“Well Jack,” Sargon said, looking somewhat disturbed. “They will of course have to build domes to retain some of the particle flux common on the Sunward side when rotation carries them to the night side during the planet’s sidereal rotational period.” Jack tried to concentrate on the dry scientific discourse. Sargon finally flared his crest and squirmed a bit under Bethrin’s assiduous ministrations. “But for at least l03 of the l76 days in a Mercury ‘year,’ they will have full or partial exposure to the solar flux.” Colleen giggled as she Sargon’s yellow eyes open wide. “I. . . I remember studying somewhere that their crystalline-based ‘metabolism’ allows them to not ‘eat’ for up to a half-year.”
“I haven’t eaten yet, husband dear,” Bethrin murmured into Sargon’s left ear. Colleen smiled big, then winked at Sargon.
“Do you think there will be enough vaporized or solid barium titanate present near the surface for them to reproduce?” Jack desperately asked. Colleen now had both hands at work on him, massaging, pulling, arousing him crazily. Her teeth nipped his left ear while both breasts pushed into his left side. Feeling like an online porno star, he watched Bethrin. She was also pushing her breasts into Sargon’s brown fur while two hands worked under the blue waters. Her four incisors nipped little bites into Sargon’s left collar-bone. Sargon grinned at him, eyes switching between Colleen and Bethrin.
“Friend Jack—ouch! Bethrin—take it easy.” Colleen began to purr softly. “Uh . . . since it takes the Thoranians nearly 80 ship years to precipitate out a clone offspring in the proper matter-energy environment, it may be a long time before we know. And now,” Sargon turned to his left, cupping Bethrin’s open mouth in his both hands, “I have an important pleasure to attend to. Don’t mind us.”
Jack watched fascinated as the two Horem french-kissed.
“Jack,” Colleen whispered. “ I want it. Now! Make love to me.” She moved around to straddle his legs, water dripping from the pale white skin of her breasts, hands reaching for his shoulders.
Jack looked up into Colleen’s wonderful green eyes. They enveloped him. It didn’t matter that they had an audience. Bethrin and Sargon were Friends. All could be shared with them. He reached out to grasp her waist, pulling her down onto him, and joined with a very special, very gentle, very loving woman.
♦ ♦ ♦
The two pairs of living beings celebrated life for long hours. Apart and together, they discovered how much two pairs of aliens had in common.
Outside, the Thix-Thet pod of thirteen finished their nuptial play and flowed together, silicon cells mixing in genetic metamorphosis. Making love, whether with two or with thirteen, was the relaxation of the moment.
A light rain of methane began to fall on the crystal veranda separating two quite different temperature and morphoform regimes. But for a few moments, for a time, it was peaceful among all the universe’s children.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Within the high dome of the Thoranian habitat on Hekar, beneath the reddish glare of the M5 imitating apex radiator, and across the barren rocky surface of the habitat, the Thoranian Group MIND pulsed to itself among all its Components. Whether in the habitat, on crew duty within Hekar, or on a few Compact ships within the local star’s envelope of food, MIND knew itself, its Components and its purposes.
It had existed for eons before the coming of the Quick Ones to its Home. The MIND reveled in the dilute radon, thorium and uranium-rich gases emitted from its home planetary surface, stirred and made denser by the ceaseless photonic bombardment of its home flare-star. There was little to concern its millions of non-mobile Components. Except for the exhilarating issues of N-dimensional space-time curvatures, the computation of the original Primal Forces in the monobloc just prior to ignition-creation of the universe fourteen billion ship years ago, and the metronome-like computation of the potassium-argon decay products in the central Reliquary where the length of self-aware existence of the MIND was counted. Then one of the Proximate Predictions became Reality within its local percept range as the long-awaited arrival of other intelligent lifeforms occurred.
