“Doubtless the robots had stumbled into a quadroid nursery. Those octos acted to protect it. It’s really very simple.” Archie signaled their guide engineer that it was time for his explanation.
“The quadroid queens spend their gestation periods in special compartments that are just off the main floor,” the octo engineer said. “Each queen lays thousands of eggs. When several million eggs have been laid, they are collected together and placed in one of those oval containers. The inside of the containers is maintained at a very high temperature, which markedly reduces the development time of the quadroids. The thick webbing around the containers absorbs the excess heat so that the working conditions are acceptable for the midget morphs who oversee the nursery…”
Richard was partially listening, but his real focus was on a moment many years earlier. Now it is all clear, he said to himself. And that tiny subway was for the midget morphs.
“…monitoring probes inside the containers identify exactly when the quadroids are ready to swarm. The lattices above are soaked with the proper chemical agents a few fengs prior to the automatic opening of the ovals. The new queens fly first, attracted to the lattice elements. The frenzied hordes of males follow, making visible black clouds despite their minuscule size. The quadroids are harvested from the lattice and go immediately into mass training.”
“Very elegant,” Richard said. “But I have a simple question. Why do the quadroids take all those pictures for you?”
“The short answer,” Archie replied, “is that they have been genetically engineered over thousands of years to be receptive to our direction. We-or rather our midget morph specialists-speak the chemical language the quadroids use to communicate with each other. If they do what is asked of them, the quadroids are given food. If they perform satisfactorily over a long period of time, they are allowed the pleasures of sex.”
“Out of a given litter, or swarm, what percentage of the quadroids follow your directions?”
“The failure rate for first picture is about ten percent,” the octospider engineer answered. “Once the pattern has been established and the reward cycle reinforced, the failure rate drops dramatically.”
“Pretty damn impressive,” Richard said appreciatively. “Maybe there’s more to this biology stuff than I ever considered.”
On the ride back to the Emerald City, Richard and Archie discussed the comparative strengths and weaknesses of biological and non-biological engineering systems. It was mostly an esoteric, philosophical conversation with few definitive conclusions. They did agree, however, that the encyclopedia function, which was primarily the storage, manipulation, and presentation of vast amounts of information, was more optimally handled by non-biological systems.
As they drew near to the domed city, the green glow was suddenly extinguished. Night had come again to the center of the octospider domain. Soon thereafter, an additional pair of fireflies appeared to give their ostrichsaur extra light.
It had been a long day and Richard was tired. When they entered the outskirts of the Alternate Domain, Richard thought he saw something flying in the darkness off to his right. “What has happened to Tammy and Timmy?” he asked.
“They have both mated,” Archie replied, “and have several offspring. Their young hatchlings are cared for in the zoo.”
“Could I see them?” Richard said. “You told me once, a few months ago, that someday it might be possible.”
“I guess so,” Archie replied after a short silence. “Even though the zoo is a restricted zone, the avian compound is very close to the entrance.”
When they reached the first large structure of the Alternate Domain, Archie dismounted and went inside the building. When he returned, the octospider said something to the ostrichsaur. “We are only cleared for a brief visit,” Archie said as their mount turned off the main path and ^ began to thread its way through the smaller lanes of the community.
Richard was introduced to the zookeeper, who drove them in a cart to a compound only about a hundred meters inside the zoo entrance. Both Tammy and Timmy were present. They recognized Richard immediately, and their jabbers and shrieks of pleasure filled the darkened skies. Tammy and Timmy introduced Richard to a new group of avian hatchlings in the compound. The juveniles were very shy around Richard, and would not let him touch them. However, Tammy and Timmy still loved to have their soft underbellies stroked by the man who had raised them from infancy. Richard felt powerful emotions as he recalled the days when he had been their sole protector in the lair underneath New York. ‘
He said good-bye to his wards and boarded the cart with Archie and the zookeeper. Halfway back to the zoo entrance he heard a sound that jolted him into alertness and made his skin crawl with goose bumps. He sat perfectly still and concentrated. The sound repeated just before the silent cart came to a stop.
“I could not possibly be mistaken,” Richard insisted to Nicole. “I heard it twice. There is no other sound like the cry of a human child.”
“I’m not doubting you, Richard,” Nicole said. “I’m just trying to exclude logically all other possible sources for the sound you heard. Juvenile avians do have a particular shriek that can sound a little like a baby crying… and you were, after all, in a zoo. It could have been another animal.”
“No,” said Richard. “I know what I heard. I have lived with enough children and heard enough cries in my life.”
Nicole smiled. “Now the shoe is on the other foot, isn’t it, darling? Do you remember your response when I told you I had seen a woman’s face in that mural the night we went to see the octospider play? You scoffed at me and told me that I was ‘absurd,’ if I remember correctly.”
“So what’s the explanation? Did the octospiders somehow kidnap some other humans from Avalon? And the incident was never reported? But how could they have—”
“Did you say anything to Archie?” Nicole asked.
“No. I was too stunned. At first I was amazed that neither he nor the zookeeper made any comment, and then I remembered that the octospiders are deaf.”
