The False Mirror

by Alan Dean Foster

  Saguio was staring intently. At the same time he was quite aware of the presence of untiring monitors in the room.

  "What was that all about?"

  "Nothing," said Ranji in a slow, deliberately self-contradictory manner. "I was just feeling hungry."

  "Oh, yeah. Hungry."

  A silent Ranji sat across from his brother, pondering. The sensors overhead could record his words, his expressions, his movements; but they could not read his thoughts.

  The experiment only confirmed the hypothesis that had been maturing in his mind ever since he'd had the disagreement with the female Ashregan Unifer in the gully outside the power distribution complex. She'd consented to his radical proposal too quickly, too easily. At the time he'd thought little of it, though it had nagged at him intermittently ever since.

  Then had come the confrontation with the two Massood technicians inside the switching station. After that he'd no longer been able to bury his suspicions in the back of his mind.

  And now the ready acquiescence to his request for an unscheduled meal. From an O'o'yan, for whom a deviation in scheduling was akin to altering respiration.

  He was anxious to test his theory further. On a S'van, perhaps, or a Massood field officer. The effort required was something of a strain, like concentrating for a long time on small print.

  According to what the Hivistahm had told him on Omaphil, the effect was electrical in nature. It had been explained to him that there were primitive creatures which could sense such impulses but could not distinguish those generated by the mind from those produced by the rest of the body, nor could they in turn affect them. They could only detect. On Earth they were known as sharks, and the organs capable of detecting and crudely analyzing impulses were called the Ampullae of Lorenzini. Coincidentally, the attitude and temperament of such creatures was said to be not unlike that of Humans themselves.

  What name should he give to the related but far more sophisticated organ inside his brain? What did the Amplitur call that portion of their unique minds which could via projection induce subtle alterations in the firing of another sentient's neurons? Induce, adjust, rechannel. Suggest.

  As he had suggested to the female Ashregan Sub-Unifer, the pair of Massood technicians, and now to a single O'o'yan medical attendant.

  He'd examined and reexamined the period immediately after his own operation and was positive that for some considerable while thereafter he hadn't possessed such capabilities. Therefore they took time to develop. Perhaps something within the brain took time to heal following the actual surgery. Whatever it was, it was utterly unexpected. Of that he was certain. The Hivistahm surgeons, his fellow Humans, none of them knew or suspected anything.

  At present Saguio could do nothing, was completely unaware of the ability that might have unintentionally been bestowed on him as a side effect of the operation. As to whether he would develop anything like it only time would tell. Not a lot of time, either. Ranji would have to watch him very carefully. He was conscious of the fact that whatever had happened to him, to his mind, might constitute something unique, an aberration not to be repeated. Just because it had taken place in his brain as a result of the operation didn't mean it would recur whenever similar surgery was performed on a fellow modified Gossuutian. Individuals might heal, might recuperate differently, with wildly differing results.

  "You all right?" Saguio was eyeing him curiously.

  Ranji smiled. "Just the lingering effects of whatever it was that Massood smacked me with."

  "What was it you wanted to share with me?"

  "Tell you later. Right now I want to know how the others are doing."

  "Ciscine-oon and Dourid-aer agreed to have the operation as soon as I came out of it and proved to everyone's satisfaction that no harm was involved. Ciscine's probably in surgery right now. The head Hivistahm told me that if all went well they hoped to perform two operations a day until they'd gone through the whole squad. They had a second team standing by to execute the follow-ups."

  Ranji frowned. "Follow-ups?"

  "You're the one who told me about it. Cosmetic surgery." Saguio scratched his cranial ridge with a too-long finger. "I imagine they'll be coming for me pretty soon. You too, Ranj. If I'm going to be Human, I expect I'd better look the part. Bet I make a better-looking Human than you." He reached out and put a hand on Ranji's shoulder. "You'd better prepare yourself, brother, because when they finish cutting on me there are a lot of questions I mean to ask you."

