodding. ¡°So, I''ve just agreed with Ursula. You, Albert and I are going to pay a surprise visit to Mars, just as soon as Albert gets here.¡± ¡°But, urm, John and Karella have taken the Bubble ship to Mars.¡± ¡°That''s no problem. You and I need to take a little walk. I guess impact park would be a good place. Oh, and you know that crystal vacuum chamber on my desk that children mustn''t touch? Be a dear and bring it will you? Move it very carefully, deliberately and at as constant a velocity as you can, it''s got a lot of inertia, for all it doesn''t weigh much.¡± ¡°Gran, you''re not making much sense. How can it have inertia but not weight?¡± ¡°Graviton deflector, of course. Oh! Expect some flashes when you move it, there''s a range finding laser in there, too.¡± ¡°What is it Gran?¡± ¡°An old experiment. Almost as old as you are. Probe five, like it says on the lid.¡± ¡°You''re not trying to tell me you''ve got a retired bubble ship parked on your desk, surely.¡± ¡°No, I''ve let you work it out.¡± ¡°How can I possibly move a ship when it''s in bubble space?¡± ¡°You move the box. Very smoothly. You hit the forcefield spikes. Bang, you stop, and I hope you didn''t break the crystal. The ship notices, the laser range-finder gets triggered, the ship moves to the middle of the box, and so on.¡± ¡°Are you saying that forcefield spikes can go through the bubble interface?¡± ¡°Yes. Photons can, why shouldn''t other things? Normally almost entirely useless, of course. Except when you''ve got a ship in a box.¡± ¡°Does anyone know this stuff, gran?¡± ¡°Everyone who did a doctorate in bubble technology.¡± ¡°So it''s disappearing knowledge?¡± Rachel asked, ¡°I''ve seen a lot of retired professors with a doc-B-T, but no one under fifty.¡± ¡°That''s something you''ll need to talk to Atlantis about. Emperor Jake didn''t like some of the things we''d got them to do, like number five sitting in its box, or being able to fly in atmospheres. He mandated that no new people join the doc-B-T programme, and ships one to four be programmed to take a pure Boris sun-dive once people had finished their research. Five was in the box, and we said, look, it''s not harming anyone or anything there, can we leave it for a decade, a decade and a half at least? Please? Let it finish its research? And he said, ''OK, OK, I''ll leave it for my successor to decide.''¡± ¡°What was so scary?¡± ¡°I think the trigger was when one of his daughters heard about the advances and came up with an idea about using one to do some observations in the sun.¡± ¡°But... you can''t navigate that close to the sun! And the radiation levels...¡± ¡°Yes. But what if you don''t need to navigate? It''s not like there''s much to bump into inside Mercury''s orbit except the sun, and it''s pretty hard to miss if you can manage to go in a straight line. Why not make the space-time connection sphere a hundred times smaller? You''re still a long way from a black hole. And with the interaction sphere smaller, you don''t get much radiation in at all. And then if a spike can go through the hole, you can get it to emit any radiation it collects, can''t you? Except the antimatter, of course, and you''d want to keep that to recharge the battery.¡± Rachel''s jaw dropped. ¡°Would it work?¡± ¡°How do you get a bubble ship into a box, Rachel? And why might that scare any head of state absolutely stupid?¡± ¡°You... you fly the bubble in atmosphere. And you can emit the radiation as light, that''s how the range-finders work. Put those together and you''ve got a perfect assassination tool. You could bubble-drive through someone''s head, and fill their brain with radiation as you go past.¡± ¡°Yuck, what a turn of imagination you''ve got. But yes, you''re basically right. The variable size manifold means you can take proper bearings, the spikes mean radiation control, recharging the bubble means you don''t even need to worry about losses, but just like a high energy cosmic ray, you''re leaving a trail of radioactive particles and Bremsstrahlung radiation behind you.¡± Seeing Rachel''s expression Maggie said ¡°that''s the reason reactor pools glow blue: local violation of the speed of light. Jake got worried, and he didn''t have his mother''s gift to know no one was deranged enough to try to kill someone by flying through their head. Plus of course some idiot in the press was talking about how if only a bubble ship could fly in curves or in the air, you could have hyper-lightspeed transport around the planet, not just hyper-sonic. Fly in curves? Nothing easier. It was getting the things to fly straight which was the bigger problem. The idiot bit was the thought of trying to come out of bubble space in a built up area. You''re talking burst ear-drums and broken windows there, I assure you.¡± ¡°So, when we take it up to Impact park, it''s not going to suddenly go pop and we step on board with bleeding ears?¡± ¡°Not quite. I''ll need to convince air traffic control I''m not being funny, and it''ll transition about fifty kilometers up.¡± ¡°How do you tell it to do that?¡± ¡°Pre-programmed response when it notices there''s no lid above it. Which is why you really don''t want to break the vacuum chamber.¡±
Restoration [James, it''s Maggie. Who else is in contact with Bubble pilots these days?] [Ruth, Karella, Zan, Refek and young Sathie.] [Hmm, and all awake apart from Sathie. Great. Kids, this is Maggie, listen up, lives might depend on it. Some people missed a bit of training and got the wrong summary, it seems. Anyone want a pause to get something to take notes on?] [Please.] Refek said. [OK I''ll wait.] [Did someone just ask me if I was awake?] Sathie asked. [Yes, Sathie. Got something to take notes on?] [Urm. my pillow doesn''t count, does it?] [No.] [I''ve got my wrist unit.] Refek thought. [Oh, I can use that, can''t I? I was thinking paper.] [You''re sleepy, neice.] Karella said. [Yes.] [This is mainly for people a long way from home, I''m going to be grounding everyone in the solar system this morning, until I know exactly who''s affected. It comes in the category of ''don''t kill yourselves and others, pilots, please.''] [Eek. That woke me up.] Sathie said. [You have our attention, Maggie] James said. [Right. Someone''s been telling trainee pilots don''t pack high density cargo in the pods, low density stuff is OK. Sorry, that depends on so many factors, so I''m calling it just plain wrong. What''s right is that everyone needs to pay attention to the total mass inside their bubble, the total volume of spacetime inside their bubble, which ought to be written somewhere in the ship documentation if they can''t remember, and make sure their total bubble density doesn''t stray outside or ideally anywhere near the edges of the range which ought to be shown on their control panel before they confirm bubble space transition. First generation probes can usually adjust it, either there or somewhere else, it all depends who made the probe-ship. This is a case of don''t know, or don''t understand, don''t do it. Too heavy and the BAP won''t be strong enough, and they''ll overstress the fabric of spacetime and shrink past the Schwartzchild radius. Too light and the BAP will chuck them out of warp, just when everything is geared up for big power drain, and based on test device two''s results, end up with some kind of battery controller malfunction and vanish in an antimatter explosion.] [What''s a BAP?] Sathie asked. [Blackhole Avoiding Pulse. It has to be triggered really soon after main conversion pulse ends, and actually before the bubble is formed, so the Blackhole Avoidance Detector can''t measure anything on time. Filling living quarters with extra passengers or mattresses will mean it''s too weak just as easily as carrying too much rock. Signs they''ve got close to danger include fast rotation on bubble exit, excessive drain on antimatter battery, or warning messages about messy transition.] [So in case of fast rotation, jetison cargo?] Karella asked. [Certainly don''t add more. Excessive drain and messy transition seem to coincide with too light. But basically, in my book, everyone should be doing all the maths. A short cut for a generation two ship: assume the designer allowed a hundred kilos each for each person and their effects, and fifty kilos of food to be replaced by samples. The danger point is varying the total density in the bubble by about ten percent, and that includes the weight of the ship too, which is normally about fifteen hundred kilos, so they''re really dicing with death if they''re a hundred and seventy five kilos off those estimates.] [So two fifty kilo girls on a quick trip and no need of food or baggage. Ought to be OK, just.] [Yes. But if one then leaves her friend behind somewhere, without cargo, and just does a quick jump back to Earth, she might only have a small chance of getting there. Or if she took a kid who only weighs twenty. We do not know, exactly, what on the low density side is dangerous. The robot probes were valuable and we only killed one of them: that was at fifteen percent low. At ten percent low it was a really messy transition. The overweight test results showed that at ten percent over-dense, the minimum interface diameter got really really close to it becoming a black hole. And if someone asks about bouncing back to what it should be, even if it goes under, here''s some scary physics: at a black-hole''s gravitational slope you''re going to get Hawking Radiation greater than the sun''s output, and that energy has to come from the bubble drive. It can''t cope with that power level for even a femto-second, at which point you''re in a collapsed bubble and a genuine evaporating black hole. Basically what I''ve just told you is the executive summary of a lecture that got skipped. Please pass it on.] [One question: what constitutes fast rotation?] Zan asked. [One or two revs a minute is fine. Much faster and they''re in the danger zone.] [Eek. I''ve got someone to talk to. Gone.] [''Bye Zan. In case others ask, the full version of the lecture used to show some of the graphs from modelling, so they could see what the BAP does, and footage of what happened to the test probe. Any questions?] There weren''t any. [Thanks Maggie.] James thought, [we''ll warn our distant friends and anyone local who''s about to transition in-system.]