They were both silent for several seconds. “You weren’t supposed to hear that cry, Richard,” Nicole then said. “Our nearly perfect hosts have made a non-optimal slipup.”
Richard laughed. “Of course, they are recording this conversation. By tomorrow they will know that we know.”
“Let’s not say anything just yet to the others,” Nicole said. “Maybe the octos will decide to share their secret with us. By the way, when do you start to work?”
“Whenever I want,” Richard replied. “I told Archie I had a few tasks of my own to finish first.”
“Sounds as if you had a fascinating day,” Nicole said. “Everything was mostly quiet around here. Except for one thing. Patrick and Nai have set a date for their wedding. Three weeks from tomorrow.”
“What?” Richard said. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Nicole laughed. “I didn’t have a chance. You came in here talking nonstop about cries in the zoo, and avians, and quadroids, and the Embryo Bank… I knew from experience that my news would have to wait until you wound down.”
“Well, mother of the groom,” Richard said a few seconds later, “how do you feel?”
“Considering everything,” Nicole said, “I’m very pleased. You know how I feel about Nai. It just strikes me as a strange time and place to start a marriage.”
12
They were sitting in the Wake-field living room waiting for the appearance of the bride. Patrick was nervously wringing his hands. “Be patient, young man,” Max said, crossing the room and putting his arm around Patrick. “She’ll be here. A woman wants to look her finest on her wedding day.”
“I didn’t look my finest,” Eponine said. “In fact, I don’t even remember what I was wearing on my wedding day.”
“I remember it well, Frenchie,” Max said with a grin, “especially up in the igloo. As I recall, most of the time you were wearing your birthday suit.”
Ev
eryone laughed. Nicole entered the room. “She’ll be here in a few more minutes. Ellie is helping Nai with the final arrangement of her dress.” She glanced around. “Where are Archie and Dr. Blue?” she asked.
“They went to their house for a minute,” Ellie said. “They have a special present for the bride.”
“I don’t like having those octospiders around,” Galileo said in a nasty voice. “They give me the creeps.”
“Starting next week, Galileo,” Ellie said gently, “there will be an octospider with you in school nearly all the time. She’ll help you learn their language.”
“I don’t want to learn their language,” the boy said defiantly.
Max walked over next to Richard. “So how is the work.going, amigo? We haven’t seen much of you these last two weeks.”
“It’s completely absorbing, Max,” Richard said enthusiastically. “I’m working on an encyclopedia project, helping them design a new set of software to display all the critical information about the hundreds of thousands of species in the Embryo Bank. The octospiders accumulate such an enormous wealth of data in their testing, yet they are surprisingly limited in their knowledge of how to manage it efficiently. Just yesterday, I began working with some recent test data on a set of microbiological agents that are classified, in the octospider taxonomy, by the range of plants and animals for which they are lethal—”
Richard stopped as Archie and Dr. Blue entered together carrying a box about a meter tall that was wrapped with their parchment. The octospiders set their present down in a corner and stood at the side of the room. Ellie arrived a moment later, humming Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. Nai followed her.
Patrick’s bride was wearing her Thai silk dress. It was adorned by the brilliant yellow and black flowers that the octospiders had given to Ellie. She had pinned them to the dress at strategic locations. Patrick rose to stand beside Nai in front of his mother. The couple held hands.
Nicole had been asked to perform the ceremony, and to keep it as simple as possible. As she prepared to- begin her brief statement, Nicole’s mind was suddenly flooded by memories of other wedding days in her life. She saw Max and Eponine, Michael O’Toole and her daughter Simone, Robert and Ellie… Nicole shuddered involuntarily as the memory of the sound of gunshots intruded into her mind. Once again, Nicole thought, forcing herself to return to the present, we have gathered here together.
She could barely speak. Nicole was overwhelmed by her feelings. This is my last wedding, she realized, almost thinking out loud. There will not be another.
A tear ran down her left cheek. “Are you all right, Nicole?” the always sensitive bride asked quietly. Nicole nodded and smiled.
“Friends,” Nicole said, “we have joined together today to witness and celebrate the wedding of Patrick Ryan O’Toole and Nai Buatong Watanabe. Let us form a circle around them, locking arms to show our love and support for their marriage.”
Nicole gestured to the two octospiders as the circle was forming and they too put their tentacles around the humans beside them.
“Do you, Patrick,” Nicole said, her voice cracking, “take this woman, Nai, to love and cherish as your wife and partner in life?”
“I do,” said Patrick.
“And do you, Nai,” Nicole continued, “take this man, Patrick, to love and cherish as your husband and partner in life?”
“I do,” said Nai.
“Then I announce that you are husband and wife.” Patrick and Nai embraced, and everyone shouted. The newlyweds shared their first married hug with Nicole.
“Did you ever talk to Patrick about sex?” Nicole asked Richard after the party was over and the crowd had dispersed.
“No,” said Richard. “Max volunteered. But it shouldn’t be necessary. After all, Nai has been married before… Goodness, you were certainly emotional tonight. What was that all about?”
