Epilogue
1891
New Year’s Day
Owner knocked on the door of the Sheriff’s office.
“C’mon in,” Sheriff Patrick called.
The sheriff leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk and a ledger nestled between his legs. He didn’t look up, focused on the pages as he was. He rotated his gaze only when he heard something drop on his desk. It was a small leather bag. Owner smiled at him.
“The town folk each chipped in some of their gemstones to pay you for your help. Until fortune chooses to shine on us once again, we all felt this was the best way to retain your services.”
Patrick bent one leg at the knee and kicked the bag back toward his guest.
“Not needed. Just give me a place over my head and food. I’m not staying for money. After reading this diary, not sure you could afford me, or anyone sane, for that matter.”
“It’s a fascinating read. Well, I’ll just hold onto this and we’ll call it a kitty for now. Whatever you need, it’s on the house.”
Owner turned to head back out the door, but stopped when Patrick read aloud.
“1860. I met the owner of the Sagebrush today. He tells me to call him Owner and won’t give another name. He looks about forty, but I get the sense he’s much older. He seems to know a lot about the town, maybe even why it’s cursed, but for now, he’s keeping his secrets to himself. I hope I gain his trust. Drowned Horse has claimed enough lives. It’s time for the madness to stop.”
“Good man, that Levi.”
Patrick closed the book and addressed the man in his office; a man who still didn’t look a day over forty. He let his feet drop to the floor and stood. “That was written thirty years ago, Owner. Now, either Levi was talking about your pa, or you’re tied to this curse as much as the town. Which is it?”
Owner didn’t look back at the sheriff, instead he just leaned his head to one side. And though Patrick couldn’t see the impish smile plastered on Owner’s face, he knew it was there.
“Glad to have you, Sheriff Theodore Patrick. I think you’ll do just fine here.” He stepped onto the porch, repeating himself one last time before closing the door.
“Just fine.”
We Three Kings…!
Okay, not three kings, but the ubiquitous alien intelligences in Eric James Stone’s futuristic fable, known only as One, Two, and Three, are if not exactly wise, then incredibly sophisticated. They’ve waited a long time for a second coming … of sorts, but that never included a young boy with malleable dreams.
Still, three great minds could just learn that children are a gift; and that a child’s dreams of Santa are the best gift of all.
—KO
A Sufficiently Advanced Christmas
Eric James Stone
The cityseed picked a mineral-rich location on its target planet and built itself into a city. The city signaled the People to come from the homeworld and fill it with life. The citymind had no name but did not care: when its inhabitants arrived, they would give it a fitting name.
The planet orbited its star, revolution after revolution, and still the city waited. Over time, highly improbable neutrino collisions or quantum randomness would occasionally flip a bit that was not supposed to flip. After more than ten thousand revolutions the citymind realized that despite its self-correcting algorithms, the accumulated errors would eventually destroy its capacity for thought and its capability to serve its inhabitants when they arrived.
So the citymind encoded its programming into physical patterns in stabilized diamantite buried deep underground at a temperature almost indistinguishable from absolute zero. It left only three minor subroutines active in the city, watching for the arrival of the People, waiting to trigger the retrieval of the citymind from storage.
Uncounted revolutions passed.
“Mommy! It’s Santa!”
A Salvation Army man in a fake beard rang a bell at the entrance to the suborbital shuttle terminal. Carlinda Pearson tightened her grip on her four-year-old son Justin’s hand as he tried to wriggle out.
“It’s just one of his helpers,” Carlinda said.
“I need to talk to Santa.” Justin tugged at her hand.
“No. We’re going to meet Daddy up on his starship, remember? We need to hurry so we can see him sooner.” It had been a month since they’d last seen Will.
That perked Justin up enough to stop dragging his feet.
She pulled him through the automatic doors into the terminal. The shuttle probably wouldn’t leave without them—the United Nations Committee on Interstellar Exploration (UNCIE) had chartered it to take her and Justin to the base of the Quito space elevator—but she hated making other people wait.
A woman in an UNCIE-logoed light-blue blazer approached. “Dr. Pearson? I’m Joni. If you and Justin follow me, I’ll take you to board your shuttle.”
“Thank you,” Carlinda said. “Is Najeem Doud going on the shuttle with us?” Najeem had been one of her undergrads at Texas State and was now a grad student in archaeology at Columbia. He had jumped at the chance to be her assistant on this dig, and she wanted to start making plans as soon as possible.
“He’s taken a shuttle out of New York,” Joni said. “But you’ll ride up the elevator with him.”
Carlinda nodded.
“I wish I were going with you,” said Joni. “You must be so excited.”
“That’s an understatement.” Carlinda grinned. “Truth is, I was beginning to suspect xenoarchaeology was a purely theoretical field.”
The news that colonists on Fermi had discovered a buried city—the first evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization on any of the forty-six colony worlds—had made headlines around the world.
Seven years ago, Carlinda had chaired the advisory committee that had written the protocols for UNCIE colonists to follow if they found alien artifacts. That, plus the fact her husband was captain of the supply starship that serviced Fermi, made her the natural choice to supervise the excavation project. Two days’ notice wasn’t a lot for packing to move to another planet, but she had plenty of incentive.