Restoration, Impact park ¡°Hello, air traffic control. I''m Maggie Durrel, professor-emeritus of the Bubble Research programme, and Queen Heather''s just told me to end a twenty year old experiment and collect the data before everyone who remembers it goes senile or dies. I''m in Restoration, in the middle of Impact Park, and I can''t see any air traffic very close, but I''m wondering if there''s anything between me and fifty kilometers up, and if it''d be OK to land a bubble ship in the park on full automatic.¡± ¡°Err, where''s the bubble ship now?¡± ¡°In one sense, right in front of me. More accurately its in a bubble of space-time currently anchored to the rest of the universe at a point inside a vacuum chamber we''ve just brought with us. No one wanted ear drums to burst or anyone to get otherwise hurt, so it was pre-programmed to warp to 50 kilometers altitude and then descend to it''s launch point, at an acceleration of half a G relative to freefall and a maximum speed of two hundred meters a second. I''m afraid I can''t change those parameters without getting on board, which I can''t do.¡± ¡°Erm, I''m afraid I''ll need some kind of confirmation.¡± ¡°That''s fine. I don''t know how extensive or accessible your records are, but you might find that you have a record from twenty or twenty five years ago, urm, just after the death of empress Karella Farseer of Atlantis, relating to Bubble Research Ship Five, nickname ''Jumping Jack Flash'' landing in Restoration. That''s the vessel I''m talking about. There might even be a provisional departure plan registered. I seem to remember something about temporary landing permission needing a departure plan.¡± ¡°Thank you. And the name was Professor Maggie Durrel?¡± ¡°Emeritus these days. Yes, of the Space folding research programme which turned into the Bubble Research Programme. If it''s any help, Dr Rachel Ngbila, my granddaughter, is here with me.¡± ¡°I might need to speak to her for confirmation. Erm, oh, I''ll need pilot''s license information...¡± ¡°Should be on record, maybe under my maiden name, Smith.¡± ¡°I''ll go and look up some records, maam. Can you hold the line?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°And based on what I''ve just learned there may have been a fundamental gap in bubble ship pilot training for the past decade or so, so I''m on my way to Mars to find out when the course changes happened and ban the affected youngsters from engaging bubble drive, subject to further training.¡± ¡°Would that affect traffic to or from Earth, maam?¡± ¡°Yes. Rach, when did Magdalena train?¡± ¡°2356, I think.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°I believe most but not all bubble pilots trained after 2356 will need remedial education. The cut-off date may need adjusting. Inbound journeys should not be affected unless anomalous behaviour has been detected at bubble transition. Outbound journies should be checked with the competent pilot certification authority. Which at the moment is probably me.¡± ¡°Professor, you are saying the competent authority is not competent?¡± another voice asked. Maggie guessed it was the office supervisor. ¡°I am going to Mars to find out. Under the laws of Atlantis I have the authority and responsibility to determine who is competent to teach a subject that I basically wrote the book on. A basic safety component was moved from one course, but it seems it was not included in the later course, although students that were told it would be. So, unless they did extra research or listened to a colleague who did, they don''t know how wrong the quick summary they were given is.¡± ¡°Could you give a simple, accurate, summary of the problem?¡± ¡°Don''t overload a Bubble ship, and don''t underload it either. Overload and you could end up in a black hole, under-load and a power-burst meant to correct that problem can overcorrect and you could end up in a common or garden antimatter explosion.¡± ¡°Thank you, professor, that was clear. Can I refer any irate pilots who get told they''re not clear to fly to you?¡± ¡°Certainly. Calming down stroppy children is one of a grandma''s main roles in life. The entirely safe tolerances are plus or minus five percent total mass, expressed as an average density within the bubble, relative to a number that has been programmed into the bubble drive.¡± ¡°And that number is fixed?¡± ¡°It depends. It need not be, different builders had different thoughts on the matter in the first generation probe-ships. The second generation ones all used the same estimate of how much pilots and cargo would weigh. The only third generation ship built so far, Mick''s ship, weighed itself, which is entirely the right thing to do, shame he left the pilot seat while under thrust and knocked himself out.¡± ¡°And the ship you''re going to be launching is a first generation?¡± ¡°The ship I''m going to be launching is Bubble Research Ship five. Not the dumbed down interplanetary probe ship version.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, professor.¡± ¡°I''m not saying it''s prettier, but its certainly more flexible.¡± ¡°Yes. Urm, I understand you told my colleague it was going to use bubble drive in atmosphere.¡± ¡°Yes, that''s one of its tricks. The very best executive desk toy you can imagine. That''s what my daughter used to call it, anyway. I resoundingly told her off for calling it a toy.¡± ¡°But you kept it on your desk?¡± ¡°Certainly. You wouldn''t want it in the living room, the kids might try to play shake the spaceship, which would have made a mess of the experiment.¡± ¡°Sorry for keeping you talking, professor. Your airspace is clear to thirty kilometers radius for the next quarter of an hour, so you are free to urm, unpack your ship. I assume you''ll be filing a departure plan in due course?¡± ¡°Yes. I''ll need to access the experiment logs and check it''s all OK, but I expect to be in contact in an hour or two.¡± ¡°Thank you professor.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maggie ended the call. ¡°Long conversation,¡± Rachel observed. ¡°Yes, but you have permission to open the air valve. Expect quite a lot of range finder activity when you do.¡± Rachel did as instructed, heard the hiss of high speed air entering a vacuum. Maggie was right, the range finder seemed to be in over-drive compared to earlier. After a few seconds the hissing sound stopped. ¡°OK, now making sure you''re not leaning over the box, slide the lid off. I recommend you look up as you do.¡± ¡°Is it dangerous?¡± ¡°No, it''s rather pretty. Even better at night, of course,¡± Maggie said. ¡°Surely it''s not going to be visible at that distance?¡± ¡°No. But you''re going to be looking up at a suddenly evacuated and ionised pillar of air. A bit like your own personal lightning bolt. And when it pops out of the bubble the spikes are going to be visible, I expect. Maybe I should have warned air traffic control about that. Go on, pull the lid, girl.¡± Looking up, and not leaning over the top, Rachel pulled. There was a blue-white flash, a very faint crack, and then a light that went from blue-white to yellow to orange to white. From ground level it looked no brighter than a firework, but she imagined it was quite bright to any pilots in the area. Maggie''s wrist unit rang. ¡°Yes¡± she said, ¡°The flash was sort of expected, sorry. But I was expecting barely visible red, not bright blue-white. I''ll have to check the logs to see if I moan at the Mer about the vacuum vessel they made me, or at children who might have fiddled with the air-inlet valve. Please apologise to any dazzled pilots. And identify it to any one who thinks it''s a UFO.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Just over two minutes after Rachel had removed the lid, Maggie said, ¡°Am I imagining it, or can I see it?¡± ¡°I think I can, gran. A silver ball, is that right?¡± ¡°More of an ellipsoid. It''s made of crystal. I don''t remember a reflective coating. Oh, maybe its forcefield is on. Let''s wait and see. And move over there, a bit, we don''t want to have it land on us.¡± It didn''t take long, but long enough for a few passers-by to stop and gawk. ¡°What is it?¡± One was brave enough to ask. ¡°The last of its kind, a Bubble Research Ship, made before any of the interplanetary probe ships.¡± Maggie said. ¡°Who''s on board?¡± someone else asked. ¡°No one, yet. It''s landing on automatic.¡± ¡°Why does it say ''Jumping Jack Flash'' on it?¡± ¡°Someone thought it was a good description. It''s just coming down from its jump. Did you see the flash?¡± ¡°I did. Where did it jump from¡± ¡°That vacuum-chamber. Hopefully it''s got some interesting data from the experiment it''s been running in there for the past twenty odd years.¡± ¡°It''s been in that box for twenty years?¡± ¡°Yes. Excuse me, after all these years, I''m a bit impatient to see the results.¡± ¡°I hope you remember the entry code,¡± Rachel said to Heather as they reached the ship. ¡°That''s the other reason for the name of the song,¡± Heather replied. Typing in ''All right now''. ¡°Stand back, and let it air out for a bit.¡± She hit enter. The door opened, and Rachel could see rows and rows of controls and indicators. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Bit different inside to a probe ship?¡± ¡°Very. But I''ve seen photos of this haven''t I?¡± ¡°Of course. Your mum''s been on it. And named it, actually. Give her a ring.¡± Rachel did as requested. ¡°Hi Mum. Gran thought you''d like to see this view.¡± Hannah Ngbila looked at the picture. ¡°Jack Flash is back? Oh wow! Mum! Why didn''t you tell me?¡± ¡°I forgot you named it, love. I''ve got to go to Mars. Heather told me to get it out of its box, so we came right here.¡± ¡°Can I come and have a look round for old time''s sake?¡± ¡°If you like. We''re in Impact park.¡± ¡°If I like? If I like what sort of silly question is that? That''s practically my teenage home you''re looking at there, Rachel.¡±
[Maggie, this is Zan. Probe 2T20 last span out at over one rev per second, They''ve just jetisoned some thirty-five kilos of sparkling water. Co-pillot doesn''t really like still, apparently. They''ve just worked out that ¡ª with some guesses ¡ª they were at an estimate of 174 kilos above standard estimate before they jettisonned stuff.] [Praise God they weren''t any heavier!] [Indeed. But the bad news is neither recognised what I passed on from you and they trained about a decade ago. They knew there was a problem if they overloaded the cargo pods, but had guessed it was something about them being nearer the edge of the bubble. ] [Thanks, Zan. I''m going to hit the big red button then. That''s scary.]
