Tigra

  "I realize the questions you must have for us, no less then we have for you. But explanations take time and it is already late. Mordachi, with your permission, I say let's leave this tonight. We can pick it up in the morning when we can give these matters the time and consideration they deserve."

  There was general agreement, and although Jeena still seemed unsettled by the idea of spending the night in Pyros, they had little choice but to trust in Mordachi's integrity until the morning.

  Mordachi instructed Paul to find them an apartment on the second level.

  "Or would you rather sleep outdoors?” he asked Samson.

  Samson's ears went flat. “No, I sleep indoors. Just like you,” he added pointedly.

  "Good, then please stay as our guests,” he said, missing Samson's meaning. He paused, scratching his chin. “No, I suppose that is incorrect. Actually, I guess we're here as your guests. Well, at any rate, we will see you in the morning."

  * * * *

  Paul guided them through the interior of the mountain, although as far as Jeena was concerned it could have been on another world. Pyros was impossibly complex, a labyrinth of hallways and corridors that made her dizzy. She stopped even trying to remember all the turns they made en route to what Paul had called the Central Ramp—a spiral walkway that corkscrewed up from the lowest level to the top of the mountain. He explained there were four additional ramps located peripherally around the mountain.

  "Interesting design feature,” Jeena observed. “I'm curious, though—why no steps?"

  Paul shrugged. “I guess the builders felt this was more convenient."

  The apartment they were shown to had three rooms—a sitting room furnished with the same low tables and chairs as they had seen in the office, a bedroom with one large, low bed and a small water closet. As with the meeting room, there were no windows and all light came from incandescent bulbs, an oddity that still puzzled her. She wished she had remembered to ask Mordachi about it.

  Samson sniffed around the bedroom.

  "Only one bed,” he called out as she was undressing in the outer room. “Guess we're bunking up again."

  She entered the room and flopped on the bed. “It's big enough."

  He lay down next to her.

  "Is it always going to be so hard?” he asked wearily.

  She knew what he meant.

  "It's hard for them, too, and will be for everyone who meets you. Mankind is the only intelligent species in the galaxy—that's been our mantra for four hundred years. You shatter a very old belief."

  "I know. I'm just tired of the looks and the insults, intentional or not.” He sighed. “I wish I had a home."

  "We'll find one."

  Samson turned his head so he was staring into her eyes, their noses almost touching.

  "We? You have a home, Jeena. Ararat is your home, Earth is your home, a hundred planets are your home. I forget sometimes that you're one of them, part of this incredible mass of mankind spread throughout the galaxy. It's funny. Mordachi called me your animal, but I always think of you as my human.” He gently moved a strand of hair from her face. “You've never said it, and I try not to think about it, but you can't stay here with me forever, can you? I mean, eventually, you'll have to go back to the Union, won't you?"

  Jeena rolled over and closed her eyes.

  "It's all right if you do, really it is. All I've ever been is trouble for you. More than anything I want you to find a place where you're happy."

  "Go to sleep, Samson,” she said, and wondered at the change that had come over her, that tears now came so easily.

  Chapter 17

  A colony, having determined by popular vote that it wishes to join with a second chartered colony, may request such absorption provided it gives up all legal rights and claims to its charter. These rights and claims shall then pass to the government of the absorbing colony.

  Section 842, chapter 59, paragraph 44, CAIO directive concerning manifest destiny

  The next day found them seated around a large table in what was the main government conference room. It was oval in shape and surrounded by high-back chairs. In the center sat a holo-projector, another unauthorized piece of high technology.

  Besides David, Mordachi and Paul, three others were seated at the table. Mordachi introduced them as Kathryn Humboldt, elective representative and Secretary of the Interior; Jason Peters, Director of Archeological Research; and Levi Dubrey, Chief Historian and librarian of the Pyros library. It was clear by the awed stares he had informed them of Samson's abilities.