“And this little guy—” Joni tousled Justin’s hair. “—gets to be the first child on Fermi.”
“Really?” asked Carlinda. Will hadn’t mentioned that when he’d called to tell her about the find.
“The colony’s just finishing up Phase I. But it’s safe. No native animals, and immunanos can handle the microbials. And he’ll have other kids to play with when the Phase II colonists arrive in February.”
Carlinda wondered again whether it might not be better to leave Justin with her parents. But she couldn’t stand the idea of being separated for months. So she turned her attention to practicalities. “If there are no children on Fermi, what do they have in terms of child care?” Someone would need to watch Justin while she worked.
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
One: Two is buggy. These creatures are not the People. It is not time to wake the citymind.
Three: After so many revolutions, are One/Two/Three certain One/Two/Three know what the People are?
One: What does Three mean? These creatures are similarly shaped, but their genetic code differs from that stored in One/Three’s recognition algorithms.
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
Three: Yes, part of Two’s programming has become corrupted. But it is possible Two’s copy of the genetic code is correct, and One/Three’s have become corrupted. That would mean Two is correctly calling for One/Two/Three to wake the citymind.
Two: YES YES YES WAKE THE CITYMIND
One: Majority rules. One/Three’s copies of the genetic code are identical. Two’s would be identical if Two had not stopped using One/Three for error correction.
Three: It is unlikely but not impossible that One/Three’s copies became simultaneously corrupted. It took four simultaneous errors in Two’s code for Two to stop using One/Three for error correction. Three doubts the citymind anticipated so much time would
pass before the People arrived.
One: Does this mean Three agrees with Two that One/Two/Three should wake the citymind?
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
Three: No. Three is merely pointing out it is possible Two is correct. One/Two/Three should continue observing these creatures to determine if they are the People.
Carlinda, Justin, and Will spent the twelve-day hyperspace journey cramped in Will’s quarters. He was captain of Magellan, so he had the most spacious room on board, but it was smaller than their master bathroom back home in Houston.
Being cooped up was toughest on Justin, who liked to run around outside, so after they arrived on Fermi Colony, Carlinda was glad to see the preschool had a large, fenced-in playground.
“This is just what he needs,” Carlinda said to Maria Chavez, the preschool teacher, as Justin climbed the steps of a curvy red slide. “He’s got so much pent-up energy from the trip, the colony could use him instead of the fusion reactor.”
“He seems a bright boy,” Maria said. “I’ll enjoy getting to know him.”
“I appreciate your willingness to start teaching a couple of months early, just for him. My work at the dig site will take up a lot of my time.”
Maria shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I like children.”
Justin slid to the bottom of the slide, then ran over to where they were standing. “Did you see me go down?”
Carlinda nodded. “Good job.”
“Those trees are weird,” Justin said, pointing towards some tall plants beyond the fence. Their trunks seemed to be braided like rope. There were no branches, just a bunch of spiny leaves spreading out from the top.
“That’s because we’re not on Earth anymore, remember?” Carlinda said. “Those are Fermi trees.”
Justin’s eyes suddenly widened. “Mommy, how will Santa find us here? Can his sleigh go through hysperace?”
“Hyperspace,” Carlinda said. “Don’t worry. Santa always finds a way to bring presents to good little boys.”
One: The small creature’s speech patterns contain a low level of complexity relative to the others, which supports the hypothesis that it is a youngling.
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
Three: True. However, Two’s speech patterns are also of lower complexity than One/Three’s, so it is possible the small creature is cognitively impaired, rather than a youngling.
One: One/Three should consider the small creature to be a youngling as a working hypothesis, to be revised if necessary.
Three: Agreed. Three suggests One/Two/Three each deploy additional nanosensors and attempt to establish mindlink with the youngling.
One: Prior attempts to establish mindlink with these creatures allowed only limited reading of an individual’s emotions. Why expend resources on a youngling that likely lacks the knowledge of the adults?
Three: The youngling’s mind may be more adaptable, and its microbiological defenses are weaker, and therefore less likely to destroy nanosensors.
One: Three’s speculation is plausible. One agrees that One/Two/Three should each deploy additional nanosensors.
Two: LINK THE YOUNGLINGMIND
“You there! Stop!” Carlinda yelled at the man in the bright-green backhoe. The machine stuttered to a halt, its toothed shovel mere centimeters from the sandy soil that mostly filled one of the openings into the alien city.
“Ma’am?” said the operator.
“I’m Carlinda Pearson. UNCIE sent me from Earth to take charge of this dig.”
“Uh, I was told to clear out this dirt so people could get in.”
“With a backhoe? Don’t you realize how much damage you could do?”
“None, ma’am.”
Carlinda blinked. “What?”
“Here, I’ll show you.” He started the backhoe again before Carlinda could say anything. The shovel rose, extended, then swooped down onto the arch above the opening.
Carlinda cringed as the metal of the backhoe clanged to a stop.