  Ranji gazed back at his sibling. "Don't worry, Sagui. I'll answer every question you've got. In fact, I have answers to questions you haven't begun to formulate."

  21

  The battle for Ulaluable raged, with the invaders seemingly incapable of making significant headway and the defenders unable to drive them off-world. Meanwhile, the pace of operations continued at a steady two per day as one after another of Ranji's fellow soldiers submitted to the programmed manipulations of the sonic scalpel. The Hivistahm could easily have performed half a dozen of the surgeries per day, but the more dilatory pace allowed the anxious patients to receive greater individual attention during the recovery period, while simultaneously helping to assuage the lingering unease among the as yet untouched.

  Having thus insured the Cossuutian prodigals against future Amplitur mental manipulation, Weave Command had no more idea what to do with them than if they had suddenly been presented with two dozen defecting griffins. Their view of Human culture and Humanness being understandably skewed, instructional materials suitable for correcting a lifetime of misconception were provided for the use of the Restorees as they came to be called. These, combined with the Hivistahm's expert cosmetic surgery and the friendship and compassion of those Humans on the medical staff, helped to speed and ease the defectors' mental and emotional transition from Ashregan to Homo sapiens.

  As their new Humanness began to take hold and the full import of what the Amplitur had done to them sank in, several volunteered their fighting abilities on behalf of the Weave. Such offers were not so much denied as avoided. Despite the assurances of the Hivistahm surgeons, Weave Command was still suspicious of them, Ranji knew. They could hardly be blamed. He and his friends were an unknown quantity. How unknown not even his brother suspected as yet.

  The defectors were kept under close observation, ostensibly to insure their complete and successful recovery. They complied by adapting to their new circumstances with gratifying speed. Before long they were wandering freely among the rest of the Usilayy Human contingent, which was to say that they were restricted to the confines of the military compound lest their appearance on the city streets actively disconcert the natives.

  The only Wais Ranji encountered were those official translators and support personnel who had survived the rigorous psychological training that allowed them to interact with combative sentients like Humans and Massood without suffering consequent mental damage. Ninety-eight percent of the population had never seen a Human being in the flesh, and their protective government wanted to keep it that way. The invasion had caused trauma enough.

  Not that the Weave compound was confining. It was as lavishly landscaped and exquisitely maintained as the rest of the capital's facilities. The Wais desired to make conditions for their vitally needed if inherently unbalanced allies as comfortable as possible. Grassy hills, streams, small waterfalls, flowers, trees alive with delicate, brightly hued arboreals; all contributed to a placid tranquillity that belied the seriousness of the situation.

  Ranji explored the compound with a dedication that provoked mild amusement among his comrades. Rather than being frantic for exercise, however, he was seeking a location where they could hopefully gather in comparative solitude. For mutual contemplation, as he explained to one curious soldier. In reality he was trying to find a place out of sight of prying eyes and ears where he could prepare them for developments they were as yet unaware of.

  Eventually he settled on a smooth-sided hollow in a cluster of round, red
dish boulders located at the northern limits of the compound. The small pond at the bottom was fringed with tall yellow reeds from which pinkish puff balls occasionally issued, fragile hallmarks of intermittent propagation. Amphibious ground-dwellers scuttled through the water or peeped from cracks in the rocks. It was a natural place to mingle, and their presence there should not provoke excessive comment.

  They assembled in twos and threes, chatting among themselves, curious and by now more than a little bored. Ranji had a couple of technicians surreptitiously check the boulders and plants for concealed sensors. They found nothing. Their inspection was far from thorough, but it would have to do. He couldn't wait any longer. If he did, those who had been operated on first might start suspecting things, and in the absence of understanding that could prove dangerous. None of his companions were blessed with his perspective.

  Just in case, he restricted the initial discussions to inconsequential matters. Having established a pattern of meeting regularly in the hollow, he was careful to divulge nothing of import for several days.

