by Nancy Kress
“You sure? You haven’t lost it? Check now,” Jason said nervously. All this time on Jump, and he never realized that getting back depended on some little gizmo in Sor’s pocket.
Sor smiled. “I know I haven’t lost it. It’s sewn under my skin.”
“Eeeuuueewwww,” Jason said, but he was relieved. “Next problem: how do we keep the Panurish from coming back tomorrow night after they stop being scared and killing us all before we t-port home?”
Nobody had any ideas.
Jason said, “So that’s two problems. We got to get this wired table out of the t-port, and how to keep the Panurish scared inside their ships.”
“Plus,” Billin said helpfully, “we still have to find the communication cube. Don’t forget that, Jason.”
Jason sighed. He had forgotten. He’d been caught up in getting Tara back and everybody home alive, but the communication cube was the point of the mission, and they didn’t have it yet.
“Thanks a lot, Billin,” he said sarcastically.
“You’re welcome, Jason,” Billin said politely.
2336, Jason remembered, didn’t understand sarcasm. “Okay, back to the ship. We need input from everybody if we’re going to figure out what to do next.”
At the Discovery, everyone wanted to talk at once. Finally Jason stood on a table―his life seemed to be full of tables lately―and yelled at everybody to shut up. “One at a time! Let’s start at the beginning. Okay, what do we know so far? Sor?”
Sor said, “Well, one thing we know for sure is that the Panurish all panicked when da Vinci threw the table, and they panicked even more when it destroyed a Panurish robot.”
“Yeah,” Jason said, “you’re right. They did. What else do we know about the aliens?”
Mant said, “They think it’s very important to pay gambling debts.”
“Well...yeah. But we did the gambling thing once already. What else?”
Cam said thoughtfully. “They made Sharon talk and talk to learn everything about us they could. And they wanted da Vinci’s identity chip for the same reason.”
“Good,” Jason said.
Billin said, “They’re cowards. They don’t ever go anywhere alone, and they need their robots to protect them, and they run away when anything strange happens.”
“Yes!” Jason shouted. “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” Sharon said, confused.
“All of what people just said. Something strange happened, something the Panurish didn’t expect because it wasn’t in their data banks, when da Vinci wired the table to be a weapon, and that unexpected thing made the aliens fall apart. So, what if we go to the ship and do all sorts of things the aliens don’t expect? Confuse them big time? That will make them want to stay safe inside, watching, until they think they got a handle on us. Only we don’t let them get a handle.”
Sor frowned. “How do we do that?”
“We behave all different from whatever we usually do,” Jason said. Everybody stared at him. They didn’t seem to be getting it. Jason sighed and tried again. “Okay, Billin, what do you usually do?”
“Do?”
“You know, do. When you’re just hanging with people.”
Billin thought. “I talk to them. I play football with them. I help gather plants to eat. I run around. I―”
“Okay, that’s enough. Tomorrow when we’re at the Panurish ship, you’re going to do the opposite of all that. You’re going to make nonsense sounds, not real talk that the Panurish have already learned. You’re going to bury a football instead of throwing it. You’re going to gather plants you know we can’t eat and then cook them. You’re going to crawl instead of run. Whatever we all usually do, we’re going to do something else. The Panurish won’t have a clue what’s going on, and they’ll want to know because they’re like that. They’ll stay inside, observing, having their robots process all this weird data instead of going back to the t-port because they’re cowards.”
Everyone began to talk at once, arguing about the plan and thinking up things to do that would confuse the Panurish. Finally Wu said, “It won’t work indefinitely.”
Jason said, “It doesn’t have to. All we have to do is keep the Panurish away until sunset tomorrow. Then we can leave Jump through the t-port ourselves.”
Annit tried to say something, but Mant out-shouted her. “But the table’s still blocking the t-port! We’ll get killed if we try to pull it out!”
