Last Shadow (9781250252135)

by Card, Orson Scott

  “Can we come back tomorrow, when we have the whole day to visit your people?” asked Wang-Mu.

  “That is a fine idea,” said Royal Son. “Many will gather from our farthest reaches.”

  “Is this world a good place for you?” asked Peter.

  “All our adult females have had at least one brood, and some have had as many as three.”

  “So there’s plenty to eat,” said Peter.

  “Not for you,” said Royal Son. “You’d have to visit the human colony on the other continent, where we don’t go.”

  “Are the seeds and fruits here nourishing to you?” asked Peter.

  “Jane told us that she chose only worlds with compatible proteins in the biosphere when considering where to send us.”

  “Jane thinks of everything,” said Thulium.

  “No,” said Royal Son, “because she doesn’t know everything. But she knows many things, and thinks of many things, and her actions are always intended to benefit us.”

  Wang-Mu chose to speak again. “Royal Son, would the other keas care about meeting little Fei-Tzu, or would he be boring, since he can’t play?”

  “You freed us from the domination of the Folk Below,” said Royal Son. “We didn’t know how much we longed for freedom until you came and spoke to us, Royal Mother of the West.”

  “What about the ravens?” asked Thulium. “There are ravens on this continent too, aren’t there?”

  “Yes, Child Who Can Vanish,” said Royal Son. “There are several who are kind enough to condescend to talk to mere keas.”

  Thulium laughed. “Come now, you surely don’t think of yourselves as inferior to ravens.”

  Royal Son laughed, too. “Sarcasm,” said Royal Son. “That’s a game we’re very good at.”

  Another bird, this one standing amid the grass, said, in a voice only a little less clear than Royal Son’s, “We are no longer subject to the laws of the Raven Council,” said the bird. “We are thus twice liberated.”

  Wang-Mu thought this was unfortunate, because she wasn’t at all sure the keas were capable of rational self-government. But since humans weren’t either, she supposed the keas would have to learn how to work things out with each other and with the ravens. It was not her responsibility.

  “Should we come back to this spot?” asked Peter. “In the morning?”

  “This is the best place,” said Royal Son, “because you know and we know where it is.”

  “And the ground is level,” said Thulium, “so if you put the baby in the grass he won’t roll downhill.”

  “We take our leave of you,” said Peter.

  “We rejoice to see you, now and tomorrow,” said Wang-Mu.

  “It was nice to meet you,” said Thulium. “Thanks for not pooping on me.”

  Royal Son laughed as he flew down from Wang-Mu’s shoulder.

  “Now?” Peter asked.

  “Ready, Thulium?” asked Wang-Mu.

  Thulium’s answer was to disappear, along with the backpack. A moment later, back in the Wiggin home, Wang-Mu was pleased to see that Thulium had already begun preparing for the pre-bedtime diaper change.

  “Poor Fei-Tzu got more sun than he’s ever had before in his life,” said Wang-Mu, stripping off his clothes.

  “He was never in full sun,” said Thulium. “I was watching, and I don’t think he got a sunburn at all.”

  “Humans need sunlight to be healthy,” said Wang-Mu. “You were very good with Fei-Tzu today, Thulium. Thank you.”

  Thulium said nothing, but Wang-Mu could see that she was pleased.

  Over the next week, Wang-Mu and Peter, with Thulium, visited the keas every day. They brought Fei-Tzu with them only once, then left him with Ender and Mayumi and their children after that. By the end of the week, Thulium had her own friends and favorites among the keas, and had learned ways that humans could take part in some of their games. She even thought of a couple of simple-minded games that only the young keas would play with her—but that was fine with her. She was a child too, wasn’t she?

  When Peter announced that this was their last day of all-day visiting, Royal Son laughed. “Yes, your visits make it hard for us to forage, and young mouths need to be fed and we need to have food laid aside for winter. In these mountains, winter will likely be terrible, though we have plans for coping.”

  “You were generous to give us so much time among you,” said Wang-Mu.