Space ¡°Mars approach this is Professor Maggie Durrell on Bubble Research Ship Five, coming to see if the Bubble Pilot Training school is fit for purpose. OK if I scare the living daylights out of them for old time''s sake? It is a bit urgent, and I''d like to make a point.¡± ¡°Could you expand on that, probe five, and give your full designation?¡± ¡°Mars approach, I do know the difference between a Bubble probe and a Bubble Research Ship. This is Bubble Research Ship number five, nicknamed Jumping Jack Flash. Have you got anyone there with a long memory?¡± An older voice came on the radio ¡°Jumping Jack Flash, this is Mars approach supervisor, no lower than a kilometer please, you don''t want to break any domes. And give me a minute to make some calls.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mars approach. Did you get the recertification note?¡± ¡°It just hit my desk, professor. Scary.¡± ¡°Even more than you know, Mars approach.¡±
Mars University Every screamer near the campus gave a strange series of notes. Some who recognised the chords gave whoops of delight, some ran to look at a patch of sky, above the Bubble Labs. One frantically began rummaging through old research notes for their half-forgotten research proposals. The message on the screamers said ¡°BRS-5 ''Jumping Jack Flash'' incoming. Expect flash and bang.¡± Karella Margaret James merely smiled. Then she thought better and got up, yelling ¡°That means cover your ears, people, and look above the Bubble lab building. The last of the old Bubble Research Ships is out of it''s retirement and about to to an in-atmosphere transition. It might be loud, and it might be bright. But it''s not a sight to be missed.¡± One of the younger researchers in her lab, expressed her confusion. ¡°You can''t fly through atmosphere!¡± ¡°Jumping Jack Flash can. That''s how it got its name,¡± Karella said. A few moments later, there was indeed a flash, followed by a crack like close thunder. ¡°Expect reverberations, people.¡± Karella said, reading a message on her wrist unit. ¡°Professor Maggie Durrel has just suspended everyone''s Bubble pilot licence and the right of the pilot training institute to issue them.¡± ¡°What? Why? Why would she do that?¡± ¡°Because to her mind as well as mine, corners were getting cut and she''s not convinced we''re not going to end up in an evaporating black hole. Who''s had rotation on bubble exit?¡± ¡°Doesn''t everyone?¡± someone asked. ¡°No,¡± Karella replied. ¡°I''ve had it on the way home far more often than the way out,¡± another pilot replied. ¡°Exactly. So, probably we''re all going to get a half-day workshop on getting back to our loved-ones in one piece, rather than lighting up the sky with subatomic particles,¡± Karella said.
Bubble Pilot Training centre, 11 am. ¡°Good morning, director,¡± Maggie said, ¡°You know my granddaughter, Rachel, I know. This is Albert, who''s just along for the ride, really.¡± ¡°I assume there is a reason for the visit, not to mention the urm... suspension notice, professor.¡± ¡°Yes, Director. You have not been in your post very long, I know. Therefore, I believe it is not in any way your fault. But there have, it seems, been some changes to the training programme that a were not one hundred percent thought through, or if they were thought through, they were not implemented well. And those changes were made far earlier than I thought this morning, even, when Queen Heather told me to get number five out of its box. I''m bound by law to ensure that, as long as I live, every pilot is fully trained and aware of the risks of bubble travel. Fundamentally, they are not at the moment. So if there''s any failing, then ultimately the failing is mine. I take it there are no staff here with a Doc B-Tech?¡± ¡°No professor. That''s been the case for a very long time, on hearing about your visit and seeing the notice, I did a check of the staff lists. The last Doc-BT staff member left the staff fifteen years ago.¡± ¡°Hmm. Director, I would like to see a detailed syllabus for everything related to Bubble-Ship theory and practice, past exam questions for the last two sessions, along with marking schemes, and for all teaching staff to sit an impromptu exam, so that I can assess exactly the state of the training programme.¡± ¡°All teaching staff?¡± ¡°I think so, yes. We might as well be comprehensive, mightn''t we? And I don''t want anyone losing sleep over this, so can we say this afternoon at 2pm?¡± ¡°Some of our staff are not on site at the moment, professor,¡± the director said. ¡°Then can you give me an annotated staff list, marked with units normally taught, and units they''d expect to be asked to teach or assist on if the main lecturer was ill, and units they might get roped in for if there was some kind of infection going through the staff and they''d had it and recovered?¡± ¡°Urm, yes, of course.¡± ¡°Great. If you can work on those things, then I''ll get down to writing an exam paper.¡± ¡°May I inform the staff about what the problem is?¡± ¡°I don''t think so, director. I''d like to get as close a picture to the situation yesterday morning as I can.¡± ¡°What happened yesterday morning?¡± ¡°Not much of relevance, except that I didn''t know there was a problem. Oh, since there won''t be any teaching, why don''t we include the students in the exam too?¡±
Bubble Pilot Training Centre, 2pm ¡°Hello, staff and students!¡± Maggie said. ¡°My name is Maggie Durrell, it''s a long time since I''ve been here, but I used to be director here, and as the first director of this school I have the rather terrible legal responsibility of making sure no one dies from not knowing enough about Bubble Ships. Since I''m making some of up this up on the spot, this exam should not be expected to check every aspect of your knowledge, and has no relation to anyone''s future employment, final grades, or anything like that. What it is intended to do is help me understand where there might be gaps in the curriculum, or gaps in the knowledge of the teaching staff. Students, I hope you''ll find the exercise enjoyable. I mean that. Bubble ships are fascinating but deadly things, and I hope you''re here because you want to get out there and discover stuff and do so safely. "What I''m going to do is throw questions at you, verbally. Your role is to take notes if you want to, and then write the answers on the bits of coloured paper in front of you. My willing assistants will then collect the bits of paper and we''ll go on to the next question. You''ll see that students have green paper and staff have pink. That''s because there are more students than staff, there were only two colours in the stores, and there was more green. "Question one: Bubble probe 1R3 has four bedrooms, six beds, beautiful delta-shaped fixed wings and submarine-metal underwater drive coils. Bubble probe 1T4 has forcefield wings and a very large refrigerator. What feature do they share which would make either of them suitable to take a party of six well-built merfolk on a fishing trip to Earth? Hold up your answer sheets when you''ve finished.¡± After the sheets had been collected, Maggie went on to the next question. ¡°Two, recently, a bubble probe exited warp with a spin rate of about one revolution per second. Once the pilot has got the spin under control, and cleaned up any vomit, etcetera, if needed, is there any specific action that he should do, or should not do? ¡°Question three. True or false, the BAP is triggered by the BAD. ¡°Question four. True or false: A BAD problem is fatal. ¡°Question five part A: What would happen if the BAP was too weak, part B:too strong? ¡°Question six: What sort of samples can you carry where and why? ¡°Question seven: You entered bubble space and the probe gave a warning about a slow or messy transition. Should this affect any of your decisions during your warp flight? Does it affect your subsequent actions after exiting bubble space? If so, how? ¡°Question eight. Mick Karella John hit his head after setting his ship to thrust towards the planet Ground at one gee. List the things that he got wrong, indicating what was (A) totally wrong and (B) a mistake that contributed to his crash and (C) what lessons should be learned, (D) How different would history be if he hadn''t? ¡°Question nine. A) Explain why you can''t fly a Bubble probe in atmosphere, and make some guesses about how the Bubble Research Ship I came in might be able too. B): Then explain why those modifications might be very useful. C): guess why your bubble probes do not incorporate that technology. ¡°Question ten. What theory was automatic probe two testing when it suffered an antimatter explosion? ¡°Question eleven: Fifteen years ago a new generation of ships was defined, as those which automatically measure their lift-off mass. Explain why this is a good idea, and why it took so long for someone to build one. ¡°Question twelve: List all the steps you should take if the BAD throws you out of bubble. For extra merit, indicate the correct order. ¡°Question thirteen: who has the authority to cancel a trip or cut it short? ¡°Question fourteen: who has the authority to decide a trip absolutely must be extended? ¡°Question fifteen: you have a vague feeling that something is not right about a bubble jump you''re about to do. Your researcher has been delaying the departure to gather just one more sample but is now happy and is pressing to get home for his mother''s birthday. What is the correct response? ¡°Question sixteen. Hopefully you answered the previous one ''pray for certainty and contact from home and wait.'' When you''re contacted after two days of your researcher driving you to distraction, what do you tell the gifted person, and ask them to do?