Jason said, “Jofrid has a plan for that. She talked to me about it earlier. Jofrid, take the people you need for your plan, but not too many ‘cause I need most everybody to act weird at the Panurish ship. Take...” Jason thought rapidly. “Take Sharon, Robbie, Mant, Betta, and Wu. Is that enough?”
“Yes,” Jofrid said.
“Then you better get started. Everybody else, we won’t start acting weird ‘til morning, but we’re going to the Panurish camp right now. Let’s go.”
As they walked to the t-port site, Sharon carrying the sleeping Tara, Jofrid said to her, “Jason is smart.”
“Why do you say that?” Sharon said. She hadn’t been outside on Jump at night very often. Because of Tara, she hadn’t been standing watches like the others. The planet was lovely at night, with moons dotting the sky, luminous stars, and a light, warm breeze smelling of lemons and pine. If only the Panurish weren’t here, Jump would be a wonderful place to live.
Jofrid said, “Jason’s smart because of who he picked to come with me. You, because you don’t want to take Tara anywhere near the Panurish. Robbie, for the same reason. Betta, because she’s the youngest and should be protected from danger. Wu because he’s so strong. Mant because he is cheerful, and we will need that as much as Wu’s strength.”
“We will?” Sharon said. “Why?”
“Because digging tires both body and temper.”
“Digging? What are we going to dig?”
“Wait,” Jofrid said, “until I tell everybody at once.”
When they reached the t-port, she did. Jofrid, so short, stood on a little mound of earth and addressed her troops.
“Where I live in Iceland, there are no trees. Wood is very precious. We save it for things like rafters, the High Seat, and the women’s crossbench.”
Her four listeners stared uncomprehendingly. Sharon knew what the others were thinking: what’s a High Seat? Or a women’s crossbench? And what does this have to do with the deadly table blocking the t-port?
Jofrid continued, unperturbed. “Because we have no wood, we must build with turf. We cut blocks of earth to make our houses and cowsheds. We move the blocks by rolling them on logs, round like these.” She held up two long cylinders of metal. Sharon recognized them: They were legs from a table on the Discovery.
“We will dig,” Jofrid said. “First we will dig a deep trench in front of the table-that-burns, so deep and so well-placed that the table topples forward and falls into the trench. Then we will roll blocks of earth on top of it until it is buried. Then we will construct walls of earth around the t-port so that if the Panurish robots come, their firebolts will hit the earth and not us.”
Mant cried, “The ground doesn’t get fried when Panurish weapons hit it! It scorches, but it doesn’t disappear!”
“So Jason noticed when we threw dirt over the robot chasing us with Tara,” Jofrid said, smiling. “After it fell in the pit and we covered it with dirt, it couldn’t destroy anything. We will do the same with the table-that-destroys.”
Wu said, “An effective plan.”
Little Betta said, “Let’s get started!”
“In the morning,” Jofrid said, “when we can see what we’re doing.”
Wu said, “Tonight we’re just here to guard the t-port. Get as much sleep as you can, everybody. We’re going to need our strength tomorrow.”
Yes, Sharon thought. Just like Jason and his group were going to need their ingenuity. Could they really act weird enough for long enough to keep the cautious Panurish inside their ship, safe and observi
ng―and away from the t-port?
They’d find out tomorrow.
Everyone settled down to sleep. Sharon put Tara between her and Jofrid, well-wrapped in blankets from the Discovery. Everybody else had their s-suits. The last thing Sharon noticed before she drifted off was Robbie. He lay curled into a ball around the vase that held da Vinci’s identity chip, protecting it with his scrawny body from the darkness and cold.
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, the sun rose on two groups of humans already hard at work.
“Be careful, Mant!” Sharon said worriedly. “Don’t get too close to the table. It’s dangerous!”
“I won’t,” Mant said. “This is fun, isn’t it?”
