Noah's Brick

by Piers Anthony

  “Yes,” Beryl agreed. “I told Sven about Lyris, and he said he was jealous.”

  “I think we have come to a decision point,” Lyris said. “All of you have reasons to get away from the regular world, but it seems you can't disengage entirely. We may have to set up a special school to teach what we need. A regular school won't do. Fortunately we now have the money to do that. Why don't I go home and start my research for that, while you survey the prospects here? It will surely be better to take our time, instead of risking a bad mistake.”

  They nodded agreement, relieved. None of them felt ready for adult responsibility, even with alien assistance.

  “Now before I go, let's do some serious hugging.”

  They gladly flocked to her.

  Discoveries

  First they explored the Garden, riding their bikes. It was obviously based on a replica of the real world, but it was not at all the same in detail. This was not just a matter of no human works: no highways, buildings, or farming fields. For one thing, it was heavily forested throughout, with no great plains at all.

  “I'm having trouble figuring this out,” Gypsy said as they paused in the forest. “If this was copied from the real world, why is it so different?”

  “We don't know how long ago it was copied,” Noah said. “If it was fifty thousand years ago, there was time for the trees to grow.”

  “It must have been that long ago, or more,” Rex said. “Because they had to see that mankind was on the way to taking over the world, but not close enough for them to stop it then.”

  “But if there are plains in the real world,” Gypsy said, “And have been since before man arrived here, why aren't there the same dynamics in the Garden? The climate's the same, and the soil; the aliens made it so. So what gives?”

  “The only difference we know of is that there are no mammals here,” Beryl said.

  “And there it is!” Noah said, seeing it in a flash. “The buffalo, or maybe more properly the American bison. They're big grazers, while the reptiles aren't.”

  “The dinosaurs had big grazers,” Rex said.

  “The buffalo took their place,” Noah agreed. “About sixty million years later. They ate back the trees, then grazed the grass, making the big plain. But when the mammals were excluded, there were no more big grazers. So the trees came back and took over. So now it's a forest.”

  “And there it is,” Beryl agreed. “I wonder if the aliens thought of that?”

  “If they did, they couldn't do anything about it,” Noah said. “They either had to risk mammals overturning things and ruining it for the other creatures, or let the forest return. They chose the lesser evil.”

  “All I'm seeing here is trees,” Jay complained. “We can fly above them, but what's the point? We're not learning much.”

  “So let's check out the ocean,” Gypsy said. “We're just getting the lay of the land anyway.”

  They flew southwest, curious about the Gulf of Mexico. Before long the shoreline appeared ahead. Now Jay perked up. “Last one there's a rotten egg!” he called, taking off.

  “Don't try to race!” Gypsy called. “We're not really experienced on these flying bikes.”

  “Chicken! Buc buc buc buwk!” Jay called as he zoomed ahead.

  “Oh, beans!” Gypsy swore. “He's showing off.”

  Jay looped around and buzzed them. “Come on! Get a wiggle on!”

  “Step it!” Gypsy called. “We're not here to clown around.”

  “Out of my way!” Jay called, flying straight toward her so that she had to dodge and almost went out of control. Then he arrowed toward the water.

  And suddenly went out of control himself. He screamed as he dropped toward the surface of the Gulf.

  “I said stop clowning!” Gypsy said, really annoyed.

  “I don't think he's clowning,” Solita said nervously.

  Then Jay splashed into the water. He separated from the bike and thrashed helplessly while it floated nearby.

  Rex descended to the surface and jumped off his bike. He swam to Jay. “I got you.”

  “I lost my Stone!” Jay wailed.

  “Oh, shoot!” Rex dived below, chasing it.

  Noah and Si flew down to Jay. “Grab on to mine,” Noah said.

  Jay did. “What happened?” Si asked. “Did you dive too fast and lose control?”

  “No. My bike stopped working.”

  “Let me check it,” Noah said. He flew across to the floating bike and transferred to it. He rose up from the water. “It's working fine now.”

  “Rex!” Solita said. “He's still down there!”

