by Les Broad
CHAPTER 17
Had she then had the benefit of hindsight it is certain that Nikki would never have allowed the demonstration to take place, at least quite as publicly as, in the event, it did. Fiona had been conducting a course, although she probably wouldn't have given it that title, in animal husbandry to a dozen or so eager pupils because she had in her mind the likelihood of some of the animals being taken to Botijjo #2 and the need for them to be accompanied by proficient farmers. But first she had to train others to become proficient and then those others should be able to establish herds at Botijjo #2 and teach the Aupesians what they needed to know.
As part of the course Fiona was laying on was the subject of artificial insemination, she decided that now was as good a time as any to cover the processes - it didn't matter that there were a few extra people listening.
Perhaps Nikki was surprised at the numbers of people in attendance when her little group arrived for the demonstration, but it didn't show. Of course, Fiona had to explain who these people were and why they were there, which she did with disarming honesty. After all, there was no reason to conceal the purpose behind the Jukkakiquen interest and Nikki raised no objection.
The demonstration passed off very well, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. It seemed that everyone, students and Jukkakiquen, understood what was being done and why, even if there were a few expressions of surprise from the non-human part of the audience. Afterwards Nikki thanked Fiona profusely, more because she'd been dug out of a hole than merely out of normal gratitude for Fiona's efforts, and returned with the other Jukkakiquen to her office.
It was unanimously agreed that artificial insemination represented the way to move forwards for both Sarrijjo #1 and the other remaining Botijjo cities. All that needed to be done was for sufficient volunteers to be found, but Nikki didn't believe that it would be difficult since she'd managed to find volunteers for the Silomiala, and that was, in her opinion, a much more difficult situation to come to terms with. Those volunteers were the obvious starting point.
Once she was left alone the following day, the others having set off for their own cities, Nikki could start work. She found that making it known that volunteers were needed was not difficult - very quickly it seemed that the whole of Gifford knew exactly what was wanted. The take-up rate was disappointing, but she was more realistic than to expect to have a full complement of volunteers on Day 1.
As the next few days passed, everything seemed perfectly normal. Plisfou was happy at Gifford and Louise seemed delighted to be spending time at Botijjo #2, getting to grips with life up there and coming to terms with family life. She certainly appeared to be a little less prickly than she'd been for the last few months. Nikki herself was spending time at home, letting the community just run itself. She knew that everyone was well enough established now and would get on with what needed to be done without her constantly peering over shoulders, and a few days spent relaxing a little would do her good. Of course, she couldn't be totally idle and had chatted to Bryn and Gordon again about a ship large enough for regular ocean crossings. She had also tried to encourage the development of social and recreational activities, an area where she knew the community needed to advance. It seemed that this was an opinion shared by many people and she was happy enough to get informal groups going, looking at various sports, drama and musical activities. A week or so after the Jukkakique meeting Nikki felt she had achieved something worthwhile.
A call from the computer team at Botijjo #2 eventually disturbed her tranquillity. Nina sounded a little strange, but Nikki couldn't identify exactly what it was that was different about Nina's voice. All she would say was that she believed Nikki should get up to Botijjo #2 as soon as she could to see for herself what the computers were producing. No amount of questioning could produce any more detail since Nina was insistent that Nikki must see for herself. A little reluctantly she agreed to go, to Nina's evident relief.
She mentioned the call that evening to the rest of her family. Alison's reaction was to suggest the she should fly Nikki up the next morning. Patlu seemed more concerned about Nikki herself, and when Nikki actually thought about it Patlu had been looking after her even better than usual since the trip to Sarrijjo. Bryn asked her if she had any idea what the problem was.
"None at all," Nikki replied, truthfully, "she wouldn't say any more. But it's to do with what's coming out of the machines rather than a technical problem with the machines themselves."
"Did she sound worried?"
"No, Bryn, not worried exactly. Different, perhaps, maybe distracted, as if her mind wasn't entirely on the job, but not worried."
"You will only know when you arrive," Patlu said with a caring look surreptitiously shared with Bryn, "and you should go. I am sure my ancestors who built the machines have done nothing that will alarm you."
"I can't believe that they would have. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about and as you say I'll find out when I get there. First thing in the morning, Alison?"
