Cain's Land

by Robert Frezza

  The “lyi” was the verb “to welcome.”

  The “ee” was an “applicative” marker. The “a” was a terminal vowel, indicating indicative mood.

  A rough English translation of Marais's remark would be “I welcome you for our benefit, Spoagusa.”

  To indicate he had heard, Spoagusa touched his own recorder, a copy of one Dr. Seki had given him. The Blues were quick to adopt Imperial technology that did not interfere with the ordering of their society, and equally quick to reject technology that did. Keiji Katakura had been testing them, offering them driblets of fact to see what they would digest Marais hoped that the pattern was not becoming too obvious.

  Spoagusa pointed to Ekpalawehud, who stood back from Marais to allow him a comfortable fight-or-flight distance and attempted to make eye contact out of courtesy. “Doctorseki is where?”

  It piqued Marais's professional interest that the Blues made no effort to distinguish names from honorifics, but no explanation for the mystery appeared forthcoming. He replied, “Doctor Seki is present. I will get him.”

  “Do so, Conniemarais,” Spoagusa said politely, speaking to Marais directly. “I am not displeased to view you.”

  Inwardly, Marais let out a sigh of relief as be went to fetch Seki. Although Spoagusa was even more addicted to litotes-affirmatives expressed by negatives of the contrary--than other Blues, making his remarks maddeningly obscure at times, his polite acknowledgement meant that the Blues would not insist on preconditions for resuming contact.

  This, in itself, was not necessarily a good sign.

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [2-hexagon Rain 14]

  “I PICKED GERRIT MYBURGH AS RIKKI'S BODYGUARD,” COLDEWE EXPLAINED TO SIMON BEETJE. “I'm still not happy about this. Having Rikki appear right after Ozawa breaks his leg is a coincidence, and I don't like coincidences I haven't planned.”

  “We really should have a trained professional on the ground to avoid invalidating our results, not that DeKe and Kalle are not doing good work.” Beetje assured him hastily. “Besides, Rikki really wants to go.”

  “And Maria probably really wants Rikki to go, too.” Coldewe grinned. “Myburgh is a good, pious lad, and he already has a girlfriend, which should keep him in line. I hope it does. Valeska Remmar masses what I do, and she can shoot.”

  “Abject fear of one's girlfriend is a strong motivating force,” Simon mused, flushing very slightly. “There are, however, dangers to the approach. To Myburgh, of course. Are you familiar with the phenomenon of copying?”

  “I assume this has nothing to do with cheating on exams.”

  “Females of many species tend to be attracted to males who are already courting other females. On Earth, for example, they've run experiments with male black grouse, which stake out part of a field as a lek and try to attract as many females as possible. Placing a stuffed female bird in a male's territory

  causes other female birds to gravitate toward that male.”

  “I remember school dances like that,” Coldewe agreed, “and the girls there probably put as much thought into it as the grouse.” He raised one eyebrow. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “To play with your mind. 'There is an inherent amusement value.”

  “I see. I thought about trying to talk Anton into letting you go instead, but having two broken-down biologists on the ground struck me as too much of a good thing.” Coldewe thought for a

  moment. “Did you know that the interdisciplinary working group is looking at Blue art?”

  “Oh, no.”

  Coldewe nodded. “Dr. Iwao.” A gifted linguist, Dr. Iwao spoke nine languages, often continuously. “One of the teams found a wall painting--between the two of us, I think it was a beer advertisement--and Dr. Iwao told me that he was of the view that the paratactic ordering of the figures in the composition was extremely significant, and that this significance was profound if it represented a school of art, so I, of course, made myself a note to look up the word 'paratactic' and asked him what he meant by profound. He told me that it was difficult to say without reviewing a wide range of other compositions for comparison. I. of course, told him that I'd ask Wessels to stop and take pictures if he found himself inside an art museum. By the way, did you notice the pumpkin on the end of Pia Szuba's nose?”

  “Yes. She said she walked into a door.”

  “Simon.” Coldewe tapped his foot . “You believe in elves and fairies, don't you?”

