Stephen explained that the study of insect cultures is fascinating because it stripped out the emotional complexities of more intelligent species. This exposed the simple essential social structures that could be examined by scientific experiment. Joe had shown only polite interest, “But the problem is that the study of simple species like bees means the individuals are too small to have souls and that doesn’t relate to advanced mammals like humans,” Joe said. He was thinking of the parallels to Zarnha of Spargar where the Queen Bee figure of Omeyn MuneMei controlled their highly advanced society through the Spargar Mind computer and network, just like a Queen Bee achieves through hormone controls in a hive. “If we are to make scientific progress then we need to consider higher animals that demonstrate intelligence and we have to consider that they must have souls. So we have to examine how souls are used by higher orders of social animals.”
“An interesting point,” Stephen replied. “People often talk about intelligence in animals but hardly ever souls. This could be due to the association of religion with the soul and most religions would only accept that humans have souls?” Stephen arched an eyebrow in inquiry.
“Well, it would need physical development of the brain around a functioning limbic system to host a soul, but that occurs in many higher animals. After that it’s a bit high-handed to expect that only one species, human beings, have a soul and the capability for intellectual thought. I would think that most advanced mammals have souls and advanced culture. That’s why I think they are the most interesting but don’t get me wrong I can easily see there is much to learn from the study of all social animals, large and small.”
Stephen blinked at that. Joe had a way of stating his ideas as facts when the scientific community actually had no evidence one way or the other. Joe was also very convincing in that he totally believed in his views, no matter how adventurous. Stephen came to appreciate working with Joe. He had invited Joe to work on some of his field experiments which took them out into the Fens surrounding Cambridge where social insect colonies were to be found. When they worked together in this way, Joe demonstrated an ease with nature and an accuracy in his approach that matched his theories and translated easily into written and spoken scientific communication. “Do you have a religious basis to these ideas, Joe?” Stephen had asked. “Do you belong to a particular religion?”
It was Joe’s turn to be surprised. He was happy to exchange ideas with Stephen despite the massive difference in knowledge between the two. Stephen expected to be the more knowledgeable and Joe was accustomed to hiding the bulk of his experience like the submerged part of an iceberg. He only needed to expose the visible part in his daily life with local humans. But he found Stephen’s questions generally to challenge this norm and their academic relationship provided a lot of scope for discussion. This question from Stephen that Joe’s ideas must be based in religion just because the word ‘soul’ was used was strange to contemplate.
“It’s not like religion with me, Stephen,” Joe explained. “It’s more about how things actually work. I can see that if science can’t explain exactly what is happening then it helps to say ‘some magic happened there’, but I see it as just a need to explain the missing piece and then no need for magic or religion to explain. Like your insect culture work, it is possible to test the whole running of a beehive, breaking down all the behaviours, describing them and then putting it back together to give a holistic explanation of the entire community. I think you could do that too for advanced animals like ourselves if only you had enough information, and who knows what that might explain and uncover?”
It was coming to the end of their hour’s supervision and Stephen pulled his gym bag over. Joe took this as the sign that the work part was over. “I guess you do a lot of gym work, Stephen?”
Stephen thought he was close enough to Joe to explain a little of his personal life, “I suffered with depression quite a bit when I was younger. It was a combination of not understanding my sexuality, but also letting my negative energies get on top of my life. I joined a group here and one of the things they taught was that how you approach life physically contributes to your mental health too. So I took up gym work, learned proper posture, shoulders back, breathing properly and now I do it all the time and feel much better!” Stephen paused and appraised the younger man briefly, “You must work out too, I would think?”
Joe laughed, “Football does it for me, Stephen, and some labouring work in the holidays,” Joe replied. He wanted to keep most of his formidable physical capabilities under wraps if possible.
An hour or so later, Joe and Daniel were having a beer in the Anchor pub on Silver Street Bridge opposite Queens’ College when Stephen walked in, saw them sitting at a table overlooking the river and offered them a beer. He was flushed still from the exercise and relished the thirst-quenching first gulp of lager. When he put the beer down he looked up and took in Daniel’s strong ebony features, his size, his presence. Uh-oh, thought Joe, looks like Daniel has a new admirer. Good job that Stephen’s partner is not here to see that look on his face.
Daniel started into easy conversation with Stephen. He felt the appreciation in Stephen’s look and conversation. Daniel’s sexuality had vacillated over the generations though each lifetime it had eventually settled one way or the other. It seemed to be to do with the physical composition of the body at the time; his essential soul must have some sexual ambivalence built in. This time Daniel felt undeniably heterosexual and was amused by the cliché of finding the blonde, blue-eyed waif Anya absolutely fascinating. And she, in turn, seemed to respond to his articulate ethnic African style. Joe did not get much chance to chip in to the conversation, Stephen and Daniel chatting easily about whichever subject topic came up next. Joe thought he was just the ancillary drinker sitting there listening in on loquacious old friends.