  “Thank you all for taking me in,” said Thulium.

  “You are now our friend in your own right,” said Royal Son, “and you don’t need older humans to come with you, if you want to come alone.”

  “Thank you,” said Thulium. “But I am still a little afraid. I saw the vids of what happened to Sprout that time—”

  “It will never happen to you. Remember that we felt like prisoners before, and our frolicking had madness in it. Fury. We knew Sprout had never harmed us, but we also recognized that he was of the same species as the Folk Underground. We tested him. But you have already passed our tests, and played with us and with our children. You are welcome, you are honored, you will be treated as a guest, not a spy.”

  Thulium smiled and then put her arms behind her, in imitation of a posture the keas frequently took. Then she bowed deeply, as the keas bowed to each other.

  And then they were gone.

  Once they were home, and Thulium said goodnight to Fei-Tzu and then went home to Carlotta’s house, Wang-Mu and Peter talked for a while in bed.

  “I can see she’s adopted you as a kind of mother,” said Peter. “If you want her to live with us, I won’t mind.”

  “No,” said Wang-Mu. “She would think she always has to care for Fei-Tzu. Let’s make her welcome when she wants to come, and speak to her sociably and also, when appropriate, intimately, like good friends who have shared journeys together.”

  “I can do that,” said Peter.

  “And so can I,” said Wang-Mu. “I already have enough children in that bassinet in the other room to occupy my life for the next few years.”

  “Not too many years,” said Peter. “I want to have children while I’m still young enough to get down on the ground and play with them.”

  “Since you never had parents,” said Wang-Mu, “how do you know that that’s an important part of being a father?”

  “Because Ender Wiggin had a childhood, and a father and mother, and so I know what a father is and what he’s supposed to be and do.”

  Wang-Mu was happy that he was so openly speaking of the deep Andrew Wiggin memories that were attached to his aiúa. It was making him kinder and less fearful of the opinions of others. It was making him more loving to her and the baby. And to Thulium, which pleased Wang-Mu for reasons she herself didn’t understand, because there was no reason Thulium should have been so important to her.

  It’s because she needs me, and I know how to give her what she needs, thought Wang-Mu. She’s a hungry bird in my nest, and even though she didn’t hatch from my egg, she’s no brood parasite. I can nurture her and still have plenty of time and love and attention to give to little Fei-Tzu.

  And I will visit my other adopted son, a kea named Royal Son, not so often that he tires of my visits, but not so rarely that he feels forgotten. He needs to feel the love of a human being, so that he’ll know that not all humans are evil. With any luck, the humans of his world will leave the keas’ continent alone forever. Or at least until both species have converged in their evolution enough to share the same habitat in peace.

  That can happen, Wang-Mu told herself. Though she could think of no examples in history where species had treated each other as fellow citizens, as siblings, as equal friends.

  As long as there’s never a profitable market in kea feathers, thought Wang-Mu, they’ll probably be safe.

  * * *

  Cincinnatus put up with the twins’ delaying tactics for about half an hour. Then he picked them both up and carried them to their separate bedrooms.

  “We want to sleep
in the same room,” said Lanth.

  “I don’t,” said Dys.

  “Liar,” said Lanth.

  Cincinnatus tossed Dys into his room and closed the door, and then tossed Lanth into the other room.

  “This isn’t my room,” said Lanth.

  “It is tonight,” said Cincinnatus.

  He palmed the doors closed, so the boys couldn’t open them from the inside unless the ship went into emergency mode.

  Peace at last. It didn’t bother him that both boys were pounding on their doors or walls with their feet. The Herodotus was tough enough to stand it.

  “Spare the rod and you’ll spoil those boys,” said a man.

  Since there was no other human on the ship, Cincinnatus knew at once whose voice it was. “Graff,” he said. “Didn’t anybody purge you from the ship’s computer?”

  “You can’t actually do that,” said Graff. “I am the ship’s computer.”

  “You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”

  “Fine,” said Graff. “I’ll just go and talk to the boys.”