Alison agreed readily enough and the subject was dropped, even if it did still occupy the thoughts of everyone in the room.
It was yet another fine morning, but this time following a wet night, when Nikki and Alison took off for Botijjo #2, still naturally none the wiser about the revelations that might await Nikki. In response to a call Nikki made in mid-flight, Kirsten met the aircraft and led Nikki and Alison to the laboratory. Alison excused herself, wanting to see how Louise was coping, and left. The laboratory looked far more business-like than on Nikki's last visit, with all the computer screens and terminals now fully active. It was a hive of activity as huge amounts of information were retrieved and translated to form the proposed libraries.
"Right," Nikki finally said to Nina, "what's so dramatic that I have to fly up here?"
"Well, let me give you a bit of background first. When we started we didn't know what was connected to what, but have slowly sorted it all out so we know how to access what sort of information. Historical records can be reached, but we've left them alone for the time being, concentrating instead on the scientific data. There's a terrific amount of stuff that will make life much, much easier in time, to do with roads, road transport, power generation and so on. The genetic material, of course, we know about, but the more we look the more we learn and there's a lot to get through yet, including a huge databank that so far has resisted all our attempts to break into it. There was the odd system that we couldn't get to function, but now the two-way link to the space centre at Sarrijjo #1 works perfectly rather than just intermittently and the central robot control would work if the robots themselves were all working.
"It was the link with Sarrijjo #1 that threw up what I want to show you. You know, I suppose, that there are a few satellites still working, one of which monitors any space vehicle entering the Aupes system?"
"Yes. It detected us when we first arrived, and there were discussions as to whether we should be allowed to land or be blown up."
"Well, it's a remarkable bit of equipment. It has the capability of detecting a ship entering the system and differentiating between something artificial and a natural occurrence, such as a comet. I have no idea how it works, but it does. Anyway, it can do other things as well, and Zeftio has worked out how to control it. Come with me."
Nina led Nikki to a control panel in a small room off the main laboratory where Zeftio was staring intently at a screen that appeared totally blank. As Nikki looked closer she could just make out tiny pinpoints of light.
"Zeftio is good at this," Nina said with a distinct hint of pride, "now, turn it to look at the surface."
Zeftio's hands moved deftly across the control panel and the display began to change. Within a few seconds a planet appeared on the screen, bright and colourful.
"Aupes." Nina clearly didn't think any more needed to be said and just touched Zeftio lightly on the shoulder. The planet grew larger as Zeftio zoomed in on an area near a coast. Gradually features on the land s
tarted to become clear, firstly the mountains then the river. There was an audible gasp as Nikki realised exactly what she was looking at.
"That's Gifford!" As she looked closer she could now see individual buildings and KonTiki's largely redundant hull, but still Zeftio increased the magnification until people could be seen going about their daily tasks in blissful ignorance of the surveillance.
"So that's how they knew so much about what we were doing! Masaya said one or two things to me that didn't seem any more than assumptions at the time, but she must have been watching us."
"I suppose so," Nina agreed, "but it seems likely that it was only to see if we posed a threat to them. You can't blame them if they believed we might have brought more of the diseases that have already caused havoc here.
"But," Nina went on, "from what I gather talking to people up here, the system is used mostly to monitor Paxavorra activity, at least when it's working and that's not been too often recently. I wouldn't read too much into the ability to look at Gifford in detail. Of course, you can go in a bit closer, if you like, and see what Bryn's up to while you're up here."
"Can you really do that?"
"Watch." Nina whispered conspiratorially into Zeftio's ear and the image on the screen closed onto Bryn's workshop.
Nikki could clearly make out Bryn talking with two others - she couldn't be sure who - as a piece of unidentifiable machinery was hauled out into the sunshine.
"Well, he seems to be behaving himself," said Nikki, smiling, "so what else can this thing see?" Nikki was expecting another view of Aupes, but that was most certainly not what she got.
"Quite a lot, really. This is really what I wanted you to see." Nina sat beside Zeftio and turned to look up at Nikki. "Pull up a seat, Nikki. This might take a few minutes."
She turned back to Zeftio as Nikki drew up a chair and sat on Zeftio's other side.
"OK," Nina said, "let's see if we can find it. Zeftio seems much better at this than I am," she said to Nikki, “but it still takes a while. Watch carefully and tell me when you recognise anything."
