The Tau Ceti Diversion

by Chris McMahon

  He took a deep breath and brought his mind back to the tasks at hand. Soon they would be back on the Starburst. She was keeping station above them, waiting only for the four remaining crew before the final burst of power that would propel them back across the dark leagues toward distant Earth. Of their equipment, now only the small satellite dish remained in position, providing the essential radio-link to the ship. He planned to remain in communication until their final moments on the surface, to confirm the ship’s exact position.

  They took the last of the rations from the lander and rested in its shadow.

  “In a few more hours, we will be on our way back to Earth,” said Karic.

  “Seems hard to believe. You think the Fountain will live up to his promise?” asked Andrai.

  “Yes,” said Karic. Provided he has the power to.

  Mara sighed. “Earth. It seems like a dream.” She looked up at the sky and frowned.

  Karic looked up at the heavy sky above, untouched by the passing of any sun. Winged shapes circled overhead. They were exquisite, and yet as he watched them, his sense of unease intensified. There were so many of them.

  “It will be good to see Earth again,” said Andrai. “But I would love to study some of this Fintil technology. Like that anti-gravity platform the Fountain used.”

  Over beside the bier, the Fountain and Utar stood in motionless vigil before the Awakener’s massive cocoon.

  “It must be close. Come on,” said Karic, getting to his feet. He just wanted this over with.

  They sealed the hatch and walked in silence toward the chrysalis. There, they stood in silence with the two Fintil.

  Karic had never felt more out of place.

  It was growing hotter by the minute, the single tower in the center of the valley pushing out waves of heat and light. The humidity was almost unbearable, yet they endured, knowing they would soon be gone.

  The dark, swollen capsule shook. All three of them felt the same mixture of excitement and fear. They had seen this before, and knew it signaled an imminent birth. Fintil began arriving, pushing forward to stand with the Fountain and Utar. Gradually, the humans were jostled to the back of the alien crowd by the Fintil. Karic kept his eyes on the Fountain’s back, desperate not to lose sight of him.

  ***

  The Fountain, sensing Karic’s attention, turned toward him. He nodded to the human, and noted the return gesture from him. It was sufficient. Karic and the others disappeared into the rear of the crowd, each looking fearfully at the taller Fintil around them and their razor-sharp limbs. This was as it should be. They had no place near the birth.

  The Fountain watched the young with joy and pride. This was their moment. A moment for the new Fintil race.

  Unlike the birth of Utar, during which he had slashed open the tough hide of the cocoon wall to ease the transition, he made no move to interfere. He turned to Utar and felt another surge of pride. Here they stood together, both Fintil, ancient and young, as witness.

  The Fountain touched Utar’s mind gently. The young Fintil’s memories of birth were still vivid. Utar watched with a deep sense of hope, longing to see his old friend once more.

  Such vitality! The raw passions of youth.

  The old Fountain pulled back from Utar’s mind. He thought back to his own birth and found the images dimmed by time, but still charged with emotion. The desperation, the fear, the loneliness; and above all, the desire to be joined with others of his kind.

  The struggle grew frenzied. Utar stepped forward, as though to help, but the Fountain laid a gentle hand on his to restrain him.

  The darkened shell burst open.

  The Fountain chittered with sheer happiness.

  Sticky green fluid splashed across the clearing in a pungent fountain. The odor of birth filled the air, sweet and rich. Gold appeared amid the tangled muck. Then the razored limbs shredded the cocoon like wet paper.

  She rose to her full height and extended her wings.

  The children of the Fintil descended to the ground in massive numbers, drawn to her. Many wings beat against the thick air. There was a swift rustle as they furled, then the sound of slender, perfect limbs as they thudded onto the ground. The Fintil stood in glistening ranks, immobile. Entranced.

  Although her head and upper torso were only slightly larger than a normal Fintil, her wings had a span of more than fifteen meters. Her huge abdomen was elongated and flattened, shaped aerodynamically like a single flaring wing. Her thorax and wings glistened with green highlights — the mark of a fertile female.