  “Leave them alone,” said Cincinnatus. “You spent your career destroying children. I’m not going to let you do your work on mine.”

  “Did I destroy Ender Wiggin? Did I destroy your father?” asked Graff.

  “You turned them into weapons of war,” said Cincinnatus.

  “And you’ve spent their childhood turning your twins into far less effective weapons—but weapons all the same.”

  “They’re naturally competitive,” said Cincinnatus.

  “They’re naturally bullies,” said Graff. “I would never have admitted them to Battle School.”

  “There were bullies in Battle School,” said Cincinnatus.

  “There are bullies in every army and police force and bureaucracy in the human universe,” said Graff. “But in Battle School, nobody was just a bully.”

  “You certainly have a low opinion of my children,” said Cincinnatus.

  “I have a very high opinion of Thulium,” said Graff. “Somehow she grew up to be teachable, despite her upbringing.”

  “Meaning that she’s disloyal to her family and easily persuaded by strangers.”

  “Sergeant,” said Graff, “did you have some theory behind the way you raised your kids?”

  “‘Sergeant’ is the nickname my brother and sister gave to me when we were little, and I was the bossiest. They aren’t here. To you my name is Cincinnatus Delphiki.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. The great Roman general who went home and farmed after the war was over.”

  “The Giant gave us names that reflected his thoughts and feelings,” said Cincinnatus. “I’m not required to live up to that name.”

  “Cincinnatus,” said Graff, “you are every bit as gifted as Carlotta and Andrew. Maybe even a little brighter. Please don’t be at war with me.”

  “Awkward, obvious flattery won’t make us friends,” said Cincinnatus.

  “There are only you and your sons on this ship,” said Graff. “I spent my life studying children and how to train them. I learned many things that don’t work, but also a few things that do. Now that you’re having to deal with your obnoxious twins all day every day, wouldn’t you like some advice on how to tame them?”

  “Tame?” asked Cincinnatus.

  “Domesticate. Civilize. Choose your word,” said Graff.

  “They’re tamed right now.”

  There was still loud pounding on the walls and doors of their rooms.

  “They sound tamed,” said Graff.

  “They give up after a while, if I ignore them,” said Cincinnatus.

  “Do you intend to keep them with you forever?” asked Graff. “Or do you count on the government of whatever planet you release them on to incarcerate them for the crimes they are bound to commit within hours of arrival?”

  “Their choice.”

  “They aren’t fit to make choices,” said Graff, “because you haven’t prepared them to make any. Did you raise them, do you raise them, so they can live a life of crime?”

  “That wasn’t my plan,” said Cincinnatus. “And, unlike you, I’m not at all sure that’s what I’ve done.”

  “You know that’s exactly what you’ve done and are still doing,” said Graff.

  “And you could do it better?” asked Cincinnatus.

  “I can’t do it at all, since I can’t pick them up and throw them into a room and lock the door behind them.”

  “You can lock the door,” said Cincinnatus.

  “Should I unlock it and let them out?” asked Graff.

  Cincinnatus sighed wearily. “Please, please don’t.”

  “You don’t like your children,” said Graff.

  “I don’t like children,” said Cincinnatus. “But I love Thulium.”

  “You were hurt to learn that she resented you and wanted to be free of you.”

  “I couldn’t disagree with her decision,” said Cincinnatus. “I still don’t know if she was trying to get away from me or from her brothers.”

  “I think both,” said Graff. “Cincinnatus, you don’t want to listen to my voice and you’ll automatically want to reject any suggestions I make. But I can give you an article to read every morning that will give you some ideas about how to civilize the boys and turn them into something that a woman might one day want to marry and a business manager might someday want to hire.”

  Cincinnatus laughed. “Where is the Planet of Fools where such women and such managers live?”

  “Will you read the articles I give you?” asked Graff.

  “I’ll read the first page of the first article,” said Cincinnatus. “Then I’ll decide whether to read on.”

  “Good,” said Graff.