The screen had darkened now, showing only the pinpoints of light that had been there when Nikki first came in. The picture changed gradually as Zeftio keyed instructions into the computerised guidance system, but the view of space meant nothing at all to Nikki.
The minutes passed slowly before Nikki realised that there was one particular pinpoint at which Zeftio seemed to be aiming. Very, very slowly it grew, gradually increasing in size until it appeared as a small whitish yellow dot in the centre of the screen. Nikki thought she knew what that dot might be, but said nothing since what she was thinking was impossible.
The dot now dominated the centre of the screen. Zeftio was concentrating hard as her fingers flew across the keyboard, occasionally shaking her head in frustration. She muttered a few words that neither Nina nor Nikki could understand, keyed yet more instructions in then sat back.
"The search is now automatic. I think I have performed the right sequence. Soon we will see."
Three pairs of eyes stared into the screen as the yellow dot moved about, apparently at random. Within a few seconds it settled in the top right-hand corner briefly, then disappeared completely as it seemed to slip slowly off the screen. There then seemed to be nothing but blackness until a smaller dot appeared at the bottom left of the screen. As it moved towards the centre it grew slowly, taking on a blueish white colour before it stopped in the centre of the screen, still growing.
Nikki watched, completely fascinated. She was aware of nothing else in the room as she saw something completely, totally impossible happening before her eyes. There was no doubt now as the picture on the screen showed a planet in blue and white, shining brightly in the vastness of space. She said nothing until the picture filled the screen and Zeftio tapped a key and the slow growth of the image stopped.
"It is, isn't it?" Nikki asked in a whisper, "Earth?"
"Yes, Nikki. There it is, but not as it is now. It takes several years for light to travel from there to here, so we're seeing Earth as it was, probably before we left. We can go closer in, but as I don't know exactly what year we're looking at, what we'd see, or even if we'd see anything I haven't dared. I'm not sure I could handle seeing myself on Earth when I've spent a long time coming to terms with living on another planet."
Nikki stood up, slowly, unsure of what she should even think, never mind say. Nina and Zeftio sat waiting for her to make a decision, but so many thoughts were crowding into her head that she felt unable, just then, to make a rational decision. All she could say was to tell Zeftio to turn the screen off, but leave the satellite aimed at Earth. Then she excused herself and walked out of the laboratory. She knew she had to think.
As Jukkakique she had the use of what had been Masaya's quarters and almost automatically she headed in that direction. Once there she tried to marshal her thoughts.
So Earth could, perhaps, be examined in detail from here. It occurred to Nikki that the technology had to be admired, since humans had never progressed beyond being able to see stars as points of light and reason that planets must orbit some of these. The sensitivity of the Aupesian equipment seemed incredible, but her acknowledgement of its superiority did nothing to ease her dilemma. What could possibly be seen on the screen? A totally dead planet? Would that be better or worse than seeing Earth overflowing with life and knowing that none of that life could possibly now exist? She tried to think rationally about each possibility, but discovered that knowing what had happened was very different to being in a position to see the recent disastrous history of Earth replayed in front of her eyes. Logically, she told herself, she shouldn't be able to see pre-war Earth since she couldn't believe they'd travelled far enough in thirty nine months. They would have had to have covered over two hundred light years. So, that left the possibility of watching life dying out on her planet. It had been bad enough living through it and she didn't think she wanted so vivid a reminder of what had happened. Nor did she want to see the planet just after her band of travellers had left, knowing that the few people she might conceivably be able to see were friends about to die. Leaving Earth and coming to Aupes had been quite easy, if only because she only had time to think about it when Sarah Gifford had come to see them leave. And she'd put it out of her mind all through the flight and since their arrival here. What she didn't need now was the ability to relive the whole situation, but it seemed that was exactly what she might have. Of course, she told herself, it's pretty unlikely that the definition will be as good as it was when they pointed the thing at Gifford. A small but insistent voice nagged away inside her head, telling her that Nina wouldn't have got so excited if that was the case and, despite her saying that she hadn't looked any closer, she must know what was possible. Zeftio or someone must have told her. Yes, that must be it. It stood to reason that the satellite would be able to see the surface of Earth accurately enough to distinguish at the very least larger features, like mountains, cities and rivers, or it would be pretty pointless. But deciding that the surface was likely to be clearly visible didn't help to decide whether they should actually try to look. It might help to know how far they were from Earth but that meant either talking to Bryn, and she didn't really want anyone else from Earth involved just yet, or finding out from the Aupesians. A conclusion was definitely called for, whatever it was, so she asked herself what Sarah might have done. It was a course she hadn't resorted to for a long, long time and she wasn't sure it helped, but she did make a decision. If she could, she would find out from those who already knew about the satellite's ability to see Earth, the distance in light years and then see how far she could go in picking up surface detail. The target area would depend on the distance, and therefore the time period she would be looking at. This resolution made, she hauled herself up and set off, not particularly enthusiastically, back to the laboratory.