  A Fintil Queen.

  She dwarfed them, standing on magnificent legs in scale with her long abdomen. The Queen looked about her with huge black eyes, rainbows glistening in their depths.

  The three humans tried to back away, but were trapped by the swelling crowd.

  The Queen sang three earsplitting notes.

  The humans fell to the ground in pain and covered their ears. The stentorian call raced across the winds, drawing Fintil from kilometers away. The crowd went into a frenzy and mobbed forward to reach her.

  The three humans staggered to their feet and backed away through the press of golden bodies, ignored by the throng. One Fintil knocked into Mara, but Karic grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling. The Fountain watched them as they backed away from the crowd of newborns to sit on a hill in the shadow of a shriveled fungus. He knew the humans were suffering in the heat, but that could not be helped.

  Utar was at the front of the crowd, as lost in the wild jubilation as the merest of them. For all his power and knowledge, he was one of the newly born, and like the rest of the Fintil, his body and spirit rejoiced with an intense, almost violent passion.

  The Fountain strode gracefully through them, his head bowed in contemplation. The vibrant colors of his shell, more varied and complex since his latest rebirth, stood out against the gold shells of the other Fintil. He was lost in memories of his own birth when, like these young ones, he had celebrated the joy of new life. He had known no language, but had experienced thought as rapid as light that flashed in the crystal chambers of his new mind. His first mental contact had sent his heart soaring. To the Fintil, mental communication was a natural as breathing.

  The energy and passion of the young Fintil were a joy to behold. When the Fountain had surged north toward the bright side at the time of his own birth, those who had the energy to celebrate such as this had been few. Even though great in numbers, perhaps as many as a thousand, they had been the crippled children of an aging culture, languid and without passion, their colors faded. His generation had been mostly without issue, the few such as himself the only fertile members of an ancient and dying race. But these children in front of him — they were alive! It seemed their long lifetime as intelligent Imbirri — rather than dumb Fin — had renewed their spirit. They had come forth from the cocoons in brilliant gold, eager for life, and the Fountain felt certain they would be fertile. It heralded a new age for the Fintil. They had lived as Imbirri for millennia, rather than the usual century of life as Fin. Perhaps the Fintil adult lifetime had also been extended. He would not survive long enough to know.

  Then there was the Queen.

  Such a sight. Her presence was overpowering and strong chemical signals filled the air. He fought his own instinctive urge to press forward. Never since the Death of Hope had a Queen been born amongst the Fintil. All of their females were capable of giving birth, yet a fertile Queen could lay down thousands of eggs in her lifetime. Zenith city would at last be filled with Fintil — perhaps in time even other cities would be removed from stasis to be inhabited once more. He thanked Fate that only one queen emerged. In their newly born state, a conflict between queens would have been unavoidable. It would have been a tragedy if one or both had been lost due to injuries.

  The Fountain had known there was something special about the Awakener’s cocoon from the outset, and he had set the conditions in the valley to keep the newly hatched Fintil here for this reas
on. The key was an acceleration of heat, making the newborns feel as though they were moving ever closer to the bright terminator — the dividing line between the night side and day side. Now, the entire Fintil nation had witnessed the birth. When the Queen took flight they could join together into a single formation.

  One thing remained. Before they could fly to the bright side and a new life — a new age — for the Fintil, the fate of the humans would have to be resolved. He must get them off the planet. Yet certain protocols had to be observed. He must first put the matter to his new Queen.

  The Fintil had settled around her in ranks. Each of the females came forward to touch wings and caress her. Then followed the males. First, Utar came forward. He spoke no words, yet there was a special recognition that passed between them as he touched wings to the Queen then withdrew. As the procession continued, the air was filled with the sound of their chattering, a senseless chitter and staccato that signaled joy and excitement. They were so innocent, untouched by knowledge, yet sentient. It was now that the knowledge of the Fountain was needed, to teach them their language, culture and history.