  “You’re a sim. Why do you care?”

  “The grandchildren of Julian Delphiki are a precious commodity, not to be wasted because their father is still so angry and resentful toward his father that he has never functioned as a father himself.”

  Cincinnatus laughed dryly. “You’ve got me all sussed out.”

  “Yes,” said Graff. “That’s what your brother and sister both believe about you.”

  “They never said so,” said Cincinnatus.

  “They didn’t dare, because of your mean streak.”

  “Mean streak?”

  Graff waved a hand. “All right, your vicious streak.”

  Cincinnatus thought of the twins, how awful they had been to Thulium and, really, everyone, including their mother, when they met her. Cincinnatus also thought of how Andrew and Carlotta avoided him and said as little as possible, behavior that had begun back when he tried to convince them to kill the Giant because he used up too much of the ship’s resources. Just because he faced hard realities and they …

  “I need some counsel,” said Cincinnatus. “The Giant wasn’t much of a father. All talk, mostly talk about science.”

  “He didn’t have the freedom of movement to dandle you on his knee,” said Graff. “He filled the hold of the ship. But he lived only for you and your sibs. He loved you. He gave up his life with his wife and normal children, in order to keep you alive long enough for a cure to be found for the side effects of Anton’s Key. That was his sacrifice. Now what will you sacrifice to save your broken children?”

  Cincinnatus wanted to shut down the ship’s computer to eliminate this ghost. But that would kill them all, so he wouldn’t do it, because …

  Because the boys were precious to him, and they were broken, and maybe Graff’s shadow would be able to help fix them.

  “Thank you for your help,” said Cincinnatus.

  “Thank you for giving me a chance to be of service,” said Graff.

  “How did you get to be Minister of Colonization back in the day?” asked Cincinnatus. “You don’t sound like much of a politician.”

  “First, I tell the truth to power, whether they like it or not,” said Graff. “Second, I make alliances and networks everywhere so I can get around the clowns who t
ry to thwart me. And third, I won the Third Formic War.”

  “Oh. Yes. That,” said Cincinnatus.

  “By using your father and Ender Wiggin as my puppets,” said Graff.

  “And will you make me your puppet now?” asked Cincinnatus.

  “No,” said Graff. “I don’t want puppets on the Herodotus.”

  “What do you want?” asked Cincinnatus.

  “A family,” said Graff.

  “My family,” said Cincinnatus.

  “If you use your head and your heart, yes, it will become a family, and the family will be yours.”

  “Not yours,” said Cincinnatus.

  “I know what I am,” said Graff.

  “The ghost in the machine,” said Cincinnatus.

  “No,” said Graff. “I’m just the machine.”

  “You don’t believe that,” said Cincinnatus. “You think you’re still a person.”

  “I’m not insane,” said Graff. “Here’s what I think. I believe that you are still a person. Prove me right.”

  “I don’t care what you think I am,” said Cincinnatus. “Help me to be a father, and that’ll be enough.”

  * * *

  Sprout led Blue into the clearing, and then started beating on a hollow log with two sticks.

  “Should I do it too?” asked Blue.

  “He’s coming,” said Sprout.

  “You’re calling him?”

  “I’m calling everybody who wants a tale,” said Sprout.

  In a few moments, the rustling of the leaves announced the arrival of people from every direction. Most of them were young Yachachiyruna, though there were also several ravens. The Yachachiyruna wore breechclouts now, which Sprout was grateful for. He was naturally modest himself, and appreciated their concession to his feelings.

  Ruqyaq arrived last, because, as he had once told Sprout, it wasn’t worth coming if there wasn’t going to be an audience. But he had also said that Sprout and whoever he wanted to bring would always be audience enough for him.

  Ruqyaq had met Blue before, but now he sized up the boy with a keen eye. “Aye, you hairy beast,” he said to Blue. “If only you had four hands instead of flat feet, you’d be courted by a good number of Yachachiyruna.”

  “Females, I hope,” said Blue.