¡± ¡°Question seventeen: Write down these numbers: Combined cargo pods have volume three hundred litres and contain fifty kilos of plants. Total ship volume one hundred cubic metres, the crew has a mass of one hundred and eighty kilos, personal effects are another two hundred kilos, food is forty-five kilos. The plants die without a regular wash of local water, and the researcher has got fifty liters of that. Bubble volume: 300 cubic metres. The pilot is feeling uneasy, you as a staff member at the school here have been asked to check. Is there anything with this plan that worries you? What else would you want to know? Who might you ask? ¡°Question eighteen: Here is a typical confirmation display with, as you see, the headings blanked out. Not everything on here is required by law. By law, what parameters must a Bubble Probe display as part of the bubble transition confirmation display? Explain why each required one is significant. ¡°Question nineteen. Would you like tea, coffee or something else? ¡°Question twenty, hands up who would like a break before I start reading out some of the best answers, by which I mean either the most correct or most humorous?¡± The school director got to his feet, and said ¡°Professor, I was not able to answer all those questions. Not by a long shot. Will you also give us the ideal answers?¡± ¡°Mr Director, I''m a firm believer in self-directed study. What I''d like to suggest is that I give a little presentation after tea and coffee, and then let you all loose on the library. Maybe that way you''ll discover more gaps in the syllabus.¡±
Mars [Heather? Me again.] [Hi, Mags. What''s up?] [Teaching staff unanimously ignorant about the BAP. I''ve done some research, they''re all either unconnected to the bubble programme, but say with flight training in Earth planes, or are ex-researchers from the days when researchers didn''t ever pilot. Pilot candidates didn''t interview well or can''t teach, and so retire into things like growing veggies, turn into forcefield scientists, go on lecture tours, take up politics, that sort of thing. ] [Hmm. Why didn''t the pilots interview well?] [I guess they weren''t impressed by what the pilot school''s become. The kids aren''t allowed to touch the ''valuable exhibits in the museum''.] [You mean the semi-retired probe ships?] [Exactly.] [That''s crazy. Where else do the kids sit to watch the films?] [Glad you agree. It seems they don''t watch the films. I will be... talking to the director.] [Good.]
Bubble Research Facility. ¡°Right young people.¡± Maggie said to the assembled crowd. ¡°Have you finished your drinks? We''re going to watch an old film or two. I assume it''s still available next door. If it''s not then I''ll send upstairs for a copy. Come on, all of you.¡± ¡°The Bubble Research Facility''s museum?¡± One of the students asked, surprised. ¡°In the historic ship hanger, yes. I saw no one''s moved the old probes ships very far, so I presume no one''s glitched the film archives either.¡± ¡°The curator''s not going to like that.¡± ¡°Hmm. Then I''m going talk to the ''curator''. Feel free to wait at the door.¡± Maggie confidently walked through the doors. The place had a dead feel to it, like people rarely dared to enter. Maggie stroked the nose-probe of 1R3, a sleek delta-wing ship that just looked like it was yearning to break free of space-time. It wasn''t very practical but it was beautiful. ¡°Do you have a viewing permit?¡± a bored-looking cleaner asked. ¡°A viewing permit? No. It''s been quite a while since this gorgeous one viewed much I expect. How often do the Boris projectors get cleaned these days?¡± ¡°I don''t know who you think you are, but this is a private museum, viewing is by permit only. You need to talk to the front desk to arrange one.¡± ¡°What petty minded bureaucrat came up with that idea? Get whoever can rescind it down here really soon, because I''m teaching a class in here in about five minutes, or so help me I''m flying these beauties outside where they belong.¡± ¡°Leave now, or I will have to call security.¡± ¡°Call for whoever makes the rules round here.¡± Maggie said, opening the maintenance port on 1R3''s nose, and looking at the status indicator. ¡°Sloppy, very sloppy. Are you supposed to be looking after these beauties? This says the auxiliary fusion supply is almost entirely out! It can''t have had a top up in a decade! Disgusting! I bet you''ve never even been taught how to de-dust the Boris projectors, have you? How is it supposed to be flight-ready if it''s not maintained?¡± ¡°Flight ready! It''s a museum piece!¡± ¡°I am professor Maggie Durrel of the Bubble Research Group. The BRF is supposed to be maintaining these ships in a flight-ready condition in case of emergency. Failure to maintain the ships in flight-ready condition is a breach of the BRF''s charter. Get me the director of the Bubble Research Facility down here now, or I will be talking to the Mer ambassador and the High Council of Atlantis about a willful breach of the treaty establishing the BRF. I am not joking. At any moment there might be a partial failure of a probe ship and these ships are supposed to be capable of rescue operations.¡± Spluttering the man went into his office to call for security guards, and, just in case the elderly woman was speaking the truth, request the director come. [Heather, the research group have locked away the ships, called it a private museum ¡ª I expect they''re charging an admission fee or something, and worse they are not flight-ready. 1R3 hasn''t had a drink in a decade, for instance; I''ve not checked any others yet. How under heaven did things get so bad?] [My guess is it was killing off the bubble research ships. They''re just doing modelling these days, Maggie. They had to get a test pilot out of retirement to certify Sathie''s ship. Think what that means.] [We let too many second gen ships get made, didn''t we?] Maggie thought, [Is Sathie going to make number two? If Russia want to make Celestia class bubble ships then we''ll need some experienced test pilots.] [Yes. It''s quite scary, isn''t it? ] [Dear Lord, the waste! I''m at, 1T4 Heather, it''s alert light was on so I came to have a look. It is entirely out of hydrogen, and has been drawing on the antimatter battery. The log shows it''s been that way for over three years. Hmm. Last service fifteen years ago signed off by Grumpy George. I bet the viewing permit thing was to stop him moaning.] [Good guy, George.] [I''m going to think to him.] Maggie thought. [Good idea. He probably knows what''s up. Expect an ear-ful, though.] Maggie smiled. Grumpy George could always find something to complain about, always. [George, it''s Maggie Durrel, kicking up a stink in the historic ship hanger. 1T4''s alert light was on and I see from the logs they''ve not let you near it in a decade. What''s happened here?] [I heard Jack Flash was back, didn''t know you had the gift though. That new?] [I got it after my kids left home, so not very recent, they tell me.] [They''ve ruined it Maggie, accountants and managers and policies and petty bureaucrats. They also told me I''d be out of my job if I kept ''messsing with the exhibits'' and then banned everyone. I tried to get in touch with Heather but her number''d changed.] [Probably something to do with being queen.] [That''s what I figured. Never did think of you. You know they''ve gone and put an office in the airlock? I almost quit over that one. But I just keep dreaming that one day Jack Flash would be back and the glory days''d come again. ] [Jack Flash is back. I''m back, and I''m going to kick up a stink. I''ve got a full class of staff and students I want to show the probe-2 death sequence to. Pilot training''s totally forgotten about the BAP, can you imagine? I''ve got one teacher next door who didn''t say the BAP is controlled by the BAD, and she teaches biological safety, not flight.] [What do they teach then? That''s just so basic! I didn''t know the rot had gone that far. That''s criminal!] [It is. And putting an office in the airlock is breaching a Mer treaty. Those ships need to be flight-ready in case a rescue mission is called for.] [Now why didn''t I think of that? I get so worried about the little things I forget the big ones. ] [Don''t kick yourself too hard George. Just get down here and give these beauties some care and attention.] [My pleasure!] Maggie thought