  Jeena took a seat cautiously, Samson preferring to sit on the floor by her side.

  "You didn't tell us there would be others,” she said.

  "I'm sorry, but there are matters of great importance to discuss and decisions to be made. The information concerning Samson and your news of the Rosh-dan will be released later today, but for now I thought it best to involve as few others as necessary. All those present know the situation and the news concerning you, Samson, but I wonder if you wouldn't mind saying a few words, just to prove I haven't lost my mind.” Mordachi smiled.

  Samson's ears fattened against his head.

  "I'm not sure what you want me to say. I'm not a parrot or a trained animal. I am who I am, but I cannot tell you why I am."

  The three newcomers sucked in their breath. Even David seemed as unsettled as he had been the previous night.

  "It is possible, Samson,” said Mordachi, “that we may be able to assist in answering that question. Captain Garza, I spoke somewhat cryptically last night about our involvement with the Rosh-dan's creation and genocide of the tigras. I think it is important for you to know the entire story. To that end I have asked Levi Dubrey to begin this conference, so that you might better understand how our present situation developed."

  Levi was a thin, ancient man who wore the high-collared, rigid-cut clothes that had been out of fashion in the Union for a century. His beard was snow-white and neatly trimmed, coming to a point below his chin. He wore large round glasses with thick lenses that gave him a slightly owl-like appearance. He looked every bit the librarian he was.

  He tore his gaze from Samson and stood.

  "Mordachi has asked me to give you a brief history of Ararat and its colonies. Much of this will be old information to the rest of you, but the full story is known only to a few, so please bear with me.” He glanced through the loose pages before him. “To understand the present political realities of Ararat, it is necessary to begin back at the end of the First Migration. As you are all aware, that era began with the discovery of the Hawking Drive and exploded into the first extraterrestrial exodus of mankind a few years later.

  "For twenty years prior to this expansion, Judaslam had been growing as a major religious movement on Earth, and its adherents held sway over most Earth politics. With the First Migration, it underwent a steady decline. There are many social-psychological reasons for this I won't go into here. It's enough to know that by the time of the Obsidian Plague they had been reduced to little more than a fringe sect."

  The Obsidian Plague—Jeena shuddered. We tried to play God and almost destroyed ourselves in the process. Fear of plague had ended the First Migration. It had taken humanity a hundred years to recover sufficiently to venture out to the stars again. By that time the Earth was united under a single government, and a detailed study of each planet was required prior to any colonization—the Five-Year Survey.

  Levi continued. “The century between the First and Second migrations was a boom time for the Judaslamics. The horror of the plague turned into condemnation of the science and technology that had brought it to mankind. I'm sure you have all seen holos of mobs burning the universities and research centers during this time.

  "Judaslam offered a return to primitivism, and a religious code that attracted huge numbers during this period of uncertainty and instability. Once again it became the greatest religious and political power on Earth. It is for this reason that the plague is
referred to by the Afridi as ‘the Great Intervention'—a punishment brought upon man by God for his blasphemous ways."

  "That's repugnant,” Jeena said. “Can they really believe their God sent eight billion people to a horrible death just to revitalize their religion?"

  Mordachi nodded. “Unfortunately, that is exactly what they believe."

  "They were very successful in restricting scientific knowledge for more than a century,” Levi went on, “but eventually, mankind rediscovered the secrets to interstellar flight and the Second Migration began.

  "Their leader during this time was a charismatic man known only as Caleb. It was he who first understood that with star travel once again a reality Judaslam's days as a major power were numbered. He began searching for a world on which to relocate his followers, and used his still-considerable power to pressure the Union and CAIO to accelerate the process."

  "Levi, I have heard rumors that more than a little pressure was involved. Weren't there whispers of blackmail?” Jeena asked.

  "Yes, and although they were never proven, the rumors were probably true. It was never divulged to the public, but six of the nine members of CAIO during that time were Afridi. Judaslam requires its believers to confess all transgressions to the Maudrian. It is entirely probable that Caleb used this sensitive information as leverage to push through the Afridi's charter on Ararat."