  Noah, Si, and Gypsy shared a horrified glance. Was Rex drowning?

  Then Rex burst the surface. “I got it!” he called, holding up the Rock. “And that's not all!”

  Solita flew across to him and threw her arms about him, kissing the side of his face. She didn't mind being demonstrative in public now that she had someone she could trust. “When you stayed down so long--”

  “I'm sorry I worried you, Lita. But that's the other thing. I can breathe the water! Or something. I never ran out of air, anyway. So I just kept diving for the rock. I knew where it was though I couldn't see it. And finally I caught it and swam back up.”

  “We can't drown?” Gypsy asked. “Let me check this out.” She dived under the surface.

  “Are you sure that's the right rock?” Noah asked. “Where are the holes?”

  Rex looked at the rock. “Oh, I'm sure. But that's funny. Where'd they go?”

  Beryl was thoughtful. “If a Brick stopped working, would it lose its holes?”

  “And if it stopped, would anything else work?” Si asked.

  “I told you,” Jay said somewhat petulantly. “My bike quit.”

  “Yet it works for me,” Noah said. “So it's not the bike.”

  Gypsy's head popped the surface. “How long was I down?” she asked.

  They had forgotten about her! “Too long,” Solita said.

  “It's not breathing, exactly,” Gypsy said. “It's that I didn't need to breathe, so I could stay under as long as I wanted. So it's true: we can't drown.”

  “As long as our Bricks are functioning,” Rex said. “They protect us from that, too.”

  “I think maybe I've figured it out,” Si said. “Let's get back to the beach where we can sit and talk.”

  The others didn't argue. They flew slowly to the beach, Noah towing Jay with his bike while Rex brought Jay's bike along.

  “You're all wet,” Solita told Rex. “Get out of those things so the sun can dry them.”

  “There's sunlight here!” Noah said, surprised. “But it's just a little model Earth, inside the Ark, I think.”

  “Guess not,” Rex said cheerfully, stripping down to his undershorts. He spread his clothing on the beach to dry.

  “You too,” Gypsy said to Jay.

  “Yeah? How about you?”

  She laughed. “I'm wet too.” She took off her blouse and skirt and stood in her bra and panties. “Yes, you boys can look. I've got nothing to show, yet.” She proceeded to spread both Jay's clothing and her own on the sand.

  Noah had to admire her poise. She had made it okay to be partly dressed.

  “I hope we're protected from sunburn too,” Si said.

  “We probably are,” Gypsy said. “It makes sense.

  They settled in a circle. “You were saying?” Noah asked Si.

  Si frowned, focusing on her words. “Jay's stone quit, so his bike quit. And it quit because--” She broke off as if she had lost her thought. Noah suspected it was reluctance to be provocative; she normally preferred to be in the background.

  “So why did Jay's Brick quit?” Solita asked.

  “I think the Beads don't just protect us,” Si said slowly. “They work for us because we're special people. We have qualities the aliens need, such as open mindedness. But they couldn't just give Bricks or Beads or Rocks to anyone without some safeguards. Because that would be like giving a
gun to a baby. Someone could get hurt, even if there was no bad intention. So if a person is right, but then turns wrong, his Brick tunes out.”

  “I turned wrong?” Jay asked.

  “You were acting like a juvenile,” Si said. “Clowning around, trying to race people, being a brat.”

  Jay swelled up. “Listen, you little--”

  “Can it,” Noah said sharply, exactly as Rex had when Jay had been about to joke about Solita not wanting to be naked. He was normally peaceful, but he would fight to defend Si, and that was clear warning.

  Jay backed off, as he had before. He knew he didn't want a fight. “Sorry. So I was feeling my oats. So what?”

  “So maybe the aliens knew they couldn't afford to have corrupted people running their program,” Si continued. “There's nothing funny about it; they're trying to save a world. So they programed the Bricks to tune in only on the right kind. You were right, so you got your Rock. When you started going wrong, your Rock tuned out, not recognizing you any more. And you crashed.”

  The others stared at her. “I think you're right,” Gypsy said. “But how did you figure it out?”