They were quite unlike the MIND. They were mentationally fragmented into pieces of self-directing organic matter—all except for the ones called Strelka. They, at least, possessed some of the true aspects of gestalt sapience. But even the Strelka lacked the full richness of total gestalt, freely entered into by self-aware Components, who could individualize or subsume themselves in the MIND as desired. But they had been Life. No matter their soft, fluid shapes, their often linear thought patterns, their sexual dimorphism, their sensitivity to pure radiation and their remarkable indifference to powerful magnetic fields. And as Life they were welcome to the MIND, for it had been lonely for nearly eight million years, ever since the last group of mobile Quick Ones had traversed this particular stretch of the spiral arm.
Now MIND prepared itself for a repetition of an experience it felt only rarely—the physical separation of some of its Components. Of course they would always be part of itself, just as it still maintained a tachyonic hyperspace mentational link to the rest of itself back Home. But the physical separation of some 600 of its Components, to reside on the innermost airless planet of the Human system, was nearly unique. It was almost akin to the brief electrical surge disorientation experienced by a Component when it mentally infuses a precipitated Component with self-awareness.
At such moments Components sometimes experience atemporality, they are instantly one with the creation, are everyplace and no place at one, instantaneous, brilliantly shining picosecond. It is an experience rare to the MIND, but treasured for its relative uniqueness.
Surveying itself from within and without, it perceived its own beauty. Most of the individual Components clustered in a multi-layered green crystalline concretion in the center of the habitat, with a few Components scattered here and there in clumpings of iridescent crystal, reflecting back the infrared and red photons of the dome radiator. A Human female Component called Colleenmcintyre had once visited it and said it reminded her of the Emerald City where a Wizard of Oz lived. Sharing some of her small reality by means of the Horem memorynet, MIND had known the novel experience of directly percepting how other Sapients viewed it.
They thought it was Beautiful.
Beauty was not mathematical in an intrinsic sense even though MIND could very quickly compute the facial, body and voice parameters which the Humans viewed as Beauty. But Beauty was a useful concept even if it didn’t compute at the sixth-dimensional level, for it allowed a part of creation to see itself in a new way. Since change is the perennial dictate of the cosmos, anything which aided in achieving or percepting change was valued by the MIND. For this single, simple gift alone it would have Traded to the Humans the secret of crossing the event horizon of black holes, the exact age of the universe, the total mass computation of creation, or any other knowledge it nurtured. But the Human did not ask any return for Beauty, and so MIND went on to other matters. The gift, though, was not forgotten, and in its own time it would compose a suitably exquisite return gift for the Humans.
Now, however, the instant had come for separation.
Aided by its Thix-Thet colleagues in their caterpillar-mounted mobile habitats, several hundred metallic pincers equipped with non-conducting suction cups laid hold of a lower section of the conical crystalline mass of MIND, ready to receive the separated Components. One last check. All was ready.
Mind achieved its Decision nexus.
“Aieeeee. . .” “Sensation ends . . .
“Squeal . . .” “Harummp. . .” “Home, home, home. . .”
“Zzzzzzzz. . .” “Auuuummmmm. . .”
“Friend, friend, friend. . .”
“No/yes/no/yes. . .” “Success, success . . .”
Separation became complete.
MIND’s other Components lay separate, quiescent on repulsion disks, already englobed in quartz crystalline domes filled with refreshing radon gas. Soon they would move themselves to a
transport ship, board it, wait a brief while and emerge onto the clean natural surface of a nearly airless planet. Aside from the indispensable All-Hailer devices, a few computer Cores, prefabricated flux-tight domes, a tachyon Communicator pylon for Trade, and RF-driven manipulators and modifiers, the Thoranian colony would be complete and finished with its own arrival.
MIND sighed to itself. This time there had been no mentational ‘agape,’ no atemporality, no Oneness with Creation. Perhaps another time . . . .
But it knew of certain Humans of the Zen Buddhist variety and other philosophies who had experienced Oneness with Creation by volitional effort. Perhaps the Humans could be prevailed upon to send a small delegation to visit it. MIND, of course, held a valued currency in its store of mathematical knowledge.