She was momentarily startled by an electronic voice calling her name from somewhere near her le
ft hip, but it was just Bryn calling her on her communicator. He asked her, predictably enough, what Nina had been panicking about. Since Nikki didn't want to say anything yet about Earth being visible she had to think quickly.
"Oh, it's a case of panic over, I think," she said, hoping she was lying convincingly, "because Nina had found out that there's a satellite that can zoom in on the planet's surface. I think she was worried about us being spied on at Gifford but there's no problem."
"Is that all?" Bryn sounded convinced that there was more.
"Yes, Bryn, that's all."
"OK, if you say so. Are you coming back?"
"Why? Do you miss me?" She managed to put a hint of flirtation in her voice, but Bryn didn't react to it.
"Of course I do, but your presence back here might be reassuring."
"Why? What's going on?"
"Nothing serious, but it might be better if you were back sooner rather than later."
"Stop being mysterious, Bryn. Tell me what's happening."
"Well, there's nothing really, what you might call happening, exactly. It's more of a feeling."
"Look, I'll be back tomorrow sometime. I'm sure you, Plisfou and Fiona can hold the place together for a day, can't you?"
"We'll do our best. It's not really anything to worry about."
"OK, I'll see you tomorrow." Bryn seemed relieved to know that she wouldn't be away too much longer, but Nikki didn't know why her brief absence should be a problem anyway. And why did everyone have to be so mysterious, after all? Why couldn't they just tell her over a communicator link what was bothering them? Life would surely be more straightforward then.
Nikki's preoccupation almost led her to walk straight past the laboratory, but she checked herself just in time. Nina was still working with Zeftio and the others but stood up as soon as she realised Nikki was in the room.
"Well?" Nina asked, "what do we do?"
"That depends on the answer to a question. How far are we from Earth?"
"As far as I can tell, about eleven light years. The system for measuring interstellar distances here is different, but if I've calculated correctly that's the answer, give or take a light year."
"OK, so what we'd be looking at is Earth as it was five years or so before we left?"
"At most, probably a bit less. Of course, we might not be able to see any surface detail."
"I thought about that, but it would be pointless to have such a sophisticated system that fell short of giving detail and I'm sure the Aupesians are more thorough than that. How many people know that we can see Earth?"
"Only us and the others in this room."
"Let's keep it that way for now. Right, we'd better have a look."
"Are you sure, Nikki?"
"No, but I have to know one way or the other."
Nina called Zeftio over and the three of then resumed their seats in front of the blank screen. As before, Zeftio manipulated the keyboard controls swiftly and efficiently, within a few seconds restoring the image of Earth.
"You're in charge, Nikki, so where do we aim?" Nina sounded as if she craved for Nikki to change her mind.
Nikki stared at the screen for a few moments in silence then, surprised by the steadiness of her hand, tapped a point in the upper right hand side of the screen. Nina sat back, not really wanting to see what would shortly be on the screen. Zeftio looked at Nikki before touching any controls.
"You would like to see that area?" she asked, confirming the target as part of southern Sweden, bathed in sunshine. Nikki merely nodded. In response to Zeftio's commands the image started to grow and focus on the target area. Painfully slowly details began to emerge. The coastline and islands started to become clear, then a city started to appear. Zeftio was concentrating hard, her breathing becoming audible. Despite herself, Nina was looking in fascination at the screen and Nikki was staring intently. Still they seemed to be getting closer and closer to the ground until individual streets could be made out. Then Nikki could see that many of the buildings were in ruins. There was no indication at all of any life, human or otherwise. Suddenly, Nina's voice broke the silence.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I'm going to have to leave. I can't cope with this." Nikki stood as well, putting a reassuring arm round Nina's shoulders as she left. I know exactly how she feels, Nikki thought as she sat down again.
