Noah's Brick

by Piers Anthony

  “Boy's don't. She'd have brought her own if she'd had time.”

  “You don't mind that I'm helping a girl?”

  “You're growing up, Noah. You should have a girlfriend. Just make sure you choose wisely, and behave sensibly.”

  “She kissed me,” he said. “Now all I can think about is her.”

  “You're in love.”

  “I'm a child!”

  “Age is immaterial. Take good care of her. She needs you.”

  He found himself choking up. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Then he was on his way. Soon he reached the tree, and was inside.

  Si was waiting for him, in the dress. She put her arms around him and the bag and quickly kissed him. “I'm so glad to have you back! It's eerie being alone.”

  “Mom sent more stuff for you.” He gave her the bag.

  “A hairbrush! Soap!” she squealed in delight.

  “She said you might need them.”

  “I do! I didn't get to bring my own toiletries. All I had was a comb.”

  “That's what she figured.” He paused, trying to find the right phrasing. “She says—says you'll be my girlfriend. Sometime.”

  She wasn't fazed. “I will, Noah. When I can.”

  He was gratified by that confirmation. “So did you explore some more?”

  “Yes. The Ark's not like a regular ship. It's one big four-sided pyramid.”

  “I thought they all had four sides.”

  “No. The Pyramids of Egypt are five sided. That is, four triangular sides and the square bottom. The Ark is four sides total, all triangles. With one or two portholes in each. But only two show anything.”

  “Two?”

  “The one you found. And the one I found, this last session. It shows the world too.”

  “It must be on the same side of the pyramid.”

  “It is.”

  “Maybe if the Ark rotated, one of the others would come to see Earth.”

  “No. It does rotate, so Earth changes position in the porthole, but the others don't see Earth even when they're in position. That's one of the odd things.”

  “There are other oddities?”

  “Yes. Earth is always facing the same way, showing North America. We must be hovering over it. And there's never any night; it's always day.”

  “But there have to be night and day!”

  “Yes. So I think maybe it isn't really Earth, but a picture of it.”

  “But that would mean that we're not really in orbit around it.”

  “Yes. It's weird.”

  “Si, this makes me nervous! We don't know what the aliens are really up to. Maybe you should come home with me. Mom would help you.”

  “I think I'd like that. But it would be complicated, because I couldn't explain where I came from. No one would believe me. I'd be an undocumented alien. A runaway child. The police--”

  “Yeah, I see,” he agreed heavily. “You have to stay here. But I worry about you.”

  “Noah, I don't know where I'd be, if it wasn't for the Ark. And you. I really need you.”

  He smiled. “That's what Mom said.”

  “I wish I could meet her, though.”

  “Well, maybe--”

  He broke off, because there was a sound. A new person had appeared in the room. A boy maybe a year younger than they were. Black haired, black eyed, almost alarmingly thin.

  He saw them. “Where am I?” he asked.

  “In the Ark,” Noah said. “That is, a space station, maybe. An alien craft.”

  Instead of being amazed, the boy nodded. “I thought it might be something like that. Hi. I'm Jay. I eat dirt.”

  Noah opened his mouth, but before he could formulate a thought, there was another event. Another person appeared, this one a girl of about ten. She was slender, with long wild iodine colored hair and a ragged tan dress. “Hi, folks,” she said brightly. “I'm Gypsy. That's just my name; I'm not a real gypsy.”

  Noah masked his amazement, taking it in stride. “Hello, Gypsy. I am Noah. This is my friend Si. And Jay, who arrived just before you. You have a—a Bead?”

  “Sure do,” Gypsy said, holding up a bright orange bead with several holes. “And you must too. With seven holes.”

  “I do,” Noah agreed. “Only mine's a brick. That I reshaped into a bracelet.” He held up his arm.

  “Mine's a rock,” Jay said. “With holes.”

