by Ed Charlton
The shorter of the Regdenir spoke first. He was old, and the bumps on his head seemed crusty. His eyes were flecked with white at the rims. His voice was deep and clear.
“I am Angara Myourn of the First Order. Welcome to our home. My friend and esteemed colleague is with us, Oorudi Coungow of the First Order. We have also asked Margrev Aplar of the Second Order to be a witness to all that is said and done here.”
Margrev Aplar held a small recording device in his hand. “If our guests will permit, I shall use this device to ensure that nothing is missed.”
Jim and Tella nodded.
Jim said, “Please do. Though it was allowing such a recording that caused much of the...difficulty of my previous visit.”
Angara Myourn nodded and sighed. “We are aware of the various circumstances of what transpired here. We have many questions to ask you. I would like to address the matter of Sopha Luca, perhaps later in our conversation?”
“Okay.”
“May we begin with a small question?” asked Tella. “We did not see you arrive. How did you come here?”
Angara Myourn frowned and then smiled. “It is a simple matter. The geography of this region, from the mountains to the ends of the marshes, is like our skeleton.” He indicated his side. “The bones run parallel. The mountains run straight, and in between are the wetlands. There are many pathways under the mountains. We travel through where we can. This house lies at the end of many miles of underground paths. Pilgrims may come here for ceremonies and to study the Pongret M’dar, the stones of the promontory.”
“They are beautiful and ancient,” said Tella.
“Indeed so. They have stood there for at least a thousand years, if not more.”
“They are not from the Regdenir, then?” asked Jim.
“No. Our ancestors placed them. For their sake we returned to the marshes, inhospitable though they are. We hold our ancestors in high regard.”
“The carvings are well made to have lasted so long and still be clear to all,” said Tella.
“We lack the skills to make such things in these late days. Their methods are lost. The carvings are a wonder for us.”
“As must be their meaning?”
The Regdenir smiled and did not reply.
“Our first questions are of a more general nature,” said Oorudi Coungow. “We see that your bodies are similar to ours, both in size and capacities. You can breathe our air, and our gravity must be similar to your own. How can this be? We see even in our own planetary system a great variety of conditions, which, we reason, should give rise to a variety of physiologies.”
Tella replied, “That is correct. There are a vast number of different types of sentient beings. We tend to limit our dealings to those races similar to ourselves. We find trading with dissimilar races to be problematic. Your planet and these moons fall within the astronomical parameters that also produced our worlds.”
The Regdenir nodded.
“How have you learned our language?”
Jim said, “From the audnir TV transmissions. From an analysis of what we saw and heard there, we learned enough to begin. I understand I have a Multoaf accent.”
“Similar, but better educated, I think,” replied Coungow with a smile.
“For interplanetary use, there is a new language called Standard. We will leave with you a training device and instructions for replication, if you wish to study Standard.”
Angara Myourn spoke next. “You suggested in your messages that Beauty is to be found in other places. Do you know what we mean by Beauty?”
Jim and Tella looked at each other. Jim went first.
“I was...privileged to be present at a ceremony on the promontory above us when Beauty rose full into the night sky. Sopha Luca explained to me the place Beauty holds in your beliefs.”
“The B’Goron Trahsa,” Margrev Aplar said in confirmation.
Tella continued, “We understand from Sopha Luca’s teaching that the presence of Beauty indicates for you that there is a place in the universe for those things all moral creatures desire: hope, love, and goodness.”
Angara Myourn nodded. “It is well said.”
Tella continued, “I have traveled much. I have lived on many worlds in my short life. I have listened to many wise people. Let me tell you of my own upbringing and the belief with which I was raised.”
“Please.”
“Our teachers say that, in the founding of the universe, three things were brought together: matter, energy, and ‘Quavvour,’ which is best translated as ‘spirit.’ We believe that beyond the confines of this universe of the three dimensions of space, and the fourth of time, there is an intelligence, about whom, because of our place within those dimensions, we can have no direct knowledge. To provide us with a link, an indirect experience of itself, the intelligence created Quavvour to surprise us and remind us whenever we meet it. The spirit is hidden in many places and in many people. It shines when we see it. It lifts us out of the dark. When found inside us and found in others, it inspires love. It is the root of our moral sense. This is our belief. I hear in your regard for Beauty an experience of Quavvour.”
There was silence.
“Thank you, Tella of Neraff. And you, James Able of Earth, what of your beliefs?”
Jim suddenly felt an echo of his previous discomfort in this same room. He did not want to give a personal answer to the question. Tella had sounded like it really believed what it said. Jim didn’t know where to begin; it was a long while since he had believed in anything.
“On Earth, there are a great variety of beliefs. Some hold that the question of a higher existence is unanswerable. Some believe in a multiplicity of higher beings who are in contact with us mortals. For some, the universe is a great cyclic event: a journey of constant improvement.