  Si shrugged. “I'm awful sensitive to abuse. Maybe sometimes I see it where it doesn't exist. That's why I can't let any boy touch me. So maybe that's not why Jay's Brick quit. It's just an idea.”

  “It's a good idea,” Gypsy said. “And we can test it.”

  “We can?” Noah asked.

  “If Jay went wrong and his Rock tuned out, he can tune it in again by going right. We'll know by the holes.”

  “This is crazy,” Jay protested.

  “We'll find out, dear.”

  His jaw dropped. “What did you call me?”

  Si squeezed Noah's hand. “Shock treatment,” she whispered.

  So it seemed. Jay looked as if he had been slugged. It reminded Noah of Si's first kiss. Girls did have ways to govern boys.

  Gypsy kissed Jay on the ear. “I care about you, so I'm going to fix you. But you have to go along with me. Now hold your Rock and follow my lead.”

  Rex gave Jay the Rock. Jay held it, watching Gypsy.

  “You do want to be part of the Ark project?”

  “Well, sure.”

  “You know you were going wrong, don't you?”

  Jay was reluctant to admit error. But Gypsy breathed on his ear, and he yielded. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Your Rock is like a computer. It's there to help you and serve you, but you have to follow its rules or you get an error message or worse.”

  “I guess.”

  “One of its rules is no clowning or racing.”

  “I guess.”

  “Say it like you mean it. Because you do mean it, don't you?” Her lips hovered near his ear.

  “Yes!” he said with forced enthusiasm.

  She kissed his ear again. “Now tell your Rock.”

  Jay looked at the Rock. “I—I was wrong to start playing around. We're not here for games.”

  “And there's a hole,” Gypsy said.

  They all stared. A single hole had formed in the Rock. It was working!

  “Now you want to get another,” Gypsy said. “You don't need to say it out loud. Just think it to the Rock. You'll know when you're going right because there'll be a hole, and another. That's your course. The right mind set. So it knows you're part of the team.”

  “Okay,” Jay said, looking at the Rock as if it were a crystal ball.

  “We'll leave you to it,” Gypsy said. “Stay the course. When you've got all the holes, get on your bike and come join us. Make sure you don't go wrong again.” She got up and walked away from him.

  They biked along the beach. “You're good!” Solita said. “I didn't think it would work.”

  “Neither did I,” Gypsy said. “But I had to try.”

  “You're some girl,” Rex said.

  “Thanks. And you fetched the Rock and found out how we could swim.”

  “The rest of us should verify that,” Noah said. “So we know it's safe to dive deep, if we ever need to.”

  “Maybe just the boys,” Beryl said, glancing at Solita.

  “No, I'll do it too,” Solita said. “Promise not to tell.”

  “We promise,” the others said almost together, smiling.

  The other four of them stripped down to their underwear and waded into the water. Noah tried to keep his eyes from Solita, who had the appearance of a full grown woman.

  “Oh go ahead and look, as Gypsy said,” Solita said. “Just keep your promise.”

  “And no touching,” Si said firmly, with the trace of a smile.

  “Thanks,” Noah said. “That makes it easier to keep an eye on each other, when we're under, just in case.”

  They waded into the water, then swam out a ways. Then they dived below.

  It was amazing. Noah was holding his breath without getting short of oxygen, no matter how long he held it. He saw that the others were having the same experience. That, too, surprised him: the fact that he could see clearly despite the gloom. He knew he owed it to the Brick.

  He also was aware of their Bricks and Beads without having to look. It seemed one artifact knew another. That must have been how Rex had located Jay's Rock.

  They did loops and circles, dancing in place. There was no getting around the fact that Solita was beautiful in her freedom. Part of it was that she trusted them enough to do it.

  He saw Si watching him watch Solita. He smiled and turned away. He knew she wasn't jealous, just curious about his reactions.

  Rex pointed. There was a shark gliding smoothly toward them.

  All of them froze. They were supposed to be safe in the Garden, but were they really? They couldn't possibly swim fast enough to escape the shark.