Sharon just looked at him. It wasn’t her idea of fun. She, Wu, and Mant stood in the ditch they’d been digging since first light. The ditch started a respectful meter in front of the deadly table blocking the t-port. Already the ditch was three feet deep and a foot longer than the table looming above it. The diggers used shovels brought from the Discovery, the very shovels Annit and the older kids must have used to finish burying their parents. This work was difficult for Sharon because the shovels were designed for 2336 adults, who must have been really tall. Sharon’s neck, shoulders, and back hurt, and she was covered in dirt. She felt hot, achy, and sweaty.
Jofrid came to the edge of the ditch. “Is it our turn yet?” She, Robbie, and Betta were the second shift of diggers. Robbie had insisted on digging despite his burned hand, which Jofrid had wrapped in layers and layers of cloth.
“Your turn soon,” Wu said. “Mant, if you get any closer to that table, I’ll fry you myself.”
Mant laughed. “Isn’t this fun?”
Grimly, Sharon lifted another shovelful of dirt.
“Wimney kisty willy boo!” Sor shouted.
“Fizzle frokin googoo pox,” Billin answered. He crawled toward Sor, leaped straight up in the air, screamed, and sat down calmly, smiling.
Jason watched them from a few feet away, where he was trying to grow leaves. He stood very straight, like a large tree, holding branches from a bush in either hand. More branches were tied to his ears. Every once in a while, he waved the branches gently, as if ruffled by a breeze.
What did the Panurish make of all this? There was no way to tell. The aliens and their robots stayed shut up tightly inside their ship, behind their electronic barrier. Just outside it, fourteen human kids did everything weird and unexpected that they could think of. Were the Panurish robots taking this all in? Trying to fit it into the language banks? Sorting the behaviors to find reasonable patterns? Trying to understand those patterns before the Panurish risked coming out again?
Good luck!
“Shibble shibble johnson’s hat!” Jason suddenly shouted and started to eat his branches.
“Watch it, Robbie! Careful, get out of the way! Get out of the way!” Jofrid yelled.
Robbie leapt nimbly out of the ditch, which was now very deep. It angled inward under the table. A second later, the table started to move. It slowly slid forward, breaking off more dirt as it moved. Gathering speed, it toppled into the ditch in a spray of earth, and the ghostly shimmer across half of it disappeared. Now it looked like a regular table resting in a regular ditch.
“Yeah!” Mant yelled.
“Don’t go near it yet!” Jofrid ordered.
After a minute, the table had settled fully into its hole. Cautiously Jofrid threw a shovelful of dirt on top of it. A small rock was destroyed instantly, but most of the dirt settled over the table. Wu threw in a second shovelful.
“Not that way. Do it like this,” Jofrid said. “It’s easier on the back.”
Wu threw another shovelful just as Jofrid had shown him. So did Robbie.
Ten minutes later, the table was buried. Wu and Mant grinned at each other. Tara, watching from a safe distance, gurgled happily. Betta clapped her hands. Robbie said softly into the vase, which was never far from his side, “See, Metal Guv’nor’s soul? We done it, we did!”
Jofrid suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked dazed.
“What is it, Jofrid?” Sharon asked worriedly. “Isn’t everything going the way it’s supposed to?”
“Yes, fine,” Jofrid said, still looking surprised. “It isn’t that. I just―” She stopped.
“You just what?”
“I just...realized. I’m giving orders to men. Me.”
“So?” Sharon said.
“In Iceland, women don’t order men. Ever. Here, I am telling Wu and Robbie what to do, and they’re doing it.”
“Well, it’s your plan,” Sharon pointed out.
“Yes. But Wu and Robbie don’t seem to dislike me for speaking my mind.”
“Of course they don’t,” Sharon said warmly. “Everybody likes you.”
Jofrid stood thinking for a minute longer, frowned, shook her head, and suddenly smiled. It was the most open, full, sunny smile Sharon had ever seen from her. All she said aloud was, “It’s very strange.”
Annit crouched over the football. “Seventeen, fourteen, St. Petersburg, hike!” Then she sat down on the ball.
Everyone applauded wildly. “Your point!” Jason yelled. “Minus three!”