Nicole smiled. “I was thinking about other weddings, Richard. Simone and Michael’s, Ellie and Robert’s…”
“That’s one I would like to forget,” Richard said. “For many reasons.”
“I thought, during the ceremony, that I was crying because this was probably the last wedding I would ever attend. But later, during the party, I thought of something else. Has it ever bothered you, Richard, that we have never had an official ceremony?”
“No,” Richard said, shaking his head. “I had a ceremony with Sarah, and that was enough.”
“But you have had a wedding, Richard. I never have. I have given birth to children from three different fathers, but I have never once been a bride.”
Richard was silent for several seconds. “And you think that’s why you were crying?”
“Maybe,” Nicole said. “I don’t know for certain.”
Nicole walked around while Richard was in deep thought. “Wasn’t that a magnificent statue of Buddha the octospiders gave to Nai?” she said. ‘The artistry was superb. I really thought both Archie and Dr. Blue were enjoying themselves. I wonder why Jamie came to get them so early—”
“Would you like to have a wedding ceremony?” Richard asked suddenly.
“At our age?” Nicole laughed. “We’re already grandparents.”
“Still, if it would make you happy…”
“Are you proposing to me, Richard Wakefield?”
“I guess so,” he said. “I wouldn’t want you to be unhappy because you’ve never been a bride.”
Nicole crossed the room and kissed her husband. “It might be fun,” she said. “But let’s not plan anything until Patrick and Nai are settled. I wouldn’t want to steal their limelight.”
Richard and Nicole walked toward the bedroom with their arms around each other. They were startled to find their passage blocked by Archie and Dr. Blue.
“You must come with us right away,” Archie said. ‘This is an emergency.”
““Now?” Nicole replied. “At this hour?”
“Yes,” said Dr. Blue. “Only the two of you. The Chief Optimizer is waiting. She’ll explain everything.”
Nicole felt her heart rate surge as the adrenaline poured into her system. “Do I need a coat?” she said. “Will we be leaving the city?”
For some reason, Nicole’s first thought had been that the summons was related to the child’s cry that Richard had heard after his first visit to the Embryo Bank. Was the child sick? Perhaps dying? Then why weren’t they going directly to the zoo, which was outside the dome, in the Alternate Domain?
The Chief Optimizer and her staff were indeed waiting. Two chairs were in the room. As soon as Richard and Nicole were seated, the octospider leader started speaking in color.
“We have a major crisis under way,” she said, “one that could unfortunately lead to war between our two species.” She waved a tentacle and video images began to appear on the wall. “Early today, two helicopters began ferrying human troops from the island of New York to the northernmost section of our domain, right next to the Cylindrical Sea. Our quadroid data indicate not only that your species is preparing to launch an assault against us, but also that your leader Nakamura has convinced the human populace that we are your enemy. He has obtained the support of the senate for the war effort and, in a comparatively short period of time, has created an arsenal that could inflict substantial damage on our colony.”
The Chief Optimizer stopped while Richard and Nicole watched video snapshots snowing bombs, bazookas, and machine guns being manufactured in New Eden.
“Investigative forays have been carried out during the last four days by small groups of humans on the ground and the pair of helicopters in the air. These reconnaissance missions have penetrated as far south as the barrier forest and have covered the entire cylindrical range of our territory. Almost thirty percent of our food, power, and water supply is contained in the region that the humans have reconnoitered.
“There has been no combat, for we have offered no resistance to the exploration activities. We have, however, placed signs in key places, using what we
know of your language, informing the human troops that the entire Southern Hemicylinder is the realm of another advanced, but peaceful, species, and requesting that the humans return to their own region. Our signs have been ignored.
“Two days ago a troublesome incident occurred. While we were harvesting grain from one of our large fields, there was a helicopter overflight. The vehicle made a nearby landing and dispatched four soldiers. Without any provocation, these humans executed the three animals doing the harvesting-the same six-armed creatures the two of you saw on your initial tour of our domain-and set fire to the grain field. Since that incident, the content of our signs has changed, and we have made it clear that any other similar behavior will be considered an act of war.
“Nevertheless, it is apparent from actions earlier today that our warnings have not been heeded and that your species is planning to start a conflict it cannot possibly win. I was today considering announcing a declaration of war, an extremely grave event in an octospider colony, with ramifications at every level of our society. Before I took the irreversible action, however, I consulted with those other optimizers whose opinions I most respected.
“The majority of my staff favored the war declaration, seeing no way of convincing your fellow humans that a conflict with us would be a disaster for them. The octospider you call Archie, however, made a proposal to my staff that we think has some small probability of working. Even though our statistical analysts say war is still the most likely outcome, our principles demand that we do everything possible to avoid war. Since Archie’s proposal requires your involvement and cooperation, we have called you here tonight.”
The Chief Optimizer stopped speaking in colors and shuffled to the side of the room. Richard and Nicole glanced at each other. “Did your translator follow all that?” she asked.
“Most of it,” Richard replied. “I certainly understand the gist of the situation. Do you have any questions? Or should we suggest they proceed with Archie’s proposal?”
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