  The Fountain could sense a rhythm growing in the noisy chatter. This first instinctual phase was drawing to a close. They had bonded with the new Queen and soon they would grow restless. Sensing his moment, the Fountain stepped forward and waited for recognition.

  ***

  The Queen was awash in a glorious sea of adoration. She could sense each of these glowing minds in turn and knew they looked toward her as a goddess. They called without words for her to lead them to a place of heat and brightness, where they might sing to each other and dance on the air.

  Another of her golden race stepped toward the Queen. She could see he was not an innocent like the others. He had a sense of wisdom and age and his torso was splashed with colors more complex and vivid than the newly born. He did not come close; instead, he waited for her. She did not understand. Time was pressing. Could he not see that she must lead her people into the heat, toward the sun?

  Utar also rose and stepped forward, approaching with reverence. She watched him as he came toward her, feeling a strong affection for him. He stopped. She felt his increasing closeness, even though he had not moved, then his voice spoke in her mind.

  “My Queen. Do you remember me? I am Utar.”

  She concentrated, and thoughts raced like water-snakes in the newly flooded corridors of her mind. “I know you. Yet I … do not remember.”

  Utar pressed her. “We were together for many years. We were the same — yet different. We were Imbirri.

  “Do you remember?”

  The pressure increased inside her. Then the memories exploded like a comet crashing to earth, its coldness heated to fire amid the shattering impact. She was the Awakener. These people who bowed before her were the Imbirri, her people … and yet they were not. They were changed as surely as she had changed.

  Her head moved swiftly as she examined herself.

  She remembered now. She had fought the Changes, and had destroyed some of the Imbirri. This had been wrong. The Awakener looked toward this other, ancient one, and she recognized him. She had tried to destroy him also. How wrong she had been! She had tried to prevent a glorious transformation, and she felt an unaccountable joy that she had failed. Yet she remembered other things. The humans.

  The intruders.

  The Queen rose up to the full extension of her legs, flushed with power. Her gaze scanned the clearing until it fell on the three humans, cowering beneath the shade of fungi. Her rage found its focus.

  “Destroy the aliens!” roared the Queen. Simultaneously, a mental command flashed into the minds of the Fintil.

  The humans struggled to their feet as hundreds of Fintil rushed toward them — the tall red-gold warrior-caste in the lead — razor sharp limbs poised to strike …

  One human screamed, and they fumbled with their weapons. The heat had sucked the vitality out of them. Against the rushing wall of the Fintil, they seemed to be moving in slow motion.

  The Fountain launched himself in front of the humans and spread his wings as though to create a barrier.

  “Wait!” called the Fountain. The mental command flashed through their minds, and the young Fintil slowed their advance. They knew the Fountain, and had come to trust him, but this new Queen surely must be obeyed. They turned to her in confusion.

  The Queen’s wings thrummed in agitation. “Do as he says.”

  Karic and the others sank back to the ground.

  “My Queen,” said the Fountain with great respect. “I am the Fountain. The repository of all the history and wisdom of our ancestors. I am here to guide you, to advise you, and to serve you.”

  She turned toward him. “I had wished to destroy the aliens. Tell me more of them. Tell me more of us.”

  Her desire for knowledge was intense, and he felt his mind opened against his will like a distended, overripe melon, spilling forth a great flood of images. The story of the humans unfolded in a torrent, and she drank it in. The Queen captured all of these images as they flew past her like swift birds, using all the power of her spirit and all the surprising gifts of her new mind.