The Panurish ship remained shut and silent. The sun stood directly overhead. It was already noon.
Wu and Sharon strained to lift a large block of earth onto the other blocks, which were equally large. The dirt cube was much heavier than it looked, Sharon thought. Who knew dirt weighed so much? With a final grunt, they got it wedged in place.
“Good!” Mant cried. “It looks great!”
Stepping back to look at the earthen wall, Sharon had to agree. Four blocks high and four long, it was a solid barrier as tall as Jason. Another wall just like it was set at a right angle, giving them two sides of dirt shed around the t-port. It looked good.
What didn’t look good was all of the builders. Sharon had never been so filthy in her life. She could feel dirt in her hair, in her boots, even in her teeth. Jofrid’s wool dress had so much dirt on it that you couldn’t tell what color it was underneath. Mant looked like a mole.
“Now we build the third wall,” Jofrid said.
“Oh, Jofrid, can’t we rest first?” Wu asked.
“Well, yes, perhaps. For a few minutes.”
They all sat down next to the wall, admiring it. Tara lay asleep in the afternoon sunshine. Jofrid said, “At home, we would have a skald recite a saga now or a poem. Sharon, can you recite a poem?”
Sharon felt dog-tired, not in the mood to recite anything. Talking so much for the Panurish robot had made her want to just sit silently, but Jofrid was her friend, so she said, “Okay. What poem?”
“Any poem. The one about the Grecian vase.”
“Okay.
“Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time...”
As she recited, Sharon watched Robbie. This was a good poem to recite for him since it was about a vase, and he continued to cling to the vase with da Vinci’s identity chip in it. Not that Robbie made the connection, of course. He wasn’t even listening to her. Neither were Billin or Betta. Sharon was reciting for Jofrid and herself, and maybe for the always-quiet Wu.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty...”
As she said the beautiful old lines, watching Robbie hold the vase, something tugged at Sharon’s mind. She couldn’t quite get it. The poem, the vase, talking and talking and talking to the Panurish…
“Thank you, Sharon,” Jofrid said. “Now, everybody back to work. We still have two more walls to build before sunset.”
“Here’s the thing,” Jason said solemnly to the four kids sitting on the ground before him, just outside the Panurish electronic fence. “Humans can get superpowers by linking their minds.”
Billin raised his hand. “So why don’t we do that now?”
“Oh, I know!” Cam called. “Let me answer, Jason!”
“Okay, Cam, you answer.�
�
She said, “The reason we can’t link minds now and get superpowers is that it only works for adults, and it only works in a vacuum.”
“That’s right,” Corio said. “Our warriors can only do it when they’re in space, outside the ships.”
“But when they do it, they gain enough power to blow away anything up to a mass of forty million kilograms,” Mikail said.
Cam said proudly, “My uncle Danno is a mind-link warrior. With the Black Brigade.”
Jason looked at them with admiration. What liars they were! This was some of the best bull he’d ever heard, and it sure made humans sound mad, bad, and mean.
He hoped the Panurish were listening hard.
“Three walls,” Sharon whispered. She couldn’t talk loud; her throat felt too full of dirt and dust.
“No time for a fourth wall,” Wu whispered. He was in the same condition.
The three dirt walls cast long shadows across the purple groundcover. Half an hour, Sharon estimated, until sunset. No one had come near them all day, neither Panurish nor humans.
Wu whispered to Jofrid, “Stop now?”
Jofrid nodded. All of them sat down on the ground to watch the horizon, waiting to see who would come over it. They were too tired to talk. They just sat, Robbie clutching the vase with da Vinci’s identity chip.
Robbie. The vase. The poem... The thing that Sharon had been trying to remember before teased again at her mind. What was it? Something about the vase, the poem, talking to the Panurish... Once again, she couldn’t quite bring her thought into focus.
But another thought did spring into focus. No matter who came over the horizon, these were her last minutes on Jump. The last minutes for all of them.