  “You don't think-”

  “I think. You're Pia's closest friend, and you're also her husband's friend, and someone needs to sit down and have a friendly talk with Ferenc Szuba and ensure that there's no repetition. I have Jan Snyman sitting down with the third party involved.”

  “You don't think Pia and Mika--”

  “Simon, the two of them are big children, and while I don't think anything much happened given Mika's past, I don't much care. What does concern me is that getting smacked around by Ferenc affects Pia's work, and I want it to stop.”

  Beetje thought “Hans, you don't think that Ferenc might try to go after Mika?”

  “No, but another thing a little voice might mention is that Mika is death on crooked legs. Tbere might be three people on board who can take him, but Ferenc assuredly isn't one of them.”

  “I will do that,” Beetje said dully. He looked at Coldewe. “Hans, you are not very comfortable about sending Rikki off, are you?”

  “No, but with all the new missile silos Aksu keeps showing me, I'm not very comfortable about keeping her aboard ship, either. Simon, I'm not much into dreams and portents, but last night I dreamed that my fingers were bleeding and I couldn't get it to stop, so that everything I touched had blood on it”

  “What do you think it means?” Beetje asked seriously.

  “I hope it means I need to lay off eating those miserable pickled beets before bedtime, but I'm getting just a little bit nervous here, Simon.”

  “So is Maria.” Beetje shook his bead. “I still don't know why Anton let her come.”

  Coldewe grinned. '“There was an inherent amusement value.”

  SUPERIOR PRIVATE GERRIT MYBURGH, A PLEASANT LAD WITH SANDY HAIR AND A BLUNT, ROUND FACE, set down his Bible and stood to attention. “Ma'am. Colonel Coldewe detailed me as your escort.”

  “Please sit down, Gerrit.” Sanmartin found herself a seat and watched to make sure Myburgh would do the same. “Did Colonel Coldewe explain what that would entail?”

  “Yes, ma'am. He said that you were going to study monkeys so we'd know what to expect from the Blues, and that I am to keep you from getting shot while doing it or die trying.”

  “You may relax, Gerrit And you do not need to call me ma'am. It makes me feel like someone's maiden aunt.”

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  Sanmartin wrinkled her nose. “What else did Colonel Coldewe tell you?”

  Myburgh looked embarrassed. “He, ah, told me to think of you as the president of the republic and the Variag's niece.” Myburgh appeared to equate the two in terms of importance. “He, ah, warned me that if I think an improper thought, he'll tell Valeska so that my blood won't be on his hands.”

  “How kind of him,” she murmured insincerely. “Valeska?”

  “Valeska Remmar, my girlfriend. She is a gunner on an armored car. She says we will get married at Christmas.”

  An impish thought entered her head “I take it that you know better than to argue.”

  Myburgh nodded solemnly. “Yes, ma'am.”

  “And what does your family think of me?”

  Myburgh smiled. “My brother Kurt told me that when he teased Father about you, all Father would say was, 'That snip of a girl!' Kurt often does things to--What is the English word?”

  “Rile people?” she suggested

  “'That is it. I do the same sometimes.” He shrugged. “I have no head for politics or book things, but I think that I know a bad man or woman when I see one.”

 
She smiled. “What would you like to ask me?”

  Myburgh's eyes lit up. “Is it true the Springboks finished second?”

  Rikki asked Coldewe later, “Are you really going to have a wedding aboard ship?”

  “ 'The Whistling Pig' makes a fine wedding march.”

  She reflected, “Uncle Matti told me that my mother had her heart set on being married in Witfontein, and he swears the minister exorcised the church afterward. You did not really threaten to burn it down if he refused to perform the ceremony, did you?”

  “Of course not. Don't be silly. There wasn't a scrap of wood in the place. I told the minister I had fourteen people who could drop the bell tower into the vestry easy as walking a field, but to achieve combustion, we'd have had to soak the place in artillery propellant, which would have taken hours.”