for a couple of seconds, and decided that she couldn''t remember enough of the treaty to quote it correctly. She looked for people who were the ambassador of Atlantis. His name was William. [Your Excellency, I am academician Maggie Sarah John, and entreat your help on a sad matter.] [I greet you, blessed academician.] [A treaty must be kept, because it is an oath between peoples. I am sad to say that I have just learned that the Bubble Research Facility, during the passage of years and by ignorance or thoughtlesness has made itself shark and sharkfood: the semi-retired probe-Ships are not flight ready, and instead are treated as museum artefacts. An office has even been built in their airlock, how then can they fly to rescue those in need as the treaty requires? But my memory of the wording of the treaty is not perfect. Could you please provide me with the text of the treaty, and so help me educate these foolish sharks?] [I knew there were problems and complaints about management, but did not know there was a treaty! I am embarrassed, academician! Can you tell me of it?] [The Bubble Research Group was established under treaty. The Bubble Research Group was split into the Research Facility, the Exoplanet Research Group and the pilot training school, which represent the different aspects of the treaty-established Bubble Research Group, and their charters are basically addendums to the treaty. The charter of the Research Facility says roughly speaking that they will look after retired vehicles in case they are needed to mount a rescue, the Expolanet Research Group''s says they will feed their flight data to the Bubble Reseach Facility, and so on. The three sibling organisations together are the Bubble Research Group, and so must be operated under the treaty. This is why the charters were agreed to by all treaty partners.] [So the Research Group cannot decide the ships are now museum pieces.] [No. Not without a full agreement from the signatory nations and the rest of the Research Group, which would include myself, Heather, and everyone else with a Doctorate in Bubble Technology. We reluctantly agreed to Emperor Kristoph''s strongly stated demand to retire the early Bubble Research Ships, but with all due respect to his Imperial Majesty, I believe his demand was made on a mistaken and emotional basis, and not very well considered.] [Yes, and you''ve reopened that issue.] [Queen Heather Spacefolder instructed me to, and the experiment it was conducting had run a decade longer than originally planned. I needed to get here quickly, and she felt it was past time that the experiment ended. ] [I see. And would you be able to comment on what made you feel you needed to come?] [I believed, when I left home, that a stupid oversight had been made, which could be quickly and easily solved with an in-person visit. Now... I have just given the staff and students what I used to give students as an encouraging, light hearted mid-term test. There is a single teacher who achieved a passing grade, a co-pilot from when I taught the course. She is not teaching bubble safety. In other words, the kindergarten children are being taught water safety by people who cannot tell the difference between a dolphin and a shark.] [That is a strong accusation, academician.] [It is a reflection of a sad situation that has arisen because when I specified the course syllabus I assumed bubble safety would be taught by people with a Doc. B-T, or at least by fully trained, experienced pilots, so why specify what''s blindingly obvious? But it seems I need to. Ah progress... someone with businessman written all over him approaches. I''d much rather talk to a scientist.] [I''ll send you the texts, academician.] [Thank you, ambassador.] ¡°Good afternoon,¡± Maggie said. ¡°I don''t suppose you could give me permission to fulfill my duty as named Trainer in Chief of bubble pilots? Oh, and give Grumpy George permission to care for these beauties like they need, as he is Shipkeeper in Chief? This little red flashing light, for instance, means that something is seriously wrong. It''s actually entirely out of fusion fuel and is consuming its antimatter stocks. That''ll be a real disaster if it''s needed for a rescue mission.¡± ¡°Madam,¡± the official said, ¡°this is the private museum of the Bubble Research Faculty, and these museum pieces are no longer functional. As director I must ask you to leave.¡± ¡°I see. I must have missed that memo. Not to mention the treaty modification, and the howls of protest from the Exoplanet Research Group that you were planning to scrap their rescue ships. I was under the strong impression that your charter states that these reserve bubble craft were being maintained in flight-ready state by the Bubble Research Facility for experimental purposes and as rescue vehicles, and that under the terms of the treaty any Bubble Craft that has been fully retired from service must have all secrets of the Deep removed. This one, for instance, has been saying please refill fusion supplies urgently for years, so I''m quite sure that its secrets remain undisturbed.¡± ¡°Policies change, Madam.¡± ¡°Treaties too. If all parties agree to the change. As a signatory to the treaty modification known as this Institute''s Charter, I have not been consulted over such a change. I have just been in conversation with His excellency the ambassador of Atlantis, and a copy of the relevant treaty will be here soon. I expect with some Mer warriors. ¡°Madam, you have no right to barge in here and issue veiled threats like this.¡± ¡°Sir, you and your forebears have never had the right to remove these rescue vehicles from active service, or to declare them off-limits to any member of the Bubble Research Group, including trainee pilots. I am sorry that no one thought to contact me, Heather, or anyone else, but the time has come to rectify mistakes, not cast blame. Let me put it simply, sir, if the organisation you are running is not fulfilling the charter obligations of the Bubble Research Facillty, then it is not the Bubble Research Facility, and should not be occupying these buildings or using the facilities granted to the Bubble Research Facility.¡± ¡°Maggie, have I ever said I love you?¡± Grumpy George said, from the doorway. ¡°Yes, George. The answer is still no. Now, as academician and professor responsible under the charter for training pilots, I require that at least one of these vessels be readied for flight as soon as possible. So unless you''ve died or assigned a replacement acceptable to all parties under the charter, please fulfill your charter duties and maintain these beauties.¡± ¡°Certainly academician,¡± George said. ¡°Will you be requiring any particular vehicle?¡± ¡°I''d love it to be 1R3, but any with an adjustable TBD, big enough, and which is flight worthy.¡± ¡°George, if you take one step towards any of these museum pieces, then that''s it, you''re jobless and officeless.¡± Maggie looked at George, who rolled his eyes and bowed to her. He''d vaguely remembered something really important on his way down, and Maggie calling him Shipkeeper in Chief made him pretty sure he couldn''t be fired. ¡°Director, George might get a stipend from your budget, but he is a not your employee. You cannot fire him, deprive him of office space or do anything at all to him except call him names, any more than you can to me or Heather Spacefolder. George is an emeritus member of the Bubble Research Group, with more right to be here than you. As he''s Shipkeeper in Chief, you''re breaking the treaty keeping him out of here.¡± ¡°Maggie, can I borrow Jack Flash for a little experiment?¡± ¡°Depends. Not if you''re thinking of flying through the sun. You know thatwas too risky. Nor through Halley''s comet. We don''t go breaking known astronomical objects.¡± ¡°She''s so strict. I love her,¡± Grumpy George declared to the world. ¡°Stop it George, you don''t love me, you love Jack Flash.¡± ¡°Drat, she sees right through me,¡± George said. ¡°Research proposal on my desk when you''re ready. Which is to say once these babies are spic and span.¡± ¡°Where''s your desk?¡± ¡°I''ll let you know. It was only meant to be a day''s visit. Didn''t the school ask you to teach Bubble Safety, George?¡± ¡°Only half-heartedly. They didn''t like the way I moaned about their precious schedule. No time for the films. Crazy.¡± George said, expertly topping up the water in 1T4. ¡°Film time will be in five minutes.¡± ¡°Probe two goes pop?¡± ¡°First the pre-BAP modelling. They don''t watch that either.¡± ¡°Poor kids. They need to have some of us old fogies come over for a chat, don''t they?¡± ¡°Certainly. That got cut off the schedule, too?¡± ¡°Sure been a while since I last got invited to a party.¡± ¡°Probably because you''re Grumpy, George.¡± ¡°Man''s got to live up to his name.¡± ¡°While I am director here, there will be no films shown in this museum,¡± the director said, emerging from the office with a piece of old paper, ¡°And it was designated a museum by the Bubble Research Group. See!