  He paused, placing his fingertips on the table and peering into each face. “Now, the information I am about to tell you is known only to a few, but I am convinced that the Five-Year Survey of this planet was falsified."

  Jeena's jaw dropped. Falsified? The Survey was mankind's only guarantee against something like the Obsidian Plague ever happening again. It was sacrosanct—above politics or even question. If the public ever suspected that a Survey was fraudulent she had no doubt it could bring down CAIO, perhaps even the Union itself, such was the fear of another plague.

  "Levi, I'm sure you understand the danger of even speaking that charge aloud,” she said.

  "I would not even whisper it if I was not sure of my evidence. In fact, you have seen some of it yourself—the Intawa."

  David frowned. “You've lost me. What do the Intawa have to do with the FYS?"

  "Haven't you wondered where the Intawa came from?” the old scholar asked.

  David shrugged. “I assumed they received charter, same as the others."

  Levi turned to Jeena. “Does the Union record any charter to the Intawa?"

  "No. The only chartered colonies are the Afridi and the Babylonians."

  "Okay, so they settled illegally without charter. Happened a lot back then. Probably still does,” David said.

  "But from where, David?” Levi asked. “You know them. The FYS was completed more than two hundred years ago. What culture was that primitive even then? And if they were so primitive, how did they afford the cost of interstellar transport to get here?"

  "I'm guessing you know the answer to that,” Jeena said.

  "Let's just say I have a very strong hunch. I believe the Intawa came here during the First Migration. I think I can prove they've been here for better than four hundred years."

  "And there is no mention of them on the FYS.” She was beginning to see his line of reasoning.

  "Exactly, and there is no way the survey could have missed them. It involves some five thousand probes and covers every inch of the planet for a period of five years. All life is investigated, from viruses to the largest mammals. If the Intawa aren't mentioned on the official report, then the knowledge must have been squelched."

  "But why?” asked Kathryn Humboldt.

  "Caleb knew he had to get the Afridi off Earth while he still had a large enough following to create a viable colony,” Levi explained. “Judaslam's numbers were already dwindling, and as one of the most austere sects, the Afridi were taking a particularly hard hit, especially among the young. Caleb remembered what happened during the First Migration and knew that the longer they stayed on Earth the more rapid their decline would be. He had his people in power and the financial means to pull it off—it was now or never.

  "So, then Ararat is found, and it seems perfect—habitable, but off the regular shipping route so homesick colonists can't go running back to Earth aboard stray freighters. There's just one small problem—it's already inhabited. Not only inhabited, but the FYS determined what we have—namely, that the Intawa are from the era of the First Migration, probably one of the many lost colonies they had back then."

  Kathryn Humboldt frowned. “I suppose I should know my Union history better, but why would that matter?"

  "The First Migration occurred during a time of independent governments on Earth,” Mordachi explained. “When the Union was formed a compromise was reached—all planets colonized prior to the formation of the Union would be treated as independent entities. They could elect to join the Union or not, and any further colonization of their planets would be entirely at their discretion."

  Jeena shook her head. “What a mess."

  "For Caleb, yes,” Levi answered. “The Intawa had been isolated for so long they had regressed back to a primitive culture. They have no record of country of origin, no understanding of charter or even government in the modern sense of the word. The legal entanglements would have taken decades."

  "And Caleb didn't have decades,” Jeena deduced. “So, he used his influence in CAIO to have the information of their existence suppressed, then pushed for a zed designation to keep interest in Ararat low."

  "Exactly,” Levi replied.

  "And you can prove this?” Kathryn asked.

  "Well, I'd say the Intawa themselves are pretty substantial proof, but if you want more there may be some tantalizing evidence in New Jerusalem. My grandfather was curator of the archives there and told me he found papers mentioning an archeological dig northwest of the city. It supposedly held the remains of an ancient starship with a first-generation Hawking Drive."