  When he finally did broach his feelings they were met with the expected skepticism. Then a soldier named Howmev-eir recalled requesting and finally demanding of a Hivistahm access to certain historical records. Informed initially that such recordings were unavailable to him, upon his insistence they were supplied with a dispatch which startled him.

  Nor was his an isolated experience. Upon reflection, several others among the first dozen who had been operated on recalled similar incidents. They'd sought no deeper explanation beyond a belief that their former captors and new allies were simply doing their best to please them.

  "They were doing more than just trying to help out new friends," Ranji explained. "Once each of you insisted, really pressed your point mentally and emotionally, none of them any longer had any choice in the matter, any more than they would have if an Amplitur had made the same requests. Or 'suggestions.' " He eyed them meaningfully.

  "Yet if we make similar demands of fellow Humans it doesn't trigger their neural defense mechanism. So this new ability of ours can't be perfectly identical to that of the Amplitur. There are differences."

  Tourmast spoke up. "I thought it was strange when they acceded to my request to take a stroll outside the compound last week. We Humans aren't supposed to show ourselves to the natives." He grinned in spite of himself. "Makes them jumpy." Other members of the group excitedly related similar experiences, though these were far from universal. Not everyone had healed yet.

  "If what you're suggesting is true, Ranji, we should be able to do pretty much as we please with our hosts."

  Ranji nodded. "Except that Humans won't be affected, and if we aren't very careful we'll set off alarms. Asking the Massood for an aircraft, for example, and having them provide it to us would alert the average soldier that something was very definitely amiss. If we don't watch the number and degree of our 'suggestions,' pretty soon the consistently peculiar and contradictory will be tracked back to us. We're already on a kind of postoperative probation to see that we make good Human beings."

  "I'm a good Human being." Weenn was strangling an imaginary victim. "I already want to kill every Amplitur I can get my hands on." Suddenly his belligerence vanished, replaced by solemn contemplation. "And I wouldn't mind finding my natural parents, either. If they're still alive."

  "Unlikely." Ranji's tone was compassionate but unyielding. Cold reality suggested that all their natural parents were dead, having been replaced long ago by the Ashregan surrogates they all were familiar with.

  "If the Amplitur learn what has happened to us, they will do their utmost to have us killed. Judging from the uneasy manner in which the sentients of the Weave regard their Human allies, I wouldn't put it past them to do the same. I have personal experience of that paranoia. As for our fellow Humans, they don't understand themselves, so I would not expect them to understand what has happened to us. Until we better comprehend the consequences and ramifications we must keep this secret, utilizing our new ability only when absolutely necessary.

  "As a result of Amplitur genetic engineering and subsequent Hivistahm surgery we have become something new and different, something the Teachers did not foresee. In that regard, all their intricate intriguing has backfired on them. Instead of becoming their most effective soldiers we've been transmogrified into their worst nightmare: Humans who possess the Amplitur ability to suggest. But we are still few. We have a lot to learn about what's happened to us, and we need time. For all any of us know, the talent may fade with age. Other factors we can't imagine may affect it temporarily or permanently. In the meantime we could easily be exterminated by fearful enemies or friends." He let his gaze rove the faces of his intent colleagues. "We're going to have to be very careful."

  "What I find interesting," said one of the technicians, "is that these neural connections have apparently grown back along entirely new paths. You'd think at least some would have regenerated according to their original Amplitur genetic programming."

  "I've been thinking about that, too." Ranji paused. "It suggests to me the presence in the Human brain of some heretofore latent genetic command, as if programming was present but access to the computer denied. The Amplitur provided the necessary access in the form of the engineered neural nodule. When the connections they supplied are surgically interrupted, the brain provides latent reconnection instructions of a different order.

  "I've learned that a large portion of the Human brain, our brain, is not used. Perhaps the addition of the Amplitur nexus activates some previously dormant portion not due to, fully evolve for another million years or so. After all, the nodule confers no inherent abilities itself. It hasn't given us the ability to communicate as the Amplitur themselves do, mind to mind. It's only an organic electrical switch."