  The Queen saw the great Fintil cities on the bright side, the wonders of their high technology, and the joys of sexual union. It was only then that she realized she had no sexuality before, that she had been a neuter Imbirri. The images continued. She saw the humans through the eyes of the Fountain, felt his initial outrage as he saw them facing the Imbirri across the clearing. She felt the Fountain’s astonishment as he understood the Imbirri were sentient, not like the simple-minded Fin, the grazing beasts, that he had expected. She learnt more. Through the eyes of this ancient one, she saw and felt a thousand things. Understanding in brief moments the Fintil, the sacred planet Cru, the Har Confederation and their place in the cosmos. She learnt of the humans, the unwitting sacrilege they had committed by visiting Cru, and the twist of Fate that had seen them draw the Imbirri out of their slumber. She understood that without the destruction and conflict the humans had engendered, there would have been no way the Imbirri could have made the transformation. She, as the Imbirri Awakener, would have prevented it. She saw it had been the first of the Imbirri that the humans had wounded, born as a female, who had soared north to awaken the Fountain from his deep slumber.

  The Queen also understood the danger that contact with these pre-transformation species could pose. Knowing now, as surely as the Fountain knew, the terrible judgment that the Elders of the Har Confederation could mete out to them, every hour these beings remained on the planet was a danger to the continued existence of the Fintil race.

  Finally, the Queen released the Fountain from her mental grip. She looked up through the clouds, knowing that the alien’s ship was waiting above. It must be removed.

  The Queen touched the mind of the Fountain once more. “So we must let them leave?”

  “I think it is best, my Queen. But have no fear. I have taken measures to ensure they will be no threat to the Fintil.”

  “Very well then. Remove them from Cru.”

  The Fountain raised his wings in ascent, momentarily overpowered as he looked into her eyes and was lost in the huge black jewels.

  She felt a surge of tenderness for the old Fountain. He had performed so well for the good of Cru and the Fintil. He would be an asset in the years to come.

  The Queen turned to the Fintil gathered around her. At some unseen signal, they gathered close, touching her, and she could feel their overwhelming need. She must lead them into the heat and the light. They must take flight. Must reach the great cities of the bright side.

  “Utar! Stand by my side.”

  ***

  Karic, Mara and Andrai watched in awe as the Queen rose to her full height and loosed a thunderous cry. She rose into the air amid the drone of a thousand wings as the Fintil joined her, flying toward the bright side in a massive, bejeweled convoy.

  The Fountain walked toward them with th
e same stately poise he always displayed, yet Karic could sense a new determination. He manipulated one of the small devices at this belt.

  Karic felt a mind-bond form as the Fountain reached out. “Leave now while you can. Move into your lander. Abandon your other equipment.”

  Karic scrambled to his feet. “This is it!”

  After the terrifying threat of the Queen, they needed no urging. The temperature and humidity had risen to extreme levels, and they found it heavy going. Finally, they made it into the lander’s core section. They collapsed, exhausted, into the hot, cramped interior, momentarily overcome with fatigue. Karic maneuvered around the inert form of Janzen and the other couches to squeeze into a command chair. Forcing himself to concentrate, he checked the flight diagnostics.

  “Will we make it to the Starburst?” asked Mara as she struggled into a chair and strapped herself in.

  “We have plenty of oxygen. It is the temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations we have to worry about. As long as we get to the ship soon, we’ll have no problem,” said Karic. The carbon dioxide filters were shot.

  As before, the Fountain summoned the flying platform. It arrived at tremendous speed, the squat, articulated body of its dormant attendant robot distinctive in its center. So the platform is capable of escaping the planet. Karic was awed. If humans could get their hands on this technology, it would revolutionize space travel. Once more, he felt a deep regret at leaving Cru. If only the Fintil were not so closed. They were like the Imperial China of history, and he and his crew were the visitors; except this time, they had arrived in dug-out canoes rather than square-riggers equipped with long-range cannon.

  Karic tensed. “Brace yourselves!”

  Andrai had only just finished strapping in when the huge robot in the center of platform unfolded itself. It eyed them once through its cylindrical oculars, then went into action. It took hold of the lander and lifted them deftly onto the floating platform. As soon as the lander was in contact with it, all sensation of gravity vanished. Karic watched the Fountain adjust his instruments, silently coveting, in one dark moment, all the secrets these beings held — wisdom that could be given … or taken.