  Jason Peters, the archeologist, whistled. “Wouldn't that be something? Any chance someone could get in and investigate?"

  Mordachi shook his head. “Not a chance. We could never get close. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the Rosh-dan haven't already destroyed the evidence."

  "So, if I understand this right, the Intawa are really the owners of Ararat?” asked Samson.

  All eyes turned toward the big cat, and he dropped his gaze. He hated being stared at, especially by those he knew thought of him as little more than a curiosity.

  "Uh, well, no, not exactly,” said Jason. “The ownership of Ararat is a much more complicated matter."

  "Yes,” Levi agreed, “and a good place for you to step in, Jason.” The old man sat down.

  The Chief Archeologist of Pyros stood. He wore a shaggy beard and had the rugged good looks of a man who had spent a good portion of his life outdoors.

  "Yes, well, all right. Let's see. In order to understand the issues involved, we need to go back to the first Afridi colony on Ararat. Caleb decided in the beginning that he wanted his main city to be in the desert for a number of religious reasons, but he also wanted to build large, imposing structures—as I'm sure you appreciated if you were there. This caused a problem because the shifting quality of the soil meant they often had to dig all the way to bedrock. It was during these early digs that the first troublesome artifacts were found.

  "At first they were just some chipped stones, but it was enough for the Union to become interested. They immediately sent in some of their own archeologists and were soon sifting through everything the Afridi were digging up. There was a huge debate as to whether the artifacts were the work of natural forces or evidence of primitive tools. The Afridi vigorously defended the former interpretation, insisting there was no reason for the archeologists to be here."

  "Sure, the last thing they wanted was a bunch of Union scientists poking around with the Intawa just a few hundred miles away,” Jeena said.

  "Precisely. Yet after a few years with no substanti
al findings, Caleb managed to convince CAIO to allow his own scientists to continue the investigations,” Jason replied. “I've often wondered why he kept the digs up after the Union had left. My own theory is that he really didn't think they'd find anything—the rocks they'd been dredging up dated back more than ten thousand years, and nothing more recent than that had ever been found.

  "Caleb was old by now—he had to be over seventy. Seth, his son, had taken on most of his duties and was preparing to terminate the project when the more sophisticated artifacts began to appear. As they dug deeper, the question as to the origin of these artifacts could no longer be debated—they were obviously the work of an intelligent race."

  "Jason, nothing like what you're telling us has ever reached the rest of the Union,” Jeena said.

  "No, and with good reason. By this time, the Civil War was raging, and all contact between Ararat and the rest of mankind had been severed. But war or not, I doubt anyone else would have ever learned of this. Even disregarding the fact that the Union would have been all over this planet with teams of archeologists, consider what proof of an alien sentient race would have meant to the very basis of Judaslamic belief.

  "Caleb and his people had worked too hard to allow that to happen. Seth couldn't quite bring himself to stop the work altogether—he was intelligent enough to appreciate what those artifacts meant—but he had to prevent knowledge of their existence from getting out. His answer was the Rosh-dan."

  "The Keepers of the Faith,” Jeena said snidely.

  "Yes, and they had their work cut out for them. These new artifacts weren't just chipped stones, but tools and machinery dating back tens of thousands of years. Eventually, they had to isolate the entire research team and all the support staff to prevent ‘contamination’ from blasphemous ideas."

  "I can't believe they kept the greatest scientific find in history from the rest of mankind. This is what we have been looking for since the first space flights. This is what sent us to the stars in the first place."

  "I know. It weighed heavily on the men and women involved in the project as well. They began to openly debate not only the Rosh-dan's strong-arm tactics, but also the basic dogmas of the church. What they found buried under the sands of Ararat shook their faith until they reached the point where they could no longer remain. One night under cover of dark, the entire group fled."