  “Okay,” Noah said, taking charge because he knew Si wouldn't. “We don't know each other yet, but we must have things in common. We're all children. We're all misfits, maybe, with dull or difficult home lives. We all found bricks or beads or rocks with weird holes. We've all got minds that can see how odd these artifacts are, though other folk may not notice. We all sighted through them, and they took us here.” He took a breath. “Si and I have been exploring the Ark. It seems to be a four sided pyramid floating it space, far from our homes. It's alien, but there are no aliens here. There's a picture of Earth in sight of two portholes. There's a neat fridge, and toilet, and hammock in each suite. That's about what we know so far.”

  Now Si spoke up. “And the artifacts can do remarkable things. Like protect a person with a jolt of electricity, or make something light, or bend things around topologically. And this ship maybe collects children. We're nervous about that.”

  There was a pause. “Misfits,” Jay said. “I told you I eat dirt. They were going to put me in the loony bin, so I ran away. I'm not crazy, I just have to do this one thing.”

  “Magnesium, maybe,” Gypsy said. “Or some other trace mineral. A lot of people are short of it, and some have to get it where they can. Like dirt.”

  “It doesn't disgust you?”

  “Why should it? I’m a free spirit. I'll try anything once, even dirt. But it doesn't taste good, so I don't.” She shrugged. “Metabolisms differ.”

  “I think I like you.”

  Gypsy eyed him flirtatiously. “Well, I'm likable.”

  “I ran away too,” Si said. “My stepfather was raping me.”

  “Girl, you had reason,” Gypsy said seriously.

  “Let's all get to know each other better,” Noah said. “I'm from Vermont.”

  “New Mexico,” Si said.

  “Georgia,” Gypsy said.

  “And I'm from Alaska,” Jay said. “Know something? We're from far apart.”

  “We think it's matter transmission,” Noah said. “When we step inside the tree it's not really the tree, but transport to the Ark. These aliens really know their stuff. What we can't figure is why they want a bunch of messed-up children here. Except that maybe adults would rob them.”

  “Maybe the artifacts are for someone else,” Jay said. “But we found them first.”

  “Mine looked just like a regular brick,” Noah said. “I think it was copied from the brick I already had. Put where I'd see it. So I think they wanted me, or someone like me.”

  “Put where you'd see it,” Jay said thoughtfully. “My rock was just like others I'd cleared out of the hole, getting at more dirt. It would have been put there for me, yes.”

  “I found my Bead in my jewelry box,” Gypsy said. “I collect cheap beads, all I can find or afford. I thought it was my regular one, until I saw the holes. It was too big to tote around in a mini-pocket, so I made it smaller.”

  “You made it small?” Si asked. “I made mine light.”

  “And I reshaped mine,” Noah said.

  “Mine glows,” Jay said.

  “Maybe we can help each other,” Noah said. “Changing our artifacts to be more convenient.”

  Soon they were experimenting with reshaping, lightening, sizing, and glowing artifacts, and learning how to deliver electric shocks. Surprisingly quickly they seemed like old friends.

  “I notice we're all from widely different places,” Gypsy said. “I wonder if the other sample artifacts fade out once one is picked up and tuned in.”

  “Makes sense if they want a varied group,” Jay said.

  “Let
's try the fridge now,” Si said. “I've noticed the one I use tends to stock what I want, as if it can read our minds. Maybe it has whatever you get from dirt, Jay.”

  They checked. There was a small bowl of dirt. Jay took it and dipped his finger into it, tasting it. His face lit up. “Food of the gods!” he exclaimed. “Chocolate flavored. I can tell already it has what I need.” In moments he had gobbled it all down.

  Now if only it could help emotional needs as readily, Noah thought.

  “Can we newcomers have a tour of the Ark?” Gypsy asked. “I've never been on a spaceship before.”

  They toured it. The outer shape did indeed seem to be a four sided pyramid with triangular panels, subdivided into numerous smaller chambers of the same shape. There were seven sleeping rooms with hammocks and toilets and fridges, as well as more general chambers. It was clear that the Ark had been built to accommodate at least seven people.

  “Say!” Gypsy exclaimed as she peered through a porthole. “Earth!”

  She had found another suite with a working port.

  “I'm sure that didn't work before,” Si said.