"Can we come south and a little to the west?"
"Yes, but I will go back to where we started and you can show me where you want to look now." Zeftio adjusted the image and quite quickly the whole planet was visible once again. There was patchy cloud over the peninsular that had been Denmark, but Nikki pointed out where they had lived before leaving, asking Zeftio to focus on that area.
"I will try, Nikki, but there is cloud. I may not be successful." She zoomed in, again very slowly with Nikki peering intently at the screen waiting for the first glimpse of their previous home.
The time dragged by as Zeftio controlled the satellite but eventually - it seemed like hours but was in fact less than three minutes - Zeftio found the settlement that, when the light they were now seeing left Earth, had been Nikki's home. As it increased in size the moment Nikki had been dreading arrived. There was clearly movement and a few seconds later individual human beings could be made out. Nikki stopped Zeftio going any closer. She abruptly became aware that her pulse was racing and her forehead was covered in beads of sweat. No matter what, she knew she had to push to the limit of what was possible.
"Go in closer," she whispered to Zeftio, whose expression showed obvious concern for Nikki. She did as she was asked and there, before them, it became possible to tell men from women and to identify individuals, even from the very steep angle from which they were observing. Zeftio watched Nikki carefully as she focussed even closer until the image started to become less sharp. She pulled back a tiny amount.
"That is as far as we can go." It was a simple statement to which Nikki just nodded an acknowledgement as she stared at the screen, examining each person that she could see. For a long time only her eyes moved, scanning every part of the screen, as Zeftio sat quietly, not wanting to disturb Nikki. Neither Zeftio nor Nikki could have said when it started or what brought it on, but Zeftio noticed tears running down Nikki's cheeks.
"Are you all right?" Zeftio asked.
"Yes, thanks. It's just that I knew most of these people and seeing them alive when I know that they are all dead, well, I thought I could handle it better than this."
Nikki looked back at the screen, then examined one person minutely. Suddenly she burst into uncontrollable sobbing.
"What is it, my friend?" Zeftio asked, trying to console Nikki as she had seen Nikki do to Nina.
"My father." Nikki managed to get these two words out, then broke down completely. She was dimly aware, through the tears that consumed her, of being led away and of being given something to drink but otherwise she knew nothing more until she awoke, hours later, in the Jukkakique's apartment with just Nina and Zeftio there with her.
"How are you feeling now?" asked Nina with genuine concern.
"Better. Not great, but better." Nina handed her a freshly made cup of akkuzu, not telling her that it was at least the third that had been prepared, just so that she would have something restorative to hand whenever she woke.
"We were worried there. You're not usually so emotional."
"No, and I didn't think I would be. I decided I could handle whatever I saw, and I was doing OK for a while."
"But?"
"The but is that when we were on Earth I'd worked on the means of fighting the poison and had come up with a few things. None of them worked and we'd lost a few people. But then you know all this. What you don't know is that I was absolutely certain, just once, that I'd found an answer. The control team left feeling as confident as I was. My brilliant idea failed and the whole team died. Eventually I got over it, but it took a long time. Then, today, I saw my father on the screen and it all came
back, all the pain that I'd got over years ago. Dad had led that team and died because I'd been overconfident."
"I understand," Zeftio said softly, "because I too lost friends when the disease came. You know we did not have families as you did, but we value our friendships with others. It is hard to accept when they no longer live."
Nikki looked at Zeftio with a combination of emotions. She appreciated the effort to understand and share her feelings, but she was also surprised at this display of sentiment. She couldn't remember, even when Masaya had died, any Aupesian admitting to having feelings of loss or sorrow. They certainly made everyone around them aware of them being happy, but never before had there been such a clear demonstration of pathos.
"It is hard, Zeftio," Nikki replied, "and perhaps it serves no purpose to apportion blame even if I will always feel responsible for my father's death. But life, as we have always said, must go on and we must continue working to ensure that life does go on."