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Maggie asked, looking at the paper. ¡°George, why did you write ''Do not disturb museum exhibit'' on BRG headed paper and stamp it with urm, a stamp that says urm,¡± She looked at the cuniform writing. ¡± ''Space Folding Research Group Party Fund 2300?'' It is your writing, isn ¡°t it?¡± ¡°Let me see that. Oh! That''s Tom''s writing. His sign, too! I wondered what''d happened to that! He used to prop it up next to his head when he needed a nap. And of course he always slept on 1S8, claimed it was more comfy than his bed back home.¡± ¡°And Tom was in charge of the ships while you were on Earth, and died in charge of them?¡± ¡°He was, yes. And yes, I stayed there three years after that, looking after my Mum. And you know the then-director died in the same crawler accident that killed Tom.¡± ¡°You state this is a joke?¡± the director asked ¡°BRG letterhead from, hmm 2330, rubber stamped with a stamp that stopped being valid in 2321, and dated Martian Independance day? How many clues do you want? I don''t know, Maggie! Young people today, they can''t read cuniform, it''s not even in Mer, just English spelt in cuniform!¡± ¡°Pilots can, George. They need to, or they can''t fly the ships. Directors don''t need to fly ships.¡± ¡°Didn''t we used to have a rule that everyone had to read it?¡± ¡°Yes, George, for about two minutes. Then we very quickly decided that teaching it to the cleaners was more than a bit stupid.¡± ¡°Oh yes!¡± ¡°But there is a rule that all secrets of the near deep get written in Modern Mer, secrets of the chasms in middle Mer and medium stuff in old Mer, and non-sensitive stuff in modern land-folk languages. So why is the date in a confusing mix of old Mer script and English?¡± ¡°Because it was a joke, Maggie. No one was supposed to take it seriously.¡± ¡°Ha Ha, very funny. If it''s an in-joke write it all in something outsiders can''t read. Now get these ships back in order, and arrange for the airlock to be usable, politely.¡± ¡°Yes, Mum.¡± ¡°I''m not your mum, or I''d box your ears for being a party to this treaty breaking. Mr director, would you like to reconsider your decision to take that joke at face value, and the policies it has led to.¡± ¡°I would like to study the documents you have referred to.¡± ¡°I believe the Mer will be supplying a copy soon, I also believe it is time my lecture began. None of this is classified, director, so I would like to ask you to watch, and learn how utterly important this research facility is. The traditional seating for watching the films is from in or on the bubble ships. They are not fragile as long as no one sticks gum on an emitter array.¡± Ground / Ch. 30: Education

Ground / Ch. 30:Education

Bubble ship hanger After getting the students seated, Maggie started her lecture. ¡°Right, film one. This shows a 2-D representation of a cross section of space-time resulting from modelling the response of space time to a simple bubble field. First you''ll see a stable bubble being modelled with a probe inside. You''ll see some oscillation, which gets bigger, and bigger. That''s why we invented the blackhole-avoidance device, which adjusts the field strength in a negative feedback loop. Next you''ll see what the results predict if a bubble-forming pulse were triggered with no mass, which of course we almost have in the Boris drive. Thirdly you''ll see what happens when the bubble is formed with mass inside. The red line is the Schwarzschild radius, the green is the average of the steady state bubble that you saw in the first section. Model run one was a one hundred kilo probe. Run film George.¡± The first set showed the probe in a bubble, and there being some oscillation, which eventually grew, reducing the interface below the Schwarzschild radius. The Second set showed the bubble being formed, and the third set showed the bubble forming, the mass plunging into the bubble, and then the plunging mass pulled far beyond past where it should have been. The interface closed and it vanished. ¡°It... where did it go?¡± someone asked. ¡°Nominally, it detached from the known universe, but that''s non-physical. Model run two, with the possibility of Hawking Radiation, George.¡± As before the bubble formed, but this time the bubble and the Schwarzschild radius shrank leaving no ship, there ¡°Why did the radius shrink like that? Where did the probe go?¡± ¡°Good question. Model run two starting at femto-second steps, and shrinking down as appropriate with mass against time on the green line, and the blue line indicating the emission of Hawking radiation, relative to the total solar output.¡± ¡°Eek.¡± Rachel exclaimed. ¡°The result is not actually realistic, of course, because a probe being evaporated by Hawking radiation cannot maintain the bubble field. There were lots of other model runs, but the result was the same: Yes, everything showed it was possible to maintain a bubble of space-time that contained mass. Yes, it was possible to fold space to form a bubble of space time. But putting a probe inside the bubble, unless you had a bubble a kilometer across with a one gramme probe, was predicted to result in disaster.¡± ¡°But it was just modelling, right, there wasn''t any experimental proof?¡± one of the students asked. ¡°We performed an experimental run with an externally imposed bubble field, and then with ten atoms of urm, Rubidium, I think it was. Something easy to hold in an optical trap. Both of course heading into intergalactic space. The empty field was mostly stable, all measurements were in line with what the modelling predicted. The radiation pattern from the rubidium was entirely consistent with the formation of a microscopic black hole. Since we didn''t want to be able to make any more of those, we then used that as an opportunity to test the remote self-destruct mechanism, and burned all copies of the design. /Didn''t/ we George?¡± ¡°Nice little bonfire you and Heather made of all my backup crystals, yes, Maggie.¡± ¡°And the moral of that story?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°Don''t try to hide things from a seer?¡± ¡°Or a well-trained truthsayer.¡± ¡°Yeah, OK.¡± George said. ¡°Sorry for that digression. But we then sat down for about six months of working on the bubble stability problem, which we hoped we''d need, and brain storming about how to get to the point we''d need it. Eventually the idea surfaced of the blackhole avoiding pulse or BAP. The idea was fed to the modellers, who agreed that yes, it would work. The principle is that once the first fold-pulse has been triggered, the ship triggers a second weaker unfold-pulse just after the bubble gets about three-quarters formed. Not strong enough to pull the ship out of warp, just sufficiently to stop the plunge away from the universe. The modelling proved that the strength of that pulse depends, at first order, on the total bubble density. Which reminds me, George, please get your friends upstairs to consider whether TBD is going to be enough if a Celestia mark-V''s cargo space was full of comet, or if it gets too complicated at that mass.¡± ¡°Someone ran a study with the Space lab mostly full of gold once. That certainly needed some tweaking,¡± George said. ¡°Right, so first order approximation says TBD is enough, as long as you''re not silly and TBD stays below... what, about half, George?¡± ¡°Half is fine, yes. One might be OK, too, I''ll need to look up the numbers.¡± ¡°What about the mass distribution?¡± a student asked, ¡°Is there a reason we''re told not to overload the cargo pods?¡± ¡°Mass distribution is almost entirely irrelevant,¡± Maggie said. ¡°But not for something which only has tail pods, like the second gen ships,¡± the aerodynamics teacher said. ¡°It''ll ruin the flight characteristics something terrible, if you go moving the centre of gravity too far.¡± ¡°Very good point. Always make sure your space-plane won''t end up in a tailspin or worse, whether you plan on using wings or not. Plans can change.¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°You now all ought to be able to answer the question about what happens if the pulse is too weak, yes?¡± ¡°Black hole. And if it''s too strong, you bounce out?¡± ¡°George, run the film of probe two please.¡± The film ran. This one had commentary from a much younger Maggie. She heard other voices too, old friends who''d gone home to Glory. She missed them. She looked around at the rapt faces, catching a glimpse of the excitement she''d seen so many times before, some of the faces she remembered had also gone to their eternal home, too, she reminisced and felt a tear rolling down her cheek as she listened to her younger self explaining that although the bubble generators were pre-charged, there was a massive energy flow needed to actually establish the bubble as a stable folded entity, and no way had been found for it to be delivered except by bypassing all the normal current-limiting circuitry during bubble initiation, directly connecting the bubble generators to the main discharge rails from the battery. In contrast, the BAD problem detector had been designed to expect the power surge produced from dropping out of warp, and disconnected the antimatter battery from the circuits before allowing the power surge to be wasted, vaporising large chunks of metal along with itself. That solution of course wasn''t possible at the moment of bubble formation, with the limiting circuitry removed from the circuits. Plus of course there was no way to connect the charging rails at the same time as the discharge rails. ¡°George?