  Noah figured it out. “It's tuned to her Bead! Just as the other two are tuned to my Brick and Si's Bead. These are assigned suites. I'll bet we all use different holes to sight through, too.”

  They compared notes, and it was true.

  “Maybe there's a porthole for me, then,” Jay said.

  There was. Now four portholes were operative.

  “They really are making us welcome,” Si said.

  “Why?” Jay asked, voicing Noah's concern. “What's in it for them?”

  What, indeed.

  “I wonder,” Gypsy said. “These Bricks or Beads can do marvelous things by themselves. Suppose we put two together? Would it magnify their power?”

  “Or cancel it out,” Jay said.

  “Let's try. I'm game if you are.” She held up her Bead, growing it to be as large as a Brick.

  “Okay.” Jay held up his Rock.

  The two artifacts touched. They seemed to merge, forming a single blob with holes going deep through it.

  “How many holes?” Noah asked, not sure what he was seeing.

  Jay counted. “Six.”

  “But each alone has seven,” Gypsy protested. “Together they should have fourteen, or if they overlap, at least seven.”

  “You count 'em.”

  She counted. “Six,” she admitted, troubled.

  “Can they be separated?” Noah asked. “Because we need them to get in and out of the Ark.”

  Jay held one side of the lump, and Gypsy held the other side. They pulled, and the thing came apart, reforming as Bead and Rock. That was a relief.

  “This is odd, even for the artifacts,” Si said. “There must be a reason. Maybe we should try merging three.”

  Jay and Gypsy merged their artifacts again, and Si touched her Bead to the mass. It quickly melded, making the mass rounder. They counted holes.

  Five. They were slightly larger than the others had been.

  Wordlessly Noah added his Brick. It merged, and the resultant mass had just four holes, another size larger.

  They looked at each other. “I just can't make sense of this,” Si said. “What does it gain anyone or anything to lose a hole each time? If seven artifacts were put together, there would be only one hole.”

  Noah got a bright notion. “We look through one hole to find our way to the ark. The other holes don't seem to go anywhere. Maybe that's because only one hole is actually engaged, the key one for that person. Meanwhile only one porthole shows the picture of Earth. It's as if the Ark is an artifact itself, with just one hole working. Maybe this is showing us that if we had seven artifacts, and put them together, that one hole remaining would orient on Earth.”

  “But we can already go to Earth by ourselves,” Si said. “What is gained there?”

  “What about this,” Noah said. “So far we've just been able to look at the picture. Maybe if we merged all the artifacts it would make one big hole, and we could go physically it to that picture? Where maybe we could find out what this is all about?”

  “We've seen strange things,” Gypsy said. “Maybe it would work.”

  “Let's get them apart while we think about it,” Jay said. “For one thing, we don't have seven. Maybe there are more children to join the party.”

  They put their hands on the glob, and it came apart, returning each artifact to its owner. They were all relieved.

  “I gotta go home before I'm missed,” Gypsy said. “It's been nice meeting you, and I want to come again.”

  “I have to go home too,” Noah said.

  “I'd rather stay here,” Jay said. “This is one neat ship.”

  “You would?” Si asked a bit tightly.

  Then Noah realized that there might be a problem. If Jay stayed, Si would be alone with him. She wouldn't want that, regardless how nice Jay might be. She barely trusted Noah, and Jay was a relative stranger. Having a knife and the Bead wouldn't be enough to put her at ease.

  “Well, I'm a runaway. If I go home I'll be institutionalized. This is better.”

  It did make sense. But it could mess up Si.

  Noah knew he needed to fix this before it became a problem. “Jay, if you stay here, there's something you have to know. You have to stay away from Si.”

  Jay was surprised. “What, she's your girlfriend or something?”

  “Yes,” Si said quickly. Noah realized that she didn't want to share her touching problem or the reason for it. At least not yet. It was easier to give a conventional reason, such as the jealousy of a boyfriend.

  Jay shrugged. “Okay.”

  Maybe that would do. He would play along. “So while I'm gone, she'll be in her room, alone. You can have a room of your own. You won't see her.”