  The big fish cruised by, eying them but not attacking. It moved on.

  Noah let out his breath, not realizing he was doing it until he saw the bubbles rising from his mouth. He halted that.

  Then, despite Si's stricture about his eying Solita, they linked hands in a big circle and floated to the surface. It was exhilarating.

  “We're learning more things than we're looking for,” Rex remarked.

  “Hi!” It was Jay floating above them on his bike.

  “You made it!” Gypsy cried.

  “Thanks to you. I only did it 'cause you were smooching my ear. But I won't go wrong again.”

  “That's the spirit. Now stop looking at Solita and join us on the beach.”

  So Noah wasn't the only one. They laughed and swam for the shore. Soon they were running around across the sand, getting dry. It was like a picnic.

  In due course they got dressed in almost-dry clothes and biked back to the Ark. Noah felt good; their group was melding nicely. Their ability to be almost naked together without much embarrassment was a very good sign, because of the trust it indicated. They also liked each other's company. And they had indeed learned a lot.

  “I'd better check on Mom,” Noah said. “And tell her we explored the Garden.”

  “I'll go with you,” Si said.

  He didn't argue. He liked her company and her increasing confidence.

  He phoned Lyris when they were out of the tree. “We learned a lot about the Garden,” he told her. “Si and I are coming to the house to make a full report. Okay?”

  “By all means,” Lyris said. “There have been developments here too.”

  “I wasn't jealous,” Si said as they hiked. “One day I'll look like that.” She meant Solita.

  “I hope I can touch you then.”

  “You can touch me now.”

  Had the swimming session changed things for her? “You mean it?”

  “I think so. That's why I came with you.”

  They paused and faced each other. He knew she was only moderately pretty, but she was beautiful to him. He reached for her, but saw her freeze. “I guess not yet.”

  “You can hold me and kiss me. I won't move.”

  “I wish I could. But I'd know it was like
getting a tooth drilled, for you. I won't do that.”

  Her tears started to flow. “I'm sorry. I really thought maybe I could do it, this time.”

  How could he reassure her? “I'm glad you tried. Do you want to kiss me?”

  “Oh yes!” She stepped forward, hugged him tightly, and kissed him, while he remained perfectly still.

  “You know, that's pretty good too,” he said as she released him.

  “Not nearly as good as it will someday be.” She was speaking of both her body and her attitude.

  They moved on. But now they were holding hands.

  “I'm so glad to see you again, Si,” Lyris said. “May I hug you?”

  “Yes.”

  She did. It was clearly a glad embrace for both of them. Then Si's tears flowed again.

  “Dear, what's the matter?” Lyris asked. “I thought all was well.”

  “I—I thought I could let Noah hug and kiss me, finally, and I couldn't.”

  Lyris shook her head. “Abuse like what you suffered takes years to get over, and some never do. The fact that you even wanted to is significant progress in itself.”

  “It is?”

  “It certainly is. You should not push it beyond your limit. I'm sure Noah understands.”

  “I do,” Noah said. “Meanwhile she kisses me, and that's great.”

  Si took has hand again. “Thanks.”

  “I called the first tutor,” Lyris said. “He'll be here in half an hour. Tell me about your experience in the Ark.”

  They told her about exploring the Garden, and Jay's problem with his Stone, and how Gypsy had talked him through the recovery of his magic, and how they had discovered they could swim without breathing. They did not mention that Solita had joined them in skinny dipping, honoring their pledge to her.

  “This is real progress,” Lyris agreed.

  “But this business of getting animals into the Garden,” Noah said. “Where do we find them? How do we get them without anyone catching on what we're doing it, and interfering? It's just such a big job, we have no idea where to start.”

  “That's where our tutors will help,” Lyris said. “They'll know such things.”

  “But to get good answers, we'll have to tell them about the Arks,” Si said.

  “Yes. And they won't believe you. But I think for this purpose you will have to make them believe. We will select trustworthy people and swear them to secrecy, and I think once they realize how importent this is, they will be glad to cooperate fully. Then they will be able to help you in exactly the ways you need.”