  He thought of the pictures Aksu had shown him of what looked like a Blue rebellion being suppressed. Some of the victims had been impaled. “DeKe and Kalle are looking forward to your arrival. I think the way DeKe phrased it is that he's looking forward to introducing you to his friends. But you watch yourself down there.”

  “I will.” She added quietly, “You know, until I became president, I never understood what you were doing--to me it was Uncle Hans playing the clown.”

  “It’s funny. People naturally fall into routines. This last decade has been hard in some ways. How do you keep good soldiers--the best of the best--from resting on their laurels when there isn't even a hint of a war to prepare for?”

  She understood. “You shake them up.”

  Coldewe nodded. “Even here, the thought that I might take it into my head to launch a raid on A deck to dye everyone's underwear blue keeps them all from going cabin crazy.”

  “Did you?”

  “What?”

  “Raid A deck to dye everyone's underwear blue?”

  “Of course not! Something like that would create hard feelings.” Coldewe grinned. “We did do some preliminary reconnaissance. So what did you think of Gerrit?”

  “He told me how much he wanted to come on the expedition and how lucky it was that his girlfriend won the lottery to come. I think that my lovable relatives, who amuse themselves by toppling empires and fixing elections, would not find it difficult to rig a lottery.” Sanmartin tapped the end of her nose with a finger. “Uncle Hans! You are blushing.”

  Coldewe, who rarely found himself at a loss for words, replied, “It’s my modest nature.”

  L-Day plus 429 [9-reed Rain 14]

  “IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A FIRE,” HENDRICKA SANMARTIN REMARKED, SEATED ON A LOG, sorting her notes. “I know,” she added, seeing the expression on Myburgh's face. “Bad security.”

  ”Ma'am, it is much too hot for a fire,” Myburgh protested, wishing Kekkonen and de Kantzow hadn't left.

  “I know.” She looked up to see if she could make out the moving dots in the night sky that were Aoba and Zuiho. “But it would still be nice. Gerrit, what made you decide to be a soldier?“

  “Papa never trusted the Imps, so all of us did reserve service. I found I liked it It gave me a chance to get away and see things, and Sergeant Kivela says that I have an aptitude.”

  “I imagine you do. You said your father owns a farm.” She shook her head. “I am sorry. I have difficulty picturing you as a farmer. Is that what you plan to go back to?”

  “Not really, ma'am. Papa planted trees, dipterocarps, when my oldest brother was born--that’s Kurt--and he planted more after the land reform. Last year, we cut some to let the wood season. I love to carve things. I am good with my hands.” He held them out for inspection. “Kurt says they are craftsman's hands. Kurt will get the farm, you see, and I will inherit the trees to make into furniture. People want that sort of thing, and it’s much too expensive to ship real wooden furniture from Earth.”

  Animated by her interest, he continued, “Plastic and metal furniture is nice enough, but furniture really should be wood. When you look at the grain of a log, you can almost see the pieces waiting to be let out.” He smiled shyly. “I think that the business will do well. People around Krugersdorp know me, and some of them have already placed orders for when I get back.” He had, Sanmartin recognized, a quiet confidence in his abilities, both as a cabinetmaker and as a soldier.

  “And what made you decide to come to Neighbor?” she asked, setting her notebook down.

  “I always wanted to travel off planet, just a little bit. And I always wanted to do something important in my life.” He shook his head regretfully. “I had to argue with Papa to make him see. And while I am gone, the trees will grow and the cut wood will season.” He asked hesitantly, “Did you enjoy being president?”

  “Every minute of it” She smiled demurely, “It is almost enough to turn a girl's head. And now I am here.”

  “I wish I understood why everyone thinks the lemps are so important,” Myburgh said wistfully.

  “Lemur-ape babies are extremely altricial--they are almost completely undeveloped--and are born four at a time. The females lactate-it isn't milk in the mammalian sense, but it serves the same purpose--but in an average year, which this year seems to be, a mother can only nurse two of her offspring, which means that half of the infants born die immediately. Judging from the subadults in the troop, less than 10 percent survive a year, and virtually all of the survivors come from high-status mothers. Do you follow me so far?”