“Some believe, like Tella’s people, that there is a single God, outside of our existence. My family...we believe this. We hold that, because of the limits on us and our experience, God has to bridge the Great Divide. We believe this was done by God’s manifestation as an individual human, whose whole life was an expression of God’s message. Direct experience of the unknowable became possible through Him. The message He brought was one of love.” Jim paused. “This is the belief.”
Again there was silence.
“How did your attendance at the B’Goron Trahsa touch your belief?”
Jim frowned. “It reminded me of it. Hearing Sopha Luca speak of the universe ‘making sense,’ of it being transformed, it seemed like he was saying something I was already familiar with.”
Angara Myourn said again, “It is well said.”
Margrev Aplar said quietly, “If I may contribute a question?”
Angara nodded.
“I hear behind your words a sadness, James Able. Can it be that you no longer follow your family’s beliefs?”
Jim was shaken by the accuracy of the Regdenir’s observation. He was silent for a moment.
“Not everyone believes to the same extent. I haven’t had much time for belief for a long while. My parents’ generation still attended regular services, but I do not. On Earth, such beliefs became much less influential when we first made contact with another world.”
Angara Myourn frowned and said, “Please go on.”
“I guess there is an element in our many beliefs that claims a ‘special’ place for our world: the idea that we have been chosen by God, for whatever purpose. How can that be squared with the existence of many other races, of other beliefs, multiplied again and again through the galaxies? It seems to diminish our world’s importance somehow.”
Tella’s head was shaking. “For us, it did not. Our belief was already open to finding the revelation of Quavvour in many places, in the unexpected and the unknown. For us, that multiplicity deepens our belief.”
Angara Myourn raised his
hands and looked as if he would speak but, for a long while, nothing came. Then, reaching out to touch the sleeves of his fellow Regdenir, he said softly, “This is the matter that concerns us greatly: At the moment we saw a strange question appear in Regde99, from a stranger given access by Wehorulan Jiir”—he narrowed his eyes at Jim—”we knew only that this system was the sole repository of Beauty. We knew of nothing else.” He turned his eyes to Tella and back to Jim. “That special revelation of which you speak was ours alone. Within such a short time, all of that has been challenged. How can we ever say to our people that Beauty is only one beauty among many? How can we face our children and tell them we were wrong?”
Tears appeared at the edges of Angara Myourn’s eyes.
Tella spoke into the quiet, “You were not wrong. That Quavvour appears in many places, and in many ways, makes the universe more wonderful, not less. The joy and inspiration you gain from Beauty is multiplied, not divided.”
“I stand on the first step of the flight to understanding this,” said the old Regdenir. “There are many who will not go so far. It will take the greatest works of Margrev Aplar and his fellow poets and artists to change the hearts of a world.”
Jim saw the pain in the expressions of his hosts. His own distance from the beliefs of his ancestors; his lack of connection, in fact, to so much of Earth’s past, which grew from his life on a permanent station in an alien system; and the toll taken by constant traveling with the OEA all combined to leave him with only the dullest understanding of what they were going through. He could see the depth of their feeling, but he could not share it.
Jim recalled the old lady on the shuttle saying “It’s so important to have roots, don’t you think?” Now, Jim was caught between two contradictory conclusions: he was glad to be free of such potentially painful connections; he was envious of those who could care so much.
After a long and deep silence, Tella sat up and looked squarely at Myourn. “Let me say this to you, from the heart of my people. If you choose to travel to other worlds, come first to Neraff. Come to our spiritual leaders. They will welcome you as before-unknown cousins. There will be a feast of discussion and of doubts and of certainties. Come! Visit us.”
“Thank you for your offer and for your goodwill. But it is much too soon to think of such things. If I may live long enough, perhaps I will see that day and sit at that feast.”
Margrev Aplar took the old Turcanian’s hand and said, “Perhaps it is time for refreshment?”
Myourn nodded, and they all stood.
Jim said, “We have some things in our flier that we would gladly share with you, if you wish.”
Margrev Aplar replied, “It is well done. We will set a table here and share together.”
Chapter Three
In the humid air of the forest Jim felt drained.
“Tella?”
“Yes, Jim?”
“How can you talk like that about your world? You said your kind...You’re an abused minority, aren’t you?”
“Yes. That is so. It is something that happens sometimes. When a religion becomes institutionalized, you might find individuals who can declare ‘Quavvour may be found here, but Quavvour may not be found there.’ As if, by saying so, they control what Quavvour will do. I try not to let that interfere with my own search. Quavvour will be there, at the right time, in the right place.”
***
They set out their specially treated samples of food and drink along one end of the table. Jim recognized some of the food the Turcanians supplied, but not all. To his relief, there did not seem to be anything alive on any of the plates. The Regdenir seemed much more relaxed as they ate and drank.
While they were eating, Oorudi Coungow asked Jim, “Tell me of Madhar Nect. I understand she was the first you visited.”
“She was—she is—a friend. She understands much about space travel already. But I’m concerned about her. She indicated she was in danger. I don’t think the audnir are reacting well to exposure to an expanded galaxy. I think the business interests are flexing their muscles.”
“That is not good. They behave so often like rodents in the sewer, running this way and that, biting each other’s backs.”