  "That's all right," said Tourmast, indicating the technician next to him. "I don't want to know what he's thinking anyway." There was some nervous laughter.

  "There might be other changes yet to come," Weenn suggested. "Anybody starts levitating, I'm first in line for instructions." He was only half joking.

  "If this is all as you say," the technician murmured, "then it means that at least as far as cerebral structure is concerned, the Amplitur and not the Ashregan or Massood are Humankind's closest relatives. Maybe we should be allied with them after all and not the Weave."

  That was a thought which had not occurred to Ranji or anyone else, and it froze the group in contemplative silence for several minutes. Then Tourmast spoke up.

  "No. Remember what we were taught: biological verisimilitude and appearance count for nothing. They counted for nothing when we thought we were Ashregan and anxious to fight Humans, and they count for nothing now. As Humans we have to fight the Amplitur because of what they believe, and what they want to make us believe. Not because of physiological similarities or differences. The Lepar and the Sspari and the Hivistahm see the universe as we do. They believe in independence of thought and purpose like we do. The Amplitur don't. As a Human I have no intention of being a part of their damned 'Purpose.' Especially after learning the truth of what they've done to us." Murmurs of assent rose from those clustered close around him.

  "What about the others?" someone in the group asked.

  "Yeah," wondered Weenn. "You forced the truth on us, Ranji, and we all but killed you for it because we didn't believe. How are we going to spread the news? How are we going to save the rest of our people here and back on Cossuut?"

  "Continue to be cooperative, grateful, and helpful," he replied. "Be careful to make as few 'suggestions' as possible. Meanwhile I'll be talking to the authorities here. I have some ideas."

  "They're not going to let us go back to Cossuut the way they let you stumble out of the jungle on Eirrosad," Tourmast insisted. "I don't see them taking that kind of risk with so many of us."

  "Not to Cossuut," Ranji admitted.

  Despite intense questioning, he would say no more.

  He made his sugg
estions with great care, speaking now to a particular S'van, now to an influential Massood. His fellow Humans he avoided utterly, since they could not be similarly persuaded. He let no one help him, preferring to work alone. That way if he failed or caused an alarm to be raised, only he would be suspected.

  As expected, strong objections were raised when he finally presented his proposal to Ulaluable's defense command. In support of his intentions he pointed out that only Ms release on Eirrosad, which at the time had been accompanied by similar reticence on the part of his captors there, had enabled him to liberate the twenty-five of his kind that the Weave now held.

  There was much animated discussion, during which support for Ranji's position came from unexpected quarters. From Massood and S'van he had previously persuaded. Those who objected were puzzled by their colleagues' eager acquiescence, but to Ranji's relief their bemusement did not extend to suspicion.

  It was therefore reluctantly agreed that much as Ranji had been turned loose on Eirrosad, his rehabilitated comrades would have their Ashregan appearance temporarily restored, whereupon they would be armed and set free in small groups to work their way back to various enemy units, in the hope that they could, as had Ranji, bring in by one means or another more of their kind to receive the benefits of restoring truth and humanizing surgery.

  If questioned they were to explain that in the course of combat their squad had been captured and sent to the capital for internment, from whence they had managed to steal several floaters and flee. Weave pursuit caused them to split up in the hope that it would enable at least some to escape. There was nothing in the story to provoke even an Amplitur into drawing an analogy between their flight and Ranji's earlier "escape" on Eirrosad.

  Not everything transpired as hoped or planned. Some of those who went out were "saved" by pure Ashregan or Crigolit forces and could do nothing but bide their time and await reassignment. Others were more fortunate. Rescued by roving squads composed of their own kind, they used materials supplied by the Hivistahm and Humans to begin the slow, cautious process of explanation and conversion. The adamantly reluctant they were finally able to convince through demonstrations of their ability to mentally influence non-Humans such as Ashregan and Crigolit.