  Myburgh shook his bead regretfully. “Not really, ma'am.”

  “Let me try to make it simpler. If Blue women give birth to four babies at a time and have to choose which of the four babies survive, as is quite possible, it says unpleasant things about the society they have.”

  He frowned. “Does Colonel Vereshchagin know about this?”

  “With two breeding seasons behind us, as far as I am concerned, we have enough data. I told Simon and Maria to stop dithering and tell him,” Sanmartin said distantly.

  In Orbit, HIMS Zuiho [1-mist Rain 14]

  “ALL RIGHT, SIMON,” VERESHCHAGIN SAID, “WOULD YOU CARE TO BEGIN?”

  Beetje ignored the puzzled look Dr. Kita gave him. “Maria and I have prepared a preliminary summary of our lemur-ape data.” He passed out paper copies and gave everyone present a few moments to study it “I would like to discuss the possible implications.”

  Szuba set her copy aside and quietly sat back to listen.

  “Let me begin with first principles. All animals, including humans and Blues, reflect the cumulative impact of mortality and female selection over thousands of generations, and in general, males act as a genetic sieve--only the best males get to breed, and the incremental elimination of genes belonging to inferior males purges bad genes from populations. The greater the degree of complexity in behavior patterns, genetic mechanisms, or physiological structures, the clearer it becomes that natural selection shaped these to an end. Human reproductive strategies are both complex and environmentally conditioned, but unlike most of Earth's other mammals, humans are basically monogamous animals with a predilection for adultery. Can all of you accept this as a starting point for discussion?”

  “I might reverse the order of your last point there,” Coldewe responded, “but I think we're in agreement.”

  “Lemur-apes are not monogamous. In lemur-ape troops, genetically unrelated males share access to harems of females, with the alpha male dominating. In the troop we are following, every adult female not already burdened with young gave birth to quadruplets during the breeding season. Most of these infants died or were killed almost immediately. There are a number of interesting details, but the point to be made is that while lemur apes are capable of explosive population growth when food re sources permit, in normal times, only offspring of high-ranking mothers and fathers survive.”

  Beetje took a deep breath. “I am convinced that lemur-apes and Blues share a common reproductive strategy. I say this despite the fact that human reproductive strategy differs significantly from that
employed by man's closest relatives chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos-and despite current theory that holds that monogamous pair-bonding is an essential step in the development of intelligence.”

  Intrigued. Dr. Kita asked. “What do you base this on, Simon?”

  “Male lemur-apes and Blues are 42 percent larger than f males on average. This is a significant difference, roughly double the disparity in size between male and female human beings. Lieutenant Aksu's observations also show a significant decrease in the number of Blue females working in the water-potato paddies after the onset of the monsoon, which suggests that the Blues also have a fixed breeding season. Moreover-”

  The Iceman interrupted “Perhaps you can discuss the details with your colleagues later, Simon. What conclusions have you drawn about the Blues?”

  Beetje wiped his brow, thankful for Pia Szuba's quiet support. “Frankly, the implications are a little frightening. A fixed breeding season implies that the Blues have harem arrangements rather than pair-bonds, and even in an intelligent species, gross overproduction of infants would almost certainly compel infanticide.”

  Kolomeitsev closed his eyes then opened them. “Exposing unwanted infants is an ancient practice on Earth.”

  “I am straying out of my field here, but all sorts of possibil ities suggest themselves,” Beetje declared. '“The Blues may kill infants based on sex; they may kill infants belonging to lowerclass mothers and give them higher-class infants to nurse.”

  '“The absence of a pair-bonding instinct could have a substantially negative impact on the development of Neighbor’s ethics and morals,” Pia Szuba said, “although it is possible that the data are inadequate to support such a sweeping premise.”

  “Hypotheses should be constructed from the best available evidence and tested rigorously,” Vereshchagin ruled “Let us attempt to validate or disprove this particular hypothesis. Hans, I see you stirring.”