Jim raised an eyebrow at the tone in the Regdenir’s voice but remembered that Sopha had been just as dismissive.
Coungow turned to Myourn. “Should we influence this struggle between the audnir? They will rearrange themselves into power blocks seeking affiliations with these new races.”
He nodded. “We have a part to play. They do not deserve our help, but we can at least mitigate the worst of their excesses. See to it.”
Coungow swept out of the room, leaving Jim and Tella wondering what was being set in motion by this brief, but ominous, conversation.
The other Regdenir went back to their chairs. Jim and Tella returned to their seats with long glasses of a milky drink, and the conversation resumed.
“It is time to talk of Sopha Luca,” announced Myourn.
Jim and Tella waited politely.
“Every generation produces its own variety of offspring; some are dull, some are sharp, some are sharper than their parents ever were.” The old face frowned while he thought. “And then there are those gifted in other ways: some are gifted in loyalty, in devotion, perhaps in passion for their faith. Sopha Luca is one such. His studies are his life. They are all to him. You know, I wonder that he has a family! Even now, he continues to contribute to every debate in Regde3. He has written some of the most excellent commentaries I have seen from his order.” He looked a long while at Jim’s face. “He will have told you about his studies, perhaps?”
“Yes, he showed me some of his contributions to the Regdekol. He told me about the audnir spacecraft and that you view what they did as sacrilegious.”
Jim noticed a slight intake of breath in both the Regdenir. He could feel Tella become fully alert at his side.
“What else did he tell you?” asked Myourn.
“That was about it. He said you had been discussing whether the removal of the spacecraft was appropriate. He said he would soon bring the matter to a resolution.”
“The spacecraft? The audnir spacecraft? He is going to remove it?”
“Yes, that’s what he said.”
The two Regdenir glanced at each other, and Myourn said, “Perhaps so.”
Tella was on the hunt. “You feel there is something else he is engaged in?”
Myourn looked at Tella, his head slightly bowed. There was an awkward silence.
Tella spread his hands wide. “We must find him and prevent harm from being done. We need all the information you feel comfortable giving us.”
Margrev Aplar shifted in his seat. “Perhaps if I did not record this part of our meeting.”
“Agreed,” said Myourn. Once the device was powered off, Myourn sat up straight. “Sopha Luca is his order’s foremost scholar of the Maggnir. He has no interest in the spacecraft.”
Jim’s jaw dropped, and Tella turned to stare at him. “He never mentioned even their existence. I learned of them from Nect.”
“Nonetheless, they are, and have been for some thirty years, his main obsession. Remember, you are audnir; he would not have told you everything.”
Aplar took up the old Turcanian’s words as Jim covered his face with his hands.
“This obsession of Sopha’s, we now see as his being drunk on Beauty. Once we had heard of you and your search for Sopha Luca, we began to review his activities. We understood why he had obtained the scanning device. It was a profound piece of deduction—to go from his discovery of alien signals and interplanetary commerce to the realization that detecting small objects from great distances must be just one of many accomplishments of space travelers. He saw the potential for its use in his studies of the Maggnir. He would not dare to travel to Beauty, but he could observe it
and its inhabitants from here. It was to be the crowning achievement of his life. He would contribute a vast body of observations about the Maggnir. But then we saw a change in his ambition.”
Jim sighed. “He lied to me. He said the scanner was an afterthought. His main goal, he said, was to travel to Beauty to remove the relaunch module. I can’t believe he took me in so easily.” Jim inhaled deeply and swallowed. “I’m sorry. I talked with him, at that kitchen table, and corrected him on something he had misunderstood. He believed lasers were toys for children. I told him about their military uses. I put the idea in his mind.”
Myourn continued, his voice thick with emotion, “We think he might have once stopped at observation. Regdekol threads have long shown his and others’ belief that the Maggnir are not of Beauty. He wrote that they represent ‘scars’ on the face of Beauty, that Beauty had set a test for the faithful: to discover a way to heal these scars. He recently wrote that he had found a way. We believe he will use this audnir machine to eradicate the Maggnir.”
Tella sat forward in its seat, its eyes darting across the floor. “Sopha can pinpoint any source of heat, such as forges or cooking fires—or people. He can sweep an entire area or pick off individuals one by one. Yes, what you say is possible, technically. But he is not a murderer, surely? Do you really think that one of your own could do this?”
The Regdenir did not answer.
Jim said quietly, “I think he could. He may have already started.”
Tella frowned. “No, it is ridiculous. To destroy a whole population is bad enough, but to do it one by one?”
Jim shook his head and said, “It’s just a matter of dedication, determination, and a lifetime’s training in minutely detailed work. It takes the type of mind...”
There was a small silence as they looked at each other. Myourn said simply, “I ask for your help. You understand these devices. Perhaps, together, we may stop him.”
Tella stood up. “Our thoughts are one. I can tell you more about the scanner and the laser. Jim, please see if Madhar Nect has been able to detect anything happening on Beauty.”