It was sure that someone would come to Trade with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nine years after Contact, Sargon floated in space near the bow of Hekar, clad in a vacsuit much like that of the nearby Humans. He watched as the massive shell of the Human habitat dome was very, very carefully turned flat side down and aimed at the forward ventral surface of Hekar. Pressor and tractor beam operators on the asteroid, located next to the countersunk, cylindrical pit into which the dome would nest, now applied delicate touches to the 20 kilometer-wide habitat. Looking down, he saw the interior rim of the pit’s benchwall. It was at the benchwall where the double walls of the shell rim would connect to massive anchors. Like a flat-bottomed jewel being fitted into the embrace of its mounting, the habitat would seat itself to the outer surface of Hekar, joining the eight other domes scattered about the ship’s outer surface.
Months of work by Humans, Horem, Strelka, Arrik and other Friends had carved out a half-kilometer deep, flat-bottomed hole in the skin of Hekar. Here the Human dome could snugly engage itself and its multi-compartment, sub-basement floor. Inside, between the dome’s roof and the interior floor, would be built the hills, valleys, small sea, forests, jungle, homes, offices and other necessary parts of the habitat. And in the sub-basement area would be fusion reactor power, the gravnet devices, refuse transport and recycling, food storage, construction shops, the Entry portal, the Cray 23 supercomputer for habitat functions control, and other facilities needed to support an interstellar colony.
With local gravity cancelled within 200 meters of the descending dome, Hekar itself took over direct control of the descent. It was a monster mass with kilotons of force locked up in inertia of its approach as the dome came within a kilometer of the benchwall bottom. The dome, his helmet range-finder told him, was descending slowly at 27.2 centimeters per second. When it reached the last 50 meters, its descent would slow to ten cps, and finally to one cps at ten meters. When it came within one meter of contact, the artificial gravity systems would be turned on to complete contact through mutual gravitational attraction. It was a tedious exercise, but one did not slam millions of tons of matter against other matter unless one was insensible to atmospheric or hydrospheric compression waves. Not even the Thoranians cared to feel a stone-conducted compression wave of the size which such careless impact could generate.
Looking off to the side Sargon spied the small globeship occupied by his Friends, Jack and Colleen. They were there, along with other sat-vid news correspondents, to transmit the event back to those Humans who were alive in the Human time reference of August 27, 2059, the ninth anniversary of his Contact vidcast. To him, it was simply ship year 427 and a long time since that moment in 358 when Torik first Detected the Humans. It was also much, much more. His father had died in this system, after a full life. His aged mother Peilan might not survive Hekar’s departure. And his old antagonist T’Klick T’Klose had made the adjustment—grudgingly—to living with Humans as neighbors, as fellow members of the Compact. It seemed that Mating with T’Erees T’Say and having a child had mellowed T’Klose somewhat.
He had no complaints. He had worried at times, particularly after the Sydney Encounter of 2052, but it was evident the majority of Humans were rational enough often enough to act as reliable Trading partners. As members of the Compact, they lacked much of the technological sophistication of most Compact members. But their incredibly diverse nation-Clans held continuing fascination for him and for many other Compact sapients. In the Human case, it appeared, perennial cultural diversity and fragmentation was adaptive in the sense of racial evolution and natural selection for the species.
Ahead of him, the massive dome descended toward Hekar’s surface. Slowly. Like the way committees conduct debates.
The Compact Council had had concerns during the debate over whether to admit Humans to the Compact—a debate no Human knew about until after its results were announced. The Arrik still felt paranoid about having another militaristic species aboard ship. The Sliss had little interest in the Humans and simply wanted to research communication modes with the few Earth cetacean and cephalopod specimens brought on board in earlier years. And the Gosay were still evolving cultural adaptations to deal with their biochemical aversion to crowds. But the Horem, Strelka, Zik, Thoranians, Gosay and Thix-Thet had engaged in Trade with the Humans and were willing to continue Contact. In the end, it was the Human decision to allow other aliens, the Thoranians, to reside in their home system that convinced Hekar and the Council it was worthwhile to have Humans as partners. As fellow explorers of the cosmos.