¡± Maggie asked, ¡°Is that hand-waving about it being impossible not to blow up still accurate?¡± ¡°Young Sathzakara Shipbuilder might have found a solution, but we weren''t allowed to test it.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Maggie asked. ¡°There is no budget for needless and dangerous experiments,¡± the director said. ¡°Urm. Mr Director, I think you really need to study the charter, and imagine that unmanned probe being manned and piloted by a close relative.¡± ¡°A simple adjustment of the pulse strength...¡± started the director. ¡°Is impossible on second generation probes,¡± George said, ¡°and it''s too easy to transpose digits, which is why the second generation probes were designed with fixed pulse strength, against Maggie''s vote.¡± ¡°Stupid decision which has led to increased ignorance and almost led to dead pilots,¡± Maggie grumbled. ¡°And while we''re on the subject, can someone tell me why the flight data that''s getting sent in doesn''t seem to have generated a single warning to flight operations about unsafe over-loading?¡± ¡°Because they don''t think there''s anything useful in it.¡± George said, ¡°and instead they go tweaking their models to ever better ''predict'' stuff we have fully documented. ¡°Hmm. I see. Mr Director, in my role as Training and Bubble Safety officer, I''d like to be assured that all submitted flight data will be at least scanned and reacted to. The BRF have the knowledge to do that, it is part of their remit, and it used to be such a no-brainer that it went without saying. I''d also like to be able to tell a certain pilot and copilot approximately how many grammes or miligrams they were away from forming a black hole, given that they exited bubble with a spin of approximately one point three revolutions per second. Exact data will be on their flight logs of course.¡± George gave a low whistle. ¡°80 RPM? Probe two only span at 20, Maggie!¡± ¡°I know. They''ve been attaining that quite regularly, I understand.¡± ¡°They''re mad!¡± ¡°They were ignorant and it seems it was too boring to bother to check up on their flight data. Rachel, you seem to be trying not to explode, would you be able to talk about documentation?¡± ¡°On a data collecting trip, I know that at the BRF''s request from ancient history, whenever we''re in a gravity well sufficient to allow it, masses are recorded for every separate storage locker, down to about ten grammes, including personal effects. Plus pilot weights, which is embarrassing, but I guess it tells them how much mass there is in the waste disposal system.¡± ¡°That seems pretty comprehensive to me, George,¡± Maggie said ¡°Please explain to me how they''re supposed to do better?¡± ¡°They''re not, that sounds like excellent data.. I just wonder where those masses go. All I''ve ever seen is data on the total mass.¡± ¡°I think now is not the time or place to discuss such details.¡± The school director said, ¡°But it is plain to me that there are a lot of false assumptions and that a lot more talking needs to happen between the three organisations.¡± George looked at Maggie, and said ¡°Go on, Maggie, say it!¡± ¡°Hey, who''s the mind reader around here?¡± Maggie asked. At that point, the Mer ambassador entered, complete with full honour guard.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Greetings William Mars-speaker,¡± Maggie said in Mer. ¡°Some of the problems are on their way to being resolved. There was unexpected death and a change of directors, and a joke was not understood and was taken as laxly enforced policy.¡± ¡°But only some of the problems?¡± ¡°There has come to be an almost total divorce between the three branches of the Research Group.¡± ¡°You use an ugly word, academician.¡± ¡°I see an ugly situation, your excellency. George Shipkeeper Problem-speaker expects me to say the charters should be revoked, and the Research Group reunited.¡± ¡°I do,¡± George agreed, ¡°I thought it was a good idea at the time, but information isn''t flowing. The modellers think that the pilots don''t record data that they do. The pilots assume the modellers check their flight data, and would tell them if there was a problem, but because of that misconception about the recorded data, they don''t bother. Pilot training in bubble safety is given by people who can teach but not by people with any experience in bubble technology, with a syllabus aimed at the opposite situation.¡± ¡°And past policy decisions are being questioned in front of students,¡± the ambassador said. ¡°The trainee pilots have sworn to protect secrets of the deep, your excellency,¡± Maggie said. ¡°I expect they can keep a little gossip under wraps if we ask them to. I also believe that their becoming aware of the problem is part of the solution. George, please tell me you have a ship ready for me?¡± ¡°You want to take everyone up?¡± ¡°That''s why I asked about 1R3.¡± ¡°1R3''s Boris emitters are too mucky. 1T4 has had its drink and is processing. 1D7 is OK.¡± ¡°1D7 is hardly bigger than a second gen, George.¡± ¡°Then there''s Jack Flash or Arnie.¡± ¡°Arnie?¡± Maggie queried. ¡°You''re not telling me that T1''s flight-ready?¡± ¡°I am. Good solid engineering there. Plus an enormous fusion reservoir, it''s been doing self-cleaning for a decade and only used up five percent of its stock.¡± ¡°Hmm. Lots of gold too.¡± ¡°A proper space sub.¡± ¡°Yes. OK. Trainee Pilots, please weigh yourselves, then calculate the TBD for all of you in the only Bubble probe ship to have ever explored the bottom of the Marianas Trench, T1, also known as Arnold Schwarzeneger.¡± ¡°As in the terminator?¡± a student pilot asked. ¡°Someone else likes ancient films, I see. It was named Arnie that after it accidentally smashed its way through a small asteroid and just kept going. As far as I know, no one really understands how.¡± ¡°And it''s really been to the Marianas Trench?¡± ¡°Among other places. That hunk of submarine-metal used to be the property of Jacob Tunaspeed, Karella Farspeaker''s brother, and was the original flying fish. A function the builder managed to keep, actually, so if travel by folding space is too boring, thrill-seeking Mer among you could also probably get permission to fly at near-supersonic speeds just above wave-height.¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°How did it end up here?¡± ¡°The normal way,¡± Maggie said. ¡°The pilot-owner decided that bubble travel didn''t really fit with having a family, and the features of the first generation probe ships make it a bit too... flexible for deep-space research. You guys don''t really need to have a ship that you could program to abandon you. You certainly don''t need everything Jumping Jack Flash can do.¡± ¡°Maam?¡± asked the young man who had answered Maggie''s test far better than most, ¡°Is there any hope that the Bubble Technology Doctorate programme might get restarted?¡± ¡°What''s your name, lad?¡± ¡°Jacob, Maam. After my great-grandfather, Jacob Tunaspeed. I''ll add about the ship that centuries before great-grandfather''s time it took James Change-Bringer and Rose Medicine-Bringer to New Zealand, and was possibly the boat of Sathzakara Evangelia''s aborted honeymoon.¡± ¡°So, maybe the Lord let it survive because of the weight of history it carries with it. I would have no objections, Jacob.¡± Maggie said. ¡°You will need to petition her Imperial Majesty Rhianna Karella Jake to change a decision her father made soon after he became king. At least part of that decision was his response to her sister speaking about proving some theories about the sun''s atmosphere. Perhaps she and her sister have their own insights on what else went on in that family discussion.¡± ¡°Row, you mean,¡± said the would be-pilot. ¡°I wasn''t there, I don''t know. All I know is that young Natasha was a bit older than you, and keen on pushing forward the frontiers of human knowledge, and probably a little too enthusiastic about things her father felt were scary. You are a relative, perhaps you are better placed to reopen the issue than I.¡± ¡°Or perhaps not,¡± the ambassador said. ¡°Academician, I suggest that you present the case to her majesty, perhaps along with the class?¡± Maggie thought about it, and shook her head. ¡°I think the ignorance of students is something easily taken for granted. If I might ask at least some of the staff to come with me, however? I believe that would be a more useful discussion. Along with someone who can pilot a flying fish?¡± ¡°Could it wait until tomorrow?¡± one of the teachers asked. ¡°I''d love to visit Atlantis but I''ve a school thing on this evening.¡± Maggie nodded, ¡°Yes, OK. Staff, please discuss among yourselves who can come. I want to expose the students to bubble-space anyway, it makes things a lot ore real than sitting in a class-room. Now, students, who has a bright idea about how to get several tonnes of submarine metal onto the surface?¡±