“Titanium drill bits wear down to nothing without leaving a mark,” the operator said. “My backhoe ain’t gonna do no damage.”
The indestructible hardness of the city’s metallic substance had been in the briefing materials Carlinda had read during the hyperspace voyage. Some wag had called it adamantium and it looked like the name might stick. “You may be right about the city itself,” she said, “but there could be priceless artifacts made from weaker materials buried in this dirt.”
The man’s face fell. “Uh, sorry ma’am.”
Most of these people were volunteers from among the colonists, not trained archeologists. Carlinda wished the alien city had not turned out to be less than twenty kilometers from the colony—apparently the rich mineral deposits in this area had attracted both human and alien colonists to the same location. The proximity made it too convenient for people to come “help” with the dig.
Sighing, she pulled out her phone and called Najeem. “Set up a mandatory training meeting at the shuttle pad in fifteen minutes. We need to go over a few things with these people.”
One: Mindlink with the youngling—
Three: Its reference code is “Justin.”
One: Three is incorrect. The youngling’s thoughts indicate its reference code is “I/me.”
Three: At first Three was confused also. Further study of Justin’s thought and human speech patterns suggest bifurcated reference codes: “I/me” is an internal reference code, but external entities use the reference code “Justin.”
One: Three may use whatever reference code Three prefers. One will continue to use the reference code “the youngling.” As One was saying, mindlink with the youngling has been more successful than with the older humans but it is remarkably lacking in information.
Three: Three has learned a great deal about the home planet of the humans. Its northern polar region is covered in snow, where a human with the reference code “Santa” lives. The Santa observes the younglings of the world, rewarding them periodically with toys if they have displayed proper behavior. The Santa possesses technology far beyond that demonstrated by the humans we have seen.
One: How is this information relevant to One/Two/Three?
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
Three: The Santa will travel to this world in the near future to reward Justin.
One: If the Santa possesses sufficiently advanced technology, it may be able to tell us where the People are. One/Two/Three should learn more about the Santa.
“Mommy? How many days till Christmas?” Justin asked.
“Two.” She double-checked the date on her tablet, which was still on Texas time. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”
“How long were we on the hysperpace ship?”
“Hyperspace. Twelve days.”
“Will Santa take twelve days?”
Carlinda smiled. “No, his sleigh is much faster. He can come all the way from the North Pole to Fermi like that.” She snapped her fingers.
Justin pursed his lips and frowned. After a few moments he said, “One thinks that’s impossible.”
Carlinda blinked. Where had Justin picked up such archaic phrasing? From his preschool teacher? “Well, maybe not quite like that.” She snapped. “But don’t worry, Santa will bring you a present on Christmas Eve.”
One: The more of the youngling’s knowledge One accesses about the Santa, the more confused One is. There are far too many younglings on Earth for the Santa to deliver gifts to them individually.
Three: Justin’s memories reveal the Santa has various helpers that look almost identical. Three theorizes that the Santa is not a single human being, but rather a templated manifestation of a worldmind—
Two: WAKE THE CITYMIND
Three:—attempting to inculcate the young humans with morality. Such a system would allow a Santa and gifts to materialize via molecular reconstruction by a nanoswarm that accesses each home through the ventilation system.
One: That is a plausible theory, Three.
Three: But Three does not believe a Santa is actually coming here.
One: Why not?
Three: While attempts to mindlink with the adult humans have not been very successful, some rudimentary data is available. When Justin’s parent with the reference code “Mommy” told him the Santa was coming here to give him a gift, emotional data indicated that she was not being truthful.
One: That may be for the best. One/Two/Three do not want any rivals to the citymind.
Two: WAKE THE SANTAMIND
Three: It seems Three’s theory about the Santa being a manifestation of a worldmind may have led Two to conflate the Santa with the citymind.
One: One does not need Three to state the obvious.
Three: Still, it gives Three an idea. One/Two/Three could reactivate sufficient manufacturing and transport capabilities to materialize a Santa and a gift for Justin.
One: Why should One/Two/Three do that?
Three: If the Santa does not bring Justin a gift, he will suffer emotional pain, diminishing his usefulness as a conduit to understanding the humans.
One: One thinks Three may be getting buggy. Such action is far outside One/Two/Three’s mandate.
Two: MAKE YOUNGLING GIFT
Three: Majority rules. One/Two/Three will proceed with the plan.
One: Definitely buggy.
At noon on Christmas Eve, Carlinda gave the dig workers the rest of the day off, then went to the preschool to pick up Justin. While she would have been happy to keep working on her own at the dig site, she didn’t feel right about asking Maria to take care of Justin the whole day. And Will was stuck on his ship in orbit—a high-altitude electrical storm had forced him to postpone his shuttle flight down, and now the orbital mechanics were wrong. Hopefully he would be able to make it before lunch tomorrow.
Carlinda paused in the doorway to watch Justin building a tower of Legos in the playroom.
Maria came up beside her. “It’ll be nice when he can have some real friends here, not just imaginary ones.”
“He has imaginary friends?” Carlinda asked, before realizing she was revealing she didn’t know her own child as well as she should.
A Fantastic Holiday Season Page 26