He had done his best to express his own views in the debate. The opportunity to have a sapient race on ship so similar to Horem standard was something beyond logic which they all desired. The cultural differences between Horem and Human cultures were not major compared to other Compact races, and the Human Clans of China, Japan and India had shown a commendable sophistication in Trade negotiations. In particular he had found the Sons of Nihon to possess many, many layers of culture, which were only occasionally revealed to gaijin eyes, if at all. Of course, being honorary nihonjin made a great difference, particularly after he expressed his appreciation of the harmony present in the garden of Kobori Enshu at Katsura Imperial Villa, visited the Grand Shrine of Ise at Ujiyamada, and complimented his host Hiroto Arioshi on his selection of a Noh play. Also, the fact the Strelka liked the Humans, saw them as Brothers-In-Thought, and were deeply interested in such Human philosophies as the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths of Siddhartha Gautama greatly influenced other Compact sapients. While the Strelka could not read minds, their empath field and empath abilities were infallible indicators of basic hostility or friendliness by any sapient capable of emotions.
The proximity alarm of his vacsuit beeped.
He looked up. The globeship containing Jack and Colleen moved toward him, coming to station-keeping off his left. Together, they watched the rare, momentous event of a small mountain approaching attachment. It reminded him of how far they had all come.
In the end, they all recognized an entropic truth of existence—you took the universe as you found it and made the best of the situation. The Humans were no more militaristic than the Arrik, they were culturally more complex and interesting than the Sliss, and they held a distinctive skepticism about established dogma which had encouraged their recent technological advances. On balance, the Council recognized in the Humans not only their current value but their future potential. The invitation was extended.
Watching the descent of the habitat shell, he saw the structure was now within a meter of the surface—nearly done. Waving goodbye at the globeship, Sargon keyed his suit’s autopilot for return to the external access lock nearest to the still occupied but temporary Human Compound. The Humans planned a party to celebrate the habitat’s attachment and he didn’t want to be late. Besides, he had to meet Bethrin on the way and he wanted a few moments alone with his mate. Bethrin had mentioned something about a surprise. Something he would be pleased to hear about. Her surprises were one of the things he loved about her. He wondered what it would be.
♦ ♦ ♦
Bethrin looked up as Sargon entered the deserted, plant-strewn
atrium of their home. Her husband’s returns to the Clan home always pleased her. Especially after the last six years of long months spent traveling about the Human solar system, attending to the thousands of details involved in Contact, and in being Trader-In-Charge. She waved to him to join her in the central bathing pool, where she had been soaking, enjoying the sweet scent of the floating flower-pads, thinking of her surprise.
His headcrest flaring with interest, Sargon undressed and joined her in the pool. He sat beside her, one arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, happy, at peace.
“Husband—welcome home to Hearth and Home.”
He chuff-laughed at her use of the old Trading formula. “You always know the right thing to say. You please me, Mate for Life.” He turned sideways, eyes dwelling on her uplifted face.
She decided to play with him. “Is the Human prime habitat safely attached?”
“Yes. And we’re invited to a celebration party, Human-style. As I’m sure you know from our friend Colleen.”
She smiled with her crest. “True. But I like to pretend, sometimes.” She paused, noticing the black-tipping of his fur, the creases about his eyes, the signs of older middle age, the signs of years spent with her, their children, their grandchildren, and on duty. His Duty. Sometimes it subsumed him so much he seemed distant, far away. And yet, she understood how it felt to be totally absorbed in something. As she had been for many years in the Communications and Programming Directorate of Hekar. She caressed his jawline slowly, wondering at the beauty of life shared with one so loved.
“You seem abstracted, Bethrin,” he said, headcrest flaring in the share-your-concerns mode.
“I am. And I do share, my love.” She turned away, looking up through the open roof of their atrium at the blue-painted sky of the habitat dome far above, at the small artificial white clouds that slowly circled overhead, rent by an occasional winged hunter. “The older I get, the more I appreciate what I have. You. The children. Our lives together. Peace.” She looked back at him. “Are things now settled with T’Klose? Is he reconciled to our violent Humans?”
Retread Shop 1: First Contact Page 37