Atlantis. 10am ¡°Maggie Farspeaker Blackhole-avoider Sarah John! It''s been a long time, far too long!¡± Natasha Planet-finder Karella Jake greeted her. ¡°Natasha, have you heard why I''m here?¡± ¡°You want some Doctors of Bubble Technology in this generation.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Maggie agreed. ¡°What is possible and what is wise are not the same, I seem to remember you saying.¡± ¡°What has been learned should not be forgotten. And it is being forgotten. Has been forgotten. As a deliberate policy.¡± ¡°You''re talking about more than how to externally trigger a bubble, aren''t you?¡± ¡°Yes. But even that technology might have a purpose, properly applied.¡± ¡°I listen, academician.¡± ¡°There are possible failure modes... if there is not enough antimatter to invert the bubble, for instance. At the moment the only ''solution'' we have to escape from that situation is not get into it. That will be small comfort to parents and loved ones if it ever happens.¡± ¡°And you think it would be possible to locate a bubble-interface accurately enough to invert the bubble externally?¡± ¡°I know it was possible to locate a bubble interface very accurately. We had the equipment. We no longer do, and we teach... protective half-truths.¡± ¡°And externally applied bubble inversion?¡± ¡°Ought to be possible. Could have been developed. But the break-in had us scared.¡± ¡°And now, you''re less scared?¡± ¡°Now, I''m more scared of other things. There are not many who add Shipbuilder to their name now. None who are not retired who can test a bubble ship. Russia believe that having the capability of delivering a few million tons of comet to Ground could be useful, faster and safer if it involved a small fleet of bubble-capable Celestias. Plus it would mean an evacuation was possible ¡ª maybe even of the whole shape-shifter populace, if they can hibernate for a few weeks, and don''t mind cramped conditions. But the group has no one now who has experience in testing that the field magnitude is correct. Yesterday, I learned that the so-called refining that the modellers have been doing for the past fifteen years has made the models so restricted that they won''t work for anything even as heavy as T1-Arnie. Only Grumpy George thought that might be a problem, for everyone else, that''s the ''reliable dataset'' they want to fully understand, and never mind they''re applying polynomials which explode outside their data range. I''m not sure I''d want to trust designing anything to the recent generation of Bubble Theorists.¡± ¡°I''ve done some field strength measuring, Maggie. Call me when you''ve got someone to train.¡± Natasha said. ¡°You have? That is wonderful news!¡± ¡°Horribly tricky job. Make sure you find me someone with steady hands and infinite patience, and I''ll try to dig up memories.¡± ¡°I remember people moaning, and being glad I wasn''t doing it. But the theoreticians don''t know that. They''d probably think you can just get the sensor into place with a steel ruler or something. Sorry. I''m exaggerating.¡± ¡°But you''re not very wrong, either,¡± Natasha said. ¡°Someone who shall remain nameless offered to use a laser tape-measure to help, once. I pointed out that we were measuring the warping of space-time, and he still didn''t get the point. I had thought that my father''s objection was right, but I am convinced. At the very least there must be continued practical knowledge, and that will not be preserved unless there are people experimenting. Enjoy your visit to Atlantis, Maggie. The academy is waiting to hear from you, and afterwards, my sister will not take too much convincing, I think.¡±
Atlantis, 6pm ¡°You told me, Natasha told me,¡± Empress Rhianna said, ¡°and now you have shown us all. And finally I understand the problem. The lecturers try to teach shark-killing but have never even got wet, and the ship-designers have spent their lives forgetting that ship-metal submarines can fly. You will need a fabricator, and Sathzakara will not want to come back from Ground.¡± ¡°I do not expect so, majesty.¡± ¡°What do you think of the Tsar''s suggestion?¡± Empress Rhianna asked. ¡°Of Celestia-class ships to evacuate our people from Ground and deliver comets if needed?¡± Maggie asked, ¡°I like the idea of being able to evacuate. I like the idea of parents and grandparents being able to visit, of children being able to commute to study.¡± ¡°And of a Russian university having the right to teach secrets of the deep?¡± ¡°I would have no objections to Russia doing that.¡± Maggie replied, ¡°But I would have very strong objections to doing it where China might easily infiltrate an agent. Still they try it on Mars, every cycle one or two are sent to Olympus.¡± ¡°So, we are of one accord. Russia may not teach the secrets, because China are too close.¡± ¡°Almost... I suggest an alternative. Russia be permitted to teach, but /on Ground/, or somewhere else inaccessible to conventional travel.¡± ¡°Students from Earth going to Ground for study?¡± Natasha asked, surprised. ¡°''Forcefield design and alien languages'', ''Bubble-ship technology and astronomy''. I can see things like that working. They are suggesting that the Russian versions of the forcefields be taught to people from Ground anyway, let them teach some human students too.¡± ¡°What will the University of Mars think of that?¡± ¡°According to Rachel, their administrative staff are wondering how they''re going to cope with the extra students.¡±
St Petersburg, Russia ¡°Tulag,¡± his mother asked, ¡°What are your plans?¡± ¡°My idea is that I not be around Ludmilla for a bit. Half a year, maybe? I could finish my apprenticeship as a fabricator if I went to Atlantis.¡± ¡°And what does she think of that?¡± ¡°Her thinking is confused, mother. She agrees that there''ll be the temptation to concentrate on me not on God if we see too much of each other, but she doesn''t want me to leave. I think it is better if I do. I would like to know that her new faith is stable, her professed feelings for me stand the test of time, and so on. It''ll make it easier, if we are apart physically, surely?¡± ¡°You think it will be easier for her to be faithful to God while feeling lonely while surrounded by all the old temptations?¡± ¡°No, mama. I wasn''t thinking was I?¡± ¡°I understand that she does not need to be present in her domain most of the time, is that correct?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Then I have a suggestion for you both then: Empress Rhianna has decided that the Bubble Ship technology programme be allowed to restart. They will need a fabricator, also, Natasha Planet-finder Karella Jake wishes to train someone patient in testing bubble-fields. You probably qualify in that too, and you have been interested in adding shipbuilder to your name, have you not?¡± ¡°I have, mama,¡± ¡°Also your father is just about to talk to his Majesty the Tsar about whether he''d like to assign another envoy or two to Atlantis. The Tsar has asked to teach the secrets of the deep, and Rhianna is considering the request seriously, but it will not be in Russia. It will have to be somewhere harder to get to. One possibility is on Ground, another is a Russian language university on Mars, or perhaps cleaning out the cess-pit of Luna-Corp once and for all. But, in any case, a new treaty would be in order, and that takes time and effort. I expect that the Tsar will be asking his son to be involved, but perhaps if Ludmilla were to go to Atlantis in some kind of supporting role? You''d be busy on different things but could still talk. And Atlantis isn''t as full of temptations as lots of other places, or rather, it''s full of reasons not to give in to them. But you are right in one respect, you must let her become certain in her own mind that her faith is her own, and that God has cleansed her from her sins before you consider romance.¡± ¡°Mama, I''ve been feeling romantic thoughts for a decade.¡± ¡°Have you been thinking about the curves of her body or the intricacies of her soul?¡± ¡°For the past year, I''ve been thinking about what tortures she''s putting herself through, and not understanding why she was doing what she was to herself. Some of what the papers said was right, but they exaggerated.¡± ¡°So it wasn''t a new bedfellow every night?¡± ¡°No, it wasn''t, nor every weekend either. But she needs to feel like a new creation I think.¡± ¡°My recommendation, Tulag, is that when she starts to feel clean, teach her to swim. And between your formally walking together and the time you swim away with her, you giving her Mermaid''s Kiss rather than first-time potion will be kinder, and I expect you''ll enjoy it too.¡± ¡°Mama!¡± Tulag protested, face flaming.