  “Okay,” Jay repeated. “What about Gypsy?”

  “Is it okay for me to come out when she's here?” Si asked Noah, as if needing his permission.

  So the presence of another girl would ease her concern. He feigned slight reluctance. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Thank you. Bye.” She kissed him on the cheek and retreated to the room she had chosen, the one with the porthole that worked for her. The door slid closed.

  “Actually I sort of like the look of Gypsy,” Jay said. “But no girl's ever had much interest in me. Not when they learn about the dirt. Maybe Gypsy's different.”

  Noah appreciated his sentiment. “I know how that is. Si's my first. I'm not interested in Gypsy. And maybe with your fridge, you won't need dirt anymore, anyway.” They were establishing boundaries.

  “Okay,” Jay said once more. “I'll stay in my room.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Noah said. “I've got chores, school, stuff like that. Out in the real world.”

  “Right. Tomorrow we'll try to find out more about this Ark. Like why is it even here, and where it's going.”

  “Sure thing. Bye.” Noah touched the outer wall, and was outside the tree.

  He pondered as he made his way home. Now they were four, and if the holes were right, there would be three more. What would happen when all seven were on the Ark? There had to be a larger alien purpose, and it made him extremely nervous. This could be the greatest adventure ever, or the worst disaster.

  There seemed to be only one way to find out: stay with it until the absent aliens showed their hand, scary as that was.

  Lyris

  “You can sleep late tomorrow,” Mom murmured as she checked him that evening. “You won't be going to school.”

  “I won't?” he asked, surprised.

  “I've cleared it with the school. You have a special project. Don't be concerned.” She departed.

  But he was concerned. He knew of no special occasion that would excuse him from school, and he wasn't ill. What was on her mind? He trusted her beyond all others, and knew she would never deceive him or do anything to harm him, but this was odd. He hope it wouldn’t mess up his next visit to the A
rk.

  The Ark! Could she have caught on? But how could she? He had said nothing, and had never missed a chore. So maybe it was something else entirely. He slept.

  In the morning after breakfast his brother and sister caught the school bus as usual, while Noah stayed home. His father kissed Mom and left for work. Noah was alone with Mom. That made him oddly nervous, because it was distinctly outside the family routine.

  She did not keep him waiting. “Noah, we need to talk.”

  He knew that tone. He gave her his full attention immediately. “Present.”

  “You are up to something strange, and I need to know all about it. I am not just talking about the girl.”

  Uh-oh. “Mom, I'm not sure I can tell you, or anyone.”

  “Let me be more specific. You have been disappearing into the forest on a daily basis, presumably to see the girl. But there's no house there, no human works of any kind. It is the state forest in the heart of the Green Mountain range, protected from development. There is no shelter for that girl. So where is she?”

  “She's all right, Mom. She's safe. Honest.”

  “I believe you. However, there is something you need to know about women.”

  “Mom, she's eleven! She's only a girl.”

  “A girl is a young woman. We have certain things in common. From what you tell me, she is desperate. She can't go home, and is dependent on you to help her survive. She will do what she needs to to keep you amenable to her purpose. That is no guarantee that she likes you personally.”

  “Mom!”

  “Because if you left her one day and did not return, she would be in dire straits. She must ensure your cooperation. She does that by evoking your passion.”

  “Mom!”

  “In her fashion. She kisses you so that you like her. She has had brutal experience. She is capable of doing a lot more than that if she has to.”

  “Mom! She can't even let herself be touched.”

  “So she says. That keeps you safely at bay despite your feeling for her. It's a woman's way.”

  Noah was stricken. Could she be right? Could Si be playing him along, to get what she wanted, paying him off with kisses he only thought were genuine expressions of emotion? The very notion was heartbreaking. “Oh, no,” he breathed in anguish.

  Mom had mercy. “I didn't say she doesn't like you, Noah, merely that she is in an extremely difficult situation. There is a range of possibilities. My interest is in seeing that you are not unduly hurt, physically or emotionally.”