In the end it was Daniel who finished his beer first, said his goodbyes and moved along. “Wow!” exclaimed Stephen, “Where have you been keeping him?”
Joe smiled, “If I had thought about it and you both weren’t spoken for I would have introduced you earlier. I think you will find that Daniel is a bit busy on the social front, however. All loved up since meeting a language student at his birthday bash.”
SIXTEEN
Joe’s bedroom was gloomy but not dark. Joe had been sleeping for some time. Queens’ College had not replaced the curtains for many years and the threadbare fabric was little obstacle to the strong moonlight angling into the room. It was one of those moments where the sleeper awoke immediately with no fuzzy fading in and out of the waking condition. Joe immediately saw the intruder in the corner of the bedroom by the closed door. He was hunched over and scurrying past the end of Joe’s bed towards the washstand in the corner past the window. There had been a spate of room break-ins on ‘X’ staircase that term so it was no surprise to Joe that there was in fact a person who was so obviously out to cause mischief.
Joe checked again that the bedroom door was closed and even then computed that it was weird for the intruder to enter the bedroom and close the door behind him. Probably the sturdy double door from the staircase to the outer sitting room was also closed. The person in the room was not large and the overcoat, appearing blue in the wash of the moonlight, seemed large on his slim frame. A sense of confidence spurred Joe to sit up in bed knowing that the staircase was full of students only too pleased to catch the source of the messed-up rooms that had already happened several times that term. Joe was poised for action expecting the intruder to run for the door. He sat upright in bed then paused as the intruder did not run to the door but gradually straightened up from the hunched position he had adopted in moving across the room. He was by the window and the moonlight framed his straight black hair, cut in a pudding-basin style. His face was in the dark shadowed hollow caused by the old-fashioned hairstyle but Joe had the distinct impression the intruder was of Zarnha origin and not some student wag. As he straightened
to full height the intruder slightly cocked his head toward the right side almost as if in query. In truth the Ghola was surprised that Joe was able to see him, accustomed as he was to invisibility in his snooping.
Joe was held motionless by the slow motion; was the intruder going to run for it? If not, was the intruder going to speak? Slowly and without turning away from facing Joe the intruder edged back towards the door. Rather than turning to the handle, which would have precipitated Joe charging from the bed, the intruder slid past the door heading toward the closet in the far corner of the room. This made no sense, as this was a dead end, each slow step moving away from the doorway and the escape route. No matter, thought Joe, as the intruder was edging toward where the light from the window was cast by moonlight onto the wall between the door and the closet. Joe knew he would soon see the intruder’s face as he tracked along the far wall toward the patch of light. The intruder steadily edged into the light and Joe could catch the faintly oriental Zarnha features but simultaneously he could also see the patch of light as the insubstantial form flitted across the wall. The shock of the see-through face gave Joe a jolt of cold reaction as he was in physical readiness to tackle the intruder but it was all too late; the Ghola continued towards the closet but faded completely as he crossed the bright patch, leaving the impression he was heading into the wall by the closet as he totally disappeared.
Joe sat awhile assimilating these events. He was not unduly afraid, which was surprising in the circumstances. He was familiar with Zarnha operatives with similar appearance but not capable of such form-shifting, almost a ghostly apparition. He was also familiar with Gayans manifested as solely-soul but they were different and capable of communications with his own soul. He did need to understand what new surveillance capability they had developed, and how did they find him in his new life here at Queens’ College? It was virtually impossible to trace a Gayan soul through a reincarnation, especially on a planet like Earth, different to their home world as their new body was actually of planet Earth. He sat there and continued to wait to see if there were any additional events before rousing himself and turning on the lights. He filled a glass of water from the sink and then checked the door and the wall leading towards the closet. He opened the bedroom door and indeed the double doors to the outside staircase were closed. The double door arrangement had two doors spaced a few inches apart, one hinged on the inside of the doorframe and a second leading to the outside hinged on the outer edge of the frame.
Dim lights illuminated the staircase with five similar rooms on this, the second landing. Each room had the occupant’s name painted on a strip of wood over the outer door. It was comforting that the notice over his door stated ‘Joe Mason’ in a substantial fashion. Stairs led round the corner and upward to the uppermost fourth landing, and down a few steps to the lavatory of the floor where Doctor McGregor had his college office and on down to the first landing. Below that, the stairs exited to concrete pathways leading around the inside of the building. At the opposite side, thick iron railings guarded an archway leading out to the street with a gate locked after eleven o’clock to the outside world. Orange streetlights accented the stillness of the lawns and shrubs which grew right up to the windows on the street side of the building. All was quiet now and seemingly in place, at odds with the strangeness of recent events inside.
On returning to his room Joe made a few notes of what had occurred. This was to make certain he recalled events clearly and also that he could check he was now really awake. He thought he would not return to sleep that night, though seemingly the next thought was that the room was bright with day and it was morning. By the side of the bed was the note describing the intruder and his actions. It had not been a weird dream.
The next few nights Joe seemed to be startled awake at about the same time each night strangely disappointed that there was apparently no visitor there. This feeling that something of consequence had happened persisted. Joe kept thinking that there was meaning here if he could extract it from this first encounter or met the intruder again to try to confront him. As far as it went some communication had taken place; Joe was convinced that the intruder had been surprised that Joe could actually see him. This was enhanced by the slow and purposeful way the intruder had moved after he was discovered, surprised but not concerned by the discovery. Joe had the feeling that the intruder could move at will through the building like a spectre, seeing all but expecting to be invisible himself.
Joe did not discuss what happened for the first day afterwards. He went to lectures and met friends for drinks in the bar later just like a normal day, except that something extraordinary had happened and it was on his mind despite the day-to-day of college life. On the second day he decided to run the risk of ridicule and question neighbours and the cleaning staff (“bedders” in the college jargon). He confined the story and his questions to those close to his rooms on ‘X’ staircase as he had the best chance there of finding similar experiences without spreading the word too far.
The responses were surprisingly forthcoming though none had seen the figure himself. There were stories of furniture moving around rooms and even of books flying off bookshelves by themselves. The students who inhabited the sloping rooms under the eaves on the fourth floor seemed most concerned. They had hatches from their rooms into the loft space and showed their nervousness when they talked about their experiences, their eyes shifting to look at the hatches in their minds’ eyes.
Joe went to see Charlotte to talk it through and the counterpoint of the new surroundings of Cripps Court contributed to the sense of ridicule of his gothic tale. Of course she was much more understanding and analytical than he had been himself. “Just because we haven’t come across ghostly Zarnha spies before doesn’t mean they are necessarily new,” she said. “Could be they have been around a long time and we just didn’t notice. After all you said he seemed surprised that you could see him. Maybe something about your altered mind in its waking state helped you to see him. That’s a bit like what you hear in many earthly ghost stories.”
“If that is true then we have to concern ourselves that we could be monitored at any time without knowing,” offered Joe. “Also they found me already here at Queens’ and that means they could be on to all of us.”
“Sounds like we need to accelerate our plans. It’s end of first Baktun age next year and we have to have a result by then. Time to get moving, Joe!”
“Yes indeed, Charlotte,” Joe agreed.
Alice the bedder was more forthcoming on Joe’s story than the other students. Alice was a bird-like woman in her seventies, small and light and always full of energy. There was nothing that escaped her sharp gaze through her bright steel-rimmed spectacles and nothing that the fresh crop of students could teach her that she had not seen before. Joe liked to think that he had a special bond with Alice but he suspected that all his fellow students had a similar fondness for her.
“Oh yes!” she said when he tentatively explained the story. “Those things have been going on for a couple of years around here. We had a young gentleman who died punting late one night on the Cam towards Grantchester. Probably having too much of a party and fell in on the way back and caught up in the weeds and the current in the dark.” She pushed her spectacles back up to the bridge of her petite nose where they immediately began to slide down again. “Another time, and this was very bad when it happened, a young man committed suicide by hanging hisself from the beams in the roof over this very staircase. So yes, there have always been happenings here and I suppose there always will be. Never did nobody no harm though, excepting themselves, I suppose.” She seemed unconcerned about these eerie reports as though they were part of life like cleaning, hoovering and telling students to be tidier.
Joe sought out a meeting with Doctor McGregor to discuss the matter further. The only other connection was Doctor McGregor being on the same staircase as his office in work hours and it was possible he had als
o been a target of this spooky surveillance. Joe explained what had occurred and observed that he had not witnessed Zarnha operatives capable of this kind of manifestation. Normally in physical form they needed to wear their hazmat helmets and suits that gave them the characteristic appearance of large eyes and triangular heads, made infamous by alien encounter stories here on Earth for some considerable time.
“I am concerned that this seems to have been going on for so long, Joe” Doctor McGregor mused. “That period would tie in with me arriving here and could be they have been watching me all this time without me ever knowing.”
Joe added, “And it’s possible that my arrival as well has been seen after we met and now they could be monitoring me too. He certainly seemed surprised that I could see him but was not concerned as if there was no way I could harm him. maybe it was some kind of projection to only handle surveillance, though the shifting nature of the apparition means it was more capable than that.”
“Whichever way we look at it then, we must assume that the Zarnha are aware of some details of our missions, mine especially as I have been working alongside the Cosmology and Astrophysics people here for some time. You on the other hand have just arrived so they can’t know anything there; I don’t know anything myself even!” Doctor McGregor guffawed, spokey teeth jerking up and down with his laughter. “It does make me wonder though. Since we met I get the feeling I am being watched at home. Tabitha seems to notice things, she’s acting strangely, and I am sure that is on the increase.”
“Tabitha behaving strangely again?” Joe queried.
“Yes, Tabitha. Very clever girl. She sees things that I don’t, but I just guessed if it were more than sparrows then she was seeing earthly souls on the move, that would be going on in the background at low level, pretty much all of the time.”
Star Matters Page 24